Page 100 of Never His Girl
“Makes the most sense to start at the beginning, I guess. Which is right around the time my brothers and I got recruited at end of sophomore year,” he shares. “Tons of colleges started hitting us up early, trying to get us to commit back in like… eighth grade and shit, hoping we’d consider them when the time came. Dane and Sterling were ready to decide as soon as the first offer came in, but I wanted to hold out. Getting into NCU was my dream and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Listening to him speak, it’s clear that he refused to settle, which doesn’t surprise me. If these past few months have taught me anything, it’s that West is never one to take anything less than exactly what he has his heart set on. If he wants something, he goes after it hardcore.
Relentlessly.
“So, as I’m sure you can imagine, once I got in, that shit kind of went to my head a little bit,” he adds with a laugh. “Summer before Junior year, right when I was turning seventeen, I basically spent the entire three months partying, drinking, and fu—”
His voice trails off then and he glances over at me, as if only now remembering who he’s talking to.
“And… fucking?” I add, pretty sure that’s the word he was about to use.
“…Yeah. Sorry. Guess I could’ve left that part out.”
Holding in a laugh, I keep to myself how there isn’t a single part of me that thought he was an angel before this conversation anyway.
“At any rate, the partying sort of carried over into the beginning of the school year. The heightened interest in me, my football career, turned me into kind of an addict for the attention. So, if there was a party somewhere, me, Dane, and Sterling were there.”
He breathes deep and I settle against the headboard, just listening.
“Some kid from Everly Prep was having a bunch of people over while his parents were out of town. Pandora posted the info. Then, we were in the car and on our way the next second.”
There’s this look in West’s eyes I’m not sure how to read. It’s thoughtful, yes, but there’s something else. My best guess is that it’s regret.
“I remember being in this really shitty mood,” he shares. “My dad and I got into it about something I can’t even remember now, but I just know I was desperate to get as far away from him as possible.”
He’s quiet for a second, and then meets my gaze before saying four words that—even in their simplicity—feel surprisingly heavy as they leave his mouth.
“There was a girl.”
Chapter 35
BLUE
“I met her at the party,” West adds with a sigh. When he pauses, I believe it’s an attempt to search for the right words.
“Her name’s Casey,” he says gravely.
The pace of my heart picks up just a little when he mentions her.
“She was a senior on Everly’s dance squad, and we just kind of hit it off,” he shares. “We danced for a bit, had a couple drinks, then… we ended up in a bedroom.”
When I clear my throat, it dawns on me that I might not be as evolved as I thought. I want him to be open with me, but hopefully I’m spared the details.
“Things… got heated pretty fast,” he goes on. “Then, when it was over, she took my phone while I got dressed and locked her number in under Casey W. She handed it back and slipped into her jeans. I shot her a text, so she’d have my info too, then we went our separate ways.”
A strange, loaded silence creeps in.
“So… what happened next?” I ask when he seems to get lost in a thought.
First, he breathes deep, then he shrugs. “For a bit, life just went on as usual. I’d hear from her every now and then, we’d make plans to hang out again, but they fell through every time.”
“You just lost touch after that?”
“Not exactly,” he answers, shaking his head. “Got a call from her late one night while she stayed with a friend. She was hysterical, crying so hard I could hardly make out what she said.”
My heart’s racing. Like I imagine West’s must’ve been when that frantic call came through.
“It was some kind of emotional breakdown,” he explains, looking as if he’s still trying to understand it after all this time. “Turned out she wasn’t just randomly visiting with the friend. She was there… recovering.”