Chapter 16

D read settled low in Lila's belly as she looked over the last few texts she'd sent King that had all gone unanswered. In the two months since they'd christened the locker room, he had slowly been withdrawing. It had been incremental at first, but as the weeks had gone on, he had been less and less responsive. They spent less time together.

At first she excused it by convincing herself that it was because they were both so busy; Bradley U's soccer team was slated to play in the national championship in two weeks, and King had been throwing himself into the sport with a fervor she'd never seen before.

The sex was still amazing, though now, whenever it felt like it was more intimate than mere fucking, King would disengage for a few days, sometimes a week. At first, Lila thought she'd be able to handle the ebbs and flows of their arrangement, but it was starting to really wear on her.

Every time she convinced herself he was done, that she was okay with accepting that he was done, he'd call or show up at her place or the restaurant, and they'd spend the night together, making up for lost time, reaching for each other in the early hours of the morning and as the sun rose. They also filled up the empty spaces between by talking to and holding each other in ways that felt decidedly more relationship-y than Lila would have thought King was comfortable with. But she didn't push him. She didn't tell him she'd fallen for him again. Harder this time than the time before.

When she had his full attention? She glowed. When he turned away? She withered. Lila knew that she deserved better, but he was like a drug to her. The worst part? She loved him. She was completely gone for this man. Unfortunately. Which was why she kept going back and why she kept letting him in, even when he let her down.

"Hey," Wren said as she slid into the seat next to Lila's. Their Pop Culture in America class was about to start, and Lila couldn't help but notice the dark circles her best friend was sporting.

"You doing okay, babe? You look tired."

Wren sighed. "It's Aaron." Her breath stuttered. "He's using again. Heroin this time, which scares the hell out of me. He refuses to acknowledge it's a problem and won't go to rehab."

"Dammit," Lila groaned. "I'm so sorry, Wrenny."

"It's tearing me apart, Li. I loved him, you know? The old him. I don't even recognize the person he is now. I've tried so hard to help him, but I can't do anything if he doesn't help himself." Wren paused, her gaze dropping to the ground. "I told him we were done. For good this time."

Lila leaned over to wrap her arms around her friend. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"What about class?" Wren sniffed.

"Please, we're both going to ace this class, and we need to go get you a DDP ASAP. Plus a huge-ass ice cream sundae."

They quickly snuck out of the back of the room as their professor was entering from the front. They giggled as they headed down the hall, and for the first time in a long time, Lila felt lighter.

Since Lila had walked to school, they made their way to the student lot where Wren's car was parked, which also happened to be right next to the athletic facilities. As they approached, Lila felt the gut punch of seeing King, standing casually and talking with two coeds. One of them was standing quite close to him, her hand resting on his arm in a gesture that looked like it was the furthest thing from platonic. They were still a ways away, but she'd know King anywhere. He still kept his hair pretty short on the sides but was growing out the top so that it waved and curled in the most enticing of ways. Lila loved running her fingers through those golden strands, naturally highlighted because he spent so much time outside.

"Isn't that…" Wren trailed off when she saw Lila's face. "Dammit. I'm sure it's nothing. They're all probably just friends and he's going to call you tonight and you'll have hot marathon sex."

"Yup, I'm sure that's it. Yay for all the sexing that will happen in the near future."

Lila couldn't take her eyes off him as they got closer. Part of her wanted him to see her, to see how he'd react. The other part of her hoped that Wren would veer them off to the right or the left before he noticed them.

When she heard the enthusiastic, "Li! Wrenny!" from a deep voice behind them, she braced herself just in time for her to be lifted up by her other bestie, Knight. He'd put one arm underneath her and the other underneath Wren and lifted them up in an awkward, but delightful, backward hug. It was that moment when King's eyes snapped up to meet hers. And they were unreadable, cold. He scanned her briefly and then turned away without further acknowledgment, walking into the building and leaving the two girls he'd been talking to behind.

Lila tried not to let her devastation show as she turned around with what she hoped was a genuine-looking smile. "Hey, bro."

"Sister." His green eyes shifted over to Wren. "Sister's best friend."

Lila couldn't help but notice the longing in Knight's eyes as he took in her best friend. She'd suspected for a while that he had a thing for Wren, but he'd never confided in Lila about it. But he never dated, and she suspected her beautiful redheaded friend was the reason why.

"Just wanted to ensure that you're in for the spring edition of Jock Jam." Knight's eyebrows danced. "We just got clearance to hold it next Friday. So you both better be there or be square."

Wren surprised her when she said, "We're in." Knight's smile grew, and he said his goodbyes as he headed to the gym.

Once they'd driven to their favorite local ice cream shop, a Diet Dr. Pepper and a hot fudge sundae in front of Wren and a peanut butter and chocolate ice cream shake in front of Lila, Wren dropped the bomb.

"I'm going to do a semester abroad. In Europe," she blurted out. "Actually, it's technically three because of our school's ridiculously short spring and summer semesters. Also, shouldn't they just call them terms at some point? Like, how does that even work? You know? So many other schools handle this differently. It's like an intricate scholastic mind puzzle."

"You're rambling." Lila smiled at her best friend fondly.

"I'm rambling," Wren confirmed. "All of said rambling is to avoid saying that I get back right before holiday break. So I'll be gone for seven months total."

Lila processed the information like a wave, letting it wash over her before she reacted. She sensed that her friend was already hanging on by a thread and knew she needed to be supportive even as her heart broke just the slightest bit.

"Look, Wrenny, I'm not going to lie and say that I won't miss you or that I didn't wish that I could go with you, but I understand why you need to do this," Lila said. "I think putting some distance between you and Aaron will be a good thing. The best thing."

"Agreed."

"But I'm going to miss the hell out of you. You better FaceTime me and send me lots and lots of postcards. Also a souvenir or five would be greatly appreciated."

"Check, check, and check plus," Wren said while writing invisible check marks in the air.

"And maybe send Knight a few postcards too," Lila added nonchalantly before taking a bite of her shake. She was delighted to see her friend's alabaster skin redden. "He's a good guy, Wren. My other best friend, and I love the hell out of him just like I love the hell out of you. Maybe someday, when you're ready, you'll let him shoot his shot. Or throw his pass, as it were."

"Yeah…maybe. Someday," Wren said before digging into her sundae, the subject officially closed.