Player (What Happens on Campus Book 1) (19 page)

Thanksgiving finally rolled around and, because Chloe insisted, he ran out to get his hair cut a couple of hours before they were due to leave, trusting her to pack his bag for him, since he’d also left that until the last minute much to her disapproval.

Borrowing Jet’s car, he drove carefully into town. He’d never admit it to anyone, but the crash had shaken him up. In the grand scheme of things, it hadn’t been that bad; no one had been seriously hurt or killed, except Dawson’s car, yet it had made him more aware of how quickly things could go wrong.

It had only taken a second for that car to hit them from behind, shoving them forward into the path of a car coming from the left. Before he knew it there had been a mass pile up in the middle of the junction, the airbag had slammed him back into his seat and spraying glass from Dawson’s shattered window had cut up his arm.

Approaching the cross-road where the accident had happened, he slowed down as the light turned yellow, checking the car behind him in his rear-view mirror before stopping completely. No wonder Chloe was always so anxious about peoples driving. Still, he supposed it was safer than the motorbike he used back home, but it had been all he could afford at the time and had served him well through High school.

He should probably look into getting a car of his own, he thought as the light turned and he drove on, so that he didn’t have to keep borrowing Jet’s. Then he could take Chloe out whenever he wanted without first having to compare schedules with his roommate.

Parking up in town, he walked to the hairdressers, praying they had a slot free. Stepping into the shop, he winced inwardly at the number of people waiting. Maybe Chloe was right and he needed to get more organized. Up until recently the only thing he’d had to worried about turning up for was football.

“Hi, can I help you?” asked a girl with pink hair and breasts pushed up to her chin, flashing him a sweet smile.

“Yeah,” he pulled his hat off and rubbed at the back of his neck, “I need a haircut, like now.”

“Well,” she shot him a flirtatious smile, watching him from beneath her eyelashes in that way girls had of trying to be cute, “I can fit you in right now… if you take me to dinner tonight.”

“My girlfriend would have something to say about that.”

“Oh… it figures you’ve already got a girl.” Another smile; she wasn’t giving up. “How about a kiss? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind one, teeny, tiny little kiss?”

His eyebrows rose up into this hair. This girl had balls that was for sure. “She’ll definitely mind. I would, too,” he added firmly. After the incident with Karla, he knew he had to make himself brutally clear.

The girl pouted and he resigned himself to going back to campus with his hair uncut and facing Chloe’s wrath, but then she sighed and said, “I suppose I could fit you in anyway. It’s nice to find a guy with some integrity.”

Waving him past the rows of waiting people, who all watched him with a scowl, she sat him in a chair at the end and began chatting away about how she was a huge football fan and had watched him play several times. Apparently she’d been disappointed not to see him for the last two games, so he assured her that he’d been cleared to play at their next one.

Returning to the car afterwards, he checked the time on his cell and swore. Shit, he was late. They were probably ready to leave by now.

Pulling out into the steady flow of traffic along the high-street, he managed to pick-up the pace once he got out of town and arrived at the campus car park near his dorm to find the other waiting with their bags.

“About time,” Jet yelled, lifting his arms in exasperation as Parker got out, “I was beginning to think you’d abducted my car.”

“Sorry, had to get a haircut.” Running his hand through the shorter strands, he grinned over at Chloe as he spoke.

“You look beautiful,” Jet huffed sarcastically as he slung a bag over each shoulder and toted them to the car, popping open the trunk to stow them inside. They were taking his car, since Terri didn’t have one and Riley’s was a tiny, girly pink convertible… enough said.

“Shotgun,” Terri called, carrying over another bag, “no way am I sitting in the back with Riley.”

Fuck, that meant he was in the back with Riley. Chloe was going to have to sit in the middle.

“Who’s taking the suitcase?” he asked, as if he couldn’t guess.

“Riley,” Chloe answered, passing him a beat-up duffle bag, “and this is yours. I couldn’t fit everything into my rucksack, so some of my stuff is in there too.”

“‘Kay,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her and taking her rucksack off her shoulder as he straightened up. “So what do you think?”

“Very handsome,” she grinned, reaching up to ruffle his hair, “like someone straight out of a magazine.”

He smirked, “Does it make you want to jump me?”

Rolling her eyes, she bumped him with her shoulder as she walked past. “Just for that, you can bring the suitcase, too.”

Turning to watch her walk away, he grinned at the sway of her hips and the way she wiggled her ass, purposefully trying to wind him up. And it worked. Now he had to sit in a packed car, with four other people and a hard-on.

