Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kenzie

“You two gonna move along?” a guy says, stopping behind Andrea.

It’s really crowded and people keep having to go around us as we stand here talking.

Andrea turns to the guy. “That depends.”

“Depends on what?” he asks, smiling at her.

“We could keep walking, or we could stay here. But we’d only stay here if we had a reason to.”

“Am I reason enough?”

She looks him up and down. He’s okay-looking, if you like guys with really blond hair and a spray tan. His skin is too orange for that tan to be natural.

“Nice meeting you,” Andrea says to the guy, then she turns and walks off.

I follow her, not wanting to be stuck with the guy.

“Hey, wait!” I hear him say, but we’re deep in the crowd, and when I look back, I can’t even find him.

“You didn’t like that guy, right?” she asks.

“No. He had a spray tan.”

“I know.” She laughs. “Some guys try way too hard.”

“Andrea!” a girl yells.

Andrea lifts up on her toes to see who it is. She waves her hand. “I’m coming!”

“Who’s that?” I ask.

“Lana. She used to date Brent. I set the two of them up, which I never should’ve done. Brent broke her heart. He dated her for a month, then dumped her. Said it was getting too serious. He’s such an idiot. Luckily, Lana didn’t hold it against me. I have to get over there. You okay on your own?”

“Um, yeah. I’ll just go back to my chair and lay out for a while.”

“You’re not gonna get any guys if you’re sitting by Jace. You might want to find a new spot to lay out.”

“Maybe. Hey, I need a bathroom. Where is it?”

“By the entrance gate.” She points to it. “Sorry I have to run off like this. I’ll come find you later and we’ll do another lap around, unless you’ve found someone by then, which you probably will. Guys have been checking you out this whole time. One of them will eventually get the courage to come up to you.” She smiles. “Choose wisely.”

She takes off and I go find the bathroom. It’s crowded and I have to wait in line.

“Kenzie, right?” a girl says, turning back from the mirror where she was putting on mascara.

She looks familiar, but I’m not sure why. She walks over to me, and when I see her face, I get why she looks familiar. I’ve seen her before. Just yesterday, in fact. When she was backed against the wall. Having sex with my boyfriend!

What the hell? Why is she coming over here? To gloat over stealing my boyfriend?

Ignoring her, I turn away and get out my phone, pretending to check messages.

“Kenzie, I know it’s you.” She stops in front of me. “I just wanted to say that Liam and I didn’t plan this. It just happened.”

“Are you seriously trying to justify what you did?” I glare at her. “Get away from me. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I’m not a bad person. I didn’t even know he had a girlfriend until after we’d been out a few times.”

So Liam pretended to be single. He was looking for someone else. Someone to take my place when I wasn’t there. No wonder he never wanted me to visit him. He always insisted on coming home, which I thought was sweet. I thought he was being considerate, saving me from having to drive all that way. But it was really all about him and his need to keep me a secret.

I stare back at the girl. She’s not that pretty. She’s just average looking, with reddish-blond hair and green eyes. She’s really thin with a flat chest, the opposite of me with my curvy hips and large breasts. Maybe Liam didn’t like that about me, although he always used to tell me he loved my curves.

“Why’d you do it?” I ask, despite my mind telling me to just ignore her or walk away.

“Why’d I date Liam?” She shrugs. “He was nice. He came over to me in the dining hall and we started talking and just clicked.”

“You never considered he might have a girlfriend?”

“He didn’t act like it. That day he came up to me, it was clear he wanted to ask me out. And then he did.”

I want to slap her for being so casual about this. Like it was no big deal that my boyfriend was coming onto her while still in a relationship with me. Does she not get that it was wrong?

“We went out a few times and it was great.” She moves with me as the line inches forward. “And then I saw one of your texts pop up on his phone.”

“So then what? You confronted him?”

She nods. “He tried to tell me you were an ex, but I didn’t believe him. He finally admitted you two were still together, but he promised me he was going to end things. He said you two had grown apart and it wasn’t working anymore.”

