Her Striker by Charlene Raquel

Chapter Four

 

 

Heart beating frantically in her chest, Gwen rolled to the side and shot to her feet. She didn’t usually encounter anyone on her morning runs and never had someone deliberately jump out to scare her.

Warily, she faced the interloper and immediately stepped back.

Drew stood before her in a pair of jogging shorts, a tank top, and sneakers. He was sweaty but couldn’t have looked sexier if he tried. His hair was wind-blown and fell messily over his forehead; a faint sheen covered his neck and muscular shoulders and upper arms.

He was frowning at her with his lips moving as if he were speaking to her. Of course, he was frowning at her. He had made it quite clear yesterday how he felt about her, but she couldn’t hear anything he was saying.

Drew cursed and stepped closer to Gwen, lifting his hand toward her head. He was shocked when she flinched away from him and jumped backward. He rolled his eyes and tapped his ear.

Gwen didn’t know what Drew had planned, but there was no way she was going to allow him to get close enough to touch her. She had learned the hard way to keep out of striking range.

He tapped his ear twice, and she simply stared at him in confusion.

Drew cursed and grabbed her hand, hauling her closer with one hand and pulled the earbud from her right ear with the other. He let go of her hand and stepped back, keeping her earbud. “Now can you hear me?”

Gwen’s face flushed with color. She had forgotten she was listening to music. Too many times, Sam would complain that she could tune the world out and have no idea what was going on around her. Instead of answering, she just nodded her head.

Her hands and knees stung from the scrapes she had gotten during her fall. Gwen rubbed her palms on her shorts to wipe off the dirt and pebbles embedded in her skin. Small beads of blood dotted the surface. She would have to clean them up when she got home. Her knees throbbed, and she was sure she had cuts on them too.

Drew crossed his arms over his chest and studied her. He had known that Gwen was attending Stonewall University, but he hadn’t expected to encounter her so quickly. “Why are you following me? Didn’t I make it clear enough yesterday that I don’t want you around?”

Gwen was proud of herself for holding her ground when all she really wanted to do was flee down the trail and away from his venom. Squaring her shoulders, she glared at him. “Following you? Ha! I’ve been at this school for the last three years and have run this trail every day. You just got here and already you think the world revolves around you.”

She took a step to the side, only to scowl when he matched her. “Get out of my way!”

Drew was surprised at her angry outburst. She had been quiet in high school and usually backed away from confrontation. He tossed her earbud in the air and caught it.

Gwen tried to snatch it out of the air, but he had caught it before she could get it away from him. “Give it back.” She held out her hand, palm up.

Drew put the earbud in his ear and was surprised to hear rock music. “Pearl Jam? You still listen to them?” He watched as she reached up to tighten her long blonde ponytail and was taken back to when they used to jog together in the early mornings. It had always been their time together. Much to his consternation, it looked like she continued their tradition.

Gwen put her fists on her hips. “Obviously.”

Drew’s lips curled into a slight smile before his face took on a bored expression again. He ripped the music from his ear and thrust the little speaker at her.

Gwen grabbed it from him before he changed his mind. She stuffed it into the pocket of her shorts and took a step to the right. She needed to get around him and head back to her apartment. He ruined her run. There was no point in continuing. Any Zen she had been feeling was completely gone.

“Running away? You always were a coward.” Drew clenched his jaw as he turned away from her. He was an asshole for saying that. He could see the hurt cross her features.

“No, that’s what you do, asshole. Leave me alone, Drew. I was happy here. Why’d you have to come here? You never wanted anything to do with this university.”

Drew whipped around. “Why do you want to know? So you can report back to your daddy everything I’m doing? I’m not going to help your father gain any more power. Stay away from me.”

Gwen shook her head in disgust. “You stopped me. I had no idea you were on my trail.” Gwen shook her shoulders to shake off the tension. “Not that I owe you an answer or explanation, but you would know that I haven’t spoken to my parents in three years if you would have answered one of my calls or emails the summer you left.”

Gwen turned around and jogged back the way she had come, leaving Drew watching her leave.

He blew out an angry breath. She was lying to him about her parents and her trying to contact him, but he shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, she was a product of their corrupt upbringing.

 

~*~*~

 

The warm water that was spraying down on her sore neck muscles was not helping the knot that was forming there. How did Drew end up such a jerk? Why did she care? She didn’t. No. He was just an annoyance. Nothing more.

