Changing Lanes (Lake Park University Book 1) Read online

  Changing Lanes

  Lake Park University Book One

  Christina Escue

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Thank You

  About the Author

  More from Christina

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2020 Christina Escue

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner. This is a work of fiction.

  Dedication

  To my beautiful daughters, may your love for bowling help you the way it always helped me.

  Chapter One

  Graycen

  “This is it,” I say to my empty car. Today is my first practice with my new team, my first practice as a collegiate bowler.

  When I signed with Lake Park University, a private university just outside of Gainesville Florida, nearly seven months ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they’re close to home, and offered me a sweet scholarship. As a three time high school state champion, I had several colleges looking at me, and several sweet deals on the table, but I didn’t want to be too far from my mom, so LPU was who I chose.

  My parents divorced four years ago, just before I started high school, and mom and I moved from sunny Miami, where I’d lived all my fourteen years on earth, to an equally sunny, yet significantly smaller town called Newberry. Newberry is about twenty miles from Gainesville, which is where I am now, and I can see my mom as often as possible.

  Until four years ago, my life was nearly perfect. My parents were together, my sister and I were inseparable, and bowling was life for us. Everything changed when my beloved twin started dating an older boy, a boy who was once my best friend. His name is Alarico Martinez, and he’s the reason my life went to shit.

  We’d known him since we were really little, he was always a fixture at the bowling alley my parents owned, and he was a really good bowler. Gavyn, my twin, was always intrigued by him, but the year we turned fourteen, he became intrigued with her as well. Two days before we were supposed to bowl in the USBC youth state tournament, Gavyn and Alarico went out for ice cream, and Gavyn never came home.

  Dad got the call around nine, the league was just finishing up for the night and cyber bowling was about to start, so it had to be around nine, and our world changed forever. Alarico was bringing Gavyn back to the bowling alley, we always helped there on Friday and Saturday nights, when a man came to the car while they were stopped at a red light and shot them both. Gavyn died before they made it to the hospital, and my world shattered.

  My parents couldn’t handle the loss, and they separated a month later, just as the school year ended. Dad sold the bowling alley a few weeks later, and Mom and I moved to Newberry. It’s a small town, but thankfully the high school had a bowling team. Without bowling there’s no telling where I would be right now, but I can guarantee I wouldn’t be here.

  Sighing, I pull myself from the past, and focus on the present. I am one of two new members of this team, and I know I have a lot of work to do if I want a starting position on the team. As a freshman, I doubt I’ll get to start, but who knows? I carried a one sixty average in high school, and hold three state championships, so I may have a shot at it after all.

  “Hey, Graycen,” Joy Sadler, the team captain and one of three other women on the team greets me as she steps out of her car beside me. I met her last week when I was here checking out the house we use for practice, and she was very welcoming.

  “Hello, Joy,” I return her smile. Her name suits her, she’s very joyful.

  “You ready to meet the rest of the team?” She asks as she pops her truck.

  “Sure am,” I answer as I step out of my almost new Toyota 4-Runner. “I’m a little nervous, though.”

  “Don’t be,” Joy says with a beaming smile. “Coach M will be here in a few minutes, but before he gets here, I wanna introduce you to the rest of the team.”

  “Okay,” I respond as I pull my bowling bags from the back of my SUV. “Is everyone else here already?”

  “Most are,” she answers after scanning the parking lot. “Counting you, we now have eleven members of the team. Nine of them are here.”

  “Okay,” I respond again. I’m getting more nervous by the minute, but I know I have to keep it from showing. These people will be my teammates, and hopefully my friends.

  “Calm down, Graycen. You’re going to do great,” she says as we walk toward the doors of the bowling alley.

  “Gray,” I tell her, and she looks at me in confusion. “My friends call me Gray.”

  “Well, then, let’s go Gray,” she says, and I beam at her. I’m already feeling more accepted, and I haven’t even met anyone else.

  I pull my bags behind me, thankful they have wheels, and as we walk into the alley together.

  “Hey everyone,” Joy calls out and seven faces turn to look at us. “I’d like for you all to meet Graycen Kelley. She’s one of our two freshman this year.”

  “Hey, I know you,” a girl with straight black hair, and deep green eyes says and walks toward us. “I bowled against you in the state tournament when I was a senior. You were a sophomore, if I remember correctly, and you kicked my ass. You have a hell of a hook for a lefty.”

  “Another lefty?” One of the guys says before I can respond to the girl who spoke. If I recall correctly, her name is Nadia. “I’m Xander. A sophomore and the only other lefty on the team.”

  “Xan, don’t interrupt,” Joy scolds him, and he grins at her. “Xander is my baby brother, and a hell of a bowler.”

