Consumed: A MMA Sports Romance (52 page)

CHAPTER
TWO

After a few days, I managed to calm down.
I was steadily miserable, but at least I was able to focus on my classes and my
life once more. I was actually almost grateful for what had happened; it would
have been really easy for me to totally and completely be distracted by Zack in
my life if I hadn’t found out the kind of person that he was. I would’ve mooned
along, totally wrapped up in him; having great sex, for sure, but probably
missing deadlines and losing the quality of my work.

Jess had been keeping a wide berth around
me—or maybe, I thought with grim humor, she was just too busy to be in the
dorms very much. In the bottom half of the semester, everyone was focusing down
more on their studies, trying to pull their grades up or finish strong. I had
competition to book a private study room in the library every morning, but I
hated the thought of being out in the middle of the room where Zack could see
me and try and talk to me—if he dared. I didn’t want to have to listen to the
murmurs around me either; so I kept my headphones on and just went straight to
the room I booked for studying and stayed in there as long as I was allotted
and came out with my headphones on. It would boil over in time, and someone
else would do something humiliating to take the attention off of me. It was
just a matter of getting through it.

I had somehow managed to get through all
of my classwork—I even got ahead a few chapters on the American History
syllabus and read ahead in the assignments for literature and Intro to
Journalism. With nothing to do, I decided an afternoon of watching TV, eating
snacks, and just letting my mind drift was the best possible use of my
time.
 
I popped cheese-flavored crackers
into my mouth mindlessly, staring at the TV and relaxing, not thinking about
anything in particular.

My vegetation was interrupted by the sound
of the dorm door opening. Jess came into the room quickly, grinning as she
threw herself into a chair. “Gotten over Zack yet?” she asked me.

I scowled.

“Come on, Jess, don’t be a bitch.”

Jess sighed and rolled her eyes, reaching
over and snatching the box from the coffee table and dumping out a handful. She
popped a few into her mouth, chewing and swallowing before she spoke again.

“Well, I mean, it’s been a few days since
you kicked him to the curb. So I figured you wouldn’t mind doing me a favor.”

I raised an eyebrow and snatched the box
of crackers away from her, pouring some into my hand and putting the box back
onto the table.

“Oh, so not concern for my well-being, but
my ability to help you out.”

 
Jess grinned broadly. “Well, see, it’s not
just helpful to me, but it could be helpful to you, too!” I was suspicious of
the chirpy tone of her voice.

“Okay,” I said slowly. “Tell me what this
is about.”

“Well you know how I’m having a bit of
trouble in Economics?” I had heard Jess moaning from her room over how
difficult her Economics class was—and how little hope she had of finishing with
a decent grade.

“Yeah,” I said cautiously. What did her
problems with Econ have to do with my single status?

“So there’s this guy in my class, Derick.”
I pressed my lips together. Of course. “Trust me, Evie, if I could have
convinced him to help me by giving him a date with me, I’d have done it. But
he’s not into me. He’s into you.”

“So you volunteered me for a date with
some guy I don’t know so he’d help you pass Economics?”

Jess shrugged, still smiling. “Look,
everyone benefits; I get help for Economics, Derick gets a date with a girl
he’s into, and you get a chance to get back out there—and a free meal.”

I wanted to be angry at her but I had to
laugh.

“You didn’t—I mean he’s not expecting
anything other than the date, right?”

Jess nodded quickly. “Yeah, no, there’s no
guarantee of anything other than you going with him to dinner. He’s on his own
if he wants to get you to make out or sleep with him—I made that completely
clear.”

I shook my head, smiling in spite of
myself. On the one hand, it was kind of soothing to my battered ego that
someone wanted to take me on a date. On the other hand, it was a bit irritating
that Jess had volunteered me for a date with a stranger. One of the last things
I wanted was to get involved with a member of the opposite sex; I was only just
recovering from the aftermath of my feelings towards Zack.

“And you specified only one date, right?”
I asked her, wanting to rebel but not quite feeling up to it. If Jess had
guaranteed the guy that I’d go out with him for as long as he wanted, I’d say
no flat out.

“One date. Dinner and a movie. That’s it.
No sleeping with him, no guarantees for a second date, nothing like that.”

I sighed. “Well, what’s he like?”

Jess shrugged. “He dresses in polo shirts
and khakis most of the time, kind of shy, not a bad guy but not all that
interesting. But he’s got the highest grade in the Econ class and he’s smart.”
I popped a few more cheese crackers in my mouth and chewed them meditatively.

“Fine,” I said, shaking my head again. A
date was the last thing I wanted—but Jess was my friend, and it wouldn’t kill
me to get out for once. “For you, I’ll do it. But next time you decide to
barter me for favors, do me a favor and ask me first.”

Jess grinned. “You’d have just said no.”

“If you do this again I will say no and
there will be nothing for you to do about it but find someone else.”

Jess’ face fell into more serious lines
and she nodded.

“Fair enough. But we have a deal on this
one, right? You won’t decide at the last minute not to go?”

“If he turns out to be horrible, I will
leave him in the middle of the date if I have to, but I will at least give him
a fair shot.”

“That’s all I’m asking. My GPA thanks
you.”

CHAPTER
THREE

In the few days leading up to the date, I
tried to prepare myself; apart from the date with Zack, I hadn’t really gone
out with a guy since junior year of high school. In my senior year, I’d been so
focused on getting scholarships, and so wrapped up in my mom’s decline and
death that I hadn’t been able to even consider the possibility of going on a
date with anyone. It just hadn’t even been on my radar. Derick had gotten my
number from Jess and sent me a couple of text messages, confirming that my
friend’s offer was legitimate and that I was willing to go out with him. I said
what I was supposed to—that I was looking forward to it, that I was happy to get
to know him, all of the polite things. But my heart wasn’t really in it. I was
still—in spite of the anger I had felt—more than a little bit turned around and
flipped over in my mind about Zack, still questioning what had happened and
whether it was for the best.

