Accidental Love (Accidental Crush #2) (15 page)

Chapter
16: Back and Forth

TODD

I feel like every muscle in my body is in pain
. Going non-stop from before sunrise to after sunset is killing us all. I knew it was going to be tough, but this is ridiculous. I'm beyond grateful it's Saturday, day six, and we finally have a break tomorrow.

I miss Ash
, and I know her meet is today. I wish I could be there to see her race, but I'm excited to finally see more of this school than the football field.

"
Last day, boys." Brian opens the door and shouts down the hall. "And tonight, we celebrate. These cute college freshmen that are here for summer session said they'd give us a tour after practice today. There's a big party tonight and we're going." Brian slaps my back as he walks by and my muscles retaliate. "Our first college party. It's going to make everything this week worth it."

Ryan and I both groan. The sun isn
't even up yet, and we need to be on the field in fifteen minutes for laps.

"
Just because you pansies both have girlfriends doesn't mean you can't have fun. These are college girls."

"
Um, last I looked, you've been hanging out with Blythe," Ryan says as a reminder.

"
Hey, I like Blythe, a lot, but there is nothing officially there yet."

Ryan and I both jump on the yet.

ASHLEY

I feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I'm sure I'm going to lose everything I ate today in the pool as I lean over, ready to get tagged for our relay race. Usually, we don't race co-ed, but this summer, they've created a Co-ed Freestyle Relay. Therefore, I'm on the same team as Casey. I'm second to last.

I glance behind me
to see Casey there, cheering for Randy, another swimmer on our team who is in the lead, but it's close. I know I just need to keep the lead close enough for Casey to finish it in first. He's by far our strongest swimmer. I say a silent thank you because I know, even if I lose our lead, he can get it back as long as I keep it close.

Before I can think
of anything else, Randy tags our block and my body kicks into autopilot as I glide through the water. I love the adrenaline rush that soars through my body as I feel my arms slice through the water. I can sense the swimmers in the lanes next to me, and I know I'm making good time. My body feels the pace of the other swimmers, but I'm not sure if I'm in the lead. I just know I'm still in the race.

I tag the block and
then see Casey fly over me. He's even better in competition than he is at practice. He makes it look effortless. I've kept our lead close enough that he gets it back within seconds, the entire team is cheering him on.

I glance over at the stands and
spot my mom and dad cheering so loudly they don't even notice me looking at them. Then I look back at the pool to see Casey is at least three strokes ahead with only one more lap. The cheers are deafening. As soon as Casey's hand slaps our block, the small crowd erupts.

The crowd is
made up of mostly parents with a few different swimmers from the other teams and a few girlfriends, boyfriends, and RTS, of course. As soon as Casey is out of the pool, he's surrounded with high fives while he looks in my direction. In the excitement, he wraps his arms around me and lifts me up so my feet are off the ground.

"
We did it, Ash. You were great." He puts me down, his smile beyond words.

We are both caught up in the moment
when he leans down and places his hands on either side of my face as his lips crash into mine. His lips are soft and gentle, but they are not Todd's, and my body instantly reacts. I push him away with both of my hands pressed firmly on his chest.

"
Casey, I have a boyfriend," I say so emphatically relief washes over me. I guess that is one way to get it out in the open.

My head is spinning
as I quickly look at the stands and know by their expressions my parents didn't see anything. Thankfully no one did, they were all so caught up in the chaotic celebration.

F
or a split second, a look of surprised rejection crosses his face, and it makes me feel terrible. I hate that I've hurt him. Then he smiles and steps closer to me. "I know, Ashley." When he smiles his perfectly confident smile, I no longer feel bad; instead,
I'm
the surprised one.

"
You've known this whole time?" I ask, looking up into his green eyes, trying to read them, hating that I can't.

"
Well, you never actually said it, but I knew you guys were together. But he's not here and we just won, which is always cause for celebration. You need to lighten up, Ashley Taylor. We won!" He shouts up into the sky, and just as he does that, the rest of the team swarms us with Mom and Dad right behind them.

I
'm not sure what to think other than I wonder if Casey has been playing me this entire time when I thought I was playing him. I can't tell if the fact that he doesn't care is an act, or if he really is that laid back and confident. Either way, I'm intrigued, again.

TODD

We
're all heading back to our rooms after our showers. I, for one, have seen enough of this locker room for a while. I love being pushed, I love the pressure, but I feel like I've been beaten to a pulp this week. Plus, right now, I don't think I can endure another week of this. I need tomorrow's break.

I can
't stop thinking, if this week is any indication of what playing in college will be like, I'm still not sure this is what I want. Then I keep reminding myself there are a million other guys who would kill for this opportunity.
Suck it up
. So I do; suck it up that is. I haven't told Ryan or Brian. Only Ash knows how I feel, and I want to keep it that way.

I open my locker and look down to see I have two text messages. I know Ash was nervous for her meet today
, and I can't wait to see how she did. However, the first text is from Rebecca, not Ash. That's strange; she hasn't texted me since we broke up. The last texts I have from her are from when Brian was in ICU. It's strange to see those old texts above her new one. All of the memories from that night instantly flood back.

