Excuse Me, First Love (College Daze #1)

by Danielle Burton

  His mouth fell open at my question. “I-I-uh–”

  “It was a joke.” It was now my turn to hide my face in shame. Way to make it awkward, Gabi. “Please ignore me.”

  He moved my hands away, that crooked smile stretched across his face. “How about we just rewind the last five minutes and hit the big red delete button?”

  I nodded, thankful he didn’t make a big deal with the issue.

  Instead he threaded his fingers through mine and lifted it so that he could drape his arm over my shoulder.

  “So, a picnic?” I asked when we were moving again.

  “Not just a picnic.” He didn’t elaborate as he led me through the park to a wide open area. There were about a dozen other people scattered about the grass on blankets. A large screen was set up, and there was a booth to the side of it with the word ‘Tickets’ on the front.

  “An outdoor theater?” I’d only heard them mentioned in movies or TV shows. It wasn’t that I didn’t know they existed, but I’d never had the pleasure of visiting one.

  “Judging by your smile I’d say I picked a good first date?”

  “Perfect.”

  He paid for our tickets, and then we went to find a good spot. We’d arrived early so there were still plenty left. After we took our seats, he pulled several plastic containers from the basket.

  “Did you make all this?”

  He took out two wine flutes and handed me one. “I thought about lying and telling you I did, but as much as you’re at Angelo’s, I knew I couldn’t get away with it.” His smile was wide the entire time he spoke. I was starting to like his silly side.

  My eyes almost popped from their sockets when he pulled out a wine bottle. I moved my glass away when he reached for it. “Um, no thanks.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s not alcohol.” He turned the bottle, showing me the label for sparkling cider. “I wouldn’t try to get you drunk on our first date.” He finished with a wink before cracking the seal on the bottle. His gaze was down cast, and both lips tucked into his mouth as he twisted the cap off and poured my drink.

  I giggled realizing he’d goofed and said the wrong thing again. “Are we forgetting that one too?”

  “Please?” He passed me my glass back then filled his own. “There’s this thing I do when I’m in the presence of a girl I like. It involves saying the first thing that pops into my head then looking like an idiot or a creep.”

  “It’s okay.” I placed my hand on top of his. “We all have our quirks.”

  “Yeah? What’s yours?”

  “Besides being perfect?”

  He smiled but didn’t laugh at my joke. “You are.”

  I sipped the bubbly beverage, hoping it would keep my blush at bay.

  Once the sky darkened enough, we settled into a comfortable silence as the movie started. I tried to focus Eddie Murphy talking to animals, but I could feel Haikeem’s eyes on me. “You’re supposed to be watching the movie, not me,” I whispered so not to interrupt the other movie goers.

  “Can’t help it. You’re way more interesting.”

  I glanced at him then turned back to the movie. “Well stop it, you’re making me nervous.”

  “Good.”

  I turned to meet his gaze, wondering if he’d blundered again.

  His expression caused a prickling sensation on my arms as the hairs stood. “That means you like me too.”

  I forced my attention away and back to the screen, tucking a strand of hair between my teeth. I jumped when I felt his hands touch my shoulders.

  He draped his jacket over me, smiling. “You have goosebumps.”

  We finished the rest of the movie with his arm behind my back and me eventually leaning on his shoulder.

  After packing up the picnic, we took a stroll around the park, conversing under the stars. Being with Haikeem had turned out to be more fun than I’d thought. Not that I’d thought it be…un-fun, but as nice as Keem was there was still one important quality he was missing. I shook that thought off with the quickness, instead focusing on the soft caress of Keem’s thumb on the back of my hand as he walked me to my door.

  As we neared my, Keem glanced over at me, a smile spreading over his handsome face. “So I guess this is the part where I ask if you had a good time.”

  We stopped and I leaned against my door. “I did.” I gazed into his pretty hazel eyes, and couldn’t help thinking I’d judged him all wrong. “There is one thing that’s been bothering me.”

  His smile faltered just a bit. “Yeah?”

  “The day we met, there was something you said...”

  He closed his eyes and dropped his head. “The troll comment.”

  “The troll comment.”

  His gaze met mine again, a smile tugging at his lips. “Well, I think we’ve established that I have a terrible habit of speaking without thinking first. I apologize if I offended you, it wasn’t my intention.”

  “It’s okay.” I reached up and placed a hand on his chest. “No harm done.”

  “Now that we have that sorted...there’s something that’s been bothering me too.” A sexy smirk replaced his smile, and his eyes darkened just a shade. “Well...not so much a bother than me fighting the urge all night.” He licked his lips and stared down at mine.

  “Oh?”

  His warm lips crashed into mine and his hands found my waist. His skilled, cinnamon sweet tongue was enough to give a girl’s heart palpitations, yet mine stayed still.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him deeper, trying to feel something besides just lips on mine.

  A thump in the hall forced our lips apart. When I looked to my left it was then my heart decided to tap dance.

  Jay stood a short distance away, his gaze roaming between me and Haikeem. He bent down and picked up the cord and adapter he’d dropped, his eyes never leaving us.

