Coping Skills (Players of Marycliff University Book 5) Read online

  She snorted softly, and he glimpsed a tiny uptick of her lips out of the corner of his eye. “It’s not weddings. I’m just not feeling all that social lately. But they didn’t invite very many people, so my absence would be noticed. Especially since my best friend and her boyfriend, who are both my roommates, are in the wedding party.”

  He’d given up the pretense of not looking at her by now, giving her his full attention. What had happened with her family this summer? Whatever it was had had a profound effect on her, because the Elena he’d gotten to know would be in the thick of the crowd, chatting, meeting all the people she didn’t know, and having a good time. Part of what made the trip so much fun had been her dragging whoever would come with her all over the area to the different chintzy tourist places. Most of the time it had just been him, the other couples choosing to surf or, in the evenings, getting busy in their rooms. They had a block of rooms at a hotel, and the walls weren’t very thick, so he could hear Chris and Megan, whose bed apparently shared a wall with his, going at it. A lot.

  He’d jumped at any chance Elena had given him to get out of there, feeling like a perv listening to their homemade porno soundtrack and getting hard. There was something particularly awkward about being acquainted with the people you could hear having sex, but not being friends enough to give them shit about it. And spending time with Elena was better than fantasizing about her. And by the end of that trip, the fantasy had become a reality more than once. As they’d spent more time together, he’d gotten bolder, and touching had turned into kissing, which had led to her inviting him back to her room the last two nights they were in Westport.

  But this solemn version of her who’d only given him the barest of smiles instead of a hug or a kiss on the cheek? This was someone different. “Rough summer?”

  She looked skyward, blinking rapidly before answering, her voice rough and choked. “You could say that.”

  “I’m sorry.” He paused, unsure what to do or say. Wanting to offer comfort, because even though they hadn’t talked in a couple of months, he still liked her. But since she hadn’t initiated any kind of physical touch, not even a handshake, he hesitated to offer her a hug. She seemed withdrawn, holding herself at a physical distance from everyone, as though needing the space to maintain her psychological distance. Now was not the time to breach that. “You want to talk about it?”

  She shook her head, looking down, letting her hair fall in a curtain around her face. More barriers. “Not now. Not here.”

  Unable to help himself, he brushed his hand over her shoulder and down her arm. “Later, then? I’ve been told I’m a good listener.” Her eyes met his, and the unshed tears there twisted his gut. It had definitely been a bad summer. “You know,” he offered, “I have experience with bad family stuff.”

  Her mouth twisted. “Okay. Later. After everything.” She looked away from him, glancing at the people past him, then met his eyes again. The tears were gone now. “I think they’re getting started. We should sit.”

  They claimed two seats on the end. A violinist stood off to one side, playing something pretty and classical sounding while everyone took their seats, switching to a different song while the wedding party walked down the tiny aisle.

  “Please rise,” intoned the minister as the traditional wedding march began. He turned to see Abby walking through the hedges bordering the garden, her eyes fixed on Lance. She walked alone, a small bouquet of multicolored roses in her hands, wearing a simple, strapless wedding dress. She looked beautiful, her face radiant. And Lance’s expression matched hers. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning, like it took everything in him to stay in place and wait for her to walk to him. Chris’s hand on Lance’s arm confirmed that impression.

  They exchanged the traditional vows, smiling widely as they slipped rings on each other’s fingers. The minister read the Bible passage about love, and everyone clapped and cheered when he said, “You may now kiss the bride.” Lance bent Abby backward for a thorough kiss. When he stood her back up, her cheeks glowed pink, and she hid her face in Lance’s chest. He chuckled, rubbing his hand down her back as the minister announced, “I’m happy to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Lance and Abby Kane!”

  The violinist played the familiar recessional music as Lance and Abby walked back down the aisle, her arm through his, followed by the other two couples. Daniel glanced down at Elena, and was happy to see her smiling, even if it was still tinged with sadness. “Do you want to go to the reception? Or would you rather bail?”

  She looked around, glancing back at the wedding party gathered behind the chairs, laughing and talking. “I should go for a little while, at least. They have a room reserved at Luigi’s for lunch.”

  “Alright. Did you drive?”

  She nodded, her eyes sliding away from him again. They stayed for a while longer, waiting while everyone else talked and laughed. Daniel helped fold and stack the chairs in the back of someone’s pickup so they could be returned to the rental company. After that they all drove to Luigi’s for the reception. He laughed and chatted, too, but all he really wanted to do was get Elena alone and find out what was responsible for the sadness that never left her face, even when she smiled, making her laughter subdued and rare rather than quick and full like it used to be. She seemed like a shadow of the girl he’d met.

  Every time she met his eyes, she looked away quickly, like she didn’t want to let him see too much. Would she let him in enough to tell him what was going on? She’d said she wanted to tell him, but she seemed to be delaying. And he didn’t know what that meant.

  Chapter Three

  “So, um, I’m sorry about cutting you off like that this summer.” Elena sat at the kitchen table in the apartment Daniel shared with Coop, one of his teammates. When Daniel had texted to let Coop know he was bringing a girl over, he’d made himself scarce. Not that Daniel wanted privacy for the reasons Coop would think, but everything about Elena’s demeanor screamed her desire to have this conversation away from anyone else.

