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  The next month of school seemed to fly by and I got more and more depressed, even though it meant we were getting closer to baseball season, which was something that always had me riled up. I still had my little time to look forward to twice a week with Paige. I guess I could say we had become friends, talking about things that I had never talked about with really anyone before.

  I filled her in on the many adventures of being tossed around between foster families, and some of the not so nice stories when I ended up being placed with the ones who were looking just to make money and didn’t want to deal with some snot nosed kid.

  She filled me in on her mom’s struggle with breast cancer and how she had passed away when she was ten, leaving her dad to fill both parents’ roles, which he did flawlessly. The only thing she regretted was not having a woman’s input around every once in a while when it came to girly things. I guess I could relate since I never even knew my dad, so I didn’t receive any of that fatherly advice until I met Tim.

  But as soon as class ended for the day, our friendship seemed to as well. Mr. Douchebag was always waiting outside for her, ready to escort her wherever it was she went. I was hoping that he would disappear after awhile, but he kept showing up and Paige never gave me a second glance. I did catch a smug look for him every once in a while, when Paige wasn’t looking and I had to resist the urge to punch it right off of his face.

  So what did I do since I was so miserable? I finally gave into Sara and let her think that we were actually dating. Yeah, I gave up my regular nights with Mia and was just exclusively with Sara, but something was missing and I knew all that would ever be between us would be sex.

  I guess I took her out on dates, if you considered meeting up at the Russell House for chicken finger Wednesdays in between classes, actual dates. Really, I think I was just wishing that I would make Paige jealous and she would realize she needed to be with me. But she seemed happy with that loser, Ben, and my hopes deflated more and more every day.

  At least, I had tonight to look forward to. The Chapmans were in town and we were all getting together for a family dinner at Mr. Friendly’s, a restaurant they always had to make at least one stop at when they were in town, it’s truly a Columbia staple. I overheard Chris talking to Kitty and I knew she had invited Paige along, perfect chance to finally get some alone time with her.

  I made it home in record time and beat Chris home, who walked in minutes later with his girlfriend, Claire. Claire was a nice girl and she was perfect for Chris, but she really didn’t like me and that fact cemented over even more when I screwed Rachel. That was a mistake I’m pretty sure I would be trying to live down for the rest of my life.

  “Hey bud, you want to ride over with us? I figured we would get there a little early so we can get a big enough table for all of us.” I nodded my head and tried to bite back the grin that I could feel creeping up when Claire rolled her eyes behind Chris’s back. Sorry Claire, bff’s and all that girly shit. Chris had gotten over it and Claire needed to do the same thing.

  “Let me just change real quick.” I was out of my room within five minutes, sliding my wallet into my back pocket even though I knew there would be no way I was paying for my meal. The Chapmans always insisted and after offering at least ten times, I end up giving in.

  The ride downtown was silent and I could feel the tension oozing from the passenger seat. Chris fiddled with the radio, something I knew he did when he was nervous and he probably figured he was going to face the wrath of Claire when they were alone together.

  “I’m sorry by the way, Claire,” I piped up from the backseat and she twisted around to glare at me.

  “Dylan Turner sorry for something? Sorry, but I don’t buy it. Do you know how crushed Rachel was after you cast her aside like she was nothing? Do you really understand that most normal girls don’t just like to have sex and nothing more?”

  Chris cleared his throat as he flicked on his blinker and interrupted the rant that was being thrown my way. “Now baby, you know I warned her…” She silenced him with a shove to the chest and continued on. “Chris you can’t defend him every time, I know he’s your best friend, but you just can’t. Yeah you warned her, but she is a girl, she has feelings. Why couldn’t you just leave her alone?”

  “Truthfully, I don’t know and I am sorry. I didn’t think before I acted and I didn’t realize how much tension it would cause. Besides she’s a sweet girl, she doesn’t deserve someone like me, I actually did her a favor.”

