Five

Haley

Haley spent Sunday at home with her roommates. They baked cookies together, and Haley and Alice made an effort to avoid any boy talk. The strain was clear on Alice’s part; she was bursting with happiness and it was obvious she had to check herself not to smile and hum love tunes under her breath 24/7. For her part, Madison put on a brave face and let them organize the day for her.

But being a good friend had meant ditching her boyfriend for most of the weekend. So as she knocked on Scott’s door early on Monday afternoon, Haley was super eager to jump into his arms.

When he came to open the door, Haley’s breath caught in her chest.

That face. Those eyes. That mouth.

Despite the fact that they’d been dating for six months, he still had that effect on her. Today he was wearing a bright blue tank top that made his muscled arms stand out, a pair of white basketball shorts, and his feet were bare on the wooden floor. His dirty blonde hair was already streaked golden from the first real sun of summer, and he’d never looked better.

Scott smiled. “Hey.”

The smile brightened his entire face, from his sexy lips to his emerald green eyes.

“Hey, you,” Haley breathed when Scott hugged her.

He smelled like he always did: soapy, manly, delicious. But when Haley pressed her face into Scott’s chest, guilt suddenly flared through her. Haley was here in his arms, and Madison was at home, alone. They were in love with the same guy, and that was a problem without a solution. One of them would always end up being hurt. Unless, of course, one of them stopped loving him.

But how could you not love Scott? It was inconceivable. He was gorgeous, smart, kind, and sexy as hell. He was also a bookworm like Madison. They’d been sharing the same Lit classes for years. Haley could just picture her best friend adoring Scott from a distance, too shy to talk to him. She was equally glad and sad Madison had never mustered the courage to speak to Scott. If she had, Scott could’ve been Madison’s boyfriend now; they had so much in common. They both were words people, whereas Haley preferred numbers.

But, hey, opposites attract.

And as guilty as Haley felt, there was no way she would ever give up Scott.

He pulled her into the apartment and shut the door, his lips slowly making their way from her neck to her mouth.

“It’s only been a day, but I’ve missed you,” Scott whispered in her ear.

Haley mumbled something back, too distracted by the cute, tiny freckles scattered all over his shoulders. All she wanted to do now was take off his top and feel that hard chest pressed against hers as she dug her nails into his muscled back. She started kissing the freckles, one by one. And Scott must’ve been a mind reader, because in a swift move he took off the tank top, draping it over his other shoulder.

“Easy, tiger,” Haley joked, pushing him toward his room all the same.

He flashed her a grin. “From the way you’re looking at me, I thought you were the tiger.”

Yeah, that was exactly how she felt. Like a hungry cat ready to pounce.

Haley kicked the door shut and pushed Scott onto the bed. Then she almost jumped into his arms, losing herself in the kisses of the boy she loved so much. And at that moment there wasn’t space for anyone else in her mind. There were only Scott and his kisses.

***

The guilt waited until a couple of hours later to sneak back into Haley’s mind and start whispering in her ear about how selfish she was for being so utterly happy.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Scott asked.

They were cozied up on his bed. Haley had stolen his tank top—she loved wearing his clothes—which reached almost to her knees.

Basketball players are tall. Haley winked to herself for dating one who, at present, was left shirtless next to her.

Haley shuffled across the bed and dropped her head onto that beautiful, smooth-skinned chest. “Yes, sorry.” She kissed one of his flat-muscled pectorals. “I’m just a little distracted.”

A little distracted. That’s one way of putting it.

Haley was positively torn between two loyalties. On one side stood Scott. She wanted to tell him everything, not to keep secrets from him. But then there was Madison. Haley couldn’t expose her friend’s feelings to him. If the roles were reversed, Haley would be humiliated by his knowledge. Neither could she discuss how disgusting his brother’s behavior toward Madison had been when David had dumped her. She had to put Madison’s need for privacy before anything else; her best friend was fragile and needed to be protected. But it still sucked not being able to tell her boyfriend why she was in such a bad mood.

The front door slammed shut and Haley jolted in Scott’s arms.

“Sounds like my charming roommate is home,” Scott said.

The risk of bumping into David had been a calculated one when Haley had asked Scott to meet at his place. Better than Madison running into Scott at their apartment. Plus, Haley couldn’t make love to Scott with Madison in the adjoining room. It would break whatever was left of her friend’s heart.

“When is he moving out?” Haley asked. “I mean, isn’t school over? Shouldn’t he get on with his life, get a job somewhere, or something?”

Scott sighed. “I’m afraid that’s not David’s plan.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s doing a summer internship at an investment bank in downtown Boston, and he’s starting his MBA at Harvard Business School in the fall.”

“So he’ll be here for another two years.”

“Yep.”

“And he’s not moving out…”

“Nope. But at least he won’t be on the basketball team any longer. I’ll see him less than ever and so will you especially…”

It’d better be that way.

Haley wasn’t sure she could control her rage around David. There was something in him that made her go to extremes. She’d never thought she’d be able to loathe someone, really hate, but David had proved her wrong.

“…Would you want to go?”

Where?

Scott had kept on talking and was now looking at her expectantly. He wore a little frown, but was trying hard to smile as if he wanted to be casual about what he was asking, when in fact it was something he cared deeply about. But what was he asking?

