by Kaylee Ryan
Me: Thanks, Reese’s Pieces. See you after the game.
Tossing my phone into my bag, I follow my team to the hallway. I’m about to take the field for the first time in my college career. My parents, my second parents, who are Reese’s, and my best friend are all here to watch me. That’s what’s important. Closing my eyes, I listen to the sounds of the stadium flow around me. My teammates are pumped, and the crowd is on fire if the noise is any indication. This is my life for the next four years.
Welcome to Central University.
We won by two touchdowns. The rush of winning my first ever college game is real. I’m floating on cloud nine. My high school team always had a winning season, all four years. This, however, this win is on another level. It’s heightened. Playing at the college level is the best of the best. At high school, almost anyone can make the team. In college, you have to have the skill, the drive, and the talent. I made three of our four touchdowns. The moment I stepped out on that field, the game was my focus, and my stats are evidence of that.
“Good game, rookie,” Levi says, stepping up to his locker that’s beside mine. His hair is wet, and he has a towel hanging around his waist.
“Thanks. It was a team effort.”
He shakes his head. “Modest. I like it. But you were on fire out there.”
“Just love the game.”
“You coming to the house tonight?” he asks.
The house, as he refers to it, is a huge old Victorian just off campus. The house is occupied by the football team. Well, not all of them, but the juniors and seniors who don’t depend on their scholarship to provide them housing. As a freshman, my scholarship states I will live in the dorms for my entire first year at CU. Grades permitting, I can live off campus after that.
“Yeah, maybe. I need to meet up with my parents and Reese’s.”
“Her parents came to watch you?”
“Yeah, her parents and mine have been best friends as long as Reese and I.”
He nods. “Bring Reese with you. Oh, and tell her Tessa can come too.”
I bite back my snide remark about him knowing her roommate as well. “Yeah. We might see you there.” I keep my reply vague. While I want to hang out with my teammates, I also want to celebrate with my best friend. I just don’t know if I can handle pulling drunk guys off her all night and still manage to have a good time. I’ll just have to see what she wants to do. I might not even be able to convince her to go.
Glancing at my phone, I see a text from my mom telling me that everyone is waiting for me just outside the locker room. I rush to get dressed and toss my stuff in my bag, throwing it over my shoulder. I wave to my teammates, bumping fists and slapping a few high-fives with their words of “good game” and “killed it, freshman” as I make my way out of the locker room.
I find my parents, Reese’s parents, Garrett, and Eve, as well as Reese and Tessa, right where Mom said they would be. I hear a loud squeal, and I know what’s coming. I drop my bag to the floor and brace for impact as Reese rushes toward me. I catch her as she wraps her arms and legs around me. “You killed it!” she exclaims.
I chuckle. Reese has always been my biggest cheerleader. She slowly releases her hold, and I help her to steady herself back on her feet. Her arms go around my waist in a hug. Slinging my arm around her shoulder, I return her embrace. “Thanks.”
“Good game, son.” My dad steps up and shakes my hand.
“Oh, Coop.” Mom has tears in her eyes. Reese sees as well and steps away, letting Mom have her turn. Eve is next, followed by a handshake from Garrett, and a hug from Tessa.
“Do you have time to grab something to eat with us?” Mom asks.
“I’ve got nowhere to be.”
“Oh, Reese said there was a party with your teammates.”
“Levi texted me.” Reese holds up her phone. “I assumed you’d want to be there to celebrate with your team.”
“Are you going?”
“We’re going,” Tessa answers for her.
“Reese,” her dad says. His tone has warning.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t go if Cooper doesn’t.”
Her words seal my fate. She wants to go. I don’t have to convince her, and I know that if I don’t go, she’ll stay home, just like she told him she would. I could easily bow out, but I can see it in her eyes. This is what she wants to do. I’ll just have to keep a close eye on her, and then I need to get the message out to my teammates that she’s off-limits.
How hard could it be?
