Pitching to Win (Over the Fence #1) (16 page)

"So this is college. Glad I'm not going..."Kels says sarcastically.

The big burly linebacker laughs. Its more of a boom.

Owen introduces us to him, Clint, and his other roommate, Parker, who is grumpily eating a bowl of cereal at the dining room table.

"You two can take the fifth bedroom, I have an air mattress you can sleep on." Owen gestures them down the hall.

"Why do you have a fifth bedroom?" Chlo asks.

"We were supposed to have a new guy coming into the team, coach asked us to include him. But he never showed up." Owen shrugs, nudging the door open with his shoulder.

"Good, as long as no one like, died in here." Kels says, no hint of joking in her tone. Chlo and I exchange a look of ridiculousness.

The room was like the rest of the house, white walls, builder's model normal. At least it smelled ok. He set their bags on the floor.

"Party starts in an hour."

Chlo makes a mad dash to her stuff. "An hour! You better have outlets in here, Axel. A girl needs to do her hair!"

I giggle, but the sound is cut off when Owen picks me up and carries me out of the room. "Hey! I need to get ready too!"

"Get a room you two!" Kels calls out.

"That's my plan!" Owen shouts back. "You look good enough to eat, and no one needs to do that but me," he says quieter, for only my ears.

I was going to protest more, but the words eating and me come out of his mouth and my head goes straight to the gutter.

He pushes open his door, at the opposite end of the house, and the room goes by in a flash of light as he deposits me on the bed.

The room is Owen, simple but clean. His mother's chic touch is missing, but he still has a massive king bed that takes up most of the room, with a matching dresser and TV stand. Hanging over his bed, framed, is his high school jersey.

He comes down on top of me, placing himself at the apex of my thighs. I feel him, hard and pulsing, through his uniform, and everything in me liquefies.

He pins his hands down beside my head, I am so aware of him that I can practically feel the coiling of his arm muscles as he gyrates against me.

I seek his tongue in his mouth, sucking on it and pulling it back to mine. His hands tickle up my ribcage, pushing the tank top I have on high enough so that he can slip one hand into the cup of my bra. Reaching down, I cup his package through his pants, stroking my thumb up and down the rigid length.

"Hey guys, come watch! Axel is giving a free porn show in his room!" Clint’s sarcastic yelling snaps me out of Owen's seduction. I sit up quickly, almost smacking my forehead against his, and yank my top down. Owen bounds to door, slamming it shut and muttering "fucking dick," before coming back to sit beside me.

"Sorry, babe. Guys and all...."

"Its ok." I tenderly touch his face. I wish we could just spend tonight locked in here. But Owen wants me on his arm as his girlfriend at a college party, and I can't pass up that opportunity. I need to see how things are going to work. If they can work. Not that I'll be able to let him go even if I know they can't. "I'm going to get ready with the girls. Go shower, you stink."

He sighs and flops on the bed, his dick still painfully hard in his pants. "You're a tease. I expect you to repay this debt later..."

"You can count on it." I kiss him quick enough so that he can't pull me back down, and turn to leave the room.

A
glass goes flying
across the room, smashing and breaking against the stark white wall, brown liquid sloshing down it in a dripping pattern.

"Told you I could hit the bullseye!" The drunk girl stumbles a bit on her sky-high heels, wrapping her arms around her friends shoulders and noisily kissing her cheeks.

"Bet you won't makeout..." A very drunk, and definitely high Farris eggs the two on, leering over them at his epic height.

The girls look at each other, back at Miles, and then dive tongues first into each other's faces. Farris flashes a grin, tugging on their hands to lead them back to his room across from Owen's. Yuck.

Is this how college parties are?

I'm used to high school parties, where everyone knows everyone, or knows of everyone anyway. This is a whole different ballgame. Excuse the terrible metaphor.

The girls all stand in mile-high heels, teetering in their little skirts and dresses. I overheard one girl talking about how long it took her to put in extensions, and another fluttering her can’t-be-real lashes at the boy grinding on her butt to the beat of the music.

There was no way I could compete with this. I looked better than normal, I thought, in my skinny white jeans and dark blue crop top. Yes, Kels has gotten me into one. I had gold wedge sandals on that made me a few inches taller. Owen had almost dragged me back to his room when he’d seen me. But now? I had no clue where he was.

