More Than Enough (Enough #2) (25 page)

A few days
later, we’re all packed up and ready to go to Mexico. Brayden and Carter are in good spirits with their tests over with and a whole week to relax in the sun together. I, on the other hand, feel even worse than I did a few days ago. The ache in my heart is almost overwhelming me at this point, and I want to beg her to tell me why she’d do that to me. Why couldn’t she just have loved me like I loved her? Why’d she just have to see dollar signs when she looked at me?

I was not just heartbroken anymore, but I also wanted answers. I wanted her to tell me what she was thinking, and how she got me to fall in love with her like I did. I wanted to know how much of our relationship was a lie and what was real. I wanted every fucking detail. Like did she really cum in my arms or was she faking that as well as everything else. I needed to fucking know.

Carter and I were gathering up everything we needed from our condo while Brayden checked in with his biology study group. She already asked me three times if I was okay. I know that she could sense the tension in me because I felt like I was about to explode with it. Finally, when she asked again what was wrong, I explained harshly, “I want to fucking know how much of my life these last eight months were a lie and what was truth. I want to know if she was pretending every fucking second or was some of the time we spent actually her being her. I’m questioning every damn touch that she gave me, and whether she wanted to or was just pretending. I’m breaking up inside cause I just need to know if anything was real for her.”

With how harshly I’d spoken to her, Carter looked at me with soft eyes filled with love and told me, “You need answers, Kell. You need to go find her and get them. I can’t tell you what was real and what wasn’t and neither can Brayden. Athena is the only person that can explain to you what she was thinking and why. You need to ask her if she really loved you. You’ll be able to tell if she’s telling the truth or a lie. You’re a discerning individual, which is why I don’t think she’d ever be able to trick you into falling for her. But you need to hear it from her, Kell. What’s the worst that can happen? You confi
rm your worst fears and realize she was just using you. That’s what you think right now. At least talk to her and get all your questions answered before it’s too late, and she’s moved on.”

The thought of her moving on makes me almost choke in anger and fear. “Have you heard that she’s interested in anybody?” Carter shakes her head and says, “No, but going by you
r reaction, if I had, I don’t think you’d be okay with it. I think that means that you two aren’t exactly over yet. Just go to her, listen to what she has to say, and decide what you believe.”

I feel my blood pumping with excitement as I decide to go see Athena. At the very least, I deserve answers, and it’s time I
confronted her and found out the complete truth about our relationship. I lean down and kiss Carter on the forehead. I ask her, “Did she stay on campus?” Carter says, “No, she went back home to Panama City to visit her parents, but I’ve got the address.” She hands it to me, and I head to the elevator. As I’m about to step inside, Carter shouts to me, “Keller, if it doesn’t work out, come to me and Brayden in Cancun. We’re your family, and we’ll be there for you.” I give her a smile and say, “That was part of my plan all along.”

I drive to Athena’s parent’s house in my truck and let my mind think of her freely for the first time in weeks. I think about her fresh natural smile, and her quiet sweet laugh that is especially sexy when we’re alone. I think back to how she begs and pleads when she
’s about to come apart in my arms, and how her legs look so good in everything. I think back to how her red hair brightens up anyplace we’re in, and how good it feels to walk with her hand in mine. I let myself hope for a little while that there’ll be some way I can believe her when she tells me she really loves me. I’m just praying for that to be the truth right now.

I pull into where my GPS is taking me, and it’s the most rundown trailer park I’ve ever seen. I haven’t been in many, but I really think that half these trailers shouldn’t even be standing anymore. This is where Athena was from, such a beautiful, smart girl to come from such an ugly rundown place. I pull up to a trailer that isn’t the worst here
but definitely isn’t the best either. I’m just about to go knock on the door when I turn around and catch sight of red hair by the edge of the woods.

I walk in that direction instead and see Athena sitting down on a brick near the woods
. I get almost right up to her before she even notices anyone is there. She looks up at me with tear marks streaked down her cheeks and says, “Keller, of course, you’d pick today to want to talk, and you’d track me down at my parents dump of a trailer. Well, now, you can know for a fact that I was using you with all the evidence right here. Who wouldn’t want to be desperate enough to flee this place?”

She’s saying all the things I thought were true, but her tone is dripping with sarcasm and hurt. I squat down so I’m not talking down to her and ask, “What’s wrong, Red? Why’re you
crying?” She lets out a sob and tells me, “I don’t even know where to start. I miss you, and I was trying to get everything straight in my head. I wanted to know why I’d feel that way and say those things my freshman year so I came back here to see if I could make amends with my past. My parents were the farthest thing from excited to see me, and my mother told me she had enough to take care of with my father. Basically, she told me to get out. I let my taxi go, and I’ve got no battery on my cell phone. So I’m going to have to start walking to the nearest store and payphone to get a bus ticket back to school.” She takes a deep breath in and talks to me in a less defeated tone,

“
But enough about me, why’re you here, Kell? What do you want? I don’t know if I can deal with your hate or distaste right now. I feel just too raw to deal with anything.” And right then I comprehended that whether she’d wanted to use me or not, and whether she loved me or didn’t, I still love her. I could never not take care and help the woman that I loved. So with that, I picked her up and carried her to the truck. I put her inside and buckled her seatbelt, and she asked through her tears, “What are you doing?” Decisively, I said, “Taking care of you.” And that’s what I did, I drove her back to the condo and made her grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. We watched TV and talked about classes, running , and the weather without ever touching on the video or our relationship. She fell asleep on the couch, and I carried her to my bed and put her in it. I hesitated but climbed in next to her, and immediately, she crawled into my arms.

