Page 19 of Body Checked By the Defenseman

I figure the message doesn’t carry any inuendo just in case my brother is beside him, which he usually is.

I wait for a response, but it doesn’t come right away. I stop by the quad and bump into Annie.

“Hey,” I greet her. I take a seat on a bench beside her.

“What’s up?” she asks.

“Not much. That’s the problem,” I tell her.

She frowns.

Knox walks by and glares at me. I broke things off with him when Macklin told me he’d take care of my V-card. Knox said he was a one-woman kind of guy, and I respected his wishes but now he’s giving me attitude. I don’t understand why he is so sour. I didn’t lead him on, even though he said he feels like I did. I apologized for any misunderstanding but when he sees me, he gives me dirty looks.

“Damn.” Annie cringes. “He’s not over you.”

“I guess not,” I sigh. “I feel terrible, but I was genuinely hoping to feel something with him.”

“You can’t force chemistry, Ruby,” she advises.

“Tell me about it. I really tried with him. Sometimes I think I’m broken,” I confess.

“You aren’t broken, you just need to meet the right guy who will light your body on fire. Someone who you’re drawn too so much that you lose control when he’s close,” she explains. It makes me think of the attraction between Charlie and Finn. They can’t seem to stay away from each other, even though it can get both of them in trouble.

“Have you felt that before?” I ask her.

“I thought I did but it wasn’t real,” she says with a far-off look. “I can still give good advice even if I’m a broken mess when it comes to guys.”

“You’re not a mess. You’ve just met the wrong guys,” I assure.

“There’s a pattern for me babe,” she replies.

My phone buzzes.

It’s a message from Macklin.

Macklin:Sorry, Periwinkle. Your brother is always around me and I am feeling hella guilty.

Me:Don’t back out on me now.

Macklin:Guys are going to a bar in town tonight. I’ll stay behind.

“Thank goodness,” I cheer.

“What’s going on?” I find Annie watching me with a curious smirk.

Oops.

“Oh, nothing. Just a group meeting for one of my classes. They were hard to pin down,” I fib. I don’t like lying but it’s a half truth. It’s hard to get Macklin alone.

Annie watches me like she is trying to get in my head. “Is something going on, Rubes? I swear, between you and Charlie, I feel like you guys are hiding something.”

“Absolutely not,” I protest. I promised Charlie I wouldn’t share what is going on in her life, and I am at a point where I can’t even share with Charlie that Macklin has agreed to take my virginity because there is too much at stake.

“Okay, if you say so,” Annie says. “I better get to class.”

“Me too,” I tell her.

We both stand and hug, then we part ways.

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