My “how hard could it be” turns out to be a fucking nightmare. Reese and Tessa went back to their dorm to get ready after dinner, with plans for me to pick them up for the party in an hour. I sent them a text letting them know I was outside their dorm. I wasn’t expecting to swallow my tongue when they climbed into my Jeep. Both are wearing short jean shorts, with CU tank tops. It’s simple, understated, and unapologetically Reese, but damn, she looks hot. They both do. Tessa, with her long dark hair cascading down her back, and her bright green eyes, could make any man beg for her to be his.
The minute we walked into the house, all eyes were on us. We were instantly surrounded by my teammates, who wanted to talk about the game. Eventually, Tessa disappeared with Dustin, and Reese ended up a few feet away, laughing and talking to Levi. As for me, there’s a cute little redhead who has attached herself to me and deemed herself my sidekick for the night. She’s cute, tall, much taller than Reese, with red hair and brown eyes. She’s got curves for days.
Levi catches my eye and winks with a subtle nod to my new companion. I get his meaning. I understand how this works. Football players are like celebrities on the CU campus. As a player on the starting roster, with stats that helped us win the game today, I could have my pick of women. Too bad I can’t focus on Carrie—or was it Cara—to take advantage of that. I’m too busy watching out for Reese, and by association, Tessa.
When Levi slings his arm around Reese’s shoulders, and her head tilts back, her laughter ringing out over the loud music, I know I’m in for a long night. “Excuse me.” I pull the redhead’s arm off mine and walk away. “Sounds like I missed the punchline,” I say, stopping to stand next to Reese and Levi.
“Coop.” Reese smiles. “You’ve got to teach Dustin some moves.” She points out onto the makeshift dance floor, and it takes me no time to find Dustin. His arms are flailing around, and his hips are jerking, but not in a sexy, “let me seduce you” kind of dancing. It’s more… I don’t really know. I’ve never seen anything like it. Poor Tessa is standing about two feet away, just grooving to the beat like the rest of the partygoers, while Dustin is in a world all his own.
“There’s no helping that.”
“Right?” Levi agrees. “Come on, Reese. Let’s show him how it’s done.”
I stand back against the wall and watch as the two of them let loose just like they did at the bonfire. Reese is smiling and happy. Levi has his hands all over her as he moves to the beat, and it doesn’t seem to faze her. That’s a good thing. I’m glad she trusts him, but she can do better. I make a mental note to tell her that.
“Hey, Cooper.” The redhead appears by my side.
“Hi.” I nod, not looking at her, keeping my eyes on everyone dancing.
“Want to dance?” she asks.
Already I can tell that this girl is a stage-five clinger, and I have zero room in my life for that. “Thanks, but I’m beat from the game. I just want to stand here and take it all in.”
“We could go upstairs.” She licks her ruby-red lips, the same color as her obviously unnatural hair color.
“Cooper, my man.” My roommate Nixon holds his fist out for me. “You killed it out there today.”
“Thanks.” Nixon is a freshman like me, and he’s also on the team. However, he didn’t get any playing time today. He’s a kicker, and his leg has damn good accuracy. The starting kicker is a senior this year, so his time is coming.
“Who’s your friend?” he asks, nodd
ing toward the redhead whose name I still can’t seem to remember.
“Cara,” she purrs, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes.
“Nixon, this is Cara.” I remove her hands from me yet again when I see Reese motion for me to join her out on the dance floor. “I’ll be right back.” I give no other explanation as I go to her. “What’s up?”
She grabs my hands and moves them around with hers in some silly dance move. “We’re supposed to be celebrating your big win.” She smiles up at me. Her green eyes are lit up with happiness.
“Well, we better dance then.” I match her move for silly move, making her laugh. This is us; it’s what we do. What started out as a night I was dreading, turns into the perfect night, celebrating with my best friend.
