Trying Not To Love You

Over the next few days, I was busy packing up everything I was bringing with me to Old Dominion, and doing some last minute shopping with my mom. I was both nervous and excited to start this part of my life.

Friday afternoon rolled around, and I had just finished packing my last box when Hailey came into my room. "Are you ready, Kenzie?"

"Just about." I told her, with a huge smile on my face. "Jackson, Mason and Cooper want to take us for lunch before we head out tomorrow."

She huffed at me. "They act like we're going across the country, and are never going to see them again."

"You know how they are; I'm surprised Mase and Coop haven't transferred schools just to stay close to us. Jackson is so wrapped up in Chloe that I don't think it's hit him just yet."

This certainly surprised me. It was probably because Hunter was at Old Dominion, too. They knew he would not let anything happen to us. In addition, the Harvard baseball scholarships gave them little to no choice.

"When are we going? I still have a few things I need to pack." That did not shock me. Hailey was a procrastinator.

"Around one, and I guess your ass needs help packing?" Hailey sucks at packing, always has. Every time we would go down to the shore house for the weekend, she would always forget half of her bathing suit, her toothbrush or her shoes. It was always something.

"You know it. I'll text Mason, and tell him we will just meet him there." She was tapping away on her phone. "When is Hunter coming to pick up all our stuff?"

"He asked me to dinner tonight, so I guess tomorrow morning when he picks us up."

Looking shocked, Hailey said, "Just the two of you are going to dinner?"

"Yeah, why?" We go out to dinner all the time. Why should this shock her? She quickly diverted her eyes back to her phone, "Oh, um, just wondering."

"What the hell, Hailey? It's not the first time I have been to dinner with Hunter."

Still not meeting my eyes, she said, "Nothing. Let's go."

Huh? What the hell is going on? "Hailey," I turned around, so I was staring at her. "I'm not leaving this room until you tell me what the f*ck is going on."

"Nothing. Just forget I said anything." She grabbed her purse, and started towards to door.

"Whatever, but I'm not forgetting it."

We left and headed to Hailey's house. Just as we were getting out of the car in her driveway, Hailey's head whipped around, and she cursed under her breath.

"What's the matter?" I asked in a panic, thinking I had done something wrong.

She looked straight ahead. "Nothing. Can you just pull into the garage?"

Looking at her skeptically, I said, "Yeah. Your parents aren't going to block me in though, right?"

"Umm, no, we'll be OK. I can always have them move if they do come home," she said quickly.

I turned the car back on, and moved it into to garage. She was acting strange all day, but I thought maybe it was just the fact that we were leaving tomorrow morning.

"Kenzie, I need to tell you something, and I don't want you to get upset."

"How can you say something like that, and expect me not to get upset? What's going on?"

"Have you talked to Dominic?"

"Yeah, this morning."

"What did he say to you?"

What the hell is up with the 20 questions? "Just the usual. We talked about football, and how excited he is that I'll be there with him."

"He's home."

No kidding! "Yeah, I know. He has practice tomorrow morning."

"No, he's home. Like at his house, home."

Whipping my head around to look at her, I asked, "How do you know?"

"He is next door, at Alexis' house. I saw him pulling up when my mom and I were leaving to go to your house. I asked him what he was doing there. He said he had something to take care of, and then he was heading back to school."

There is no way he is here, is there? "You're sure it was him?"

"Kenzie, I talked to him. Of course, I'm sure."

"Is he still over there now? Is that why you had me pull into the garage?"

Nodding, she turned to get out of the car. "I told him I was going to tell you. He said he did not have anything to hide, so that is why I am telling you. I don't believe him."

"Well, if he didn't have anything to hide, why didn't he tell me he was coming home? Why the f*ck is he with that bitch? He knows I hate her for starting all that shit last year."

"That's what I was wondering."

I got out of the car, walked out of the garage door and looked over at Alexis' house. Dominic's car was not there. I quickly sent him a text message.

Me – 10:58am: Hey, where u @

Dominic – 10:59am: Home

Me – 11:01am: @ ur house or school

Dominic – 11:03am: House, was on my way to surprise you

Me – 11:04am: Nice surprise it was 2 see u leave Alexis'

Dominic – 11:06am: She said she needed 2 talk 2 me, she caught me on my way out

Me – 11:08am: Y didn't u tell me u were coming home

Dominic – 11:10am: Where r u

Me 11:11am: Hails

Dominic – 11:13am: On my way

I looked up at Hailey and said, "He's on his way here; he said she caught him on his way to surprise me."

"You believe him?"

I just nodded at her. "I don't exactly have a reason not to."

Shaking her head, she huffed and said, "I'll be in my room."

