Stronger (The University of Gatica #4) Read online

  "I'll have the same, but make it three cheeseburgers and add double bacon on them." Jason smiled and handed her his menu too. She took them and turned, her movement stiff.

  "Why didn't you tell me the old bat was standing right there?" he grumbled.

  "I heard that," the woman yelled from the kitchen. Jason turned and waved, his face a deep shade of pink.

  Chrissy laughed hard, the feeling drying up her need to feel sorry for herself.

  "I didn't know she was there. Now, tell me more about Coach Phillips’ son."

  "Right... Of course you didn't know." He rolled his eyes and sat back, picking up his silverware and picking at the tape that held it together. "He's a punk from what I hear. He was captain of the Providence College Friars from Boston. Great team. Huge success up there."

  "So what did he do?"

  "You mean his injury?"

  "Yeah. If he's a great success, then why’s he here getting better instead of being there? It's the middle of their season."

  "Ripped his rotator cuff in three places. They had to surgically fix it at the end of September. He's done great in therapy, but lost his strength."

  "Which arm and how did it happen?"

  "No clue. I would assume jacking off, but that's just my thought." Jason turned to look up at their waitress as she approached with their drinks. "Damn..."

  "You need to watch your mouth young man. I can't imagine a pretty girl like that enjoying how vulgar you are." She looked over at Chrissy, as if asking for confirmation.

  "It’s rather disturbing. I think if you keep talking like that, sex on the first date tonight is totally out." Chrissy shook her head and looked back to the woman, whose mouth had dropped open. She turned on her heel and walked away quickly.

  "That's disgusting..." Jason muttered as Chrissy picked a piece of ice out of her drink and chucked it at him. "I was helping you, pig."

  "Don't bother next time..."

  CHAPTER 4

  Jason filled dinner with joking and laughter, Chrissy letting go of her feelings of being a burden as they shoveled fries and greasy burgers into their mouths. Jason was her best friend, her brother, her only real family. They had spent so many years taking turns at raising each other that the bond between them was unbreakable. He paid the tab, much to her displeasure, and moved around the table to help her get up.

  "I want to try and walk, Jason."

  "No. It doesn't work like that. Trust me." He leaned down and picked her up as she growled softly at him. The waitress made herself scarce, but moved to open the door for them as they left the restaurant. Chrissy contemplated telling the old woman that they were just kidding around, but it was more fun not to.

  "Have you seen this kid from Boston? The coach’s son. What's his name again?" Chrissy asked Jason as he carried her to the car.

  "I don't know his name, and I don't want to. I’m supposed to meet with coach Monday morning. I'm sure I'll get roped in to helping out."

  "That's because you're coach’s favorite."

  "That's because I'm his bitch.” Jason laughed. “You know you wanted to say it."

  "True." She chuckled and reached for the car door. It was going to be a long three days of doing nothing without help. She was highly independent, unwilling to let anyone step in and assist her unless she was desperate. Jani could help, but that was it. Elizabeth was too new to her, and Jason had a million things going on.

  As Chrissy got settled in the car, Jason slid into his seat.

  "Hey, what did you think of Elizabeth? I saw you eying her earlier in my room."

  "Who? The new girl?"

  "Yes, my new roommate."

  "Is she an athlete? She's almost as tall as me. Big for a woman."

  "She's tall, but thin. She's not big."

  "I agree, but it's still a little weird."

  "So’s Jani. She’s tall and thin and high jumps for Canada. Elizabeth is a basketball player, a post." Chrissy wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she had a jacket with her. The snow would start falling again soon, it always gave a slight break, only to rare to life in full force. “She got the okay to transfer schools and keep playing b-ball because her old school wasn’t a divisional school.”

  "She's beautiful, no doubt. Not sure I'd be down with dating a woman as tall as me."

  "You're being dumb." Chrissy reached out and popped her brother's chest. “She's not as tall as you.”

  "Damn close." He pulled the car out of the lot before picking up the conversation again. "Why? Did she say something about being interested in me?"

