Chapter 15 Beck’s Revenge
BECKS’S REVENGE
CLEO
I THINK I’M GOING OUT WITH MATS, I CONFESS TO BECKS IN THE SANCTITY OF HER BEDROOM.
You think? Like in your dreams? she scoffs.
We’re not putting a name on what’s happening. But it’s not like anything I’ve ever done before. I stretch out on her beanbag chair. Becks has the bedroom of a twelve-year-old boy, yet it’s still better-decorated than mine.
She stops pretending to do homework and flops onto her bed. Spill.
Well, we’re both really busy, but we try to see each other every day. So, we meet up for a coffee or eat our lunches together. Sometimes we just walk around.
I like walking with Mats, not just for the privacy, but because we both like being active outdoors. I’d like to work out with him, but he prefers to work out with his teammates—in their dedicated gym.
Then I sigh. But we haven’t fucked yet. And I really want to.
Becks wrinkles her nose. How long has this been going on?
I try to calculate. It’s weird, because there’s no real start date to our relationship.
We’ve been going to Marjorie’s house for over a month now, but we only started being friends partway through that.
Yet we’ve been getting to know each other since the first night we picked him up in Minnie. It’s very confusing.
Maybe ten days since we first kissed? I venture.
Ahhh, I see. What you’re experiencing is normal dating; so, unlike your normal one-night stands.
I thought guys liked to fuck, I complain.
I have this nagging insecurity that maybe Mats just doesn’t want to fuck me specifically.
I haven’t asked again, but I don’t understand waiting.
The memory of his incredible naked upper body is starting to fade, despite my best efforts to summon it every time I get myself off.
Everyone likes to fuck. But there are people on the planet who don’t jump into bed two minutes after they’ve met, she replies.
I wonder how long he waited to fuck Lana.
I immediately hate myself for voicing those words.
I’m not normally jealous, but there’s something about Mats and Lana that bothers me.
I could tell that Mats was unhappy at the beginning.
He was sad because he and Lana had broken up—fuck, I saw him five minutes after it happened.
So, I assumed that he wanted to get back with her.
Becks leans closer. Did you hear that Lana is dating Luke Charlevoix?
Charlie? From the men’s team? On one hand, that should be good news, but it’s also disturbing. He’s nothing like Mats, except that they both play hockey. Is this her scheme to make Mats jealous? Or is my brain scrambled because I’m so into Mats?
Ugh, I’ll go with brain omelette.
Weird, right? Becks asks.
I nod. Anyway, I’m here to ask you for a favour.
Nope, she replies automatically.
I ignore this. I’m having Mats over for dinner tonight.
With the emphasis on having? She leers.
Yup. So, could you eat dinner early tonight? Like around 5:30?
Just me? What about everyone else?
I count off on my fingers. Knudy has a class tonight, Woolly is listening to a speaker, and Jinx has a date. You’re going to be the only one home, and I’d like a dinner for two.
Becks wears a shit-eating grin. I should get to know your young man. After dinner, you can go to your room for some privacy. What are we having?
We are not having dinner. Mats and I are having chicken tacos. Something healthy. Also, easy. I’m an okay cook, but I can’t do anything gourmet. But I know what Mats’s food preferences are. Even if I don’t eat clean, I know what I’m supposed to be eating.
Anyway, it’s time to get ready, so I leave without getting Becks’s promise, but my fingers are crossed that she’ll leave us alone. After all, she’s the one who wants me to date nicer people.
I clean up my room by picking up my clothes from the floor and throwing them into the hamper, then I vacuum.
It’s hard to imagine Mats in here. My room décor is minimal, not in the classy Nordic way, but more like someone forgot to decorate.
I still have the plaid bed-in-a-bag set that my mother got me in freshman year.
And besides a corkboard with team photos and various crap pinned to it, I have zero wall decorations.
Even my desk chair has seen better days.
Ah, well. It’s not like I can redecorate in an hour. Maybe I’ll borrow one of Jinx’s big candles and turn out all the lights. Wait, that would mean I’d see less of Mats, so forget it.
I prep dinner. All I have to do is cook the chicken and assemble the toppings. Mats can pick whatever ingredients best fuel his incredible physique. That upper body… I thank whatever combination of genetics and gym work sculpted him.
Smells good in here, Knudy says. She makes a sandwich and then eats it standing up. Why are you making so much food?
I’m having Mats over, I explain.
