Page 11 of Tempting the Goalie (Riverside U #5)

CHAPTER EIGHT

I sabelle

I woke up early and went for a jog. Now I’m back at my house to shower and get ready for a day of classes and volunteering in the wellness center.

After my shower, I slip into a baggy pair of jeans and put on a cropped long-sleeve waffle shirt.

I brush out my hair and since I don’t have time to dry it, I tie it up into a lose bun.

I apply some lip gloss and head down to the kitchen.

Norah is blending a smoothie in the blender.

She turns to me. “Sounds like someone had fun last night.”

I wince. “Sorry if we were too loud.”

“Um. . .that’s okay. You really had a good time.” She smirks.

“It was nice.” I blush.

“You brought home a hockey player. Those guys are always a good time,” she shares. Her words feel like ice water has been poured over me, and I wince.

“How do you know who it was?” I ask. None of the girls were around when Luc came to my room, and no one saw him leave.

She opens her phone and shows me a blurry video of Luc and me making out in his car. “How did you get that?” I ask, feeling my stomach churn. This isn’t good.

“Some of the bunnies on campus run an anonymous account. They post hookups of different athletes on campus,” Norah explains.

“Shit! This isn’t good.” My panic is rising because the last thing I need is to be seen as a hockey player floozy. “I better get going. I have to be on campus.”

“Aren’t you going to have breakfast?” Norah frowns. “Bet you burned a lot of calories last night.”

I hate that the very personal experience I had with Luc has now become public knowledge.

I fell asleep grinning and woke up with a spring in my step, feeling confident and good about my experience.

My head was also spinning with our off-the-charts chemistry but I wanted our experience to stay private, which seems impossible now.

With a racing heart, I grab my backpack and throw everything I need inside.

I stumble toward the door, telling Norah to have a good day as I slip on my sneakers and head out.

As I’m walking down the street, tears sting my eyes.

I don’t like being on public display. I search for the post Norah showed me, and I start reading the comments.

Who’s Chabot’s new flavor?

Chabot sure does move fast.

Who is the mystery girl?

My head is spinning as I make my way to campus. My cell rings the moment I get on the grounds. It’s Luc.

“Hello.”

“Mon coeur.”

“Don’t Mon coeur me, Luc,” I demand.

“Shit. You saw the video.” He sighs.

“My roommate Norah just enlightened me that I’m now officially one of your floozies,” I spit.

I hear him hiss and mutter something. “You could never be that to me,” he assures, his voice soft and caring like it always is.

“We can’t take last night back. That kiss is plastered all over the internet for everyone to see,” I say with anger and indignation.

“I didn’t think we would be seen. This is on me. I feel horrible about this, last night was special to me.”

“I need to go, Luc. This is too much.” I end the call. I’m on the verge of a panic attack when I make it to class. I see Yuna and Priya sitting up front. They’ve saved me a seat. Class doesn’t start for a good ten minutes, so we usually spend some time chatting before.

“Morning,” I say to them and take a seat.

“Are you okay?” Yuna asks with concern.

“You look white as a ghost,” Priya adds.

“After the way you left last night with Luc, we thought maybe something finally happened,” Yuna says, looking hopeful.

I feel the sting of tears prick my eyes, but I refuse to let myself fall apart in class.

“Something did happen and it’s been plastered all over the internet for everyone to see,” I say to my friends. They both look a mixture of confusion and shock.

I pull up the video.

“That isn’t so bad. You guys are just kissing,” Yuna says.

“I’m his new floozy, according to the comments,” I bite back.

“That’s just not true. We can see how much he cares about you. You made him jealous last night. That should tell you something,” Priya clarifies.

“He’s just overprotective of me,” I insist.

“That’s why he kissed you?” Yuna retorts, raising her brows with challenge.

“Last night was very confusing,” I admit.

“Wanna tell us more?” Priya asks.

“He came back to the house with me,” I confess.

Priya’s jaw drops.

“We didn’t sleep together,” I clarify. “Luc was being a good friend.”

“I don’t understand,” Yuna says.

“I asked him to help me out with my sex problems,” I whisper.

“Ooh,” Yuna says, dropping her mouth in a large O. “And did he, in fact, help you out?”

She knows I am talking about my inability to orgasm.

I nod.

That’s when the professor starts class so we stop talking and focus on her, only I can’t focus because my head is spinning.

My cell pings with a message since I forgot to silence it and the professor gives the class a dirty look, not knowing where the sound came from. I have the urge to hide under my desk. I quickly put my phone on silent and look at the message.

It’s from West.

West: We need to talk.

This day just keeps getting worse.

Yuna sees the message and whispers, “Do you think he saw the video of you and Luc?”

I shrug. “Who the hell cares? I don’t owe him anything.”

Priya adds, “He went to Riverside. He may still follow that account. Bet he had his share of videos on there.”

I wince at her comment, but she doesn’t realize it. I just feel like such a fool.

Over the next few days, I stick to myself. I see Priya and Yuna in classes but outside of class I spend my time in the library. From what I know about social media, it takes a few days for things to blow over, or at least until the next big story drops.

Only, three days later people are still watching me on campus. Girls are whispering in each other’s ears when they see me and guys are smiling at me. I’ve gone from never being seen to having too much attention on me.

West has also messaged me three more times, so now I know he’s seen the video. He had the audacity to ask me if I was hooking up with Luc when we were together. I still haven’t replied to him because I don’t think he deserves an answer.

My best friend has also been calling and texting, but I’ve been avoiding him too. It seems that every time I get an ounce of happiness in my life, something has to go wrong.