Claiming Xana (Wildcat Graduates Book 2) Read online

  “Stace. Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.” Stacy continues to shake her head back and forth, still asleep, so I try again. “Hey, Stace. Stacy. Wake up,” I say a little more forcefully. She jerks at my words, and slowly opens her eyes.

  “Huh? What? What is it, Xana?” She rubs her eyes, trying to focus her eyes on me in the lamplight.

  “You had a bad dream. You were talking weird in your sleep. Are you okay?” I ask, looking her over for my own verification.

  “Yeah, I’m not even sure what I was dreaming about. I don’t really remember.” She looks confused and still half asleep. “That’s weird.”

  “Okay, if you’re sure. I’m going to wash my face before I go back to sleep.” Stacy nods and rolls over in the bed, as I grab a washcloth and head for the bathroom. She’s had dreams like these a few times already. I always wonder what they could be about, but they never seem to bother her very much.

  Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I scrub the cold, wet washrag over my face and behind my neck. Wiping away the sweat from my body helps me shake the nightmare away further. It’s not bad enough that I have to deal with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome while I’m awake, but now I face it in my sleep. And why the hell were the nurses acting like clowns rather than actual nurses? I felt like I was in some sick, twisted traveling circus instead of a doctor’s visit! I. BLOODY. HATE. CLOWNS.

  Feeling much better, I return to the room, turn off my lamp, and climb back into bed. Unable to empty my mind of all the things that are running around in my thoughts, I grab my iPod and headphones to listen to so I can focus on something else. Choosing to only listen to one play through an album, I worry that I might not be ready to sleep just yet. Fortunately for me, Shawn Mendes’s voice soothes me to sleep quite easily.

  Stacy and I are walking away from the cafeteria after dinner, on our way to the library, when we run into Gavin McKnight, one of my ball teammates.

  “Hey, man, what’s up?” I ask as he falls into step beside us.

  “Not much. My floor is noisy as hell, so I thought I’d head to the library to get some studying in while Mallory’s working. You?”

  “I’ve got to work, and Cade insists on walking me there,” Stacy informs him, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at me. If she thinks I’m being overprotective, she can get over it.

  “There have been more than a few muggings and break-ins in the area, so if you think, for one second, I’m going to let you work late at night without someone with you, you’re kidding yourself,” I state, daring her to argue with me.

  “I know you’re independent and all that, Stacy, but even my sister knows not to go out by herself at night, and she’s still in high school,” Gav chimes in to back me up.

  “Mallory’s working late tonight. Are you telling me you’re gonna walk her home, too?” Stacy stops our walk and glares over at Gavin.

  “As a matter of fact, she has a co-worker walk her to her car when she leaves work. If she can’t find a parking space close enough to the building, she texts one of her friends in the dorm and they watch her walk inside the dorm from their window,” Gavin throws back at her, tilting his head to the side in a silent plea for her to argue with him.

  Stacy takes my arm, and continues her trek to the library, letting us know this particular conversation was over in her book. Gavin shakes his head at her in amusement, laughing to himself. “Did you see that game last night? McCanton’s batting was better than his catching!”

  “That game was intense! He was on fire last night,” I reply, remembering the winning home run he scored with the bases loaded.

  “McCanton? Which one was he?” Stacy asks, suddenly interested in the conversation. Gavin’s jaw drops, shocked at her lack of baseball knowledge.

  “You’re dating a ball player and you have no idea who Gabriel McCanton is? What is wrong with you?” Gavin shakes his head in disbelief, and what appears to be slight disappointment in her.

  Turning to Stacy, I reply, “She knows him as Keeley Rose’s husband, not for his huge baseball status.”

  “Oh, mah gah! She is amazing!! I love all of her songs! Xana even loves them more than me, and Gabe’s not too hard on the eyes, either,” she almost squeals in delight. “Why didn’t ya just say so, instead of making a big deal out of it?”

  “So that’s all you know him for, his wife’s music?” Gavin asks her.

