Unexpected Arrivals(8)
There were so many thoughts running through my head that she’d left me speechless.
The tips of her fingers traced soft circles on my chest while Cora refused to meet my eyes. “So all you have to do is decide whether it’s going to be Kentucky or North Carolina.” She paused and took a deep breath. “And if you want me there with you.”
I’d never witnessed this side of my girlfriend—the one that was unsure, insecure.
With little effort, I raised my arm lifting her at the same time to move her on top of me. She immediately adjusted and pushed herself up to straddle my waist. I grinned at the pink tinge still kissing her cheeks and the glow that us being together had left on her skin.
“There’s no question whether I want you with me. The question is, what changed your mind?”
She shrugged, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how timid she suddenly appeared. “You’re my only family, James. UK and UNC are great schools, and I just need an education. It doesn’t matter where it’s from. And you’ve got fantastic opportunities at both, so I didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose between basketball and me.” She cast her gaze down to my sternum in uncertainty.
I loved that in the year we’d been together, Cora had never taken to calling me Carp. She was the only person in the school, including teachers, who used my first name. “Babe, there’s no way I could go anywhere without you.” I lifted her chin with my fingers to force her to see the truth in my eyes. “I gave you my heart on the shore of Geneva Key. I have no plans to take it back.”
She couldn’t fight the smile that tugged at her lips and met her eyes. “So where’s it going to be? Mid-west or the South?”
“Your grandparents don’t care where you go?” I shouldn’t have asked. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, they were a reminder that her parents weren’t around to bounce ideas off of and talk things to death. I’d filled in the best I could, though sadly, we were teenagers living adult lives without much influence. “Forget that. Where do you want to go?”
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth while she contemplated her answer. And with wide eyes, she said, “North Carolina.”
And just like that, we became Tar Heels.
***
“You two are going to the same college?” Neil didn’t try to hide his agitation at my declaration while we jogged around the island.
“Why are you so surprised? I’m going to one of the best schools in the country, and it also happens to have a kick-ass basketball program.”
“You’re also toting a serious amount of baggage with you. I don’t get it. It’s like you can’t breathe without her filling your damn lungs with oxygen.” He’d picked up the pace, making defending myself more difficult—not that I should have to.
“Why do you care?” My heart pounded like a bass drum at a rock concert. Each beat crashed in my chest more forcefully than the last.
“Just hate seeing you throw your life away on a high school girlfriend.”
“Jesus, are you my father or my best friend? You love Cora. Where’s this coming from?”
“Forget it, dude. Do what makes you happy.”
I stopped and dropped my hands to my knees. We’d taken to a pace that left us nearly sprinting on the sand. I couldn’t keep up and focus on the conversation at hand. Surprisingly, Neil remained with me. “Are you jealous?”
“Of a chick? Hell no.”
My stare met his, and it was easy to see he wasn’t lying. He wasn’t jealous, he was hurt. “Then what gives?”
He gave me a half-assed shrug. “I guess I just thought we’d always play college ball together. But ever since you met Cora, basketball has played second string to a female. That was never you. It was never hoes before bros.”
“Neil, we aren’t ten anymore. I didn’t choose for Cora to walk into my life, but I’ll be damn sure I don’t let her walk out.”
“So you’re willing to walk away from a friend of eighteen years, instead?”
“I’m not walking away from you. Just because we don’t go to the same college doesn’t mean we won’t be friends.” Damn, I needed a tampon and a Hallmark movie. Neil could bring the fucking chocolate.
“I guess we’ll see, huh?”
“Georgia Tech and UNC are like four hours apart. It won’t be like walking down the street as a kid, but it certainly doesn’t require a plane ticket to get there.”
He stood with his hands on his hips, watching me pant like a bitch trying to regain normal breathing function. “We’ve still got two miles. Are you done being a pussy?”
I didn’t have anything else to say to my best friend to get him past this mental block he had going on. There weren’t words that would erase his trepidation, and I wondered where his sudden need for security came from. He’d never been clingy, and now, he could have given Saran Wrap a run for its money. Our friendship had always been effortless, even after I’d met Cora. Abruptly, in the last couple of weeks, he’d gone from being a carefree playboy to an uptight asshat.
“You’re the one who needs some fucking Midol.”
He grinned back at me with a cocky smirk and slapped me on the chest. “Let’s go.”