It Was You (18 page)

“
A-what?”

“
Athena. Like the Greek goddess of the fucking hunt.”

“
I think that was Artemis,” I said, finally spying my car. I headed in that direction.

“
Whatever,” Tana snorted. “Jesus Christ, I didn't know people were named after Greek dieties.”

“
Wow,” I said again. I didn't know what else to say.

“
Wait. It gets better. She's also on antidepressants,” Tana said. “She didn't say what kind but she wanted me to know she's not a drug addict, just in case I saw her medication.”

I wanted to laugh but I knew she was freaked. “Uh, okay.”

“And,” she said. “And! And she wanted me to know that her boyfriend will be spending a lot of nights with us because apparently they're attached at the hip and even though he didn't get into Cal Poly, he's going to move there and get a job because they just love each other too much to be apart.”

I shoved my key into the car door. “Oh, wow. Not cool.”

“Right?! I'm totally freaked out.”

“
I would be, too, Tana.” The day had warmed considerably and I turned the key in the ignition, wanting to blast the AC.  “Can you ask for a new roommate?”

“
Have to wait until the semester,” she said. “I called student housing and they told me there are no singles and no other options right now. I'm totally stuck with a depressed, gun-toting roommate who is going to be humping her boyfriend about ten feet away from me!”

This time I did laugh. “I'm so sorry. What can I do?”

“I'm glad you asked,” she said. “When I go back next weekend, I want you to come with me.”

“
What?”

“
I want you to come back with me,” she said. “For at least the first night. Gil—her boyfriend—is going to be there and I do
not
want to be alone with them. You have to come with me so I'm not the third wheel.”

I sighed. “I don't know.”

“Please! Just for the first night. I won't keep you away from the beautiful boy for longer than that. But I can't spend my first night up there alone with them! I'll buy you a plane ticket or pay for your gas or whatever!”

I fiddled with the vents, angling them in my direction. I'd just reassured her that I wasn't the kind of friend to put my boyfriend first. And even though I thought she might be exaggerating, I knew she was freaked. I knew if I'd reversed the roles, if I was the one freaking out, I would absolutely be doing what she was doing, begging her to come and spend the night with me.

And I knew what the answer was.

“
Alright,” I said, shaking my head. “One night. I will come babysit for one night.”

“
You rock!” she screamed and I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “You are the best friend that has ever been a best friend!”

“
That doesn't make any sense, Tana.”

“
You know what I mean!” she said. “Okay. Go call your boyfriend. And seriously, Abby. Thank you!”

We hung up and I sat there for a moment. I didn't really want to go sleep in an overcrowded dorm room, especially after I'd just been there. And I didn't want to spend another weekend night away from my boyfriend.

But I could handle one night. For my best friend.

She would owe me, though, if I had to suffer through an entire night of listening to her crazy new roommate have sex.

TWENTY SEVEN

“
You're leaving me again?” West asked, frowning.

“
One night,” I said. “It's one night.”

We were down at a little grill off the boardwalk in Pacific Beach, sitting outside, the ocean rolling in on the sand on the other side of the boardwalk. I'd spent the rest of the day going through my textbooks, figuring out my reading schedule for my classes and trading texts with him, holding him off until dinner time. Not that I wanted to put him off that long, but I felt like I needed to get things done before spending the rest of the night with him.

He leaned back in the chair, his hair drifting in the breeze. He didn't look happy. “What if I had plans for us?”

“
What kind of plans?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Maybe I was going to take you to Jamaica.”

“Kingston or Ocho Rios?” I asked, setting my elbows on the table and leaning forward.

He hesitated, tried to hide a smile. “Neither. One those all-inclusive places on the beach.”

“Oh, which one?” I asked, widening my eyes. “Maybe I can cancel on Tana.”

His cheeks flushed red and I enjoyed catching him off-guard for the very first time.

“Okay, maybe not Jamaica,” he said, letting the smile out. “But I would've made plans.”

I laughed and grabbed my ice water. “Well, I was willing to cancel for Jamaica.”

He shook his head. “I don't think you would.”

He was right. I wouldn't have canceled on Tana after telling her I'd go. I wouldn't have felt right doing that to her.

“Probably right,” I admitted.

He threw his head back dramatically. “One night. Alright. I'll try and get by.”

“Well, who knows?” I said, quickly. “Maybe she'll change her mind or her parents will come home or something. I don't know. I'm not saying I want to go.”

He nodded. “I know. I know.” The breeze picked up and his hair blew across his face. He pushed it away. “It's fine.”

I liked that he was disappointed, but I didn't like that I was the one disappointing him.

The waiter came and we ordered our food. He set a small basket of bread on the table, refilled our waters and walked away.

West reached into the basket and took out a piece of the sourdough bread. He tore it in half and shoved a piece into his mouth. He chewed for a minute, his eyes focused in thought. “I could go with you.”

My hand was halfway to the bread basket and it froze in mid-air. “What?”

“I could go with,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me, one of those icy blue eyes staring me down. “Tag along. Get to know your friend better. Spend time with you.”

The thought of going on a road trip with him immediately excited me, but I tempered it quickly. “I'm not sure Tana's room would accommodate all of us.”

“I'd sleep real close,” he said, popping the other piece of bread into his mouth and bouncing his eyebrows.

“
And I'd let you,” I said, meaning it. “But it's Tana's room and I can't just invite you along.”

“
Why not?”

“
Well, because she invited me and...”