Chapter 4
Reese
“I can’t believe that freshman year is almost over,” Tessa says from her seat on the couch at the house. She and I have pretty much made this our stomping grounds. Tessa and Nixon are dating, and yes, I set them up, and since he and Cooper are always here, so are we. It took a few months of curious looks at me and Coop for everyone to get it through their heads that we are truly just friends. It’s not really that hard of a concept to grasp.
“Right? It’s hard to believe we’re moving into our own place.” I can barely contain my excitement. There are two months left of classes, but we signed our lease yesterday for our new place. We get the keys in a month, so that gives us one month to move from the dorms and get settled.
“Are your parents still bummed out that you’re not coming home for the summer?” she asks.
“I’ll visit.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, they were disappointed, but they agree. The apartment is the perfect location, and it’s a great price for what we’re getting. It doesn’t make sense to pass on it, or rent it and not live there. What about yours?”
She shrugs. “Out of sight, out of mind.”
Unlike me, Tessa’s parents aren’t heavily involved in her life. They’re both high-powered corporate attorneys and work their lives away. That’s why every break we’ve had this year, she’s come home with me instead of going to her folks’ place. Not once did they comment on their displeasure of her not coming home. Makes a girl appreciate what she has, that’s for sure.
“You sure you don’t want another roommate?” Nixon asks Tessa.
She smiles at him. “Like you’re not going to be there all the time anyway.”
“Exactly. I should just go ahead and move in.”
“And miss out on all of this?” she asks, just as Levi, Dustin, Cooper, and a few other guys from the team come into the living room. Dustin and Levi sit next to me on the couch, which leaves Cooper. He reaches down and picks me up, causing me to squeal. He takes my seat, placing me on his lap.
“What’s going on?” he asks.
“Oh, you know, Nix is just trying to convince Tessa to let him move in with us in our new apartment.”
“What? If anyone should get to move in, it’s me,” Cooper states confidently.
“Oh, really? Why you?”
“Best friend.” He points at his chest.
“Boyfriend.” Nix mimics Cooper and points at his own chest.
“Best friend trumps boyfriend all day long,” Cooper declares.
“What?” Nixon asks, shocked. “You can’t be serious?”
Cooper nods. “Yep.”
“How do you figure?” he asks.
“That’s just how it goes.” Cooper doesn’t offer any type of explanation.
“I can give her more than you can,” Nixon counters.
“Like what?”
“My dick for one.” He holds up his index finger.
“Nixon!” Tessa scolds him. Her face grows crimson with embarrassment.
“You should be used to this bunch by now,” I tell her.
Reaching for a pillow on the couch, she covers her face as she starts to laugh. “Uh, Tessa, you don’t know where that pillow has been, or what it’s seen,” I remind her.
“Gah!” She tosses it onto the floor, making us all laugh.
“Don’t worry, T,” Dustin chimes in. “We don’t let any of the good stuff happen outside of the bedrooms.”
“You’re forgetting that we’ve been to your parties,” I tell him.
He shrugs. “That’s partygoers. I’m talking about those of us who live here.”
“Speaking of living here, who’s on the list for next year?” I turn to look at Cooper over my shoulder.
“Me, Nixon, Levi, Dustin, Trey, and Hank.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, it’s only a six-bedroom. Four upstairs and two in the basement.”
“Isn’t there more than that that live here now?” I ask, confused.
“Yes. But they doubled up. Most are seniors. They’re graduating, so we decided to dial back a notch,” Cooper explains.
“Makes sense.” I look over at Nixon. “Why are you trying so hard to move into our place?” I point at Tessa and then myself.
“Hello? Wake up with my girl or these baboons? I’ll take Tessa any day.”
“Aw.” Tessa leans in and kisses his cheek. “That was sweet, babe, but it’s still not happening.”
“I don’t get it. What, do the two of you have some kind of super-secret society that you’re trying to hide from us?”
“Yeah?” Cooper pinches my leg, causing me to yelp and retaliate the same way.
“No. We just want our space. Our time.”
“So you don’t have room for me?” Nixon asks.
