This Trust of Mine (8 page)

While the
girl was still takin' her sweet ass time, I remembered that I still had the
coach from A&M's number. I quickly pulled out my cell and dialed him up. I
knew it was practice time, but I was silently prayin' he would answer.

"Coach
Dunfall, can I help you?"

"Mr.
Dunfall, hi this is Madison Raine. I'm not sure if you remember me, but I was
offered a scholarship to come play ball for y'all this fall. I was just-"

"Of
course I remember you son. It's not very often that a talent like yours, turns
down a school like ours. What can I do for ya?"

"Well
sir, I was kind of hopin' that y'all would be willin' to let me take that
scholarship after all?" I waited with baited breath for him to answer.
When he didn't say something immediately, I would've sworn he was laughin' at
me.

"Mr.
Raine, we would love to have you on our team. As a matter of fact, our pitcher
was just cut due to a season ending injury. Can you be here by Saturday mornin'
for practice?"

"Absolutely,
sir. Absolutely! Is there anything I need to do here before I come fill out my
paperwork there?"

"Just
fill out your decline forms for the scholarship there and you should be good to
go. We will see you Saturday mornin' Madison, eight AM."

"You
got it, Coach. See you then. Oh and thank you."

"Sure
thing."

I slipped my
phone into my back pocket and waited a few more seconds before I started
pounding on the glass. A few seconds after that, the short little girl came
hustlin' over to her desk.

"I said
I would be right back, no reason to bang around."

"I'm
sorry. I just need to fill out a decline form for my scholarship."

"Yes, I
know. I have it right here. Now just fill out the few lines explaining why and
then sign and date at the bottom and you are good to go. Make sure you turn in
your books and any keys you were given."

"Thanks."

I filled out
that form as if my hand were on fire. It was now Tuesday and I only had a few
days to get home, make up with my girl, and show up for practice. I threw the
form under the small glass window and ran out of that building as fast as I
could.

I headed
straight for mine and Glenn's dorm room. Shit! Glenn was gonna be pissed. I was
basically the reason that guy even came here, well Cami
and
I, apparently. I started stripping down to my boxer briefs the
minute I made it inside our room. I hadn't even noticed that the door was unlocked,
until I felt cold wet hands sliding down my stomach and closer to my waistband.
When I finished pulling my shirt off over my head, Korena's face came into full
view.

"What
the hell are you doin' in here?" I was beyond trying to be a gentleman
about it anymore. It hadn't seemed to clear up the confusion up until this
point, so why even bother.

"I
figured it would be okay."

"In
who's world did you think it would be okay? I'm pretty sure you live in a
fantasy world." I was pushin' her hands away just as I heard the door
creak open. When I turned I caught sight of the horrified look upon Cami's
face. Double shit!

"Cami,
wait! It's not what it looks like." I shouted after her, but it was too
late. She was gone. I quickly grabbed my pants and tugged them on as I ran
after her down the hall and eventually out into the lot. "Cami,
STOP!"

"WHAT?
There is nothing you can say that will make
that
situation, okay."

I was
standin' in front of her hunched over tryin' to catch my breath. For a small
thing, she was fast as hell. "I promise you nothing was going on in there.
That girl has been following me since I met her a couple weeks ago."

"Fine
Madison, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. So tell me then, what
is
she doing here?"

"I'm
sure she was thinkin' she could sleep with me again, but I tried to tell her
that was never going to happen, that I have Kay-"

"I'm
sorry, what? Did you just say sleep with you,
again
?"

Holy fuck! I
was screwed.

"Yes,
but it was an accident. Okay wait that sounds bad. Not an accident, but damn it
Cami, I couldn't get Kayla off of my mind and then she wouldn't call me, and
every time I would try to call or leave a message, nothing. I didn't know what
else to do. I needed to know that we were alright, but when she never returned
my calls, I-"

Her hands
clutched onto the sides of my bare upper arms, which quickly caught my
attention. "Look, I won't say anything about this, as long as
you
do. I think you and Kayla need to
just sit down and have a
very
long
conversation with one another."

I pulled
Cami into my damp chest from the now falling rain before squeezing her tight.
"Thank you, Cami."

As I pulled
back, I noticed Cami's eyes go wide. Now, I hadn't known Cami
that
long, but I knew girls, and that
look was one of pure intent to rip someone apart. I glanced behind me where she
was starin' and caught sight of Korena sauntering out of the dorm. Everything
happened so fast, I could've sworn we were in some kind of a movie. I wrapped
my arms around Cami's chest and squeezed her to me as tight as I could. Her
legs were flailing about and her arms were fighting to break free, but there
was no way her little five foot, ninety-two pound body was getting out of my
grasp.

"You
dirty little whore. He has a fucking girlfriend. How dare you. I don't know how
they do things around here, but that usually means back the fuck off. I swear
if I ever see you around again, I will fuck you up. You stupid ass skank!"

As Cami
finished her tirade, Korena was off and running in the direction of her car. As
her car turned out of the lot, that's when I decided to let Cami go.
"She's not worth it." I whispered.

"You
bet your sorry ass she's not. Either you tell Kayla, or I will. You have until
Monday."

As she
started walking away, I had no choice but to yell in her direction or she
wouldn't have heard me. "Cami, I'm goin' home. I'm leavin' tonight. Don't
tell her."

"I
won't. Good luck cowboy, you're gonna need it."

I couldn't
help but smile. Challenge accepted!

Kayla

The once
sunny day had quickly turned to thunder clouds and rain. I was makin' my way
out to my truck to leave campus for the day, when I heard a loud thunderous
voice behind me.

