The weeks pass in a blur of school and practices.
“We’re going to The Hideout for dinner if you want to come,” Emily says as we’re leaving the locker room on Friday night.
“I gotta pass. I need to pack. Heading to California early tomorrow for the long weekend.”
“Oh,” she says. “That sounds fun. Well, maybe next time.”
“Definitely,” I add, hoping there’s an offer next time.
I head back to the dorm, not stopping to shower first. Nathan and Shaw are exiting Freddy as I walk up.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. With the exception of class, which he mostly sleeps through these days, we haven’t hung out much. Once or twice to work on the project, but that’s been it. I’ve been legitimately busy enough that even the roommates haven’t questioned his absence.
“Shaw needed to get the last of his stuff from the dorm.” Nathan’s got a small box tucked under one arm.
I glance at Shaw, who is holding a much larger box labeled Porn.
“Nice.”
“Wouldn’t want to make it awkward.” He smirks.
“What are you doing?” Nathan asks me. He glances at Shaw before adding, “Want to come over?”
“Actually, I need to pack.”
He tilts his head and stares at me with confusion.
“I’m heading to California for the weekend.”
“You are?”
Shaw laughs. “Do you two ever talk or just bang?” He shrugs his shoulders which lifts the box. “No judgment. My kind of relationship.”
I might need to let Sydney in on that tidbit. She hasn’t said a lot, but any time I mention Shaw, The White House, or the basketball team, she gets hearts in her eyes.
“Yeah, sorry, I was going to tell you. It’s Camila’s birthday. We made the plans a while back.” Is it weird that I feel guilty for not actually telling him?
“You’re gonna miss a hell of a party tomorrow night,” Shaw says. “We’ve got the entire weekend basketball free, and I am making the most of it.”
“You don’t have practice this weekend?” I ask, acknowledging that Shaw is right, and it looks like we never talk… because we’re in a fake relationship. I bet Shaw would find that hilarious.
Nathan shakes his head. “Last free weekend for a while.”
“So, go with her,” Shaw states like that’s the logical conclusion to our situation.
Nathan is shaking his head again before I can respond. “It’s a little early to be meeting the family. It’s cool.”
“Actually, I’m not staying with my parents.” I mull over the idea of Nathan coming with me and I have to say I don’t hate it. In fact, I’ve missed spending time with him. “Come. It’ll be fun. I can introduce you to my friends, and we can hang on the beach.”
Shaw shifts the box. “Good, it’s settled. Now, can we get these boxes to the car? Mine isn’t light.”
“Call ya later,” Nathan calls over his shoulder.
Inside, I shower, field texts from Camila about the weekend, and then start to pack. Nathan texts as I’m trying to zip up my overflowing suitcase.
Nathan: Have a good weekend. Don’t worry, I’ll tell the guys I stayed so you could have time with your friends.
Disappointment creeps in making me realize just how much I liked the idea of him coming along. I’ve missed spending time with him outside of class and our project.
Me: Offer stands to come with. Could be fun.
He doesn’t respond right away, and I decide to further plead my case.
Me: Ocean is great this time of year. There’s lots of cheesy, touristy stuff or we can just hang at the beach, surf, whatever. My friends are dying to meet you.
I don’t know why I add the last part, but I know once I tell Camila, the statement will be true.
I drop my phone on my bed and scroll through videos on my laptop to kill the time. The longer it takes him to respond, the more I’m convinced he’s wording a very nice letdown text. When my phone pings, I brace myself for the disappointment.
Nathan: Alright. I’m in. Let’s do this.
“What year is this?” Nathan asks from the passenger seat of my car. We’ve been driving for a little over an hour and already blown through small talk on the weather and school.
“Uhhh…”
He lifts a brow. “You don’t even know, do you?”
“It’s new. This year or last, I think.” I shrug. “I got it for my twenty-first.”
“When’s your birthday?” he asks, side-stepping the conversation. That’s the thing about Nathan, he never makes me feel weird about having nice things or money even though I know he probably thinks it’s over the top.
“December twentieth. Yours?”
“December first.”
“Fellow Sagittarius.” I glance over. The freeway is quiet this early, something I love about Arizona. Traffic in Southern California never seems to let up. “Tell me about your twenty-first.”
He gives me a look that says it’s too early for storytime.
“We’ve got five more hours to kill. Entertain me. What did you do? Did you do the obligatory twenty-one shots?”
“It was actually quite the night, from what I hear.”
“Ominous.”
“We went to The Hideout. I didn’t do twenty-one shots, but I did a lot. About the time I passed out, Wes got in a brawl with Blair’s ex over some naked photos.”
“Wes got in a brawl?”
Nathan smirks. “You’ve never said that word in a sentence before, have you?”
“Sure, I have,” I say with a laugh. “I’ve been in all sorts of brawls.” Rolling my eyes, I try out the word again. “Brawl, brawl, brawl.”
He claps. “Very convincing, Surfer Princess.”
“Well, I spent mine mostly sober. I had an early flight the next morning, so Camila took me to the bar and we ordered two shots of tequila and then went home.”
“Well, we’ll have a do-over for your twenty-second.”
I nod. By the time my birthday rolls around, I don’t even know if we’ll be speaking. I don’t mention that, though. We haven’t talked about what happens when this whole thing is over.
We switch seats after another hour, and Nathan drives while I flip through the radio. I prefer it over a playlist. Randoming onto a song you haven’t thought about, but it’s just perfect for the moment… I love that about scanning through the radio.