  Haikeem mean mugged him, and then turned his attention back to me. “I guess I’ll see you later then, Red. Good night.” He bent his head and kissed me once more before taking a step back. “Don’t forget what I said. You deserve to smile.” With that he turned to leave.

  Both men locked eyes as they brushed past one another, a silent message passing between them.

  Jay came to stand in front of me, and my brain started working again. “What are you doing here? I said I’d call you.”

  He smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Nice to see you too, best friend.”

  God, I hated those stupid, annoying...adorable puppy dog eyes. “Stop it, you know what I mean.”

  “I just figured you’d be home by now and thought we could play your game.” He nodded to the Wii tucked beneath his arm.

  I unlocked my door and he followed me in. Cam was gone as usual. Her partying didn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

  Jay placed the game system on my dresser then sat at the desk. “Kissing on the first date? You think that’s good idea?”

  I kicked off my shoes and went to find something to change into. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Kissing leads to other things. Things that involve him getting you out of your clothes.”

  Taking a seat on my bed, I narrowed my eyes at him. “What exactly are you insinuating, Jayson?”

  “I just don’t think you should be getting intimate with this guy. I don’t trust him.”

  “Intimate?” I marched over to where he was and stood over him with my arms folded. “First of all, don’t sit there making assumptions about someone you haven’t even held a conversation with. And if all you’re going to do is accuse me of being a whore then you can leave.”

  His mouth flopped open and his eyes grew a size larger. “A whore! Gabi that is not what I meant.”

  “Isn’t it? You all but said it.” My temperature rose and I could feel the rash blooming beneath my skin. “You know what. Just leave.” I turned away from him, heading for the bathroom. Tears were pooling and I didn’t want him to see.

  He grabbed my hand as
I reached the entrance, and turned me around. “I could never think that about you.” He tried to make me look at him but I fought and turned my head. “I just– I care about you, Gabi. I don’t want guys taking advantage of you.”

  I shook my head still refusing to meet his gaze. “I appreciate the concern, but I can take care of myself.” I cursed the tear that escaped and brushed it away. “It hurts that you think so little of me, like I’d sleep with a guy I’ve only known for two days.”

  “I don’t think that way of you.” He grabbed both sides of my face and forced my head in his direction.

  I kept my gaze down, he wasn’t getting off that easy.

  “Look at me.”

  “No.”

  “Look at me, Gabi.”

  The strength in his voice drew my attention upward.

  “You’re the most important person in the world to me. I’ve never had a negative thought about you. It’s him I don’t trust.”

  I started to defend Haikeem again but it would only cause more arguing. “I hate fighting with you, Jay.”

  He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. “Me too. So let’s not anymore, okay?”

  I nodded against his chest, the scent of him tantalizing my senses.

  “Ready for DK?”

  I pulled away, wiping at my remaining tears. “Let me get changed, then sure.”

  I tossed the controller in frustration. “This is impossible.”

  “No it isn’t,” Jay said from his spot on my bed. “You’re just not used the Wii controller.” He stood from the bed and stretched his lean yet muscular frame. His t-shirt lifted a bit revealing a tiny peek of smooth ebony abs.

  Averting my gaze, I turned my attention back to the screen. “Why’d they make it so you can’t use the classic controller in the first place?”

  “A challenge I guess.” He picked up the controller on the way over, and then sat behind me. He scooted up until I was positioned between his thighs, and handed me the remote.

  My body stiffened when his chest hit my back. “W-what are you doing?”

  Controlling my breathing wasn’t an easy feat with him so close. My heart did back flips that increased in succession when his arms encircled me.

  “Helping.” He held the remote out to me again. “Here.”

  Forcing my hand not to tremble, I took it. “Okay, what now?”

  “The Wii remote allows for a lot of features the classic doesn’t have. It takes a lot of getting used to, and the stages are more challenging, but you’ll get it.”

  He held my hands while I held the controller, guiding me through the level and laughing every time I got killed. Little did he know, his soft breaths near my ear were part of the cause.

  After playing for an hour and not getting any better, I sat the controller on the floor. “It’s getting late. I have early classes.”

  “Okay. Are we running in the morning?”

  “Yes, I’ll be there.” I kept my talking to a minimum, forming words was hard when I could barely breathe.

  “Good.” He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me from behind, his head resting on my shoulder. “You know I love you, right?”

  Words that should’ve filled me with joy only brought tears. I wanted to believe his words meant more, to pretend for a moment that I was more to him than his friend. Instead I swallowed the boulder in my throat and blinked to clear my vision. “I love you too.”

  Ten

  Jay

  One week.

  That’s how long it took for Brooke’s phony persona to wear off. A week of hanging out, conversations at a reasonable decibel, and behaving like a real couple before Medusa reared her ugly head.

  I sat at the desk in her dorm while she stood rolling her neck with her hand on her hip, using enough profanity to make a pirate blush. For the life of me I could not remember what sparked the argument that had been going strong for an hour now. I’d stopped responding twenty minutes ago but that didn’t seem to faze her one bit. I cast a longing glance at my now cold chicken burrito and sighed.

  Her hand came down beside me and smacked against the desk. “Stop ignoring me.”