Darn it. She could try to fool herself, but unfortunately, she still had unresolved feelings for him. Maybe if he was enough of an ass, her heart would catch up with her head, and she would finally be free of Andrew Maxwell.

Turning off the water, she dried off and padded into her bedroom. The apartment she shared with Samantha had two bedrooms and two full bathrooms, which was an incredible find for the area next to the campus. It was even better because they occupied the entire floor above the detached garage of an old Victorian home in one of the nicer sections of town.

It was a quiet area that was filled with families and senior citizens, and Gwen loved it. She was away from the hecticness of campus, but close enough that she could get to class within a few moments.

Gwen was blow-drying her hair when Sam flopped down on her bed twenty minutes later.

Sam squinted her eyes in examination. “What happened?”

Gwen turned off the hairdryer and faced her best friend. “Why would you ask me that?”

Sam gestured to Gwen’s iPad on her nightstand. “You’re listening to Matchbox Twenty and Rob Thomas. That’s your ‘I’m trying to get my center’ music.”

Gwen groaned. “Sometimes it’s no fun to have a best friend who knows you so well.” She went over to her iPad and flipped through her iTunes selection. “Would Maroon 5 be better?”

“It would be better to tell me what happened.” Sam shifted on the bed, so she was propped up on the pillows.

“Comfortable? You have your own bed only a few steps from here.”

“You have more pillows than I do.” Sam reached behind her to fluff the pile some more.

Gwen rolled her eyes and flopped down in the comfy chair across the room, throwing her leg over the padded arm.

Sam sighed heavily. “Are you still brooding over what happened yesterday?”

“Yesterday is an ancient memory compared to this morning.” Gwen leaned back in the corner of the chair.

“Can you be any more dramatic?”

Gwen glared at her best friend. “You tell me if I’m being dramatic.” She told Sam about her encounter with Drew. “And to make matters worse, the six-year-old twins I coach decided to have a contest on who could hit the tennis ball over the fence the farthest, and one of them nailed a campus police car. I had to listen to the guy lecture me on how to deal with children. As if I don’t coach kids every day of the damn week all summer long, and he knows that. He sees me on the court every morning.”

Sam sat up. “Wait. Go back to Drew jumping out at you. Was he following you?”

Sighing, Gwen closed her eyes. “No. He obviously still jogs early in the morning. I guess some things don’t change. We used to run together every morning before school and loved to take the trails through the woods.”

“Why would he think you would spy for your father?” Sam toyed with the edge of the comforter.

“I don’t know.” Gwen opened her eyes to look at Sam. “He hates me for some reason.”

“Could your father or his have said something?”

Gwen shrugged. “I don’t know, and I have too much to do to worry about Andrew Maxwell.”

Sam hopped off the bed. “Mrs. Hamby stopped by when you were in the shower. She made us a veggie lasagna and a couple of Stromboli.”

“Aww, she is such a sweet lady. I’ll walk over and thank her.” Gwen loved their landlady.

Mrs. Hamby was a lonely widow who lived in a huge old house by herself. She told them over and over that she missed cooking for her large family. Her four sons had moved all over the east coast, leaving her by herself. As soon as she met the girls, she decided to adopt Gwen and Sam as her honorary daughters.

Gwen had met Sam on her first day at Stonewall. They had both been in the athletic building, getting a tour of the facilities, and they clicked immediately. Sam had originally been slated to stay in the dorms, but when Gwen told her she was going to check out local apartments, Sam was all in.

They had met Mrs. Hamby at the local grocery store when they had been picking up the free apartment guides. The elderly woman grabbed the book out of their hands and told them that she had the perfect place for them. It took all of five seconds for the girls to fall in love with the loft above the garage.

Mrs. Hamby hadn’t wanted to take any rent from them and had offered to only accept money for their utility use, but the girls didn’t want to take advantage. They had insisted on paying their way.

It was a great arrangement for them all. Mrs. Hamby got to fuss over Sam and Gwen and the girls got a safe and affordable place to stay.

Sam headed out of Gwen’s room but turned back. “Oh. We are going to a party Friday night. No arguments. It’s our last year, and we are going to enjoy it.”

Gwen groaned. “I’m not staying long!”