I sit back after settling on a classic rock station, Stevie Nicks croons about love. I look over at Nathan behind the wheel, looking too good for words the way he rests his left hand at the top of the wheel.
“You look good driving my car. I could get used to being chauffeured around.”
He looks me over carefully, blue eyes scanning me from head to toe. My pulse quickens, but I don’t dare move a muscle as he stares at me like he’s really seeing me. Like he always does. “I think I could get used to this, too.”
Nathan
Chloe hadn’t really told me anything about Camila other than she’s like a sister to her so when a girl with dark brown skin and black hair with short bangs comes running out to the car to greet us, I can’t help but note all the ways they look nothing alike.
They’re about the same height, but that’s where the similarity ends. Camila is dark where my surfer princess is light and where Chloe is more reserved, Camila fills every second of silence with her excited chatter about our arrival.
Camila’s vibe actually reminds me of Gabby, and that makes me smile to think Chloe might have someone like my best friend looking out for her.
Camila ushers us inside her apartment.
“I still haven’t found a new roommate,” she whines and gives Chloe a pouty lip.
“You lived here?” I ask.
“Yep.” She looks around the place like she’s missed it.
I didn’t ask Chloe what she told Camila about me or our weird situation, but when she leads us to the guest room, or Chloe’s old room, and disappears to give us a chance to settle in, I finally question my role for the weekend.
“Does Camila know we’re not really together?”
She shakes her head. “I told her we’re dating, but that it was new. I thought it would be easier until I could explain in person.”
I mull that over. Is it easier or is she just really going the extra mile to sell this to everyone in her life?
“If you want me to tell her now, say the word. If anyone would understand, it’s Cam. She’s always had my back. She’s one of the few friends who didn’t magically disappear when things went down.”
“Up to you, princess. I’m glad you have her though. Friends like that are hard to come by.”
“Speaking of friends, I was thinking maybe we should tell yours, too. At least Gabby and Joel.”
“Definitely not Joel, he’s got a big ass mouth.”
She laughs. “Okay, but Gabby. I felt really awful lying to her. I can tell how much she cares about you.”
“Yeah.” The reasons I haven’t told Gabby have more to do with me than Chloe. I guess I’m still hoping this thing will turn into something real before our fake relationship is over. I can’t shake her. Even distancing myself and loads of porn hasn’t helped. “I’ll think on it.”
We hang out at Camila’s place for the evening, and she invites over a hand full of people—most of which know Chloe. I stand by her side and am introduced as the boyfriend. Not a bad gig, really, and it feels awesome to be out of Valley. I rarely get to leave with the team schedule and the expense of flying.
“I’m gonna grab another drink,” I say when I notice her cup is empty. “Want something?”
“Thank you.” I know she means for more than the drink.
Wandering inside, I fill our cups and linger a moment before heading back to the deck where everyone is hanging out. I think I expected it to be lavish and over the top, but it looks like any other college apartment—mismatched furniture, minimal wall hangings, and more plastic cups than dishes. The location is pretty sick, though—only a mile or so from the beach.
Camila enters and slaps her empty cup on the counter, grabs the rum and Diet Coke, and fills it up. “It’s good to see Chloe so happy. I’ve been worried about her.”
I smile and nod, my go-to when I don’t know what the fuck to say. Chloe is happier than I’ve seen her, but I’m almost certain that’s due to Camila, not me.
“Guess I have you to thank for that.” Camila lifts her cup, and I clink mine against hers.
We cheers and drink before I say, “I didn’t do anything. She’s a tough chick.”
Camila lets out a long breath. “You didn’t see her two months ago.”
“That bad?” I equal parts want to know and don’t. The latter feels like an invasion of her privacy on some level.
“She couldn’t go anywhere. Team turned their backs on her, some of our friends. And don’t get me started on her parents. They’re completely clueless about who Chloe is and what she wants. They threw more money at the problem to convince Golden to take her back.”
“Chloe’s coming back to California?” I don’t like the tight feeling in my chest at the thought of her leaving Valley to come back to a place where she was made to feel unwanted. Or the idea of her leaving me.
“She didn’t tell you?” She nods at my blank stare. “I’m not surprised. She still worries everyone is going to blame her for things she has no control over.”
“But she’s not coming back, right?”
She shrugs. “I doubt it. We’ve filled her spot on the team, so she’d have to give up volleyball—the one thing that keeps her sane.” She smiles. “Well, one of the two things that keep her sane, now that she has you.”
The next morning, I’m up with the sun. Sleeping next to Chloe all night, or not sleeping as it was, has me agitated and nervous. There’s no winning when it comes to sleep. I can’t even entertain the possibility that I might have a nightmare in front of her. Talk about a fucking ten on the humiliating scale.
“Morning.” Chloe slips out onto the deck, looking rumpled and mussed and exactly what I wish my girl looked like in the morning. Except she’s not mine—at least not in any way that matters. “Coffee inside.”
“Don’t like coffee,” I say, my voice too deep and hoarse. I clear my throat and turn to rest a hip on the side railing. “What are you doing up so early?”
“I can never sleep in here. Even in high school, I’d wake up early every morning to run on the beach, listen to the waves, or surf. The ocean is my happy place.”
“Surfer Princess,” I say with a grin.
“I was planning on going for a run this morning if you want to come.”