Matchplay (16 page)

Without taking his eyes from mine, Aaron eased himself i
nside me. “Oh, Sunshine, I missed you so much.”

As he continued his slow and deliberate thrusting, he filled every inch of me. I felt as though a piece I had been missing the past few weeks, was back in place again. Even if we tried to fight it, Aaron and I belonged together.

It didn’t take long for the two of us to join each other in an ultimate union and climax together. We stayed with our bodies entwined for several minutes, neither of us wanting to part.

We feel asleep naked in each other’s arms. I was suddenly thankful that
Marney’s roommate had dropped out and Olivia was staying with her.

After our reunion, Aaron and I were nearly inseparable. When we weren’t in class or studying, we spent most of our time together. Aaron was so excited about my internship with Dr. Griffin that he helped me
do research several times a week.

Of course, I explained to Josh that Aaron and I had gotten back together. I could see he was disappointed but he said he was happy to see
me happy again. I told him how much I appreciated his friendship and that seemed to put him at ease.

***

O
ne evening, Aaron took me out for dumplings and after spoiling me with all of my favorites, he said, “We need to talk about Spring Break.”

I had just assumed that I would be staying on campus and doing work on Dr. Griffin’s book. “Okay,” I said hesitantly.

“It’s been kind of a tradition to spend Spring Break at my parents’ cabin at the lake. Evan and a couple of the other guys will probably be going with a few girls. I’d really like for you to come with me.”

I gulped. “I’m not sure how I feel about spending a week with Evan and some of the other guys from The Clubhouse
. And you don’t exactly have a wonderful reputation as far as the cabin is concerned.”

He looked crestfallen. “You’re right
. “I just can’t imagine being on Spring Break without you.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said to appease him. But when I saw a glimmer of hope return to his eyes, I realized
thinking about it
was most likely going to be agreeing to it.

I told myself I could deal with it. But I just couldn’t shake the nagging doubts I had. The only story he had told me about the cabin at the lake involved him cheating on Chloe. He knew that
was a sore spot with me. But I also realized that he had been spending nearly every waking moment with me, which I knew was at the expense of his other friendships. I thought the least I could do was accompany him on a Spring Break trip with the guys from The Clubhouse.

***

A
s I was packing for Spring Break, Olivia hurried into our dorm room. It felt like it had been weeks since I had seen her. She gave me a big hug.

“
Marney surprised me with a seven day Caribbean cruise for Spring Break. I’d better get packing!”

I smiled. “That sounds awesome.”

“Totally awesome,” she agreed.

“So I guess things are going well with
Marney.”

She gave me a wicked little grin. “And how are things with Aaron? I heard through the grapevine that the two of you hit a bit of a rough patch.”

“The grapevine being Josh and Lucas?”

She gave me a look that said, “Who else?”

“He invited me to his parents’ lake cabin for Spring Break,” I said.

She lifted an eyebrow. “That sounds promising.”

“Except that Evan and some of his other buddies from The Clubhouse will also be there with a few girls.”

“Not as promising
.”

I nodded. There was a knock at the door and Lucas entered.

“You’re both packing?” he asked when he saw our suitcases.

“It’s Spring Break,” Olivia
stated.

“Oh, yeah,” Lucas
replied. “I’ve been so busy with my internship, I kind of forgot.”

Olivia rolled her eyes at her brother. “How does anyone fo
rget about Spring Break?”

“Where are you going?” Lucas asked. Olivia and I looked at each other because he seemed to have aimed the question at both of us.

“Marney invited me on a Caribbean cruise,” Olivia said. “And Rainy is going with Aaron and his buddies to a cabin by the lake.”

Lucas looked at me with concern in his eyes. “You’re going with guys from The Clubhouse? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No,” I admitted. “But Aaron really wants me to go with him.”

Lucas seemed to give this some thought. “I’ll be staying in town all week working. Please call me if you need to.”

I nodded. “I don’t think Aaron will let anything happen to me.”

“I mean it, Rainy,” he continued. “You have no idea what those guys are capable of. The lake is only a few hours from here. I’ll pick you up day or night if anything happens.”

“Thanks, Lucas.” I really hoped I wouldn’t need to call him but a small part of me was glad he offered because I was afraid I might have to take him up on his offer.

Thirteen

The Foursome

I
had a bad feeling the entire drive to Aaron’s family cabin. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly why but something just did not feel right. I knew we’d be spending the week with a few of the guys from The Clubhouse and several girls they’d chosen to invite. None of the guys had actual girlfriends, at least that I knew about, so I wondered if they were still going to be engaging in The Tournament while we were on break. The idea kind of repulsed me. I didn’t want to bring up the subject with Aaron. Things had been going so well the past few weeks, I didn’t want anything to ruin our break.

When Aaron mentioned his family had a “cabin on the lake” I guess I was expecting an actual cabin in the woods. I would never use the word “cabin” to describe this place. It was larger and more substantial than the home I grew up in and my parent’s had a pretty nice house. The secluded setting and the idyllic surroundings made the scene feel like one of the massively reproduced Thomas
Kinkade paintings.

