CHAPTER EIGHT
Natalia
The weekend at the club with the girls does not go as planned, at all. Luke shows up with a few of his friends after all, and my night is immediately ruined. I didn’t expect to see him here. The night is just supposed to be spent with our closest friends, not a group of hulking football players. Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who is behind it all—Samantha. I am so close to murdering my best friend, I’m surprised I don’t follow through, that’s how angry I am with her for interfering, again.
I have to watch every girl with a beating heart fawn all over Luke for what feels like the entire night. It is ridiculous. What makes matters worse is, I can’t understand why I am so pissed off. I mean, he is just my assignment partner for class. Why do I even care? But I do. I am so frustrated, I even resort to drinking. Alcohol and I do not mix well when paired with hot football players. I had to learn that the hard way.
By the end of the night, I am a slurring, angry mess of my normally composed self. To top it off, I piss off CJ and Aliza in the process, nearly breaking them apart. To say a night out at the club goes sour is putting it mildly. I’ve never felt more like an idiot than I do this weekend.
***
Today’s the day of Luke’s football game, and I can’t escape the fact that I’m nervous. I attempt to talk myself out of going at least a hundred times after the disaster at the club last Saturday. But ultimately, I decide to bite the bullet and just do it. I told him I would be there, so I’m going no matter what. This is the first college function that I’m going to, and I’m not entirely sure what to expect. College football is wild from what I’ve heard, and to top it off, I’m going alone. Sam and Aliza can’t come because of work, and now, I’m forced to do this like a loner.
I push past rowdy students in the Qualcomm stadium and try to find the section housing the people wearing our school colors. A large group of people wearing red and black catch my attention, and I navigate my way through the wild crowd toward a semi-empty row of seats. Elbows and bodies slam into me as I walk past people, trying to make my way through the crowded stadium.
“Oops. Excuse me,” I mumble every time I bump into someone. It doesn’t matter anyway. Even with my apologies, no one cares if you crash into them. They’re only worried about getting to their spots to watch the game. I squeeze my way into an open section, looking for a seat. I jolt back in surprise as a die-hard fan with face paint jumps in front of me.
“Go Aztecs!” he yells at the top of his lungs. The jugular vein in his neck bulges, and I’m half surprised he doesn’t spontaneously combust on the spot. My eyes widen in shock at his display of support as I squeeze past him to the nearest empty seat.
What the hell have I just walked into? The people here are living in an alternate universe.
Plopping down in the seat, I give a little sigh of relief. My view isn’t bad. I can see the players practicing on the field decently. I scan the guys on the field, looking for the jersey with the number six. When I see Luke, a smile tips the corners of my lips. A group of girls seated ahead of me catch my attention with their loud giggling. The number six is painted on their faces. I roll my eyes at Luke’s bevy of supporters. Such a man whore.
I try to keep up with what’s going on in the game, but I have no idea what’s happening half the time. The announcer and the camera crews are distracting enough. Topped with the screaming fans, I’m half tempted to cover my ears from the level of noise. I can hardly tell if Luke is doing good or not, but I assume he is. Every time he gets the ball and throws it, the crowd screams wildly. He even runs into the end zone a few times with the ball. At least I think that’s what it’s called. My knowledge on football is non-existent. I couldn’t really care less about sports, if I’m being honest. The blowing of a whistle and the deafening cheering of the crowd signals the end of the game. Fans jump around hugging each other like they just won a million dollars. It’s ridiculous. The football players slowly walk off the field, and the stands filled with people start to clear out.
I walk out of the crowded stadium and try to find my car. The parking lot is huge. I could’ve sworn I’ve spotted my car at least four times already, though none were mine. Continuously clicking the alarm signal, I try to locate my car by the flashing lights and the horn. My phone vibrates in my pants pocket, ruining my concentration on the rows of cars. Sighing, I dig my cell out of my pocket. My brows pinch together when I see the name that’s flashing on my screen. Luke Caldwell. Why is he calling me?
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” His voice is breathy like he’s been running. He just played a football game, idiot.
“I’m in the parking lot, walking to my car. Why?”
“Alright,” he says breathlessly. “Stay there. I’ll find you.”
He hangs up before I can even get one word in. Dropping the phone from my ear, I look down at the black screen and frown.
Not even five minutes later, Luke comes sprinting toward me. He’s no longer in his uniform. Instead, he’s wearing one of his signature Aztec’s shirts and ripped jeans.
“C’mon, we’re going to a party tonight,” he says in passing as he walks down the aisle of cars. I follow with a frown on my face, dread consuming my body at his words.
“Whoa, wait a minute. Who’s going to a party?”
Luke navigates through the aisles, easily finding my car, and I gape at him.
“Us,” he tosses over his shoulder as he walks around my car to the passenger seat. I quicken my pace, nearly chasing after him.
