Chapter 60 The Draft, The Dream, The Aftermath #2
The next week and a half are a blur of phone calls and planning.
My agent does the real work: I just have to agree or disagree with his approaches or suggestions.
The only call that I have to make is to the coach at Norman to formally withdraw from my collegiate offer.
He tells me congratulations and wishes me the best. I get calls about a lot of things and have to lock in a furnished apartment quickly.
The club is letting other guys know that I have an extra room available to rent.
The only thing that I have left to do is pack.
Looking around my room, I have no idea where to start.
When did I forget how to pack? We’d moved every few years until getting here.
I hear a knock at my open door. I expect it to be Mom or Dad.
They keep checking in to see what they can do to help, but to my surprise, it is Daniel.
He got home from his rehab program right before the draft, but he didn’t feel like it was a good time to act like we were all good.
I’d appreciated him skipping the event, because it had given me the extra spot for Annie to be with me at the draft.
“You need any help?” Daniel asks from the doorway.
I am about to say no, but for some reason, I say, “Yeah, can you help me tape up those boxes and then fill them with the clothing from the closet?” “Yeah, no problem,” he says, and we work on our tasks.
The clothing is an easy item to take; it’s the rest of it that I am overwhelmed by.
How much to take and how much to leave here?
My eyes drift over the pictures I have decorating my walls, the little league memorabilia, the trophies…
I think I’ll leave them. One item gets checked off in my mind.
I keep scanning the walls, checking yes or no in my head on whether I should pack it or not.
I end up looking at the painting of me and Annie.
“Drew, you ok?” I hear Daniel say from the edge of my closet.
“Yeah, yeah, why do you ask?” I say by default, still looking at the painting.
“I don’t know, bro, the fact that you haven’t moved for like five minutes looking at the painting?
Did you all break up or something?” I flinch at Daniel’s question—not because of his tone, he hadn’t said it as a jab to be cruel or spiteful like when we’d had the last run-in about Annie.
It’s almost like he is trying to be kind.
I flinch because he assumes that we broke up and that we didn’t make it.
“We are still together. I guess I got lost thinking about how we’ll make it work, that’s all.
” I run my hand through my hair and turn back to my task.
“Drew, I never said it, but I’m an ass for the stunt last fall; she never looked at me like that,” he says and points at the painting.
“You are an ass, I agree.” I face my brother, and we share a little look.
Then the moment passes, and we go back to work.
I look at the painting and make a mental note that I need Mom’s help to package the painting so it can travel to Arizona with me.
***
I leave tomorrow, and all my boxes are in the garage, ready to load into my car.
Dad is going to make the road trip with me, and Mom is going to fly in tomorrow to Arizona to make sure I have all the stuff I really need when we arrive.
I wanted Annie to come with me, but a part of me knows it is going to be easier to have this first separation where she has support on standby.
She’s been excited to my face, but I know my Annie, and she is hiding her other feelings away.
I’ve seen looks of sadness pass over her face quickly yet more often as tomorrow's date approaches. I called Meg yesterday to make my plans for Annie. Meg is going to take off from work the day after I leave and spend the day uninterrupted with Annie. I’d taken over a few bags of Annie’s favorite snacks to Meg’s house to supply the girls’ day.
“Drew, you didn’t have to do this. I could have bought snacks for us,” Meg had said when I’d shown up with my haul of items. I’d let her know it was the least I could do, that she was the one who was going to have to make sure our girl didn’t fall apart.
Meg had hugged me and promised to take care of Annie, then said, in true Meg fashion, that I better go kick some ass to make it worth it.
I’m getting off my last call with the club before I leave for Arizona when I hear Annie’s voice from the stairs saying, “Have a good dinner,” and the front door slamming shut.
I hear her hurried footsteps up the stairs, and then she is there in my doorway.
God, she is beautiful, she’s just in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
She smiles and comes in, shutting and locking the door behind her.
“You expecting any calls?” she asks over her shoulder.
“Nope, I’m all yours for the night,” I reply.
Annie turns, already removing her shirt and tossing it to the floor.
“Well, what are you waiting for then, Dimples?” She removes a new piece of clothing with each step into my room.
She takes off her bra and her shoes, finishing by kicking her shorts and underwear off.
I take her lead and strip out of my shorts, boxers, and t-shirt as quickly as humanly possible, and we meet next to my bed, fully naked.
I reach out, pulling her gorgeous naked body against mine, and kiss her.
She wraps her arms around my neck, and we kiss, standing naked against each other until one of us gets us falling onto my mattress.
I eventually grab a condom, roll it on, and enter her body in a slow slide.
