Chapter 11 Zeke
eleven
Zeke
Idon’t think I’ve ever slept through the night. I typically wake up at least two or three times to check my phone and make sure I didn’t miss any messages about my mom.
But I didn’t wake up once.
Last night was the kind of night I don’t even remember closing my eyes. I was in bed staring at the ceiling, and now I’m staring at my pillow.
I roll over, expecting to see Avalon lying beside me, but she’s not.
“Avalon?” My voice is groggy, but she'd hear me if she were in here. I guess it makes sense she’s not in here, though, because where else would she be if she were not in my bed?
I push myself out of bed and notice her clothes are no longer scattered across my floor.
She left.
I didn’t expect us to go and get breakfast or anything, but I thought she’d at least let me drive her home.
And it kind of stings… her not being here. I don’t know why it stings, but it does. It’s not like I expected us to fall in love after last night. We’re on the same page about relationships.
We don’t do them.
However, if sex with her is always like that, I might have to reconsider.
I’ve never been drained after having sex. Well, I guess technically, if you’re not drained after having sex, you’re not doing it right, but I’m drained in every sense. Yet in the best way possible.
Maybe she’s downstairs waiting for me to wake up. Maybe she’s rummaging through our kitchen to see if anything interests her.
Or maybe, just maybe, she snuck out the first chance she got—
Which ruins my plans for a quickie before the weight room. I guess it’s for the best, though; I probably wouldn’t have had the energy to lift after another round with her.
I throw on my hoodie and head downstairs to get some breakfast. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, some of the guys are staring at the front door.
“Morning, boys.” I walk straight to the fridge to grab some orange juice.
“Have fun last night?” Declan’s eyes leave the door and find me.
“I did.” I take a swig straight from the carton. “What are you guys looking at?”
“The girl who just left our house,” Fletcher replies.
She just left? Maybe I could still catch her and drive her home.
“Oh shit, she left already?” I cough, looking toward the door, debating if the guys will question me running after her to give her a lift.
“She did. She didn’t even stop to grab some food,” Brooks adds.
“Guess you’re not as good in the sack as you think,” Jeremy teases.
I lift an eyebrow, “Pretty sure the sounds she made last night would say otherwise. I was hoping she’d want to get in another round.”
Which isn’t a lie. Usually, the second girls leave our house, they’re out of my head. However, they don’t usually leave until we get in another round, and they’ve made it very known to everyone we slept together.
The fact that Avalon isn’t like that is intriguing.
But I also think I can’t get her off my mind because I thought we’d get to fuck one last time before going our separate ways.
Now I’m left to wonder what the sex would be like now that our bodies are acquainted.
Since my body knows exactly how to get a response from hers.
“I never thought I’d see the day that Zeke Harris would go after a freshman,” Jaxon says, causing the guys to turn to him. “What, did you run out of juniors and seniors?”
“She’s not a freshman.” I don’t know who the statement is for, me or Jaxon, but it lingers in the air.
Most parties are just upperclassmen unless they know the youngins on any of the sports teams at Rockford University. I think we scare the lower classmen otherwise.
“Yeah, she is.” Jaxon laughs. “Smart as hell, though.” Why does Jaxon know she’s smart? “She’s in my organic chemistry class, the only freshman, and the only one acing it.”
“How do you know she’s a freshman?”
“Our professor made us all introduce ourselves on the first day of class and share a fun fact. She’s a freshman and getting a dual degree, and I think she graduates next year.”
“She’s a freshman,” Declan says. I can’t tell if he’s trying to tell me, like he somehow knew this information as well, or if he doesn’t understand how she can be getting a dual degree in two years.
Because I sure as hell don’t understand it.
“I know, dude; I told you, she’s smart as hell.” Jaxon smirks, clapping his hands together. “Hate to break it to you, Zeke; you slept with a freshman.”
“Sure didn’t act like one.” I shrug, push off the fridge, and brush past the guys.
Hopefully, they don’t take that the wrong way.
I mean, was she fucking incredible in bed?
Obviously. But I’ve slept with girls older than me who still think it’s important to kiss and tell.
As a freshman, she didn’t care to gloat.
She didn’t care that she not only slept with a hockey player but an older hockey player.
That says a lot.
“Hey, baby Sanderson.” I grin at Brinley as she walks out of Declan’s room.
“Morning, Zeke.” She tries to smile back at me, but it doesn’t fully reach her eyes.
“You okay?” I place a hand on her shoulder. “Do I have to kick someone’s ass?”
A quiet laugh escapes her lips. “No ass kicking. Just tired.”
“Alright.” I don’t push, but I know something’s up. “Well, the offer stands. Even if it’s ten years from now, just let me know, and I’ll come kick some ass.”
“Thanks, Zeke.” She gently squeezes my forearm before sneaking past me to go downstairs.
I head back into my room, and the second my stomach growls, I realize I didn’t grab something to eat. If Avalon and I hadn’t eaten that whole pizza last night, I’d be digging in that box for whatever was left. Who cares if it sat out all night?
Fuck… I need to sleep with someone else. That’s gotta be the only thing that’ll get Avalon out of my system.
We were clear last night that we’d never see each other again.
And I don’t even know if I want to see her again…
or just want to sleep with her again. I guess I’d have to see her to do that.
But that’ll never happen. I don’t have an excuse to see her again, and part of me thinks she'd run the other way if she saw me walking toward her.
I roll over, grabbing my phone off the nightstand, and that’s when I see it. The corner barely peeking out from under the nightstand—
Her phone.
