Page 77 of Without Bound
“And by cold weather you mean the high sixties that won’t hit until January?” She makes a face and points at me as if to say facts.
We walk in and find Mindy and Alyx standing in line.
“Hey. How’d y’all beat us here?” Key asks.
They spin around and lunge towards us. With big hugs, Mindy answers, “We were already at Fondren Library and it closes at noon, so we were just hanging around.”
“Where have you been stranger?” Alyx asks.
I shrug and tell her, “Just busy and spending a little time with my family.”
She nods her head but doesn’t seem like she totally buys my story. It doesn’t really matter because, though I’ve left out a few details, it’s the truth.
We get in line behind them and place our orders one at a time when we reach the counter. We grab our cups and numbers, and head off to fill our drinks and grab a table. We immediately begin catching up when we sit and are quickly interrupted by a boisterous voice.
“Hello ladies. Mind if we bring this table over to join you?”
I look up to find a few guys from the baseball team standing by our table, and recognize one of them as the guy in my class. He’s a flirt but nice, so we invite them to sit.
“Hey Ana. How have you been?” He asks me, and damn if I can’t remember his name.
“Good,” I tell him, his name finally coming to me. “Just been busy, Blake.”
“It sure seems like it. You’re always rushing off the minute class is over. I’ve been wanting to talk to you, but you’re always gone by the time I make it out of the classroom.” He leans closer towards me, resting his arm on my chair, and I move back slowly.
“I’ve been trying to squeeze in as much studying as possible because of my Uncle’s games. I like to be at as many as I can, and we usually do dinners the night before and hang out afterwards, so it takes up a lot of time.”
“That’s right,” he exclaims, sitting tall and giving me some room to breathe. “You and Coach are related to Phoenix West.”
“Well, technically only I am by blood. But he and Bishop have been best friends since college, so they consider the other family,” I explain, easing a little more into our conversation now that he seems harmless and maybe just a space invader.
We continue to talk about Bishop and Uncle Nix, then move into making fun of our professor who can’t seem to understand what a toothpick looks like because he walks in everyday with a piece of food stuck between his teeth. Half the time we’re watching that dangling morsel, trying to figure out what he had for breakfast that day, and end up missing half of the lecture as a result.
Our laughing draws a bit of attention despite the bustling restaurant as our table grows boisterous in the many conversations that seem to be going on at once. It feels good to just be a college student and not have to worry about hiding in the shadows for fear of someone seeing Bishop and me.
I want a relationship with Bishop more than anything, but I think I’ve forgotten who I am outside of it. Not that Bishop has asked that I sacrifice anything for him. He’s just not that type of man. It’s more so that I want so badly to be everything for him that I’ve neglected what I want.
I go back to focusing on my friends and I don’t notice how close we’ve all moved, trying to be heard over the chatter, until Blake’s arm is around my shoulders. His fingers are playing with the ends of my hair when I hear my name called over the loudspeaker.
“Anis your order is ready,” the woman calls, and of course she mispronounces it.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell the group and push up from my chair.
I turn around, a carefree smile on my face, and look up into the eyes of a man who looks like someone ran over his cat.
“Hey Coach. What’s up?” One of the players at our table calls out to him.
I approach him slowly, nerves building in my throat and practically choking me.
“Bishop. Wha-what are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d grab your favorite pizza and ask you to come by for a late lunch. Take a little study break.” His voice is low and a bit wounded.
“We were just taking a quick break and I–”
“What brings you here, Coach?” Blake walks up next to us and throws his arm around my shoulders, again, and I quickly move out of his space.
“Getting food. Isn’t that why people normally go to restaurants?” Bishop’s eyes never leave Blake’s arm from where it rested on my shoulder to where it now hangs limply at his side. “Anais, you should go get your order,” he tells me, the intensity of his eyes frightening.