  “Of course not, he sings, too, and his voice is so sexy.” She stops mid-stride to look at him. “What?”

  “Better you than me, man. Better you than me.” Gavin squeezes my shoulder and we finish our walk to the library.

  As we reach the library lobby I say goodbye to Stacy and decide to sit with Gavin for a while before heading over to the ball field. Noel and I are going to get a little throwing practice in before Stacy gets off work.

  Gavin and I find a quiet table near the back of the library, and sit down facing the rest of the room. I hate having my back to people. Gavin gets his laptop out and begins to work on something that looks foreign to me, more than likely computer code.

  “How in the world does Stacy not know who the most popular ball players are? That’s just crazy.” Gavin drops his pencil to the table and waits for me to stop laughing at him.

  “You know she’s only messing with you, right? She knows full well who’s who in baseball.” Gavin furrows his brows, not quite understanding what I mean. “Then why does she act like she doesn’t?”

  “Because she can smell out those who are easy to mess with. The look on your face was priceless,” I grin, enjoying the same look on his face right at this moment. “Don’t you have a sister?” He nods his head. “Same rules apply. It’s her job to drive you nuts.”

  “Whatever. She wears me out. You have more patience than a saint.” Gavin resumes his work and we talk about baseball a little longer before I excuse myself and head to meet Noel on the field.

  Noel and I got tired of throwing after an hour and are sitting in the dugout taking a break when Noel says, “You still wanting to get a place off campus next year?”

  “Yeah, I’m getting tired of the dorms. I never feel like I can get anything done when I need to without someone causing damn drama. Some of those guys just weren’t meant to live on their own. They can’t handle it.” Taking a drink of my gatorade, I turn to look at Noel. “Why?”

  “I’ve talked to my parents, and they don’t have a problem with it. They’re thinking about maybe buying a house close to campus and actually flipping it while we live there. They would then sell it or rent it out. Dad said that if you still want to share a place with me, he didn’t mind. You would just pay part of the bills and help work on whatever they needed worked on when our schedules allowed. He figures paying for a meal plan for the cafeteria would probably be a better move than having to buy a lot of groceries to keep at the house.”

  “That sounds like a great idea. I’ll talk to my parents and see what they think about it.” We sit in silence and look out at the field, and the sunset behind it. That’s one good thing about us. We don’t have to talk to feel comfortable with each other.

  After ten minutes of silence, Noel and I gather up our things and walk off the field. “Has Xana mentioned anything about Stacy not sleeping?” I ask, hoping to get some idea of what’s going on with her. She’s been acting so unlike herself the past few weeks, I’m not sure what to do.

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” he says, pointing to something behind me. Before I am able to turn around someone drapes their arms around my neck as they hop onto my back, and their legs wrap around my waist. Who the hell is jumping on me?

  “Hey, C-Dog. How’s it hangin’?” Xana’s voice sounds in my ear, rather loud and giggly. I turn my head to look at her head hanging over my shoulder, and see her grinning widely at Noel, who is grinning right back at her, just as goofily.

  “Who are you supposed to be, X-Cube?” I tease and she laughs loudly into my ear before sliding off my back. Noel drops his gear
and bends down to let her onto his back instead.

  Picking his gear bag up again, we turn and head for our dorm. “Ask me what, Cade?” Xana looks over at me and lays her head on Noel’s shoulder.

  “I was wondering how Stacy’s been sleeping lately. She’s always tired and distracted, I just thought maybe she wasn’t sleeping much.”

  “I’m not really sure. I know she has had some weird dreams that wake her up, but she can never remember them, and I tend to believe her when she says that. She’s never completely awake when I wake her up, at least not enough to lie about them. Too be honest, those pain meds I have to take really knock me out sometimes. I’m not sure I can hear her when that happens.” She reaches out to lay a hand on my shoulder. “What’s happened, Cade?”

  Sighing, I look down at the pavement as I answer. “She’s become a little distant at times. Like she doesn’t want to be around me or something. She’s just...she’s just not behaving right.”

