Chapter 15
A true love triangle (well, some sort of triangle)
Grey had a few more minutes before practice ended.
I sat in the stands with other spectators who enjoyed watching the track team practice, especially Grey, who had the best shot on the team to make it to the Olympics.
Watching him run always made me smile and reminisce about our youth because the first time I met him, when we were fourteen, I beat him in a relay in gym class.
He was teased mercilessly because a girl beat him.
Almost every day after school, he challenged me to a rematch, and I would ignore him, which only made him more determined to beat me.
I didn't even realize he lived in my neighborhood until my older sister and I sat in my father's pickup truck in the driveway, enjoying the fall air.
My older sister, Danielle, always drew attention with a smile brightening her whole face.
Her Coke-bottle shape might have contributed to her appeal to the fairer sex, too.
I'd been used to people paying attention to my sister, but when Grey jogged by with his terrier, Lucky, he made a beeline for me.
Barely acknowledging my sister, he challenged me for another run.
Danielle thought it was hilarious that this skinny boy wanted me to race him because he lost during gym.
She knew I could run fast and had beaten our brother over the years.
Needless to say, I won again, and my sister and I danced around in victory.
To his credit, Grey accepted defeat, and he and Lucky joined us on the back of my dad's pickup.
After that day, we became friends, and by our senior year in high school, he was my best friend and the fastest runner in the state.
I leaned back in the bleachers, smiling at how everything had changed in the last hour.
I went from sad sack to weekend plans with my dream guy.
Even if he dumped on it, I couldn't wait to tell Grey about my weekend plans.
I'd remind him that he wouldn't be around for my milestone, so he'd better be happy for me.
He'd already admitted feeling guilty about being out of town for a special practice meet in Austin on my big birthday weekend.
Chelsea had a late class. Otherwise, I would be on the phone with her now, planning my serious makeover for the weekend.
Then I needed her help picking a hotel, which was more up her alley since she did a travel vlog.
Yep, my birthday was about to be better than I imagined.
The best part is that Carter didn't know.
He really wanted to spend a whole weekend with me.
"You’re waiting on Grey?” A petite redhead who stepped straight out of IG smiled.
A smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Another fan or groupie.
He didn’t have as many as Carter probably did, but he had a fair share of women trying to gain his attention.
Anyone paying attention probably noticed that he and I arrived and left campus together most days.
“Yeah.”
“Do you know if he’s seeing anyone? Are you with him?” She asked.
“Why?” I stared at her, tired of the girls over the years approaching me about him.
My directness made her hesitate before she replied, “I’m trying to be respectful.”
“Why?”
“I’m asking for a friend who likes him.” She arched a tinted eyebrow high. Clearly, the information was for her and not some phantom friend. I’d noticed her and a couple of her friends in the stands since the semester began. Noticed her flirting with him whenever he rested on the bench.
“No need.”
“So, you’re not with him?” She smiled widely.
I already knew she didn’t have a chance.
Grey still struggled with being biracial and seemed to gravitate toward black women despite being raised primarily by the white side of his family.
It didn’t help that his relationship with his mother had been estranged once he decided to leave home for school rather than stay and work on the family’s ranch.
She never supported his aspiration to be on an Olympic team because she couldn’t see a future.
We both knew his mother didn’t like anything that pulled him away from her.
It’d been the two of them for years, and she depended on him more than a mother should rely on her son.
I explained, “There’s no need to be respectful to me when you’re just trying to dig for information. I saw you all in his face the other day, and I know you’ve seen me here with him. Didn’t care then if he and I were together. If he wants you, you’ll know.”
She muttered, “Bitch.”
“I’ll let him know what you called me. I’m sure that will go over well,” I wryly replied.
The woman flounced away, her ponytail swinging behind her. I put my Beats in, hoping everyone else got the hint not to pump me for information. Not today when I’m feeling myself.
GREY TAPPED THE WHEEL while we waited at the light. “What was that about with Maddie?”
“Oh, is that her name?”
“Yeah, the redhead. I saw you two talking, and then she left angry.”
“Called me a bitch, and I told her I would tell you.” I lamented, “I swear between you and Chelsea, I want to stick a large note on my chest that I’m not your messenger. Maddie wanted to know if you and I were together, and I told her if you wanted her, she would know.”
“Brutal.” He smiled slightly. “You are becoming more like me in your old age.”
I chuckled. “I could never be as grumpy as you. I thought running was supposed to lift your mood.”
“It does. That’s why I run. I do it for my peace of mind. The grump in me is the realities of life you prefer not to hear. You can’t help it. You’re the baby of the family and think life should go how you want it instead of accepting that sometimes it does and sometimes doesn’t.”
“And I don’t see anything wrong with believing you can get whatever you want in this life.”
