Chapter 14

Faith

 

That seemed to make Mason happy.  He finally had some kind of edge over his brother.  I didn’t know what to do now.  Kyle had accused me of having a lot of sex and now I was.  Basically, I was having sex with both of them.  But who could choose?  They were both so great!

We were both lying there feeling so awesome.  I guess the smile disappeared from my face as I was thinking about both the brothers and choosing between them.

“What’s wrong?” asked Mason.

“Oh, nothing,” I said.  “Sorry, just---  Well, life is funny and complicated you know.  Not sure what to do now, but I kind of don’t care.”

“Yeah, I’m with ya,” said Mason.  “A few minutes ago, it seemed like my whole world was collapsing around me and now…  It doesn’t seem that bad.  I guess this is just what life is.”

“What’s that?”

“Beautiful moments stolen in between all the other ones that aren’t so beautiful,” he said.

“Are you a philosophy major?” I asked, smiling at him.  “Because that sounded pretty good.”

“No, I want to make some money when I get out of college,” concluded Mason, running his fingers through my hair.

“Where did your brother run off to, by the way?” I asked.  “He’s not coming back soon, is he?”

“I doubt it,” said Mason.  “He went drinking with the rest of the team.  Probably burning me in effigy right now.”

“It’s just one game, baby,” I assured him and kissed him on the cheek.  “You’ll bounce back.  You’re the quarterback now.”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking away.

“Hey, look at me,” I said, and he did so, blue eyes wide and questioning.  “Anyone that can fuck as good as you, can do anything!”

We laughed, but it was true.  I would be a billionaire if we could bottle that fuck and sell it.  It wasn’t even that Mason had a ton of experience or anything, he was just well built and eager.  I guess, in the end, that’s all you really need for an amazing sex session.  Twenty years from now, I certainly wouldn’t have any regrets about today!

After a few minutes of spooning, I decided to go.  I got out of the bed and had to peel some of the sheets off me.  Cleaning up, I got dressed and kissed Mason goodbye.

“You gonna be okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said.  “Thanks Faith.”

“Oh, no,” I assured him.  “Thank you.”

As I crossed the quad, I saw couples walking.  There were all kinds of couples on campus; gay, straight, mixed race---Then it started to dawn on me, I wasn’t part of that coupling.  I hadn’t made a choice between the brothers, I had just complicated everything.

Guess I was smiling and my face dropped, one of the maintenance guys noticed my distress.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m fine,” I said, trying not to cry.

He offered me a tissue.

“Oh, hey now, don’t cry,” he said.  “Why don’t you have a seat on that park bench?”

“Thanks, you’re very nice,” I said.  “I’m Faith.”

“Gregory,” he introduced.  “Hey didn’t I see you with the Cooper boys the other day?  Nice fellas.”

“Yeah, that’s sort of the problem,” I said.

“Oh?  Oh,” Gregory realized.  “You’re the girl.  Oh, boy.”

“I think I love them both,” I cried.  “How can I choose between them?”

“You love both of them?  Well, they are twins, so a part of me can see that,” he acknowledged.  “Which one asked you out first?”

“Well, Mason started to, then Logan actually did it,” I explained.  “But he got interrupted, but Mason apologized the next day.  Then he pretended to be my fiancé to make my ex-boyfriend mad.  I wanted to go to a party with him to rub my ex’s nose in it, but Mason couldn’t go.  Logan took his place and I didn’t know at first.”

“Holy cats!” said Gregory.  “You college kids sure know how to complicate things.  Whatever happened to just going on a date?”

“Oh, God,” I cried.  “I’m so stupid.”

“Well, it’s not like you---“

I gave Gregory a look and he got the message.

“Oh, boy,” he said.  “Girl I don’t know what to tell you.  I’d say follow your heart but, look where your heart got you.”

“I know!” I cried.  “I think the only fair thing to do is to break it off with both of them.”

“Now hold on now, you don’t have to do that,” said Gregory.  “There has to be a way to choose one.”

        “No, it wouldn’t be fair.  I should break it off tomorrow,” I insisted.  “Thanks for the tissue and for listening.”

“Good luck, Faith,” said Gregory.  “I hope things work out for ya.”

I went back to my room, got undressed and took a hot shower.  I almost didn’t want to wash the smell of Mason off of me, but I had to.  I had to stop reminding myself of that moment.  We had it and now it’s over.  It’s all over.

Coming back into my room in a towel, I looked at the crucifix in my room.  I tried praying.

“Please God,” I prayed.  “I don’t want to hurt Mason or Logan.  Please make it so I don’t and so they can go on to live their lives.  And please, help my family.  I know that’s partly for me so I can continue to go to college, but if you just give me one more year---  I can graduate and then get a good job and support them.  Please God.  Thank you.  Amen.”

I laid down on my bed and looked up at the ceiling.  I would have to apologize to Logan for having sex with Mason behind his back.  Maybe he wouldn’t be mad considering that he switched places with his brother.  I just hoped that Mason would understand.  He seemed so confident just a little while ago.  If he could bring that confidence to the field, then he’d be a great football player.

“This will all work out,” I said aloud.  “This will all work out somehow.”