  “I’ve noticed once or twice too, but I don’t really think there’s a reason for concern just yet. I’ll pay closer attention and if I think something is wrong, I’ll tell you. Deal?”

  “You’re right, maybe I’m jumping the gun a little. Just let me know if something seems off to you.”

  “Of course,” she replies and we continue to make our way into our lobby and check Xana in. Noel carrying her the entire way. It’s nice to see her this energetic for once.

  Noel plops Xana down on his bed, then puts away his bag. He grabs his shower things and a towel before walking over to Xana and saying, “I’m gonna hit the shower.”

  “Okay, I’ll bug C-Dog while you’re gone,” she giggles and glances over at me as I sit back on my bed and roll my eyes in return. She’s on a roll tonight.

  Noel leaves us, laughing the entire way through the door, and as soon as the door shuts she throws his pillow at me.

  “A little feisty tonight, aren’t we?” I throw it back at her, and knock her square in the face, causing her to fall back and laugh uncontrollably. When her giggles start to subside, I ask, “Hey, you didn’t walk over to the ball field by yourself this late, did you?”

  “No, Nichole dropped me off on the way to the store. I texted him earlier.”

  “That’s good. I was wondering why he didn’t flip out on you just showing up like that.” I pause and really look at her. “You look really happy, Xan. Everything with you two still good?” I watch as she sits up and hugs the pillow to her chest.

  “Yeah, better even. It’s so different this time, Cade. Everything with us is so much more...connected than when we were together last time. He makes me happier than I’ve been for awhile. I know you and Stacy didn’t like Jeff,” she pauses to lay her chin on his pillow. “Thanks for tolerating him for my sake. I needed your support more than I realized at the time.”

  Placing my feet on the floor, elbows on my knees, I look straight at Xana. “Noel is my brother, but you are my sister, you know, the one I like. No matter how close Noel and I are, if you ever need me, or he hurts you again, I’ll always be there to support you. I know he’d do the same for Stacy, even if she does drive him nuts,” I pause as we laugh. “But I really don’t think you have to worry about that this time. I can honestly say he was not the same when you were apart. He needs you, just as much as you need him. Believe me when I say that, because I can see how true it is.”

  Not saying a word, she moves off the bed and flies over to hug the breath out of me. “Thanks, Cade. I really needed to hear that.” She squeezes me tightly and places a kiss on my cheek when Noel walks into the room.

  “I leave the room for ten minutes and my best friend’s stolen my girl. What the hell, C-Dog?” Noel comes to stand in front of us, pretending to be pissed off.

  “What can I say? I’m a ladies man,” I reply and Xana laughs as Noel drags her off me and hauls her over to his side of the room.

  “You sit right there, X-Cube and tell me when Xana comes back,” he teases and hands her a banana from our make-shift pantry. “She needs to eat that because I know she didn’t eat much for dinner.”

  Xana sneaks a quick glance over at me and smiles, clearly happy to be where she is, while Noel settles on the bed beside her and turns on the television. We spend the next couple of hours watching random programs until I need to meet Stace at the library.

  Now there’s a whole different puzzle to solve.

  Baseball season has really picked up for Noel and Cade. Between practices, games, and early morning workouts, I really only get to see him at meals and between classes. Stacy and I go to every home game together, unless she has to work, and Mallory goes with me then. The three of us have been able to make a few away games that weren’t too far away without missing classes. My business classes are sucking the life out of me, and I can’t afford to miss many of them. Watching him play reminds me of his games I used to watch in high school, and just like back then, the more I watch him play, the more I love baseball. I’m so proud to be there supporting him and Cade. In a way, it’s like coming home.

  It’s only been four weeks since baseball season started, at the first of February, and the team has already played almost two dozen games, having an impressive winning record. Noel and Cade usually score at least one run each in every game, and today’s game is no exception.

  We’re playing the University of Arkansas Boll Weevils in Monticello, and the score is already ten to seven, in our favor, by the third inning. Both of the guys have scored a run by this point, and Noel is currently on third base, waiting for the right ball to send him home. Gavin is up to bat, and has two strikes against him. I’m trying not to hold my breath as I wait for the next pitch.

