Going Long (4 page)

Dylan left my mind the second I
stepped through the tunnel. Truth was there wasn’t much room for anything other
than winning when I was on the field. I always had the gift of concentration.
It was my edge, and it’d taken me pretty far.

We ended up defeating Oregon
14-21. Their defense was everything I’d expected it to be, punishing, tough,
brutal and strong. But they didn’t break me. I’d made it through one more game
with my wits still with me.

“You comin’ out with us tonight,
Johnson?” Trig said as he walked by on his way to the showers, smacking my head
with his rolled-up towel, “Or your girlfriend got you on a leash tonight?”

I knew he was only teasing, but
it pissed me off. “Fuck off,” I said, shoving him a little.

“Shit, man. I was kidding. Noles
is my girl, you know that,” he looked offended.

“Sorry, just a little stressed…”
I said, my mind bouncing between wanting to talk to Nolan about the draft, warn
her about Dylan and then…
Dylan
. “Yeah, we’ll probably come out with you
guys. Where you headed first?”

“Cooler’s, I guess. They never
charge,” Trig said, flipping on the water to his shower.

“Okay, we’ll meet you there,” I
said, turning to the hot water now streaming at my face.

I lucked out when I hooked up
with Trig. He came to Arizona from New Mexico, and the man was a quarterback’s
dream. If I put the ball anywhere near his shadow, he was catching it. We were
both Johnsons, which had become the favorite headline for the campus paper.
‘Johnson & Johnson.’

Trig came from a big family, and
he was the youngest. He had four brothers who all played college ball. His
oldest brother, Miles, was a left tackle for the Cardinals, and we got some
pretty sweet seats to some of the games thanks to that little connection. Trig
understood my pressure better than anyone else on the team, and he’d been there
to talk through a lot of the draft shit when I wasn’t ready to bring it up to
Nolan. And after, when it freaked her out, he was there for that, too. His
girlfriend went to UofA with us, and they’d been dating about as long as Noles
and I had. Trig was looking to enter the draft this year, too. But his
girlfriend, Amy, was all for it. And I envied him for it.

Nolan and Sarah were waiting on
the leather sofa at the main entrance to the athlete quarters, their feet
folded up in their laps. The girls had grown closer in college and even more so
when Sienna moved in with her boyfriend. I was glad that Nolan had someone like
Sarah to look after her. She’d told me off a time or two, and I’ll be honest,
it made me nervous. I wanted that same toughness at Nolan’s side when I wasn’t
around.

“Well, how’d I do?” I asked,
kicking at Nolan’s folded legs a little.

She stood up, pulling her shirt
down over the top of her shorts, always modest and still so damned unsure of
her beauty. Chewing at the inside of her cheek a little, she put her thumb to
her lip like she was considering something. “Hmmmm, I don’t know, Johnson. I’d
put you at about eighty percent,” she nodded, acting with disappointment.

“Eighty percent, huh?” I said,
rushing her a little and swinging her over my shoulder to carry her through the
doors. Her giggling started then, the best sound in the whole damn world.
“Eighty percent?”

I took off running, leaving
Sarah behind. Nolan knew exactly where I was going as she started slapping at
my back and threatening me that I’d
better not
. When we got to the main
fountain at the center of campus, I pulled her back over my shoulder and held
her in my arms as I pulled off my shoes with my feet.

“Reed Johnson, don’t you dare!”
she screamed as I stepped over the concrete edge and waded in the water,
sliding closer and closer to the main spray. Her screams and giggles only egged
me on.

“You want to rethink that
B
minus
, Noles? Eighty percent? You sure about that?” I said, freezing in
place, just one more step away from the full effects of the waterfall. I looked
her in the eyes and watched as she flinched, just for a minute, and then
finally did it.

“Okay, maybe I was being a bit
unfair. You were really more of an eighty-two,” she said, baiting me.

Our eyes locked, I pushed my
lips tight into a disapproving grin and shook my head. “Oh, now you’ve done
it,” I said, stepping forward and stopping us underneath the force of the
fountain’s shower. Nolan wasn’t mad. Sure, she screamed and smacked at my chest
as the freezing water poured over us. But my playfulness never rattled her. If
anything, it had the opposite effect, which I was counting on as she reached
around my neck and pulled my head to hers for a forceful kiss. Her hands
grabbed at my soaked T-shirt, pulling me closer. I let her body slide from my
arms so I could wrap my fingers through her hair. It was a good thing Trig and
Sarah reminded us we were in public.

 “God, you two. It’s bad
enough that I don’t have a boyfriend, but do I really have to be the
uncomfortable third wheel on our way to the bars, too?” Sarah broke us up.

