Page 6 of Tequila & Lace
“Shh, Amber, Nessa is telling me something important. Go on,” I promoted.
“You know you can’t get enough of me,” she whispered. “So if we aren’t living together,” I let her continue, but I knew what she would say because we’d already had a similar conversation. We were in love and I wanted to live with her. I didn’t care about living on campus. I wanted to be withher. I could still go to parties, still hang with friends, hang with teammates. We could find an apartment close to campus. “You’ll be sleeping less because you’ll have to commute all the time.”
“I like where your head is at, and I like what you’re thinking rightnow.”
She smirked. “How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Please, sunshine. I know everything about you.” I kissed her lips briefly.
“Seriously, get a room,” Amber groaned.
“We can find a place close to campus. It won’t be bad. Trust me.”
She smiled before she agreed and then kissed me quickly and turned back around in my arms. We stayed like that the rest of our lunch break while the group chatted about the game and weekend plans. When the bell rang, Vanessa handed me a folded up piece of paper.
“Can’t wait to see you kick ass tonight! Maybe after, I’ll let you smack mine.”
A million thoughts ran through my head. Okay two: doggie or anal. I was down for either.
The Friday night lights shined down on the brown leather pigskin between my gloved fingers as I ran, dodging the blur of white and missing the body that tried to tackle me as I made my way toward the end zone. With each stride, I breathed in the cool sea breeze coming from the Pacific Ocean just a little over a block away.
I dodged another tackle before meeting the safety head on at the goal line. Our helmets clashed together, vibrating against my skull and causing me to lose focus for a slight second. I powered through, spinning and falling over the white line to make another touchdown. The crowd went wild, the cheers deafening, but there was just one I cared about. After I stood and tossed the football to the referee, I scanned the bleachers for my girl.
The moment my eyes locked with hers, it confirmed something was wrong. I’d noticed something was off every time I’d looked at her during the game. She wasn’t cheering, she wasn’t laughing with Amber, and she wasn’t bright like the sun—my sunshine. Vanessa was only clapping with the crowd and giving me a tight smile. Something was definitely wrong and I didn’t like it.
What the fuck?
I wanted to run up and ask, but I couldn’t. We were in the fourth quarter with only four minutes left. I would get answers soon enough, though. Every Friday night after our home games, we went across the street to the beach to celebrate allmytouchdowns.
Tonight would be no different.
After all, I had three to celebrate—so far.
“PJ!” Marcus yelled, slapping me on the back. “Nice game.”
I gave him a nod as I scanned the crowd of bodies, searching for my girl. Most home games were the same: we won, and then the school came across the street to celebrate with a bonfire. We would have a few kegs in the back of trucks that were easy to drive off with if the cops showed up, and we’d all drink until we couldn’t feel the cold California breeze any longer. A few would light up or smoke weed, but I wasn’t into that shit. I was more or less a superstar for Malibu High; an athlete with a full ride to UCLA and graduating this year. I couldn’t chance anything happening.
My gaze continued to scan the crowd as best I could in the dark, the only light coming from the orange flame of the fire burning and the moon. I didn’t see Vanessa or Amber anywhere.
“Bro, that was sick at the end how you just plowed through that dude for your fourth TD of the night,” Clint, another classmate, beamed, reaching out his hand to bring me in for a bro hug.
“Thanks, man.” I smiled. “Have you seen Nessa?”
“Yeah, I think I saw her go down to the water.”
“Cool.” I clapped him on the back and started to jog around the people and through the sand until I got in the clear. I looked right and then left, but didn’t spot her. I was about to turn around and go back when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her and Amber sitting on a rock to my left, not near the water at all. I jogged over to them.
“Hey, sunshine, you okay?” I asked, kneeling down so I was eye to eye with her.
She looked to Amber before turning toward me. “We need to talk.”
“Do you want me to stay?” Amber asked.
Why the fuck would Amber need to stay for me to talk to my girlfriend?
Vanessa shook her head. “No, I’ll be okay.”
“What’s going on?” I asked as Amber walked away. Vanessa looked to her right and then back to me, her glassy brown eyes looking into mine.
