Best Friends Forever (24 page)

Eight

“Is it weird?” Audric asks me once we’re sitting in a booth at a local restaurant. He’s referring to the fact that we’re friends, and have been since the beginning of the year, but now we are approaching actually dating.

“I’m not sure,” I answer honestly. “I think we just have to let it run its course and see what happens. No matter what happens, though, I want us to remain friends.”

“Me too. Friendship is more important to me than anything else.”

“It’s odd for me to be dating anyone, really. I’ve been a single mom for so long,” I explain, hoping he doesn’t think poorly of me.

“Because of everything that happened with Roman?” he asks.

“Sort of … The whole situation is filled with drama and I’m not really in the mood to talk about it. Some secrets are better left unsaid.” I think about my sweet baby boy and wonder who his father is.

“Tell me about it. I do have a few secrets I want to share with you, though,” he tells me after our waiter brings us our drinks and we order lunch.

“Oh? Well I’m a great secret-keeper,” I say with a smile.

“I know. And that’s exactly why I want to tell you, because I know I won’t have to worry about you telling anyone.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m not actually bi-sexual.”

My mind is blown. He told me last semester he was bi, although I wasn’t completely sure I believed it then. Guess my gut feeling was correct.

“Wow,” I say, unable to wrap my head around it.

“I know it’s crazy. I told a few people I was because I wasn’t all that interested in being in a relationship in college. At least, not right away. I’m going to say this, and I hope you don’t think I’m conceited, because I’m not, but I know how I look. I know I’m not ugly and that girls pay attention. I just don’t have the kind of arrogance that a Roman or a Nolan has because I’m not into being with as many girls as possible.”

“I don’t think you’re arrogant at all, but why aren’t you a player? You totally have the looks to be and you can get just about any girl on campus, Audric.”

“Well, thanks, but that’s my other secret … I’m a virgin.”

“Whoa,” I whisper in utter shock. I know very few girls who are virgins, but I doubt I know a single guy in college who is a virgin. And Audric isn’t one of those guys who’s geeky and only looks at his Xbox with desire.

“Yeah. I just want to lose it to the right girl,” he says with a pointed look.

“Me?” I gasp as the waiter approaches with our food. He doesn’t answer me until the waiter walks away.

“Yep.”

I’m speechless. Audric is such a kind soul, I can’t imagine being the person he wants to lose it to. I feel so unworthy.

“I don’t want to take advantage, Audric. And I definitely don’t want you to regret it. You’ve gone this long without meeting someone you want to share that with. What makes me the right one?”

“I can’t even believe you have to ask me that. You’re amazing, Cheyanne. You have your life together and you take care of your son like he’s the only person in your world who matters. And he is. I can tell, just by the way you talk about him. Deacon is your number one, but I would happily settle for number two in your life if you agree to be my number one.”

His words stir tears in my eyes, but I try to keep them in. I’m so emotional, having spent these past few weeks with Deacon, missing him like crazy now.

“Audric …” I start. I’m compelled to come clean to him. “I’m not as saintly as you paint me. I need to tell you something.”

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. But I welcome you to tell me anything.” He grins at me.

“You might change your mind,” I say. Then I tell him everything. I explain about Reece and how in love I was with him for so many years, and when the opportunity presented itself, I let my emotions take over. I tell him how we didn’t use protection, which is what makes me think Deacon isn’t Roman’s. I go into details about Reece’s accident and how I lied to Roman by never telling him the truth about Deacon’s conception and that he might not be the father.

When I finish, Audric doesn’t even blink. “You’ve had a hard couple of years.”

“That’s it? Most people would call me a slut or tell me I’m a horrible person, which is how I feel most days. Every time I look at Deacon’s face, I see Reece.”

He takes my hand across the table. “Cheyanne, you got dealt a shitty hand. And with Reece so completely out of the picture, you had to make a choice that directly affects your son’s well-being. And with Roman’s family helping to support your son, whether he’s Roman’s or Reece’s kid, that family has a tie to him. Don’t ever care what other people think, especially if they don’t have all the details. You never know about a person until you walk a mile in their shoes.”

Tears fall down my cheeks at his words. I’ve held my demons in for so long, it’s like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

“You’re an amazing mom, Cheyanne. Don’t ever forget it,” he says. “And knowing this about you only makes me like you that much more. I definitely haven’t changed my mind about wanting to lose my virginity to you, either. Will you go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“Yes.”

Nine

I ask Audric to drop me off near the library instead of our dorm house because I need to check out a book. Once I finish there, I take a shortcut between several buildings, weaving in and out of alleyways so I can think.