Aaron grabbed our bags and we headed inside.

Evan was already there and he greeted us at the door. “Hey, Rainy,” he said and gave me a forced smile. Then he gave Aaron a half hug that guys often give to each other. “The bar is stocked and we’re ready to party.” 

Aaron just nodded. I could tell he was a little uncomfortable with Evan and I was sure it was because of me. I wondered if he was afraid of something Evan would inevitably say to hurt me. Aaron sure did a great job picking friends.

A few seconds later, a beautiful raven haired girl came from what looked like a bathroom and headed in our direction. She was stunning and she carried herself with such confidence, I was sure she turned the heads of both men and women wherever she went.

As soon as Aaron saw her, he dropped our bags to the floor. When I saw how fast Aaron’s expression changed, I knew something was definitely up.

The raven haired girl didn’t even seem to notice that I was standing right next to Aaron. Her steely gaze was planted firmly on Aaron as she marched up to him.

“Hey, good looking,” she said as she threw her arms around him.

I noticed that he embraced her and didn’t make any attempt to push her aside for my benefit.

When she finally let Aaron go, I could see the expression on his face was now pained. “What are you doing here,
Keira?” he asked quietly.

I could feel all of the energy draining from my body. I su
ddenly felt like I would faint. Keira? The girl that Aaron’s family expected him to marry was standing right next to me. And she was gorgeous. And she obviously had a really big thing for Aaron.

Evan butted in and said, “My fault. I asked
Keira if she was going to the cabin for Spring Break. I just assumed she was invited just like she is every year.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,”
Keira said and gave Aaron a sexy little smile. She still hadn’t even acknowledged my presence.

Finally, Aaron managed to take his eyes off of
Keira and turned to me. “Keira, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Rainy.”

Keira
glanced at me for a quick moment and then turned away as if to say I wasn’t worth anymore of her time. She looked back at Aaron, “I hope you’ll take me to the waterfall again this year. It’s always my favorite part of Spring Break.”

Aaron gulped. “Maybe Evan can take you this year
.”

Keira
moved in closer to Aaron. “Maybe I don’t want Evan to take me. Maybe I want you to take me.”

I glared at Aaron but he was too busy interacting with
Keira to even notice. I’m sure Aaron had no idea how close I was to grabbing my bag and walking out the door. The only thing that stopped me was that I didn’t have a car and we were in the middle of nowhere at a cabin, that was really no cabin at all.

Finally, Aaron glanced over at me. I was so angry and humil
iated I was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of my ears. I wanted Aaron to grab my hand or put his arm around me or do something to show Keira that we were together but he didn’t.

I wanted Aaron to stand up to
Keira and tell her he didn’t want to be with her because of me, because he wanted to be with me and only me, but he didn’t. He didn’t say anything.

I was disappointed. I felt like Aaron had completely and tota
lly let me down.

“Rainy and I have to unpack,” he said softly as he grabbed our bags from the floor where he had dropped them.

He headed through the living area toward the back of the house and I followed. I could hear Keira yell after us. “See you later, Aaron.” Then she said with emphasis, “You too, Stormy.”

“My name’s Rainy,” I yelled back.

“Whatever,” she replied and gave a fake laugh.

“You didn’t mention that
Keira usually goes on Spring Break with you,” I said as we entered the bedroom where we would be staying.

“I didn’t know she was going to be here,” he
replied without looking at me.

He placed our bags on the bed, opened his and began u
npacking.

“I think we need to talk about this
.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” he said as he continued to unpack.

I probably should have pressed the issue but I let it go. He had made his choice and once again, he choice was not to defend me or our relationship. I was noticing a pattern and I didn’t like it.

When Aaron was done unpacking his stuff, he walked into the bathroom attached to our bedroom. I threw my bag on the floor and decided against unpacking everything, just in case I needed to make a fast exit. I quickly texted Lucas: I may need to take you up on your offer to pick me up.

He texted me right back: I had a feeling that might be the case. Just let me know.

When Aaron finished in the bathroom, he said, “Everyone else should be arriving soon. We’d better go out to meet them.”

I nodded and the two of us went back into the main room. I noticed Aaron hadn’t made any attempt to hold my hand or make any other displays of affection.

Within a few minutes, two other couples arrived. Two guys from The Clubhouse, who I had never met before, Alex and Dan, and their dates, Monica
Bellsworth, one of the pretty girls from my art class first semester, and Autumn Green, who looked about as uncomfortable as I did being there.

When Evan and
Keira returned to greet the newcomers, I noticed they were staying in the same room. I wondered if they were dating, just friends, or maybe friends with benefits? Why would Keira have a relationship with Evan when she clearly wanted to be with Aaron? Was Evan just a place holder until she could get her claws into Aaron? The way the guys from The Clubhouse interacted with women was confusing and quite frankly, a little sick in my opinion.

That night, everyone decided to do a barbeque then have a welcome bonfire and drinks. As the guys got the barbeque started and prepared the meat, the girls went into the kitchen to prepare the salads and side dishes. As Monica and
Autumn prepared coleslaw and potato salad, Keira and I started chopping vegetables for the tossed salad. Being around Keira made me extremely uncomfortable. Every time she glanced at me, you would have thought she was looking at the dirt on the bottom of someone’s shoe.