“
I'm kidding, Abby,” he said, grinning. “I wouldn't invite myself along.”

“
I don't want you thinking I wouldn't want you to come,” I said.

“
I don't,” he said. “But I'm not some douche who invites himself on a girl trip just because I'll miss my girlfriend.”

It was the first time he'd called me his girlfriend and a small tickle of excitement ran through me. “So I'm your girlfriend now?”

He had another piece of bread in his mouth and he nodded slowly. “Yep. You are.”

“
I don't get a say in the matter?”

He smiled and shook his head, still chewing the bread. “Nope.”

“What if I don't want to be anyone's girlfriend?”

He tore off a piece of crust and pointed it me. “Tough.”

I laughed and shook my head at his arrogance. It looked like rattling him about Jamaica was going to be the only time I could get to him. Otherwise, he was cool and collected and utterly sure of himself.

“
You okay with that?” he asked.

I waited for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. I am.”

The corners of his mouth turned upward. “Good.”

Our food came and we ate quietly, the ocean and the silverware on the plates the only background noise to our dinner. He'd look across the table at me every so often, smile, then go back to eating. I couldn't remember ever being with anyone where it was just so easy, so simple. I'd known him just a few days, yet it was hard to remember what it was like not to know him. And the more I looked at him across the table, the more I wanted to melt into him.

We finished and declined dessert. He paid before I could even reach for my purse, rolling his eyes at my feeble attempt to pay. We walked out through the patio gate and strolled up the boardwalk, the breeze blowing the smell of the ocean all around us as we walked.

“
I don't want to ruin the mood,” I said, squeezing his hand and glancing up at him. “But I want to ask you a question.”

I hadn't brought it up when we'd met that morning. I hadn't wanted to start the day out with questions, with an interrogation. But we needed to talk about the last night we'd spent together.

He stared straight ahead as we walked. “You wanna know why she called.”

“
Yeah,” I admitted.

We walked for a minute, sand coming up over the edge of the boardwalk and sparkling against the moonlight in the dark.

“She was doing her thing,” he said. “Being very...Kayla.”

“
What exactly does that mean?”

“
It means that whenever the opportunity arises, she likes to put herself in the middle,” he said. “Especially if it has to do with me.”

We walked a little further. “Why?” I asked.

“You really want all of the gory details?” he asked, glancing at me.

I met his gaze. “Yeah.”

And I did. I didn't want there to be any secrets between us or anything I didn't know about him. It wasn't that I wanted to become this nosy girlfriend, but I also wanted to know what could possibly set him off the way he did. I knew it was unfair, especially considering I wouldn't share anything of real consequence about me, but I didn't care. I wanted to know.

“
We dated for awhile. Almost a year,” he said. “Senior year. We'd known each other for most of high school and we'd hooked up one time during our junior year, but I wasn't looking for a girlfriend then. So we got together for good senior year.”

Maybe he was right. Maybe I didn't want all the gory details. Because as soon as he started talking about her, I felt sick to my stomach.

“So it was fine at first,” he said as we continued walking. “Then she just got all possessive and shit. Wanting to know who I was talking to when I was on the phone. Not wanting me to go out with guys on the team. Basically, every waking second was supposed to be spent with her. And I didn't see it like that.”

He glanced out at the water, then focused again on where we were headed. “And I just kinda got the feeling that she was on the baseball train.”

“The baseball train?”

He nodded. “I think she though she was latching on to me early, just in case I went pro, so she could go along for the ride. When I got into Stanford and said I was going, she got pretty pissed.”

“She didn't apply?”

He snorted. “Hardly. Kayla did just enough to pass her classes so her dad wouldn't take her car away. And I don't know that she could've done more even if she tried. Not the brightest star in the sky.”

I nodded. “So why were you with her? Not smart. Possessive. I don't get it.”

He shrugged, rolling his massive shoulders. “I don't know. You know how high school is. You're just sort of expected to be with people in your own group. I didn't have a girlfriend. She didn't have a boyfriend. We ran in the same crowd. We're at a party one night and all of sudden we're boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“And she's pretty,” I said, forcing the words out of my mouth.

“
Sure, if all you have to do is look at her,” he said. “But when you have to start dealing with her all the time? She got ugly in a hurry.”

We crossed the street and headed up the block toward his apartment.

“So, finally, I told her I was done,” he continued. “Told her I'd had enough. That didn't go over so well. She made a huge scene at school, called me all sorts of things, blah blah blah. Nothing really unique. And she's been a pain in my ass ever since.” He shook his head. “So my temperature goes up when she's around or when she sticks her nose in my business. It's like she thinks if she sticks around, eventually I'll cave or something. I guarantee you that ain't happening. And that was even before I met you.”

I nodded, silently holding on to that. I was glad he'd said it.

“When she saw us at the beach that night,” he said, then shrugged again. “Well, you saw what happened. Guarantee she sent her boyfriend down to stir the pot. It's what she does. And when she called the other night, interrupting our date, I was seriously pissed. And then when she said she'd run into you at the mall, I flipped.” He glanced down at me. “Obviously.”

“
But why?” I asked. “I don't get why she got to you so badly.”

He thought for a long moment before answering. “One, she was interrupting our date. That was our time and I was pissed all to hell that she was calling. It's like she knew. And it pissed me off.” He took a deep breath. “And when she told me she ran into you, I was afraid she would've told you some bullshit lies about me. I didn't want you thinking anything about me that wasn't true.”