knocked me down

chapter two

nash POV

Notification after notification pile up on my phone screen — all from the same person whose number is merely saved as 'til' in my contacts.

Her name is actually Matilda and although it sounds like I was trying to come up with a nickname for her, I wasn't. She entered that into my phone when we exchanged numbers. And right now, she is really mad.

We met through my friend, Owen, she's in one of his classes. We hooked up a few times and it wasn't supposed to mean anything. I made it clear to her that I wasn't looking for a relationship and it would have to end at some point. I guess you could say that 'some point' was 2 days ago. I told her in person when I saw her wandering across campus, I wasn't going to do it through text because that's not right.

Anyway, after I told her that I wanted to end things, she threw her coffee at me and started yelling out all our business to the whole campus. And now she's blowing up my phone, still raging about how it ended. I'd like to say that it's not my fault because I told her before I even got her number and she said that she was fine with just messing around. Clearly not.

til: how could that have meant nothing to you?
til: you just ended it.
til: you didn't even give me a proper reason
til: do you know how awkward it's going to be between owen and i
til: i can't believe i wasted my time on you
til: what was the point?
til: you just wanted to fuck and then leave me like you do to every other girl on campus
til: go fuck yourself nash.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I scrolled through the messages. She kept beginning to type but then would stop. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, trying to form some sort of response.

nash: i told you. before anything happened that it was just going to be causal
til: i just don't get why. was the sex bad or something?

I will admit, I laughed when I saw her text appear on the screen.

nash: no, the sex was great. it's just
til: just what?
nash: it's just you wanted me all the time.
til: is that such a crime? you're the most beautiful guy on campus and i got a chance with you
nash: it's just that i have a busy schedule. my team relies very heavily on me and if i'm with you every second, i'm letting them down
til: you and that damned basketball team
nash: that damned basketball team is my whole life. they are literally my family
til: whatever, goodbye nash.

I placed my phone on my pillow. There was no point in trying to text her again because she'd ignore it. I stood up from the edge of my bed and ran my hands down the front of my sweats. I held one of my hands behind my neck as I pulled my door open with the other. Dragging my feet along the ground, I took a left and wandered down the stairs. I dropped my hand to my side and spotted Owen sitting on the couch, presumably watching some cop show.

I slumped down next to him as I saw him give me a weird look. I took a deep breath and like I said, an NCIS crime scene flashed across the screen. I've known Owen long enough that when he stares me down like this, he wants to know what's going on. "I ended everything with Matilda." I watched in my peripheral as he slowly nodded his head and turned back to the screen. The whole room went silent for a few minutes, I couldn't tell you where Kody nor Jadyn were.

Kody and Jadyn are my other two roommates. We live in a university provided off campus town house because we all got a basketball scholarship. In freshman year, I used to get jealous of the students who lived in dorms because they were so close to everything. But as I've gotten older, I know that I would've hated to live in a dorm — especially after seeing how small they are. I love our little house mostly because I love the guys I live with. Of course they piss me off sometimes but all of us moved from our home town — none of which are anywhere near Belfaston Hills — so we're all each other have really.