Chapter 4
Chapter Four
CHARLOTTE
“Oh my god, what the hell is wrong with him?” Suzie says to me as we watch Ryder trying to scratch his nuts discreetly on the pitch as the game continues to play.
“I have no idea,” I say as I shrug, my laughter dying to burst free. I haven’t told Suzie about mine and Travis’ silly prank, because then I would have to explain more than I want to. Suzie would question me about things I don’t know the answers to yet. But she does know that I am planning to ditch Ryder after the match today, finally listening to the little voice inside that is trying it’s hardest to stamp out the negative one that Ryder has been feeding for the last two years. I guess just twenty-four-ish hours of knowing Travis has my back helps, even though it shouldn’t matter, but self-doubt is a bitch that is hard to shift.
Suzie is adamant that we’re going out to celebrate once the deed is done, and once she has her mind set, it’s hard to shift her focus. God love her.
“What the fuck is up with Ryder?” someone behind says as the whole crowd starts to titter about him jumping around haphazardly.
“He looks crazy.”
“Jumping around like a frog.”
“What a douchebag.”
And the comments continue as Ryder puts his hands by his dick, rubbing around his crotch like a maniac as he jumps from one side to the other. The whistle is blown for the game to pause, and Coach is shouting from the side-lines. I know this prank is so fucking childish, but I shut off the noise around me as my eyes connect with the blue ones that I love, and when Travis grins at me and gives me a wink, I feel everything fade away, my heart beating back to life with hope and possibilities.
The changing room has mostly emptied when I walk in and see Ryder clutching his pearls on the bench. There are a couple of guys milling around along the back wall, chatting by the lockers. I can’t see Travis, but I presume he left before I made it here. Suzie is waiting outside for me, and if I’m not back out in the next ten minutes, then she’ll come in and see what’s taking so long—also known as, come and rescue me from Ryder if he’s giving me a hard time. I’m nervous as I stand before him, a few feet away, and I almost feel sorry for him when he looks up at me, his face red and frustration pouring out of him. I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing.
“What are you doing in here?” he says in an unfriendly manner.
“I, uh, came to, uh—”
“Fucking spit it out, Charlotte. I haven’t got time for your bullshit right now,” he barks, and I’m momentarily stumped at how he’s speaking to me, before a fire flares inside me, igniting like an inferno that has been waiting to blow.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” I bite, my hands going to my hips, my voice sounding more confident than I actually feel. I won’t back down though. Not now. Not ever. He’s made a fool of me for far too long.
“Excuse me?” he says, squinting as his slight movement on the bench makes him grimace. I’m pretty sure his dick is red raw from all the scratching—good, he deserves it.
“I just came here to tell you that we’re over, Ryder. I’m ending things.”
“What?” he rages as he stands up, his jaw clenched as he does.
“We’re done, and that’s all I have to say,” I tell him, feeling my resolve dim a little as he looks at me with pure hate on his face.
“Don’t talk so fucking stupid, Char, we’re not done and you’re being ridiculous. There’s no reason for us to be done.”
“Oh no? Not even a reason called Melanie?” I spit back, and his eyes look at me in shock. “Yeah, I know all about the two of you, and you’re both welcome to each other.”
“She’s just a bit of fun, a side piece to give me what I want,” he snarls. Fucking hell, how did I ever think I loved this guy? In this moment, I realise I never did, and all he had over me was the control he’s carefully curated over time.
“Because I never did, right?” I throw back at him and immediately wish I hadn’t.
“Yeah, that’s right, because you’re a fucking prude who lays there like an ironing board,” he retorts, and I want the ground to swallow me up. The couple of guys at the back are watching, but I see them stepping a little closer as the seconds pass by. I don’t know if they’ll attempt to intervene, all I know is I need to get out of here and away from Ryder.
“You haven’t given me what I need or want for a long time, and I don’t know if you ever did. Always acting like a fucking shy girl, blushing and refusing to mix things up. Do you think anyone will ever want that? Do you seriously think that any guy could love a cold fish?” he says, his voice getting louder with each word.