My friends looked like they had found Narnia. They were beyond wasted at this point, the clock about to hit 10 p.m. They had been ruling on the pong table for a while now; for a ballerina and a hippie they had surprisingly perfect accuracy.

I was nursing my second drink as I walked over.

“MINKS!” Chloe practically hangs from my neck as she jumps on me. I think its supposed to be a hug.

“Hi love.” I pat her head, laughing at her clearly intoxicated state. Someone yells for her to take her turn. Without so much as a glance at the cups, she chucks the ball over her shoulder. And sinks it.

“Ohhhh!” Her and Kels yell simultaneously as they chest bumped like football bros. My two best friends, the jocks.

“Where is lover boy?” Kels, a little less drunk then Chlo eyes me suspiciously.

“Miles has been ignoring me all night. I think he hooked up with some skank!” Chloe whines. I wasn’t about to fess up that it might have been two skanks.

Kels rolls her eyes, sticking the straw of her drink in her mouth. “Not your lover boy, idiot. Owen.”

“I don’t know…” I trail off, swiveling my head around the party like I’d been doing for the last hour. I seriously had no idea where he was. “I’m going to go find him.”

Surveying the house one last time, I know he wasn’t anywhere in here. Making my way to the back deck, I run into Clint.

“Hey, Owen’s girl.” He grins at my scowl. While I liked being Owen’s girlfriend, I had my own identity. “I know, Minka. Anyways…is your friend, the pretty, short one, single?”

Kelsey? I eye him. She would never, ever go for him. Not to say Kels was shallow, but Parker was definitely more her type. If she ever considered guys for more than sex. Which she didn’t.

“Kelsey, yeah she is. But that’s of her own doing. Word of advice? Don’t try it. She doesn’t do boyfriends. Or boy friends for that matter.”

He doesn’t look phased by my words at all. “Yeah, thanks.”

Uh oh, I think I just added fuel to his fire rather than unlighting that match. At least I’d warned him.

I walked to the railing, sipping my beer slowly as I peered over the yard. I couldn’t bring myself to drink more. I wanted to be fully aware for whatever Owen had planned for me later.

The lawn is riddled with red cups, cigarette butts and the same brand of scantily clad girls clinging to beefed up jocks. I guess I can't call them that anymore, since my boyfriend is one of those jocks.

Yelling from a folding table on the lawn catches my attention, and when I turn to see what the fuss is about, I'm greeted by the sight of said boyfriend, enthusiastically hugging a blonde in the tightest mini-dress I've ever seen.

My heart plummets into my stomach and feels like it might burn a whole through my abdomen. I tell myself to calm down, that it might just be a friendly game, but I can't seem to push the knot of emotion back down my throat.

Frozen to the deck, I watched for what seems like an eternity. Owen is playing flip cup, wedged in between the blonde and a redhead with the biggest boobs I've ever seen. They look unnatural against her tiny waist, which then leads me to wonder if they are, in fact, fake.

I feel my pulse zipping a mile a minute at my neck. Every time one of these girls places a hand on Owen, his lower back, his shoulder, and leans their body into his, he accepts it. He never politely pushes them off. Between that and the way he's chugging beer and high-fiving his baseball buddies, I've seen enough.

This isn't my world. I feel an errant tear drip onto the hand, which has gone ghostly white, clutching my beer bottle. I knew from the start that I didn't belong in his galaxy, let alone his college campus. He's everyone's favorite guy, that person that would always stand out while simultaneously fitting in, no matter where he was.

I was born to blend in. And I'd always preferred it like that. Until he decided to come into my life and fuck that all up.

I thought he saw me, really saw me. Past all of the walls, and the hurt, and the bullshit, he had made it seem like he wanted me, the odd girl out. But maybe it was all for the chase. Wasn't it always how these guys were?

Trying to suck in deep calming breaths, I managed to get a hold on the nausea working its way up my throat. I stole one last glance towards the lawn, Owen's bright smile laughing at something going on inside the group.

I stumbled down the side steps, working my way to the front lawn. Where do I go now? I don't want to stay in Owen's room, much less be here.

