Chapter 14

Drew

Drew: You up?

I stare at the screen and the message I sent Bella three hours ago. She still hasn’t responded, and the hope that she’ll get back to tonight is slowly dissipating. She’s not ignoring me. I know she’ll be asleep. After living with her for the last few days, I know she’s lights out with her mouth wide open by ten, and it’s eleven now, but I couldn’t come here any earlier in case her dad caught me. I contemplate sending another message but stop myself because I risk looking like one of those desperate Tate Sorenson fans. They always look a little unhinged as they stand outside the stadium for hours, waiting for just a glimpse of him.

Rubbing my face, I look out the car window, wondering if this was a smart move. I should have left already; it’s been over an hour, but something about our situation makes me want to stay.

Buzz. Buzz.

I nearly jump out of my skin when I feel the vibration of my phone.

Finally!

Bella: Is that you, Drew?

Drew: Yes. Who else would be texting you at this time from an unknown number?

Bella: I don’t know. Maybe one of those guys I’ve been talking to online.

Drew: What guys?

My jaw’s ticking because it seems it doesn’t matter what age we are. I am always competing for Little Miss Coach’s Daughter’s attention, and something about this time riles me up more than usual. Probably because I know what she tastes like now and I’m not about to give up on her so easily.

Bella: Guys you don’t know about. You may have been cockblocking me with the football team, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been talking to others.

I smirk, because that immediately dulls any simmering tension. She’s doing this on purpose. She’s trying to rile me up. There’s no way any guys are texting her, especially on the campus app. Everyone knows exactly who she is, and they’re too afraid of her daddy to make a move.

Bella: How did you even get my number, anyway? I didn’t give it to you.

I shake my head at the audacity of this girl. I’ve had my dick, tongue, and fingers inside her, yet she still wants to treat me like she doesn’t want me to do it again.

Drew: I’ve always had it.

Bella: Not an answer. You still somehow got it at some point.

Drew: I got it in high school. Did I forget to mention that I had some crazy plan on asking you to our junior prom?

Bella: Another day, another fake declaration of love. Don’t know why you’re so hellbent on making me believe there was something between us in high school when you dated every other girl but me. Besides, I remember junior prom very well. You took Becca Sinclair and did one of those embarrassing promposals.

I huff out an amused breath because if I was asked off the cuff, I wouldn’t remember Becca’s last name. But she did. Maybe it’s not just me that’s been harboring an unhealthy obsession with the other. It’s just I’m the only one willing to admit it.

Drew: It’s not a lie, B. In hindsight, I realize it was a stupid idea, but what can I say? I was a smitten ball player, crushing on the coach’s daughter and had probably taken too many knocks in the head to realize what a stupid idea it was.

Drew: I had my whole promposal for you planned out. Painted the words, ‘Bella, will you tackle prom with me?’ on our championship winning football because I saw it worked for some dudes on Pinterest, and Haydee said it was a great idea.

The read receipts pop up, so I know she’s seen it. Then bubbles indicating she’s typing pop up, only to go away just as quickly. She starts typing again, but I get nothing. Maybe I’ve finally made her speechless. Fine, she needs a little prompting.

Drew: Can you imagine my disappointment when I saw you strutting in and hanging off Jimmy’s arm, wearing that green dress? Dude couldn’t even throw a ball, yet you were all giddy and excited about it. I had to repaint the ball so the l’s looked like c’s just to save myself from embarrassment, and I could ask Becca.

Bella: If that’s true, why didn’t you ask me before Jimmy did?

Drew: See, that’s the crappy part. I told Jimmy my plan, even showed him the ball, and the next day, it was all over the school that you were going with him. I didn’t talk to him for a month after that stupid stunt.

Bella: I thought you stopped talking because he wouldn’t let you copy his answers in physics.

Drew: Is that what he told you?

Bella: Yeah.

Drew: Typical. Steals my girl and then turns me into the villain.

Bella: Only you would turn a booty call into a pity party.