“Come on, man, that’s enough,” one of the guys behind him says, and with them in here, I feel my anger rise once again.
“Did it ever occur to you that maybe you just don’t fucking do it for me, Ryder, and that maybe you never really did?” I’m being petty, I know, sinking to his level, but fuck, am I supposed to keep taking this bullshit?
His nostrils flare, and before I can blink, he’s wrapping his hand around my throat and slamming me into the lockers behind, shocking the shit out of me.
Panic sets in, seconds appearing to turn into minutes as he holds me there, his face bright red and his eyes looking at me like he wants to kill me.
I can’t focus on anything except trying to breathe as his fingers tighten, but those fingers are pulled off me rapidly as Ryder is yanked back and thrown to the floor, a pissed off looking Travis standing where Ryder just was.
“Let me deal with him a sec and then we’ll get out of here,” he tells me quietly, his concerned eyes locked on mine as I nod at him, shock rendering me speechless. He turns to Ryder, who is just getting up off the floor, but he stays in front of me, blocking me from Ryder’s view.
“What the fuck, man?” Ryder shouts at Travis.
“You ever fucking touch her again and I’ll break every one of your fingers,” Travis growls, his body vibrating with anger. I’ve only seen Travis pissed off once before, but never like this.
“She was being a bitch,” Ryder retorts.
“And you’re a fucking weasel,” Travis shouts back at him. “Putting your fucking hands on a woman… who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Look, dude, chill the fuck out,” Ryder says, looking a little uneasy. “What do you care anyway?”
“I care because she’s my friend. I care because no man should ever touch a woman the way you just did.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be my friend, Travis?” Ryder says, because he can’t defend that he put his hands on me whatsoever.
Travis scoffs as he says, “Not anymore, and being friends with you in the first place was a fucking mistake on my part.”
“You got the hots for my girl, bro?” Ryder goads, and I see Travis’ body bristling with fury. My heart is pounding as I reach out to touch his arm, reminding him that I’m here and to calm down. And for some reason, it works, his body bristling a little less at my touch.
My heart may be pounding from what’s happening, but it’s also beating with something else entirely.
“Oh, look at that, you fucking do,” Ryder says, his voice becoming harder. “I always knew you had a thing for her, but I never really expected you to do anything about it. Too much of a fucking pussy to go after what you want. And now, you’ll always know she’s forbidden, because I fucking had her first.”
Travis’ hands ball into fists at his sides. Ryder needs to shut the fuck up.
“Come on, Trav,” I say quietly. “Let’s go.”
“That’s right, fucking run away like you always do, and that goes for the both of yo—” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence as Travis pulls his arm back and punches him in his face. Ryder immediately clutches his nose, tears pooling in his eyes.
“Fuck, I think you broke my fucking nose, man.”
“I’ll do a lot more than that if I so much as catch you breathing near her again,” Travis warns, and something inside me stirs again. What is that?
“Come on, Trav,” I say as I link my fingers with his. “Let’s go.” And he doesn’t even question it or argue as I lead him out of the changing rooms to the sounds of Ryder cussing. Suzie is stood by the door when we come out, her eyes full of worry.
“Christ, what the hell happened in there?” she says. “Travis told me to wait out here for you.”
“I’ll tell you over a drink or two,” I tell her, right as Travis says, “I hit the fucker on the nose.”
“Okay, guys, I’m going to need all the details. Was there blood? Please tell me you made the bitch bleed…” And the questions continue until she’s cut off by Coach calling Travis’ name.
“I’ll see you later,” he tells me, and I quickly throw my arms around him and say, “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” he says with a wink before he makes his way to a pissed off looking Coach.
“Girl, you’ve been holding out on me,” Suzie says, with a smile plastered on her face.
“Not really, but I’ll give you the rundown later. Right now I gotta get to class.”
“Damn straight you will,” she says as I walk off smiling, despite what Ryder did just moments ago.