Half A Heart {Trilogy in the Guskenna Series)

4

Gus

I don't remember everything that happened last night, but waking up with my arms around someone this morning, just felt right. It wasn't the alcohol, there was hardly any, but it was just the feeling of not truly being alone. Kyla turns over in my arms, smiling up at me. She kisses me softly before she sits up. The blankets fall down and I see that her back is bare. All the memories came rushing back to me and for a moment, I feel terrible. 

"I had fun last night," Kyla says as she walks towards the bathroom. "We should do it again sometime. However, in the mean time, I have to go shower and get to my classes. I'll see you at lunch?" 

"Maybe, I have to see what my schedule looks like for today. I'll text you though." With that she disappears into the bathroom. 

I glance at my phone, seeing as it's Wednesday and I only have practice today. I scroll through my social media and I seen that pretty much everyone has been active in our family group chat. The messages range from asking me and Mack how college is going, talking about how Rocky drove up to Seattle to see Mack, different personal family things, some photos of Riker's twins. I pause before I scroll back up to the top of the chat where Stormie had asked Rocky how Seattle was. Before he had answered, Makenna's cousin Haleigh stepped in and sent a photo of the two of them hugging. I could see that Makenna's face was lit up and she was crying a little. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously as I continued to read the messages from everyone else. I just slept with Kyla and I don't have any regrets, but why am I getting mad at Rocky for driving up to see my girlfriend? The bathroom door opens and Kyla leaves, but not before stopping me and giving me a brief kiss. When she's fully gone, I decide that it's time to call Mack to do a check in. I pull on a shirt and some jeans before I dial her FaceTime number. 

M

"Are you sure nothing is awkward between us, Mack? I don't want you to tell me no, but it actually be that way." Rocky says again as sits at the edge of my bed. "What happened last night, our kiss, it shouldn't have happened-"

"It should have and it did. I'll deal with Haleigh when she gets home from classes tonight. She left me several texts last night." I tell him as I hear my phone ring. When I see that it's Gus, part of me wants to let it go to voicemail. I glance at Rocky and he urges me to pick it up. 

I grab my phone before answering it. Gus isn't in sight at first and I can hear muffled talking. I wait a few more seconds before I see Gus' face appear on screen and I hear his roommate laughing.

"Hey, Mack. How's everything going? How are classes?" I shift on my bed, showing Rocky in the background playing on his phone. "Oh. . . Hi, Rocky." 

Rocky doesn't say anything, he just waves. "They're going pretty good. It's good to be able to hang out with my cousin and her boyfriend. I forgot how fun meeting new people was. I have enjoyed some of my classes and I have met a lot of amazing people. Although, I miss my Lynches, you and your brothers. I also miss my parents, but I've hardly heard from them because they've been on vacation. How's classes-"

"Oh my god." Rocky says before getting up. "Mack, I-I'll be back. I'm going to call a friend of mine and I'll come back and get you so that we can head to lunch. Okay?" Rocky's voice was shaking, it was like he was nervous. 

"Yeah, I'll see you in a little bit." I watch him leave the room before I turn back to Gus. His face is stone cold and hard. "What?" 

"Why did he come and see you? It kind of bothers me that he all of a sudden wants to be around you when I'm no where near." Gus states and I can tell he's frustrated. 

"He came up here to surprise me. Maybe if you hadn't been ignoring me the last few days, I wouldn't have been so lonely and distant. Gus, what happened the morning that I called? I heard that girl coming out of your dorm room and talking to you." My heart beats faster. 

Gus sighs, "Can't you drop that?" 

"You have something to hide, don't you?" 

"What? Mack, I never said that. It was two weeks ago and it was my roomates' girlfriend. She stayed the night and we had been playing  games most of the night. It's nothing. I promise." Gus says as he runs his fingers thru his hair. There's a part of me that's saying that I shouldn't trust Gus, regardless of what I have been told just now. 

"Okay. . . If you say so." 

"If I say so?! How about I accuse you of something else going on between you and Rocky? Because I don't think he would drive all that way if something wasn't going on between you two!" Gus was getting angrier by the second. 

"Gus, he came up her because I asked him too. Makenna was broken up about the fact that you had another girl in your dorm room and you waited almost a week to give her any explanation. You don't have to be an ass. I wanted to see my cousin happy." Haleigh says, making me jump. I hadn't even realized that she had come into the room. "Were you going to fly up here if I asked?" 

"No, because I have classes and important things." 

"So, you're saying that Makenna is not important?" 

Gus sighs, "She is, but at the moment, she's not my top priority. You have to understand that I have other things to worry about. I have been so busy with homework and hockey practice. . . I've just been busy." 

"If you're too busy to even call your girlfriend, maybe we should take a break. I think that will be best for both of us." My voice finally comes out and my heart is pounding. I feel myself start to crumble as Gus' eyes meet mine. "I think there's somethings that we need to figure out about ourselves and what we want. Something isn't right on your side and I don't want it to distract me from my studies. I have to stay focused because I can't afford to fall behind." 

"Mack, you don't mean that." 

"You just said that I'm not your top priority. I have been texting you for the last few days to try and get a response out of you and I have wanted to talk, but you've been too busy. . . I mean it Gus. We need a break." 

"Fine, if that's what you want." Gus' voice is hard as my eyes fill with tears. 

"I-I'm sorry. I'll talk later Gus." 

He hangs up without saying goodbye and I feel my heart shatter. Haleigh rushes to my side and within moments all I can hear is my girl groupchat going off. Haleigh had texted the group and sent the simple message, "Mack just broke things off with Gus. They're on a break."

~~~~~

End of chapter