He woke up while he was being treated in the emergency room. They'd wheeled him into a recovery room, and by then, Kristy had arrived at the hospital. Nick had confirmed that for all of Austin's crazy talk, the part about Evan bragging about taking my virginity-or at least planning to take it-was true. It was the big rumor around. It was the topic of several athletic teams, and even some staff and trainers at the athletic center rumbled about it.
I was too dazed from the surprise attack and lack of sleep to be angry or hurt, but all that haziness and numbness changed when Evan walked into the emergency room waiting area.
His face was awash with relief when he saw me from across the room.
"Samantha. Oh my God, I'm so glad you're okay," he said to me. Sitting in the empty chair beside me, he reached an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his chest. "Pat told me what happened. I changed my flight right away, but this is the soonest I could get back here." Kissing my cheek, he pulled back and looked me over, probably doing a visual inspection for any sign of injuries. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? I was so worried."
I shook my head and pulled from him, bumping into Kristy's shoulder. "I'm fine," I told him in a voice that was unfeeling and emotionless. Pushing his arm off my shoulders, I got to my feet. "Let's go outside. I have to talk to you about something."
Confusion registered on his face. "What's this all about?" he asked while following me.
When we made it outside, I hardened my heart and turned to him. "You know, you never tried to fool me into believing you were anything but a smug, obnoxious asshole, but I didn't think you'd stoop this low."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Don't act all innocent, you pig. You went around telling people I was a virgin, and if that wasn't bad enough, you told them you'd be the first one to score with me. For Christ's sake, Evan … how could you do that?"
He turned white as a sheet. "Let me explain."
"Don't even bother."
"Samantha, please. It didn't go down like that."
"That's the Evan I know, thinking you have the right to explain yourself. You have no right to do anything. I can't believe I trusted you! I should have known better."
I heard the quiver in my voice. If I didn't end this conversation right now, I'd end up screaming and ugly-crying right here outside the emergency room.
"Would you please listen to me?" He put a hand on my shoulder, but I shook him off.
"Don't you touch me!" I spat, turning to go back inside.
"Please, you don't get it."
"I get it just fine. I was an idiot to think I could trust you. You probably fucked a bunch of women while we were sleeping together too, didn't you?"
His composure change then. I must have hit a nerve. He was angry now. "You don't know what you're talking about, and how fucking dare you? You don't know shit about what I did or didn't do. For the record, I haven't slept with anyone but you since I got injured … but you know what? Believe whatever the fuck you want."
I didn't get another word in. He stormed off toward his car, and did not hazard a glance back to me. A bitter, vile pit formed in my stomach. I returned inside and sat next to Kristy.
"Everything okay?" She did a full ninety-degree rotation in her chair to look at me when she noticed my hands were shaking. "God, Sam, what just happened?"
She wrapped her arms around me, and I rested my head on her shoulder, dazed and anesthetized again.
26
Samantha
Two Months Later
The semester was over.
My coursework was done, exams were behind me, and in two days, I would move all my belongings out of the dorm room that I'd called home for four years. I was moving back home for a while. I'd spend two long months on the student team for the baseball players, and although I'd found it to be rewarding work, I was not sure of anything anymore. No teams had approached me and I had no job interview prospects.
Not one.
What a catastrophic place to be upon graduating.
On top of that, Evan and I had not spoken. I didn't reach out to him. He didn't contact me, either. I could thank Austin for that small perk, because after the night he attacked me, I changed my phone number when I replaced my phone. Evan could have gotten my number if he really wanted it. It wasn't like I'd fallen off the face of the earth. I took that as confirmation that he really was just in it to score with me and nothing more. Kristy had mentioned a few times that she believed Evan was leaving the ball in my court, and did not want to pick up where Austin left off with the constant calls, texts and unannounced visits. Fair enough.
On the topic of Austin, he also kept his distance after that night. He was not charged by the police. I never understood why, but I was relieved that he had stopped. I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth to question the end of his stalking and harassment. The ordeal was a wakeup call, though. Soon after it happened, I made a habit of carrying pepper spray in my purse, and a whistle on my car keys. Kristy was still trying to convince me to go to weapons training with her. She was one tough chick underneath that Barbie-looking exterior, and had admitted to me she actually had an open carry weapons license. After Austin, I could understand why.
I saw Evan around the athletic center from time to time. We never made eye contact, and we never acknowledged each other. In a way, we had returned to the way our lives were before the circumstances around his injury pushed us together. Although I was hurting over it for a while, I didn't wallow in heartbreak. I gave myself a talking-to, rationalizing that it was for the best, and he would have hurt me more deeply if we had spent any more time together. That was the upside of sleeping with an arrogant, smart-mouthed jock. There were oodles of fodder I could draw from to strengthen my resolve about why it could never work.
Obsession with porn.
Addiction to all things kinky.
Trash-talking smartass.
Arrogant jock.
Bad boy. With stress on the boy.
I could go on ad infinitum.
Draft weekend loomed and it arrived before I knew it. Evan was in Chicago. Half the school went to the airport to give him and the other four NFL hopefuls a big sendoff.
I was not one of them.
Still, I ended up watching the first evening of the draft with Kristy.
"I thought you hated football," Kristy demurred, passing me a beer.
"I did. I do. You're the one who twisted my arm to watch with you, missy. Or have you forgotten?"
She stepped around to continue folding the pile of clothes on her bed, and snorted behind me. "Twisted your arm? Ha! I get the feeling you'll be rooting for a certain wide receiver rumored to be a top ten pick."
I rolled my eyes. I didn't turn to look at her. "Whatever you want to believe."
"You're forgetting something, honey."
"What's that?"
"I've known you forever. Try all you want to ignore that you and Evan had something real. I'm not buying it. And another thing … there's still hope for you two."
"Says you," I muttered.
She sat beside me in my bed, stretching out her legs until her feet were on my lap. "Why won't you talk about it?"
"Care to talk about you and Mo?"
That shut her up for a beat. "This conversation is not about me right now," she retorted. "It's about you getting alarmingly close to walking away from something special." She play-punched my arm. "Jeez, will you look at me?"
I turned to her and scowled. "We're not having this discussion, Kristy. Besides, it's already too late. Evan's moved on."
"No he hasn't. The way he felt about you? I doubt it, honey."
"Well, I've moved on. We're about to watch the first-round picks. Evan may be one of them. Do you know what that means? He can be heading to Timbuctoo before the night is out. Even if we wanted to be together, we can't. And I don't want to, anyway. You said it yourself. Evan is bad news, okay? Been there, done that, got the ‘Virgin No More' t-shirt, and let him pull one over on me. I rode that mechanical bull, and now I'm fresh out of quarters. End of story."
She grunted out a laugh. "You're still in love with him, and he's all sorts of broken up about you."
"And you have way too much time on your hands. Aren't you busy enough, planning that trip to France?"
"Don't change the subject again."
"It's our last couple of nights together as roommates, Kristy. Can we spend it reminiscing, or something other than talking about Evan Marshall?" I pointed at the TV. "Look. It's starting. The place is packed."
"Dammit … Okay, I'll get the popcorn."
She hurried out of our room to get to the microwave down the hall, and was back a minute later. "I think we're the last two residents still on the floor."
"I don't doubt it. Most people are packed up the night before their last exam. Remind me why we chose to stick around again?"