All That Remains (13 page)

West accepts his explanation as Austin types a message into his phone. He checks the clock on his truck and realizes he’s already late for dinner. “You’re coming to dinner with us, right?”

There’s hesitation in his brother’s face that speaks of secrecy, but he doesn’t ask when Austin declines. “Nah, I’ve got a thing to go to.” He pops open the door. “You’ve been playing one hell of a game on the field Rutledge. A&M should be impressed.”

“Thanks, man.” He smiles, pride filling him at his brother’s words.

After the door closes, he hits the window down button before Austin opens his car door. “Hey Austin, will you keep an eye on her tonight?”

Austin doesn’t deny he’ll be seeing her and they exchange glances.

“What do you think I’ve been doing, bro?” He moves back to West’s window and leans onto the frame. “I won’t be able to hold the wolves off for long, though. You need to make a decision.”

Make a decision. West doesn’t have to ask what he means by that; he knows. Put up or shut up.

“I know,” he says with a sigh. Then, swallowing his pride, he admits, ”You’re right. I’m scared.”

“You’re a Rutledge. We’re not scared of anything.”

And that’s the truth. Except for one extremely important detail.

“Not until her, man. Not until her.”

Seventeen

Jules

“There’s a rumor floating around that you’re not actually dating Austin, Is that true?” slurs the frat boy who’s been bumping into her side as he leans up against the wall next to her. She recalls his face from the last time they’d met, but doesn’t remember his name and doesn’t bother to ask since she could care less.

“Really?” she drawls, feigning interest in all things rumor-related.

“Yep. So, why won’t you dance with me?”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks though.” She’s declined his request at least five times in the last ten minutes and yet he keeps asking between taking swigs of whatever fills his cup and elaborating on his summer adventures.

“C’mon, are you just a tease, like all of those other chicks?”

She resists the urge to outright laugh in his face and maneuvers herself out of the corner he’s backed her into. “I’m not a tease, I don’t want to dance. I’m gonna go get a drink.”

His hand catches her forearm, his fingers digging in perhaps a little too forcibly. “Let me,” he offers and she opens her mouth to argue before conceding and watching him drift into the crowd.

The moment he disappears, heading toward the kitchen, she hurries from the corner and loses herself in the crowd. Pulling out her phone, she shoots another message to Austin as she slips by a couple going at it against the wall that leads to a hallway and out the back door. His first text had indicated he was on his way nearly forty minutes ago, yet he is still MIA.

Jules: WHERE ARE YOU?

She steps outside and finds the patio crowded with people standing around chatting. Jules smiles at those she recognizes, and lingers to make small chat, all the while looking at her phone waiting for a reply. The end of September Texas air is muggy, as usual, and she secures her long hair in a bun to cool off her neck.

“What’s with the shouty caps?” Austin’s voice teases in her ear and she whirls around taking in his casual A&M athletic shirt and shorts. He grins as his eyes watch her fasten her hair.

“Can’t reply back? Where have you been all day?”

“I was driving. It’s illegal to text and drive, you know that.” He pokes at her ribs while her hands are occupied with the lose strands of hair around her neck. “Why? You miss me that much?”

“No, I just need you to keep the wolves away,” she replies, giving him the same reply he gave at their first party together.

His face darkens subtly. “Having trouble with your harem, princess?”

Jules breaks into laughter, “Uh, I don’t think girls have harems. Or at least this girl doesn’t.”

“You don’t swing that way, huh?” He winks, a devilish grin taking over the frown that was there a moment earlier.

“Wow, um… no, I don’t. Although boys are way more trouble than necessary. Maybe I should reconsider?”

His arm slings around her shoulders and he presses a kiss to the top of her head. “First, I’d pay good money to see you swing just
that way
. Second, maybe you’ve been dealing with the wrong guys?”

“Well, the last one was a Rutledge, so you tell me… do you think I’m dealing with the wrong guys?” The question slips out and she curses herself for mentioning West.

“Do you honestly want me to answer that?”

Yes!
her heart screams. “No,” she replies instead and shakes her head knowing she already knows the answer to her own question.