  Claire’s shoulders slumped and a thoughtful look crossed over her face. “You’re not a bad guy Dylan, you just had a tough upbringing.” Chris’s eyes darted to hers and I knew that he had filled her in on my past. Thanks bud, never telling you anymore of my secrets. Gossiping like a fucking girl.

  “But that doesn’t give you the right to go around screwing every girl who will drop their panties for you. You just need someone who will settle you down. I know you’ll find the right girl someday. But thank you for the apology, maybe someday you can give Rachel one too.”

  Chris’s truck stopped and I looked out the window to see he had found an empty parking spot which was a rarity down here. I hopped out of the truck and held Claire’s door open for her, helping her down. See, I could be a gentleman when I wanted to be.

  “You know I do have something going with Sara right now and it’s purely monogamous.” Chris thumped a hand on my back as we walked down the sidewalk and I saw a small smile curve onto Claire’s face, at least she was lightening up a little bit now.

  “Buddy, what you have with Sara, isn’t really what you’re looking for, we all know it. Somewhere out there is the perfect girl for Dylan Turner, but it’s clearly not Sara. That chick has issues when it comes to you and I would cut my ties quick, if I were you.”

  “Uh, thanks.” My best friend could always see things so clearly, why couldn’t I? I pulled out my phone to check my schedule for work. “Hey, I’ll meet you two inside.” Juggling a job between school and baseball ended up only leaving me enough time for a part-time job, which usually equaled out to about 15 hours a week. The money wasn’t great, but it helped me to at least pay the monthly rent, that I knew the Chapmans heavily discounted for me. I knew there was no way a hundred dollars a month covered my rent, but it at least left me with a little something extra when I needed it for clothes or books.

  I looked up from where I was perched against the brick wall and saw Paige heading from the opposite direction. Alone, which was a rarity. I figured Ben wouldn’t be attending since it was more of a family thing and Kitty had started dating some guy from a fraternity and they were glued at the hip.

  “Sparky!” I jogged over to meet her and I could see her eyes light up from when I called out her name. I could tell that there was a mutual attraction between the two of us, but for some reason she was fighting it.

  I slung an arm over her shoulder and guided her into the restaurant. “You ever been here before?” Her body felt right against mine as she leaned into me and she gave me a slight shake of her head.

  “Nope, it looks…interesting though.” I watched as her wide blue eyes took in the scenery, the place looked different almost every time we came in and there was always something new on the menu. She was in for a treat if she was looking for some good southern style home cooked food with a twist.

  Luckily, we had gotten here a little early and Chris was able to score a large table for us in the corner. I pulled out a chair for Paige on the end and she slid in as I sat next to her. The rest of the Chapmans filed in quickly behind us and I stood up to give Tim and Susanne hugs. Kitty sat across from us with frat boy, I think his name was Brad, and flicked her eyes between Paige and me.

  We placed our orders and received our drinks quickly. “So,” I leaned close to Paige with my hand resting on her bare thigh. She looked fucking amazing like usual, but even more so tonight. She had a frayed denim skirt on that was dangerously short and I was just
begging to see what was underneath. Her hair was loosely curled around her bare shoulders with a deep blue tank top on that tied around her neck. My fingers were just itching to flick away at that knot, just like opening up a Christmas present.

  “How’s it going?” She didn’t make any movement to shrug off my hand so I kept it firmly in place with her soft skin under my hand. If anything, it seemed like her legs moved just an inch closer to me. “Really? How’s it going?” she asked me back teasingly. “We just saw each other on Wednesday, Dylan. Do you miss me already?” She bit her lip, waiting for my answer and I let out a groan.

  This girl was seriously trying to kill me and I don’t think she even knew it. “Of course Sparky, I always miss you. I wish we had more classes together, and then maybe I would be able to spend a little bit more time with you.”

  “If you want to hang out as friends,” she emphasized, “outside of school, I wouldn’t be against that.” I sat back in my seat as the waitress came back with our salads. Already I missed being so close to Paige.

