Page 2 of Game Changer
Coming to State wasn’t only a way for me to do something with my life, but it was also a way to escape my small town of Wickenburg, which is home to every memory I have of her. It’s a small enough place that everyone knows everyone, and my anxiety was only heightened whenever I went to the store, the coffee shop, the movies. I didn’t want to run into her, and although State is only an hour away, I thought it’d be enough distance to escape her.
But now she’shere.
Right in front of me.
“How have you been?” she asks, shifting awkwardly. I lift a brow, but before I reply, she says, “That was a stupid thing to ask. Sorry.”
My eyes flick to the way she chews on her bottom lip, wishing I was the one doing it instead. In fact, Irememberdoing that five months ago.
A thousand questions are on the tip of my tongue, but I ignore them and go for something safer. “I thought you were in the cosmetology program?” We went to the same community college before this, and I assumed she’d be off gathering clientele after graduating from the program, not transferring to the same four-year university as me. She already accomplished what she set out to do, right?
“I was. I mean, I finished the program, but my parents wanted me to get a”—she finger quotes—“legitimatedegree, so I’m majoring in business. I didn’t know you were transferring here too. Have you chosen a major yet?” Something akin to hope lines her features, but although I’m working on it, I’m still the same guy she took a chance on only to wind up disappointed.
“Nope. Still trying to figure it out.”
Her smile falters before she drops her eyes to her white-painted toes, clad in a pair of sparkly sandals. It’s late August, and the heat is slowly but surely becoming more bearable, but it’s still well into the nineties. I can’t blame her for wearing the shortest ripped jeans shorts she can find with a pink crop top that showcases her silky tan skin, but all it does is make me want to ask her what I did wrong to make her disappear without an explanation. We slept together after years of pent-up tension and then, just when I thought we were getting somewhere, she bailed on us before we even had a chance to start.
Was the sex bad?
Of course it was, idiot.
You lost your virginity to her.
Positive thinking! I mentally snap at myself.
“Well, I’m sure it’ll come to you,” she says. She hikes up the duffel bag slung over her shoulder, wincing from the weight of it. I reach out to take it from her, but she shakes her head and lets out another giggle that calls to the depths of my soul. “No need. I’m actually . . .” She scans the hallway before landing on the door next to mine.
Oh no.
Fuck no.
There is no way the universe would be this cruel to me.
“I guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other,” she says. It’s meant to be a joke to lighten the mood, but I don’t have the energy in me to laugh. Despite my broken heart, I want the very best for her, but I came to State to try andforgether. To grow up and figure out what to do with my life. I didn’t intend on living next to the one person who, for the first time in my life, had me telling my anxiety to go fuck itself so I could take my chance with her.
And now anxiety is coming back to seek its revenge. One look at her angelic face is threatening to undo months of healing when I promised myself I’d never go back to such a low point.
Maddie warned me about this happening, but I ignored all the red flags. I knew when my sister brought Maya home from school in the eighth grade that she would be dangerous, and I’m not talking about her looks. Sure, she’s stunning and could be a supermodel if she pursued it, but her looks aren’t what drew my attention when we first met. I was a sophomore in high school at the time, and she was way too young to catch my interest in that way.
It was her fiery personality that had me intrigued when she followed Maddie into our living room like a tornado and proceeded to chat away like she wasn’t nervous at all.
Maya is the life of the party. Outgoing and fearless, she lights up any room she walks into. She’s the center of attention whether she wants to be or not, and as we got older, she embedded herself in my mind until no other woman would suffice.
It was a stupid dream that she’d ever give me a chance. I’m five eleven with a dad bod, which is nowhere near her type. I saw her exes on social media, and all of them were tatted, buff, and towered over her. She never dated them long; a few weeks at most. And that should have been my first sign that her sleeping with me didn’t mean it would become serious. Maya likes to have fun. She likes to flirt. She likes the chase.
I got so caught up in her game that I forgot the rules entirely.
“Hey, Garcia.” A guy interrupts us, tugging at her silky black ponytail before he winks and continues on his way. Her cheeks redden in response, and all it does is make me more infuriated.Garcia. She’s already made connections and it’s only our first day on campus. Then again, looking the way she does while simultaneously being a social butterfly would have anyone kill to be her friend. Maya is a lot of things, but she’s loyal to the very core, and my sister is lucky to have her as her best friend.
I just wish that loyalty extended to me.
“Well, I should get going.” She flicks her eyes over me briefly, a sad smile tugging at her lips. “It’s good to see you, Ethan.”
“I wish I could say the same.” It’s out before I can stop it, and I don’t miss the hurt that flashes across her face. Maya being here is just another reminder of why Ishouldn’tbe here. I’ve fucked up everything good in my life, and a bachelor’s degree will just be another item on my never-ending list.
A tanked football career.
Grades that will never compare to Maddie’s.