I can hear the hurt in his voice. “It’s not that, Nix,” I say soothingly. “It’s just we want it to be us girls. It’s not like you’re not allowed to stay over or hang out at our place. We just made the decision no boyfriends moving in. At least not this year.” I wink at him, trying to lighten the mood.
“See. That’s why best friends trump boyfriends,” Cooper boasts.
“Actually, that rule applies to best friends too. At least those of the opposite sex.”
“Come on, Reese’s Pieces, you can’t kick me out.” He bats his eyelashes and puckers his lips into a pout.
“You don’t even live there.” I laugh at his antics.
“Yeah, but if I needed to?”
“If you needed to,” Tessa answers, “Reese and I would discuss the options and get back to you. Besides, we only have a two-bedroom.”
“So, I’ll just room with Reese,” he says, as if it’s the simplest answer in the world.
“I’m sure her boyfriend would love that.” This from Levi, who has been quiet up to this point, which is unusual for him.
“What boyfriend?” Cooper asks, leaning a little to see my face from where I’m now sitting sideways on his lap.
“There is no boyfriend.”
“Not yet, anyway.” Tessa wags her eyebrows. “I’ve been trying to set her up with this guy in my English lit class.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Cooper says.
“That’s because I haven’t agreed to go out with him.”
“What’s his name? We’ll check this guy out.” It’s more of a demand than a request.
“Coop’s right,” Levi agrees. “If we don’t know him, we can find out. It’s not hard for us to find answers on this campus.”
He’s not being conceited, just speaking the truth. Football players are like celebrities at CU. In this college town, football is life. “Nobody is finding anything out about anyone. If I decide to date him, that will be my choice. I don’t need you”—I give Cooper a pointed look—“or any of you”—my eyes scan Dustin, Levi, and Nixon—“to investigate him.”
“Good luck getting Cooper to agree to that,” Levi mumbles under his breath.
I choose to ignore him. “So, are all of you staying here over the summer? Or are you headed home?” I ask, changing the subject. Kind of.
“Trey and Hank are headed home. They’ll be back mid-July for football,
” Dustin tells me.
“I thought football started when classes did?”
“It’s not a requirement of freshmen to be here earlier, but it’s required of the upperclassmen,” Nixon explains.
“Really? I find that odd. Shouldn’t it be the same for the entire team?”
He shrugs. “That’s just how Coach does it. He works with the veterans for a few weeks, and then when the rookies come into the fold, we’re ready for them.”
“Huh.” I’ve been best friends with Cooper since I was eight, and just when I think I know everything I need to about the sport he loves, that we both love, I find myself learning yet another new piece of information.
“Not all colleges do it this way. This is Coach’s thing. Something about coming to school is overwhelming enough. He says that it gives the veterans on the team time to reconnect, and then we take the newbies under our wings. You know, like I did with these two knuckleheads,” Levi says of Nixon and Cooper.
“Here we go.” Nixon rolls his eyes. “He can’t let it go,” he says, pretending to be annoyed, but we can hear the humor in his voice.
“Laugh it up. You assholes would have been lost without me,” Levi boasts.
“So, what are we doing tonight?” Tessa asks.
“You see it,” Dustin tells her.
“What? No party? Are you all feeling okay?”
“You’ve got that one locked down.” He points to Nixon, who grins, pulling Tessa’s hand that’s entwined with his to his lips. “The rest of the guys are out at some seniors-only bullshit, which I get. And Reese has this one locked down.” He points to Cooper. “So, no, Levi and I are just chilling for the night.”
“Hey now. I don’t have anyone on lockdown,” I correct him.
“This one gets prime pussy vying for his attention on the daily, yet he turns them down.” Duston points at Cooper.
“Vultures,” Cooper grumbles.
“What’s that?” Nixon asks.
“They’re all fucking vultures. They want my attention because I’m on the team. Put a girl in front of me that’s with me for me, and we’ll talk.”