“Spoken like a person who’s had everything...except a relationship...that she’s ever wanted.” He glanced at me. “And you haven’t had that one because you keep hoping for this perfect guy when ain’t none of us perfect, not even Carter.”
I slapped his arm and ignored his wince to announce my good news. “That reminds me...guess who’s spending her birthday weekend with Mr. St. Patrick?”
His jaw tightened. “Does he know it’s your birthday?”
“That’s the magic of it all. He has no idea.
We hooked up in the bathroom at The Hot Cup, and because he didn’t have a condom, he just went down on me.
Said he wanted uninterrupted time with me since the team’s not playing this weekend.
He’s paying for a hotel from Friday night to Sunday.
That has to mean something even in your pessimistic world. ”
Grey frowned and stared straight ahead. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. We rode in tense silence for a few miles.
“You have nothing to say?”
“Nothing for me to say. You got your wish. Happy for you.” He continued to focus on the road.
“You don’t seem happy?”
“You asked me to support you, and I’m doing that.” Grey sighed and turned on the radio.
I immediately turned it off. “Support means totally, and not this passive-aggressive you are giving me.”
“Call me old-fashioned, but you were about to give it up to him in a fucking public restroom. Your first time, Darren, really?” He glanced briefly at me, his nose turned slightly up.
“I didn’t care, so why should you?”
Grey insisted, “Because you do care. You didn’t wait this long just to give it up because you’re fucking tired of being a virgin. You want love when it happens, remember?”
“Didn’t you just tell me I’m too caught up in what I want instead of what is? Well, that’s what I’m doing. I plan to tell him the truth about you and me and see what happens.”
He snorted. “I can tell you that. He’s only interested in you because he can still do whatever the fuck he wants. Once you’re free, guarantee he’s going to drop you.”
I turned to face him. “I’m fully aware of all of that. He may drop me because I lied to him, but I can’t keep the lies going.”
“Then why didn’t you tell Maddie that we’re just friends? Why didn’t you tell her that I’m single?”
My head jerked back. “You like her or something?”
“No, that’s not the point.”
“Then what is the point? I swear you’re confusing the hell out of me.”
When we approached a red light, Grey shifted in his seat to address me. “Let me make it plain, then. Drop Carter. You said you would if I wanted you to.”
“I also said if you want to give us a chance. Your late nights out with whoever you're sexing tells me you’re not ready to be with me. So, stop all the possessive bullshit when it’s convenient for you,” I hissed.
“That’s not what I’m doing?” He protested loudly, his face reddening.
“It is exactly what you’re doing. It’s been three weeks since I’ve seen Carter, and I see you every day.
Plenty of time to tell me you want to be with me, but nope, you wait until I’m excited about my birthday that I plan to spend with Carter to tell me you want me.
Please, Grey. Be real. You’re so used to me being there for you that the idea that I could actually have a man who wants me scares you.
” I pulled my knees up in my seat and hugged them.
“Obviously, we can’t talk about Carter. You won’t hear another word from me about him.
Approve or don’t approve. I’m not dropping him to be with a man who doesn’t know what the hell he wants. ”
“Why are you so mad?” he replied calmly.
“Because you’re playing with me.” I rolled my neck.
“Am I?” The light turned green, and he drove down the road. “After all these years, you think I’m just playing with you about something we both take seriously.” Grey slanted a gaze at me. “You’re mad because you want me, too.”
“We already established what I was willing to do three weeks ago,” I emphasized the time frame. “Don’t do this to me, now. Don’t make me choose, Grey, because it may not be you this time.”
“Well, don’t come crying on my shoulder when he fucks over you,” he growled as he pulled into the parking lot of our condo. I didn’t even wait for him to stop.
"Thank you for always knowing how to hurt me." I opened the door and jumped out to his shouted protests right into the arms of Carter. Who caught me and quickly assessed me. “Are you good?”
I started to respond that I wasn’t, but the way he glowered at Grey, who parked his car, I didn’t think it was a good idea. “I’m fine. Just got into it.”
“Do you need to stay at my place? I was going out to meet some peeps for dinner, but you can stay until I return.”
“I’m good.”
Grey slammed the car door, upset. Instead of going upstairs, he remained beside his car, waiting for me. Waiting for Carter. Waiting for something. The tension radiated from him like heat.
Carter shook his head. “You’re coming with me.”
“Not a good idea.”
“It’s a damn good idea. You can lie to him later about why you came with me. But I’m not leaving you alone with how you ran from him. The fucking car was still rolling.” He strode to the passenger door of his truck and opened it. “Get in.”
I looked at Grey, whose expression changed from anger to hurt confusion, and he moved away from his car. “Darren, come on. Let’s go inside and talk.”
Both men on either side of me demanded that I choose them.
Damn it to hell.
I was stuck in the middle of a love triangle. My past. My present. Futures with either of these men were unknown and scary. Yet I had to make a choice.
I took a deep breath and took the first step to my future.