Page 31 of Shattered Saint
At least now I wouldn’t have anything to stare at so I could get what I needed to done. Then again, since she’d left, there was also a chance I would do nothing but think about her, which wasn’t helpful to me either.
I ran a hand through my hair and tried to focus on my textbook once more. That lasted only about a minute or two before I heard a commotion that forced my attention away.
There was a small bang and then almost like a flash, Nash was walking past where I was seated.
“Dude,” I said, trying to get his attention. Nash looked in my direction and gave me a slight head nod before he made his way to the table. To put it mildly, he looked like a train wreck. His clothes looked disheveled. His backpack was opened with some of the contents spilling out. He was breathing slightly hard, and I knew he was in pretty good shape because we worked out together and played football on the same team. His usually neat hair was tousled, as if he'd been running his hands through it repeatedly.
“What the hell is going on with you, man?” I whispered to not bring more attention to us in case there was someone else around.
“Nothing, everything is fine. I’m sorry I’m late.” Nash placed his arms on the table as he took the seat across from me. He glanced at me before resting his head on his arms, and I wondered if he might be trying to fall asleep.
He was full of shit. I nudged him with my foot and then said, “Like hell it is. Something is obviously wrong, and I’ve never seen you show up anywhere this late or look like this outside of practice and game day.”
Nash lifted his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I swear it’s nothing.”
But we both knew that was a lie. It was then that I noticed that he had bags under his eyes. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
All he did was shrug without responding, giving me an answer without saying a word. He didn’t get much sleep the night before.
“If I could tell you, I would, but I can’t right now.”
That made the warning bells louder in my mind. Nash’s attempt to evade me was half-assed. His appearance made it seem as if he’d been through hell and back, and now he couldn’t talk about it?
“That's bullshit and you know it." I leaned forward, daring him to continue lying to me. "Something is obviously wrong, and if you thought I wouldn’t notice it, then you must think I’m an idiot. You should have just canceled tonight so I wouldn’t have seen you."
Nash stared me down, and I hoped he would start talking. Instead, he looked away and mumbled something under his breath.
"You know that you can tell me what’s wrong." I kept my voice low, hoping that he would open up.
After a long moment of hesitation, Nash looked me in the eye once more. There was a haunted look in his eyes, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
"Easton, I'm in over my head," he said quietly. "And this is the first time in a long time I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing."
“I’m still confused—”
Nash shook his head and said, “Never mind. Forget I said anything.”
Rather than call him out on his bullshit again, I tried a different tactic. “Does it have something to do with your ex-girlfriend?”
This time, Nash glared at me because I brought her up. While I wasn’t exactly clear on their whole breakup, I did know that she’d left town years ago and then, out of nowhere, transferred to Brentson this year. It was a sore subject for him, but it needed to be asked.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened this year, and we are still at the beginning of the semester.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Nash snapped.
I raised an eyebrow at him because his outburst was unexpected, and I didn’t appreciate it. I chalked it up to the state he was currently in physically and mentally, but he didn’t need to take it out on me.
“Listen, Easton. There’s a shit ton of things going on, and I lost my cool.”
“If this is your way of apologizing, then I accept.”
That made Nash chuckle, dispersing the tension between us, but it didn’t remove the elephant in the room. “When and if I can tell you more, I will. I swear.”
I nodded and then said, “I’ll chill for now, but you do realize how weird this looks?”
He nodded, but seemed grateful that I was willing to back off. “So, philosophy?”
“Sure, let’s get to it.” After all, it’s what I’d been waiting to do for at least the last forty minutes.