“What the hell are you talking about? You’re crazy if you think I’m going to a party. With you.” The incredulity in my voice is evident. We stare at each other intently over the hood of my car as we wait for someone to break first. A slow, knowing smile spreads across his face, and I frantically shake my head.
“No. No. No. Not happening. Nope.”
His smile deepens, revealing his dimples, and I grind my teeth together in irritation. His eyes dart to the car pointedly. With a groan, I unlock the doors. Before we’re even comfortably seated, I’m already shaking my head.
“I’m not going to a party, Luke. That’s final.” I grip the steering wheel tightly and keep my eyes focused ahead—unwavering on my decision.
No parties.
Thirty minutes later, I pull the car to the curb and park on the crowded street. Tons of cars and scantily clad girls are everywhere. I pull the key out of the ignition in a huff and shove open the driver’s side door.
“Oh c’mon, Natalia. It’s not that bad. It’ll be fun, I swear.”
I swing my murderous gaze toward him threateningly. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut the hell up, Luke.”
He makes a concerted effort not to laugh, but the twitching of his lips is enough to let me know it’s not working. Asshole.
“And by the way,” I say menacingly. “You smell like a jock strap. It’s disgusting.”
Luke tosses his head back and laughs hysterically.
“God, you’re so bad at insults. It’s comical really. Now stop stalling and let’s go.” He grips my hand and leads me toward the party. I glare up at him, hoping I’ll burn him to a crisp with my stare. It doesn’t work.
A sense of déjà vu hits me like a tidal wave. The loud party goers on the front lawn. The open front door blaring hip hop music. The half-dressed girls pining for attention—it’s all too familiar. Except this time, instead of being invisible or receiving odd looks, people are greeting me, all thanks to the star beside me. Luke. He gets slaps on the back, cheers, even high-fives.
Seriously? Is this what it’s like for him? I mean, everyone here is treating Luke like he’s a famous movie star, or an actual professional football player. It’s crazy.
The one thing that hasn’t changed are the dirty looks from the girls—which have now intensified tenfold—all thanks to the fact I’m standing next to Luke. Girls eye me up and down disapprovingly.
Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Luke leads me into the house, not once letting go of my hand. Under normal circumstances I’d be a little embarrassed and pissed off, but right now I’m just thankful. There’re so many people here, it’s hard to breathe. I’m not normally an anxious person, but being here right now, with all these strangers, I’m freaking the hell out. I’m afraid my arm will be yanked right out of its socket, and my hand will slip out of his—then I’ll likely be swallowed by the crowd. I won’t be surprised if my shoulders are bruised by the end of the night with all the jostling around. There are so many people in here, I’m sure this is somehow a fire hazard.
We stop every few steps to talk to someone else or listen as someone congratulates Luke on his performance. He looks down at me and grimaces in apology. I roll my eyes playfully and nudge him in his side so he knows I’m not mad anymore. He navigates through people and sweaty dancing couples until we reach a group of guys I vaguely recognize as his friends.
“The man of the hour has arrived!” one of them shouts and playfully pulls Luke into one of those guy arm hugs with a slap on the back. Real manly. I immediately recognize him as the guy I insulted at the first party. Shaun, I think his name was. Shaun is the definition of a beefcake. With long blond hair, broad shoulders, and a tree-log for a neck, he looks like a surfer on steroids.
“And you bought your bestie. Look at that, how cute,” Shaun says mockingly.
I dart my gaze to Luke who rolls his eyes and says, “Fuck off, asshole.”
“Be careful Shaun. Wouldn’t want her to roast you in front of everyone like she did at the last party,” Drew says. Shaun’s face sours as he shifts his gaze to mine. He throws his heavy arm around my shoulder and pulls me in for a friendly hug.
“Natalia and I have put the past behind us. We’ve let bygones be bygones. We’re pals now, aren’t we?” He smiles down at me pointedly.
“You smell like a dirty armpit, Shaun.”
All the guys howl with laughter, and Shaun narrows his eyes at me in irritation. He stalks away, flipping us all off, mumbling about finding a hot piece of ass.
“Did you want to drink anything?” Luke asks as he chugs the liquid in his red plastic cup.
“No thanks. One of us here has to be the responsible one.”
“Oh c’mon, Natalia. It’s just one night. Let loose and have fun.”
I narrow my eyes at him and grumble, “This isn’t exactly my idea of fun, Luke.”
His smile instantly falls, and he gets serious. “If you want to go, just say the word and we’ll leave. I just wanted to have fun with you tonight.”
I open my mouth to say something, but come up short. What the hell am I supposed to say to that? Anything I say will make me come off as a total bitch.
Just as I’m finally about to say something, I hear the one voice that grates on my nerves like no other.