“Go where? I’m sorry, I got lost in thought again.” Haley forced herself to stop twirling her hair and pay attention. “Where are you going?”

“Damn, you really are distracted.” Scott’s face fell with disappointment. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what it’s about?”

“I’m sure,” Haley said, and made a move-on-with-what-you-were-saying gesture while squeezing his hand to show him her worries did not concern their relationship.

Scott rolled his eyes, but he let it go. “I said that you’ll have to see even less of my brother if you come to California with me this summer.”

Haley’s chest contracted with sudden fear. “Since when are you spending the summer in California?” Haley disentangled herself from Scott’s arms to stare at him.

“I wasn’t until this morning.”

“What happened this morning?”

“I got this.” Scott handed her his phone, an email opened on the screen.

Haley quickly skimmed the text. It was an official acceptance notice for Scott to shadow a certain Dr. Kendrick Allen, a neurological surgeon.

“I know it’s last minute,” Scott said as Haley kept reading the details of the email. The internship started on June 20—only two weeks from today—and ended on August 26, the week before the fall term started. Two months without Scott. “But I never expected Dr. Allen to accept my application. This guy is like the best in his field, he’s leading this revolutionary research program on neuro—”

“I can’t come,” Haley interrupted him. “You know I’m taking summer courses.”

“I thought you were just considering it. You never told me you actually enrolled.” Scott’s eyes widened. “Summer School, huh?”

Haley stared at the bedspread, her finger picking at a loose thread. She knew Summer School sounded uncool. “I like the different crowd.” She shrugged. “And there’s always interesting people from all over the world with all these unique backgrounds and coding experience.”

Oh, hell. Did that come out as lame and geeky as it sounded in my head?

Scott lifted her chin with a finger. “Well, that settles it, then. I’m not going.”

“But it’s an incredible opportunity.”

“I have a backup internship in Boston. I never thought Dr. Allen would pick me.”

“Because he’s the best.”

“He is, but the doctor here in Boston is amazing too.”

“But not as great.” Haley sighed. She didn’t want Scott to go. But for him to lose such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because of her… “Two months isn’t a long time,” she lied.

Two months without him would stretch on for an eternity.

“Haley Thomas, I’m not going anywhere without you,” Scott declared. “I love you, and I don’t want to spend a single day apart. End of story.”

A warm fuzz threatened to turn Haley’s inside to jelly. Scott’s gaze was so intense, and he sounded so sure. She stared at the phone still clutched in her hand. Scott had until Friday to accept—or refuse. The offer would stand for four more days.

“Don’t reply today,” she said. He was about to protest, but she stopped him. “Please, take all the time you have to think about it. I want you to be sure. An opportunity like this is too important for you, for your future career. Take at least a couple of days to think it over.”

“I will, but I’m not moving to California without you.”

***

Dating varsity basketball players had its cons. Haley would’ve loved to spend the entire evening with Scott, but tonight he had to go meet a few of his teammates for an outdoor basketball game. Last winter, basketball had been the silent third wheel in their relationship and even now that the official Harvard Crimson team training had stopped for summer break, the game was still a huge part of Scott’s life. He spent almost as much time training now as during the regular season, and never missed an opportunity to play.

So, after spending every last possible second with Scott, Haley was running late. She’d just left his apartment and was hurrying home, wondering why phones had the special ability to lose themselves inside a woman’s bag.

Haley rummaged again in her maxi bag, but her hands kept coming in contact with all sorts of different things; everything but a phone. And she needed to call her mom ASAP. She could picture her mother already staring at her smartphone, fretting as she waited for Haley’s call.

Miranda Thomas was the techiest of her parents and the one who could always be relied upon to pick up whenever Haley called. She would then put the call on speaker for Haley’s dad to take part. Weekly calls were Haley’s special ritual with her mom and dad. She rang them every Monday and Friday night—and tried to never miss an appointment.

Haley rattled her bag and attempted another blind search, but with all the stuff cluttered inside, she couldn’t find the phone. Especially not while she was speed-walking across campus.

Frustrated, she stopped near a bench and, with a sigh, knelt next to it and up-ended the overfilled bag onto the seat. When something disappeared into the folds of her maxi bag, there was no other way of luring it out. But even after a forensic examination of all the objects scattered on the bench seat, her phone was still MIA.

A flashback of taking the phone out of her bag to check her texts and dropping it on Scott’s nightstand shot through Haley’s head. Unfortunately, there was no follow-up memory of taking the phone from the night table and putting it back into the bag.

Haley groaned, swatting the bench.

The phone was at Scott’s apartment, and Scott was at a game that would last at least two hours, maybe more. But Haley had to call her mom—she checked her watch—right now.

This left only one solution. After all, the other Williams brother was at home. Haley groaned again. She really didn’t want to confront David. Not today. Not ever. But what other choice did she have? She could hurry home and Skype her parents instead, but the thought of her phone being alone in the same house as David Williams gave her the creeps. And since her mom would probably call her way before she could get home and in front of a computer, David would know the phone was there because he’d hear it ringing.

Shoving everything back into her bag with a sweep of her arm, Haley got up and hurried back toward Scott’s house.