  "No, and I didn't ask. I get the sense she's been hurt a few times and isn't exactly interested in boys at the moment."

  "Is she interested in girls? I’d be happy to be a spectator at an event where she—”

  Chrissy cut him off, "Come on, dude. You’re such a pervert."

  He laughed and she couldn't help but smile. No need to egg him on. He was full-blooded male and would take the conversation to far left field without any help. "What? I'm just saying."

  "Yes, well don't." She rubbed her stomach and let out a soft sound of appreciation. "That was delicious by the way. I haven't been there in forever. Almost forgot how good the food is."

  "Changing the subject on me?"

  "You want me to see if she's interested in you?" Chrissy turned her head to watch her brother's reaction.

  "I don't know. I guess it wouldn't hurt. I'd take her out if she wanted someone to show her the town. I haven't been on a date in a while." He shrugged, his noncommittal attitude very much Jason.

  "You haven't slept with anyone in a while?"

  "None of your business, but of course I have. Sex and dating are two totally different things."

  "I don’t think most people, females in particular, would agree. They’re usually in combination with one another."

  "Love is complicated, as you well know. Fucking is easy." He shrugged again. "New subject. I love you, but I'm done talking about my sex life with you."

  "We haven't even talked about it." Chrissy laughed.

  "Yes, and we're not going to. If your friend wants a date, I'll think about it. If she needs a hot night of—"

  Chrissy cut him off again, her hands pressing to her ears. "You're right... stop." She pretended to gag as her stomach turned. Something about the thought of her brother with anyone left her feeling three steps beyond ill.

  He laughed and reached to turn the radio up. "You've officially made this awkward. Congrats."

  Chrissy spent Sunday dipping in and out of sleep. Her entire leg and knee ached more than she had expected. Jani and Elizabeth fed her pain pills and picked up meals from the cafeteria for her. Jason was MIA all day and she was grateful for the chance to simply rest. The beginning of the week would be spent in her room studying. She enjoyed the atmosphere at the library so much more, but having someone lug her around was out. Thank goodness for exams. At least she didn’t have to try and make it to classes. She had a few days off before her first exam.

  It took all of Monday practicing to finally get down how to balance properly on crutches. It had been too many years since she had used them. Jani stood beside her, a soft chuckling leaving her friend as Chrissy lost her balance over and over.

  "Why is this so damn hard?" Chrissy growled as they moved down the hall just outside her dorm room.

  "Because you're trying to overcompensate. Just sink down on the crutches and stop trying. Let your body do what it knows to do. You're overthinking it."

  "Fine." Chrissy relaxed, closing her eyes and sinking down onto the wooden sticks. "I need to be studying."

  "I'm going to the library tomorrow. You want to try and come with me?"

  "I do, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get this down by then."

  "Just keep working at it. I'm going to get us something to eat. You want ham or turkey?"

  "Another sandwich? Ugh..." Chrissy turned as Elizabeth walked up, holding up a large bag.

  "How about Mexican food?
I got a treat while I was out."

  "Thank God." Chrissy moved with ease on the crutches toward the dorm room. Jani laughed loudly behind her.

  "So all we need to do is offer you chips and salsa and you can do anything."

  "She’s a fast learner." Elizabeth walked into the dorm room as Jani held the door for them.

  "She wasn't able to balance right on those crutches until you brought in Mexican food. Now she's sprinting with them across the hall. Looks like with the right type of reward she can do anything." Jani closed the door behind them and moved to the small table in the room, clearing off books and papers.

  "That's all of us." Elizabeth started to unpack the food, looking over her shoulder at Chrissy.

  "How are you feeling?"

  "Good. Just worried about my Chemistry final. I need to spend the rest of the week focused on it."

  "When’s the test?" Jani asked, pulling out a chair for Chrissy and motioning for her to join them.

  "It's Wednesday. I have my other classes under wraps, but the Chem final is going to eat my lunch. So much memorization." She moved to the table and dropped her crutches beside her before carefully descending into her chair. A knock at the door resounded and Elizabeth got up to get it.

  Jason poked his head into the room, Elizabeth backed up to give him room.

