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  "Yeah I'll go."

  Chapter six

  It's past eleven before I can get Olivia and Adrian ready to leave. We get in my Beemer and pull out of the driveway when Adrian's phone starts to ring and he pulls it out and puts in on speaker.

  "Kellen," He yells into the phone already drunk.

  "Hey. What's going on?"He replies. I haven't responded to his text earlier. I told him I was studying and couldn't go out. My stomach is in knots.

  "I'm riding with Olivia and Audrey over to the frat house. Are you coming man?" Shit. It's out there. It's been said.

  "Oh are you now? I was actually calling to check on Audrey since I haven't heard from her." He says already annoyed. "Hand her the phone." Adrian turns the phone off speaker and hands it to me. Olivia and Adrian are both shamelessly watching me.

  "Hey Kellen," I say in an excited tone. "I watched your game. You were amazing. Sorry I forgot to call back." I blurt out so fast I'm not sure anyone understood me. My audience burst into laughter so I know I’m being obvious. I'm just trying to change the subject before a fight happens in front of them.

  "I've been worried." He says with a sigh.

  "Olivia invited me to a party and I guess I just forgot." I look over at Olivia, she shrugs at me, and I wish this was a private conversation.

  "I'm just saying next time you could at least text me back," he groans. "You told me you were studying Audrey, you don't have to lie. Just tell me you want to hang out with Olivia."

  "Will do next time," I snap at him. I forget to text back all the time. It's not a big deal.

  "See you tomorrow, Audrey." He hangs up.

  “Who's ready for a fun night?" I'm trying to be upbeat but I am boiling on the inside. I forget to call him back so he calls my friends to check on me? And now he's pissed at me. In what world is this okay?

  "You ignored him all day?" Olivia eyes me suspiciously.

  "Not on purpose." I sigh. I do not want to get into this.

  "Why didn't you invite him out?" She is really grilling me tonight. Do we need to do this in front of Kellen’s closest friend?

  "Drop it, Liv." I need to do things without him. Does anyone understand that? I like him too much already. I need distance. The car ride is silent the rest of the drive. When we arrive at the frat house I feel as if the entire world is mad at me.

  "I'll get us drinks," Adrian says as he walks out of sight. Olivia is staring at me waiting for me to give her information.

  "I just need space, Liv." Let's just get it over with!

  "Audrey, he likes you. What's the problem?" She looks at me as if I'm an idiot.

  "It's too soon. I can't go twelve hours without seeing to him?" Olivia is pushing her boundaries here. I know she cares about me but I want to do this my way.

  "He really likes you. I know you feel the same way Audrey. Neither one of you have ever done this. Just try Audrey." She scowls me. "I see you two being together."

  "Well he's pissed at me, Liv." I look over her shoulders. Where is Adrian with our drinks?

  "Call him!" She yells at me as Adrian walks up with three beers.

  "Thanks Adrian." He mutters back a response that I can't hear. There's no winning with these two until I give them what they want. I told him I would try, but I'm not making things easy for us. I pull out my phone to send him a text.

  Will you come hang out tonight?

  I'm ignoring you. He responds back immediately.

  I send back a sad face but I don't press my luck. I'm sure he is mad at me and maybe we should wait until tomorrow.

  "I'm going to walk around." I yell back at my friends.

  I walk through the frat house to see if any familiar faces are here. I need anyone to hang out with, anyone besides Olivia, who will grill me, and Adrian that will report the information back to Kellen. I see the back of a tall, blonde haired boy and freeze. Noah turns and spots me and starts to walk over.

  "Notice I haven't been in class, Audrey?" He asks in his dark tone. I shake my head no. I know he hasn't been in class, but I don't want to tell him that.

  "I didn't go anywhere for a couple days after your boyfriend fucked up my face." He glances behind me. "I don't see him here with you tonight."

  I turn and run outside but this time he doesn’t come after me. I'm going to see Noah a lot for the next year. My stomach feels sick now that I realize it might be like this every single time. I'm glad Kellen isn't here this could've been ugly.

