Second Snowfall (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 2) Page 3

  Jason laughed, but it was a bitter sound and I didn’t like it. It didn’t suit him. “I’ve never heard of that crap. I don’t care who you are or where you are, cheating is cheating. I’d never cheat on my girlfriend.”

  “Hey, good for you. I’m not saying I’d cheat, just that Violet might want to be careful. Not all guys are as noble as we are.” It was good to hear Kingsley wouldn’t cheat. For a second there, he was sounding an awful lot like Kenny, and I was not all right with that.

  Violet crossed her arms and frowned. “Thanks for looking out, but I trust my boyfriend.”

  “Famous last words,” Kingsley sang to her backswing.

  Violet didn’t respond and walked to the other end of the green where she’d have to hit the ball in since she missed the hole.

  Jason lined up and shot. He also missed, so the two of them tapped their balls in and we moved on.

  I watched as Jason and Violet walked to the next hole and I couldn’t get his words out of my head. He’d never cheat on Janice. Of course he wouldn’t cheat on her, and he didn’t seem to have any intention of breaking up with her either. I needed to let this stupid crush go. Here I was with this gorgeous man who was clearly interested in me and I was thinking about Jason. I looked up at Kingsley and gave him a bright smile as we headed to the next hole. It was time to focus my attention on the sexy firefighter beaming down at me instead of the guy who had me firmly in the friendzone.

  ***

  We made it to the last hole, and as it turned out, I was winning. Violet was actually really bad at mini golf, so she wasn’t anywhere near my score, but she was still a good sport about the whole thing. Jason wasn’t much better than her, but he put up a good fight. Kingsley, however, was one stroke behind me. If I got a hole in one on the final hole, then I’d win. I wasn’t super competitive but I wanted to impress him.

  “Don’t mess up, babe!” Kingsley shouted when I swung.

  I stopped just before I hit the ball because he had messed up my concentration. I turned toward him and shook a playful finger at him. “Hey, that’s not nice.” I giggled and turned back to realign my shot. I knocked it off the side and it went straight in. There was no question it was a perfect shot. I dropped my putter and threw my arms up in the air. “Woooo, I won!”

  “Really, there’s no need to brag. I thought you were better than that.” Kingsley walked into the main building without even finishing the last hole.

  My smile fell and I looked at Violet and Jason, confused. “What did I do? Was I really that obnoxious?”

  Violet walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. “No, he just looks like a sore loser. He probably is a little embarrassed that you beat him.”

  “Why? I told you guys I was good.”

  “I know,” Jason piped up. “But some guys still like to think they’re better than girls at everything. You did a good job. Don’t let him ruin the night. We can take him back to his dorm and hang out just the three of us. He doesn’t need to be involved in our fun.”

  “No, it’s okay. I knew he was competitive and I pushed his buttons. I’ll go talk to him and make this right. I’ll meet you guys at the car. Just play your turns.” I headed inside, following where I saw Kingsley walk to. He was leaning on the counter and talking to the cashier. She was around my age, maybe older, and really pretty. At the moment, she was laughing hard at something he said. She reached out and touched his forearm and leaned in closer. My heart fell into my stomach. Was he trying to make me jealous? No, he didn’t even know I was there. He was actively looking for another option. This was my first real date and it was crashing and burning. Maybe I could still fix this.

  “Hey, Kingsley, um, Jason goofed up,” I said, walking over to him. He looked over at me, quickly distancing himself from the girl and showing me a different smile. “You were actually three ahead, so you can still win if you play the last hole,” I lied as I forced a smile on my face. My pulse was racing and I was terrified he’d reject the idea and leave without me. I’d be back to being alone again. I hoped he’d give me another chance.

  “That jerk. I bet he did that on purpose to make me look bad. I don’t know why you hang out with that guy, he’s kind of an ass.” Kingsley wrapped his arm around my waist and we walked back to the hole where Violet and Jason were waiting. Kingsley leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to embarrass him and say anything. I’ll just knock this in and win gracefully.”

  “He’s been my friend since I came here. He’s just super competitive.” I felt like I had to defend Jason. After all, he was still one of my best friends.

  “I can respect that. I know guys who act like that and they’re standup guys all the other times. We just probably shouldn’t do anything else competitive with him in the future. I don’t want to show him up again and cause problems.”

  “Good plan.” I smiled, staring down at the ground. He’d said in the future. He wasn’t sick of me yet.

  Kingsley knocked the ball into the hole in one shot. He chucked his putter in the water and threw his arms in the air. “That’s right, baby.” He pointed his finger at Jason and smiled big. “That’s okay, man, I’ll let you win next time.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m not big into sports.”

  “Why, are you gay?”

  Violet laughed so hard she stopped breathing for a second. I bit my lip to try to keep the giggles at bay, but they ended up coming out as snorts.

  “No, I just prefer movies and video games than actual sports. You do know that all guys who don’t play sports aren’t gay, right? And there are a lot of gay guys who are amazing at sports.”

  Violet seemed to have stopped laughing and draped her arm around Jason’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I think he was just kidding. I’m sure he didn’t mean to offend anyone.” She turned to look at Kingsley and he shook his head.