I could camp out in the fifth bedroom, but I feared being trampled on by an overly horny couple looking for the closest room.

So, I chucked my bottle in the yard and started walking.

I wasn't familiar with this street, but I'd paid attention on the drive and knew campus was only about a block or two up. The night was warm, the humid Virginia air clung to my skin as I walked slowly along. Sticking my hands in my pockets and keeping alert for bumps in the night, my mind drifted back to the house.

He hadn't looked for me in an hour. Tears pooled in the bottom of my sockets, my cheeks burning with the sting of being ignored.

Did I care if he didn't do it on purpose? No. I knew he probably hadn't meant it, but it stung so much more because he really could just that easily forget about me.

Mostly it stung because I didn't go a second of the day without him in my head.

I'd fallen, deeply. It was exactly the kind of thing I'd swore I'd never do. Especially with a guy like Owen.

Just when I'd decided to let myself shine, to stop hiding in the humiliation of my past, that's when he'd decided to pounce. I never even had a chance. There I was empowering myself, chanting the girl power mantra through my head, and I'd let myself get caught by the first handsome jock who'd smiled my way.

I'm about to campus now, and I know where I'm headed at this point. The circle of benches surrounding the Founder's Statue.

I've only ever been here once, on a campus tour with Chlo last summer, but that circle always seemed like somewhere to sit and think. A hub for knowledge. How college of me.

Campus is all but dead, for one its summer and for two, the only people who are here are four beers deep and not stepping foot on campus.

I revel in the silence, admiring the way the lights cast shadows between the old brick buildings. The air smells like fresh grass, and fireflies light up the space around me.

Just as I tilt my head back onto the bench, I hear flip flops slapping along the paved walkways.

I shoot up, suddenly extremely aware that I'm alone on a deserted campus at night. But my heart stops beating when I see who's running towards me.

Owen.

"Are you ok?" He's shouting, his face is flushed, from what I can't tell, the beer or the running. "I had no idea where you were! Jesus, babe, don't walk off like that. You scared the fucking shit out of me."

I sit back down, disappointed that he thinks he's being some kind of hero in finding me. "Go back to your party, Owen."

"What?" He looks confused as he nears, bending over feet from where I sit to catch his breath.

"I said go back to your party. Blonde bombshell and big tits are probably missing you by now." Okay, that sounded really high school, but in my defense I'm still in high school.

"What are you talking about? What's wrong with you?" He eyes me, sweaty from his sprint over here. And damnit, it sucks how sexy he looks right now.

"You shouldn't have brought me here. Especially if you were going to ignore me the whole time." I let a bit of my anger slip away from me, biting out my response.

"Ignoring you? I was with you the whole time..."

He trails off, clearly filling in the holes in his memory. His face contorts from a confused grimace to one of sympathy and apology. "Baby I..."

"Go back to your party, Owen. I'm fine here." I don't want to talk to him. I don't want to look at him. I'm seconds away from crying unreasonably and don't want him to see that.

"I didn't mean to, ignore you. I wasn't ignoring you, really...I just...shit, I'm sorry, Minka."

He places his hand on my shoulder and I shrug away from his touch.

"You won't let me touch you? Really?" Owen sits down next to me, dropping his head into his hands. "Tell me what you want me to do? I'm sorry, babe."

I can feel my lip quivering, knowing tears will spill the minute I open my mouth. I feel dramatic, but know how much his actions hurt me and use that to fuel my answer.

"I told you about my past. I told you how I'd been hurt. I was really excited to come here with you. And then I see that....after you don't do more than kiss me and then disappear for an hour. It hurt." My voice comes out unnaturally high and squeaky, hoarse with the unshed tears I'm trying to keep in my eyes.

Owen stands, running his hands through his hair violently. "Fuck. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry babe, I didn't think. I saw my friends again, and got into the party and the game. Its no excuse. There is no excuse."

A sob escapes me. I don't know why I'm breaking down, but it feels like I've been waiting for this. The other shoe to drop.

"You're this perfect person, everyone wants to include you. I have never been that way. And I don't mind it, being the outsider. But I thought you wanted to be on the outside with me too."