Chapter Five
Sadie
Early one morning, Harrison and I were headed over to our favorite coffee shop on campus.
It was a Sunday, so the vibe on campus was a little more relaxed.
We’d won our football game the day before, and Harrison was riding a wave of adrenaline and happiness because his performance was so good.
All along our walk on the riverfront edge of campus, people kept stopping him for his autograph.
We’d been holding hands, but he dropped mine to sign things and give high fives and fist bumps.
When I tried to recapture his hand, he brushed mine away.
Confused, I looked around. There were girls everywhere, and for the first time I wondered if Harrison didn’t want people to know he had a girlfriend.
He certainly seemed to bask in their attention.
I walked along behind him like a forgotten shadow. I didn’t like the feeling. It was like he was hiding that he was in a relationship.
When we got to the coffee shop, he turned to me again. “This line is way too long,” he complained.
“It’s always like this in the morning,” I said, shrugging. He knew that.
“QB1!” The guy behind the counter yelled. “Come on up here and get your breakfast. It’s on the house.”
Harrison grinned and bypassed the line, cutting in front of dozens of other people with no qualms. I was embarrassed. My face burned. This wasn’t something I was okay with.
“Harrison,” I whispered. “This feels wrong.”
“It’s a perk,” he said as he moved around the line, talking with some people and smiling for selfies with others. He looked down at me. “Why wouldn’t I take advantage of it?”
I followed him, but something felt off. There was an uneasiness in my stomach as I saw how much he enjoyed the praise.
I looked at his handsome face and saw something there for a moment I wasn’t sure I liked.
Something arrogant. Something entitled. But then he turned with that beautiful smile I’ve loved since eighth grade and motioned for me to hurry.
I rushed towards him and pushed down my feelings, thinking they were probably just nerves.
***
One night in early spring, after football season was over, the six of us were studying together in the library. There were only a few months left of our freshman year, and I couldn’t believe our first year of college was flying by so quickly.
“What’s she doing here?” Carrie asked, looking at someone over my shoulder.
I turned to see Aubrey Seeks walking over to our table with purpose, like she was supposed to be there.
“Oh, I invited her,” Harrison said. He gave her a grin and a chin lift. “Hey, Aubs. Glad you could make it.”
He invited her? Aubs? What the hell? I glanced at him sharply, but he didn’t seem to sense my discomfort.
“Guys, this is Aubrey. She and I have a marketing class together this semester. We had a business class together last semester, too. We’re both business majors.” He stood up and gave her a hug that lingered a little too long.
“We know Aubrey,” I said. “She’s in our sorority, and Carrie and I cheer with her.”
“Oh, cool, that’s right. Then I don’t have to worry about introductions. Let’s get right down to studying, then.” He looked at me and motioned to Aubrey. “Hey, we’re going to grab a table nearby, okay? We’re working on a partner project, and I don’t want to disturb the rest of you while you study.”
With that, he gathered all his things and moved them a few tables over. I just stared, trying not to let my mouth hang open.
I couldn’t help but notice they’d chosen a table out of earshot.
I couldn’t hear what they were talking about.
And from the amount of laughing and talking they were doing, it didn’t seem like much was getting done on their partner project.
I also didn’t like how often Aubrey was touching him.
It was constant. From a hand on his chest to her fingers tracing circles over his arm, she never seemed to stop.
I turned back to my table of friends and saw they were all either watching me or Aubrey and Harrison.
“They seem pretty close,” Melinda said.
“Too close,” Blair agreed.
I looked at Drake, who was Harrison’s best friend. “Do you know anything about them?”
“Not really.” He looked uncomfortable.
Melinda cocked an eyebrow. “Not really? What does that mean?”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “All I know is that they’ve gotten to be good friends while having classes together and working on this project. He likes her and thinks she’s funny. And…” he trailed off.
“And?” I prodded.
His face turned pink, and he looked a little miserable. “He, um, thinks she’s hot.”
My eyebrows shot into my hairline. It wasn’t surprising that he thought she was hot; she was hot. But that he’d tell Drake he felt that way? That made me a bit nervous. And it gave me a sick, jealous feeling that I hated.
Later, as he was walking me back to my dorm, I brought it up. “So, what’s the deal with you and Aubrey?”
He looked at me sharply but then smiled. “What do you mean?”
“You seemed close. You had a nickname for her and everything.”
“Ah, yeah. She’s pretty fun.”