Picking it up, he found that Riley’s suitcase weighed a ton. Lugging it over the car, he scowled, “Where the hell is Riley anyway? How long does she think we’re fucking going for?”

“She never could pack light,” Terri commented, helping Jet try to cram everything into the trunk.

At the same time, Chloe answered, “She’s just saying goodbye to Joey.” The distaste in her voice was clear.

“She’d better hurry up,” Terri added, “it’s going to take us the rest of the day and most of the night to get there as it is without traffic.”

The twins’ parents lived in Napa Valley, their model mother having inherited a humongous house and vineyard from her late grandfather – all this had been told to him by Riley a few nights ago, whilst Chloe was in the shower. He had to remember not to get stuck alone with that girl, she could make a saint swear.

After another twenty minutes, Terri was getting pissed, so Chloe rang Riley to find out where she was. Turning back to them after hanging up, she said, “She’s at Joey’s, I told her we’d swing by and pick her up.”

That got a scowl from Terri, but they all got in the car anyway and drove over to the frat house where Joey was living. Whilst they waited outside the building, Jet fiddled with the music, selecting a CD and slotting it in, all the while complaining about the fact that Parker had set his radio to a country station.

“That’s real music,” Parker argued. “God knows what this shit is.”

“Tough luck,” Jet replied smugly, “driver chooses the music. Car Rules.”

“Fine, but when it’s my turn to drive I’m gonna pick something you really hate.”

“I’ll make the most of my time then,” Jet said, turning up the music so that the whiny sounds of a sax blared through the speakers.

Riley came out a few minutes later and slid into the backseat with him and Chloe. Both her hair and clothes were ruffled, so it was no secret what had been taking so long. The stench of weed clung to her and Terri pointedly rolled down her window. For the most part, Terri seemed to be a bit of a bitch, but on this he completely agreed with her. Back home he’d seen how drugs could ruin a persons’ life. One of his own brothers, Tyler, had gone down that route, and he honestly couldn’t see why anyone felt the need to fuck up their lives like that. A momentary high wasn’t worth the rest of your life.

Before she had even closed the door, Riley was jabbering away and he zoned out, watching out of the window as he sat with one arm around Chloe’s shoulders, playing idly with a strand of her hair.

God knew how long they were driving for, but at least there was no major traffic to contend with. Finally, though, they were driving up a long winding drive with vineyards on either side, heading towards a large, villa-style house.

It was gone midday and the car was stifling hot, even with all the windows down, so it was a relief to be able to get out into the fresh air. Groaning, he rolled his head back, trying to get the kinks out of his neck, before stretching his arms up over his head until he heard a satisfying click.

“Oh, that’s better,” Jet said, slamming the car door shut, “someone remind me why we didn’t just take the train?”

“Road trips are fun,” Terri insisted.

Chloe agreed immediately, “Yeah, I’ve never been on a road trip before. England’s not really big enough to go any real distance, unless you go up to Scotland, I suppose, or cross the Chanel.”

“Which parts did you find fun?” Parker scowled, “The heat, cramp in your legs, crappy music…”

“Coffee getting spilt in my car,” Jet carried on, “constant toilet breaks” – a pointed look at the girls – “hours of boredom.”

“You two are such downers,” Chloe grinned, using the car window as a mirror whilst she tied her hair back into a ponytail. He fingers itched to pull it down again.

Before anyone could say anything more, the front door opened and out stepped an older version of the twins. Technically, she was old enough to be his mother, but he could admit she was a damn attractive woman. Then again she was Lorraine Kyle, the woman many teenage boys had once taped to their walls, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise that she still looked photo-shoot ready.

“My babies!” she cried, hurrying down the front steps in a pair of seriously high heels, arms held wide open.

“Hi, Mom,” Terri greeted, stepping into her mother’s arms and hugging her back, “where’s Dad?”

“He’s just coming. He was in the shower when you pulled up, we didn’t expect you so early.”

“We made good time,” Jet put in and Mrs. Murphy turned to him with a bright smile, a carbon copy of Riley’s.

“Jet,” she exclaimed, “it’s good to see you again. How are you, dear? How’s the new book going? I read one of them and it scared the life out of me, I had to sleep with the lights on for a week. I couldn’t believe you’d written it, you’re very talented!”

“Thanks,” Jet grinned, openly pleased, even if he did look a little bashful. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you read the next one; it’s even worse in the blood and gore department.”

“No, no, no,” she slapped lightly at his arm, “I want to read it. I’m hooked now.”

“Well, in that case, I guess I can send you an ARC copy.”