  “I’m Nadia Brooks,” the first girl who spoke says and I mentally high-five myself for remembering her name. “I’m a junior this year and am thrilled you’re on our team. I couldn’t imagine bowling against you.”

  “Nice to meet you both,” I say and smile at them. Xander has an amazing smile, and I can’t help but return it.

  “Let me introduce the rest of these losers to you,” Xander says as he walks over to stand beside me. “The other girl is Wren Myers, she’s a sophomore like me, beside her is Micah Ramos. He’s a senior, and he and Joy are dating. To his left is Jaylen King, he’s a junior, then next to him is Ryder Nelson. He’s our other senior guy. Finally there’s Brennon Nelson. He’s a sophomore and Ryder’s younger brother. They’re very competitive with one another.”

  “So, we’re waiting on Al, and the new kid, Westin,” Joy tells me. “And Coach M, of course.”

  “I’m here,” a gruff voice says from behind us and I turn around to see Coach Matthews walking toward us. “Sorry I’m late. I was called into a meeting with the athletic director, and the board.”

  “That doesn’t sound go
od,” Ryder says, and Coach M shakes his head.

  “They’re talking about cutting funding for the team if we don’t place in the top three this year,” he tells us, and I frown. LPU has an amazing bowling team, and they always place in the top ten.

  “Why the top three?” Joy asks the question I’m thinking. “We’ve always placed well for our size.”

  “Yes, but the problem is our size. They’re looking to filter more money into the bigger sports, and bowling just doesn’t bring revenue to the school,” Coach says, and I frown. We’d faced a similar issue my sophomore year of high school and had barely managed to keep the program running. I had some ideas on how to help, but being the new girl, I keep them to myself. I don’t want to step on any toes.

  “What if we try raising the money ourselves?” Xander asks, and I smile at him. He doesn’t seem to be shy about telling them his thoughts and ideas.

  “We could try that, but how?” Jaylen asks. “I mean, this isn’t high school, and we’re talking about thousands of dollars here.”

  “We’ll all think about it,” Coach M says and looks at us. “For now, let’s get practice started.”

  “Everyone isn’t here,” Joy points out and Coach looks around again. “We’re missing Al and the other freshman, Westin.”

  “They can join in when they get here,” he responds and smiles at me. “Nice to see you again, Graycen. I hope you’re adapting well to being away from home.”

  “I am,” I respond and return his smile. “It’s been great so far.”

  “Wonderful,” he responds then looks at the others. “Let’s get started.”

  He assigns us lanes, and I take a deep breath. This is the moment they all actually see what I can do. I’m not nervous, I never have been while bowling, but I am slightly anxious. Aside from Nadia, none of these people have seen me bowl, and I can’t wait to see them all bowl, too.

  I watch Xander throw his first ball and I smile. He has good form, but his release is a little choppy. I can help him with that if I can gather the courage to say something.

  “You’re up, Gray,” Joy says with an encouraging smile.

  I start my approach as the doors to the bowling alley open. I block out everything as I focus on the lanes. I take my five quick steps, and throw a perfect hook, straight into the pocket. Strike, yes.

  The others are cheering, and my smile grows. I turn to face them, and my eyes land on someone I never wanted to see again, someone I never imagined would be here, someone I vowed to hate for the rest of my life; Alarico Martinez, my sister’s boyfriend.

  Chapter Two

  Rico

  What the hell is Graycen doing here? I ask myself as my eyes lock on hers. I knew who she was the moment I walked through the doors. In the four years since I’ve seen her, she hasn’t changed a bit. Yeah, she’s not the fourteen year old I knew, she’s curvier, and a little taller than she was then, but she still has the same long, red hair and sea green eyes. I watch as the smile fades from her lips, and fury replaces the joy in her eyes. I know what she’s thinking, and I can’t blame her at all.

  “Hello, Gray,” I greet her with a cocky grin. I know I never affected her the way I did Gavyn, and that always irritated the shit out of me.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” She asks, and everyone looks from me to her and back again.

  “Do you two know each other?” Coach M asks as his gaze drifts between us.

  “You could say that,” I answer, and I can almost see the smoke coming out of Gray’s ears. She still hates me, which is okay because I still hate myself. “We used to bowl together.”

  “Oh?” Coach asks with a raised eyebrow.

  “Yeah,” I respond and finally look at him fully. “Before.”

  “Before?” Joy asks, pulling my attention back to her. “Before what?”

  “Before he got my sister killed and ruined my life,” Gray answers and I flinch. Her words are filled with a pure loathing that I can’t even describe.

  “Before he what?” Xander asks, and I shake my head.

  “I didn’t get her sister killed,” I respond and look at my teammates. “You all know about the incident I was involved in when I was sixteen. You all know what happened. Graycen’s sister, her twin sister, was the girl who was killed in that incident.”