“Sorry, Sar. I get carried away,
what can I say,” I said, grinning.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, reaching
for Nolan’s hand to help her climb over the edge of the fountain. But I wasn’t
about to let her go. I grabbed her back in my arms and dunked her once more,
pushing my forehead to hers as she slid her hair back out of her eyes and
blinked the beaded water from her lashes, laughing. I swung her back and forth
in my arms as I carried her back to the dry side, the tips of our noses
touching and my lips tingling just watching her bite her lower lip. Unable to
take it, I had to kiss her once more, the soft and slow kind I did when I
forgot others were watching—or when I wanted everyone to know she was
mine. And she was…she had my entire heart.

We dripped dry during the rest
of our walk to the dorms. Sarah and Noles changed in our bathroom while Trig and
I got ready in our room. I hung our wet clothes over the backs of our desk
chairs as Trig answered the door to let Amy in. He grabbed his wallet, and then
the two of them headed out. I promised to catch up with them later.

Sarah and Nolan finally left the
bathroom after about 25 minutes. I couldn’t tell for sure, but something seemed
off—more than once tonight I had noticed the two of them glaring at one
another, almost as if Sarah was urging Nolan to do something. I was pretty sure
Sarah knew about my draft decision, and I sort of figured Nolan would talk to
her about it. But something told me
this
was more than just the draft.

I shook it from my mind when
Nolan stepped out in a pair of strappy red heels, faded jeans and a tight red
top—clearly an outfit of Sarah’s design, but one I was deeply thankful
for.

“Uhhhh, dammnnnnn,” I said,
reaching for her back pocket and pulling her close to claim her right away.

Her giggle was nervous. As I
wrapped my arms around her and kissed at her neck, I felt her tense a little.
It was almost…hesitation? Something was definitely off. But I needed to wait
for Sarah to be out of the picture for that talk. So in the meantime, I’d just
enjoy the damn sexy view.

Nolan

So, it turns out there really
isn’t an easy segue into a conversation with your boyfriend about being knocked
up. I spent the entire drive to Tucson listening to Sarah preach to me about
what I needed to do. “You HAVE to tell him,” she said, a million times, in a
million ways.

But why did I
have
to
tell him now? I mean, I know. I have to tell him. But it didn’t have to be
tonight. I just wanted to enjoy our blissful innocence for a little bit longer.
And I didn’t want to yank everything out from under him yet, either. I wanted
to wait, just to make sure. Wait for my appointment, perhaps. I’d spent the
last 24 hours sick and bouncing between reality and my make-believe world where
my problems went away. And now I was consumed with finding a way to hide the
anxiety on my face. The last thing I needed was Sarah’s constant
bringing-it-back-to-the-forefront.

Reed pulled me away from my
thoughts as he grabbed my hand and led me out to the dance floor at Cooler’s.
The place was really a dive bar, but it had such a huge following and was
always packed. The dance floor was a giant stretch of polished concrete; the
graffiti that decorated it had been sealed in place by the glaze on the floor.
I wondered if you would actually reach anyone if you dialed the 1980s phone
numbers that were barely legible but still there.

Sarah started dancing the moment
we entered the bar, already snuggled up against some tall frat guy that Reed
nodded an
okay
to—just to let Sarah know he was
safe
. Reed
wasn’t much of a dancer, but he liked the slow songs. So did I. Slowly swaying
in his arms, with my ear pressed against his heart, was the best place in the
world. We stayed like that for two or three songs in a row before Reed kissed
my head and led me back to a table so he could hit the restrooms.

I caught a glimpse of Sarah out
on the dance floor with Amy. The two of them looked like professionals,
twisting and grinding in sync. With their curves and exposed skin, it was no
wonder that they drew the eyes of most of the males at the bar when they danced
together. And it wasn’t a surprise when Trig had to step in, and, on occasion,
throw a punch or two to get Amy back to himself. Sarah thrived under the
attention, and I was constantly worried about her getting in over her head. She
had a knack for going home with the wrong guy.

“So, you tell him yet?” Sarah
said, a little too loudly, as she slid into the chair next to me and reached
for her beer.

“Uh, no…and I won’t need to if
you keep shouting shit out loud like that,” I scolded her.

“Pfft,” she took a big drink,
set the bottle down hard and leaned in to me. “I’m sorry to be tough here,
Nolan, but you can’t be a chicken about this. It’s a sucky situation. But it’s
not just going to fix itself. And it’s not just about you.”

I knew everything she was
saying. And I knew she was just dishing out her own brand of
tough love
.
It was the only kind of love the Perez sisters knew how to serve. But add that
to the fact that she was working on a pretty good buzz, and it was starting to
get obnoxious.

“Yeah, I hear you,” I said
forcefully, hoping she’d get the point and drop it.

She stood and pushed her empty
bottle at me. I tensed a little as I saw Reed walking up behind her. “Sure you
do, Nolan; you hear me,” she said, slamming her chair back into the table and
taking off for the dance floor.

