Page 27 of Steeling Her
“I needed some air.” I shrug, looking over at TJ, who is now leaning back against our front door. His arms are folded with a smirk on his face. He’s enjoying it too. I know he is. He quirks an eyebrow at me, signalling me to carry on.
“So you left? It’s been hours! Where the hell did you even go?” She closes the gap between us but I step back to keep the distance between us. Her perfume is overpowering.
“That doesn’t matter. I just wanted some alone time. Can I not have some time to myself without you hounding me? Jesus, Maya! Chill, will you? I wasn’t down for the party, alright? I can have some off nights, you know?” I snap back at her. The fact that she raised her voice at me set my insides on fire. I’m not alright with her screaming at me. Especially at this time of night or morning. Her eyes shift back to TJ, who I look over to too.
He’s now imitating the motion of eating popcorn, relishing in this fight like always. He’s eats it up when there’s drama but when it’s about him, he runs for the hills.
“I was just worried . . . Nick, babe—”
“Don’t call me that!” I yell at her, making her step away from me. She should just go home. She annoys me how much she’s trying claim me. It will never happen. I don’t see her like that. I never have and I never will.
“You scared me, Nick. I thought you . . . I don’t know what I thought. I was just annoyed that I didn’t see you. I miss you—I miss us, Nick. Please give me a chance.” I step back when she steps forward, and I see the fire ignite in her eyes. “Why won’t you give us a shot?” she grits out, her eyes hardening.
“Maya, look, I just don’t want a girlfriend. It’s not for me. You of all people should know this, how important football and this scholarship is to me.” I try to reason with her. It’s the best excuse I can give. I can’t think of anything else to say to her, but her eyes are burning through my skull at this point.
This girl is on some sort of mission to make us a couple, to which I will never agree to. Relationships aren’t my thing. I’ve never had a girlfriend. I don’t like to stick to the one girl if I have options thrown at me from every angle. Who would want to give that up? Not me anyway.
“You really are a dickhead, Nick!” She storms off into the darkness and I watch her retreating figure. She kicks my car with force and determination behind it, setting the alarm off in the process. I sigh and look back at TJ, who is silently chuckling at me. I walk around to see the damage; she made a pretty deep dent on the passenger door. She clearly used her heel. I use my set of keys to switch the alarm off before we get into trouble with neighbors.
“Ohh-huhuhu! She kicked it real good, Jackson!” TJ admires the stamp she made in the sheet metal. I turn around, stand up, and punch him hard in his arm.
“You could’ve helped me, TJ. Instead, you stood there eating your imaginary popcorn with your imaginary friends. Idiot!” I sigh at the dent. It’s small but I want it fixed. My car is my one and only baby. This night went from bad to good and now back to bad. A rollercoaster is the only way to describe it.
“Where’s the fun in helping you. I was thoroughly entertained by you two!” I hate when this side of TJ is out. He can be such a dick sometimes. It’s more prominent when he’s wasted. “I was actually going to ask where you were, but I already know . . . How was Carter?” Hearing the smug tone, I turn to glare at him and run at him while he runs away, laughing down the street.
“Dude! Chill! Nick!” He continues to laugh and I join in. Smiling at my best friend as I chase after him. I can’t contain my grin. He’s faster than I am; he’s a running back for a reason, I just don’t give up.
“Nick! Come on, man!” he said over his shoulder as he continues to run. I finally catch up with him because we’re losing our energy. Grabbing his shoulders, I put him in a headlock while he laughs uncontrollably, tapping my arms for me to release him. “She must’ve been good if you’re not saying anythi—” I tighten my arm around his neck and he laughs once more. “Alright, alright! I’m kidding man! I’m kidding!” I release him and he rubs the shaft of his neck. He smiles over at me and I return it.
“Why did you go over?” he asks as we start to walk back to the house. We’re both walking in the middle of the street, not caring if there is a car coming. There’s nobody around.
“I went over to apologize to her.”
“For calling her ugly?”
“TJ! I didn’t call her ugly. She’s not ugly, she got my words all wrong.” I turn to him with a knowing look.
“You’re right, she’s hot! OW!” I punch him once more in the arm. He doesn’t get to call her that, even though I agree.
“Shut up TJ!” I roll my eyes while he nudges my shoulder with his own.
She looked so pretty tonight. Even with an oversized hoodie and yoga pants, with her glasses covering half of her face. The way she smiled and nodded her head, hanging on to every world I said. How she bit on the end of the pen when she was thinking about something. And her voice—her soft angelic voice that I could listen to all day.
I get smacked on the back of the head to snap me out of my thoughts. I glare at TJ again and crease my brows in annoyance at him. “What the fuck was that for?” I ask, raising my hand to rub the spot where the hit connected.
“You weren’t listening to me. I’m needy, Nick!” He bats his eyelashes at me dramatically, pretending to be a girl. “As I was saying, was she pissed? Or am I good to go over tomorrow and apologize too?” I shake my head at him, indicating he’s in the clear.
“Nah, she wasn’t pissed. She accepted my apology instantly. There was no drama about it. It was simple. She’s easy to talk to . . .” I shrug toward the end, thinking about her shyness toward me tonight. After those few hours, she started to come out of her shell a tiny bit, and I couldn’t help but admire her. When she spoke, I listened. I could listen to her forever.
“Uh-huh!” He smiles over at me once more. We make our way into the house. Shutting the door behind us, we make our way to my room. He sits on the chair at my study desk and twists himself around.
“Did Haley get herself into any trouble while I wasn’t there?” I ask him, stripping off my shirt and he does the same. I throw it in my laundry basket beside my door and sit on my bed.
“Nah, she was good. Kinda?”
“Kinda? What do you mean kinda?” I raise an eyebrow at him, asking him to explain further.
“Well, she was real snappy with Maya but I expected nothing less from her to be honest.” He shrugs, spinning himself around until he’s dizzy. I’m not carrying him into bed.