  "What are you doing out here by yourself?" He has impeccable timing.

  "I'm going to give my keys to Liv. I want to leave." I say as hot tears sting the back of my eyes and threaten to spill. He gives me a strange look but nods his head and waits outside. I walk into the house and make my way to the kitchen knowing my best friend is in here. Adrian is pulling two beers from the cooler when I walk over.

  "Hey. Kellen is outside. I'm riding with him and leaving you my keys." A satisfied grin stretches across her face as she takes my keys in her hand.

  "Be safe. See you tomorrow." She gives me a hug and turns back to Adrian. I get out of the house before anymore drama can find me. It seems to do that a lot lately and I'm blaming Kellen for that. He pulls me across the front yard with our fingers interlaced, dodging drunken frat brothers while we walked to his Range Rover.

  "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" His tone is laced with concern as he drives down the street.

  "I ran into Noah. And I realized I'll have to see him all the time for another year." I take a breath to catch the sob that threatens to escape from my throat. I'm not going to let that guy ruin my night. Kellen's jaw is clenched and I notice his knuckles go white from gripping the steering wheel.

  "Nothing happened. He was just being an ass about you hitting him," I blurt out before he can turn around to take care of Noah one more time.

  "He better not fucking touch you again. I won't stop next time." His eyes are on the road but I can almost see his thought process.

  Needing to distract his mind from the conversation I pull his hand into my lap but stay silent the entire drive. Once he pulls into the driveway he jumps out and goes inside his house leaving me behind. I stalk in after him catching a glimpse of him as he walks down the hall leading to his bedroom.

  "What's wrong with you?" I demand breathlessly trying to keep up with him.

  "Nothing," He says while walking into his bedroom.

  "I'm sorry for saying I was studying and then going with Olivia. I just needed space,” I admit. It's out there for him to know. He sits down on his bed and pulls me down beside him.

  "How do you think I feel? This is all new to me Audrey. Just tell me what's going on so I'm not acting like a crazy person and calling our friends to check in on you."

  "We are going to mess up a lot."

  "Yeah, but you aren't giving me a fair chance here. My feelings are the same for you,” I nod in response. "Let's go to sleep. I'm taking you for lunch and swimming tomorrow." He kisses my forehead and lies down in his bed. I lay beside him when his breathing evens out. He falls asleep so fast and sleeps so peacefully that I'm amazed.

  Chapter Seven

  Kellen wakes me up the next morning with a trail of kisses down my back. “I’m up,” I scream through laughter.

  “Get dressed, let’s go to the beach.” He walks out of the room with no further explanation.

  I climb out of bed and walk into his bathroom to start my morning primping. I grab my swimsuit from my bag and quickly change so I can find out what he has planned for us today.

  I walk into the kitchen to find Kellen standing in a pair of shorts with a picnic basket in his hands. I want to put on a cover up standing this close to him. His shorts hang low off of his hips exposing his V cut. He shoves on his shades and reaches out to take my hand. He leads me out on his deck and down the stairs to the white sand. I glance over at his perfectly sculpted face and wonder to myself how I got so lucky. As my eyes linger over his shirtless body he has a peaceful look on hi
s face and I hope I’m responsible for that.

  “We’re here. Are you going to join me, or sit there and eye fuck me all day?” He shoots me a lopsided grin at me.

  “I’ll join you if I can eye fuck you.” He throws his head back in the loudest laughter I’ve heard from him.

  Kellen and I spend the day laughing and talking lying in the sun. The air was too cool to get into the freezing water, but that didn’t stop Kellen from trying to throw me in. The sun starts to set, after what feels like a few, short minutes so we are forced to go inside. He planned the perfect day for us before he has to leave me for four days. The corners of my mouth tug down.

  “We’ll come back this week,” he promises after he packs up our stuff. I glance back at the sun setting over the water one last time before I fall into step behind him. He helps me gather my things after I insist on going home for the night. He drops me off at my house reminding me many times that we won’t see each other for four days.