“Then take me to find your roomies. I need to meet Jess still.”

“You’re not hitting on Jess,” Jules warns, tugging his arm off of her shoulders. “It’s so hot. You’ve got to get off of me.”

“Hey, wait,” he calls after her as she starts to walk back to the house. “Why can’t I hit on Jess? She’s single, right?”

“Yes, and she’s my friend and I have enough problems with you Rutledge boys without you breaking her heart and having to listen to her cry.”

“Ye of little faith. Do you not trust me?”

“No.”

It’s hotter inside than out and Jules struggles to breath. The scent of beer, sweat, and heavy perfume fills the house. A dash of sex rounds out the aroma and she’s ready to leave. Austin’s hand is resting lightly on her shoulder as she leads the way through the melee of students enjoying the party.

The summer parties she’d been to had nothing on this one. They were typically smaller crowds, local students or the very few who were taking summer courses. She’s sort of sad to see how much the new influx of students changes things. Nothing about being at this crowded party feels fun to her. She starts to feel claustrophobic as she squeezes through.

“Jules!” Jess’ shouts reach Jules over the din and she looks about to pinpoint Jess’ location. Jess is winding through a break in the crowd leading to the open front door and they reach the exit at the same time, escaping the inferno together.

“Phew! It’s like a sauna in there.” Her cheeks are red, her dark hair damp and stringy around her face.

“Where’s Katie?” Jules asks.

“Jeff showed up and she left with him. She told me to tell you to look for the sign.” Jess waggles her brows, making air quotes around ‘look for the sign’.

That bit of news effectively means Jules is kicked out of her room for a few hours. She gives Jess a pleading look.

“Don’t look at me that way. Of course you can come back to my room. I’ve got extra blankets.” She turns to Austin, standing behind Jules, with a flirtatious smile. “And I finally get to meet the legendary Austin Rutledge.”

“That’s me.”

“Cocky, like your brother, I see.”

“It’s a Rutledge trait,” Jules hints as she fans herself. The heat is oppressive and she feels miserable. “Lord have mercy, we need an ice bath tonight.”

“You going soft after all the workouts in the air conditioned student gym, Blacklin?” Austin teases.

“Hey! I remember all too well what cheer camp in August felt like and that is why I choose to be inside now.”

“Oh… me too,” Jess adds, tugging on her own shirt and fanning her stomach. “You want to head out then?” she asks, and Jules has to admit that she is more than ready to head back to the dorms and take a cold shower. The need for the shower is not strong enough to balance out the need for not wanting to hear Katie and Jeff though.

“Think we should give the lovebirds a little more alone time?” she replies instead, waving at a girl from one of her classes behind Jess’ back.

“You want to cool off?” Austin asks them, and he nods in that way of his that says he has a plan.

Jess and Jules exchange looks. “What do you have in mind?”

“C’mon, I’ve got just the thing. Let’s drop your car back at the dorm and I’ll drive.”

“Drive where,” Jules asks skeptically as Jess jumps at the cryptic offer.

“Jules Blacklin, have I not taught you anything in the past few months? You want to cool off, we’re going to cool off.”

Jess claps her hands with a squeal and Jules almost dies of a heart attack right there. Jess is not a squealer, or a clapper. Half the time she’s shocked Jess was even a cheerleader when they met. She gives in to her friend’s enthusiasm, with a warning for Austin, as they leave to find their cars.

“This better not be illegal.”

* * *

Less than ten minutes later, they’re in Austin’s little sports car cruising down the back roads towards the house he shares with his brothers. The radio is blaring and Jules, being the good friend she is, is sitting in the back seat to allow Austin and Jess to chat and get to know each other.

She listens over the music as they make some small talk. She was only half serious when she asked Austin not to hit on Jess. Truth is, he’s a great guy. She’s not worried he’ll screw her over so much as him not having time for her. He’s been immersed in football twenty out of twenty-four hours a day for the past three weeks. The NCAA might have limits on how much time players can train during the week, but players do not have any such limit. She understands this, Austin told her himself before the season started how crazy things would get for him. A&M is expected to make a run for the championship and Austin has a good chance of being drafted if he decides to enter a year early. He doesn’t have time to work on a relationship right now; most collegiate players don’t.

