Point of Retreat (Slammed #2)(15)

“Whoa! What’s this? Who’s Abby? Caulder do you have a girlfriend?” I tease.

“No, she’s not my girlfriend,” Caulder says defensively.

“Only because he’s too shy to ask her,” Kel says.

“You’re one to talk,” I say to Kel. “You’ve been crushing on Kiersten since the day she moved in. Why haven’t you asked her to be your girlfriend?”

Kel blushes and tries to hide his smile. He reminds me of Lake when he does this.

“I already asked her. She is my girlfriend,” he says.

I’m impressed. He’s got more nerve than I thought.

“You better not tell Layken!” he says. “She’ll embarrass me.”

“I won’t say anything,” I say. “But your birthday party is this Friday. You better tell Kiersten not to be kissing you in front of Lake if you don’t want her finding out.”

“Shut up, Will! I’m not kissing her,” Kel says with a disgusted look on his face.

“Caulder, you should invite Abby to Kel’s party,” I say.

Caulder gets the same embarrassed look Kel had.

“He already did,” Kel says. Caulder hits him on the arm again.

I stand up. It’s obvious my advice isn’t needed here. “Well, you two have it all figured out, then. What do you need me for?”

“Someone has to pay for the pizza,” Caulder says.

I walk to the front door and grab both of their jackets and toss them in their laps.

“Punishment time,” I say. They both groan and roll their eyes. “You guys get to shovel driveways today.”

“Driveways? As in plural? More than one?” Caulder asks.

“Yep,” I say. “Do mine and Lakes, and when you’re done do Sherry and Kiersten’s, too. While you’re at it, go ahead and do Bob and Melinda’s.”

Neither of them moves from the couch.

“Go!”

***

My stomach is in knots Wednesday morning. I really don’t want to see Vaughn today. I try to leave a few minutes sooner, hoping I can make it to class early enough to pick a seat next to someone else. Unfortunately, I’m the first to arrive. I take a seat in the back again, hoping she doesn’t want to make the trek to the back of the room.

She does. As soon as she spots me, she smiles and runs up the steps, throwing her bag down on the table. “Morning,” she says. “I brought you a coffee. Two sugars, no cream, just like you like it.” She sets the coffee down in front of me.

“Thanks,” I say. She’s got her hair pulled back in a bun. I know exactly what she’s doing. I told her once that I loved it when she wore her hair like that. It’s no coincidence that she’s wearing it like that today.

“So, I was thinking we should catch up. Maybe I could come by your house sometime. I miss Caulder, I’d like to see him.”

Absolutely not! Hell no! That’s what I really want to say.

“Vaughn, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” is what I actually say.

“Oh,” she says quietly. “Okay.”

I can tell I've just offended her by the way she lowers her tone. “Look, I’m not trying to be rude. It’s just…you know, we have a lot of history. It wouldn’t be fair to Lake.”

She cocks her head at me. “Lake? Your girlfriend’s name is Lake?”

I don’t like her demeanor. “Her name is Layken. I call her Lake.”

She turns toward me in her seat and puts her hand on my arm. “Will, I’m not trying to cause trouble. If Layken is the jealous type, just say so. It’s not a big deal.”

She grazes her thumb across my arm and I look down at her hand. I hate how she’s trying to undermine my relationship with her snide comment. She always used to do this. She hasn’t changed at all. I pull my arm away from her and face the front of the room. “Vaughn, stop. I know what you’re doing and it’s not gonna happen.”

She huffs and focuses her attention back to the front of the room. She’s pissed. Good, maybe she got the not so subtle hint.

I really don't understand where she's coming from. I never imagined I would see her again, much less have to practically fight her off. It's strange how I had so much love for her then, but feel nothing for her now. I don't regret what I went through with her, though. We really did have a pretty good relationship, and I honestly think I would have married her had my parents not passed away. But only because I was naïve as to what a relationship should be. What love should be.

We met when we were freshmen, but didn't start dating until our junior year. We started hanging out at a party I went to with my best friend, Reece. We went out a few times, then agreed to make the relationship exclusive. We dated for about six months before we had sex for the first time. We both still lived at home with our parents, so it ended up being in the backseat of her car. It was awkward, to say the least. We were cramped, it was cold, and was probably the most unromantic atmosphere a girl could want in that moment. Of course, it got much better over the next year and a half, but I'll always regret that being her first time. Maybe that's why I want Lake's first time to be perfect. Not just another spur of the moment kind of thing like Vaughn and I had.

I was still grieving and going through a lot of emotional issues after mine and Vaughn's relationship ended. Raising Caulder and doubling up on classes didn't leave me any time to date after that. Vaughn was the last relationship I had up until the moment I met Lake. And after only one date with Lake, I knew the connection between us was something more. It was more than I'd ever had with Vaughn, and more than I ever thought I could have with anyone. For that, I'll be forever grateful to Vaughn for calling off our relationship when she did.