  "Just checking in with you. I'm headed to The Red Coats. You want me to grab you anything?" He breathed in deeply and grinned. "Or you want me to just join you guys?"

  "We're good. Go have fun with your friends. I'll save you some chips if you want to come back by." Chrissy picked up a chip and popped it in her mouth as her brother simply nodded in response.

  "You can join us if you want though," Elizabeth spoke up, her words relaxed and unemotional.

  "I'm good. Coach Phillips’ pussified son is supposed to be there."

  "Ugh. I hate that word, Jason," Jani grumbled, her eyes narrowing on Jason.

  "Your problem sweet thing." He winked as Jani shook her head.

  "Text me later and let me know if he's hot." Chrissy worked to get a little bit of everything on the small plastic plate in front of her. The sound her brother gave as he left exactly the reaction she was looking for. “Send me a pic of him,” she called out, winking at her friends. She wasn't interested in the coach’s kid or anyone else. Brent had done a proper job of crushing her. No hope for the next guy. It would take time to heal her emotional wounds and no gym would properly heal those.

  The girls ate in silence for a few minutes, Chrissy enjoying the various flavors of everything Elizabeth had picked up.

  Jani broke the silence, her question making Chrissy wonder about the thoughts that must be going through her best friend's mind. "Why is Jason not seeing anyone? He's wicked hot and has a great personality."

  "He thinks lust is safer than love." Chrissy shrugged.

  "I think they both suck," Elizabeth said quietly.

  "I agree totally." Chrissy pushed the cheesy enchilada around on her plate. The image of Brent and the black-haired whore he had slept with more times than Chrissy wanted to think about, broke her serenity. "I fell in love with a boy in high school and thought it would be forever. We went to different colleges a few years ago and it ended. He was fucking some girl in his dorm the night I showed up unexpectedly for his birthday. I wanted to surprise him. Guess it was me who got surprised."

  "That’s sucks. I hate you had to go through that. Every time I hear it I want to go find your ex-boyfriend and beat him up." Elizabeth punched her fist into her other hand.

  "We’re talking about bad boyfriends again? You know mine still tops!” Jani laughed. “I fell in love with the school bad boy last semester. He did drugs, talked me into meeting him in the swim team’s sauna and let me get high off of second-hand smoke. His bad boy self had me skipping class and practice to be with him. I almost lost my scholarship because of him." Jani picked up a chip and rolled it aggressively in the cheese dip. “He came to watch me jump yesterday, and wants to get back together. He says he’ll change his ways. I just don’t think it’ll happen.”

  "He was beautiful though. They usually are..." Chrissy sighed softly, reaching for her soda and taking a deep drink. She turned to Elizabeth, part of her hoping she would share a little bit about herself. They had been roommates for a few weeks and, honestly, Chrissy didn't know much more than Elizabeth's name and that she was from Long Island.

  "I didn't date much in high school. Basketball took up all my time and my grades are insanely important to my parents. They are both lawyers and making anything less than a hundred was frowned upon." She shrugged, sitting back and taking a shaky breath. "I wanted out of the house more than anything, so I decided to take the scholarship offered at UCLA and then my parents talked me into this low grade nothing school for sports and I hated it. The weather was nice, but that was it."

  "You're transferring from Los Angeles? I thought you went to NYU or something," Jani butted in.

  "Nope, from Cali."

  "Why in the world would you leave there? I heard the weather is beautiful and the guys are blistering hot." Jani laughed.

  Chrissy kept her thoughts to herself, the shifts in expression on Elizabeth's face telling quickly that a bomb was headed their way in the story. Something had happened to push Elizabeth back toward home and it couldn't be good.

  "That's all true. I met one of those hot guys on campus and started dating him. One night at a large frat party he slipped something in my drink that drugged me pretty bad. I remember trying to fight against him when he pulled me into the ‘purple room’." She paused as tears filled her eyes.

  Chrissy reached over and touched her arm. "Hey, you don't have to share this if you don't want to."

