She sits up and clutches the ice pack, lightly pressing it down.
“Wanna hang out here or go back to the track? You’ll have to keep the ice pack on it either way.”
“I’ll go back with you.”
She climbs off the table as I pick up my jacket. Clutching the ice pack in hand, she forces a smile at me as I hold the door open for her, and we’re both quiet as we walk down the tunnel that leads to the field.
Once we’re back on the track, Amber sits on one of the benches and I head over to Hamilton as the rest of the team stretches.
I fold my arms, glancing over at the quarterback who has just thrown the ball in a near-perfect spiral to one of the receivers. The receiver catches it with a loud smack.
Then I glance over at Amber who has the icepack on her ankle, a goofy smile on her face as she watches the quarterback take off his helmet, lift the hem of his practice jersey, and wipe the sweat off his forehead with it.
I roll my eyes and shake my head.
Women.
SEVENTEEN
At first, I felt like an idiot for going on a date with Stephen, but then it hit me that rumors can spread so easily around Bennett University.
Melanie told the entire track team it was my fault she was suspended from practice, but she didn’t tell the truth—that she’d purposely tripped me and caused me to take a week-and-a-half out of practice. No, from what Janine told me (and from what she heard from Christa), Melanie was suspended from practice because I lied by saying that she tripped me.
At first it bugged me, seeing everyone look at me as if I really was a liar, but then…I don’t know. I got over it. They could think what they wanted at this point. It wasn’t up to me to make people like me. That wasn’t why I came to Bennett. Yes, it would be nice to have a team I can be cordial with, but I’m okay with Kendall and Janine, and even Nicole and Parker are becoming pretty tight with me too.
I didn’t text Stephen right away after getting his number that day after class. Matter of fact, he’s the one who texted me first. And after realizing that maybe some girls had exaggerated the truth about Stephen Hunt, I figured I would take a chance on him.
I met Stephen for burgers and shakes after practice three days later and he was nice. Funny. Sweet. He seemed truly interested in what I am majoring in and asked me a series of questions that would only ever happen on a real first date, like where I was born, my favorite color, and favorite drink.
When I got back from my date with Stephen, Kendall and Janine were not pleased to know I’d been out with him, but it didn’t stop them from asking a million questions, one of which was, “So, how big is his dick?” That was from Janine.
Stephen doesn’t seem to be what everyone makes him out to be at all, and that’s exactly what I told Kendall and Janine. I feel terrible for judging him before getting to know him. Even more so now that I’m going through the muck of rumors and lies myself.
Last night after practice, Stephen told me to come to his place and said he would be ordering Olive Garden through Door Dash. Since it’s been three weeks of flirting, catching coffees together, and walking out of psychology together to study in the library, I figured why not. It was time to take this thing up a notch.
We’re now eating in his room of his apartment, watching some comedy on Netflix. All I can think about, though, is how judgmental I’ve been toward him.
“You know, I didn’t want to say this when we first started hanging out, but I heard so many negative things about you. Now that we’re hanging out, though, they don’t seem true.”
“Really?” he asks after slurping a fettuccini noodle into his mouth. “What kind of negative things?”
“That you’re a playboy who loves to hit on every girl on campus.”
“Mm-hmm…and what else?” He places his container of noodles on the nightstand and I press my back into the headboard as he sits up and looks into my eyes.
“That you can never keep a girlfriend for longer than a month.”
“Really?” His voice is deeper. Huskier. “And do you believe that?”
“I don’t know what to believe,” I breathe as his face comes closer to mine. My eyes lower to his lips.
“You want the truth?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not that I can’t keep a girlfriend for longer than a month…” He inches closer. “It’s just that none of the other girls have ever been the right one for me, so when I end it with them, they take it personally. They even go so far as to spread rumors and crazy lies about me. But I know who I am.” He places a chaste kiss on my lips. His mouth tastes like garlic and alfredo sauce. “But the question is, Amber…do you really want to get to know me?”