Claiming Xana (Wildcat Graduates Book 2) Page 3

  I have to admit, it is pretty humorous. It’s actually nice to have someone put her in her place and call her out on her bullshit. If I could go back and tell her off again, I would.

  Cade and I look at each other, the same look covering our faces. His mouth slowly turns into a grin, and I can’t help but return it. He turns to Kevin and says, “What I would have given to see that. She just can’t stop herself, can she?” he asks, not really expecting an answer; we all know it’s the truth. I wish Xana could have been there to witness it, give her some sense of justice from it. She deserves that.

  “Enough talk about that viper. Let’s hit some balls.” I stand and grab my bat before setting the pitching machine and taking my turn.

  The guys follow suit and we fall back into a relaxed batting practice before switching over to catching. We joke around, like we usually so, and get a good workout in the process, before calling it a day. My arms are sore from swinging too hard, but my mind feels more at peace.

  Cade and I thank Kevin and Mark for working out with us, and we go our separate ways in silence to Cade’s pickup. As we climb in, Cade breaks the quietness I’m enjoying.

  “I can’t wait to tell Stacy about Lexus. She’ll love it, and be pissed all over again that I wouldn’t let her kick her ass back then. I can’t believe she’s still mad at me for that,” he shakes his head and laughs.

  “I can believe it. Stace never backs away from that kind of thing. Especially not when Xana is involved. Hell, I’m still pissed over it.” I roll my eyes closed and take a deep breath. “I never want to hear her name, or see her face, ever again,” I say, looking over at Cade as he pulls out of the parking lot and heads toward my house. “Ya feel me?” My brow raises in suggestion that he agrees with me.

  “Absolutely,” he states and pulls into my driveway behind my mom’s car. “Call me with the time for tomorrow,” he yells at me before I close the truck door. Nodding in response, I walk inside the house, and head for the shower. My mind is on Xana and what she might be doing with Jeff this weekend. Part of me hopes he ignores her so he doesn’t touch her. That’s complete shit. ALL of me hopes that happens.

  Cade and I got back a few hours ago, just in time to eat dinner and clean up before we need to report to the band hall. Tonight’s game should be a tough win for us, but the football team seems really pumped up and eager to play. That always makes for an exciting game; their excitement is always contagious.

  The band director is getting ready to begin our warm-ups when Xana and Stacy walk into the rehearsal room and, just my luck, Jeff is waiting in the doorway to watch us. Watch her. I sit behind her, in clear sight of his perusal of her, but it doesn’t take long for his gaze to wander over to the three majorettes, complete in skimpy, sequined uniform, and begin his visual inspection of them. He’s lucky we’re in public and I can’t make a scene.

  We’ve finished our warm-ups and are headed outside to line up in entrance formation, when Jeff walks over to where the majorettes and flag line are practicing bits and pieces of their routines individually. He makes it a point to kiss her, all the while looking at me over her shoulder and winking as he pulls away from the kiss. That smug bastard. He’s only doing it to taunt me, not because of his feelings about her. Game on, asshole. I’ll be waiting for him to screw it all up. He just proved he will.

  Marching into the bleachers, we file into our usual places and begin to settle in, while the percussionists play cadences until we are all in our assigned seats. Jeff and his fraternity brothers, from the looks of the Phi Sigma Chi letter shirts they have on, sit down on the row right across from Xana in the flagline group. They’re so busy talking that Jeff never even acknowledges her, even after they walked right beside her as she sat on the end of the row by the aisle. What a jerk.

  Third quarter is our time to take a break after our halftime performance, and visit with our friends and family, or relax in the stands and enjoy the game. Most of us, after getting refreshments, usually end up back in the band section jamming out and having a lot of fun watching the game. Tonight is no different, and the percussion and brass sections are playing all sorts of cadences and pieces of songs, while the other sections dance and sing along.