  “It’s okay.” He paused, watching her run her fingers up and down the condensation gathering on her glass of ice water. She wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t meet his eyes, so he leaned forward and touched her arm. “You said you had some family stuff going on. I figured it must’ve been bad enough to take over your life for a while. I know how that goes.”

  She finally glanced at him, her eyes running over his face, but then she focused on the condensation on her glass once more. “Do you? I bet it’s not the same as mine.”

  He shrugged, even though she wasn’t looking at him, and sat back in his chair. “My parents divorced when I was thirteen. Dad moved out at the beginning of the summer. It pretty much ruined everything. I didn’t get to do very much. Instead, my little brother and I got shuttled back and forth between my parents, alternating every couple of weeks until school started. The divorce got finalized pretty soon after that, and my mom got primary custody, with every other weekend with my dad. He would always threaten to take Mom to court to change the custody agreement when she wouldn’t give in to him. But it wasn’t because he wanted more time with us. We were pawns to him, something to be used to gain the upper hand. He’s always given us expensive, crazy things to try to make up for the fact that he didn’t spend as much time with us. Oh, and his girlfriends always look closer to my age than his.”

  Elena let out a soft grunt. “I’m sorry. That is sucky.”

  “Yeah, well. I was the first of my friends to get an iPhone, so that was something. And I always get the upgrade as soon as the family plan allows.”

  Now she snorted, setting her glass back down after taking a sip. “Like that makes up for it.”

  “Right? But whatever. You find the good where you can.” His hand settled on the table, reaching for her, but he stopped himself this time. “So what about you? Your parents splitting up? I can’t imagine that would be much easier in college than in middle school. Though you won’t have to worry abo
ut custody agreements.”

  Something like a smile ghosted across her lips. And he was glad that she’d pulled her hair back in a ponytail when she went home to change into shorts and a tank top before coming over to his place. With the way she kept her head down, her gaze fixated on her fingers tracing lines over her glass, her hair would’ve been in her face. This way, he could at least see her profile.

  “No.” She shook her head. “Custody agreements definitely aren’t the problem. My parents are still together. I wish it was only that.” The last sentence came out softer, like she didn’t quite mean to say it.

  “Trust me, you don’t really wish that.”

  Her eyes flicked up to his, and she bit her lip, seeming to consider her next words. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and started talking, the words coming fast and monotone, like she wanted to get it all out as fast as she could. “My dad got in a car accident the week after we got back from Westport. Someone ran a stop sign and plowed into the passenger side, pushing him into the other lane. His head hit the window hard, and then he got hit from the front, slamming his head back against the headrest. The second driver tried to stop, so it wasn’t as bad of a hit as it could’ve been, but it was a two-lane highway, and she was going fifty-five, so she didn’t have enough space to do more than slow down a little.” She shook her head, her eyes opening, but still not looking at him. “He spent two weeks in the hospital, the first in a medically-induced coma until the swelling in his brain went down enough. They weren’t sure he’d actually come out of the coma.” She swallowed, blinking rapidly. “He did, though. The hospital staff was surprised with how quickly he recovered. At least according to them. He got discharged and sent to a rehab facility. He stayed there for another month before he came home.

  “But—“ She bit her lip, shaking her head again, and stopped.

  “But?” Daniel prompted.

  Her eyes met his, gathering tears making her brown eyes shimmer in the afternoon light coming from the window in the living room. “But he’s not the same. At all. I spent my summer shuttling my mom and my brother between home, the hospital, and the rehab center. My mom took him to all of his appointments after he came back home. And I had to contact all his clients and cancel contracts or take over the ones I could.”

  “What kind of contracts?”

  “He does web design and consulting on web marketing and conversion. I helped him in high school, so I offered the web design clients the option of cancelling or having me do it. But the consulting work isn’t something I know enough to do. My mom’s a teacher, so she was off work anyway, and she’s going to take as much family leave as she can before she has to go back.” She sat up straighter, running her fingers under her eyes where a couple of tears had escaped. “Anyway, that’s my awful summer for you. I had to tell so many people about what was going on. Between my dad’s clients, and helping my mom update extended family and friends, it was just too much. I basically stayed away from social media and only talked to Hannah all summer. I couldn’t handle either telling everyone all the shitty things my family was dealing with or pretending everything was fine. And you got caught in that, so, again, I’m sorry. I know it’s super cliché, but it wasn’t you. It was me.”

  Daniel smiled. “It’s alright. I get it. I’m glad you’re talking to me now.” She gave him a small smile in return but didn’t say anything else. The silence stretched between them, her avoiding his gaze again, him staring at her, taking in the line of her jaw, the expanse of skin bared from the low scoop neck of her top. He shifted, feeling awkward, like he should say something. “At least the accident didn’t kill him, though, right?” Her eyes snapped to his. Had he said something wrong? “I mean, that’s something, isn’t it?”

  Her gaze softened, but the sadness that hadn’t left her face seemed to be tempered by something else, and he wasn’t sure what. “Yeah,” she said, almost whispering. “That’s something.”

