“There was a woman on it.”
“What’d she look like?” Why was I asking? That was the better question. It was my mom. That was certain, and again, why was I asking?
I expected the same irritated response, but instead, the woman’s voice grew louder, and also closer to the phone. “I don’t think you want me to answer that. You missed the call. Maybe better to leave it alone?”
God. It was my mother.
I whispered, bending over, “What’d she look like?”
“Not good, honey. She was banged up. Someone worked her over.”
That made me reel because there was no way. But… there was. Was it her?
“Are you serious?”
“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on here but my advice? Let it go. She’s gone. Be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
My mom called and as long as she was standing upright, I let it go. Always. It was my rule with her, but to hear what a stranger was saying? If that’d been her? She got jumped or roughed up by someone?
What should I do? Go there? Look for her?
Call my dad and tell him so he would worry about her too?
I didn’t know.
Do nothing and feel this information burn a hole in my gut. That was door number three, and door number three is what I would do, but it would hurt. It’d hurt so much.
She was my mom, end of the day.
“Thank you.”
“Listen, if she shows up again and I talk to her, I’ll give you a call. What’s your number?”
I gave it to her, along with a name, and she ended the call with a soft, “You sound young. Seems late for you to be up worrying about this lady. My advice, head to bed. I’m sure the lady is fine. She seemed like a survivor when I saw her.”
I thanked her again, and when the call was done, I saw that Cruz had texted.
Cruz: Heading over. Still studying?
I was going to text him back when Skylar spoke up, “You okay?”
I was a little dazed, staring at her for a second. My head was still reeling. “What?”
Her eyes fell to the phone in my hand. “You look like you saw a ghost. You okay?”
A fist rammed into my chest. “How much did you hear?”
She shrugged a little. “I mean, the whole thing, but just your side. Not enough to know what’s going on, but enough to know something’s going on.” She eyed me. “I mostly heard you and the other girl before. What you offered to do, that was nice of you. Unnecessary, but nice.”
Flynn’s brother. Leander. The girl. Breakfast.
It was coming back to me. “Uh, okay.”
“That guy you’re introducing to her, is he a nice guy?”
“He was nice enough, but I had a three-minute conversation with him. Getting him to go to breakfast will be nothing. I’m figuring she can figure it out for herself from there.”
“You’re going to tell him about her?”
“No.”
She frowned. “How are you going to do the introduction then?”
“I’m going to tell him I’ll buy him breakfast. He’ll show up. We’ll sit at her table. I’ll leave early.”
She blinked, staring at me. Slowly, her eyes closed, and she began shaking her head. “Just when I thought I had you figured out.” She began laughing. “That’s kinda genius in the most simple way.”
The house’s doorbell rang just as I said, “Not genius, just easy.”
Wade was heading out of the dining room and paused seeing Skylar and me in the kitchen. He shot us a small frown before answering the door. “Oh, hey man. How’s it going? You here for Gaynor?”
“Uh…”
Wade stepped back and Cruz stepped in, seeing me right away.
Need flooded me, instantly, and seeing it, but also seeing how I wasn’t moving or saying anything, Cruz gestured to me. His backpack was slung over one of his shoulders. “Daniels said you guys had a studying thing going on. We’re in anthro together. Mind if I crash?”
Wade’s head reared back, and he seemed startled, going from me to Cruz before nodding eagerly. “Yeah, man. The new star of our hockey team? You can crash anytime you want.” He laughed slightly as Cruz stepped farther into the house. Some of the other guys came out, hearing Cruz’s name and approached. Hands were shook. Shoulders pounded. The guys were doing their “athlete heralding” thing.
And Skylar drew in another deep breath, moving to stand next to me. She said under her breath, “Now I really don’t have you figured out.”
I wanted to fuck it all, take Cruz’s hand and lead him upstairs.
I used sex to hide from life, but there were times when I didn’t want it to control me, and this was a moment where I felt it would. It was a fine line that I walked at times, and I didn’t want to step over it, letting sex start to replace the very thing my mom liked to take away from me, my life. I was a college student. I had to study, so therefore, I would study. Because of that, even though I was feeling a burning sensation searing in my stomach, I forced myself to return to the table.
To my seat.
I picked up a slice of pizza and ate it.
I never tasted it.
Cruz came in, and the girls’ voices went up a notch. Wade who? Who was Wade again?
It was all about Cruz after that.
I studied, and in a way, I wanted to ignore him. Cruz, being Cruz, didn’t let that happen. He moved to sit next to me, and as he sat, he pushed his leg up right next to mine.
I closed my eyes, feeling that sensation settling me, just a tiny bit.
But over the next hour, I kept looking at my phone.
That unknown number never called.
Two hours of studying, and Cruz’s leg was pressing so hard against mine, that I was struggling to stay in my seat. It was obvious what he wanted, though he never talked to me. He never looked at me. There were no secretive looks. The others didn’t seem to notice anything, and he had moved his bag on the table so it was blocking everyone’s view where our legs were.
But I heard the girls flirting with him, or trying.
They weren’t getting the ‘go ahead’ signal from him, so the girl who liked Wade had started flirting with him again. The other two guys might’ve been more enamored with Cruz than the girls. They competed with them for his attention, asking him about their next hockey game.
“So, Cruz. Can I ask you a question?” Wade spoke up, and everyone quieted.
Cruz shifted, leaning back in his seat. “Yeah, man. What’s up?” One of his hands dropped to his lap. He looked the epitome of cool and calm.
“You’re like a shoe-in for the NHL, right?”
One of the girls started giggling.
Cruz lifted up a shoulder. “I mean, you never know, but I hope there’s a good chance I’ll go there. Why do you ask?”
“Did you ever think of going straight there? Skipping college?”
And that’s when his hand moved to my leg.
Heat engulfed me, and tingles shot from that touch.
I moved my leg. His hand moved to the inside of it, and I almost jumped.
The need was back and pulsating inside of me.
He was saying, running his finger up the inside of my leg, “Most guys go to college before the NHL. It’s pretty rare to go straight out of high school, and to get to play. It’s always been hockey for me. That’s been my focus all my life.”