Ruining Me (30 page)

He turns to me.  “You’re my most important teammate.  We are m
y most important team.  Forever,
Jay.”

I lean in and kiss him, “You’re my M.V.P.”  He laughs and kisses me back.

When the pep rally ends,
JT
has to go back to get ready for the game, but first he walks me to his truck to get my things. 
I place his phone inside his truck without saying anything. 

“After the game I’ll meet you outside the locker room.  We’ll ride to the party together.  Okay?”
  He asked.

“Sounds good to me
,
”
I say as
I lean up and kiss his cheek.  “I’m going to Molly’s house so that I can change into
Cal
’s dress.”  I bat my eyes at him trying to be funny. 

“You can say that
you’re
putting on th
at
dress for
Cal
baby
, but
I’m going to be the only one that takes it off.
”  I laugh
at him
.

“It’s yours,” I say to him and wink.

“I know,” he says and winks back.  “Wish me luck tonight.”  I tug him down to me and kiss him hard.

“Luck, baby.”  At that he smiles again.

Molly and I drive to her house to get ready.  I don’t talk about what happened today, but I know tomorrow I am going to have to tell
JT
something.  Could I tell him that yes I was raped, but not tell him by who
m
?   That would not be a good idea for anyone. 

“Do you want to stop off and get our nails done?”  Molly ask
ed
me.

“Sure Mols, that sounds fun.”

We get our nails done and back to her house by dinner.  Eating something li
ght
, we go upstairs to shower and get ready.  Pulling on my new dress, I look in the mirror and know
JT
will love
it.  The color is
candy apple red and it’s short and sleeveless.  I had brought
a light black jacket to wear over it for the game to tone it down.  I slide on a pair of black ankle boots.  Curling my hair I leave it loose around me. 

Molly wears a navy dress she bought yesterday.  It looks good with her coloring.  When she spies me she stops and her jaw drops.

“Damn Jay.  You look hot.  Don’t let J
T
see you in that dress until after the game.  He won’t be able to throw anything.”  We don’t laugh because we
both
know it’s true.

“Thanks.  You look pretty spectacular yourself.  Reed is going to have a fit.”

We head downstairs and get in
to
Molly’s car to head to the game.  “Can I tell you something crazy?”  I look at her and she nods her head yes.  “
JT
ask
ed
me to marry him and he meant
like now
.”

“
Are you kidding me Jay?”

“No, I really wish I was.  Part of me still thinks he’s not serious, but another part knows that he is.”

“What do you want?”

“I want
JT
to be happy.  Whatever that is, that is what I want.”

She smiles at me then.  “You both will figure it ou
t
.  You’ll know when you both
are
ready.”

I process her words and know they are correct.  My mind just needs to slow down and
process everything that has happened these last two weeks.  Tonight though, I’m just going to enjoy my friends and boyfriend.

We arrive at the football stadium just as our players run out on the field.  The night is electric with the anticipation of the game.  Every space in the bleachers
is
packed in tight with people.  Molly and I find Reed in the student section and we squeeze in. 

Below us on the field
,
the cheerleaders try
to get the crowd pumped
excited
while
the football players warm up for
the big game
. 
All the
coaches are getting ready on the sidelines
when I notice Coach Branch looking up at me.  Looking away
,
I just happen to look right into his wife’s face as she holds their children on her lap and
she is looking
from me to him.  In that moment I feel sorry for her.  She is the one that has to live with
that monster
and thank God not me anymore.  Turning my head
,
I look away and promise myself never to look back.

The hair on the back of my neck stands up. 
Glancing around I s
ee Stacie
,
JT
’s ex-girlfriend, standing with a group of students staring at me.  Some of the
looks
hold a depth of pity in their eyes and others are host
ile.  Turning my back on them, I turn to Molly to see if she also saw them staring, but she is talking with Reed.  When I turn back they are gone. 

A loud
horn blow
s and
the game starts with
the
kick-off
. 
When
JT
goes out on the field for the first time he stops and turn
s
around
to
look right up at me in the stands
.  He
brings his hand to his heart and
then
he
points right at me.  My smile is from one side of my face to the other.  Molly nudges my knee with hers and grins at me.

