“Not one I want to live.” I chuckled under my breath. “Speaking of—what time are we meeting Eliza tonight?”
“I told her I’d pick her up around six.” Hudson reached down and picked up his bottle of water. “This is a date though—remember?”
“That’s how it’ll start.” I winked at him. “But we both know how it’s going to end.”
“I still want to go on a real date with her. She deserves more than a TV dinner before we take her upstairs.” Hudson stood and started walking toward the locker room.
Hudson and I shared Eliza at the graduation party, and I thought that would be the last time we saw the girl with the raven-colored lipstick, but I was wrong. Hudson convinced her to spend the night with us again the next weekend, and it just kind of spiraled from there. Before I knew what was happening, she was at our house almost every night. It was a good thing our Dad had a new girlfriend and usually spent the night at her place because Eliza had an appetite that was insatiable when we were together. She might have been a virgin when we met her, but once we gave her a taste, she wanted a whole lot more. Hudson was the one driving that train, but I was a willing passenger because Eliza was the hottest girl I’d ever been with. It was too bad she chose to hide her beauty under all that makeup because I would have never waited until graduation night to hook with her if I knew how attractive she really was earlier in the year.
“So like, you’re not falling for Eliza, right?” I walked beside Hudson as we left the gym. “All this talk about a proper date and shit—she’s just a piece of pussy that we’re entertaining ourselves with for the summer.”
“I know.” He nodded and looked over at me. “She’s leaving for college anyway—it’s not like I could get her to stay if I wanted to.”
I’m not sure I’m entirely comfortable with that response.
I wasn’t an emotional black hole, but I had never been in a real relationship. I certainly didn’t plan to have one with some girl from Andalusia before I headed off to college. Long distance? Fuck that. If I landed a nice NFL salary, I would be dating. Eliza was hot, but I was planning to get pussy that was on another level. I just needed to make it to the end of the summer without letting myself get attached—but that was proving to be difficult. Every time I tasted her lips—every time she was asleep between us after we were together. My mind wandered. I thought about things I didn’t need to think about—things that could destroy my future if I lingered in my thoughts for too long. I had to snap myself back to reality, but mostly I had to keep my emotions in check until she left for school.
That’ll fix everything. Then I can bury myself in college pussy for the next four years and forget all about Eliza.
6
Eliza
Present day
“Okay, what about this one?” Melanie held up a dress that looked like it belonged on a hooker instead of a bride.
“You should totally wear that.” I feigned a serious expression.
“Do you two ladies need any help?” A middle-aged woman with blonde hair and a plastic smile walked up to us.
“We’re fine.” Melanie giggled and put the dress back on the rack. “I’m just having a little fun before I start seriously shopping for a wedding dress.”
“If you’d like to come back to the bridal suite, I can show you some of the new dresses that just came in.” Her smiled widened. “We have champagne.”
“Yes please!” I held up my finger and nodded quickly. “Come on, Melanie. Let’s buy your dress here.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look.” She turned towards the sales associate. “Lead the way!”
The wedding dress shopping was at least taking my mind off the Anderson brothers. Some champagne would help. I was there for Melanie, not myself. I didn’t want to ruin her excitement because my head was spinning, and my soul was trying to come unglued. I couldn’t let them infest my thoughts or split my heart open again. I trusted them with everything once and even let them see my weaknesses. I should have known better, but I struggled with so many abandonment issues that I allowed myself to believe we had something more than just a summer fling. I had gotten so much stronger since I left Andalusia. I couldn’t become that vulnerable girl again. She was weak and confused—she believed in love. I knew the harsh realities of goodbye—the sting of watching innocence fade into nothingness.
“I like that one.” Melanie nodded as she stared at a beautiful white dress. “But I probably should see a few more.”
“I’ll put this one over here on the rack in case you want to see it again.” The sales associate smiled and hung up the dress before disappearing into the back.
“Do you think they’ll keep letting us drink champagne if I just remain undecided all afternoon?” Melanie giggled and looked over at me.
“Careful—you still have to drive us home.” I lifted my glass and sipped the champagne. “It’s really, really good though.”
“I’m only going to get married once.” Melanie shrugged and put her glass on the table beside us. “I might as well enjoy all the amenities.”
We looked at numerous wedding dresses, and I couldn’t tell if Melanie had already chosen one or if she was still undecided. Some of them were really expensive, and I didn’t think she could afford it, even if it was the dress of her dreams. We polished off the entire bottle of champagne before she finally narrowed her selection down to two dresses. I was buzzing and a little bit, but the one in the middle with the oyster-pearl shimmer looked like it was something out of a fairy tale. It definitely got my pick. The sales associate took her back to the dressing room and helped her change into it while I waited with only a couple of drops of champagne to keep me entertained. About ten minutes later, the sale associate started humming Here Comes the Bride and Melanie appeared at the doorway of the bridal suite. She looked stunning.
“Wow!” My eyes opened wide. “That dress is freaking awesome.”
“Isn’t it?” Melanie walked to the mirror and giggled. “I have to get it.”
“You don’t want to try on the other two?” The sales associate raised her eyebrows in surprise.