Drew: Is that what you think this is? A booty call?

Bella: Why else would you be texting me so late when you ignored me when I left?

And there it is. The reason I’m getting the snark from Bella. She’s pissed that I waited a few hours to text. Sue me. I didn’t want Coach Summers to see my name brandished across her phone straight after leaving her. I could tell he suspected something was up when he walked into my bedroom, and I didn’t want to stoke that fire.

Drew: I wanted to talk to you.

Bella: If you wanted to talk, you would have called.

Throwing my head back in exasperation, I contemplate throwing my phone in the snow as it would be less infuriating than trying to talk sense into this girl.

Drew: I’ve done something better. I’m outside.

Bella: Outside where?

Drew: Your dad’s house. I found a pair of shorts stuffed down the side of the couch and thought I’d bring them to you.

Bella: Do you need me to let you in?

Drew: That’s where this gets tricky. I already went to the door, and your dad answered, looking suspicious. When he took the shorts, I couldn’t exactly ask to see you since he still thinks you hate my guts.

Bella: How do you know where my dad lives?

Drew: We’ve celebrated a lot after games here.

Bella: Okay, well, since you know it so well, go around the back. I’m staying in the bedroom in the basement. I think Dad’s already in bed. I can let you in, and he’ll never know.

Drew: See you in a sec.

I stuff my phone in my pocket and rub my hands together, hoping to get some warmth back into my fingertips. Blowing out a few long breaths, I take some sharp inhales, the same way I would before a big game. Bella’s not a game, though. She’s more important than that, and I don’t want to fuck it up. Not with her. Not when I’m finally getting the chance.

I peer out of my front window and check out the sleepy neighborhood only five minutes from campus. There’s still a thick layer of snow on the ground, but now that the blizzard has stopped, there’s a bigger potential for black ice hidden under the thick sheets. Most people aren’t stupid enough to drive through these conditions, let alone walk around at night, but here I am doing both. For a girl that potentially hates me, but loves to fuck me.

As I step out of my car, I’m fully aware of the loud crunching my big body makes against the snow, so I slow down. I need to take my time because I don’t want Coach to see me. He mentioned he owned an assault rifle once, and I’d rather not test out the truthfulness in that statement tonight.

Skittering across the house and around the backyard, I make sure no one sees me. Bella’s waiting at the door when I get there. A weary smile covers her face, and she looks exhausted, but my heart is full because she’s wearing my shirt. One I hadn’t realized she’d stolen.

The wind blows through her blonde locks when she opens the door and breathlessly calls my name. Standing in front of her, I do what comes naturally. I hug her and place a gentle kiss on her cheek. She pulls back, seemingly surprised by the gesture, but smiles nonetheless.

Bella takes my hand and silently leads me to the room she’s staying in for the next week. She shuts the door and sits on the bed, watching me expectantly. Does she want me to make good on that apparent booty call? My eyes drift to the ceiling as I contemplate whether I’m willing to take that chance with her dad and my mentor upstairs.

Come to think of it. What the hell am I even doing here? She’s my coach’s daughter, and we aren’t in high school anymore. I’m in college, trying my best to get into the NFL, and the one man that holds a candle to my future is the one I’m lying to.

But then I see her bite her lip and gulp.

It’s her. It’s always been her, whether I like to admit it or not. She’s had a hold on me that no one else comes close to having.

“Hey,” I whisper.

“Drew.” She purses her lips, focusing on her hands instead of me. I’ve noticed that’s something she does whenever she’s nervous. “What brought you here?”

“Figured we should talk about…things.” Why are we both so bad at this? Is it because neither of us wants to show our hand first? I’ve made it pretty clear I want her, but she’s the one that literally took the plunge with the whole bathtub thing. It’s my turn to return the favor by coming here tonight.

“Yeah, things.” That doesn’t sound promising, and my body deflates because I can already predict what will happen.

“Here we go.” I sigh, running my hand through my hair before crossing my arms as I wait for her to tell me exactly how she feels.

