The Heaven I Found In Hell (33 page)

"Guys, I'm going to reserve two suites for later, ok?" Cindy said, getting everyone's attention. "I'm sure no one would want to drive back, and not drink."

"Two suites?" Blake asked. "I think that's going to be a little bit crowded, don't you think?"

I heard Cindy let out an 'hmph,' before she spoke up.

"What do you want to happen? Two people per room?"

Blake's lips curved up into a mischievous smirk. "Why not?"

I was expecting Cindy to start ranting about how wrong Blake was, but instead she agreed. She told us she could get each couple a room, and here was the part where I decided to speak up.

"What about me?" I asked.

"What about you?"

"Uh," I said in a matter-of-factly tone. "I don't have a boyfriend."

"Uh, duh," Kendra answered, mimicking my tone of voice. "Pair up with someone who has no girlfriend."

Instinctively I turned to Nathan who unsurprisingly was looking back at me. He gave me a small smile which I returned, and with that, silence fell upon me. I didn't know how long I stayed quiet, but it was only when Riley clapped her hands in front of my face repeatedly that I came back to reality.

"You won't mind, won't you?" I said as my question was directed to no one other than Nathan.

In response, he nodded, and grinned, and before I could thank him, and cheers erupted from the others. The tease-fest started once again, with Nathan and me as the center of their jokes.

"What time are you guys supposed to get ready?"

Blake looked at his Rolex, before he spread his legs out and leaned back with the palms of his hands on the ground for support.

"In an hour or so," was his answer, and in return I just nodded.

After a good thirty-minutes of exchanging stories and jokes, and making each other laugh, each of us started walking, heading in opposite directions. Blake, Anthony, and Nathan decided to already go to the locker rooms to dress and warm up, and Riley being the good girlfriend who tagged along at times, decided to 'drop' off her boyfriend. Cindy on the other hand was going to call the hotel to book our rooms, while Kendra tried to find Jackson to tell him about the plans for tonight.

I was literally alone, and unsure of what to do, so I decided to go to my room to take a short nap. I woke up by the sound of my bedroom door opening, and thus, I tried to blink my eyes awake. When I noticed that it wasn't Riley who had entered, a small shriek escaped my lips. It was Dylan.

"Did I wake you up?" he asked.

I coked an eyebrow up at him, and asked him if I really needed to answer the question.

"It felt like a good conversation starter," he said, laughing a bit.

I let out a hearty chuckle, before I motioned for him to come and sit beside me.

"You did, so why did you break my peaceful slumber?" I asked, as I sat up, and leaned my body on the headboard of the bed.

Dylan made his way to the empty side of the bed, before he removed his shoes, and sat on the empty space beside me. He told me that Riley and the others invited him to watch the game, and when I asked him how come I wasn't aware of it, he gave me a reply that made me want to hide in a corner until he left.

"You had a date," he answered, giving me that movie-star smile of his that was just full of sex appeal.

"I had a date recently?" I asked, not thinking at the moment.

He raised an eyebrow up at me, gave me a 'duh,' and only when he gave me a face that made me feel like he thought of me as a dumb blonde did I realize what he meant. I slapped his shoulder when I finally got it, and told him to stop.

"What did I do?" he asked, raising his arms up for exaggeration.

"That wasn't funny," I answered, resisting the urge to break out into a smile.

"Uh, yes it was," he said. "You're acting all innocent…which I am not used to."

That made me quiet, and when I didn't speak, he turned serious. I felt my surroundings become silent, with my breathing and Dylan's as the only thing I could hear. I didn't know why, but I didn't like what I was feeling. For the past few weeks, I became shyer, and reserved. I knew it was something I should be happy about, but I just couldn't feel that. I didn't want to change, and I definitely didn't want to believe that one guy could make me feel like this. It hurt my ego, for some crazy stupid reason.

"You like him that much, huh?" he said.

It wasn't a question, the way he said it. He was pointing the obvious out to me.

"But I don't want to like someone that much," I answered, probably sounding like a self-centered bitch at the moment.

I just couldn't accept the fact that a guy was able to make me change…for the better, and without realizing that he was doing that exactly. I knew I shouldn't stop my feelings, and instead just let them flow, and let everything fall into place, but no…it…this made me feel inferior.

"You're just scared because you're entering uncharted territory. You shouldn't be," he said. "This is all for the best."

I turned to my side, so now I was facing him. I leaned in closer, asking for a hug, and he gave it to me willingly. He wrapped me with his strong arms, as I let my head fall onto his chest. He soothed me by rubbing my back up-and-down with his hand, as I let go of all my thoughts. After a few minutes, we pulled away from each other, and he told me to get ready since the game was going to start soon.