“Brilliant!” She clapped her hands together sharply, beaming smile on her face. “Now, where’s my other baby?”

“She’s asleep,” Terri answered, hiking her thumb at the car.

“Oh, well it must have been a long drive. Riley, why don’t you wake her up and I’ll take your friends inside? Jet can introduce us all and I’ll have Maria make some sandwiches.”

“Hope Riley’s ready for a rude awakening,” he muttered to Chloe as they followed Jet and Mrs. Murphy up the front steps and into the house. If you could even call it a house. Mansion might be more fitting; you could fit his parents’ caravan into the front hall.

In the sitting room, Parker hesitated to sit down on the cream couch in case he got it dirty, but Mrs. Murphy waved him towards it and then sat in the armchair opposite. Arm around Chloe, he looked around. It was a large, L shaped room, with a gorgeous flat screen TV taking up most of one wall and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the sun soaked vineyard. Sporting trophies filled the shelves on either sides of the TV, alongside family photos of the girls at various ages.

Studying the trophies, signed footballs and team photos, he felt an unexpected rush of nerves. He was about to meet Troy fucking Murphy, the legendary football player. Star-player for the New York Giants, the quarterback all quarterbacks wanted to be.

“So, you must be Chloe?” Mrs. Murphy said, leaning forward in her chair, “Riley’s told me so much about you. I’m really glad she’s found herself such a good friend; she’s never really had a best friend before, she was always too goal orientated.”

“Well, she’s the one who made friends with me,” Chloe explained with a smile. “She’s great. I was really worried about fitting in here, but Riley’s just so easy to get on with.”

“Yes, she’s like me, she’ll talk your ear off if you let her. Terri’s more like her dad.”

Before she could say anything more, the twins came in, Riley rubbing her eyes and smearing mascara across her cheeks. Bouncing to her feet, her mother went to hug her tightly, rocking them both.

He glanced at Chloe and saw her watching the scene with a sad little smile.

Riley’s parents were nice, Chloe decided; knowing they were both rich and famous in their own respects, she’d been worried that they’d be stuck-up, but they were the exact opposite. Lorraine, which Mrs. Murphy insisted they all call her, was just like Riley, both in looks and attitude. Troy Murphy, on the other hand, was a stern looking man who didn’t say much, but she thought that was nice, it reminded her a little of her own father, who was also a man of few words, and it balanced out his wife’s constant chatter. Seeing the way the family of four interacted made her miss her own parents, especially since she couldn’t afford to go home for Christmas this year.  

In the bedroom Lorraine had given them, Chloe sat on the luxurious double bed whilst Parker showered in the ensuite, steam curling out from beneath the door. She was already dressed for dinner, had dried her hair and even put on a little makeup, whilst Parker had been busy talking football with Riley’s dad.

Most of what they’d been talking about was gibberish to her – she’d watched half-a-dozen games by now, but she still had no clue what was going on most of the time. Thankfully, Parker found it cute instead of annoying.

When he came out of the shower, a white towel wrapped around his waist, she watched him for a few minutes as he went about getting ready. Once he had pulled on his jeans and a shirt, covering up the most distracting parts of his body, she said, “You need to clue me in about what Thanksgiving is all about.”

Grinning as he rubbed his hair with the towel, he answered, “It’s just about being thankful for the harvest.”

“So, it’s like the harvest festival?”

Shrugging, he dropped the towel over the bedpost and sat on the edge of the mattress to put his socks and shoes on, “Kinda, I guess.”

Satisfied with that answer, she bounced off the bed, announcing, “I’m actually really looking forward to tomorrow night.”

Despite having apparently promised Terri that they would keep the celebrations low-key, her parents had arranged a party tomorrow evening after the official family Thanksgiving dinner. Terri had not been happy to hear the news and Chloe had overheard her arguing with her mum while the rest of them were in the living room. She’d tried not to listen, but it was kind of hard not to… Terri’s voice carried quite a way when she was mad.

“Yeah,” Parker didn’t sound too enthusiastic, “it sounds fun.”

“Don’t be a grump,” she admonished, digging around in his duffel bag for her shoes, “Troy said some of his football friends are coming, this could be a good opportunity for you to make some connections that might help you later on.”

He sighed, “I know, but I don’t know how to talk to these people.”

“They’re just normal people,” she reminded him, rounding the bed to sit beside him, one hand resting on his thigh, “and I’m pretty sure you could talk sports to anyone.”

“Lorraine wants me to wear a suit.”

Looking at him, she couldn’t hold in her burst of laughter. “Are you actually pouting? I thought only girls and small children did that! Where are you going to get a suit from anyway?”