  “Nah, of course not. But you said you two weren’t dating and he didn’t mention having a girlfriend. I just figured it was a chance. No offense meant, bro.” Kingsley extended his hand to Jason.

  He looked at it for a second and then Jason walked over and shook it. “Yeah, no stress. I do have a girlfriend, and her name is Janice.”

  “That’s cool.”

  There was an awkward silence as the four of us just stared at each other. Finally, Jason spoke up.

  “Why don’t we head back? Violet was telling me that she has a couple things to do back at her dorm.” Jason looked at Violet and they seemed to have a silent conversation.

  “Right, I have a crazy amount of stuff to unpack from my trip and I’m exhausted from my flight the other night. Jet lag is a bitch.” She smiled and nodded her head at me. I could tell she wanted to leave but I didn’t think it was because of the unpacking or jet lag. I just didn’t know what was wrong.

  “I have a little unpacking to do too,” I added, hoping she’d tell me what was going on later.

  Kingsley agreed and we all walked back to the car.

  The ride back was pretty exciting. Kingsley was telling us about this dramatic time that he saved three children from a burning home.

  “Everyone else was willing to let them die, but I knew I could get to them. Against the captain’s orders, I ran back into the house and carried all three of them out at one time. It didn’t matter how unsafe the building was or what happened to me. All I could think about were those kids.”

  I looked at him with utter admiration. “I can’t believe you would risk your life for people you didn’t even know.”

  “Not people, children. I just couldn’t let them die. I didn’t care about my own life, or even my future. Those kids needed me, and I wasn’t going to let them down.” He reached out and held my hand. “What else could I do?”

  “You’re an amazing man.” Holy crap. Did that come out of my mouth? I was so embarrassed. At least I was until he reached his other hand out and gently stroked my cheek.

  “And you’re beautiful.”

  I d
ropped my gaze and blushed all over. I bit my lip and a smile quickly escaped. “Thanks.”

  But before anything else could happen, Jason honked the horn. “Okay, Annabelle, we’re at your dorm. You and Violet probably want to head out.”

  “Right.” I was about to get out when I realized Kingsley had never asked for my number. I debated asking for his but I didn’t have the courage for it.

  I looked away from him and went to open the door. My heart had fallen into my stomach again, but for a different reason, and I was desperate for some ice cream. I was going to head to my room and tear into the new carton of rocky road calling for me in my freezer.

  “Annabelle, wait!” Kingsley had jumped out of the car and rushed over to me. “I owe you for the putt-putt. How can I repay you if I don’t have your number?”

  “Oh, right. Sorry,” I said, and typed my number into his proffered cell.

  “Perfect. I’ll text you, babe.” He grinned and then turned and walked toward his dorm.

  I looked at Violet and squealed a little. We were about to walk into the building when Jason honked his horn.

  “Are you really so love struck that you forgot to say goodbye to me?” He stepped out of the car and stood hunched over with his hands in his pocket.

  “Oh, sorry, bye.” I gave him a quick hug and rushed inside. Violet and I had a lot to talk about.

  Chapter 3

  Violet wasn’t going to see Berneli, but she still insisted she had a couple things to take care of.

  “So what’s up?” I asked her when she followed me into my room, making herself comfortable on my bed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You and Jason. Didn’t you have fun? I saw you guys decide you were ready to leave. There was like a private mental conversation between the two of you.”

  “We did but…”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t know. Kingsley just kinda rubbed us the wrong way.”

  “Why?”

  “I think it’s ’cause he just made a few comments that were a little rude. Nothing too big.”

  “Well, think about it from his perspective. We’re all friends and he’s the new guy trying to impress everyone. He just seemed a little nervous to me.”

  “I think that’s a fair thing to say. I’m totally willing to give him a chance if you like him. I mean, it seemed to me like he was interested in you.”

  “I hope so. He is gorgeous.”

  “Yeah, he is definitely good looking, but earlier you were talking to me about how you might have feelings for—”

  “No, we’re done talking about him. I can’t keep pretending it’s all gonna change. I’m moving on.”

  We talked a bit longer about some superficial stuff but nothing got real deep and nothing more about Jason versus Kingsley. Eventually, Violet went back to her room to sleep while I, on the other hand, really did need to continue unpacking.

  It took me a lot longer to unpack than I had intended. I spent most of the night reorganizing, hoping that if I played Tetris enough, it would all magically fit. When that didn’t work, I took two of the containers to my car and left them in my trunk. At least if I needed any of those clothes, they weren’t too far away.

  As I was walking back to my room, I heard yelling. The closer to the sound I got, the more I realized I knew that voice. It was Violet. I rushed over to her room and tried the door. Of course, it was locked. I pounded on the door until Violet finally flung it open.

  She looked at me with bleary eyes. “What are you doing here? It’s, like, one in the morning.”

  “You were screaming. Is everything all right?”

  Violet closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Come in.” We walked over to her bed and sat down.

  The tears quickly came as she practically collapsed into my lap. “I’m sorry. I know you can’t handle tears but—”

  I cut her off. “Stop, it’s fine. Just tell me what’s wrong.” I was really worried about her. The last time I saw her this upset was when the campus police officer attacked her fall semester. He had taken her behind this building and tried to rape her. Luckily, Violet had managed to fight him off, but the incident had left her really shaken.