  I let out a hard sigh and leaned back in my chair. “I’m not ignoring you. I’m just sick of arguing. So until you speak to me like I’m a grown man instead of a child, silence it what you’ll get in return.”

  Her eyes narrowed to slits, and her nostrils flared. She was giving me ‘the look’ but I didn’t care. I wasn’t backing down.

  She went over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it with her arms folded.

  I risked heating up my burrito, praying like hell I could enjoy it in peace.

  No sooner than I took a bite, she spoke, to my surprise, using her inside voice. “Ever since she got here you’ve been different. You don’t even spend time with me anymore.”

  This girl was delusional. Not because she thought we didn’t spend time together. We didn’t. But because we both knew Gabi had nothing to do with it. The amount of time we hung out hadn’t changed. But she was right about me being different. Gabi brought out a side of me I thought I’d lost. The playfulness of our relationship always brought a smile to my face.

  I swallowed my food and took a drink of my watered down soda before replying. “Brooke, I give you what I can. Between classes and training I don’t even time for myself. The season starts up in a few months, you know that.”

  “That’s a lie.”

  Her voice rose a few octaves and I lifted my brow.

  “You say you have no free time, yet every time I look up you’re with her.” She spat the word out like she’d tasted something foul.

  “She runs track too, we train together.”

  “Well don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” I knew what she meant, I just wanted to hear her say it.

  “I want you to stop hanging out with her.”

  “No.”

  Her expression changed so fast that if I hadn’t been looking at her I’d have sworn she’d been slapped. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. No. Gabi’s my best friend. She was here before you and she’ll be here after.”

  Her eyes went wide. “A-after? What exactly are you saying?”

  “I’m saying...I don’t know how much longer I can do this with you.” My phone buzzed and I read the text from Benji while standing from my chair. “I gotta go.”

  ~ ♥ ~

  “You have no idea what you just saved me from,” I said as I slid into the booth across from Benji.

  He took a slice of pizza from the platter in the middle of the table. “If I had to guess, I’d say it involved Brooke.”

  I shook my head before grabbing my own slice. “That girl is gonna be the death of me.”

  “Doubt it.”

  “Why is that?” I looked around for my drink that I’d told him to order me, he didn’t.

  “Because, she’s not worth dying for, like...”

  “Like who?”

  He looked past me toward the bar.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see Gabi all cuddled up in a booth with Sir Stares-a-lot. I stood and went to Benji’s side of our booth. “Switch seats with me.”

  He looked up at me and smirked. “Why?”

  “Just move, damn.”

  I wasn’t ashamed to be watching them. Something about that guy rubbed me the wrong way. Gabi was too trusting, and I was only looking out for her.

  He draped his arm over her shoulder, his hand was way too close to her breast for my comfort, then titled her chin up and kissed her lips.

  Heat rose beneath the surface of my skin and my fist tightened in my lap. Wiping my hands, I stood and made my way over to them. I leaned over the back of the booth, and tousled her hair. “Hey, Miss Frizz.”

  She jumped and faced me with wide eyes, squirming under his arm like she’d been caught in the wrong. “Hey, I didn’t know you were here.”

  “Just got here, Benj wanted to chill.”

  Her gaze surveyed
the room until they landed on him then narrowed.

  “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

  Staring Problem damn near snarled at me. “Actually, you are.”

  I looked to Gabi.

  She stared down at her plate of pasta. “We’re on a date, Jay.”

  Now that I looked again, she was dressed pretty nice. She wore a fuzzy brown sweater that dipped low in the front and a pair of silver hoop earrings adorned her dainty ears.

  I smiled at my necklace hanging above her cleavage. “That’s right, you two are dating.” I reached between them and held my hand out to her ‘date’. “Henry, right?”

  He didn’t even glance at my hand, just continued to sneer at me.

  I stood up straight and shoved my hands in my pockets. “Well, I’ll let ya’ll get back to it. See you later, Little Red?”

  She looked up and gave me a small smile. “Yeah, sure.”

  On the way back to my table, I stopped by the bar and ordered a Ginger-Ale.

  Benji shook his head at me as I sat down.

  “What?”

  “You are one selfish bastard.”

  After I finished choking on my drink, I sat it on the table and crossed my arms. “I beg your pardon?”

  “If you’re gonna be jealous, at least claim her first.”

  “I don’t–”

  “Have feelings for her? You can tell that bullshit to my imaginary friend.”

  Catching movement in my peripheral, I looked over to see them collecting their things to leave. “Why’d you even tell me to come knowing she was here with him?”

  He wiped his mouth and sat back against his seat, smirking. “To prove a point. Which I just did.”

  I leaned back and watched Gabi leave with him, his hand on the small of her back.

  She looked over her shoulder at me and our eyes met for a fraction of a second before he led her away.

  Benji was wrong. I had no reason to be jealous. I was simply doing my job as best friend. Haikeem was not to be trusted. I’d gone to school with guys like him. The one everyone thinks is so nice until he flips. It was obvious dude had an anger problem with the evil look he was always giving me. The guy was a creep, plain and simple. Until Gabi figured that out it was my duty to protect her.