Chapter 3

Iwake up at four in the morning in a fan-fucking-tastic mood instead of stressing about our boys. I go for a run like I do every morning and work out in our home gym. I smirk, knowing every time I head down to the basement, I can't get the image of Shorty half-naked on the work bench while she rode my dick out of my head.

But the best part of my mood is knowing Shorty and I are having twin boys. I know she was freaking out—hell, I was freaking out the moment I came home. I wanted so badly to tell Ash the good news, but Shorty and I want to wait until the gender reveal party.

I think sleeping in the same bed would ease the stress for both of us to not be apart every night. I want to wake up with her every morning and go to bed together at night. Plus, going to different schools sucks ass. She's a good half hour out from the campus. We try to see each other during breaks between classes, but that only happens once a week. With practice and the advanced classes I'm taking, I've got homework up the ass like hemorrhoids.

"Yo, D!" Ash's voice rumbles in the locker room.

We just finished practice for fall ball, and the rest of the team has already left.

"Yeah!" I holler back as I pull my shirt over my head and slam my locker door shut.

"You about done?" he asks. Ash walks in with his bag in hand and cleats hanging around his shoulder.

I pick up my bag and throw it over my shoulder. "Yeah. Why? You got a date or something?"

He nods and throws his bag over his shoulders, along with his cleats.

We walk side by side and leave the locker room.

"And if I did?"

I cut him a quick look. "Seriously?" When I see the arrogant smirk, I know he's kidding.

"What about Tia? Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you two?"

Ash's smirk disappears.

I don't know what happened after we left for Tennessee, but ever since then, Ash has kept Tia's name out of his mouth. I mean, he kissed the hell out of her when we left, for fuck's sake.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Ash, come on man. What happened??"

He narrows his eyes at me. "Shorty didn't say anything to you?"

I shake my head. "No, because she knows I'd rather hear it from you." We make it out the front door and down the steps toward the parking lot before he speaks.

"Like I told you before, and everyone else." He flicks his gaze at me. "Nothing fucking happened. We're just not a good fit." He turns away and focuses back on the lot.

Not a good fit? "Bullshit." A "yeah right" laugh slips out of me.

He stops mid-step and glares at me. "D, you don't know shit."

I rear back. He looks fucking pissed and ready to deck me. "What the hell is your problem?" I say calmly but in a no-bullshit tone.

"Nothing," he says through gritted teeth and keeps walking, leaving me in the same spot. What the hell?

"Ash."

He doesn't respond, just keeps walking.

"Ash!"

"What?! What the fuck do you want, D?"

"Woah." I hold my hands up in the air. "I'm not trying to ride your ass, but—"

"Then get off it!" he snaps, interrupting me, which just pisses me off.

I straighten my back and meet him head on. "What crawled up your ass? You were fine all day, but the moment I mention Tia—"

"I don't want to talk about her!" He clenches his hands into fists. "Stop saying her fucking name," he seethes.

The last time I've seen Ash this way was when Eliza cheated on him back in high school. But Tia isn't like that. She's fucking loyal, like Shorty. There's no way in hell she would cheat on him. On the girls' first night here, Ash and Tia left together after we went out for dinner. After that day, he hasn't said anything about her or wanted to come with me when I see Shorty. At first, I thought it was weird, but then I just figured he'd eventually tell me in his own time. Whatever went down between them after their first night here caused them to be distant from each other.

"Listen," I say quietly, "I'm not trying to piss you off, but you can talk to me, alright? I won't even tell Shorty."

"Fuck Shorty!"

"Don't!" I bark, walking up to him until we're toe to toe. We're the same height, but I'm bigger than him. My chest heaves as I clutch the strap of my bag to keep me from knocking my brother flat on his ass. "You don't get to take your shit out on her. You can be pissed at me, but don't ever fucking disrespect her again."

Ash takes a step back and his face crumbles. "I'm sorry, I didn"t mean that." He runs his hand through his semi-wet hair and looks away.

I sigh. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but I'm here if you want to talk about it."

He glances at me and quickly looks down at his feet and nods. "I'll see you back at the house."

I don't fight with him and let him go. Ash is a lot like me in some ways. We sometimes need to be alone to pull apart our thoughts and emotions before we combust, and unfortunately, Ash is halfway to burning this town to the ground.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. As I walk toward my car, I reach for it and glance at the screen. My lips tip up when I see Shorty's message, but before I can read it, a voice I've haven't heard in years makes me freeze in place.

"Donovan?"

I slowly turn around and see a petite brunette.

"Oh, my God! It is you," she says with excitement, holding her books close to her chest.

"Eva?" I say with wide eyes. God. I haven't seen her since middle school. She was a tomboy and one of the guys. We instantly became good friends, but then she moved out of state after her parents divorced while we were in ninth grade.

"Hi! I can't believe we're at the same school."

Yeah, me either.

"What are you doing here?" I ask but quickly add, "I thought you moved to California."

"Yeah, we did, but then I enrolled at Vanderbilt for psychology. Mom still lives in California with her new husband."

My eyebrows perk up. "Oh, yeah? That's great, Eva," I say. Her father was a dick, always cheating on her mom.

She tucks a loose strand behind her ear shyly and looks away. "Yeah, she's doing real good." When she turns back to me, she smiles like she can't believe I'm standing in front of her.

"You played great today," she compliments me with a smile.

"Thanks, but it was just practice," I chuckle. "Wait, you were watching?"

"Yeah, I um," she says with a hint of shyness. "I"m actually on the cheerleading team now." A soft giggle escapes her lips.

My eye twitched involuntarily. "I... that"s great, Eva. Congratulations," I managed to force out.

Eva joining the squad was the last thing I expected to hear since she had openly expressed her disdain for the cheerleaders and the clique they represented in middle school.

A bright smile appeared on her face. "So I guess we"ll be seeing more of each other."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Do you want to grab some dinner? I know a really great place near campus that serves the best pizza." She wiggles her eyebrows.

"Sorry, I can't."

She frowns. "Oh, okay. Well, then, I'd like to catch up whenever you're free. Raincheck?" When I don't respond right away, she adds, "I mean, if you don't want to, I'll understand."

"No, it's not that, it's just—" My phone dings, reminding me of another text coming through. "Sorry," I mutter as I glance at the screen.

Shorty: Hey, hot stuff.

I smile. Shorty's been trying different nicknames to see what sticks.

"I know that smile." I glance up at Eva, who's looking at me with a sad half smile. "Girlfriend?" She cocks her head to the side.

"Yeah," I don't hesitate to respond. "My girl." I smile back.

She nods. "Well, I'll let you go, but I hope we can meet up. I really missed you, Donovan."

I glance back at my phone and see Shorty's latest text message.

Shorty: No to hot stuff? Okay, then how about papi chulo?

I chuckle.

When I look back up, Eva is already heading back to the building.

"Hey, Eva?" I call out.

She turns around.

"It's good to see you."

Her smile widens. "You too," she says and walks away.

I look back down and text my girl back.

Me: You can call me whatever you want. I'm heading over. Love you.

I tuck my phone away and head to my car and toward my woman.