I sat on her front steps for about ten minutes before he pulled up. I walked over to his car. He motioned me to over to his window.

"Hey, baby." He leaned out of the window and kissed me.

"So, why didn't you tell me you were coming home?"

"I told you, I wanted to surprise you. I thought maybe you needed some help packing."

Did I believe that was the reason he was here? No, not really, because I knew he was up to something. He had changed so much for having only being gone a few weeks. "Oh, well, I wish you would have told me last weekend that you were coming home. I could have used some help this morning." I tapped my finger on the door of his car. "So, what did Alexis want?"

"Sorry, I guess maybe I should have told you. She just wanted to talk about the party last weekend. She asked if I had been there cause she hadn't seen me."

What the hell! "Why would she care if you were at the party? She's trying to start shit again." The more I thought about her, the more pissed I got.

"I said the same thing to her." He turned his head to stare out the front windshield. "She was going on about seeing Hunter with his hands all over you, and you guys walking out of the party by yourselves." Then he turned back to me. "I don't care if you did. I told her I trusted you."

"That's good, because you should trust me."

"I know. That's why I'm not worried about it." He did not sound very sure of himself. Dominic knew I had feelings for Hunter. He knew what happened between us last summer.

"Good. Look, I have to go help Hailey pack, and then we are going to lunch with my brothers. I wish you had told me you were going to come home. Let me see if they would mind you coming to lunch too. Or, if you want, I can hang out with you when I'm done."

"No, don't worry about it. It's my fault. I'm just going to head back. I'll see you tomorrow at school." He leaned out of the window again to kiss me, "Love you."

After he left, I went inside to help Hailey pack the things that she was taking with her. After convincing her she did not need to pack her whole room, we headed to the restaurant for lunch with my brothers.

It was neat to get together with them one last time before not seeing them for the next few months. Mason and Cooper could not wait for baseball to start up again. They were looking forward to the parties that would start back up too. Jackson and Chloe were having a tough time coming up with a baby's name; they kept tossing ideas back and forth but could not both agree on any one name.

After we finished lunch, I dropped Hailey off at her house. I needed to get home to pack the last minute things I had thought of during lunch. Once I was finished, I still had a few hours until dinner with Hunter, so I decided to finish the book I was reading to kill some time.

Around six, Hunter picked me up, and we went for pizza at my favorite place. It was just a little hole in the wall, but I loved it.

I put my pizza down and wiped my face with my napkin, "I'm going to miss this pizza. Thanks for bringing me here."

"You're welcome. So, Dominic is home, huh?" He asked, watching me take a bite of my pizza.

"Christ! How did you know?" How did everyone know this, and I didn't?

"I saw him and Alexis together, walking into her house last night?"

What! I snapped my head up to look at him, hoping he was joking. "What? He didn't come home until this morning." At least that is what he told me.

Glaring down at his pizza, he said, "No, he was home last night, and he was with her."

"You must have seen wrong. He wasn't home then." My cheeks were beginning to burn from embarrassment.

He looked at me for a minute before he asked, "CC, can I ask you something?" I nodded at him. "Why are you with him?"

"Why does it matter to you?" I wish I was with you is what I honestly wanted to tell him.

He let out a sigh. "He doesn't treat you right. Why would he not tell you he was home? Why is he even talking to Alexis after all that shit that went down last year?"

I need this conversation to end; I don't want to talk to him about this. "I asked him about that. He said that she told him you and I fooled around with each other at the party last week. I guess he wanted to see what she had to say."

"And what did she say?"

"Hunter." I said with a warning tone. "I can't do this. I can't have everyone questioning my relationship with Dominic. It's my relationship, not anyone else's. I'm finished eating, so can you take me home now?" I stood up from the booth, and headed towards the bathroom. I needed a few minutes to calm down.

When I walked out of the bathroom, Hunter was at the counter paying for our food. I kept right on walking out of the restaurant, and waited by his street bike.

He came walking over to me, but did not say anything at first. He put his helmet on, and then gently put mine on. He lifted my chin to snap the strap, and looked into my eyes. "I'm not sorry for caring about you, CC."

I did not respond. I did not think he wanted me to. He threw his leg on the bike, kicked the kickstand up and then steadied the bike so I could get on. As we took off back to my house, with the wind in my face and hair, I started to feel bad for blowing up on him the way I did, but I am tired of everyone worrying about my relationship. I was not worried about it, why should they be.

We pulled up in front of my house, and I got off the bike. I reached for the snap on the helmet, but Hunter grabbed my hand and did it himself. I took it off, and started running my fingers through my hair to get the knots out. I looked over at him and was about to apologize when he grabbed the front pocket of my jeans and pulled me to him, "Don't apologize."

