Tanner

Fuck, what have I done?

Jenna smirks at me as something catches her attention behind me. "Good morning, roomie!"

I hear Lindsey say good morning as Jenna shoots me another look before walking away heading for her bedroom. Fuck! I'm such an idiot! I stare after her as she goes, watching her perfect ass sway with every step.

Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? All the progress I made with her has been ruined. All because I couldn't leave well enough alone.

Now it makes sense that she always leaves the bar with Liam. They fucking live together! Damn, I made a huge ass out of myself, basically told her I thought she was fucking Liam. And we were finally starting to grow closer. She was beginning to open up to me. She was giving me a chance.

Good job, Tanner. Now she probably hates you.

As Jenna closes the door to her room, Lindsey turns to me. "What was all that about?"

Shit, I almost forgot she was standing there. "It's just a misunderstanding. I'm going to the gym."

I grab my things and leave before I can do any more damage.

~

When I walk into the locker room, I see Chase and Liam bullshitting by their lockers. They stop talking when they see me and exchange a look. Chase cautiously approaches me and asks what's up.

I try and fail to reel in my irritation. "Why didn't you tell me who your other roommate was?"

Chase furrows his brows. "Tay? I thought you knew she was our roommate. Why? Did something happen?"

Yeah, something fucking happened.

"No! Nothing happened, just would have been nice to know!" I stalk to my locker, cursing under my breath.

I don't need to let this shit affect me here. I just need to come up with a plan to deal with living with Jenna for the next week or two until I can move back to my apartment. She probably despises me after that shit I said this morning.

The whole thing could have ended differently had I just kept my mouth shut and ignored the green monster of jealousy inside of me. He came out in full force when I thought Jenna was coming from Liam's room. I need to apologize to her. But, to do that, I have to work up the nerve to face her again. That could take a while.

~

We had a meeting with Coach after practice, and he announced that we have a free weekend ahead. There will be no practice or games scheduled Friday- Sunday, so we have the weekend off to do whatever we want. Coach reminded us not to go crazy or go on any benders during this free weekend, mentioning what happened with Chuck to get his point across.

I overhear Chase and Liam talking about taking Jenna and Lindsey out of town for the weekend. I'm torn between jealousy and relief when I hear this because if Jenna is gone for the weekend, I won't have to worry about making an even bigger ass of myself. At the same time, I don't want her to go out of town with Liam for three days. I know everyone says they're just friends, but I can't help but feel envious of him being as close to her as I long to be.

I really need to figure out how I'm going to apologize to her. Maybe I'll stay here a while longer and try to figure that out, give her more time to cool off before I head back to the apartment.

~

After wasting a few more hours at the arena trying to find the right words to say to Jenna when I get back, I finally decide to leave. I head to the apartment, hoping she isn't mad.

When I get inside, I see her sitting with the others in the kitchen. I look her in the eye and try to gauge her mood. I can't tell for sure, but I don't think she's pissed. I decide I won't engage her until after I've showered. I could have done so at the complex, but the cleaning crew had arrived by the time I was done. So, I left.

I grab my things and head to the bathroom. Once I've dried off and changed into clean clothes, I stare at the mirror, trying to psych myself up to approach Jenna. I had a plan when I left the arena. I was going to walk up to Jenna and tell her I made a mistake this morning, and I was sorry. Now that I'm here, I can't seem to make myself do it. What if she doesn't accept my apology? What if I've completely lost my chance with her?

Fuck, I can't do this right now.

I cop-out. I can't bring myself to talk to her. Hell, I can't even bring myself to look at her. The fear of her rejecting me is making me second guess everything.

~

The next few days pass by, awkward as fuck. Each morning I consider talking to her before I leave for the complex. But I always end up chickening out and leaving before she gets up. In my mind, avoidance is the best solution to my problem. It's safer than the alternatives, and it preserves my now fragile ego.

Coward.

I know I have to say something soon because it's going to be just Jenna and me at the apartment for the long weekend ahead. No one else will be around to buffer the tension I've caused because the others will all be Upstate, visiting Liam and Linsdey's parents.

On Thursday morning, I finally grow a pair and break my silence. I don't leave before she wakes up like I have been the last few days. Jenna sees me when she emerges from her room and looks surprised. She walks into the kitchen, and I follow.

She hasn't acknowledged me yet, so I take a deep breath, hoping this all goes well. "Hey, Jenna?"

She turns around to look at me. "Yes, Tanner?"

Okay, this is progress. At least she's talking to me. And she doesn't look angry. "I want to apologize for the other morning."

Jenna twists her face into a confused mask. "The other morning?"

I try to hide my smirk. So, she's playing dumb. Alright, that's better than nothing, right? "You know what I'm talking about. The other morning- when I was a total douche and made a comment insinuating that you slept with Liam."

Jenna's lips curl into a big O. "Ohhhh, thaaat morning. I forgot all about that since, you know, you've been avoiding me like the plague since then."

I cringe, but when I look at her, she's smiling. Maybe she's not mad? A tiny ember of hope lights up inside me. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that too. I was just embarrassed about the whole thing and didn't really know how to approach you."

When she doesn't reply, I continue. "Soooo, are we good?"

Jenna strokes her chin and narrows her eyes at me. For a second, I think she's actually going to reject my apology and tell me to fuck off. "Hmmmm, I don't know, it was a pretty ballsy assumption..."

I feel like she's toying with me, but I don't want to take the risk. I have to make this right. "Please, forgive me, Jenna. I promise I will make it up to you." My voice sounds so pathetic. I don't even care. If this is what it takes to get her to forgive me, I'll start groveling right here, right now.

To my astonishment, she starts laughing. "Don't worry about it, Tanner. I decided to forgive you days ago."

Say what? "Really? Then why did you let me go around this week avoiding you? I thought I really messed things up between us."

Jenna has a devious grin on her face. Not gonna lie; it's pretty sexy. "I just wanted to let you squirm for a few days. We're all good now, trust me. You've suffered enough."

Thank God! "Good! Because we have a long weekend here, just the two of us, and I don't want things to be awkward."

Jenna's expression softens slightly. "They won't be."

After ironing things out with Jenna, I wait for Liam and Chase to get ready. They're shocked that I'm at the apartment when they come out to the living room. I tell them I decided to hang around this morning so the three of us could head to the arena together since it's game day. They accept my explanation, and we leave to meet the rest of the team and get prepped for our game.

~

I'm feeling great as we get ready to start our game. I finally worked things out with Jenna, and it feels like an elephant has been removed from my shoulders. It sucks that I waited until the last possible moment to make my apology, but hey, better late than never, right?

Once this game is over, Liam, Chase, and Lindsey will be leaving to go Upstate for the weekend. That means, for the next three days, I'll be staying at the apartment alone with Jenna. Since we've made up, I am so ready to see what happens between us during that time.