Page 48 of Notorious Man on Campus

“He’d be angry that I cleaned his room, but his dad insisted, so I did. And I found the letter tucked away behind the mirror on his wall.” I heave a breath, unsure if I should tell all. I blurt, “I never broke Jimmy’s heart and the real reason that he quit SPU has nothing to do with me.”

“Okay, I believe you. But you worked for his family? How nineteenth century.” Dooley wiggles his fingers begging for more.

“I was cleaning house for them and cooking. I made the mistake of dating Jimmy in the summer when he came home before his senior year. And you’ll like this, I kept it secret from my mother because she forbade me from seeing anyone from Fox Chapel or any elitist snobs, let alone a college boy elitist snob who was always in the local paper. She hated the Blanick’s in particular because of their celebrity status in town.”

“But she let you work for them?”

“She didn’t know that. I kept it from her.”

“You’re full of secrets, aren’t you? You must have fallen for Jimmy if you dated him against your mamma’s wishes.”

“I liked him, but I wasn’t attracted. I was smitten with Brick right from the first. He intrigued me. Besides, when it was time for Jimmy to go back to college, I figured our relationship would die out since it was luke-warm at best.”

“Tell me about Brick. You had a real thing for him back then?”

“Yes.” I sigh because I still do. “What do I say about Brick? He was everything. He was in my grade and he was the hot high school QB. The one every girl drooled over. He was smart, steely and funny and worked harder than I did which is saying a lot. He didn’t have much to do with me, but I felt his eyes on me at odd times, like in the cafeteria when we had lunch at the same time, or in the corridors or in study hall. I tried to befriend him, but he said he didn’t do the friend thing with girls. And it’s true. All I ever saw him do was flirt. He never took a girl to a dance or even the prom. But I heard lots of stories about him curing plenty of girls of their virginity. It was almost like a badge of honor at school to have Brick pop your cherry.”

“So the legend of Brick preceded him to SPU. I should have guessed.” Dooley claps his hands together, eating up my story as if it’s movie house popcorn. “Tell me, did he ever pop your cherry in high school?” loaded question and I’m not ready to share my recent state of cherry-popping. So I shake my head.

“Secretly, I wanted him to. There was something irresistible and broken about him and his suit of emotional armor that made me want to fix him, to cut through his armor.” To be the one he let through and be with the real him.

“Did you ever get close? You two must have got up to something to force him to throw you to the curb for Jimmy’s sake.” I nod.

“It was a couple of months after Jimmy left, we were supposed to go to SPU to his game. Mr. Blanick left early and I was supposed to drive up with Brick Friday night. They got me a hotel room and everything. I told my mother I was staying at a friend’s house. I hid my relationship with Jimmy and the Blanick family from my mom and it was killing me. At the same time I was hiding the fact that my mom didn’t know I was working for them all this time. I told her I was working at the grocery store in Fox Chapel and she was too busy to check up on me and happy to have the extra money I gave her, thrilled that the store paid so well.” I laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh. Dooley raises his brows, but doesn’t judge me.

“It was late November and there was an early snow storm in the northeast. Flakes were coming down hard and fast and I was nervous, wiping down the kitchen counters for the third time, clutching my letters, waiting for Brick to get home from practice. It was the one weekend he didn’t have a game and we could all go to Jimmy’s game. But I had some notion of confronting him first.”

Dooley nods and I close my eyes, like I’m there again, back in the Blanick house in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania and I tell him what happened.

Chapter 20

Nyla

Four years ago

The back door flies open and Brick comes in stomping snow off his boots onto the doormat. I quickly slip the letters in my back pack.

“It’s fucking cold out there and nasty. You check the weather up in New England?” He glances at me as he slips his sneakers off and heads for the refrigerator. I’m dressed in tight black Jeans and a soft turquoise sweater that’s just snug enough to show my curves without being obscene. My make-up is done and my hair—well I spent a lot of time on it leaving it down instead of the usual pony tail or bun, and even though it’s long and the curls are unruly, it doesn’t look half bad. I was hoping for sexy, but you’d never guess by Brick’s reaction—or rather non-reaction to me.

“No.” He brushes past me and turns on the TV in the kitchen, clicking through to the weather channel. Sure enough, the nor’easter storm is the feature story. We only watch for a couple of minutes before we realize there’s no way we can drive to New Hampshire for the SPU game.

“Fuck.” He turns the TV off and gets out his phone. “I’m calling dad to see that he got there okay.” He has his conversation, but I don’t find out much because his side of it is sparse, so when he ends the call I ask him.

“What’s going on.” He looks at me, those cool blue-green eyes searing through my heart and curling my toes.

“Game’s cancelled. Dad and Jimmy will be coming home in the morning.” He stalks to his room and I straighten my spine and follow him. He’s shed his coat and boots and is lying on his bed scrolling his phone. I stand in the doorway watching him until he looks up at me. I’m prepared to stand here all night, but luckily it doesn’t take him long to register my presence.

“What do you want, Nyla?” You. A night in bed with you. I wish I had enough moxie to say those words aloud, but until I met Brick, I’d never even thought those things I never had a crush on a boy, never wanted one so much with all my being. But I muster up all the moxie I have and step inside his room. Then sit on his bed. He watches me, raises one brow when I land on his bed, moving the mattress.

“You didn’t notice my new sweater, or that I got all made up.”

“That’s Jimmy’s job.” He doesn’t take his eyes off me all the same. It’s a crumb, but I’m encouraged.

“What about you, Brick? What do you think of me?”

“Not a fucking thing. You know the rules, Nyla. You work here. Why don’t you bake us some brownies since we’re stuck here for a while.”

“The rules are off. I didn’t dress up for Jimmy. I’m breaking up with him.” He frowns at me then and puts his phone down. It’s not a lie. I doubt it’ll be a blip on Jimmy’s radar.