“How’s Greta doing? I haven’t seen her in a while.” Tanner snuck up behind me as I took off walking. He was always such a quiet guy, despite his size.
“She’s the same.” I turned to him with an eyebrow raised. Greta, Tanner and I had been inseparable freshman year and now it seemed it was just Greta and me. Tanner was a brother from another mother, but he’d distanced himself and I had no idea why or how to ask about it. My drama made everything worse, and a tinge of regret filled me.
“I meant, how is she doing witheverything?”
I nodded, understanding his words.The fake arrangement.The third day of being in a fake relationship with Greta, our spunky third musketeer. “I haven’t seen her since Saturday, actually. I’m stopping by the bar tonight. I think she’s handling it well.”
He didn’t reply, instead twisting his mouth into a grimace. Then his expression changed and a smug smile appeared. “You used to fuck with the Kappas, right? Should I head to their summer bash or Thetas?”
“Tough call.” I thought about the last two years, how I’d acted and how I’d used my baseball status to hook up.God, I suck.“Kappas were clingy but easy on the eyes. Real easy. Thetas know how to drink, man. What kind of night are you wanting?” Our normal banter came back like nothing had changed. I went with it. I had enough shit going on in my mind that I couldn’t afford to worry about friendships.
“Like I need to say it? No promises, no relationships. I have all this energy and I want to release it.” He clapped his hands with a whistle and his gaze followed the girls who walked by us. “Damn. They were… Damn.”
“Must be getting close to move-in day.” I, too, had an energy I couldn’t explain even though my body had nothing left to give. It was a different type of energy. The kind I used to get the year before that caused me to party my ass off and sleep with anyone. I needed to get some control. I barely grasped it now.
“Hell, yeah it is. New girls, new meat. I can’t wait to explore the options. Man, I’m realizing that I didn’t take enough advantage of my baseball status the past two years, like you.”
“Pretty sure we have. Multiple times. Remember those girls who flashed us for no reason? That was great.” I closed my eyes, picturing it. “They were fucking hot.”
“Didn’t you sleep with two of them that night?” He laughed when I nodded. “Damn, you’re a dog, Aaron.”Yeah, I used to be.
Tanner and I played videogames for a good three hours before they began prepping to head to the party. I chose to run some errands but thought about Greta. I called her, even though I knew she hated phone calls.
“This better be good, pookie,” she answered, her annoyance clear as day.
“Hey to you, too, Pita.” I smiled, picturing her flipping me off. “I was actually calling to see if you wanted to run to the store with me. I’m running to get some food and shit. I know you don’t have a car.” I stayed in Park, waiting to see what direction I needed to head.
“Damn it. I hate it when you’re nice and I’m the asshole.” She covered the phone and said something to whoever she was with. “Sure. I could use some things.”
“Where you at? Home?”
“I’ll text you the address. Bye.”
I waited for a text to pop up and seconds later it did.Odd.I had never been to that area of town before and couldn’t wait to bombard her with questions. If she was somewhere dangerous again, I swore I’d lose it. My fingers hurt, I pressed so hard on the wheel.I’ll kill her. I mean it, too.
I followed the directions to an old music shop and nodded in understanding. She was here for the guitar parts and what not. I knew she had been wanting one for a while and I felt bad I hadn’t thought to get her one.
I texted her to come out, but I saw her through the window. She stood, confident as hell, her blonde locks hanging in loose curls down her back. I always thought hers was beautiful. I loved hair on women, the longer and curlier the better. It was a weakness of mine and about the only thing that differentiated girls for me. I was seconds away from honking when I saw a tall figure approach her. She smiled up at him and he bent in for a hug. His hands went around her to stay right above her ass.
Two things flew through my mind. The first waswho the fuck is this guy?The second,why do I want to punch his face?My grip tightened on the wheel and I took a deep breath, envisioning how good it would feel to sock him. This made zero fucking sense. I didn’t have time to react before she burst through the door with a wide smile. My eyes stayed on the guy, though.
“Hey, Hilly.” Her voice was a little breathless and her cheeks a little red. “Thanks for inviting me along. You know I always put off groceries until the last minute.”
“Sure.” I had no fucking reason to be mad at her. It was a hug. A fucking hug. I cleared my throat, forcing the irritation out of it. “What were you up to?”
“Ah, yes. The reasonable question. Let’s see…remember me saying a mutual friend owned a music shop?” She pulled her legs up so her arms were around them. She could fit about anywhere with her tiny build and I guess I’d never noticed before how small she was.
“Sure.” I racked my brain, not sure what she was talking about, when it hit me. “Wait. Yes. I recall that conversation. You found a nice guitar?”
“Yes.” She bit back a laugh and I looked over at her quickly. “I can come get it in two days. My fingers are dying to play. Did I tell you I played again Saturday?”
“Yeah?” I kept my eyes on the road, but glanced at her at the lights. Whenever she talked about music, her voice rose and got all giddy. It was cute. She gabbed and gabbed about playing and how Clyde wanted her to perform every week and he would pay her. I nodded, enjoying her company more than she knew.
“So, you’ll come?”
“Remind me what I’m agreeing to again.” My muscles clenched at how obvious my daydreaming had been. She knew me, though. She just hit my shoulder and scoffed. “Gabs, you talk a lot. I got lost.”
“You can be such a fuckstick.” She crossed her arms and chose to look out of the window rather than at my face.