I washed several large carrots and started chopping them. I saw that
Keira was slicing tomatoes. She was placing the tomatoes into a huge wooden bowl with several types of lettuce.

Keira
glanced up at me in between slices and said, “I heard your dad’s an engineer.”

“That’s right,” I responded but didn’t offer any additional information.

“My dad owns a number of engineering firms, among many other things. Maybe your dad works for one of them.”

“I don’t think so
. My dad worked for a very small firm and I knew the owner and his family.

“Whatever your game is, you’re not going to win
.” She was now glaring at me.

I stopped chopping and gave her my full attention. “I’m not playing any games.”

She snickered. “Miss Middle Class thinks she’s snagged herself a wealthy guy. Dream on, Honey. Even if you get pregnant, he’s still never going to marry you.”

I could feel my face getting hot. I was seething. “You don’t know anything about me or my relationship with Aaron,” I hissed.

She laughed. “You’re so transparent it’s not even funny. Everyone here knows what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work. You may win one or two battles but you’ll never win the war. Aaron’s parents love me and they want us to be together. They’ve been talking about how a wedding between our families would be the social event of the year.”

“And what about what Aaron wants?”

“Aaron isn’t stupid,” she sneered. “He’ll do what his parents want him to do. He always does. Enjoy your fun while it lasts.”

And with that, she put down her knife and exited the kitchen. I just stood there dumbstruck. I wondered if there was any truth
to what she had said. Part of me didn’t want to believe a word of it but another part of me feared it was true.

The conversation during dinner remained light but I noticed that
Keira didn’t take her eyes off Aaron the entire meal. He made eye contact with her a few times and she always gave him a sexy little smile. It made me wonder if the two of them had ever been intimate with each other.

After dinner,
Autumn and I volunteered to clean up and do dishes and everyone else went out to the bonfire. Autumn was quiet and reserved and I appreciated the chance for some solitude as we washed dishes.

As we got close the bottom of the dirty dish pile,
Autumn turned to me and said in a small voice, “I don’t really feel like I fit in here.”

I smiled. “That’s okay. Neither do
I.”

“But your Aaron’s girlfriend
. I’m just a guest for the week.”

I nodded. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that being Aaron’s girlfriend seemed to be more meaningless by the hour.

Then I had an idea. “Are you and Dan a couple?” I asked, hoping she would say no. I didn’t think they were.

She shook her head. “I don’t think he really likes me all that much. And to be honest, he’s kind of a jerk.”

I wanted to ask her what she was even doing here but I had an idea I knew why. She wanted to fit in. She jumped at the chance to spend Spring Break with the popular crowd, even if it didn’t feel quite right.

She looked so sad and vulnerable, like she needed someone to take care of her. And I just happened to know someone, who desperately wanted someone to take care of.

“I hope you don’t think this is too forward of me but I know a guy I think would be perfect for you. He’s an engineering major.”

I saw a small glimmer in her eyes. “Do you think he’d like me?” she
asked softly. Even though she was beautiful, she seemed so unsure of herself.

“I think he’d like you a lot. Can I get your phone number? I can have him call you. His name is Lucas. He’s my roommate’s brother.”

When we got out to the bonfire, I froze when I saw the seating arrangements. There were four small benches set around the fire pit. Dan was seated by himself, obviously waiting for Autumn to sit next to him. Alex and Monica were seated together on a bench. Evan was by himself on a bench and Keira and Aaron were seated together. Keira looked very comfortable sitting extremely close to my boyfriend. At one point, she even placed a hand on his leg and he didn’t make a move to stop her. I felt sick. I thought my dinner would come right up out of my stomach.

I decided I was still going to fight the battle because I wasn’t ready for
Keira to win the war. I marched up to the space between Evan’s bench and Aaron and Keira’s bench.

I looked right at Aaron
. “Any room for me?”

Aaron looked up at me and gulped.
Keira gave me a cat-that-just-ate-the-canary smile. Bitch.

Aaron turned to
Keira and said, “Why don’t you sit with Evan? He has room on his bench.”

She didn’t move a muscle. She didn’t even have the decency to remove her hand from Aaron’s thigh. “Maybe I don’t want to sit with Evan,” she said coyly.

“Please,” Aaron said to Keira. “Rainy needs a place to sit.”

“She can sit with Evan,”
Keira said eyeing me.

“Do I have some kind of disease?” Evan
muttered. “Why doesn’t anyone want to sit with me?”

I glared at Aaron. He looked about as sick as I felt. It was o
bvious Keira had no intentions of moving. I waited for Aaron to do something. He could have asked Evan to take his seat with Keira and we could have taken Evan’s bench. He should have never allowed her to sit with him in the first place. I would have even been willing to sit on the ground with him, if he’d had asked me. So many scenarios played in my mind but Aaron did nothing. He just sat there.

Finally, I composed myself, took a deep breath and said, “Okay, I’ll make this easier for everyone. I’m tired anyway, so I’ll just go to bed.”