I roll my eyes. “And you believed him?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, by then I was falling for him. Falling in love. We both were.”

“Okay, stop. I don’t want to hear how much you love my boyfriend. And I don’t know why the hell you thought it was appropriate to come up to me like this.”

“I was trying to explain. I didn’t do this to hurt you. I know it may not seem like it but—”

“Seriously, what is wrong with you? Just yesterday I caught you having sex with my boyfriend, and now you want to be friends? Are you kidding me?” I clench my phone in my hand. I’m so angry I could punch her but instead I just imagine myself doing it.

“I never said we had to be friends. I just thought it might help if you knew where Liam was coming from. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about you. He’d just outgrown the relationship. And it was hard on him to keep doing the long distance thing.”

“You don’t think it was hard on me ? Yet somehow I was able to remain faithful.” I point to the door. “Leave. Get out of here.”

She shrugs. “Whatever. Liam said you’d react this way. I was just trying to be nice.” She turns and walks out the door, giving me a view of her flat ass. I can’t believe Liam would be attracted to someone like her after being with me all those years. The two of us look nothing alike.

When I’m done in the bathroom, I make my way back over to Jace. He’s lying on the lounger with his shirt off. I love his body. All those muscles. Those abs. I just want to stare at him, but instead I adjust the towel on my lounger and lay next to him.

“Where’s Andrea?” he asks.

“She met up with a friend of hers.”

He turns to face me. “Meet anyone on your walk?”

“No. But I met someone in the bathroom.”

“The bathroom?” He takes his sunglasses off. “What happened?” He says it like he knows it’s something bad. How does he read me so well?

“The girl I caught Liam with yesterday. She was in the bathroom.”

“And you talked to her?”

“I didn’t want to. She came up to me and tried to explain why she did it. Like it wasn’t her fault. Or Liam’s. She said it just happened. They fell in love and—” I choke up and then clear my throat, trying to pretend I’m fine. But I’m not. Hearing her say she loved Liam really hurt. Part of me was hoping it was just a fling. Just sex and nothing more. It wouldn’t make me take him back, but I’d feel better knowing he didn’t love her.

Jace sits up, his eyes searching around the pool. “Where is this girl? What’s she look like?”

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“Tell her to leave you alone. Who the hell does that? It’s bad enough she’s with your ex, but then to rub it in your face like that? What the hell?”

He stands up.

“Jace, don’t.” I grab his hand and pull on him to sit down.

“I don’t want her doing it again.”

“She won’t. And if she tries, I’ll just walk away.”

He sighs as he sits down. “You should’ve punched her.”

“I don’t think that would’ve helped. I just told her to leave.”

He looks at me. “You’re pure class, you know that?”

I half-smile. “I’ve never been told that, but thank you.”

“I don’t know how you held it together like that. Did you even yell at her?”

“Not really. Yelling and screaming wouldn’t have done any good. It’d just prove to her how upset I am that she took Liam from me.”

“It wasn’t just her. Liam is guilty in this too. I hope you don’t ever let him off the hook for what he did. If he ever comes back to you, wanting to—”

“I won’t take him back. I still love him but not in the same way. I love the Liam I used to know. The Liam I thought he was. But it wasn’t real.” I feel myself choking up again and force out a smile. “Let’s not talk about Liam. Let’s talk about you. Any luck with the ladies since I’ve been gone?”

“No. I’ve just been sitting here all alone.” He frowns. “Nobody wants me.”

I laugh. “Yeah, right. How many girls came up to you?”

He smiles. “A few, but I politely sent them away.”

“Why?”

“They weren’t my type.”

“Andrea said that shouldn’t matter. She said I should date all different types of guys so I know what I want. Maybe you should take the same approach.”

“I already know what kind of girl I want.”

“So tell me, what’s your ideal girl?”

“I can’t say. It’s confidential.”

I roll my eyes, smiling. “You’re strange.”

Brent appears, a soda in his hand. “You guys seen Andrea? Troy’s looking for her.”

“She’s with Lana,” I say.

