AllFreeNovel
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“Yes, dude, I’m taking responsibility. I...was an idiot. Milena was just a novelty, I guess. Going to Slovakia was like a fucking candy store.” Yeah,tellme about it. “But...Taya’s my girl. I just fucked up. I made a mistake, and I’m man enough to admit it.”
I raise my eyebrows at that. It seems like I’ve walked into a parallel dimension.
“Wow...a reformed womanizer.” He rolls his eyes at that as he sits on the couch. We’re watching plays from our last few games in the frat living room. Neither one of us wants to, but Coach has Hunter as the replacement captain for the rest of the year.At least he listened to me aboutonething. Better Hunter than Connor. “So what are you gonna do then?” It’s a loaded question. One that he probably doesn’t have an answer to.
“I don’t know, dude. I haven’t spoken to her in a few weeks. I think I ruined that.” He has this weird look on his face that I’ve never seen before. Sadness? I recognize a similar look that I’ve been wearing for the last three weeks.
What is it about these track girls? Sarah’s got Brock all fucked up, Hunter looks like someone killed his best friend, and I...feel like I’ve been tossed fifty times over.
Three girls.
Three powerful girls who don’t even know it.
We’reallfucked.
“Need a change of scenery?”
We make eye contact, smiling at the same time. He knows exactly what I’m talking about. We both need this.
The sky is glistening with frost as we watch people on the ice rink. The Malibu Princess has this Christmas setting every year, and everyone from Rubenstein hangs out here every night. Hunter and I are roasting marshmallows and drinking eggnog.
“This is the life. I don’t care if I don’t look manly right now; this is the happiest place to be around the holidays.”
I laugh at that. Hell,Idon’t even care how I look right now. This is the place to be around this time. The lights are lined up around the outside area at the resort, and they have booths full of holiday stuff.
“Yeah, I just figured it would be nice for you to get away from campus for a while. No beer or weed.Ormagic mushrooms. ”
We both need a break. After all the bullshit in Europe, we all decided we just wanted to leave it all behind. The drama is more than either one of us can handle.
“I heard that. Besides, I would rather wallow in some eggnog and eat marshmallows.” His eyes avert to the ice in front of us. “Dude, why didn’t we bring ice skates?”
My head whips around to him. “You’re into figure skating now, dude?”
He rolls his eyes. “No, dude, but the ice looks good.” Ahh, the hockey withdrawals. We all have that. “Shit, I’m losing it.”
I’m laughing at what an idiot he sounds like when my eyes betray me.
An image of Leia walks in front of me.Fuck me, she’s gorgeous. I’m tempted to walk over to her, until I see she’s holding hands with someone. I squint my eyes a bit harder, and my heart fucking drops when I see who she’s holding hands with. That little fucker.
“Bro...you good?” Hunter’s voice breaks into my thoughts. I look at him, and he’s following his gaze to what I nod to. His eyes widen. “Damn, dude.”
“He always seems to squirm his way back into shit,” I mutter. Hunter snickers across from me. “What?”
“You’re whipped, dude. It’s okay. Just don’t drive yourself crazy.”
I roll my eyes at him. I don’t give a shit about what he’s saying right now. All I see is my girl holding hands with the guy who cheated on her. I can’t drag my eyes away.
Chills run up my spine when her eyes find mine. It’s as if she felt me looking at them. Her smile suddenly drops when she sees me.Shit. I give her a small smile, but she looks away and whispers something to Nick. She quickly bolts away in the opposite direction. I’ve never gotten up so fast in my life.
“Dude, I’ll be right back. I have some business to take care of.” Hunter snickers as I put down my marshmallow stick.
LEIA
I splash some water on my face.
If I hadn’t seen him for two weeks, I’d think he was following me.But of course, that’s a pipe dream.He wasn’t supposed to find me here. Oh man, but what did I expect? I’m at the most popular place near campus on the holidays. So him showing up is pretty normal.
God, I need to leave this bathroom. I’ve been in here too long. Nick will start wondering where I am. Gathering some courage, I open the door to leave. Only to find Jake standing in my way.
