One True Thing (18 page)

I glance at Mitch who shrugs. “Thanks man,” I say.

“Yeah,” Mitch says, pushing past him. “Thanks.”

The front of the house opens up into the living room that’s crowded, but not so crowded that you’d turn people away. A few people are dancing in the middle of the room, but most are draped over the couches and chairs waiting to get drunk enough to dance.

“What the hell was that all about?” Jenna asks.

“What do you think?” Nina says, but she doesn’t look mad, just tired. She glances at me but I don’t react. “Same old shit.”

Jenna folds her arms across her chest. “I don’t think I even want to stay.”

I love how mad she is for Nina. “We’re here. Let’s hang out for a little while and then we can bail.”

Nina looks at me for a long moment and I can almost hear what she’s thinking. “I need a drink,” is all she says, so we follow her through the house and into the large open kitchen where the keg is standing in the corner surrounded by guys holding red plastic cups.

Mitch and I walk over to get some beer, but I can still feel the anger radiating off of him.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he says, his tone short. “I love looking like a pussy in front of my girlfriend.”

“You didn’t look like a pussy.”

He turns to face me. “Yeah, I did. There was no way that asshole was going to let the two of us in here and then you come along, Mr. Big Dick and save the day.”

It feels like he’s punched me in the stomach. “I didn’t mean it to come off that way.”

“Well, it does.”

“Look,” I say. “This is the first year that anything’s gone right for me. I spent two years at a crappy community college playing mediocre ball and working my ass off just to get a shot at something big. If people are starting to notice, then good for them. All I wanted was to have a nice night out with Jenna, blow off some steam and hang out with my friends. I’m sorry if that makes me an asshole.”

Mitch doesn’t say anything, just leans down to the tap and pours out two beers. “I know you didn’t mean it,” he says finally, glancing over at the girls on the other side of the room. “But this is how it’s going to be for the rest of my life. I need to learn to handle fuckwads like that on my own.”

I look over at Nina. With her curly hair and dark skin—next to Jenna, she’s easily the most beautiful girl in the place. “Jenna told me you guys were going to move next year.”

“Yep,” he says, waiting for me to fill my cups. “As soon as the year is over I’m out of here. Lucky for me Nina agreed to come with me.” He takes a sip of his beer. “I’m going to marry that girl and we’re going to have a mess of little brown babies and I’ll fuck with anyone who stands in the way of that.”

“Wow,” I say. It’s amazing to me that he’s so sure of himself, so sure about Nina and what he wants for the future. I look at Jenna and can’t imagine being without her, but it still feels like we both have so much to do—Jenna wants her dance career and I’m on the verge of finally making something happen with baseball. And I’d have so much to say to her before we could even begin to get to that point.

“Wow, what?” Mitch asks suspiciously. “Wow, you don’t think we should do it?”

“No! You guys are good together. You totally should.” I say, as we walk slowly over to the girls. “Just ‘wow’, I didn’t realize you were such an adult.”

He grins. “We grow up fast in Texas. Half my high school class is married already.”

“I can’t even,” I say as we hand the girls their beers.

“You can’t what?” Jenna demands, looking up from her phone.

“Nothing,” Mitch says.

“Hmpf,” she says. She holds up her phone. “Courtney’s here somewhere—out back I think. I should go find her.”

“Let’s go,” I say, grabbing her free hand and leading her through the crowd to the back door. I feel all the guys at the keg watching as we pass them and I squeeze her hand, knowing it’s me she’s going home with at the end of the night.

“Jenna!” her roommate calls from her place in front of a Ping-Pong table covered in red cups. She staggers over to us and drapes one arm around Jenna’s neck. “What took you so long?”

“We’re not late,” Jenna says. “But you’re wasted.”

“Apparently,” Courtney says, glancing back at the table. “I royally suck at beer pong.” She sways unsteadily on her feet.

“I think you might want to switch to water,” Jenna says, pulling her up straight.

