In My Father's Shadow by Jl Paul

dad
would skin him if he ever treated any girl that way – not that he
would. And he couldn’t stand the thought of some guy regarding Ally
as just another girl to brag to his buddies about. Ally was tough,
sure, but she had feelings and was a truly warm person.
    “So, what – I’m going to by the guy to….?” he asked
aloud but couldn’t finish the question. He shivered. “And how did I
get to this point?”
    He knew how he got to that point – he truly had
feelings for her and it absolutely killed him, wrenched his
insides, to think of another guy touching her in any way.
    He groaned. He was caving and he knew it.
    “I’ll talk to the guys,” he said to himself. “Even
though they really have no say in the matter, I’d like to take into
consideration their opinions.”
    With that settled, he turned on the radio and settled
into the last half of the drive.
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Cole beat the others back to campus and paced his
dorm room while waiting for RJ and Jamie to return. He was
agitated, craved a smoke, and wished fervently that his friends
would get back so he could unload.
    An hour later, after nearly wearing a hole in the
carpet, both boys came crashing into the room, laughing at some
joke RJ had heard from his dad. The laughter died on their lips
when they spotted Cole’s anxious face and nervous hands.
    “Dude, what happened?” RJ asked, dropping his
bag.
    “You okay?” Jamie questioned moving forward and
shutting the door.
    “Don’t shut the door, man. We’re going out for a
smoke,” Cole told them as he brushed past them, yanking his jacket
off a peg near the door. “And yeah, everything’s fine. I just need
to talk to you two.”
    They shrugged at each other but followed him outside.
They walked quietly to the Student Center and parked on the picnic
tables just outside the doors. Cole lit up immediately.
    “What’s up?” RJ asked, lighting his own cigarette. He
couldn’t sit so he bounced on the balls of his feet instead.
    Cole took a big drag and ran his hand through his
hair. “It’s Ally.”
    “What’s wrong with her?” Jamie asked anxiously.
    “No, it’s nothing like that,” Cole reassured him, and
then dropped his chin to his chest, pinching his cigarette between
his fingers. “Oh, hell, I’m screwing this up.”
    RJ looked at Jamie, knowing smirk flickering across
his lips. Jamie returned it as they turned toward Cole’s anxious
form. RJ rolled to his toes. “You two finally hooked up, huh?”
    Cole’s head jerked up so fast, a twinge of pain shot
through his nerves. His cigarette bobbled between his fingers as he
poked a finger at his buddies. “Hang on. You two would be okay with
it if Ally and I hooked up?”
    Jamie shrugged, a thoughtful frown on his face. “It
was bound to happen and let me tell you, if you two did finally
hook up, it’d be a relief.” He took a cigarette from Cole’s pack
and stuck it between his lips. “You can cut the tension between you
two with a knife.”
    Cole rubbed his temple, stood and began to pace.
“Well, sorry to disappoint but we haven’t gotten together or
anything.”
    “But you want to, right?” RJ prodded.
    “I don’t know. I mean, I do but what if it doesn’t
work? What happens with all of us?” Cole asked as his pacing
increased. He puffed on his cigarette, sucking on it as if it
contained life, not harmful chemicals. He dropped it to the
sidewalk and crushed it with his shoe.
    “You mean who gets custody of me and RJ?” Jamie
asked, valiantly fighting an amused grin. “Who cares, bro! So if it
doesn’t work out, we’ll figure it out then. Why worry about
that?”
    “Something happened between you two last weekend in
the hotel, didn’t it?” RJ asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“That’s why she was so mad, right?”
    Cole’s hands were trembling as he shook another
cigarette out of his pack. “Not really. I mean, yeah, sort of. She
kissed me, and…” he blushed a bit, grateful for the