“Luke!” Gina squeals. I roll my eyes in irritation as Gina turns into a school girl with a crush. It’s pathetic. She tries to rub herself on Luke, but he ignores her completely, turning to me.
“C’mon, I think I see someone I know over here.” He grips my hand in his and pulls me after him. My hand tingles at his warm touch, and I suck in an inaudible breath while my stomach flips. The delightful, yet foreign, sensation shoots up my arm straight into my chest cavity. I look back over my shoulder and stare into the enraged face of my sister. I’ve seen that look many times before, and it can it only mean one thing. Trouble. If Gina doesn’t get her way, she’ll do everything she can to get what she wants. Even if it means hurting me—or anyone else—in the process.
I close my eyes, taken back to a childhood memory.
I sling my backpack over my shoulder and freeze when I see an angry Gina stalking toward me. Blowing out a sigh, I shift on my white tattered Converse and prepare myself for her inevitable wrath.
“Really, Natalia. Michael Woods? Are you fucking kidding me!”
I roll my eyes at her. Michael Woods was a senior at our high school, and for a short time, he was Gina’s fuck-buddy. A few weeks after they broke off their arrangement, Michael tried talking to me more and more after school each day. It finally dawned on me that he was either trying to win a bet with his friends for sleeping with two sisters, or he was trying to make Gina jealous. It could’ve been the former or the latter. I was only a freshman who hung out with the nerdy group at school, so I know he wasn’t interested in me. There was no way someone as popular as Michael would stoop low enough to talk to the nerdy freshman.
“Gina, I don’t know why you’re angry about Michael. He asked me out to the movies and I said no. You know I would never be interested in him. Plus, you’re my sister, that’s just weird.” I shiver at the thought of sharing Gina’s sloppy seconds.
“You are such a filthy little liar,” she scoffs, staring down at me with a look of hatred. “He said you let him kiss you. I always knew you were a little slut, Natalia, but this time, you’ve taken it too far. You’re going to pay for messing with what’s mine.” There’s a sinister promise in her voice that sends a shiver of dread down my spine. Fire roars behind the thin film of her eyes, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, something bad is coming.
I still remember the catastrophic events of my sister’s rage. One day after coming home from school, I walk into my bedroom only to find it trashed. It looked like a cyclone had a field day in the only place that felt like a safe haven. My dresser lined with body sprays and homework, trashed. My makeshift library filled with all of my favorite paperbacks, trashed. My closet that I painstakingly color-coded, trashed. But what hurt the most was the prized box of photos my father gave me of my mother. Every single one was ripped in half, or torn into little pieces. It was carnage, seeing the only pieces—the only connections I had left of my mother torn so carelessly. Gina only left three photos untouched, and that was because I always kept those beneath my pillow.
“Shit that was close,” Luke says, blowing out a sigh of relief and snapping me out of my thoughts. I laugh at the stricken look on his face, trying to forget about the painful memory.
Luke seems so put off by my sister, it’s almost comical. Most guys can’t keep their eyes off her, but Luke acts like he couldn’t care less. And I hate to admit it, but I like that. A lot.
“You realize now that she’s seen us her together, she’s going to assume the worst, right?”
Luke drains the contents of his cup, never once looking away from me.
“Let her,” he says with a shrug. I balk as I gape at him.
“She’ll think we’re friends, or worse, she’ll think we’re banging each other.” I don’t try to mask the distaste in my voice.
“And that’s a problem because…? I thought we were friends.”
“Are we friends, Luke? I don’t know anything about you, just like you don’t know anything about me. You’re my class partner. Last time I checked, friends don’t try to make each other miserable. They’re supposed to be trustworthy and know almost everything about each other.”
His brows pinch together, and his face sours. I suck in a breath, suddenly feeling really, really bad for what I just said.
That came out so wrong.
“Luke, I—”
“Don’t apologize, you’re right. We’re just classmates. Not friends. Glad we’re on the same page.” There’s an edge to his voice I haven’t heard before, and I know it’s because I’ve pissed him off. He opens his mouth like he’s going to say something more, but purses his lips thoughtfully instead. “Enjoy your night, Natalia.”
He shoulders past me, and I’m left feeling even worse than I did when we walked into the party.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I search for Luke for what feels like hours, but can’t find him anywhere. I hope to God he didn’t leave me here at this damn party, then I remember I drove my own car, so technically, I’d be leaving him. Just the thought of trying to get out of this party alone is enough incentive to make me want to stay—and if I’m really being honest, I don’t want to leave things with Luke the way they are now. I need to fix this.
I’m just turning the corner of the hall when I smack into a bony shoulder.
“Owww!”
“Good. Just the person I was looking for,” Gina sneers. “We need to talk.”
I internally groan. This is not good.