I got out of my bed and headed over to the bathroom to take a quick shower.  After doing just that I went over to my closet to pick out a comfy, but at the same time stylish outfit. I ended up wearing my skinny jeans, a yellow baby doll sleeveless top, and a pair of ballet flats, and after surveying the way I looked via a mirror, I left my bedroom, went over to Dylan, and told him that we should leave now. He followed suit, as we exited the building and made our way to the main field of Ridgeway.

I didn't know what kind of drug I had sniffed a while ago, but I felt myself get all hyped up so that I was actually cheering and shouting even though I was still totally clueless of the rules and plays of the game. The match was tied, two all, and Nathan being the power forward, and star player of the team, he had scored both goals. He was 
that
 good.

The game was going to end in a few minutes time, and with Brookfield in possession of the ball, I was starting to worry. It was hard for the team to steal since the ball was getting passed from one player to another at such a fast pace. Nathan, who played the whole time, I could see, was already getting tired, but I knew he wasn't going to give up and neither were the others.

A Brookfield player was running hastily, and when he was only a few feet away from the net, he kicked the ball, and in that second, I heard nothing but its swishing sound. Our goalie ended up catching it, before he threw it to Anthony who I knew was going to kick the ball to Nath. Every player started running in the opposite direction, with Anthony having the ball. The time seemed to go by fast because now, there were only a few seconds left on the clock. Looking back at the field, I saw that Anthony had passed the ball to Nathan, who kicked it to Blake. With the time trimming down much faster, and the crowd becoming wilder, Blake had no choice, but to take the risk. Call it luck or not, but we won, and the moment Blake scored the winning goal, every person who watched the game and studied in Ridgeway erupted into extremely loud cheers. Riley, who was standing beside me, was all smiles, and she told me she couldn't wait to congratulate the guys.

"They'll be so, so happy!" Kendra said in a loud voice, trying to beat the noise in the background.

"I know," Cindy answered. "You know how much soccer means to them."

"Everything," Riley said, as she motioned for all of us to leave the bleachers, so that we could be the first ones to congratulate the team.

We made our way to the field, which was already getting crowded because of all the people who wanted to meet and greet the players. I had no idea why, but Riley thought it best for all of us to separate. She ended up heading north, Kendra west, and Cindy south, making me go east. I wanted to just sit down for a few minutes, because my legs were starting to ache already, and more annoyingly, I was just bumping into random people. I didn't eat prior to the game so I felt weak and scrawnier whenever someone would just hit me even if they didn't intend to. I was about to give up, and make my way back to my dorm, when someone called out my name. I turned around, and realized Nathan had found me, making me breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," I said, making my way to him. "This is just chaotic."

When I got to him, he rested his arm on my shoulders, just to make sure that he wouldn't lose me in case someone knocked me in another direction. With that 'insult, I slapped his shoulder, which made him hold me tighter. People started heading over to where we were just to praise the person beside me, and when they left, I couldn't help but laugh.

"You didn't even make the winning goal," I teased. "And everyone seems to enjoy worshipping you."

I looked up to find him staring at my eyes, at me, and that was when I felt tongue-tied. I couldn't say anything because at that moment, I knew he wanted to tell me something. I left him with questions unanswered because of one stupid incident. If the paparazzi hadn't come to us, I could've been his girlfriend by now.

"I scored two which is something big also," he answered, giving me a small awkward laugh.

Before I could say anything more, he let go of me so that now our whole bodies were facing each other. I felt the tension between us with every step he took which was starting to slowly close the already small space between us. He leaned down, his lips coming closer to my own, but I never felt them make contact, because I heard Riley calling our names.

"Hey guys!" she shouted out to us. "We better get ready!"

"Okay!"

I was about to make my way to her, when Nathan got a hold of my hand, and pulled me closer to him once again. Without any kind of hesitation whatsoever, he leaned down, and kissed me fully on the lips. I responded back, and at the same time, I circled his neck with my arms, before I cupped his cheeks with my hands. The kiss lasted for like ten seconds only, but that was enough for the both of us to know what each of us wanted.

"Finally," he said, a small grin forming on his face.

"So," I said, matching the smirk on his face with my own. "Can I call you my boyfriend now?"

He looked hesitant, and before he answered me, he scratched the back of his head. When he didn't answer, I slapped his chest, and told him that the suspense wasn't funny.

"You're going to make me want to run away," I said, pouting.

Before I could turn around, head back to my room, and leave him, he captured my waist with his arms, and spun me around, planting a kiss on the skin very near my lips. He pulled away, but without a second passing yet, he planted another one, on my lips now.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked, taking hold of one of my hands, as my free one remained on the side of my waist.