Audric is amazing. He’s sweet and gentle, and for the first time since Reece’s accident, I can picture myself being with someone else and actually feeling love. I feel like having Audric in my life has allowed me to truly move on from Reece, to be able to just walk away, as much as I can, from the Callahan clan. The family is so overwhelming, so worrisome, I normally think ahead about everything I do in order to gauge what their judgments will be of my actions.

Talking to Audric at lunch has convinced me that I just need to live my life as best I know how and continue to be a good mom for Deacon. I’m content for possibly the first time is years.

As I round a corner into another alley, I realize there are people at the other end. Specifically, a couple in the throes of passion. I’m not voyeuristic, but I’m curious who it is, at least. I edge closer, focusing my eyes in the darkened path. The sun hides behind the clouds, casting shadows down on us.

When I see the pin-straight, nearly waist length black hair, I freeze. Hazel is with someone, fooling around in an alley. It’s not Hazel who makes me stop, though, it’s who she’s with. Nolan is hard to miss with his broad shoulders and short-cropped hair. My eyes bulge at the sight of him, knowing, as I do, that he is in a somewhat serious relationship with Destiny. Or so I thought. Her comment this morning runs through my head. What if we are? Is it possible Destiny and Nolan broke up and I didn’t even know?

As they kiss, Nolan backs her up to the brick wall and lifts her. His hand disappears between her legs and I know I can’t watch any more. They will probably have sex right here in the open and I refuse to see any of it.

I turn around, trying to forget what I’ve seen, but the images are too vivid. Instead, I do my best to ignore them and book it to my room. I walk up to the door of my dorm a few minutes later and it’s wide open.

My first thought is Hazel, but when I peek inside, it’s a different dark-haired girl.

“Oh, hey. You must be Cheyanne,” she says, walking over and shaking my hand.

Already, this girl is a million times better than Hazel. “That’s me. And you’re my new roomie?”

“True story. I’m Lexi, Hazel’s soon-to-be stepsister,” she replies.

Her words shock me, and Lexi immediately notices my dropped jaw.

“I take it she hasn’t talked about me,” Lexi laughs as I shake my head. “She wouldn’t. Our parents are supposed to get married in eighteen months, and she likes to act like we don’t exist. She’s still hoping her dad leaves my mom.”

“That’s a complete surprise, although considering Hazel and I aren’t friends, and haven’t been since day one, it makes sense that she never told me. So why the hell did you decide to come to school here with her?” I ask before I can stop myself.

Lexi chuckles. “It was our parents’ idea. We’re both in college, and they thought it would be a great idea if we went to the same school in order to get to know one another better. Hazel thought it was the worst idea ever and wouldn’t switch schools, so it fell to me. I’m pretty mellow, so I just transferred. She has no intentions of getting to know me, of course, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice of coming to a beach school with lots of rock-hard bodies.”

She’s so friendly, so different from Hazel, I know without doubt that she and I will be good friends.

“There are plenty of those,” I comment.

“That’s what I hear.”

Roman is at the still-open door, giving Lexi the onceover. “Hi there.” He steps into the room to greet my new roomie. “I’m Roman.”

“Ah, yes! Star football player, Cheyanne’s baby-daddy, Hazel’s ex, and pretty much man-whore central,” she says, gripping his outstretched hand. She gives him a look I swear pierces that confident arrogance of his.

“Uhh …”

For the first time in his life, he’s speechless, and I’m actually impressed by some girl for the first time in mine. Lexi has wavy dark brown hair that reaches to the middle of her back, but she wears it in a ponytail. With minimal makeup and eyes that shine bright green, she’s almost the polar opposite of her would be stepsister. Her clothes are trendy but not emo like Hazel. With a red cami tank top underneath a see-through white long-sleeve shirt and a pair of low-rise jeans, she’s not dressed nearly as provocative as Hazel usually dresses.

“Do us all a favor and run back to Miranda, Roman,” she says to him, waving him out of our room.

With a confused look, Rome just turns and leaves, shaking his head a little at the idea of being so thoroughly dismissed. She walks over and flicks the door closed behind him.

“Hell, if only I discovered how to do that three years ago,” I mutter.

Lexi laughs and throws me a wink. “Stick with me, Red, and I’ll teach you all I know. This is going to be a great semester.”

“I don’t know about that,” I mumble, thinking of Hazel and her antics.

“Trust me,” she says. “I can handle Hazel.”

I believe her, especially after the way she just dismissed Rome. However, I still have my doubts.

“I’m tired of unpacking already,” she groans, dropping a duffel on the floor.

“You’ve only unpacked your backpack,” I notice.

“Yeah, but this is Myrtle Beach! I want to do something exciting on my first day here! Plus, there’s a hell of a lot of hot guys here, so I need to do a meet and greet with all of them this week. Might as well get started right away. Are you all settled in?”