“That’s no fun.”

“I saw some bottles of water on the counter by the keg. I’ll go get one,” I say.

“Thanks,” Jenna says. She points to some patio chairs by the fire pit. “We’re going to head over there.”

Rowan’s standing at the keg with a full cup of beer as I walk back into the kitchen. “Hey, man,” I say, giving him a high five.

“Hey,” he says. “I saw you two after the game. I guess things worked out with the girlfriend.”

“Yeah,” I say, mulling the word over in my head. We haven’t talked about it, but I guess Jenna
is
my girlfriend. That word doesn’t fill me with the dread it did at one point. “She’s out back with her roommate.” I look around, but it doesn’t look like he’s talking to anyone. “Come on.”

I see Jenna sitting on someone’s lap when we walk back into the backyard and I get a flash of something. Jealousy? Anger? She’s laughing at something he’s said and her skin is glowing in the light from the fire.

“Ty!” she calls, when I reach them. “This is my friend Stewart from back home.” I recognize the tall guy from the student union that day and gay or not, I don’t like the way he’s holding her around the waist.

“Good to meet you,” Stewart says, leaning forward to shake my hand. Jenna makes no move to get up, which pisses me off a little more.

“Ty went home with me a couple weeks ago and got the full-on Gramps experience,” she says.

“And he still stuck around?” Stewart says with mock surprise.

Jenna smacks him playfully on the arm. Which I also don’t like. “Of course he did.”

“Here you go,” I say, handing Courtney her water.

“Thanks.” She sits up straight when she sees Rowan behind me, suddenly looking a lot more sober. “Who’s your friend?”

I step to one side. “Rowan, this is Courtney.”

There’s a glint in her eye as she shakes his hand, but I don’t miss Rowan’s glance at Stewart and I relax a little. It’s obviously not the first time the two of them have met.

Jenna doesn’t miss it either. “Hey, Ty. Play you a game of basketball?”

“What?” I ask, looking around the backyard. There’s a cement patio at the end of the lot with a hoop hanging on the side of the garage. “Basketball? Now?”

“Sure. Courtney’s in good hands here. What? Are you scared?” She downs the last of the beer in her cup.

“Scared? That I’ll hurt you maybe.”

“Sounds like them’s fightin’ words,” Stewart says with an exaggerated accent.

Jenna jumps off his lap and grabs my hand. “Let’s go, big shot.”

She marches me over to the empty court and picks a basketball up off the grass, bouncing it a few times.

Jenna looks so sexy bouncing a basketball in high heels and a short skirt that I can’t stop grinning.

“Okay—one-on-one,” she says. “First one to twenty wins.”

“In those shoes?”

Jenna does a quick side step and deftly bounces the ball between her legs. I have never been so turned on playing basketball in my life. “Dancers have to be able to do everything in heels,” she says, giving her eyebrows a suggestive wiggle.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, reaching for the ball, but she twists out of my reach. I realize this might be harder than I thought. I’ve got a definite height advantage, but she’s got a quickness that’s going to be hard to match.

“Think fast,” she says, darting around me and taking a shot from fifteen feet back. The ball doesn’t even hit the rim, just sails right through. “Ooh!” she yells, both hands in the air. “Three points!”

“Not so fast,” I say, grabbing the ball on the rebound and tossing it over her head. “There’s the answer shot.”

“Traveling,” she says, pointing to my feet.

“What?” I ask, looking down.

“Traveling,” she insists. She smacks the ball out of my hand but before she can take a shot I grab her around the waist and spin her in the other direction. “Interference!” she says, laughing and kicking her feet. “No fair.”

I put her down and kiss her on the lips, wishing we were maybe somewhere a little more private.

“Damn. Now I have to pee,” she says. “I’ll be back.”

“Likely story,” I say as she heads for the house.

I walk toward the fire pit, but Courtney’s nowhere in sight and Stewart and Rowan look deep in conversation, so I keep on going to refill my cup.

