Page 13 of Beautifully Used
“Nah. You got that wrong.”
“Excuse me?”
“The way I see it, he’s already yours. From what I’ve heard from the guys on the team, he has been since he first laid eyes on you. We can’t even get the guy to come out and practice anymore. One of the guys on the team even said he tried to get Jackson back out on the slopes all winter. He might as well sell that snowboard of his now that he has you. I hope you won’t keep him from playing soccer this season.”
“I wouldn’t intentionally keep him from doing anything. He would have gone snowboarding, but he wanted me to go and I just wasn’t quite ready for it. He refused to go without me. Maybe next year.”
Jeff gave Lena a wry look and stuck his hand in the pocket of his jeans. My eyes fell to the muscle protruding from the sleeve of his grey t-shirt. “Yeah, sure. By then you’ll be pregnant and he’ll have another excuse.”
“I don’t think so. We want to wait a year or two to start a family. I’m sure Jackson will be playing soccer this fall though. He’s already told me about the team. I think he’s really excited for me to watch.”
“Maybe you’ll play, too.”
“Maybe I will.” Lena smiled. “Though, I’ve never played.”
“We’re not that competitive. You’d be fine, and maybe your friend here would be interested in playing.” His gaze swept slowly over me and I suddenly felt naked, though I was far from it in the blue sundress and white cropped sweater I had on. “We always need women,” he added, his eyes fixed on mine.
“I don’t know if I’ll be here in the fall. I’m supposed to go to Chico for school. I’m transferring there from San Diego. But if I am still here, I’d love to play. I played in high school,” I added cheerfully.
“What do you mean? Are you considering not going to Chico?” Lena asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, maybe I’ll see you around this summer,” Jeff said. Then quickly added, “We could practice … you know, kick the ball around?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
Lena glanced at her watch. “Oh, we really need to get going. See you at the wedding, Jeff.”
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, Gabby.” He waved his hand and headed in the opposite direction we were going. I glanced back at him, saw him turn his head and look back at me. He smiled and my stomach did a little fluttery dance. He was so very gorgeous, and way out of my league, but it was nice having someone else to think about instead of Brodie. Not that I was actually in Brodie’s league either. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be.
Lena tugged me along and we hurried to the dress shop. Upon entering the store, my eyes immediately fell upon the four mannequins all decked out in what I presumed were their top of the line and very expensive, but gorgeous wedding dresses. Turning to the left, I saw rack after rack of dresses hanging, arranged by color, style, and size.
A woman who appeared to be in her early forties approached us immediately, greeting Lena with an over abundant amount of exuberance and gushing over Lena like she was her long lost cousin.
“Lena, darling, you’re so beautiful. But thin. Too thin. I hope we won’t need to make any adjustments on that gown. We are running out of time.”
“I’m the same size as I was when you took my measurements. Tanya, this is my maid of honor, Gabby.”
“Ah, good. I have both of your dresses right here. Go into the dressing room and I’ll bring them to you.”
After Tonya brought in the dresses, she excused herself and said she’d be back in a few minutes to check.
“You are so going to tell me what is going on. Right now. What’s all this about you not wanting to go to Chico?” Lena demanded as she stepped into the white gown I held open for her.
I looked up at her no-nonsense eyes and sighed. “I don’t know, exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t know what I want to do.”
“I thought you wanted to be a writer.”
“I do. I just don’t know if I want to continue on with school right now.” I’d been thinking about it for some time, but now that I’d actually spoken the words out loud, I decided that I liked them.
“But don’t you need your degree in English to be a writer?”
“No. It would certainly help, but it’s not required. To get a job as a journalist with a large news group I’m sure it would be required, but not to write books. And that’s what I want to do. I can continue my education, but I also want to spend more time writing. In fact, I’ve been writing, and… well, I’ve written several short stories and recently submitted a novel to several publishers. One actually responded and offered me a contract last week. I wasn’t going to say anything because I haven’t decided whether I want to use my real name or not, and I wasn’t sure I wanted anyone to know.”