  During this break time we are allowed to sit, not just talk, with family or friends outside of our area, and that is where Xana is now. Sitting with Jeff and his frat brothers, a bunch of girls hanging all over them. She seems to be enjoying herself, and having a good time. From what I can tell, she gets along well with his friends. It’s no real surprise to me; she gets along with almost everyone she meets.

  Before I know it, third quarter is over and the whole band is back in place, cheering our team on and entertaining the crowd with our songs and chants. Everyone is in a great mood as the game comes to a close, with a Mulerider win of forty-two to twenty-one. It was a really great game.

  We all make our way back to the band hall afterwards to put our instruments away, and decide what to do for the rest of the evening. There are several parties going on and Cade and I decide to go to the party a lot of other band members are going to. The last few ‘band’ parties were a lot of fun, and everyone is very laid back, so I don’t mind hanging out there for a while.

  “I need to go shower and change, so give me like an hour to get ready, okay?” Stacy asks Cade as we walk out of the music building.

  “Sounds good. Want to go grab some pizza before heading over there?” Cade takes Stacy’s hand and turns them toward her dorm.

  “That’s fine with me. I’m heading on over to shower,” I say, pointing to the dorm. “Later.”

  Turning and walking back to my dorm, I come across Xana and Jeff, standing on the band hall steps, her arms wrapped around his waist. He leans down to kiss her, but doesn’t hold her or touch her in any other way on his own. That’s very odd. I could never stop touching her, even if it was just to hold her hand as we sat or walked. How can he not want to touch her?

  I’m lost in my thoughts when I find myself standing on the dorm steps, staring up at the sky. I’m so messed up. I miss Xana so much I can barely breathe when I think about never getting her back. Yet, if she’s really happy with Jeff, and he treats her well, who am I to deny her that happiness, even if it kills mine?

  The football game tonight was such a great win for us. The Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers played a strong offense, with an even stronger defense. Our team earned that victory with good old-fashioned hard work. They’ll be celebrating this win well into next week.

  Jeff and I are standing on the steps of the band hall when his phone rings. I wrap my arms around his waist as he takes the call. He seems to be talking to one of his frat brothers, from what I can hear of his one-sided conversation. I’m ready to get out of this flag uniform. Even if it is thinner than the regular band uniforms, I’m still hot and sweaty.

  Putting away his phone, Jeff looks down at me and says. “Go and get changed and cleaned up. We’re going to the party we’re having with Alpha Pi.” He covers my mouth with his and kisses me leisurely, before placing a quick peck on my cheek and pulling his head back. Turning us to leave he continues, “I’ll go pick up some drinks for the party and be back to pick you up, say maybe an hour. Be waiting in the lobby, alright?” he asks as we approach my dorm.

  “Okay,” I say, looking him in the eyes. “I’ll be ready.”

  “Good. Hurry up and I’ll be right back.” Jeff squeezes my shoulders and moves me toward the front doors. “Bye, baby,” he calls out then makes his way to the parking lot and his car.

  When I reach my room, Stacy has already showered and is rummaging through her closet for an outfit to wear. “Is the closet trying to suck you in, Stace,” I laugh as she continues to toss garments left and right from their hangers.

  “Oh, shut up, hooker!” She peeks around one of the closet doors and scowls. Scowls. At me. “I can’t decide what to wear. The weather isn’t cold enough for sweaters, and it’s definitely too cold for shorts or tank tops. U
gh! This sucks!”

  Giggling at her frustration while I get my shower items ready has Stacy even more irritated. It’s quite comical, “Well, you’re never going to find anything if you keep throwing your crap all over the place, either. What party are you going to?” I ask as I trade my uniform shoes for a pair of blue glittery flip flops.

  “Band party. Where are you going?” she asks, looking intently at two different legging outfits.

  “Frat-sorority party with his fraternity. Not sure if it’s at the same place they usually are or not. I’ll let ya know if it’s somewhere different.”

  I open the door to go shower, when Stacy calls out, “You’d better not forget, either.” She shoots me a glare that makes me laugh my way to the bathroom. Yeah, I’m so scared.