“Yeah, I’m all unpacked. We can do whatever you want,” I offer. This chick is a little outgoing for me, but at least she’s nicer than Hazel. I would take that in an instant.

“Let’s go,” she says with a wave of her hand, grabbing a set of keys from her dresser and a tiny purse and then bolting through the door.

Ten

“I’ll drive,” she announces when we get outside.

It’s sunny today, but there’s a definite chill in the air. I pull my sweater tighter around me and follow Lexi to a sleek, mid-size SUV. It’s white and very expensive.

“This is yours?”

She chuckles. “Yeah, Dad went a little overboard when I turned eighteen. I’m not complaining, though. The divorce made him feel extra guilty toward me, so I’ll take whatever I can get.”

We climb inside and it’s all black leather interior. It’s so comfortable, I snuggle against the material while Lexi starts it and then flips on the seat warmers. In seconds, my back and ass are cozy warm.

“Where to?” she asks.

“I have no idea,” I answer honestly. I’m too distracted by her car to pay much attention to anything else.

“How about we go to the aquarium?”

“Won’t it be packed with kids?” I don’t actually care about the children being there, but I figure she will.

“Eh, if they are, oh well. We’ll still have fun.”

I agree, and then we’re off.

“So, how the hell do you know so much about Roman? And me, for that matter?”

A wide smile spreads across her face. “Hazel is going to pretend to hate me, and on some level, I’m sure she does, but we actually bonded over Christmas break. Until she found out I was coming to Coastal. So she unknowingly filled me in with all the gossip of the first semester.”

“Oh, God. I’m surprised you even wanted to talk to me,” I say.

“Trust me, I don’t take anything that bitch says to heart. She’s judgmental and as soon as I told her I was coming to Coastal, she had a meltdown. Her tantrums are horrid. When she told me she would make my life miserable, I decided to at least try to friend her worst enemy. You know, just to be a bitch.”

A small laugh escapes me. “So you don’t actually want to be friends, then? This is just a ploy,” I say.

“Not at all. I’m pretty easy to get along with and very few people end up hating me, just like I don’t hate many people either. In all her ramblings about you, Red, I couldn’t figure out exactly why she hated you, except for the fact that you had a baby with Roman. Which is stupid, since it was what, two or three years ago? The girl is psychotic.”

Although I agree wholeheartedly, I keep my mouth shut, still not fully certain I can trust her. The way she calls me Red also bugs me just a bit, but I deal with it, not wanting to upset this newfound friendship, if that’s indeed what this is.

“Well, whatever her deal is, I plan on staying away from her this semester. She’s like poison,” I comment.

“Tell me about it. The last two guys I brought home to meet the parents, she hit on one, going as far as getting him alone in her bedroom and stripping naked for him, and then the other guy, she hated, for some unknown reason. So she tormented him. Both guys dumped me after meeting her.”

“That sucks,” I agree.

“Fuck her, though. I plan on stealing away whoever she’s got her talons in,” Lexi says. “Hazel was wholly too quiet about who she was currently dating when she came home for Christmas. Do you have any ideas?”

I think for a second, wondering if I should tell Lexi what I saw earlier today. Hell, Hazel has made my life so shitty, I can do one thing to her. “Actually, I guess she’s secretly dating a guy who has a girlfriend. I think, anyway. Things might have changed over the break.”

“Oh, that could be tricky. Does the girl he’s dating have any idea? Does she deserve it?”

“Not at all. She’s a sweet girl,” I answer.

“Damn. So, first on the agenda is to find out if she’s still dating the sleezebag. Who is the guy?”

“Nolan.”

“Shut the fuck up!” she screeches. “Nolan? As in, ‘he’s such a perv and will totally fuck any girl who comes his way’? That’s what Hazel said about him!”

“Doesn’t surprise me. She was probably just trying to throw you off his scent,” I say.

“True. So, we need to get a hold of this Destiny girl and convince her to toss the bastard to the curb, if she hasn’t already.”

“Okay,” I agree.

“Then I’ll steal Nolan away from Hazel like she’s done to me in the past. The bitch won’t know what hit her. How do we approach Destiny?”

“I’m not sure. I caught Hazel and Nolan fooling around today in an alley. I can’t imagine they would be so public about their behavior if Nolan was still with Destiny. Although, knowing Nolan as I do, I really wouldn’t put it past him. He’s a dirt bag. Either way, though, maybe we should plan an accidental run-in between the three of them, when Nolan and Hazel have a little something going on…?”

“I like the way you think, girl. What other ideas do you have?”

As Lexi pulls the SUV into the parking lot at the aquarium, we both smile at each other, realizing this is going to be an amazing friendship. Hazel has no one what she’s done, putting us together.