  “Damnit, Xana. If you don’t stop squeezing my arm, I won’t be able to drive us home,” Stacy warns me, but I’m unable to release my hold. My stomach is always tied in knots when I watch him play, even though I thoroughly enjoy the game.

  Gavin doesn’t swing at the next pitch, which nearly hits him, and takes a step away from the plate to swing his bat a few times before getting in place for the next swing. Noel has inched his way off third base, along with the other players on their own base, when the next pitch is thrown.

  Gavin swings with all his might when the ball is pitched, and sends it soaring through the air between first and second base, and almost to the edge of the field, before it hits the ground. The ball is quickly recovered by the Boll Weevils’ outfield and thrown toward the pitcher. Their pitcher then throws it to the first baseman, having just moved to help cover home plate, who jumps in the air to catch it. Just as Noel dives to slide into home, the first baseman lands on the ground, and takes a step backward to steady himself, but instead lands on Noel’s arm as it crosses the plate. He falls over backwards onto Noel and the catcher, landing in a tangled mass of bodies.

  I fly out of my seat and stand to get a better look at what is happening, but there are taller people in front of me blocking the accident from my view. “Can you see anything?” I yell over the crowd to Stacy, hoping that her taller height has a better view.

  “Not much. It looks like they’re checking out his arm. He seems to be holding it to his body,” Stacy informs me as she holds onto my arm.

  “I have to get down there to him,” I tell her, then move to make my way out of the stands.

  Stacy doesn’t let go of my arm, and stops me from leaving. “Hold on. Just wait until I can tell what’s going on.” She pulls me back to her side, and looks between the two people standing in front of her.

  “Is he hurt, Stacy? TELL ME!” I shout, grabbing her with both hands and shaking her. “Forget it, I’m going down there myself,” I say to no one in particular, and leave Stacy behind as I fight my way across the other spectators and out of my row.

  Making my way down the bleacher steps, I can see them escorting Noel off the field and over to an ambulance that has just pulled up to the team’s side of the field. I can hear Stacy calling my name from behind as I come to the bottom of the st
ands, but I ignore her and make my way over to where the ambulance is parked.

  I call out his name as I get close enough for him to hear me, and he turns toward me. He tried to walk over to me, but the trainers stop him. When I am mere yards from him, I am held back by one of the paramedics from going any further, probably thinking I am some sort of over zealous fan.

  By this time, Stacy has reached my side and is trying to hold me back as well. “Let him go. We’ll follow them in my car, Sweets.”

  “NO.” I yank my arm from her hold and stand my ground, watching one of the trainers walk over to us.

  “Let her through. She’s with him.” The paramedic releases me and I rush over to him.

  “I’ll meet you there,” Stacy yells as I reach Noel, who is finally allowing them to help him inside the back. I climb inside and sit where I am told as the techs work on Noel.

  May hands are shaking and I do my own visual assessment of his body, trying not to pull him to me and never let him go. He has a few cuts and scrapes on his dirty face, his arm is blood covered, and his hand is starting to swell. I don’t see any bone sticking through, so why is there blood?

  Noel must see panic in my face, because he covers my hands with his good one and squeezes them to get my attention. “Hey, baby. I’m alright, okay?” he asks and smiles at me in reassurance.

  “Are you sure?”

  “It looks a lot worse that it is, Ma’am,” the paramedic informs me. “The arm is broken, but the blood is simply where the cleats penetrated his arm and face.”

  “See, I’m alright.” Noel smiles and lets the medic clean the cuts and scrapes on his face.

  By the time we reach the local hospital emergency room, my hands have stopped shaking and my stomach has settled down quite a bit. Noel is taken into an exam room with one of the trainers who followed behind us in the school vehicle, while I am left in the waiting room with Stacy, arriving about ten minutes after we did. I’m so thankful the hospital wasn’t very far away from the college.