“She said she’d hook me and Jet up. And I don’t know what’s so funny, you gotta wear a dress.”

That sobered her up instantly. “What?”

Smirking, he stood up and offered her a hand to pull her up beside him. “Yep. There’s no getting out of it.”

“Damn,” she muttered as he led her over to the door.

“Now who’s pouting?”

Dinner was delicious, though the atmosphere was a little awkward. Clearly Terri was still annoyed, while her mum seemed totally oblivious and Riley was acting hangover. Or maybe she was ill; she kept sniffing like she had the beginning of a cold and her eyes were red-rimmed. Withdrawal was another option, but surely she hadn’t been taking enough for that…

She was like it the next day too. Chloe wasn’t worried to begin with, but when she found her friend in the hallway clutching her stomach, she rushed over, her heart racing.

“Riley, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” she insisted, brushing her off when she tried to help.

“You’re clearly not fine. Riley, you’re almost doubled over.”

“It’s just cramps; it’s that time of the month.”

“We share a room and a bathroom, I think we both know you’re not on your period.” A pause as Chloe’s mind raced with possibilities. “Oh God, you’re not pregnant, are you?”

Riley’s head snapped up and she glared at her. “Of course not!”

Holding up her hands defensively, she muttered, “Sorry, sorry, just checking.”

“I probably just ate something that didn’t agree with me. Bad chicken, maybe.”

“Okay,” Chloe agreed dubiously. “There’s still a few hours until dinner, why don’t you go lie down for a bit?”

“I thought you needed me to find you a dress?”

“I’ll ask Terri. You go, I’ll wake you up for dinner.”

“Thanks,” she yawned, “I’m actually really tired.”

Watching her hobble away, down the hall to her room at the end, Chloe twisted her hands together anxiously; something definitely wasn’t right with her. Once Riley was gone, she turned and headed towards Terri’s room, which was at the opposite end of the long hall. The two sisters couldn’t possibly be any further away from each other.

Honestly, she didn’t really understand their aversion to each other. Having so many years between them, she and Jack had never really gone through the love-hate stage. Sure, they’d had arguments, but nothing that had ever lasted for more than a few hours.

Knocking on Terri’s door, she heard footsteps and a moment later, the door swung open. Wearing denim shorts and a baggy t-shirt tucked in at the front, Terri stood in the doorway. “Hey, you okay?” she greeted.

“Yeah, I was just wondering if you had a dress I could borrow for tonight?”

“That stupid party,” Terri muttered, rolling her eyes and stepping back, gesturing for Chloe to follow her into the room. “This is why I don’t come home much.”

Going over to the walk in wardrobe, she opened the doors and stepped inside, rummaging through the clothes inside and Chloe took the opportunity to look around. Unlike Riley’s room, where the bright pink walls were plastered with posters of boy-bands, gymnasts and cute baby animals, Terri’s room was painted a light blue, the only decoration being a strong, but elegant tribal pattern down the wall next to the window. Instead of a vanity, she had a desk and, weirdly enough, an umbrella stand was by the door, with several baseball bats sticking out of it.

“Here,” Terri stepped out of the wardrobe with a hanger in each hand, “red or blue?”

“Red, please,” she reached for the floor length, halter neck gown, “it’s Parker’s favourite.”

Smirking, Terri chucked the other one carelessly onto the bed. “Of course it is, red’s the colour of passion and he can’t keep his hands off you.”

Chloe grinned, “Plus it’s the teams’ colour, so that probably helps.”

Laughing, Terri pointed out what she assumed was the bathroom and ordered, “Go make sure it fits.”

In the spacious ensuite, Chloe wriggled into the red gown, sweating with the effort. Just like with borrowing Riley’s clothes, the problem was that the twins were at least a size smaller than her, probably more. She couldn’t fit the damn thing over her hips and, unlike Riley’s party dresses, this fabric had no stretch.

“Damn,” she muttered, bracing her hands on either side of the sink and staring at her reflection.

Hot and red cheeked, she gave the dress another tug, got nowhere and yanked it off. Tossing it onto the floor in a heap of silky red material, which stood out bright and vibrant against the white tiles, she glared down at it as if it were the dresses fault for being too small.

“You all right in there?” Terri called.

“It’s too small,” she yelled back, pulling her own clothes back on, irrationally irritated.

“That’s okay, my mom has connections, she can get you something.”

Scraping her hair into a ponytail, so that it wasn’t sticking to the back of her neck, she huffed at her reflection before leaving the bathroom. 