  "I want to, it's just hard. I haven't talked about it since pressing charges against him and the whole damn fraternity." Elizabeth reached for the napkin Jani extended to her. "I can't tell you what happened. I was too far gone on the drug to know, but I was in the hospital for a week after that. I know I was raped.” She swallowed. “I'm done with men... forever."

  CHAPTER 5

  Their conversation Monday night had opened a new door. Jani and Chrissy moved in and hugged on Elizabeth, promising to be there for her should she need them. Chrissy had never experienced anything so damning and didn't know how to respond, so she did what was natural and loved on the girl. They spent all day Tuesday together holed up in the dorm room eating loads of snacks and pretending to study.

  Wednesday came much too quickly.

  "Are you sure you don't need my help getting into the classroom?" Jason moved in front of her as Chrissy reached back to shut the door to the car.

  "I'm good. I got this. I've been practicing for the last two days. My armpits are sore, but I'll make it." Chrissy smiled, reaching up to adjust the backpack strap on her shoulder.

  "Okay. I'll be here when you get done then."

  "No, go take your tests and let's just meet tonight at The Red Coats. I want to celebrate when this test is over, even if I do a face plant on it."

  "I'm sure you'll do fine." He laughed and leaned against the car. "How’re you getting home if I don't take you?"

  "The dorm is less than a quarter of a mile from here, Jason. I'm going to walk. It's good practice for me, anyway."

  "I don't like it."

  "I don't care." She smiled and turned to walk away. "Love you. See you tonight. Tell the hottie from Boston to come with you."

  "That's not funny." Her brother's voice carried to her as she hobbled toward the stairs. "Bring that pretty basketball girl with you. I could use a good lay."

  Chrissy stopped and turned around. "Hey, about her. It's a no go. She's not interested and don't joke about sex with her. It's a sensitive subject. Okay?"

  Jason crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head. "Okay... love your cryptic message."

  "I'm serious. Find someone else. She's off limits."

  "Then so is Ryan."

  "Who's Ryan?"


  "The dick from Boston."

  "I like dick from Boston." She laughed and turned around as her brother threw choice words at her. "Fine. No talking to Ryan. Big deal."

  The walk to the exam room was the trial of the week. Chrissy was covered in a light sweat by the time she got there. Aileen, the new hurdler at school and Jani’s roommate, moved up and helped her take her seat, a smile on her friend’s face.

  "I was going to come by today if you weren't here. Jani and I have been texting all weekend. You doing okay?"

  "Yeah. I'm hanging in there. I hate that I'm going to flunk this dumb test, but what can you do?"

  "Study, that's what you can do." Richard, a nerdy guy to their left threw in his two cents.

  Chrissy rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, trying to recline her leg as much as possible. "We're going to The Red Coats tonight. Want to join us?"

  "Sounds good.” Aileen smiled, her sweet little shy smile that no one could resist. “I'll see what Tyler is up to tonight. We're still not official, but I'm hoping we move toward that. Keeping us under wraps sucks."

  "I bet. What is the deal with him?"

  "He's just concerned that if we make it official then he will spend more time focused on me than his sports. You know he’s now the starting quarterback for us in the Pinstripe Bowl this year?" She smiled brightly, the gesture reaching her eyes and making her more pretty than she already was. “It sucks for the other guy, but kinda cool for Tyler. Even if it means more stress.” She sighed. “And more practices.”

  "It’s exciting for him, but I think the situation sucks between you guys." Chrissy shrugged as the professor walked in and cleared his throat.

  "Let’s catch up tonight." Aileen patted Chrissy's arm and moved back down the aisle. Chrissy turned her attention toward the front, worry rising in her chest. She was going to flunk this test so bad.

  The walk home, hard as it was, actually relaxed Chrissy. It was cold and yet the snow had taken a break over the last few days so the sidewalks were clear and ice free. It was said to be the warmest winter New York had seen in a few years, but a jacket and scarf were still very much needed. Chrissy pulled her coat closer as she paused outside of her dorm building. Her eyes moved across the landscape before her, dead trees sitting against the dismal sky worked to pull her mood down. She shoved it off and made her way to her room.