“That boy has always had it bad for you.”

“I love him,” I sigh. 

The first possession we have of the ball,
JT
drives it all the way down the field and scores the first touchdown.  We jump up and the entire crowd screams for him.  The game progress
es
fast from that point.  During the second quarter, I look to the students sitting a couple of rows in front of us and notice
that
they are all looking at their phones.  A couple of them glance back directly at me.  One freshman girl has a tear fall down her face
while she stares at me.  I grab Molly’
s arm
again
to
see if she notices
when
at the same time
,
JT
throws
a pass for another touchdown, so she and I both jump up to cheer
and I forget to ask her
.

At half-time I finally have a chance to talk to Molly, but I feel almost dumb to mention anything.  Everyone seems to be enjoying the game and no one is looking at me
now
.  I decide not
to bring anything up and ruin the night.  The second half starts and before I know it th
e game is over with us
winning by twenty-four points
. 
The crowd disperses with everyone taking the
ir
revelry elsewhere.  I hug Molly and Reed as they go ahead and leave to go to
Cal
’s house to get everything ready for the party.

Walking toward the locker room to meet up with
JT
, I can’
t help but think about the past two years.  All the control I thought I had built was a mirage just waiting to break away. 
JT
, Kane and even Rhye made me feel again
,
but only one deserves my future.  When I look up he is leaning against the door waiting for me. 

“Are you thinking about how many ways I’m going to kiss you tonight?”  He ask
ed
with a smirk on his face. 

“Yes, I do believe that was exactly what I was thinking about,” I say as I throw myself in
to
his arms and do
just that
.

He pulls back and looks at me.  “I love you Jay.”

“I love you too.”  There’s a nervous energy surrounding us.  I know he can feel it also.

“Let’s go party it up.”  Grabbing my hand he
pulls me to his truck
and opens the door.   
 

“Slide to the middle and buckle up Jay.”
  Lifting my eyebrow in question he answers me.  “
Cal
had to loan his truck out so that they could pick up the kegs.  He is getting a ride with us to his
house.”  As soon as he finished talking,
the passenger door slings open and
Cal
flings his humongous self in. 

Kissing my cheek he smiles at me and says, “Hey Jay Baby.”

“Hands off my girl Cal
,
”
JT
says as he
glares at him, but I knew he was kidding.

“She
’ll
always be my girl too, just in a different way.” 
Cal
grins at me
as
I lean over and hug him.  He really ha
s
been there for me when I didn’t deserve anyone.

“Hey,”
JT
says and pulls me to him, “quit giving my hugs away.”  I laugh and kiss his cheek. 

We chat about who is coming tonight and what girl
Cal
is going to be chasing. 
When we ar
riv
e at
his
house it seems like all of our phones vibra
te and chirp at the same time.  Laughing we
all
get out of the truck, joking that our friends must be texting us wanting to know where we are at. 

“I bet everyone is waiting for us,”
JT
says but ignores his phone as do I.

“I’ll catch you both later.  I’ve got to make sure that everything is set up
,
”
Cal
says as he grabs his phone and looks at it as he walks off toward his house

Looking over
at
JT
, I slowly remove the jacket
that was
covering
my
dress
and
throw it back inside the truck.  His eyes move up my body and he takes a deep breath.  He lets out a slow whistle.  “Damn Jay.  You’re all my Christmas and Birthday presents combined.”
  I let out a soft laugh.

“And
I don’t deserve you.”  I tell him as we kiss.  H
e reaches for my hand and we walk toward
Cal
’s
house. 

Walking through the front door
,
I immediately see Molly crying, but that’s not all.  A hush falls over the house and everyone is staring
at me and JT
.  Most people can’t even look me in the eyes and then again
,
I see more hostile stares.  These seem to come from mostly
the
football and baseball players
and of course
,
Stacie Courtman
. 

JT
look
s
around and ask
s
, “Last I checked we won, why are you bunch of pansies looking upset?”

At that same moment
,
Cal
c
o
me
s
running from the back of the house
with his phone in his hand
.  His face was red and tears filled his eyes.  He grab
s
me away from
JT
and engulf
s
me in his arms.