The night of the date, Jess pulled me into
my room and went to work at making sure that I was appropriate for the evening.

“Jess, it’s just dinner and a movie,” I
insisted with a groan. “It’s not even someone I particularly want to impress. I
can go as I am.”

Jess shook her head, going through my
wardrobe quickly. “He’s taking you to a really expensive restaurant; you need
to look right for that. And anyway, you don’t know—maybe he’s just your speed.”

I sighed and rolled my eyes, but I knew that
when Jess was in her educational mood, it was useless to argue with her. She
pulled out one of the few really nice skirts I owned, a button-down silk shirt,
and a blazer that I’d last worn to my college interviews. I raised an eyebrow,
but at least, I thought, I couldn’t be accused of leading anyone on in an
outfit like that. Jess went into her own room while I changed and came back
with a pair of heels that went perfectly with the outfit—taller than I normally
wore, but I could manage them. She pushed me down into my desk chair and
quickly did my hair and makeup; in the end I looked like a sleek, put-together
woman—kind of like my mom. The comparison made me almost want to cry; but I
held back my tears, knowing that I’d just ruin the makeup and start my date off
on completely the wrong foot.

I sat in the common area of the dorm to
wait for the guy to show up. He apparently had quite a nice car, according to
Jess; I’d never seen it myself, and I wondered if he was like the kinds of guys
I’d known in high school who’d had the nicer cars—braggarts who didn’t care
about anything other than their material possessions. One thing I’d always
liked about Zack: he didn’t put that much importance on his possessions. I
shied away from the comparison. I wasn’t going to think about Zack at all. I
wasn’t going to compare him—especially favorably—to the guy that I was with. I
would put him completely out of my mind.

Just when I was starting to become really
impatient, there was a knock at the door. I stood quickly and heard Jess’ door
slam open. She was right there at my side. “Remember,” she said quietly. I
rolled my eyes but nodded, and opened the door to let Derick in. He was taller
than Zack by maybe an inch or two, but not as muscular; where Zack had
medium-brown hair and dark eyes, Derick had sandy blond hair, pale blue eyes,
and slightly freckled pale skin that had an almost-translucent look to it. He
smiled at me as he stepped over the threshold, dressed in a pair of slacks and
a button-down shirt that was just slightly too big for him, though the deep
maroon color of it complemented his skin and hair.

“It’s good to meet you, Evelyn,” Derick
said, extending his hand. I shook it quickly, feeling awkward and uncertain. He
seemed like a perfectly nice guy and Jess had said more than once that he was,
but there was something stilted, something just a little bit off-putting about
his excitement. “You look lovely.”

He pulled me closer by the hand, giving me
a quick hug. I could smell his green, reedy-smelling cologne, with the
sweat-smell underneath that told me he was nervous.

“Have a great night, you two,” Jess said,
beaming at us both. Derick turned to lead me out through the door and she shot
me one last cautioning look, mouthing “be nice,” as I let myself be pulled out
of the comfort of my dorm.

Derick’s car was nice—it was a relatively
recent model BMW, which was the first real topic of conversation that I could
actually feel comfortable discussing; the ride down on the elevator had been
awkwardly silent, and the walk to the parking lot wasn’t much better. “Nice
Beemer,” I said, smiling politely.

“My parents got it for me as a graduation
present; not new, but with a car like this new isn’t really needed.”

He opened the door for me on the passenger
side and I reached over to unlock the driver’s side as he walked around the
front of the car. When he started up the car, his stereo came on, not quite
blasting Hot Hot Heat over the speakers. I gave him at least a few points for
having decent taste in music and tried to relax against the lush seat as Derick
pulled out of the parking spot.

He let me pick the movie and I tried to
choose something that neither of us would hate. It was easy for me to see that
Derick was trying to impress me; there was an intensity to his gaze on me,
something in the way that he kept checking to see if I was comfortable, if I
was happy. It wasn’t like with Zack—and I stopped myself hard and fast in the
midst of that thought. Derick was a different person from the guy I had dated
before. He was a little shy, he was a little awkward. The movie I picked was
sold out for the closest showing, so we had twenty minutes in the lobby to
stand and talk.

“Jess says you’re the best one in the Econ
class,” I said, trying not to fidget or pick at my clothes.

“Oh yes,” Derick said, smiling quickly.
“Economics is really fascinating if you can get into it and understand it.”

I was relieved and bored at the same time
as he launched into an explanation of his theories as to how economics could
explain anything and everything in the world, even how he’d been thrilled to
have a chance to put his economic understanding to use in bargaining his help
in exchange for a chance to impress me on a date.

When it was time to start heading in for
the movie—a comedy that I’d seen trailers for on TV that at least cut the
difference between the romantic dramas and action flicks that were the
theater’s other offerings—Derick asked me if I wanted anything at the
concession stand. Since we were going to dinner afterward, I settled for a
soda; Derick bought some candy that he offered to share, and I found myself
then agreeing to make sure I ate some of it. I checked the time on the big wall
clock on our way into the theater and told myself that at least during the
movie we wouldn’t have to talk much.

I wasn’t being totally fair to Derick and
I knew it. He wasn’t a bad guy—he was nice and polite, holding the door for an
older couple who came behind us, saying “please” and “thank you” to the ticket
booth person and the concession stand person alike, and looking after my
comfort constantly. But I couldn’t really see anything obvious that we had in
common. He asked what I was studying and listened patiently as I explained why
I went into Journalism, why I wanted to go on to work in that field.