“Great,” he says with a sigh, sitting down next to Jace. “Now I’ll have to hear about what an ass I am for the millionth time.”

“You are an ass,” Jace jokes.

“Lana knew I didn’t want anything serious. I don’t know why she’s still pissed at me.”

“You dated Lana longer than you’ve dated anyone else, which made her think you were serious about her, and serious about the relationship. But then you dumped her. That’s why she’s pissed.”

“You know a lot about girls,” I tell Jace.

He shrugs. “A little.”

“She shouldn’t have made all those assumptions.” Brent takes a drink of his soda. “If she’d come out and asked me if I’d changed my mind about relationships, I would’ve told her I hadn’t. It’s her own fault she got hurt. I never promised her anything.”

Jace doesn’t respond as he lays back on his lounge chair and adjusts his sunglasses.

“Where’d you get the soda?” I ask Brent.

“At the snack stand. It’s by the water slides. Or there’s a soda machine by the entrance.”

“I can get you one,” Jace says, sitting up.

“That’s okay. I can get it. You want one?”

“No, thanks. I don’t drink soda.”

“He’s watching his weight,” Brent says, laughing.

“So I don’t end up with a gut like yours,” Jace says.

“I don’t have a gut.” Brent pokes at his stomach. “That’s all muscle.”

I get up. “I’ll let you guys debate that while I get my soda. Be right back.”

As I walk away, I swear I can feel Jace’s eyes on me. He keeps checking me out, but then notices he’s doing it and looks away. This attraction we have to each other needs to stop, and soon. I’m sure it will once we find people to date.

After getting my soda from the machine, I turn to head back and see Liam coming through the turnstile to the pool area. Given that his girlfriend is here, I should’ve known he’d be here too. Why is he just getting here now? And why didn’t he come with his girlfriend? Maybe their relationship isn’t as great as she made it sound.

“Kenzie!” Liam calls out.

Damn. I was hoping to get away before he saw me. I pretend I didn’t hear him and keep walking. It’s so crowded that I keep getting stuck behind a wall of people and have to stop.

“Kenzie!” Liam yells again.

I look over and he’s right there, coming up beside me. His red hair looks almost blond in the bright sun. Or maybe he lightened it to match his girlfriend’s reddish-blond hair. She has the same pale skin as him but not as many freckles. Liam is covered in them.

I can’t believe I used to think he was attractive. Now he repulses me. I used to love his eyes, but looking at them now, all I see are lies and deceit. He looked at me with those eyes and lied to my face. Over and over again.

“Kenzie, wait.” He holds onto my arm.

I yank it back. “Don’t touch me.”

“Can I at least say something?”

“What?” I snap.

“Over here.” He steps back from the people trying to go past us.

I reluctantly follow him, keeping some distance between us. I fold my arms over my chest. “What do you want?”

“To say that I didn’t mean to hurt you. I really didn’t.”

“You didn’t think cheating on me would hurt me? Are you really that stupid?”

“I knew it would hurt you, but I never meant for it to happen. When Kat and I met, I had no intention of anything happening between us.”

Kat. That’s right. I’d forgotten her name.

“So when you met her, you had no interest in her,” I say. “You just wanted to be her friend.”

“Exactly,” he says, not noticing the sarcasm in my voice. Liam could never read me. He could never tell when I was angry or upset or sad. I barely know Jace and he can already read my emotions and pick up on changes in my tone.

“And Kat’s the one who came up to me .”

That’s not what Kat told me, meaning one of them is lying. And given Liam’s rapid eye movement and the nervous fidgeting he’s doing with the keys in his hand, I’m pretty sure he’s the one lying.

“So what exactly happened?” I ask, wanting to hear his version of the story.

“I was sitting on a bench in the quad after class and this girl sat next to me. She sat really close so I moved down a little, you know, because I had a girlfriend.”

I roll my eyes. “And?”

“She asked if I was going to a party that night. A party at her friend’s sorority house. I told her no, that I didn’t know about the party. She insisted I go, but I told her I couldn’t.”

“But you didn’t mention you had a girlfriend.”