We kept walking, but he didn’t say anything else.
“Do you think she’s pretty?” I finally asked. I didn’t want to throw Drake under the bus for telling me Harrison thought Aubrey was hot.
He frowned. “I guess. Kind of.” He rubbed the back of his neck, a sure sign he was uncomfortable. Or lying. “Why are you asking that?”
I shrugged. “Like I said… you seemed close.”
He chuckled. “Are you jealous?” he asked incredulously.
My cheeks flamed. “A little,” I admitted. “She’s beautiful, I know she thinks you’re gorgeous, and y’all didn’t seem to be working on school at all. It looked like you were just hanging out to me.”
“How do you know she thinks I’m gorgeous?” His eyes were intense on mine, and the uneasy feeling in my stomach grew.
“That’s what you want to focus on?”
“Just tell me.”
“Fine. We cheer together and we’re in the same sorority, remember? She’s mentioned before that I have the best-looking boyfriend. Stuff like that.”
“Hmm,” he said, kicking pebbles.
“Harrison.” I stopped walking, forcing him to stop, too. “What about the other things I said? That she’s beautiful and y’all weren’t working on school tonight.”
“She’s pretty, sure. But she doesn’t have anything on you, Sadie.”
Okay. I knew I was pretty. I also had the kind of curves I happened to know Harrison loved. When we had sex, all he could talk about was my breasts or my ass. He was totally into them.
But Aubrey? She was model-level gorgeous. She was tall and trim and while her curves weren’t like mine, she definitely had sex appeal.
Him saying she had nothing on me didn’t relieve my mind since I knew he thought she was hot.
“Don’t you trust me, Sunshine?” He looked down at me, hurt in his eyes, and I felt like a piece of crap for doubting him.
“Sorry. Of course I trust you. I’m just being jealous, that’s all. You were right. I just think you need to watch out, though.”
He cocked his head to the side as we started walking again. “What do you mean?”
“She’s into you.”
He shook his head. “We’re just friends.”
I looked up at him. “Aubrey Seeks is not the type of girl who is ‘just friends’ with a guy. She’s just not.
So be careful. That’s all I’m saying. She sees you as a challenge because she knows how long you and I have been together.
I happen to know she enjoys breaking up couples just because she can.
I also know she only wants to date someone she thinks is going on to play pro sports. ”
He just watched me, listening intently.
“If you meant what you said about wanting to be with me forever, you should watch it when you’re around her.”
He chuckled. “Of course I want to be with you forever. You’re making something out of nothing.”
A few days later, I was walking across campus to meet Harrison for lunch at the athlete’s cafeteria.
All campus athletes came here to use their dining cards as often as possible.
This was the cafeteria that served the best, healthiest food, and all the coaches encouraged athletes to take advantage of it.
Harrison and I met up here to eat together at least once a day.
Today, as I walked up, I was busy talking to Carrie when she stopped short.
I almost ran into her. “Jeez, why’d you stop like that?
” Then I followed her eyes and saw that Harrison was eating lunch with Aubrey Seeks.
The two of them looked very friendly. She touched his arm as she told him something, and then they both laughed at whatever it was.
They were comfortable with each other, I realized.
She must’ve introduced herself to him in class last semester like she’d said she was going to.
I wondered how long they’d been hanging out like this.
Carrie and I went through the line and then headed over to Harrison’s table.
“Hey, Sunshine.” He stood up and gave me a hug and kiss, pulling me against him with his strong arms.
“Hey,” I smiled up at him, ignoring Aubrey.
“Do y’all remember Aubrey?” he asked as he sat back down. She smiled at us sweetly, which I knew was fake. Aubrey didn’t have a sweet bone in her body.
My stomach sank a little. “Of course we do. She cheers with us, remember?” I hadn’t meant for my tone to come out harshly, but it did. Why did he keep introducing us to someone we knew?
Harrison looked at me with surprise. “Oh, that’s right. I forget about that. Anyway, she and I exchange notes from class sometimes.”
“I missed a class this week, and Harrison was so nice to make sure I got what I needed to catch up.”
I looked at Aubrey. She was giving me a very territorial look, and I found myself wanting to take her by the neck and slam her face on the table. Then I almost gasped. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a violent thought before in my life. “How nice,” I said instead, trying not to grit my teeth.
Harrison shrugged like it was no big deal. “She’d do the same for me.”