Page 42 of Hitting the Goal Line
“Because knowing Sophia, she’s hungry right about now. She has to eat. We were just at a restaurant, why not take her food?” It’s not that complicated to understand, I want to add but I don’t.
“Her dad could have taken her the food,” Gwen adds, annoyance clear in her voice.
I try my hardest not to roll my eyes at her. “Yeah, but her dad was going home and I’m already going to the same damn building. It doesn’t take much for me to go up two floors and deliver food to her.”
When we first came to Montana State, Sophia, and I both got assigned to the same dormitory. When our first year ended, we talked about possibly finding somewhere else to live because living in the dorms was not for us. We found a building a few minutes off campus that had two vacancies. We threw around the idea of living together, but ultimately decided not to. Things still felt fresh between us from the summer before. And I think we both knew if we did move in together then, something might happen between us and we couldn’t go down that line again.
So we talked to a few friends and now just live in the same building but different apartments.
“I just think it’s too much. She can order something herself and have it delivered by someone else. Why do you have to take her something?” Gwen asks, the annoyance growing stronger and stronger.
She’s not the only one getting annoyed here.
“Because she’s my best friend. She would have done the same thing for me if I hadn’t gone,” I answer, trying to keep myself controlled, so that I don’t blow up on her for acting like a brat. “What’s with you today?”
Has she always acted this way toward Sophia or is today just a special day?
I look over just in time to see Gwen give me a shrug. “I just think you are doing too much for her. Like I get she’s your best friend and everything, but you don’t need to take care of her twenty-four seven. She’s a big girl.”
“I know that,” I say as I turn the truck to head toward the school.
“Do you? Because it’s always, Sophia this, Sophia that. Everything is always about Sophia. She texts you all the time and if she isn’t texting, she’s calling. As your girlfriend, it’s pretty annoying when you have to compete with another girl to get your attention. I swear, it’s like she’s in love with you or something.” Gwen lets out a huff, as if she has been holding all that in for a long time, and she’s finally getting it all out.
Is she seeing something that I’m not? Because it’s been a long time since Sophia spent all day texting me and calling me. I honestly can’t remember the last time she called me and we talked on the phone for hours. It’s been a few weeks, that’s for sure. Yes, we spend time together and yeah, I do things for her but nothing over the top. Sophia would do the same thing for me. It’s nothing special.
Soph and I are close. There is no difference between my relationship with Sophia and Gwen’s relationship with her sorority sisters.
“Do you have a problem with her and I being friends?” I ask, probably already knowing the answer to the question but needing confirmation of it either way.
Gwen stays quiet, keeping her eyes on the outside and not turning to look at me at all.
I guess that’s my confirmation, because if there wasn’t a problem, she would have said something.
Given where I want to take my career in the next few weeks, I don’t have the time to deal with the fact that my girlfriend hates my best friend.
“Alright then,” I say, making a turn up ahead that will take us to Gwen’s sorority house and not my apartment building.
“Where are we going?” she asks, breaking her silence. When I pull up to the sorority house, she gives me a look like she doesn’t know what is happening.
She knows, she just wants me to say it.
“I’m bringing you home,” I say as I put the truck in park.
“Why? I thought we were going to hang out tonight.” She sticks out her lip and gives me puppy dog eyes.
Any other night, I would have gone with her act. I would have felt bad and gone back to my place, but I’m not up to that right now. Not when I want to find out what is going on with Sophia and Gwen has started to piss me off with her dislike toward my best friend.
“I’m not feeling it tonight,” I answer, not giving her much else.
“You mean, you are choosing her over me,” Gwen concludes, giving me an eye roll.
“I didn’t say that, but it’s clear you don’t want to see her, so I’m dropping you off and then going to take her the food that I bought her.”
“And then do what? Spend the night with her?” Gwen spits out, getting angrier by the second.
She can’t honestly believe that I’m going to cheat on her with Sophia. Yes, we’ve slept together, but Gwen doesn’t know about that. But just because that happened, that doesn’t mean that weare doing every chance we get. It’s not like that between the two of us. Even if things were like that, I’m not a cheater and I will never be.
I feel my jaw tick as I answer her question. “No. I’m not going to spend the night with her. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I do know that I need space from you tonight. So get out of the car, leave the food, and go inside.”
