That One Summer: A Collection of Steamy Contemporary Romance

Chapter 2

It had been two dayssince Jayel last saw or spoke to Ty, and she had spent that time crying. She couldn’t determine whether his cheating had been for the better or worse. Either way, word would spread around campus, and everyone would know. Jayel isolated herself in her dorm room, pondering her next steps.

She didn’t entirely blame Ty for the situation, she acknowledged her role in it. Her withdrawal was fueled by embarrassment. Supposedly, male team members were prohibited from interacting with the opposite sex during training. Despite this rule, Ty was discovered with a girl in his room, and she wasn’t the one. The coach was yet to determine whether Ty’s actions would put his position on the team at risk.

Both Jayel and Ty had their own thoughts to ponder. Jayel realized that she couldn’t handle Ty’s infidelity at all while staying there. She believed that being at home would provide her with a better environment to sort out her situation, despite having reservations about seeing Carl again. Jayel learned from her stepmother months ago that Carl had returned from abroad and was seriously involved in a relationship. Jayel saw this development in a positive light, as she longed to go back to the way things once were with Carl. She wished they’d never engaged in sharing that passionate kiss.

Even though Jayel wasn’t forthcoming in sharing the events leading up to her decision, her parents were thrilled to have her home for the summer. Neither pressed her. They had always respected her choices and given her adequate space to become an independent person. Brian advised her not to worry about booking a commercial flight. They would make arrangements for her.

While Jayel was anticipating her parents’ call to confirm her flight details, Ty attempted to reach her through multiple phone calls, all of which she ignored. Frustrated by his persistence, she eventually blocked his number. However, despite her efforts, a text message successfully made its way through to her.

“Do I have to change my name to Carl in an effort to get a rise out of you?”

Jayel’s anger was triggered to its fullest extent. She found Ty’s arrogance infuriating; everything always seemed to revolve around him. In a fit of rage, Jayel hurled her phone across the room with such force that it rebounded off the wall and shattered on the floor. The brief satisfaction she felt was immediately replaced by regret. How would she communicate with her parents?

The responsibility for their relationship’s success didn’t rest solely on her shoulders—no matter how many times Ty brought Carl into it. The problem she had was with Ty’s behavior. Why should she invest herself fully in someone she wasn’t certain about?

In the beginning, Ty showered her with affection, but then his pursuit became purely sexually based, solely focused on physical intimacy. When accessing her body and getting into her pants proved to be difficult, Ty changed. Jayel believed the only reason he ever apologized was to get her panties off. She even suspected that his marriage proposal was merely a ploy to manipulate her. He’d even tried to get her drunk in an effort to lower her inhibitions. When she didn’t follow through after completing an oral act, Ty had become angry.

“Why can’t we ever have sex? It seems like you’re saving yourself for him.” He rose from her bed and made his way to the door. Pausing, he remarked, “He sees you as a daughter; that’s the extent of it.” Ty then shook his head and muttered, “You’ve been a complete waste of my time.” With that, he’d slammed the door, his footsteps resounding down the stairs.

Jayel sat in a chair pondering; she’d worry about her phone later. At present, she needed to calm down. The burden of ensuring the success of their relationship was not hers alone to bear, regardless of how often Ty involved Carl in their issues.

Jayel paced the room and then perched herself on the edge of her bed, reflecting on Carl’s accurate assessments of Ty. Her mind drifted back to the moment she broke the news of her engagement and decision regarding her college path to them. It was during a dinner at Ocean Prime restaurant. They were seated around the table, with Brian and Adele on one side and Carl directly across from her. Carl’s displeasure was palpable as he openly inquired whether the marriage proposal and Jayel’s educational shift were instigated by Ty.

She was furious at the accusation made by Carl. His attempts to justify his beliefs only fueled her anger further. His audacity extended to questioning whether she was pregnant. Throughout the exchange, Brian had maintained a silence, but he finally intervened, chastising Carl for overstepping boundaries with his probing inquiries. Despite Brian’s reprimand, Carl stood firm in his stance. Adele and Brian finally pulled Carl aside for a private conversation, after which Carl did not rejoin the table.

That was the beginning of the rift between them. Carl’s lack of happiness for her was evident, and it cast an unnatural strain on their relationship.

Communication between Jayel and Carl had noticeably waned. Jayel found herself preoccupied with the practicalities of her upcoming transfer. She and Ty had come to a mutual decision to postpone their wedding until after her first year of college. Meanwhile, Carl seemed to have disappeared from the radar, leaving everyone wondering about his whereabouts and activities. Jayel lamented her previous facade of being a composed and self-assured young woman. In reality, she felt lost and directionless.

A sudden knock on her dorm room door caught her off guard. Jayel jumped up to answer it. Her parents had reached out to the school in an attempt to contact her, and now another student had managed to connect them through her personal device.