“I know I should’ve, but I didn’t.”

“Why? Why didn’t you tell her?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’d just been so long since another girl showed interest in me that I kinda liked it.”

“So your ego kept you from telling her?” I clench my hand, wanting to punch him. I held back with Kat, but with Liam? I’m really tempted to do it. I’d love to punch him and leave a black eye on that smug face of his.

“You have to understand,” he says. “It’s hard to be surrounded by girls and not be able to…” He looks away.

“Sleep with them?” I huff. “Yeah, I’m sure it was a hardship. And yet I managed to deal with it when guys were flirting with me and asking me out.”

His eyes snap back to mine. “You never told me guys asked you out.”

“I assumed you knew. I waitressed at a bar. You saw the skimpy uniform I had to wear. Did you really think guys weren’t hitting on me? Do you think I’m that unattractive?”

“No, I just didn’t realize it was happening. You never said anything.”

“Because I knew telling you would bother you. Maybe even hurt you. So I never mentioned it. And I never once went out with any of those guys. I never even considered it. When I was at work or school or home, all I thought about was you. Not other guys. Not what I could’ve had with someone else. Those thoughts never even crossed my mind.”

“So you think you’re better than me. Is that what you’re saying?”

“You don’t get it, do you? You’ll never understand that what you did was wrong. You’ll always find a way to justify it.”

“And you’ll always think you’re better than me,” he scoffs. “But you’re not, Kenzie. Just because you didn’t cheat on me doesn’t make you better than me. We both made mistakes.”

“Believe what you want. I’m done here.” I turn to go, then hear him talking.

“I stopped loving you.”

His words punch me in the chest and sting my eyes. I turn back and look at him, wondering how I ever loved someone like him.

His eyes lock on mine. “I stopped loving you a long time ago.”

I’d like to believe he’s just saying it because he’s angry and wants to hurt me, but I think that’s only part of it. I think he really did stop loving me. I don’t know when or why because he never said anything. He kept telling me he loved me and wanted a future with me, even when it was a lie.

“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, a tear slipping down my cheek. “I don’t need to hear this.”

“You do need to hear it because it explains why I did it. I didn’t love you, Kenzie. I haven’t loved you for a long time.”

I didn’t want to cry in front of him, but I can’t help it. Tears are trickling down my cheeks. I’m sure he can see them, but he doesn’t apologize. Doesn’t try to make me feel better. He just stands there, doing nothing.

“Kenzie.” I hear Jace’s voice and turn back to see him coming toward me, a big smile on his face. My tears stop the moment I see him. I don’t know what it is about Jace, but whenever he’s around, I feel better.

“I’m going to get a water,” he says, coming up beside me.

“Okay.” I try to smile but can’t.

His expression turns serious. “What’s wrong?”

“Who are you?” Liam asks.

“Liam, this is Jace,” I tell him. “Jace this is Liam.”

“You’re already seeing someone?” Liam asks, sounding angry.

Does he really think he has a right to be angry? We broke up. I can date whoever I want.

“He’s my roommate,” I answer.

“This is Liam?” Jace looks at me. “Your ex?”

“Yeah,” I say quietly.

“What did he say to you?” Jace demands, his anger rising.

“It’s none of your damn business,” Liam says. “Now get the hell out of here. We weren’t done talking.”

“We’re done,” I say to Liam. “And I never want to hear from you again.”

“What did he say to you?” Jace asks again.

I choke past my tears. “That he doesn’t love me. And hasn’t for a long time.”

“You bastard!” Jace lunges at Liam and punches him, so hard Liam falls to the ground.

I stand there, shocked, not sure what to do. I’ve never seen anyone punch someone in real life. I thought about punching Liam but never would. I don’t even know how to punch someone. I’d probably do it wrong and break my hand.

But Jace knew what he was doing. He took Liam down with one punch. Because Liam hurt me. And Jace couldn’t stand seeing me hurt.

I love that Jace cares so much about me, but it also makes me sad. It’s sad because a guy I just met cares about me more than Liam ever did.