  “Oh shit,” Micah breaths out as I look back at Gray.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with Gavyn getting killed,” I say quietly. “I would have never intentionally hurt her or your family, and you should know that, Gray.”

  “Don’t call me that,” she snaps at me and I flinch again. I’ve called her Gray since she was five and I was seven. “Only people I like, and respect, can call me Gray. I neither like nor respect you and I haven’t since you walked away from that shooting and Gav didn’t.”

  “Gray,” Xander says softly as he lays a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner.

  “Don’t,” she snaps and looks back at me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I bowl for LPU,” I answer, and she takes a step back. “And it seems you do as well.”

  “This cannot be happening,” she says and shakes from head to toe. I can’t tell if she’s shaking in anger or sadness at this point.

  “Why don’t we go get you some water, and some air,” Xander suggests and I narrow my eyes at him. He’s a good guy, but I definitely don’t like that he seems to be attracted to Gray. She’s the girl I always wanted to be with, she’s the one I wanted to date while I was with Gavyn, she’s the one who always captivated me, and that’s why I’ll never forgive myself for what happened to Gavyn.

  “Good idea, Xan,” Joy says and lays her hand on Gray’s other shoulder. “Take her outside, and I’ll get her a bottle of water.”

  “Graycen,” I say as Xander starts to lead her to the back door.

  “Don’t, Rico,” she says and shakes her head at me. Hearing her say my name, the name I buried when they buried Gavyn, makes my chest tighten.

  “I never meant for any of that to happen,” I say anyway, and she shakes her head again and walks past me without saying a word.

  Once she’s gone, Micah looks over at me. “Want to tell us exactly what’s going on, Al?”

  I sigh then answer him. “You all know about the car-jacking I was involved in when I was sixteen. The one that killed my girlfriend and nearly killed me.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t explain the look in your eyes when you look at Gray,” Wren says, and I close my eyes for a second. “Or the fact that you were nearly in tears when you mentioned her family.”

  “Graycen and Gavyn were twins, identical twins, and the daughters of the couple who owned the bowling alley I bowled in as a kid. I would go there when things were bad at home, which was all the time, and their dad was always more of a father to me than my own,” I start talking, and know I have to get it all out before I stop. “Gavyn had a crush on me since she was about ten, but I always had a crush on Graycen. She, however, was never interested in me as anything more than a bowling teammate. When they turned fourteen, I gave up on Graycen, and asked Gavyn out. I settled for the twin who liked me, even though I knew it was wrong. Anyway, two days before our team was supposed to bowl in the state tournament, Gav and I went out for ice cream. On the way back to the bowling alley, we both worked there on weekends with Mr. and Mrs. Kelley, and Gray, we were stopped at a red light when a man approached the car and pulled a gun. He shot Gav then turned the gun on me and shot me too. Gav died on the way to the hospital, but I didn’t know that until days later when I woke up in the hospital.”

  “And Graycen blames you for her sister’s death,” Micah concluded, and I nodded.

  “I blame myself, too,” I admit. “Gav’s death ripped their family apart. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley divorced a few months later, and Mr. Kelley sold the bowling alley. I haven’t seen Gray in four years.”

  “Are you two going to be able to bowl together?” Coach M asks and I shake my head.

&
nbsp; “I have no idea, honestly,” I answer. “I will be able to bowl with her but seeing her reaction to me makes me wonder if she’ll be able to be in the same building with me, much less on the same team.”

  “It’ll all work out,” Nadia says, and I look at her questioningly. “You’re far too professional to let this stop you from being there for the team, and from what I remember of Graycen when she kicked my ass at state, she’s too good to let something like this stop her.”

  “She is a hell of a bowler,” I say and Coach grins.

  “That’s why I signed her,” he states, and I smile a little.

  “Why don’t I go check on her, while y’all get practice started?” Ryder asks, his Southern Georgia accent coming through. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll go get the lanes set up again for warm-ups,” Coach says and walks away.

  “Are you going to be okay bowling with her?” Wren asks once everyone has walked back to the lanes.

  “I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I haven’t seen her in four years, Wren. She hates me, which is understandable, and I don’t know how well we’re going to deal with the animosity within the team.”

  “We’ll deal with whatever happens,” she says and smiles at me. “We’re a team, a family, and we’ll face all challenges together.”

  “Gray isn’t a challenge,” I snap then shake my head. “I’m sorry. Seeing her, talking to her, it’s stirred up memories of a past I buried a long time ago. A past I never wanted to face again.”

  “Sometimes we have to face our pasts in order to have a future,” she says then walks away, leaving me standing there alone, letting her words sink in. Maybe she’s right. Maybe I need to face my past in order to finally move on from it.

  Chapter Three

  Graycen

  “I can’t believe he’s here,” I say again as Xander and Joy sit on either side of me.