She finally pops her bottom lip out and says, “I just don’t think anything can happen between us.”

There it is. I should have expected it from the first kiss. She’s just not that into me. “But something has already happened between us.” What am I fighting for? She hasn’t wanted me since high school, yet my pride can’t let her admissions go.

Bella draws in a sharp breath and leans her hands onto the bed. I hold back the urge to rush toward her and kiss the shit out of her, just to prove that she feels as much as I do. “Why are you acting like this, B?”

“Like what?”

“Like this thing between us is no big deal?”

She turns her head to look out the window, refusing to make eye contact with me. “You and I don’t fit, Drew.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what you think it does. You’re my dad’s protégé, and he’s got a temper hotter than the Florida summer. I can tell you right now that he won’t be happy to find out that you fucked his daughter while stuck in a snowstorm.”

I wince at her wording. “It wasn’t fucking, Bella, and it wouldn’t be just that moving forward. I want to date you.”

“I know that, but he doesn’t. All he sees is his best player getting distracted by his haphazard daughter and losing his chance of a championship redemption next season.”

“So you want to end this before it starts because of your dad?” She nods, biting her bottom lip so hard that it turns white.

I pull myself off the door, adjust my ball cap and click my teeth. “Good to know,” I say, unable to hide my anger.

“Don’t be like that, Drew.” Her tone makes me sound unreasonable, but I don’t know what’s unreasonable about expecting someone in college not to need their daddy’s approval for who they date.

“Be like what?”

She waves her hands frantically in front of her. “Like that. Acting like it matters.”

“It does.”

“It can’t,” she stresses. “We both knew there’d be a time limit on us, and we reached it.”

“You think one night of the best sex of my life is our time limit?”

Her eyes grow wide, and she visibly swallows. “Keep it down.” Her words come out as barely a whisper, but I can hear the desperation behind them. After drawing in a few shaky breaths, she says, “Even if neither of us wants to admit it, we both knew that we couldn’t keep screwing once the snow stopped.”

“Wow.” I chuckle harshly, studying the girl I thought I was getting to know over these past few days, but she’s still as difficult to read as a Rubik’s Cube. “It’s just that easy for you to switch off your emotions?” I click my fingers for emphasis. “To push me away once you’ve fucked me out of your system. You use me while I’m convenient, but drop me the minute reality settles in.” My fists clench, and I can feel myself losing my cool with her, something I’ve always prided myself on, but the surprise in her eyes makes me snap. It's time Bella heard some hard truths. “I always knew you were a princess, Bella. Self-centered with a touch of entitlement, but I never pegged you as callous.”

“Drew. That’s not fair.”

“No. What’s not fair is that you’d rather stay afraid of what your daddy might think than be happy with me.” Her jaw drops because, yeah, I went there. “You’re too busy chasing his approval to think for yourself. Weren’t you just telling me last night how obsessed with me you were? Or that you didn’t want to be in Indiana? That you dreamed of being in London?”

Her cheeks pinken, and she bows her head. Maybe I’m overreacting, but she can’t keep playing me like this. Not when there are real feelings involved.

“Shh,” she hisses. “My dad might hear you.”

“And then what? You’d lose that good girl persona you’ve been faking for years? You know what? This conversation has been eye-opening and is exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you, B. I hope you have a great life, and finally live out your dreams, instead of trying to live out someone else's.”

“Where are you going?” I can hear her feet step as I turn back to the door, but I don’t bother looking. What’s the point? She’s chosen her father’s potential disappointment over me. “Wait.” It’s one last helpless whimper from Bella as I leave, but I shut the door, knowing that she won’t be able to chase me with that giant boot on, and I’m almost certain she wouldn’t even if she didn’t.

Her hands tap against the glass, and I drown them out with the crunch of the snow under my feet.

What was I even fighting for? A dream about a girl from when I was thirteen. Well, that dream has died. She isn’t the girl I expected, and it’s about time I moved on.