  ∞

  I pull up my Mac Book to check my school email. It’s Wednesday. Kellen has been gone two days, but if I’m being honest with myself it has felt like an eternity. He sends texts and calls when he can, but I’m just as busy with my first round of tests this week.

  Olivia has obviously used my laptop since it has been left on a ridiculous celebrity gossip sites. What the hell? Kellen is smiling at a camera at a club sitting with a teammate and three blonde skanks are at their side. The beautiful one has her hand on Kellen’s arm and another picture is of her pulling Kellen and leading him out of the club. I stalk away from the computer when I hear Olivia come through the door from class.

  "I saw you used my computer."

  "I was going to tell you after class. Audrey, I don't think it's what it looks like." Not what it looks like? I cock my eyebrow at her waiting for an explanation.

  "Have you talked to him?" She throws down her purse and walks over to me. I shake my head no in response, not trusting my voice. "Call him. I talked to Adrian he said they always do stuff like that and it might be an old picture."

  "He will be in tomorrow night. I will talk to him then."

  I shove past her and run up stairs before I can put on an embarrassing emotional scene. I run into my bathroom and collapse on the floor before my sobs hit. I don't know why I'm surprised; I knew someone like Kellen couldn’t be faithful. We aren't even serious. I tell myself in attempt to make the pain fade. Olivia's knock on the door brings me back into reality.

  "Audrey, please don’t jump to conclusions before you hear his side." She's still pleading with me to calm down. "Are you okay?"

  "Fine, I'm taking a shower and lying down," I call out to her. My voice comes out more stable that I thought it would.

  She seems to accept the lie since I don't here from her again. I pull on my pajamas after my shower and walk into my bedroom. I check my phone to see I have two messages and two missed calls from Kellen. He can sweat it until he comes home tomorrow. I lie down and drift into a peaceful sleep.

  "Audrey it's two in the afternoon. Are you coming out today?" Olivia is playing the worried mom role.

  "Yes," My raspy voice is thick from sleeping and lying in my bed all day.

  "Adrian is on the phone for you." She comes in my rooms and hands me the phone.

  "Hello?" I turned off my phone this morning after Kellen kept calling me.

  "What's going on?" He asks getting straight to the point. "Kellen has called me two times you're driving him insane."

  "Maybe he should focus his time on the company in front of him,” when he doesn’t respond to that I continue. “I saw pictures of him leaving with a girl at a club from two nights ago."

  "Audrey, his family flew over to watch him play yesterday I doubt he was at a club," He deadpanned. He didn't tell me that.

  "Go look it up." I snap at him. He sighs at me.

  "I will later. Jesus, Audrey, call him so he will leave me alone." He pauses briefly. "He’s not going to cheat on you. He wouldn't bother dating you if that was the case. Don't make him screw up his games because you're pissed at him." He hangs up on me after that.

  ∞

  "Where the fuck is she Olivia?" Knowing he’s about to burst through, my eyes drift from my TV to my bedroom door.

  "Let me at least tell her you're here," I hear her yell back him.

  My door flies open and Kellen storms in with Olivia trailing closely behind. She mouths sorry as she closes the door behind her and leaves me on my own. Kellen walks over to stand at the end of my bed with his arms crossed at his chest. He has a scowl on his face as he stares down at me.

  "Want to tell me what's going on?" He snaps at me.

  "I saw pictures of you in a club with a girl and I saw you leaving with her." I yell. "Is this how it's going to be when you're traveling? Do you have different girls at each destination?" He looks at me confused.

  "What are you talking about?" I grab my phone and search for the photos I took a screen shot of and toss it at him. He stares at my phone and shakes his head while he pinches the bridge of his nose.

  "That is my cousin, Chloe. My family came to visit for the night. They surprised me." The gorgeous blonde I've been furious with for twenty four hours is his eighteen year old cousin.

  “You should've told me they visited and we could have avoided this all together.”

  "You've been ignoring me because of this?" He points to my phone. "This is our second fight both because you won’t answer your damn phone."