  “I don’t know. I spent almost every night in bed with David and he made me feel so safe. Now, he won’t be back until tomorrow, and, well, something has been happening that I haven’t told you. For the last couple of months, I’ve been having night terrors.” She sat up and wiped her tears on her shirt, finally taking a deep breath and looking up at me.

  “What do you mean? Like nightmares? Are there clowns?” My version of hell was filled with clowns.

  Violet laughed softly. “No, I wish it were clowns. I’m back behind the dorm and Finn is there. He’s on top of me and I can’t shake him off. But it feels so real and there is this pressure on my chest. It’s like I can feel his hands on me and I can’t wake up. It’s mostly happened when David would stay up later than me and I was left to fall asleep alone. He’d hear me scream and rush to wake me up.”

  I hugged her hard and lightly stroked her back while she continued. “David wants me to see someone about it but I don’t know if I want to. Will that actually help? Will sitting on someone’s couch while I recount the worst moments of my life really make this go away? No, I just need to be stronger. Finn is in jail and I don’t need to worry about him coming after me. I’m just being ridiculous. Sorry, this is all pretty pathetic.”

  “But you slept here for two months after the attack. Why didn’t it happen then?”

  “It did. The first time was the first night I came back here after spending the weekend with David. I tried to convince myself that I was fine, but fear almost overwhelmed me as I walked into the building. I climbed into bed and fell asleep with the light on. It was okay that night, until around two in the morning.” Violet took a deep breath and stared at the door, as if remembering what happened.

  “I heard the door open and Lola walked in. But in that split second before I saw her, I thought it was Finn coming back to finish the job. Since then, I really haven’t been able to sleep in my bed.”

  “So why did you come back? I’m sure Berneli would have let you stay at his place or maybe we can see about changing your room.”

  “This isn’t me. I don’t run from things like this. Hell, I fought Finn and got away. Now, I’m shrinking away from dreams. I thought maybe I was strong enough to fight this Finn too.”

  “Okay, so I have an idea. We can talk to Lola. I can sleep in her bed when she isn’t here. If you have a terror, I can wake you up and remind you that Finn isn’t here. Maybe if we do this, you’ll get used to it. You know, you’d be getting the reinforcement from both Berneli and me.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I don’t want to put you out.” While her words said she was fine, her eyes practically begged me. Violet’s face was stark white and her eyes were bugging out a little. She looked terrified.

  “Let me go get a change of sheets and I’ll sleep in the other bed. Besides, that dating show started up while you were in England and now we’re desperately behind.”

  ***

  I hardly slept at all that night. Violet didn’t have another terror, but every time I closed my eyes, I thought I heard her murmur. It really didn’t help that she appeared to have a tendency to talk in her sleep. Nonetheless, I had to get up and get ready for my first class. It was biology and I was really not looking forward to it. There truly was no helping me when it came to math and science. Things had not turned out well when I tried to get a math tutor so I needed to show up to this class. Maybe I just needed a female tutor.

  Even the hot water of my morning shower did nothing to improve my mood. It was definitely going to be a long day. I wrapped myself in my robe and started to put a little bit of natural make-up on.

  As I was getting dressed, I heard my phone go off. It was a text from Kingsley. After all the drama with Violet, I completely forgot that he never contacted me last night. Tha
t was probably for the best, though, since I would have been a wreck of anxiety if I had managed to remember.

  Kingsley: Hey, wanna get coffee?

  Ah, this was the way to my heart. Some women adored food, like Violet, while I worshiped the coffee gods.

  Me: Sounds good. Where should I meet u?

  I turned to my closet and quickly pulled out my favorite yellow shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. I had just managed to slip my legs into my pants when my phone went off again.

  Kingsley: How about now? Look out ur window.

  I bit my lip, threw my shirt on, and ran over to my window. Sure enough, Kingsley was standing there with two cups of coffee raised in the air. He couldn’t see me, since he didn’t know where my room was, but he was smiling in my general direction.

  Giggling a little, I stuffed my feet in my shoes, grabbed my bag and coat, then almost ran outside. As I got closer to the door, I slowed so he wouldn’t know just how eager I was to see him.

  “Hey, babe.” Kingsley handed me one of the cups and leaned down to kiss my cheek.

  I blushed madly. His stubble was rough as it grazed my cheek, but for some reason, I kind of liked the feeling.

  “You didn’t have to bring me coffee.” I looked down at the ground and took a sip. Hopefully the coffee would help to still my nerves. Though, maybe he would assume the shake was from lack of caffeine. That was partially true.

  “I wanted to. Besides, I owe you from last night. Now we’re even.” He smiled big at me as he took a sip of his coffee. “I hope you like it. You mentioned you liked things sweet, so I took a risk and assumed you liked some sugar and milk in your drink, but if it’s wrong, I can get you another.”

  “No, I like my coffee a little sweet. It’s perfect. Thanks for remembering.” It was actually way too sweet, but maybe the sugar would help wake me up. I took another big sip and forced a big smile.