  Stacy has already left by the time I’m straightening my hair. It’s the last thing I have to do, but takes the longest, and is easier to do after I am dressed. It’s so much easier to leave it curly after I wash it, but Jeff made me see how straighter hair is taken more seriously in the business world. I suppose he’s right, but it still takes me forever to fix it. Maybe cutting it all off would be better for me. I’ll have to think about that option.

  I’m gathering up my lip gloss and when I notice the time. Jeff should be here in less than ten minutes and I can’t keep him waiting, so I hurriedly throw my things into my purse and leave, locking the door behind me. He really hates having to wait for me to meet him.

  I’m chatting with the girl on duty at the front desk and her friend when Jeff walks into the lobby. Smiling at each other, we meet in the middle of the lobby and hug each other before finding our way out of the dorm, hand in hand.

  “How’s the restaurant business?” I ask and lean into his side, my face resting against his shoulder.

  We’re nearing his car in the empty lot, almost everyone’s out partying already, when he says, “Not too bad, actually. Dad’s a real hard ass a lot of the time, but I’m used to it by now,” he laughs at himself, clearly remembering childhood situations with his dad. “I do almost have him talked into upgrading security with the new system your dad and Mike have been using lately,” he states, unlocking my door and leaving me to climb into his car.

  He climbs into the car and starts the engine before I continue our conversation. “That’s a good thing. They’ve had a lot of success with the newer systems and are impressed with how easy it is to switch over from the old ones.”

  “Yeah, I hope I can convince Dad it will be more beneficial than it sounds. I’ve even hinted that he could do those mystery diner types of surveillance on the employees. He got a little excited at that at that idea.” We both laugh at the thought. I’ve never really been around his parents, but I’ve seen enough to know he isn’t joking. His dad really would love spying on them. He is truly a handful.

  “Oh, my word! How did you keep from laughing at him? I would have died,” I laugh, resting my head on the headrest while I laugh more.

  Stopping his own laughter, Jeff replies, “It wasn’t exactly easy. He was acting like a kid at Christmas just thinking about it. I finally had to pretend I was needed up front so I could just walk away.” He shakes his head and laughs a little more to himself.

  “I can only imagine the look on his face.”

  “Enough about him. How about you. How are your classes going so far?” he asks, glancing over at me while we stop at a stop sign.

  My body suddenly fills with dread just thinking about my classes. “They’re...going,” I say, unable to respond with anything else truthful. Jeff turns to look at me after he parks the car in the parking lot. I pretend to be looking at the people standing around the door to the building so I can avoid his gaze. It doesn’t matter, because he takes hold of my chin and turns my head so our eyes meet.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t you like the classes you have this semester?” he asks, almost as if he’s surprised to hear my lack of enthusiasm for them.

  “Nothing. I’m fine, really. They’re just really hard to understand half the time. It’s so frustrating, that’s all.”

  Jeff smiles, and his hand falls from my chin and pulls away to say, “Just study more and you’ll get it figured out. It’s not that complicated once you get the hang of it, alright?” I nod, but am not in agreement, and he continues, “Let’s go party with the guys.” He quickly exits the car to help me out and walks me to the door.

  There are a lot of people here already, and he wastes no time in ushering us inside, straight into the middle of the party. We are greeted by lots of people, only about half of which I know, and are soon immersed in dancing and having a good time. Drinks are flowing, all of which I refuse, and the music never stops.

  After three hours have passed, I’m exhausted and extremely thirsty from dancing, but can’t do anything about it before being gathered into a group photo with his brothers. Fortunately the photo including the sorority girls is being taken after our pictures, so I’m able to sneak to the bathroom while they’re busy with that.

  I’ve just entered the bathroom stall when I hear several girls enter. They sound drunk by the way they are giggling and bumping into each other.

  “Did you see who showed up tonight, Britt? Maybe you can get him away from her and have some alone time with him,” girl one says, slightly slurred, but I don’t recognize her voice.

