SETH
Emily straight-up ignored my texts for the next few days and I tried my best to ignore them by concentrating on my games.
I wasn't going easy on my opponents. I struck the puck like my life depended on it. I unleashed all my pent-up rage onto my opponents, giving them left, right and center. Amid all of that, I even got a penalty.
By the end of the first period, my teammates were looking at me like I was their enemy. I guess I was just giving off that 'do-not-come-near-me' vibe. Even Roland wasn't making any snide comments anymore.
I told myself I needed to get my head back in the game. As much as Emily invaded about ninety percent of my brain, I couldn't think about her when I was on the ice too.
Coach stood in front of me, his bushy mustache twitched, "Care to discuss what's on your mind?"
I shrugged.
"This is definitely about the Latino girl, right?"
"How do you know?"
"You've been all over each other. You think I don't hear things? She watched every one of your practices and I’ve seen you looking at her. Not very subtle.”
Before I could get another word out, he asked, "You cheated on her."
"Coach..."
"She cheated on you, then?"
I shook my head. "Neither of us cheated. This is something else entirely."
"When I was your age—
Ah, here we go again. Coach telling me the story he had told me a million times before about how his wife and him and how they used to fight over the smallest things. He used to be a stud, the captain of the team and his wife thought he was fucking around with other girls which he wasn't. But then everything worked out for them in the end. Love conquers all and shit.
"What I'm trying to tell you, Monroe is that, if she's worth fighting for, you'll find a way to be with her."
If only it was that simple.
“Thanks for the tip, sir.”
“No problem.” He patted my back, “Just give it some time. By the way, I have something for you in my office.”
“What is it?”
“Come meet me after lunchtime.”
Throughout lunch, I could barely eat because I kept thinking what Coach wanted me to see.
I hoped it wasn’t some legal order from the court. I’d be doomed. My career would be ruined for good and there would be no turning back. If that was the case, I was hoping Coach had some useful information that I could use to avoid trouble.
My heart jackhammered as I walked to his office. I stood outside for a few seconds, taking deep breaths giving myself a pep talk.
You’ve got this.
I knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
I stepped inside the office and closed the door behind me.
I think he noticed that I was white as a sheet, something crossed his features.
“Have a seat.”
My legs felt like Jell-O and before I could collapse with whatever Coach had to say, I settled down.
“Am I in trouble?” Was the first thing that popped out of my mouth.
He smiled, “Have you done anything that can put you in trouble again?”
“No, sir.”
He nodded and then opened a drawer. He held an envelope in his hand that he pushed in front of me.
I stared at the mysterious envelope like it were a ticking time bomb.
“The envelope won’t open itself. You’ll have to open it to find out.”
I picked it up from the desk and opened the seal. How did Coach know the contents of this if he hadn’t bothered to open it?
Finally, I read what was inside.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
*~*
The same evening, I was once again standing on Emily’s doorstep.
This was the last time I was going to be here. The decision was going to be hers. I wasn’t going to be hanging onto her every word, waiting for Emily to text back. It seemed like she’d changed her mind.
Her emotions were now guarded, and every time I tried to make her comfortable, it only backfired. Apart from the sex, there was nothing. I guess you could say this was karma for me. I’d been the one to suggest a sex-only relationship when we first started noticing each other.
She stood at the door wearing a silk blue nightgown, her mousy brown hair was a messy bun at the top of her head, a few loose strands framing her face. She looked sexy as hell but I wasn’t here to seduce her.
She didn’t greet me but stepped aside to let me through.
As soon as I went in, she shut the door behind her and took me by complete surprise by corning me against the wall in the foyer and capturing my lips in a hard and long kiss. She deepened it; her tongue moved in slow strokes, sucking my tongue in her mouth like she was trying to feed her week-long hunger for me.
Her fingers fumbled against the hem of my t-shirt but before she could take it off, I placed my hand over hers to stop her.
It took everything inside me to halt her explorations. My body screamed for release, craved for her touch but sex wasn’t going to bridge the gap between us, it wasn’t going to fill up the hollow this had created inside of me.
Her huge dark eyes searched mine in question. “Do you want to go to my room?”
If I could spend all my wealth to find out what was going through her mind, I wouldn’t think twice before doing it.
“We’re not going anywhere. I’m here to talk.”
Her fingers lingered over my stomach and abs, “We can talk later.”
“It has to be right now.”
She huffed, “What?”
“You have been ignoring my calls and not answering my texts.”
“I’ve been busy sending out college applications.”
Lies.
“But apparently not busy enough to hang out with Indigo or Sky. Or should I say, Ian?”
Her eyes went wide. I’d caught her.
I chuckled darkly, “I know you met him up over coffee.”
“You’ve resorted to stalking me now?”
“Just happened to be passing by the surf shop near the café, that’s hardly called stalking. Seems like he’s good enough to date because he comes from a rich family like you, and since I’m from the wrong side of the town, I’m only useful for screwing around with.” I gave her a wide evil smile, “Interesting.”
“That is not true!” She bellowed.
“I gave you time to think about us, Emily, but that’s not gonna happen, is it? Because you’ve come to your senses and realized that sleeping with the maid’s son was a goddamn mistake!”
“Do not put this on me! It was you who made a bet with your stupid teammates and decided to have a laugh at the expense of a fat girl…” her chest rose and fell, tears trickling down her eyes, “Do you think it’s easy for me to live through that? I’ve been battling with insecurities all my life, then you showed me a beautiful picture only to twist it up into the ugly truth.”
“Fuck, Emily! I told you that I fucking love you. I couldn’t even remember the bet because I was drunk, don’t you believe me?”
She stood there, avoiding my eyes and that spoke volumes. She thought I was still capable of breaking her heart. She wanted to continue to sleep with me but refused to go further than that.
And as long as Emily continued to harbor insecurities, I couldn’t be with her.
“I won’t fault you for holding grudges and I know I don’t have much to offer you. I just have my heart and even that seems broken now. I can’t be your friend or your fuck-buddy.” I opened my backpack and handed her a check.
“What is that?”
“I got my paycheck from working at the diner yesterday. I saved up the money to pay you back for the money I owed you. I’ll give you the rest later.”
“I don’t want this!”
“It’s yours. Do whatever you want with it.” I turned around towards the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Just needed to clear some of my debt,” I took a few steps back, “So I guess I’m done here.”
I walked out of the foyer and through the door towards my truck parked outside.
I heard footsteps behind me. “Seth, don’t leave!”
I didn’t stop. I sat down in the truck and turned the ignition. From the rearview mirror, I saw her walking towards me.
“SETH!”
It took everything in my power to drive the hell away from there.
My heart squeezed painfully inside my chest, I found it difficult to drive because my eyes were filled with tears. This was the worst kind of heartbreak. The girl I loved wanted me because it was convenient, she wanted me for sex since I gladly provided her but she wasn’t ready to take a risk by having a real relationship with me.
That’s what you get for falling in love with a wealthy girl.
My phone began buzzing. I saw that it was my mom calling. I ignored the call at first since I was driving, but then she called me again twice.
I picked up the call once I parked the car outside my trailer and fished out the keys.
When I answered it, she was sobbing on the other end.
“Mom? Why are you crying? Is everything okay?”
“Seth…honey…” I could hear her voice breaking.
“Please tell me you’re fine.”
“Your dad, baby, he died this evening.”