I fel
l asleep feeling more content than I’ve been since Valentine’s, and I knew it was all because of this beautiful creature in my arms. I decided that I had enough love in me for the both of us, and whatever she said, I wasn’t letting her go.

I woke
up to Athena stretching on top of me and asking, “Is this a dream? Why am I suddenly back in your bed? What happened last night?” Patiently, I try to explain to her, “You had a rough time with your parents, and I brought you back here. We ate dinner and watched TV. You fell asleep on the couch, and I carried you to bed.” Her forehead scrunches up in the cutest way, and she says, “Why would you put me in your bed? You hate me, don’t you?”

I groan and shake my head, “I could never hate you, Red. I was just so damned hurt when I heard you wanted to use an athlete so he’d take care of you. I just could never have seen you doing anything like that. And you know I’ve got a huge fear of being used.
I didn’t want that to be all we were.” She looks down at me sadly and strokes my face with her hands as she explains, “Kell, I never did do that. Tons of athletes asked me out last year, and I didn’t go out with any of them more than once or twice. I didn’t want to date anyone I couldn’t like and eventually love. I was drunk in that video and being egged on by Rachel. I barely even remember making it that’s how drunk I was. It was just my way to feel like I had a plan to not be my mother, but I’d had a crush on you since last year. As soon as you’d shown any interest in me, all bets were off. I just wanted you for you. Have you seen yourself? You’re gorgeous, and your strong silent thing is a huge turn on. I’ve never wanted or loved anybody like I love you. I just thought after seeing that awful video that any love you had for me was over.”

I growled in frustration and ask her, “Why didn’t you tell me this after everything happened. We wouldn’t have had to suffer weeks apart, and I wouldn’t have had to think that you didn’t love me.” She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t even look at me, Kell, much less talk to me. When I tried to talk to you that night, your eyes were so cold that they scared me. I couldn’t have you look at me without love or even emotion in your eyes. It felt as painful as
if I was stabbed with a knife.”

She leans down to kiss me, and I immediately kiss her back. Our clothes are off in seconds, and she’s riding me while I take in my favorite view in the whole world. “I love you so fucking much, Red.” I groan out while she starts bouncing hard on top of me. She screams, “I love you too!” Right before we both let ourselves cum together.

As I’m just holding her and stroking her back afterwards, I tell her, “We can join Brayden and Carter in Cancun whenever you want to, Red.” She gives me a grin that says she’s having some naughty thoughts and says, “Ask me again in a few days.” With that she starts doing some of the things she must have been thinking, and all other thoughts are suddenly not important. I love this girl so damn much.

Epilogue (one year later)

Athena

Keller just got drafted to the New York Giants, and he and I had already talked about me transferring schools and going with him. He’s been an amazing boyfriend this past year, and he’s made up for ever doubting my love for him at all. I can’t believe he never even judged where I came from.

When I confided in him about being embarrassed that he’d seen where I’d lived. He told me, “Red, we’ve both had shitty childhoods, maybe on the outside yours looks a little dirtier, but they were both ugly underneath. That’s one of the reasons that we’re so good together. We both want better for ourselves.”

Statements like that from him just make me feel happy and secure.
I just love how much faith he has in us. I’ve been nervous about all the girls that will go after him now that he’ll be playing in the NFL. I’m going to feel intimidated since I’m just a college student dating a professional sports star, but Carter has promised to help me look the part. And I trust her because she already looks like a professional athlete’s girlfriend.

I’m waiting for Keller to pick me up from my dorm. He told me to dress extremely casual and in sneakers for our date. Confused, I did what he asked and am waiting for him in my blue jean shorts and white tank top with my sneakers on. When he pulls up, I run out to his truck, but he gets out and comes towards me. He makes casual clothes looks so good with how hard and muscled his body is. But I frown at him confused, and he points to the running trail.

“I just want to take a short walk down that trail for memories sake. We’re leaving this school soon, and all our first memories as a couple are around here. It makes me sad, and I want us to take a moment to remember.” Kell can be so romantic and thoughtful. I happily grab his hand and walk down the trail with him talking about what we would talk about in the beginning and how nervous I was around him then.

Finally, we reach my dorm’s entrance to the trail, and Kell suddenly gets down on his knee. I look around, confused, trying to figure out what’s going on now. When I look into his eyes and see how intense he suddenly is. I look down at his hands and he’s holding a black box in one of them. My mind goes blank,
and suddenly, I don’t even remember how to breathe.

“Athena, I want us to feel like partners in this move, and I know that I want to spend the rest of our lives together. I want to experience everything that I can with you by my side. You are the most beautiful girl
in the world to me inside and out, and I love you more than anything else in the world.” He takes a big gulp, and his hand shakes a little, which is the first visible sign that he’s nervous. It just makes me love him even more. He grabs my hand and holds it tightly in his before he asks, “Will you make me the happiest man on the planet and marry me?” I say, “Yes!” as soon as marry me leaves his mouth, and he stands up and just picks me up in his arms. I wrap my arms and legs around him and don’t think I’ll ever let go.

He kisses me, and I kiss him back with all the happiness
erupting inside of me. I can’t believe Keller wants to be with me for forever. I am going to get to marry the man of my dreams. I look up at him and just have to marvel at how beautiful he is. His green eyes stand out starkly, and his chiseled face is smiling with relief at my answer.