I follow my sister into a quiet corner of the party. But really, it’s not all that quiet. We have to yell to hear each other over the music.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here with him?” The contempt in her voice can’t be missed, and if I’m not mistaken, she actually sounds jealous. Score one for Natalia.
“He invited me to the game, Gina. We’re working on an assignment together, and he asked me to come here with him. No big deal.” I shrug my shoulders. She takes a step closer, narrowing her eyes.
“I don’t believe you.”
I roll my eyes. “Seriously, what is there not to believe? We’re…friends.”
Gina scoffs. “This is typical Natalia. Always chasing after everything that’s mine.”
My eyes widen and I back away from her. “Are you seriously making this about you right now, Gina? I don’t even like the guy, and he sure as shit doesn’t like me. I’m not that incapable of finding a man that I need to run after your sloppy seconds.”
“You can’t handle the fact that everyone always wants me instead of you. I’m the cool sister, and you just can’t handle it, so what do you do? Sabotage my relationship with Luke. He won’t even answer my calls because of you!”
Her last comment has me seeing red. My anger bubbles over, getting the best of me. “What relationship?” I shout running my hand through my hair in frustration. “Luke said that was a lie, you were never even an item, you just wiggled your way into his arms when he was drunk. I mean seriously who does that? You took advantage of him!”
She narrows her eyes at me, taking a threatening step toward me. “Stay the hell away from him.”
“Or what?”
“You’ll regret it,” she sneers.
“He’s my friend. Last I recall, I can make friends with whomever I want,” I say with steel in my voice.
“You’re playing with fire, sister.”
“You don’t intimidate me, Gina. We’re not little kids anymore.”
She smiles at me like the cat who got the cream, and walks away without another word. A strange sense of foreboding overwhelms me. I wasn’t lying when I said I wasn’t afraid of my sister anymore, but still, I don’t like the smile she gave me. It’s almost like it was promise that this wasn’t over. I knew coming here with Luke was a bad idea. Gina thinks he’s her property, which is insane, but that can only mean bad things for me. She’s delusional and unwillingly to give him up, even if we are just friends. I groan. God, I hope he’ll still be my friend after what I said. I need to find him.
I shove my way through throngs of people in search of Luke, but come up short. Craaap. I ask everyone and don’t get any useful information until I run into Drew.
“Drew!” I yell, clasping my hand on his arm. His eyes flick to mine, then the hand firmly placed on his arm. His eyes burn into mine, and I immediately let go.
“Have you, uh, seen Luke anywhere by chance?” I stumble.
“Yeah, he’s out back. He’s not really in the best of moods, so you might want to give him his space,” he warns, and I immediately deflate. Crap. I did this.
“That’s probably my fault.”
Drew’s dark eyes burn into me, and he runs a hand over his buzzed-cut head. He looks like he wants to say something but changes his mind and doesn’t. He turns away from me without another word, and I’m already halfway out the back door looking for Luke.
I spot him immediately. He’s leaning against the railing at the side of the house with a plastic cup tightly gripped in his hand. I cautiously walk toward him, seemingly unsure of myself. I lean on the railing next to him, staring at the side of his profile. Copper colored hair frames his ruggedly handsome face. The muscles in his jaw work back and forth as he grinds his teeth together.
“Hey,” I say quietly, voice unsure.
“Hey, classmate,” he says without looking at me, taking a drink from his cup. I blow out a sigh, and twist toward him.
“Luke…I didn’t mean what I said earlier, okay?”
“Yeah, you did.”
“Okay I did, but I didn’t mean it the way you took it. It came out all wrong. It was insensitive of me to say we’re just classmates, because that’s not true. You really are a friend. I guess I just freaked out because I didn’t want to stir the pot with Gina. Too late for that now.”
His eyes narrow and he shifts toward me. The moon and the lights attached to the house illuminate his face.
God, he’s handsome.
“What happened?”
I blow out a sigh and smile scornfully. “What do you think? She threatened me. Pretty much said I ruin everything and try to sabotage everything in her life, and apparently, she thinks you’re her property.”
“God, your sister is fucking mental.”
I choke on a laugh. He’s never been more correct. “Yeah, I know,” I say sadly. “Are we okay?” I search his eyes for any lingering anger or resentment, but see none. Thank goodness. He licks his lips and smiles, revealing those dimples that I love.
“Yeah, we’re good. Come here.” Luke reaches for me, and to my surprise, he pulls me in for a hug. I slam stiffly into his body, but it only takes seconds for me to go limp and compliant in his arms. His woodsy scent infiltrates my senses and I find myself burrowing my face in his firm chest, and squeezing my arms around him tightly. This is dangerous territory for “friends” but in this moment, I can’t care less. All that really matters right now is how safe I feel in Luke’s arms.