Matchplay Read online

  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 obvious 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.”

  Before anyone could respond, I marched away, toward the house. I nearly made it into the cabin, when Aaron grabbed my elbow. “Rainy, wait.”

  I turned to face him. He had sadness in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I never should have let Keira sit there. She said she needed to tell me something. I thought she would tell me and then sit somewhere else. But she never left.”

  I nodded. “Why did you let her put her hands all over you? You know how much I hate it when other girls touch you. We’ve talked about that, Aaron.”

  “I guess I don’t see Keira as another girl. Our families have known each other for years. We grew up together.”

  I drew in a deep breath. “You do realize that she thinks our relationship is just a fling and when you graduate, you’re going to move on and marry her.”

  Aaron didn’t seem surprised by my statement. “I know what she thinks but she’s wrong. You’re the one I love, Sunshine. You’re the one I’ll always love.”

  I wanted to believe him. I wanted to go back to it just being the two of us in a condo in Florida. I didn’t want anyone else or anything else to interfere with our relationship. But I also realized that was probably unrealistic because we lived in a world with other people, all of whom had their own agendas and expectations.

  “Please don’t let Keira come between us,” Aaron pleaded. “I don’t want to be with her. I want to be with you.”

  I nodded and Aaron embraced me in a hug. Then we both went in and went to bed.

  That night, I couldn’t sleep. Every awful thing that Keira said to me replayed in my mind. I didn’t want to believe that Aaron would eventually choose her over me but why wouldn’t he? It would make things so much easier. Keira had found my Achilles’ heel within seconds and knew how to kill me with it. Maybe she would win the war in the end.

  I go
t up as quietly as I could and threw on some sweat pants and a sweat shirt. I thought maybe I could clear my head in the night air. The setting was absolutely beautiful and I knew the night sky and stars would be amazing.

  The bonfire was still flaming, although it had died down significantly. I took a seat next to it for warmth. The stars did not let me down. With all of the manmade lights turned off, the illumination of the night sky was breathtaking. It put van Gogh’s Starry night to shame.

  I was truly at another crossroads. As much as I loved Aaron with all my heart and I knew he loved me, could we really be together for the long haul? Did we have any future together if all of his friends and family expected him to eventually settle down with Keira? She was everything he was supposed to marry and I was none of those things.

  I felt like our odds of a future together were getting slimmer by the moment.

  I saw a large figure approaching and felt an initial panic until I realized it was Evan. Then I just experienced the normal feeling of dread he always evoked whenever he came near me.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  Before I could answer, he sat down next to me.

  “You couldn’t sleep either.” It didn’t sound like a question so I didn’t respond.

  “I know you think I’m a dick.” Even though I didn’t use that kind of language he certainly captured the right sentiment.

  He continued. “Aaron and I have always been competitive ever since we were kids.”

  “So I’ve heard.” I still wasn’t sure I wanted to engage him in conversation but he didn’t look like he was going anywhere soon.

  “I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you standing there with all of your boxes outside the freshman dorms.”

  Not only was I surprised to hear of his interest in me, I didn’t think he even remembered the first time we met. I didn’t know why he was telling me this now or what he wanted me to say. He obviously knew I was in a relationship with his best friend.

  “Aaron and I ran against each other for President of The Clubhouse. I was pissed when he won. I was even more pissed when he got you.”

  “I always thought you hated me.”

  He shook his head. “Nope.”

  The air around us suddenly felt heavy with tension. I wasn’t sure where the conversation was going and it made me nervous. I could tell Evan had an agenda, which usually meant more trouble for me and Aaron.

  “I don’t want to see you get hurt,” Evan said. “I’m serious.”

  “Okay. There’s obviously more you want to say to me, so what is it?”

  Evan looked into my eyes. It was the first time I ever saw anything resembling sincerity in his expression. “I know why Aaron fell for you. It’s not just because you’re beautiful. You’re so spunky and full of life.”

  I gulped. I suddenly had the urge to escape. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Evan was going to lean over and kiss me. I tried to get up but Evan grabbed my arm. “Don’t go. There are a few things I have to tell you.”

  I slowly sat back down. I had the distinct feeling that I was like a lamb about to go to slaughter. The only difference was that lambs were not aware of their fate like I was.

  “Aaron will never marry you.” He continued to stare at me, his gaze growing more serious. “He can’t.”

  “Why not?” I realized I was getting angry and I wondered why I was even still sitting there listening to Evan.

  “Aaron has always done, and will always do, everything his parents expect him to do. He’s an obedient son. His parents expect him to marry Keira. They’ve been planning it for years. So have Keira’s parents. It’s inevitable. She knows it. He knows it. We all know it.”

  I thought back to the look on Aaron’s face when he saw Keira. I thought he looked broken somehow. Now I realized the look was him staring at his inevitable future. Even if he didn’t love Keira, even if he wanted to be with me, would he eventually do what his parents wanted and marry her? Maybe Evan was right.

  “Didn’t you ever wonder why he never asked you to meet his parents? All the times they’ve visited campus this year and he never introduced you to them.”