Somewhere our quick start of undressing and hard passionate kisses has morphed into slow moves and touches.
Neither of us seems in a rush to reach our climax; it feels like we both want to savor this moment, not knowing when the next one will be.
I am sliding slowly in and out of her, watching the way her face changes with each slide.
Her eyes are watching mine too. It feels like both of us are trying to memorize each other in this moment of our bodies being connected, trying to savor every detail to help us when the distance will be the only thing between us.
She wraps her fingers into the back of my hair and looks directly into my eyes before saying, “I love you, Drew Joseph Davis.” She’s told me she loved me daily since the day we both declared our feelings, but for some reason, this one feels bigger, like a moment that I’ll want to remember until I die.
I run my hand up her side until it is on her cheek before I say, “I love you more than you can imagine, Annie Marie Campbell.” I kiss her, and she kisses me back.
We don’t break our kiss until we each see the same stars.
We’ve been lying naked in post-lovemaking bliss, wrapped around each other.
My fingers are playing with Annie’s long hair, and she’s drawing little hearts against my chest when I hear her say, “I’m going to miss you, Drew.
I knew that when you got drafted that you’d have to leave, but I wasn’t prepared for this feeling: this feeling of dread and sadness mixed in with all the happiness and pride I feel.
” I take my time before answering. “I’m going to miss you too, Annie,” I reply before I move us to our sides so we can look at each other.
I think it’s time to address the elephant in the room.
I don’t let her lead us in this part—I want to start.
“I love you, Annie. We need to come up with a plan to make this work.” She replies, “I love you too. What is your plan?” Oh shit, what is the plan?
Do I have a plan? I know that I don’t want to go days without talking to her, but I also want to know what she wants and what she needs, so I reply, “Well, I want to talk about it with you.” She gives me a smirk before saying, “Oh, I see, Dimples. You want me to plan.” I can’t help but laugh and say, “I mean you did plan my seduction twice, and both were very, very good plans.” She gives me a playful little smack of her hand on my bare chest before saying, “Ok, fair point, I’m good at plans.
” We both go silent, and I watch her think.
I see when she makes a decision. “We need to have three non-negotiables: like, we have to talk every day could be one.” She has read my mind, and I smile, praising her idea and adding a suggestion.
“Maybe make sure we do video chats at least three times a week.” She agrees, and we both sit thinking again in silence.
Phone sex pops into my head; I can’t help it with her naked body in my arms. Before I think better of it, I say, “I want to say phone sex—does that make me sound like a perv?” She laughs and smacks her hand against my chest again before saying, “Yes, major perv vibes,” then tacks on, “I agree with you, though. If I can’t touch you,” she emphasizes by running the hand that smacked my chest down my abs before continuing, “I’ll still want moments like this with you, however I can get them, but only over video and no pictures.
” It’s easy to make the deal because I understand that we don’t need to risk a leaked photo with the futures we both want to have.
With that settled, I suggest that we get into another round of sex before we can’t.
***
Dad, Daniel, and I make quick work of loading my car the next day before my friends come over to do a big send-off.
They wanted to give me my own personal pep rally.
I wanted to tell them all not to worry about it, but I didn’t want to sound like an ass, not celebrating one last time with them before leaving.
I am not going to see my friends for a while, with me heading out now and them going off to college in the fall.
Craig is going to Norman with Annie, and Luke is headed off to Texas to play for a school there.
Meg and Tom are headed to the same university as Miles.
Annie and I aren’t separated at all this morning as we chat one last time as a group.
“Drew, we better head out if we want to make it to the first stop tonight,” Dad says as he steps out of the front door.
I give Craig and Luke a half hug, and they both tell me to kick some ass.
I wrap my fingers in Annie’s and walk to the driver's side of my car.
She has been quiet all morning. I place my hands on her cheeks and tip her head back to look into her eyes.
“I love you, Annie Marie Campbell.” I kiss her like no one is watching.
Our friends’ whistles cause us to break our kiss, and she says, “I love you too, Drew Joseph Davis. Go now before I can’t let you,” before she steps out of my arms. I just want to grab her back into my arms, but I take the opportunity she’s given me to get into the car.
I open the window and wave and shout my goodbyes.
I check my rearview mirror one last time to see my friends, and I almost stop the car.
In the reflection, I see Craig giving Annie a side hug, but that’s not why I want to stop the car.
No, it’s the tears I can just make out on her cheeks and the look of devastation on her face.
I’ve never seen my girl look so broken, and I know I’m the reason for it.
Who knew your dreams could have such horrible consequences?