I rested my hand on his toned chest, and nodded, "I'll be here around noon to pack up all your shit, then we will grab Hailey, and get the hell out of here."

"Okay, see you then." I turn to head inside as he started his bike and left.

I strolled into the house and went straight to my room. I tossed and turned all night long. Was it just me or did he have a hard time fighting his feelings for me? He tells me nothing can happen between us, but he flirts and acts as if he wants something to happen. Was it because I was with Dominic? Hunter knew he kept pushing me away by trying to keep his distance from me.

The next morning, when I finally got my ass out of bed, I went downstairs to eat breakfast with mom and dad.

I walked over to the kitchen table to sit down. Mom started in on me first thing. "Are you sure you want to go to the ODU, Kenzie? There are plenty of schools here in New Jersey."

Rolling my eyes behind her back, I patiently answered, "Yes Mom, I'm more than sure." She must have asked me this same question at least 100 times this week.

I looked over at Mom, and she had tears in her eyes, "It's not going to be the same without you here; we're all going to miss you." My mom had a lot of time on her hands. With my leaving, she was going to have even more. She became a stay-at-home mom after she had the twins. Dad, being a stockbroker for the New York Stock Exchange, made more than enough money for her to stay home.

Dad came sauntering in with his coffee cup, and added his two cents. "We are baby girl, and it's going be different without you around."

"Don't worry mom and dad; I'll make sure she is taken care of." My eyebrows shot up when Hailey walked into the kitchen, with Mason right behind her. What in the hell is she doing here?

"That's what I'm worried about," my mom said under her breath. Looking at Hailey, I wondered if she had heard mom. If she did, she wasn't letting on about it. I know my mom and dad love Hailey, but my mom always thought she was a little wild. This is what I loved about Hailey.

"I'll come home whenever I can. I need to do this, and we've talked about this." We did talk about this for almost a year, as I was trying to convince my parents to let me go to ODU for school. I think it helped that Hailey and Hunter were going to be there with me; well mostly that Hunter would be there.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked Hailey, as she stole a piece of bacon off my plate. She just shrugged her shoulders at me.

Shaking my head at her, I picked up my plate, put it in the dishwasher and then went back up to my room to take a shower.

Hunter showed up right on time to help load all of my stuff in his truck. My brothers were also there helping him. My mom was crying because she did not want me to go. I promised her I would be home for Thanksgiving, and I would call her every chance I got. I think that helped ease her mind, maybe just a little.

My dad pulled me aside, and handed me a check. "What's this for? I don't need your money dad; I saved up all my money from babysitting, and working over the summer."

"I know, but I'm not going to be there to spoil you like I would if you were here. If you don't spend the money, at least deposit it in the bank for emergencies." Dad grabbed me, pulled me into a tight hug and kissed the top of my head. "We're really going to miss you, baby girl."

I wiped the tears away that were running down my cheeks. "I'm going to miss you too dad. I love you." I was going to miss him and mom; this was the first time I was seriously going to be on my own.

"Alright, go say good-bye to your Mom, and then I'll get her out of here so you can leave." He said with a chuckle.

I walked over to my mom and hugged her. I told her I would call her as soon as I settled into my dorm. Mom was still clinging on to me, crying when Dad wrapped his arm around her, and walked her to the car to go out to lunch.

Jackson hugged and kissed my cheek, told me he would miss me like crazy, and that he and Chloe would call me during the week to check up on me.

Cooper was next to say goodbye. "Don't let anyone mess with you Kenzie. If you have any problems, call me. I don't care what time it is."

"I will, I promise. Love you; take care of Mom for me." Cooper was my mom's favorite; I knew he would look out for her.

Finally, it was Mason's turn. Even though we fought all the time, I was going to miss him the most. "Give your sister a hug." I told him, with tears rolling down my cheeks again.

Hugging me, he whispered, "I really wish you weren't going away Kenzie. We need you here." Then he pulled back and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

"You're not going to be here in a few weeks Mase. You guys will be ok without me. Y'all are going to come visit us in a few weeks anyway."

"I know we'll be gone, but I can't keep an eye on you Kenzie. I have to rely on Hunter to protect you now that I can't." Always the over protective one, I loved him, but this was another reason I chose this college.

"I have Dominic too, you know. No one is going to mess with me with him and Hunter around. Go to school, have fun and stay out of trouble." I winked at him, trying to lighten the situation. He was always getting into trouble until baseball season started up.

"Love ya; call me when you get there. If you don't, I'll be there by tomorrow morning." I knew he was not kidding.

Chuckling, I said, "Yes Dad. Love you too."

I walked over to Hunter's truck, and looked over to him. "Finally, let's get the hell out of here before they handcuff me here."