  As soon as my obstruction was gone, I leaned back towards Paige, this time brushing her ear with my lips and I could see the instant goosebumps that broke out onto her skin.

  “Do you really think we could be just friends and hang out? Do friends make each other feel like this?” I grabbed her hand under the table and placed it on the hardness that was straining against my shorts. Her hand lingered for just a second longer and she gasped, quickly pulling her hand away. Her chair squeaked against the hardwood floor as she pushed it out and she stammered out an ‘excuse me’ with a flush to her cheeks before rushing to the bathrooms.

  “What did you just do to her, Dylan Turner?” I turned to see Kitty’s eyes narrowed at me and ready to follow Paige. I held up a hand to her and stood to follow Paige, mentally kicking myself in the balls. Did I really just do that? I knew how innocent Paige was and clearly, she was horrified.

  “I didn’t do anything. She got something in her eye; I’ll go check on her.” I threw my napkin onto my empty chair and parked myself in the darkened hallway that led to the bathrooms to wait her out.

  As soon as the door swung open, I grabbed her by the shoulders and I could see the surprised look on her face when she saw me. “I’m so sorry, Sparky, I really didn’t mean to do that. I just can’t help…”

  My words were cut short as her small body slammed into mine, pushing me against the wall. My head was pulled down to meet hers, her hands tugging at my hair to bring me closer. Her soft lips crashed into mine, our teeth clashing together by the force.

  I took over control, darting out my tongue and sliding it across her puffy lips before slipping into her warm, open mouth. She tasted sweet just like I imagined and I couldn’t get enough. I sunk my fingers into her hips and pulled her body even closer. Her hands worked to untuck my shirt and found the hem to slide up my stomach to my chest. I was seriously about to pull her into the bathroom and lock the door behind us when she stopped, breathing heavily with her eyes glossed ever.

  “That can never happen again,” she panted out while reaching up to tie her tank top that had somehow become loosened by my hands. “You have a girlfriend.”

  “And you have a boyfriend.” She cast her eyes downwards and whispered out, “I know,” before quickly walking away and leaving me alone. I knew that instant I was in love with this girl and I needed to do anything to have her. Anything.

  Chapter 8

  Paige

  The alert of a text woke me up and I unlocked the screen to see that it was from Jake. I smiled as his daily countdown popped up and rolled over onto my back to answer him. He kept bringing up the date of October 20th for some reason and I had finally remembered to ask him, it was the day the Gators came to town and I couldn’t wait. Only two weeks left.

  I heard the click of keys turning in the door and saw Kitty tiptoeing in with her pink heels in hand. “I’m awake, no need to sneak in.” She jumped when my voice startled her and brought up a hand to her lips.

  “Ugh, you caught me; I was totally doing the walk of shame this morning.” She plopped down on my bed with a wide grin and tucked her feet underneath her, still dressed in the same outfit she had worn out to dinner the night before.

  “So you and Brad? Already?” They had only been dating a couple of weeks, while Ben and I had been together a little over a month. My virginity was still intact and I planned to keep it that way.

  “Yes,” she answered back. “He is just ah-mazing. I never thought I would be dating a frat boy, but he’s different.” Brad seemed to be pretty nice from the few times I had met him, he seemed to worship the very ground that Kitty’s designer heels touched and I knew that was the kind of guy that was perfect for her.

  “And what exactly was going on with you and Dylan at dinner last night?” I started to reply with a ‘nothing,’ but never made it that far.

  “And don’t try to lie to me, Miss Paige; whenever you two are together the sexual tension is so thick, it’s hard to breathe. And then you run off to the bathroom and he follows after you. You were definitely gone a lot longer than it takes to get something out of your eye.”

  I bit back a snort when she said that, apparently that was the excuse Dylan had given for me running off so quickly. More like me ramming my tongue down his throat, something that I was feeling extremely guilty about. But after the placement of my hand on the bulge in the front of his pants, he had me so flustered and turned on; I just felt this urge to attack him.