  That wasn’t quite the response he’d been looking for. Something didn’t sound very comforting the way she said it. But words weren’t his strong suit. He was a math major. He knew numbers and angles, and he knew working hard in the weight room and on the football field. When he was frustrated with something, he dealt with it there or by playing video games with his friends. Maybe a distraction would be good for her.

  He stood. “C’mon. I’ve got an idea.”

  She looked up at him, her brows drawn together, but curiosity in her eyes. “What?”

  Holding out a hand, he tilted his head toward the couch. “I’ll show you.”

  She hesitated a moment longer, then put her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up to standing. Her grip was firm, and he enjoyed the brief contact as he led her to the couch. She sat down while he went over to the consoles, trying to decide which game would be best. Shuffling a few options in his hands, he glanced back at her. “Do you play much?”

  A low chuckle escaped, and the sound made him glad. He wanted to cheer her up, and it seemed to be working already. She shook her head. “Not really. I used to play with my little brother when we were younger, but it’s been years.”

  With a nod, he picked out Mario Kart and put the Wii controllers into the wheels. He always thought they made it harder to control, but it made it more fun if you weren’t being ultra competitive and trying to kick everyone’s ass. She smirked at him when he handed her the controller, but didn’t object.

  “I usually go for the first person shooter games when I’m trying to blow off steam, but those are harder to get the hang of.” He sat, and the old, thrift-store-issue couch sank in the middle so that she leaned toward him. Instead of shifting away like he’d expected, she rested against him, their arms pressed comfortably together. That wouldn’t last long once the game started, but he’d enjoy it while it lasted. Every time her skin touched his, memories of their all-too-brief fling in Westport flitted through his mind—his hand sliding down her back, her face when he went down on her the first time, the naughty smile she gave him right before yanking his shorts down and returning the favor.

  He shifted, trying to think of something else. While repeating all those things sounded like a great idea to him, she wasn’t here for that. And he wasn’t enough of an asshole to try to turn things that way, not after she’d spilled all the shitty details of her summer. No, he knew they wouldn’t go there today. He wouldn’t rule out an opportunity in the future, but right now she needed a friend, not some guy trying to get in her pants. And he was determined to be that friend.

  “Are you going to start the game?”

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah.” He focused his attention on the TV in front of him, his fingers manipulating the controller in his hand to start the game, trying to will the chub in his shorts to go down, glad that at least it wouldn’t be too obvious while he was sitting.

  Soon they were both involved in the game, throwing their whole bodies into turns, elbowing each other on accident, then on purpose, laughing and dueling for position. Since he was bigger and heavier, he won more often than not, but Elena knew how to use her sharp little elbows to her advantage, probably the result of growing up with a younger brother. He didn’t have a sister, but he had friends who did, and some of their older sisters were just as rough as he was on his little brother. Clearly Elena fell into that category of older sister.

  After one elbow contest where Elena was losing, both with her elbow, and her narrow lead on screen, she hopped up and sat on his lap, knocking the controller out of his hands, making his character veer off course and crash. She braced her feet on the coffee table, pushing back to smash him as far into the couch as she could, pushing the coffee table away as she did so.

  Wrapping his arms around her, he caught her before she could fall off his lap, trapping her against his chest, pulling her back, and rolling sideways so he pinned her on the couch. She laughed, squirming under him, and tossed aside the controller, blowing out a breath to try to dislodge the ends of her ponytail caught in her mouth.
r />   She slapped his tricep lightly. “Move your arm! I can’t believe you made me crash!”

  He laughed, moving his arm, but brushing the hair off her face before she could. Her laughter died, and she stilled under him, as though she suddenly realized how she was laying, pinned under him.

  His breath caught at the look on her face, equal parts memory and desire as her eyes flitted over his features and settled on his lips. “You made me crash first.”

  Her eyes went back to his, and her smile was dazzling, finally reaching her eyes and driving out the perpetual sadness. “I was just trying to win.”

  Now his gaze settled on her lips, lush and red, still smiling, though less widely now. He remembered the taste of those lips. Had been wanting to taste them again ever since.

  Slowly, he lowered his head to hers, giving her plenty of time to turn away if she wanted. But she didn’t. Instead, she closed the distance, fastening her mouth to his, her tongue plunging into his mouth. That was all the invitation he needed, and he took control of the kiss, sucking on her tongue and sliding his along it, forcing her to retreat so he could take her mouth, his hands bracing her head, holding her still to taste her as thoroughly as he’d been hoping to since Megan had dangled the prospect of seeing her again in front of him.

  Her hands drifted to his waist, finding the hem of his shirt, and running up underneath it, skating along his ribs. He shivered under her touch, his muscles jumping, but he didn’t slow his assault on her mouth. When she pressed her hips up to make firm contact with his, he groaned. With her hands now gripping his ass, she rubbed herself against him, and he pulled back, his chest heaving against hers.

  And there was that naughty smile that he’d gotten to know. God, he didn’t know if he’d ever get enough of that look. Her hips dropped and her hand came around to cup him through his shorts, rubbing up and down his cock. He thrust into her hand, unable to help himself.