Page 23 of The Hardest Fall

Copying my move, she scooted forward in her seat. “Because I happen to know you actually do have a girlfriend, and before you accuse me of stalking you, I’m not—I didn’t. I saw your Snap on Campus Stories. After I saw the way you were kissing her, I’d say she is the definition of a girlfriend, but I guess with so many girls throwing themselves at you, you can’t bother to label someone as your girlfriend and bind yourself to only one person. Why stay with one when you can sample so many more, right?”

“I don’t use social media.”

“Then it was her account, I guess.”

“Huh.” She was still looking at me expectantly, so sure she had me cornered. “Is this how you are to all people, or is it just me that brings out this side of you? First the desk comment and now this—do you have something against athletes?”

Her expression faltered. “What?”

I rubbed my neck and sighed. I was the one who had insisted we do an impromptu Q&A, but I hadn’t thought she’d start with all the hard questions. “It’s true, I did have a girlfriend a week ago, or maybe it’s been longer…I haven’t really kept track, but it doesn’t matter. I walked in on her getting fucked by two of my teammates, so that was pretty much the end of our relationship, which is also why I need a new place to stay. By the way, not all athletes do what they do just so they can have their fill of girls. It doesn’t work like that. You can’t put everyone in the same box. Some of us choose to stay away from distractions at all costs, and some of us like the attention. You can’t decide which category I fall into before you make an effort to know me. I’m not a liar, and I have a very hard time dealing with them. Me being an athlete doesn’t make me any less than some guy you’d fall for.” Why did I have to put it like that? Fuck me… Nobody was going to do any kind of falling. “Again, I’m a little disappointed. I didn’t figure you to be judgmental. My bad.”

Maybe this getting to know each other thing wasn’t one of my best ideas. Maybe I should’ve kept my head down and just co-existed.

I stood up. “This wasn’t a good idea. Good night, Zoe—”

“No,” she burst out, jumping up. “No. Please, don’t go. I’m sorry, Dylan. You’re right. I’m not like this. I’m being a judgmental bitch, and I’m not like that, trust me. I have no idea what’s wrong with me tonight. I think after what happened earlier, thinking I was about to be killed by a clown and then the shock of realizing you were the intruder…anyway, the reason doesn’t matter anyway. Sometimes when I’m nervous I talk too much and it’s just a bad case of word vomit.” She gestured at herself with her hand. “See, I’m still talking, aren’t I? I should stop, I know I should, yet I can still hear myself talking, but you know what? You’re right—if we’re going to share an apartment, we should at least know a few things about each other.” She came to stand in front of me, rose up on her tiptoes to reach my shoulders, and pushed me back down on the couch.

Then she was off walking toward the kitchen area that overlooked the living room. “I’m gonna make us coffee and we’re going to talk until you’re sure you’re in a safe place and not living with a bitchy lunatic who will attack you in your sleep.” She looked at me over her shoulder. “Though, I have to point out, you did scare the living shit out of me by walking in unannounced and all creepy like, so I’m just putting it out there that the rolling pin thing shouldn’t be on me. That one was all you.”

Standing behind the island that separated the small kitchen area from the living room, she stopped speaking. When I just kept staring at her instead of answering, she tucked her hair behind her ear and waited expectantly.

I relaxed in my seat and threw my arm over the back of the couch so I could watch her do her thing. “I can’t have coffee this late because I have an early practice, but I’ll have milk if you have it.”

“Just milk?”

I nodded.

“Okay, see, I’m not even gonna make fun of you for drinking milk, though from the size of you, I can tell you’re not a growing boy anymore. Hell, you know what? I’ll even drink some with you.”

Unexpectedly, she drew a laugh out of me, and I won a smile from her. Just like that, it struck me that she would stand out no matter where she was, and I was stupid for mistaking other people for her. A few seconds passed as we smiled at each other.