  "You could’ve told me your family was in!" He runs his hand through his chocolate brown hair and walks out of my door. Olivia walks in after he leaves with a sympathetic look on her face.

  “That was his cousin,” I tell her.

  "He will come back. He's just mad now." She strokes my hair and sits with me for what feels like hours. I can’t decide if I’m concerned he won’t come back, or if I’m concerned he will come back. What have we done to each other? I fall asleep after lying and watching TV with her.

  Chapter Eight

  I wake up the next morning from a knock on my door. Olivia is sprawled out beside me. Her hair is wild as she tosses and starts to wake up. Kellen walks in with his eyebrows raised.

  "You already replaced me?" He shoots me a dimpled grin and walks through my door with a case of donuts.

  "I'm going to my room to go back to sleep." She grabs a donut and slaps the back of Kellen's head as she walks out.

  "I have not one, but two females under the same roof mad at me." He says while he shoves a donut in his mouth.

  "You must be brave," I take one from him.

  "Or stupid," He mutters back. He walks over and sits down in bed with when I notice he’s wearing lounge pants and t-shirt.

  “Why are you dressed like that?” I manage to ask in between bites.

  “I stayed in your guest room last night,” he says while taking a bite

  “What?” I gape at him.

  “I wanted to stay the night over here,” he shrugs. I drop the subject but not before giving him a strange look. That’s not normal, Kellen. You’re insane.

  His blue eyes are starring forward, but not focused on anything. He’s chewing on his full bottom lip. He is deep in thought about something, but I can tell that he isn’t sure if he wants to tell me yet. He runs his hand through his dark hair making it a tasseled sexy mess.

  "My parents didn't die in an accident Audrey." This takes me completely off guard.

  “So you lied to me,” I say.

  "My father dropped me off at his brother’s house when my mother left him." I sit patiently waiting for him to continue with his confession. "My aunt and uncle adopted me when I was five, and they realized they weren't coming back for me." He's looking me in the eye now. "My aunt was pregnant with Chloe at the time. I know I added stress to their life, but they took me in and never made me feel anything but loved."

  "I haven't seen my parents since then. My uncle got me into baseball to occupy my time and it turns ou
t I was really good at it. I was drafted out of high school, I played in college through my senior year, and San Francisco drafted me when I was twenty two, this is my second season playing for them." He watches me for a minute and says, “I don’t know why I told you that. I just wanted you to know something about me.”

  I kiss him desperately in response. I swing my leg over his body to deepen the kiss. My hand tugs on the bottom of his shirt but he stops me.

  "Audrey, I didn't tell you that for sympathy. I just wanted you to know, but I'm not going any further with you today."

  If he only knew that I want him regardless of what he tells me. I look over at him as he watches my TV. I take in his brown hair that's casually styled with gel. He has the lightest blue eyes that pop against his tan skin.

  "Audrey, I promise I'll be who you deserve. Just promise you will start talking to me and trust me."

  "I promise," I assure him. I give him a peck on his full lips and smile at him. “And if I can find time I’ll answer your calls.”

  "Let's go out for lunch. Get dressed." He walks out of my door to wait on me.

  We walk past Olivia; she’s sitting on the couch giving me the thumbs up. Way to be obvious, Liv. Kellen has changed into jeans and I’m wearing a light sundress though the California weather is starting to cool off.

  “Let’s go to that Mexican restaurant that’s near your neighborhood,” he says.

  “That’s fine with me.”

  He pulls into the parking lot just minutes later. This small neighborhood never has a lot of traffic, which is one thing I’m dreading if I move back to New York. If we were in New York, this short drive could’ve turned into an hour-induced road rage fit.

  The hostess seats us at a back booth and smiles widely at Kellen before walking back to her stand. I steal a glance at him to find that he’s starring down at the menu and not paying attention to her.

  “The spinach enchiladas are good here.” He tells me.

  The waitress walks over to our table to greet us, Kellen orders a beer for him and I stick with lemonade. Lunch is too early for me to start drinking. I order the spinach enchiladas and he orders enough fajitas to for two grown men to eat.