Chapter 13
Shattered Pieces
Bentley
“Bro, can you explain this to me again?” Corey says as he flops down in the seat across from me in the library.
I look up at him and frown as others at surrounding tables hiss at him to be quiet. I wouldn’t expect him to get it. This is a me and Zah thing.
“There’s nothing to explain. I’m getting my assignments done for class,” I mumble.
“Yeah, I get that. You’ve always been on top of your classwork, but this …
you have a whole hot girlfriend. She looked great out there on the track the other day, by the way.
Yet you guys don’t hang out together, you don’t study together.
Instead, you two have some type of competition going on.
If that were my girl, I’d be trying to get in those cute little running shorts … ”
He lifts his hands up in the air as I snap my head up and glare at him. Trust me, I would love nothing more than to be somewhere alone with Zah, wrapped in her arms and legs. However, we’ve both been busy.
She has track and I have football. When you add in classes and classwork, plus assignments, we hardly have time for ourselves.
The last two weeks have been brutal. We only see each other in the mornings.
The rest of the day, we text as much as we can, but our schedules conflict like crazy beyond that.
We tried studying together once and got nothing done. When we set our second challenge in our game, we decided to make it an academic challenge. The goal is to see who will be the first one to get straight As and keep them up for the semester.
We both agreed to see each other during mutually scheduled times. Our competitiveness outweighs our horny hormones. As much as I crave Zah, I’m not going to lie and say our challenges aren’t making me better.
My coach isn’t complaining. I have the best grades on the team. Zah and I are currently tied for best grades as student athletes. It might sound nerdy, but this is us.
This is the most fun I’ve had in my college career. I wake looking forward to my morning runs with Zah, where we plan out our day and text to check in throughout. I’m falling so hard for this girl. I’ve always had love for her, but now I know I’m in love with her.
“Why aren’t you focused on your books? As captain, no one is failing on my watch. Did you turn in that paper?”
“I’m nowhere near failing. You know my dad would kill me. I turned in that paper a week early. That’s my point, bro. What happened to taking care of business and then having some fun?”
“Just because I’ve been turning down parties doesn’t mean I’m not having fun. My version of fun is just different from everyone else’s. I’ve got two more years.
“This can’t be it for me. I need to go pro. It’s all I’ve dreamed about since I can remember. The work starts here,” I say, looking him in the eyes.
“I get that. More than you know, but we live once. A few parties aren’t going to keep you out of the league. Tell Zahirah to come along.”
I shake my head. “She’s focused. Besides, the track team is traveling this weekend for a meet. She’ll be back Sunday. We have a date planned for then.”
“Good, you have a few days to kick back with your boys.”
I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach and know this is a bad idea. Things have been too good. I have so much peace. Yet I look him in the eyes and cave.
“Fine, I’ll come out tonight, but tonight only.”
***
I sip at my soda and shoot a text back to Zah. She won her meet and broke two records. I’m so proud of her. They have one more day of meets to go before they head back home.
I almost text her that I love her, but I want to tell her in person for the first time. I can’t keep the smile from my face when she sends back a bunch of heart eye emojis. I return the same emojis and tell her I miss her.
“You’re the only guy here texting. Not having fun?”
I look up to find Carly’s friend, Pacey. My first reaction is to look around quickly for Carly so I can leave to get away from her before she sees me. Just my luck, her father pulled some strings to have my restraining order blocked after I didn’t press charges.
Fucking asshole. I never should have agreed to his terms in the first place. For the most part, Carly has been staying away from me.
“Don’t worry, she’s not here. No one really wants her at these things after what she did to your car. I hate that for you, by the way. That was so messed up,” Pacey says as she bats her lashes.
“Yeah, well, the last thing I want to do is talk about her or what happened,” I say and go to walk away.
Pacey places a hand on my arm to stop me. I turn to tell her I’ll see her around, but I’m bumped from behind and she wraps her arms around my neck. I’m shocked at first, but jerk my head back as she’s too close and reach to pry her arms from my neck.
“Come on, Bentley. Dance with me,” she purrs.
“I have a girlfriend.”
“And?” she pouts.
“And I’m not going to disrespect her. Back off. I’m not interested.”
“Are you kidding me? You’re really going to pretend to have a girlfriend instead of hooking up with me?”
“Whatever,” I say and walk off.