"Hey
Kayla, wait up." I turned just in time to accept a quick hug from Joey.

Joey turned
out to be the same guy I had literally bumped into outside of the grocery the
other day. He also turned out to be Glenn's little brother. When I had made my
way into homeroom that first day of school, in walked Joey. We shared a quiet
inside joke and a smile, and then we became fast friends, literally. I mean
that was three days ago and now, we practically spent every free minute
together.

Things were
different with Joey than they were with Madison. It was easy. Joey had a
presence about him that made me feel safe and confident. He rarely left my side
and we had every class but one together. I'm not gonna lie and say he wasn't
good looking, because he totally was. But knowing he was Glenn's little brother
and how I felt about Madison, I never felt like I had to worry when I was around
Joey.

He was a
spitting image of Glenn in every aspect, okay minus all the tattoos that Glenn
had. His hair was bright blond and just as short as Glenn's. Although Joey wore
his in more of a faux hawk, as where Glenn wore his spiked all over and kind of
in a disarray. They both had amazingly blue eyes and strong prominent facial
features. The big difference in these two was that Glenn was taller but a
little bit more lean, Joey was about six one and built like the football player
he was. It was somewhat scary, but comforting all at the same time.

"What
do ya want Joey? I'm headed to work."

"I
know, but can I get a ride over to the football field?" He stood back with
that sly smile he liked to plaster across his face when he didn't really
need
anything, but definitely
wanted
something. I had seen him use it
one too many times around all the girls that followed him endlessly around
school.

"Are
you serious? The field is five hundred feet, that way. Maybe you should run
over there. Get some exercise to work off all that crap you ate at lunch
today." I let out a small giggle before jumping up into the cab.

"Fine
then. See you tomorrow morning?"

"Of
course." He gave a quick wave and took off running in the direction of the
football field. Men, I swear they were always needing someone to take care of
them.

I drove to
work in a daze. Things had been progressively getting better, and my newfound
friendship with Joey was a huge help. I hadn't spoken to Madison since the
other day and I had instantly regretted the snide remarks I had made towards
him. As much as I wanted to be with him, part of me knew better than to get
involved with someone like Madison Raine.

I wasn't
looking forward to work like I usually did. I had felt a little bit off all day
today and I couldn't quite pinpoint what the issue was. I walked into the
boutique just as the clock hit three thirty.

"Well
aren't we cutting it rather close?" My boss was nice most days, but lately
she had just been shitty.

"Sorry
my last class ran late, and then I hit a bit of traffic coming into town."
Part of it wasn't a lie, but most of it was. I hadn't realized just how slow I
had been driving until it was too late to make up for it.

"Well,
I need to leave for the rest of the day. Make sure the fitting rooms are cleaned
up and the front counter gets wiped down. Other than that, it's been pretty
slow, so you should have plenty of time to study."

"Thanks."
My boss knew that when it was slow I used that time to study, and for the most
part she was okay with it. This definitely made it easier on me, given the fact
that I rarely had time to study while working everyday after school.

The door
chimed once as my boss left and I made my way back to the dressing rooms to
clear those out first. My boss wasn't lazy but she rarely cleaned out the
dressing rooms, claiming it was grunt work and not the owner's job. Just as I
had the ginormous stack of clothing in hand, I heard the bell chime above the
door.

"Damn
it," I whispered to myself, just before hauling the pile to the front counter
so I could put away and keep on eye on the current customer.

I had just
stepped out from the back area when his emerald green eyes seared straight
through mine and into my soul. My mouth along with the handful of clothes
dropped to the ground. I stood back in shock, not knowing what to say or do. I
hadn't expected to hear from him, let alone see him, anytime soon. A cool smile
spread wide across his beautiful face, and I couldn't stop my feet from
carrying me closer to him.

"That's
the hello I get after almost two months?" He smiled that sexy smile, which
sent me running into his open arms.

My feet left
the ground with the strength of his arms pulling me up and into him. My arms
instinctively wrapped tightly around his neck with the strength of a thousand
men. I breathed in his scent and my lips grazed the base of his heated neck. He
was here. He was actually here, in front of me and he was touching me with
those unbelievable hands. My eyes fluttered shut as his grip on my waist
tightened enough for me to feel his excitement against my belly. I let a small
knowing smile creep across my face with the knowledge that I still affected
him. When I could finally find the words to speak, he beat me to the punch,
like always.

"Now
that's more like it, pretty girl."

"What
are you doing here? You can't have had a break yet?" I stood back in
confusion, waiting for some semblance of an answer. Instead, he just stood
there with a blank expression fixed on his mesmerizing face.

God how I
had missed that face. My eyes traced every facet of him, committing it to
memory yet again. As my gaze made its way down to his torso, I couldn't help
but notice how much bigger and broader he had gotten. Man, baseball camp had
done him some good.

"You're
lookin' good cowboy." I whispered in my sexy voice, just loud enough to
send goose bumps across his flesh.

"You
ain't lookin' so bad there yourself, little lady. You look good enough to
eat." He winked and my insides melted as I stood staring into the deepest
caverns of his eyes.

"Maybe,
a little taste later if you're a good cowboy." I wrapped my arms around
his waist and pulled him as close as I could. I had missed the feel of him, his
touch, and his all-consuming presence. Honestly, I had just missed him.

His arms
wrapped around my head pulling me deep into the crook of his arm. He gently
pressed his lips against the top of my head and I went to pull away, thinking
that was the end of our embrace. I couldn't have been more wrong.