Thought you should know.

There are two pictures. One of Ashley and Casey hugging. It's clear they are celebrating. They must've won.

The next one is Casey and Ashley kissing.

My heart stops beating while my fingernails dig into my palm as my hand instantly clenches into a tight fist. Before I know it, my fist is slamming into my metal locker and Ryan is pulling me back.

"
Todd? Todd! What's up, man?"

I can
't say anything; I just hand him my phone. I see his questioning expression change to realization.

"
What the fuck?" he says, looking at me.

I shake my head
. "I don't know?"

"
You need to call her."

"
No way." I clench my fist without realizing it until I see Ryan's eyes move down to my hand.

"
Shit, look at your hand."

My knuckles are bloody
, but I can't feel anything. I'm numb.

"
We need to get that bandaged up," Ryan says, eyeing my hand.

Brian walks up to us, still soaked from the shower with one towel wrapped around his waist and another around his head.
With one look, he knows something is wrong.

"
What's up?"

Ryan hands him my phone as I flex my hand and make a fist
. It's bleeding pretty badly, but I'm so pissed I can't see straight and couldn't care less.

"
What the fuck?" Brian says and notices my hand for the first time. "Dude? Here, take this." He pulls the towel off his head and starts to wrap it around my hand. "Doc is still in there. You should go have him look at that."

"
It's fine." I wrap the towel around the wound. I feel like it's someone else's hand, someone else's body. I feel nothing.

"
It's not fine. You're bleeding all over the floor."

I look down
, and sure enough, there are drops of blood everywhere.

"
Good thing you don't need your hand to kick," Brian says, lightening the mood for a second. "But it better heal before baseball camps."

"
Go see him." Ryan gestures to the doctor's door with his head. "You need to get that wrapped up at least. Then you need to call Ashley and figure this the fuck out. I can't believe my sister." Ryan shakes his head.

"
I can't talk to her right now," I say through gritted teeth.

"
Then I'm going to call her."

"
No, Ryan. This is our thing."

I know I need to get the whole story
, but this picture says all I need to know. I haven't even been gone for a week! I'm so mad I feel like I need to let off steam before we talk.

T
he team doctor is pretty cool. He's worked with us all week, so I'm comfortable going into his office.

"
Todd, what can I do for you?" His grey hair is glistening from the overhead florescent lights.

I just hold up my hand, the towel wrapped around it soaked with blood already.

"Oh, I see." He cleans the wounds and wraps it tightly with gauze and tape. I don't even flinch; I still feel nothing. "What happened, son?" The look on his face isn't judgmental, it's caring, and I can tell, if I did go to school here, he would be like a father figure to the team.

"
Girlfriend troubles." I shrug and smile up at him. Just saying the word girlfriend pains me at the moment.

"
I see," he says with a smile and a shake of his head. "Well, it's a good thing you're a kicker." He winks at me.

"
Yeah, I guess." I shrug.

ASHLEY

I hear my ringtone and my heart starts to soar
. I can't wait to tell Todd about the swim meet. I know he's on a break day tomorrow, so I'm sure he's just as happy as I am right now.

When
I pick up my phone and see Ryan's name, not Todd, my heart starts to pound. Something must be wrong, something must've happened to Todd at practice.

"
Hey, Ry. What's wrong?"

"
What the hell is going on over there?"

"
Is Todd okay?"

"
What do you think? No, he's not okay."

"
What happened?"

"
I think you know what happened," he says, and what I've thought was nerves at first, I can now tell is anger.

"
What are you talking about? Did Todd get hurt at practice?"

"
You could say that. He's hurt all right, but it has nothing to do with football."

I
'm genuinely confused and getting frustrated with my brother. "Ryan, what are you talking about?"

"
You really have no idea?"

"
No. I really have no idea. What is going on? Is Todd okay?"

"
Well, he didn't want me to call, but you need to talk to him. Rebecca sent him a picture of you and Casey kissing."

My heart stops beating. All sound is muted
, as if the entire world is on pause. I feel like I just got punched in the stomach. I can't catch my breath.

"
Ash? Are you there?"

There
's silence on my end as a million thoughts race through my head.

"
Ash, he didn't want me to call you, but you need to call him."

"
Where is he?" I ask, barely able to get the words out. Tears well up in my eyes, and I try to blink them away.

"
He's with the team doctor. After he got the picture, he punched the lockers. He really messed up his hand."

"
Shit," I whisper to myself.

"
Yeah, he's pretty pissed. He doesn't want to talk right now. What the hell happened, Ash?"

"
Nothing, Ryan. I swear, nothing. We won and we were all excited and Casey kissed me then I pushed him away. I swear, nothing is going on with us."

"
I didn't tell you before, but you should know what happened with Todd and Casey."

"
I know. Blythe told me."

"
So you know he already hates him?"

"
Yeah, I know," I say so low I almost don't hear the words coming out of my own mouth.

"
You need to fix this, Ash."