  “Nothing happened that matters. I’m with Ben and I just need to forget about Dylan Turner. You said it yourself, he is bad news. We’ve become friends I guess, but I don’t think he wants to keep it just as friends. And I really am happy with Ben.”

  “Mmhm, if you say so.” She stood up from my bed and started to discard her clothes, leaving her in a matching pink leopard bra and panties set, before slipping under the covers of her own bed. “But just to let you know Dylan isn’t that bad of a guy. I’m not afraid to admit, I hated him just a little bit because I had a crush on him and he never returned the feelings.”

  She confirmed my suspicions that I had from day one of being around the two of them. “But now I have Brad. And Dylan and you just seem to be drawn together like magnets. Ben’s a nice guy, but I think you’re just settling with him. You’re only eighteen years old, no need to act like you’re going to get married or something. And I can tell you, Dylan is probably just the kind of fun you need. Sometimes you have to take risks in life for things to pay off and Dylan might just be a risk to take.”

  I wasn’t really sure how to answer her back and didn’t need to once I heard her soft snores floating from her bed. Sure, Ben was safe but I truly did like him. Dylan…he was just trouble and I wasn’t so sure if he really was the risk I was willing to take. If I did, I had a feeling I would end up with a broken heart and no one would be left behind to pick up the pieces.

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  I spent the rest of the day lazing around in bed reading until I heard a tap on the bathroom door and tiptoed over to answer it so I wouldn’t wake up Kitty. “Hey, what’s up?” I whispered to Maddie, who was on the other side. Her room looked about as dark as mine and I figured Kylie probably had a late night too.

  “I take it Kitty’s out too? Do you wanna go grab some lunch? I’m starving.” She grabbed her stomach to emphasize her point and I let out a quiet laugh. Maddie and I often ended up being eating partners most of the time. Kitty and Kylie tended to eat all of that healthy crap, more power to them I guess.

  “Sure, let me change real quick and I’ll meet you downstairs.” I threw my hair up into a messy bun and slid on a pair of yoga pants with a black tank top.

  We were almost in the middle of October and it was still around 75 degrees out daily. I was glad I had decided to stay in a warmer climate, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to survive anywhere in the Midwest. Dylan had filled me in on growing up in that area and his stories about snow in October
literally made me cringe.

  I softly shut the door and pulled out my phone when I felt it vibrating, smiling when Jake’s name popped up on the screen. “Hey Jakey.”

  “Hey baby girl, god it’s so good to hear your voice.” We had been keeping in contact daily, but only through texts. I knew how busy he was with football even though he hadn’t gotten much playing time yet, being a freshman.

  “I know. I can’t wait till you come up, it’s weird not being with you like almost 24/7, I think I’m having withdrawals.” I jogged down the stairs and found Maddie in the lobby in similar attire. She gave me a silent wave when she saw I was on the phone and we walked out through the doors, heading to our usual spot at Grand Market Place.

  I heard a voice in the background and Jake’s muffled voice reply something back. “Jake Niles, is that a girl I hear?” I asked in a singsong voice. “No,” he laughed out in a husky voice. “My roommate’s girlfriend is leaving; they have a lot of sleepovers. I invested in a nice set of ear plugs after awhile, they come in handy.”

  “Hmm, well, have there been any?” Jake had dated sporadically in high school, but he always ended up breaking things off before they got too serious. All of his girlfriends hated me and I tried to stay out of the way as much as possible, but Jake wasn’t having it. To this day, he had never picked another girl over me. I thought that maybe now that we had some space between us things would change.

  “Naw, there is this one girl I’m interested in, but she seems to have no clue. Got any of your girly advice on what I should do about that?”

  “Well, I’m no expert in the dating thing really, but I guess if you really like her you should just tell her and get it out there. You never know what’ll happen.”

  I heard a deep sigh through the phone, like he was contemplating my advice. Really, any girl would be lucky to have Jake. “I have to let you go, me and Maddie are grabbing something to eat. I’ll talk to you later this week.”