I shower quickly and then go to the clubhouse to make an appearance. While I’m there, waiting for Jackie, Carter pushes one of the slutty clubhouse bunnies on me who’s in a bikini covered in whipped cream.
I try to get out of the way, but I fall into a chair and take the woman down with me. Surprised, the woman straddles my lap and starts to dance. I put my hands on her to get her off of me but at that exact moment is when I see Jackie come into the clubhouse to congratulate me. She’s standing in the doorway and her smile drops from her face. I manage to get the woman off me, but the damage is done.
I chase after Jackie, calling her name, but she doesn’t stop. I finally catch up to her at the end of the tunnel and I grab on to her arm to stop her.
“No!” she screams at me. She turns to face me and her face is filled with anguish. Tears are pouring from her eyes and I can feel my heart breaking in two seeing her this way.
I release her but beg her to listen to me. “Please, Jackie. You know that wasn’t me. I’m not like that.”
She shakes her head and is walking backwards away from me. “I thought I knew you. How could you do this to me? To us?”
“Jackie, wait, you have to let me explain,” I beg, following her.
Her sobs get bigger and I can barely understand her. “Please, just leave me alone. I don’t want to see you ever again.”
“Jackie, fine, but listen to me, you can’t drive like this. Please, just let me take you home.”
I follow behind her and we’re out in the public now. People have their phones out taping us but I keep following her, begging her to stop, but she doesn’t. When she gets in her car, I can see her devastated face in the windshield and I about double over in pain from seeing her like that and knowing I did it to her.
I watch her drive away before I go back to grab my keys and bag I left behind. Carter comes up to me smirking, but I don’t even respond to him. When he’s within reaching distance, I shut his mouth for him. I rear back and punch him as hard as I can before he falls backward to the ground. Coach and a few of the other guys are there. I know I’ll probably get in trouble, but I don’t care. I keep walking, grab my bag and start to head out the door before I hear Coach mumble, “It’s about time.” When the door shuts behind me, the guys’ laughter and cheers resonate into the hallway. Normally, I’d laugh or at least smile, but not now. My smile is gone. She took it with her.
Jackie
Barely able to see, I drive straight to Naomi’s. She welcomes me with open arms and holds me until I calm down. When I can finally talk, she asks me what happened.
Taking a deep breath, I tell her everything. I’m crying again when I tell her about the woman on Reagan’s lap, but I finally get the whole story out.
She’s quiet and looking at me with a weird look on her face.
“What? Say something,” I tell her.
She shakes her head. “It doesn’t add up.”
I jerk my eyes up to hers. “What do you mean it doesn’t add up? I know what I saw.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I’m not saying you didn’t. But I mean, c’mon Jackie. He was a virgin. He’s been so good to you. This just doesn’t seem like something he would do.”
I’m quiet thinking about what she’s saying. She’s right. This isn’t like him, but I know what I saw.
“Did you let him explain?” she asks me quietly.
Shaking my head, I mumble, “No.”
She nudges my arm gently. “Well, maybe you should at least let him tell you his side of the story.”
I nod and look down at my phone, which I put on silent. I have ten missed calls from Reagan and the text messages keep coming in. I want to believe that it wasn’t what I saw, but I know I’m too upset right now to make any type of decisions. Tomorrow. I’ll call him tomorrow.
11
Reagan
I spend the whole night sitting outside her house, but she never comes home. I’m sick with worry and when it’s the next day, I finally drive over to her work. When I see her VW bug sitting in the parking lot, I breathe a sigh of relief. She’s here.
I try her phone for the umpteenth time but it goes straight to voicemail. Determined to see her and make this right, I send her a text and hope she reads it. I’m outside your office. You have two minutes to come out before I’m coming in.