  “I’m surprised they’re still together. He didn’t seem so taken with her at the rush party last month. Maybe he’ll get tired of her soon,” Brittney replies, “and then I can have Jeff all to myself.” Jeff? I can hear the smugness in her words, and almost see the pleased expression she must have on her face.

  “I don’t know, Britt,” girl three says skeptically. “He’s still dating her, so he must really like her.” The other two laugh at her, and I’m so interested in their conversation, taking care of my own business is forgotten.

  “Come on, he can’t be that serious about her if he doesn’t come to see her that often. She apparently isn’t that special,” girl one chimes in, completely agreeing with Brittney.

  “Besides,” Brittney says, “what kind of name is Xana, anyway?” Her distaste for me is even clearer than before. “Ugh, let’s go. Maybe he’s alone for a while.” The girls laugh and stumble their way out of the restroom, leaving me frozen in the stall.

  My mind slowly processes what I’ve heard, and I’m left completely stunned. Why was it such a big deal that Jeff and I were dating? Yes, he’s really cute, a nice guy, and pretty popular, but why do I seem to be not good enough for him to date? We aren’t together all the time because He. Has. A. JOB. I barely know those girls, so why do they presume to know me well enough to have a problem with me? The more I think about it, the more pissed off I become. This night isn’t over yet.

  After finishing up in the restroom, I rejoin the party and find Jeff standing over by the giant tub of hunch punch talking to a bunch of his brothers and their girlfriends. Matt is the first one to see me reach their group and smiles at me.

  “Hey! We thought you got lost in there. Are you okay?” he teases while the guys all laugh. Jeff pulls me to his side, smiling widely on his own.

  “Nope, just had to wait for the catty bitches to do their obligatory drunken trash talk in the stalls. You know, the usual shit stirring.” I wink at him and everyone cracks up, laughing louder than before.

  “Damn, man, You’ve got a sassy girl.” Shane tells Jeff. “She’s a good one.” I smile at Shane and Jeff pulls me to his side.

  “She’s usually pretty quiet,” he laughs and looks at me. Is that slight irritation I see on his face? “Guess y’all just bring it out in her,” he shakes his head in semi-amusement.

  “Nah, it’s all that red hair. I’d bet my life on it.” Paul chimes in and winks at me. He really is good looking. Tall and thin, with dark, curly brown hair that has a mind of his own. Whenever he decides to get a girlfriend, she’ll be one lucky girl; he’s hilarious and sweet.

  We’re interrupted when a few of the
girlfriends drag the guys out to the dance floor. “This is my jam,” the blonde with Shane says, pulling him along behind her. Jeff and I laugh as he shakes his head the whole way there.

  “I’m thirsty. What’s left to drink?” I ask, turning my chest to his, my hands on his hips.

  “They’re out of everything but the punch, and it’s almost gone. Want a small cup before we head out? It’s nearly three and you’re starting to yawn.”

  “Yeah, one glass isn’t gonna kill me, as long as I leave the fruit alone,” I shake my head, remembering the last time I ate the fruit in the punch. The fruit that had been marinating in alcohol for two days, soaking up its fill of booze. I ate enough of it, I was totally buzzed and well on my way to wasted in fifteen minutes. I’m not repeating that again. Not if I can help it.

  He laughs at the face I’m making and hands me a cup of punch, minus the fruit. “Yeah, that wasn’t such a good night for you.”

  A few of the guys make their way back to us to get more to drink, and we talk while I finish off my drink. Thank goodness the red Solo cup was only half full, I’m feeling pretty buzzed from it. We make small talk and they trade drunk stories from previous parties. Honestly, I’m surprised half of them aren’t completely sloshed right now.

  Jeff and I finally say our goodbyes and he gets Shane’s room keys from him before we are able to leave the party. “You’re staying with him tonight?” I ask as he helps me into the car and shuts the door.

  Climbing in on his side, he replies, “Yeah. His roommate is gone this weekend and is letting me crash there. I don’t have to be back in Texarkana until four for the dinner shift.”