As I go to find Corey and Jason, I see Carly watching me with a grin. I get a sour taste in my mouth and decide to leave without finding my friends.
Zahirah
I sit in my hotel room with a smile on my face. I’ve been texting with Bentley because I miss him. I can’t wait for our date on Sunday.
He’s been so patient with our conflicting schedules. I can see in his face he wants to have sex again, but we never have the time. The most we’ve been able to do is kiss during and after our morning runs.
His frat house and my dorm are too far from our classes and we would never make it on time if we detoured for sex. Skipping our run wouldn’t sit well with either of us. I appreciate how he’s been handling all of this.
I decided to stay in and work on a paper I have due next week. There is no way I’m going to let my grades slip.
I’m going to kick Bentley’s butt in this challenge. We’re neck and neck for now. All I need is an A-plus or two to pull ahead.
“Hey, Nickels. Did you see this?” One of my teammates pops her head into my door to ask.
We’ve kept our doors open to each other, so I’m not startled when she pops in. I look up from my book and give her a questioning look. I haven’t been on social media. I don’t like the distraction.
I have only looked at my phone to text Bentley and Erica. India comes all the way into the room and hands me her phone. I sigh and take it.
My heart drops when I look at the screen. It’s a picture of Bentley hugging some girl. I force a smile and hand the phone back.
“We’re not official. It’s no big deal,” I say, trying not to burst into tears.
The worst part is, I still have two races tomorrow. It’s not the time for this. I can’t call Bentley to ask him what’s going on.
“You sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine. I’m going to finish this paper and call it a night. Can you push in the doorstop on your way out?”
“No problem. My door will be open if you want to talk.”
Sure, I bet it will be. If I don’t perform well tomorrow, she’s next in line to take my place. She didn’t bring that pic in here to be a friend.
She leaves and I sit staring into space. I want Bentley to explain it away, but if I call him and he can’t, I’m not going to be focused. I’m on scholarship. I can’t let Bentley get in the way of my schoolwork or my performance on the track.
However, the more I sit here, the more I think about that picture. I pick up my phone and log in to my account. I find the account of the girl who posted the picture. The picture is still there.
How could he do this to me? I thought we had something special. When I read the caption, I think I’m going to be sick. The caption keeps playing in my head over and over.
Spending time with the QB. Tonight is just heating up. It’s going to be a good one. My man, my man, my man.
I toss the phone down and cover my face with my hands. I guess this is why he’s so okay with us not having time for sex. I feel like such a fool.
“Hello,” Erica says on the other end of the phone.
I didn’t even realize that I called her. My heart is aching so badly, I can’t even speak as I hear her voice. I can only sob.
“Zah? What’s happening?” Erica says.
I shake my head as if she can see me. I’m sobbing so hard my body is shaking. Why would he do this?
I open my mouth to tell Erica what’s going on, but I haven’t told her that I’m dating her brother. Well, I had been dating her brother, or so I thought.
“I … My … the guy I was seeing cheated on me,” I sob.
“Oh, Zah. I’m so sorry. You want me to call Bentley and tell him to kick the guy’s ass?”
I sob harder. If I wasn’t so heartbroken, I would laugh. Imagine him trying to kick his own ass.
“No, this is none of his business. I just needed someone to talk to. I really liked him, and I thought he liked me. I … I had sex with him and everything,” I cry.
“Oh, honey. I’ll come and kick his ass myself. He’s not worth your tears. You’re too good for him in the first place. If it were me, I’d hook up with one of his best friends and make him feel my hurt.”
I sort of laugh. Not only because I know that’s something she would do, but also because I know Bentley would lose it if I did hook up with Corey or Jason. However, I’m too hurt to think about doing something like that.
I can’t even imagine being with someone else. I’m so devastated. This was something special to me. I can’t believe he would throw it away like this.
“I’m sorry, Erica. I didn’t mean to call you with this. I’ll text you later. My head hurts,” I sniffle.
“Call me whenever you need. I’m here. If you change your mind and want me to call Bentley to handle the guy, let me know.”
“Thanks, Erica,” I say and hang up.
I burst into more tears and get up to climb into the bed to sob myself to sleep. Hopefully in the morning, I will be able to shove this all down and focus on my races.
Right now, I hate Bentley so much and I never want to see him again. He has ruined everything. Our friendship, this relationship, and so much more. I don’t think I will ever forgive him.
“I hate you so much, Bentley Coswell,” I sob.