Twenty minutes later, Austin’s car pulls down a dirt path and they’re bumping their way along a small road. Wayward brush hits the side of his car every once in a while and he curses under his breath as he tries to avoid it. Something reflects in his headlights up ahead and they pull to a stop in the middle of the road.

“Ladies.” Austin purposefully draws out his southern accent as he jumps out of the vehicle and opens Jules’ door for her. Offering her his hand, he adds, “Welcome to ‘The Hole’.”

“The hole?” She squints in the darkness, the bright moon and stars are the only light they have. All she sees is a tangle of brush and trees surrounding them as Jess comes around and joins them on the driver’s side.

“You’ll see.” He pops his trunk and pulls out two lanterns, handing one to each girl and a blanket of some sort.

“Austin? You didn’t bring us out here for a misguided attempt at an orgy, did you?” Jess mumbles. The lantern lights half of her face and Jules cracks up at the trepidation written on it.

“Awww, honey, contrary to popular belief not all jocks are pricks and I’m a one woman man.” He shuts the trunk smoothly and takes the lantern from Jess’ hand. “I like to be prepared, that’s all.”

“Yeah, you’re a real boy scout,” Jules groans as they traipse into the brush.

The path isn’t well worn, but she can tell others have trampled down some of the vegetation and she hears a few shouts and some laughter in the distance alerting them to the presence of others.

They break through the thicket to discover an assortment of lights hanging from trees and abandoned on the edge of a large dark hole. As her eyes adjust to the new scene and lighting, she realizes they are at a swimming hole with a crowd of about twenty. A rope swing is tied to a branch and hangs limply over the water. Several people are floating on top of the dark pond in inner-tubes, and a few more are standing around the edge of the pond wading up to their knees and waists as they talk and laugh without a care in the world.

“Hey, Rutledge!” an excited voice calls out, and Austin turns to Jules and Jess with an expectant face.

“So?” he asks, clearly not sure what they might think of such a place.

Jules, who’d been grasping Jess’ arm as they weaved their way through the branches to this spot, squeezes her friend and locks her eyes on her with a smile.

“Oh, hell yes,” agrees Jess when she sees Jules’ face and they drop their arms. Making quick work of her clothing, Jess strips down to her bra and panties and hightails it into the water with a loud squeal as she dives under.

Austin pulls his shirt off and looks at Jules. His body is finely sculpted from all of the workouts and football, but she doesn’t feel anything when she looks at him. The feeling comes as a relief and she nods, telling him silently to go jump in the water and cool off. He leaves his athletic shorts on and, after setting the lantern on the ground and spreading the blanket, he runs into the water and jumps at Jess, who is floating on the top.

Jules drops Jess’ clothes to the blanket and watches Jess and Austin splash around playfully for a moment and she feels a tug at her chest. She glances around, half expecting to find someone watching her, but no one is there.

“Don’t make me get out of this pond to get you in!” Jess yells from the bank. The moon is shining down on her wet skin just enough to cause several of the guys who have moved closer to them to stop and stare. “Get in here Ju-ju!” she teases, using Katie’s nickname for her.

The last request breaks down her wall and Jules jumps up to strip to her underwear quickly before she can get too embarrassed and back out. Thankfully, the garments cover as much as her bikini would, especially in the dark. She plans to jump in when she sees a guy pulling the rope up to the incline next to the tree that sits over the water. She watches as he pulls back, leaps up, and dives in when he swings out into the center of the pond, and an idea forms.

Go big or go home!
she tells herself, walking along the dark edge of the water and ignoring Jess and Austin’s calls asking her what she’s doing.

“Hey,” a handsome guy about her age says when she meets him at the tree. “Want a turn?”

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all. Ladies first.”

“Um, I’ve never done this. Any instructions?” she asks shakily as she nears the tree and reaches out for the thick rope that he is holding.

“Here,” he says, holding the rope to her and pointing out where to stand. “It’s easy. Just stand here and when you’re ready you jump up and forward, lifting your feet and swinging out. You let go once you’re about half way out or further.”