Really? So, something is going on between you two? I knew it, she says smugly.
Knudy single-handedly figured out my issue with Mats and Jordan, but she hasn’t bugged me about it since. She loves to know everything, but she’s not a gossip.
Mats is a good guy. You could do worse, she says before leaving for class.
You have done worse, says Becks, who snuck in and ate a piece of chicken while my back was turned.
I smack her hand when she reaches for a second. Seriously, stop. Get your own dinner.
That’s not a good attitude for someone who is depending on my goodwill for romance, she says.
There won’t even be a dinner if you eat it all, I complain as I grate cheese. I pass her a slice of cheese. Have this instead.
Is that what you’re wearing? she asks. I’m wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a blue sweater that I knitted myself. It has a few wonky places, but the fuzzy wool hides them.
What’s wrong with this? It’s prettier than what I usually wear.
Nellie, if you want to seduce your boyfriend, you should wear clothes that look like they’d be easy to take off. Mats is going to have to battle a sheep army first. I don’t even have to turn around to know that she’s rolling her eyes.
Two words, Becks. The first one is fuck, I reply.
Who is Nellie seducing? Jinx asks from the doorway. She’s all dressed up and ready for her date.
Mats is coming over, Becks says, with suggestive emphasis. Are you sure you don’t want to stay home and witness this?
Jinx giggles. I’d consider it, if getting my own dates wasn’t so tough. But if my guy isn’t as cute as his photos, I’ll rush home.
One night alone. Is that too much to ask?
I ask the ceiling. I arrange all the ingredients on a platter, put plastic wrap on top, and stick it in the fridge.
It’s not enough to keep Becks from grazing, but it might slow her long enough to feel guilty.
I clean off and set the dining room table.
Here I am, setting the table with two places.
Fine, I’ll sit in the hall and listen instead, Becks offers.
What have I done to deserve this shit? I moan.
Becks snorts loudly. Do I have to list the ways? What about when you put a giant plastic spider in my bed when Arnie was sleeping over?
You should be thanking me for showing you what he was really made of. I’ve never heard of a grown man peeing his pants.
He wasn’t even wearing any fucking pants! Finally, it’s my chance to get back at you, and I’m not going to miss it. Cackling, she leaves me alone to imagine the worst. And I have a really good imagination.
When Mats arrives, he removes his black puffer jacket and shakes the snow off.
Underneath, he’s wearing black jeans, a grey T-shirt, and a flannel shirt that’s tight across his broad chest. He smiles at me, his angular face transformed into a gentler handsomeness.
For a moment, I can’t even speak, because he’s just so lovely and he’s here for me.
Hey, I finally squeak out.
Hi, Mats; bye, Mats, calls Jinx as she leaves for her date. Behind his back, she gives me the double thumbs up.
Becks is back in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and eating a plate of pasta.
I was kicked out of the dining room because you’re here, she explains to Mats with the fakest sad face.
Really? It’s okay with me if you stay, he says, because he’s so fucking nice.
I’m baring my fangs at Becks when Mats catches me. He laughs. The two of you are like twins.
Have twins ever been a fantasy for you, Mats? Because we could make that happen tonight. She flutters her eyelashes.
Becks, seriously. Stop this bullshit or you’re dead, I threaten.
She turns to Mats. You’re my witness if my lifeless body is found tomorrow.
Then she sits down at the dining room table in the place I set for myself. She beams angelically at me. I’ll just keep him company while you’re getting dinner ready.
I race to get all the food to the table. Fortunately, Becks is keeping things normal and talking hockey with Mats. And then she actually leaves once we’re ready to eat. Phew.
Sorry about all that, I say.
You and Becks? It’s fine. You and your roommates seem to have so much fun together. He sounds genuinely admiring.
Don’t you and your roommates get along?
Mats nods. Yeah, everything’s great at my place. But I got the impression that there’s more… tension when a lot of women live together.
Oh, he must be referring to Lana’s sorority house. Of course there will be conflicts with any big group, male or female, but the good thing about hockey is that we get to work out our frustrations on the ice.
We’re pretty loose. The whole team, I mean, I say.
Because of you. You’re the captain and you set the tone.
My cheeks heat. It’s not a big fucking deal.
Mats looks at me like he can see right through my bullshit to the real person underneath. And he’s not running away. That’s exactly what he said—that we can be real with each other because we both started with the worst first impressions. It’s the opposite of a fake first date.