  That hit me like a brick. I tried very hard to keep my face neutral because I didn’t want Evan to realize I didn’t even know Aaron’s parents had been on campus at all. He had never bothered to tell me. I could almost handle him not wanting to introduce me to them but the fact that he had kept the information from me was bordering awfully close to lie territory.

  “You’re a freshman and he’s a senior. He’s going to be graduating in eight weeks and starting his life with Donovan Brothers Industries. Keira’s graduating, too. They’ll both be in the city and running in the same circles. You’ll still be in school. I just don’t want you to be surprised by what the future holds.”

  I heard Evan loud and clear. Once Aaron graduated, I would be cast aside so he could start a life with Keira.

  “Does Keira even love Aaron?” I asked. I wasn’t sure it was even a question.

  Evan laughed. “Keira doesn’t love anyone but herself. She wants Aaron. And Keira always gets what she wants.”

  “What about you, Evan?” I said staring at him. “What do you want?” I wasn’t sure where that came from. It just kind of came out.

  Evan seemed to give the question some consideration. “Besides you?” He smiled. “I want to win The Tournament. And it looks like I will. You already know Aaron dropped out and none of the other guys are even close to my score.”

  “And you think that’s an accomplishment you can be proud of? Something to put on your resume? Tell your kids about one day?” I knew I was being hard on him but I also knew he could take it.

  He grinned at me. “I sure wish I had asked you out before Aaron did.”

  I didn’t want to tell him that I would have never gone out with him. “I think I’m going to go back to bed.”

  “Yeah,” Evan agreed. “It’s getting late.”

  We both got up and walked back into the house. I headed toward the guest bathroom, just off the living room, and I heard Evan give me a half-hearted, “Good night.”

  As soon as I got into the bathroom, I was glad I had grabbed my phone. I quickly texted Lucas.

  Me: I know it’s late. Is there any way you can pick me up? It’s important.

  I didn’t wait more than a few seconds to receive a response from Lucas.

  Lucas: Of course. Anything for you. I’ll be there as quickly as possible.

  It was two in the morning. I felt really bad for bothering Lucas but I had no one else to call. There was nothing Olivia and Marney could do for me from a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean.

  I had already given Lucas the directions when I alerted him earlier that I might need a ride back. I just didn’t realize it would be this soon.

  I sat on the couch and read Mary Cassatt’s biography until I thought it was close to the time Lucas would arrive. I snuck back into the room I was sharing with Aaron and grabbed my bag as quietly as I could. The last thing I wanted was for him to wake up and try to stop me from leaving. There was no way I could stay at the cabin for an entire week with Evan and Keira and all of his other friends, who thought I was some toy for Aaron to play with until he graduated and started his real life with Keira.

  I tiptoed out of the room as quietly as I could. I wanted to try and make my way down the driveway in order to minimize the chance that anyone would be awakened by Lucas’s headlights.

  I guess I wasn’t quiet enough, though, because right before I reached the door, I heard Aaron’s voice. “Where are you going?” He sounded like he was still half asleep.

  When I looked back at him, he had bed head and was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “It’s the middle of the night, Sunshine. What’s going on?” he still sounded confused by his sudden awakening.

  “I’m leaving,” I said trying not to cry.

  “Leaving?” He hurried toward me. “No, wait. You can’t leave.”

  He
tried to grab my bag but I snatched it away from him.

  “Why are you leaving? I don’t understand.”

  There was a soft knock on the door. Neither one of us had heard a car pull up. Aaron opened the door and, of course, Lucas was standing there. I think Lucas was as surprised to see Aaron as Aaron was to see him. “Lucas?” Aaron muttered. “What are you…” Realization seemed to cross Aaron’s face before he finished his question.

  I handed Lucas my bag. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  “Wait,” Aaron said too loudly for the time of night. “You can’t just leave like this. It doesn’t make any sense.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Evan and Keira walk into the room. It didn’t look like either one of them had been sleeping. Maybe they were just waiting for the inevitable shit-storm between me and Aaron, one they had both caused.

  “I can’t stay. Your friends have made it very clear I don’t belong here.” I made a point of glaring in Evan and Keira’s direction.

  “This is getting good,” Keira snarked. What a bitch.

  Aaron had a look of both confusion and desperation. He charged over to Evan and grabbed him by his tee shirt collar. “What the fuck is going on here, Evan?”

  Evan pushed Aaron’s hand from his collar. “Maybe this is for the best,” Evan said quietly. “Let her down now so you don’t have to do it at graduation.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m not going to break up with Rainy.”

  “Think about it, Man,” Evan said. “You’re a senior. She’s a freshman. You really think it’s gonna last when you’re out in the working world and she’s still in school for three more years?”

  Aaron looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach. It was like he had never thought about it before. As if he was so consumed with what we had every moment, he never thought beyond it. I had, though. And that’s why I was leaving.

  “I’m going to make it easier for all of you,” I said. “Come on, Lucas.”

  I pushed Lucas out the door and the two of us hurried to his car. I was surprised to see that Lucas, who was always so cautious and methodical about everything, had some fire in his belly when he needed it. He threw my bag in his trunk and we both jumped in his car before Aaron was out the door after us. Aaron barely made it to my window when Lucas threw the car into gear and floored it out of there.