Mitch is in the kitchen talking excitedly to a bunch of guys from the team, while Nina sits on the counter behind him, kicking her feet and laughing. I’m glad to see that the bad start to the night is behind them. There are several empty red cups next to Nina, so I’m guessing that getting a buzz on probably hasn’t hurt. I fill my cup again and go stand near the group.

“I’m telling you,” Mitch says, pointing his finger for emphasis. “A Porsche could be the shit out of a Camaro on the track.”

“Track maybe,” one of them says. “But we’re talking real world here and there’s no way a Porsche is better than a Camaro.”

I go and lean next to Nina. “Car talk? I’m shocked they’re not arguing about baseball.”

Nina smiles and takes a sip from her cup. “You missed the opening act. Mitch did ten minutes on how the A’s are going to win the series this year.”

“That must have gone over well,” I say, knowing you never pick any other team in a room full of Ranger fans.

“Where’s Jenna?” Nina asks, looking over my shoulder.

“She had to go to the bathroom.” I look around. “But that was a while ago, so I’m not sure where she is now.”

“Probably a line,” Nina says. “You know how it is.”

“You’re right,” I say, standing up straight. “Maybe I’ll go and keep her company.”

“I’ll come with you,” she says, jumping off the counter.

“Okay,” I say, suddenly on alert.

The house has gotten more crowded since we’ve been outside and the hallway is lined with people, but I don’t see Jenna anywhere. “Why haven’t you told her yet?” Nina asks as soon as we’re alone.

I sigh. I knew this is what she really wanted. “Nice. Right to the point.”

“Seriously Ty. The longer you leave it, the worse it’s going to be.”

I glance back at her. “You think I don’t know that?”

“She’ll forgive you. If you do it right.”

“And how exactly is that?” I look around to make sure nobody is listening. “How do I tell her something so important without losing her forever? You met her family—you know what they’re like. There’s no way we could stay the same.”

Nina shakes her head. “But you’re not going to stay the same, are you? Is this just some hook-up for you? You going to dump her in the next couple of weeks?”

“No!” I insist and I realize how much I mean that. “It’s not like that. I want to be with Jenna—I can’t imagine being here without her now.”

“Then you don’t have a choice. The next logical step is that she’s going to meet your family and then what? Talk about a surprise. Trust me, she’s not going to care what you are. But you have to tell her first.”

“It’s not that,” I say, and I realize it’s true. Part of me really does think that she can get over the fact that I’m not white. Gramps never would, but we could deal with him later.“Jenna told me about her last relationship and how he lied to her. Even if she could get over the rest of it, it’s the lie that would wreck it, I know that for a fact.”

Nina pauses and looks at me with those intense eyes. “If you love her, you’ll tell her. And if she loves you, she’ll forgive you.”

If only that were true. “Maybe you could tell her?” I’m only half joking.

Nina rolls her eyes. “She already knows I’m black,” she says with a smile. She puts one hand on my arm. “I’m serious Ty, you can’t let this go much longer.”

I nod quickly. “I know. But not tonight. Let me do this on my time, okay? But soon.”

“All right. You find Jenna.” Nina drains her cup. “I’m going to find more beer.”

I push my way through the hallway with Nina’s words echoing in my ears. I really don’t have a choice—she’s going to find out someday. All I can hope is that she stays with me once she knows the truth because I can’t bear to think about any other possibility. “Is this the only bathroom?” I ask a girl lined up near a closed door.

“I think there’s one at the top of the stairs,” the girl says. “But that one’s just as bad.”

“Thanks.” I thread my way back through the hallway, holding my cup up high so I don’t spill on anyone. I dodge a few people sitting on the stairs watching the dancing in the living room. I hear her voice before I reach the top, but it takes a second to understand what’s going on.

“Let me go,” she says, trying to wrench her arm out of Danny’s grip.