On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,118
up to her.”
“Actually, I have an idea.”
“You do?”
I nodded.
But first I needed to take care of something.
“Zach, this is a surprise.” Victoria smiled but I saw the flicker of fear. “Do you want to—”
I shouldered past her and entered her room at the sorority house. Of course, she had the biggest room built into the loft conversion. The Dorma window gave her great views of the campus, but I wasn’t here to admire the view.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I snapped, the second she closed the door.
“What are you talking about?”
“Last night, when I was taking a shower...”
“Oh, you mean that.” She flicked her hair off her shoulder. “It was nothing. I knew you wouldn’t want Cassie sniffing around after that stuff with your dad, so I got rid of her.” She shrugged. “It was no big deal.”
“No big...” I dragged in a ragged breath. “Are you really that fucking vindictive that you let her leave thinking we fucked?”
“I never said that.” She pouted, batting her long lashes at me as if it would actually work.
“You answered the door wearing my shirt and nothing else. I know you, Vic. I know you’ve had it out for Calli since the second you realized who she was to me.” I stalked toward her, my eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “You’re jealous, but what I can’t quite figure out is if it’s because you care about me as a friend or if you’re really that sick and twisted that you’d fuck your guy’s brother.”
Crack. The sound of her palm against my cheek filled the space between us. “How dare you? I’m just trying to protect you. She doesn’t care about you, she’s just—”
“She is the only person who cares about me. Calli isn’t a jersey chaser, Vic. She doesn’t give a shit if I play ball or if I never play again in my life.”
She saw me.
Not the name.
Not the jersey.
Not the talent.
She only ever saw me.
“Zach, come on,” her cold façade melted away as she tried to reach for me, “we’re friends, aren’t we? We need each other.”
“No, Victoria,” I shirked her off. “We’re not friends. We’re not anything. Stay away from me and stay the fuck away from Calli. Because if you don’t, I’ll make sure everyone knows what a conniving, selfish bitch you really are.”
Her gasp filled the room, but I didn’t stick around to hear her pleas.
I was done with her.
And if she knew what was good for her, she’d be done with me too.
“Thanks, man.” I clinked my beer against Callum’s. “I couldn’t have done this without you.” We were up on the roof terrace of my building. It wasn’t much, a few planters and old garden chairs but the view was pretty sweet.
“I’m just surprised my old man had all that stuff lying around still.”
“Do you think they’ll ever figure it out?” Calli and her dad were worlds apart and he really didn’t deserve a second chance, but then, neither did I.
“Stranger things have happened.”
“Like this? Us sitting here, drinking a beer and shooting the shit?” I chuckled.
“Yeah, exactly like this.”
Comfortable silence settled over us, until Callum asked, “What do you think you’ll do? You know, about the team, being at SU?”
“No way I’m leaving now.” Calli was here, and I’d only just got her back.
“I thought you’d say that...”
“Growing up, I never wanted it. I used to watch Declan and I was so in awe of him, of his passion for the game... but I never once thought I wanted to do that. Because deep down, I knew I’d never shine so long as he was in the room.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“But junior year, when I joined the team, I was surprised how easy it came. Or maybe I wasn’t, not really. It was weird, you know, being so good at the one thing you’d rejected your entire life. Honestly, I don’t know where my head is at right now.”
“You have time. But know what I think?”
“Go on, I’ll humor you.”
“I think you want it,” Callum said. “You’re just too scared about what it means.”
“You sound like her, you know? You sound just like Calli.”
“Taught her everything she knows.” His eyes crinkled with laughter, but his expression quickly dropped. “I was a real fucking asshole to her. I wouldn’t blame her if she never spoke to me again.”
“She came here, didn’t she? Deep down, that has to mean something.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He scrubbed his jaw, staring out at the town below.