Going downstairs, they found Lorraine fussing around in the dining room, checking that everything was set up to her specification, whilst directing people armed with decorations. It was like Piccadilly Circus in here, Chloe thought as she skirted around a man carrying an arm full of flowers and almost banged into a woman with a box of champagne flutes.

“Sorry,” she apologized, as Terri weaved around people and started talking to her mum, who was dressed to the nines and looking absolutely gorgeous in tight white jean, pink stilettoes and a silky pink top. Chloe had never realized Thanksgiving was such a bug deal.

“Of course!” Lorraine exclaimed, “I’ll ring Frank right away.”

“Who’s Frank?” Chloe asked Terri as they both watched her mum teetering off in her heels.

“He runs a fashion boutique in town, very high class stuff. He worked with Mom when she was still modelling and he still sends her clothes once and a while.”

“He just gives them too her?”

“Yeah. It’s like advertising; people see her wearing his clothes and they want to wear them too, so he makes back his money.”

“Oh,” she nodded in understanding. That made sense, but… “Why would he lend me a dress?” A sudden thought. “I can’t afford to pay for it.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure he owes her a few favours.” Clapping her on the shoulder as she walked past, Terri said, “Come on, there’s a Big Bang marathon on TV.”

It didn’t take long for the dress to come. In fact, the doorbell rang within an hour and a few minutes later Lorraine wafted into the room on a puff of flowery perfume, carry a white dress bag folded over one arm.

“Here it is,” she gushed, handing it over and waving one long fingered, manicured hand towards the stairs, “quick, go try it on.” Chloe took a step towards the door, but a sudden, uplifted hand stopped her. “Oh, and something else…”

Spinning around, Lorraine strode back out of the room, her heels clicking smartly against the laminate floor. Confused, Chloe and Terri shared a glance. A minute later, she appeared with a white shoe box in hand.

“Frank brought these along too, he said they go perfectly with the dress.”

Peeking inside the box, she gasped, slipping her hand inside to feel the rhinestones decorating the toe straps of the pretty silver shoes. And thank God the heels weren’t too high.

“They’re beautiful,” she breathed, “thank you so much.”

“It’s my pleasure and Frank’s coming tonight, so he’ll be able to see how stunning you look in his creation.”

“That’s good, I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t get chance to thank him properly.”

“Better go check it fits,” Terri put in, “Mom guessed your size, but she’d normally right about stuff like that.”

Smiling, she thanked Lorraine again and got pulled into a quick, tight hug, before heading upstairs. Parker was watching football with the twin’s dad, so she had the room to herself. Laying the dress out on the bed, she carefully unzipped its white jacket and stared down at the gorgeous material.

Praying that it fit, she stripped out of her clothes and eased the dress over her head, the material rusting as it fell to the floor, brushing against her legs. It was a different style to Terri’s dress and she had to admit it probably suited her shape better, but it was still that beautiful, passionate red, deep and sexy. With a corseted top, it accentuated the curve of her waist and pushed up her breasts, and the skirt fell down in layers like a waterfall, a long slit up the right side showing flashes of her leg as she moved.

She felt like a Princess, or at least as if she were going to prom.

Thanksgiving dinner was amazing, though it was pretty much the same as Christmas dinner – turkey, potatoes, stuffing, veg – except for the Jell-O Salad. That was weird, she had to admit; it had a strange texture that she wasn’t sure she liked, but the others seemed to love the stuff. 

The only person who didn’t gorge themselves on dinner was Riley. Even though she came down to eat, she just picked at her food, pushing it around her plate while staring listlessly at the table, her face deathly white. At the end of dinner, she excused herself. Using the table to push herself up, she left the room, wobbling unsteadily.

“Baby, are you all right?” her mum asked.

“Fine, fine,” Riley muttered weakly as she reached the door, pulling it open and slipping out into the hall.

“I’m going to go with her,” Lorraine said, placing her napkin on the table and standing up, “don’t worry about clearing away, the staff will do it so we can get ready. Chloe, I’ll move your stuff into Terri’s room, so you girls can get ready together. The party starts at eight sharp.” At the door, she paused with her hand on the doorknob and turned to look at her husband, “Oh, honey, if the band comes before I’m ready tell them to set up in the living room, beside the bar.”

“Will do,” he answered, helping himself to another slice of pumpkin pie.

Next to her, Parker was tucking into what had to be his third slice. Bumping her shoulder against his, Chloe warned, “Eat much more and you won’t be able to fit into your suit.”

“Will you still love me if I lose my hot bod?” he smirked.