She left her phone here.
And now I have my in.
Ithought she’d come back to our house the second she realized her phone was missing. But she didn’t.
This means I’ve thought about her for over forty-eight hours because I thought I could convince her to sleep with me one more time before the weekend was over. And then she never came back to get her phone. So now, I look like a loser standing on campus, trying to see if I can find her.
It also doesn’t help that girls come up to me every few minutes asking if I’m looking for them. Usually, Zeke Harris would take that opportunity to have a campus quickie, but this Zeke Harris is on a mission.
And now he’s talking about himself in the third person like an asshole.
“Are you good?” I turn around to see Jaxon standing behind me. His arms crossed over his chest, and a funny-looking scowl on his face.
“I could ask you the same question,” I reply. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just wondering why one of my best friends has been standing here for almost three hours. You missed two classes.”
“How do you know I missed two?” I have one of them with Jaxon, so that’s self-explanatory, but I don’t know how he knows about the second one.
“Because I was in the library, and every five minutes, a new girl was circling out of their group to come out here and try and get your attention. Everyone’s confused about why you’re out here, and honestly, I’m a little worried about you. Are you stalking someone?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Well, not technically. I’m looking for Avalon.”
“Avalon Stewart?”
“Stewart,” I repeat. “I didn’t know her last name.”
“Why are you looking for Avalon Stewart?”
“I have her phone.”
“Why do you have her phone?”
“Because she left it at our place after—”
“You two hooked up.”
“Yes, and I was hoping she’d stop by and get it, but—”
“You’ve had her phone for like two days.”
“Which is why—”
“And she hasn’t come to get it.”
I roll my eyes; I would’ve gotten to that conclusion quicker if he hadn’t kept interrupting me.
“Yes.” I groan. “Which is why—”
“So, she chose to avoid you rather than getting her phone back?” I can see the smug fucking smile forming on his face.
“Don’t even go there.”
“I don’t know, Jere’s theory about you being bad in bed is getting more evident as we speak.”
“She doesn't do strings.”
“Well, not coming back for her phone is a little extreme. Maybe she’s worried you’ll try to get her back in your bed.”
She wouldn’t be wrong. I’d most definitely try to get her back in my bed. My charm worked once, and I’m confident it’d work again.
“How many times have you checked her phone?” he asks.
I rock back on my heels, “I haven’t looked at it.”
“Not once?”
“Nope.”
“It’s dead, isn’t it?”
I don’t answer. Because it is.
Not that I would’ve looked at it if it wasn’t dead. Maybe I would’ve tried to figure out how to return it to Avalon so I wouldn’t be here embarrassing myself, but I wouldn’t have snooped.
Much.
“And you couldn’t be bothered to charge it?”
“It’s an Android. I don’t have a charger for an Android!”
Just then, over his shoulder, I see her. She’s walking alone, which could make this situation better or worse.
On the one hand, I can bring out flirty Zeke to make sure we get in one more round, just so I can get it out of my system.
On the other hand, she might be suspecting that.
I’d be approaching her while she’s by herself, basically telling her that there’s a string.
Because I can’t stop thinking about sleeping with her.
And according to her, strings are the worst thing known to man.
I can’t disagree with that completely; having a girlfriend sounds awful.
Brooks is with Liv 24/7, and it’s disgusting.
He barely comes to guys' night; if he does, she usually tags along.
Not that we actually have a guys' night. We fucking live together, I don’t need to plan a time to see these assholes.
It happens on its own at least once a week.
Except now it includes Ember and Brinley a lot more. And Tate, on occasion.
And they don’t count because they aren’t girlfriends. They’re friends. And even if they were girlfriends, they enjoy hanging out with us and don’t ask to leave before we’ve picked a movie.
“Earth to Zeke.” Jaxon waves his hand in my face, returning my attention to him. “I’ve been talking to you.”
“Sorry, it’s just—” I don’t finish my sentence, I just point in Avalon’s direction and hope he gets the idea. “Avalon!”
I can’t believe I’ve waited all day for this girl, and now I’m chasing her down. Maybe I have gone insane.
“Avalon, wait up!”
She stops in her tracks, looks around, unsure of where the voice is coming from, and then spots me. I wave.
I fucking wave. Such a fucking loser thing to do.
And she turns and keeps walking.
She saw me. I know she saw me. She had to have seen me.
“Avalon,” I repeat, but she doesn’t stop this time. She walks faster.
She definitely saw me… and now she’s running from me.
“Ooo.” Jaxon pats me on the shoulder.
“Shut up.”
“That’s gotta hurt. A girl who couldn’t get away from you fast enough.”
“Seriously, Holmes. If you wanna play in our next game, you’ll shut up.”
“I’m just saying, I never thought I’d see the day a girl runs away from Zeke Harris after hooking up with him. Usually, it’s you running away from them.” He laughs. “Does this hurt more than a girl rejecting you before you’ve slept together? It has to, right?”
I pull her phone out of my back pocket and slap it into Jaxon’s chest hard enough that I can hear the contact against his skin. I smile when he lets out a small groan of pain.
“Give this to her, will ya?”
“I do have a class with her in fifteen minutes,” he replies. “You could’ve asked me in the first place, you know, so you didn’t have to stand in the middle of campus just hoping she’d walk by.”
“I thought you giving her phone back might be more embarrassing than me doing it. Just trying to be nice.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Fuck you. I’m going home.”
“You have one more class.”
“I already missed two. What’s one more?”