“What’s her deal?” Reed asked.

“Who knows; some guy’s not
paying attention to her or something, whatever,” I was flippant and lying. It
made my stomach hurt, because deep down I knew Sarah was right. But I kept up
my façade anyhow.

I didn’t feel much up for
dancing after my tiff with Sarah, and I was pretty sure she was done with me
for the night when she came up to the table to grab her purse and told us she’d
just meet me back at home to drive back to campus Sunday. I watched her leave
with Mr. Tall Frat Boy, admonishing her a little in my mind for giving it up so
easily. “Hypocrite,” I thought to myself.

“Hey, where you at tonight?”
Reed asked, pulling my hand to his lap and rubbing my palm with his thumbs.

“Sorry, I feel bad that I was
grumpy with Sarah, that’s all,” I said, a half-truth.

“You wanna call it a night?”
Reed said, standing and stretching. His beautiful broad body doubled my size,
and when we were out and he was dressed in his snug jeans and tight, black
T-shirt I felt defensive, ready to fend off the dozens of college co-eds
drooling and begging for a chance to take him home.

“Yeah, I think so. Trig okay
with us leaving him?” I asked, looking over to where he was dancing with Amy,
his hands roaming her body for the world to see.

“Uhm, I’m pretty sure Trig
couldn’t care less where we go,” Reed laughed.

The drive back to Reed’s was
quiet. I knew why I wasn’t talking, and I had a guess what was on Reed’s mind,
too. He was really battling not to bring up his draft options with me before we
had a chance to really talk about things. I felt like such a terrible person.
Here he was, pausing his own dreaming just to make me happy, and all I could do
is think about how I was going to ruin it all anyway.

Reed cracked open the window in
his dorm room when we got there to let a little bit of the breeze in. It was
still warm at night, but the desert air smelled sweet, and it made the concrete
walls Reed was living in seem a little less cold and stuffy. Reed turned the
lights off and slowly walked to me. He reached for the bottom of my shirt as he
pulled me closer, until I crashed into him a bit, and he fell back, sitting on
his bed with me on his lap.

“Those shoes have to be killing
you, if I know you at all,” he smirked, pulling at the straps on my feet to
relieve their misery. He did know me so well. I couldn’t wait to be barefoot.

He started rubbing the arches of
my feet as I snuggled into him. “Oh my god, you have no idea how good that
feels,” I said. Reed laughed in response, a little sinisterly. I poked him in
the ribs for his dirty mind.

“Sorry, it’s just…anyone walking
by wouldn’t think I’m rubbing your feet,” he said, walking his fingers up my
leg and tummy a little, flirting with the edge of my shirt. Suddenly, I
stiffened. I know Reed could sense my hesitation from his touch, and I was a
little surprised by it, too. I tried to play it off, sliding from his lap to
lie back on his pillow. He quickly pulled his shoes off and slid next to me,
propping his head up on one hand while his other stroked my hair behind my
ears.

He was looking just above my
eyes, his gaze a little distant. He was thinking, and I recognized his
I
want to talk
expression. “You want to say something, I can tell,” I said,
scrunching my nose because I knew what he wanted to talk about.

Reed let out a deep breath. “I
do. It’s the draft,” he locked his eyes with mine. “I know we were going to
wait to talk about it, but my mom’s in town, and she set up a lunch tomorrow
with Dylan and…”

All I heard was Millie was in
town. I always had an adverse reaction to Reed’s mother, but for some reason it
made me shiver tonight. Like a child, I rolled to my side, looking away from
him and cutting him off mid-sentence.

“I know, I know. I wanted to just
spend the day me-and-you, too…but I don’t have a lot of time, and I need to
talk with Dylan because I can’t talk with Brent, legally. And…” Reed was
pleading with me. I wanted to be open to his needs, but the weight of my secret
and the thought of having to make decisions and bring my news out for his
mother’s judgment repulsed me. It made me irrational, and I was being a bitch.
I couldn’t stop, though.

“It’s fine,” I cut him off.
“Seriously, whatever. We’ll go to lunch with your mom, and talk about it
tomorrow. Just not tonight, okay?”

Reed took a slow long breath,
his arms falling away from me as he rolled to lie on his back next to me. I
couldn’t turn to face him. I wasn’t sure my face could continue to bluff. “I’m
sorry, I’m just really tired,” I forced out the words.

Reed rubbed my back a bit and
then leaned over to whisper in my ear as he reached his arm around me to pull
me close. “It’s okay,” he said, kissing my neck a little. “You go to sleep.”

Within an hour, I heard Reed’s
breathing start to steady, and I knew he was fast asleep. I, on the other hand,
was probably looking at pulling an all-nighter with my own thoughts. Again.