by Sara Hess
Nic’s devotion
Series One of An Endless Novel
Published by:
Sara Hess
Copyright©2015, Sara Hess
Cover Artist: http://ebookcoverdesignsbycarey.com/
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
CHAPTER ONE
NIC
“Damn, I’m starving.” Seth grumbled stepping out of my black Escalade EXT. The truck rocked slightly as his two hundred and fifty pound, six foot six frame disembarked. His dark brown hair was damp and shaggy around his face from a recent shower. All five of us had slightly wet hair from recent showers as we were just getting out of lacrosse practice. Seth was a defenseman on the team. The biggest.
Evan, one of our attackmen, jumped out of the back. “Pit, you’re always hungry. You’re the equivalent of a human vacuum.” He stretched his six foot-two body left and then right. Unlike Seth, Evan’s inch length light brown hair was sticking straight up.
I opened the driver’s door and stepped out. Landon and Noah exited out of the passenger door behind me. The three of us were midfielder’s on the team. While the defensemen were in charge of defending the home net, and the attackmen stayed near the opposing teams net for possible goals, the midfielder’s were allowed complete access to all parts of the field. We ruled the field. However, we didn’t consider ourselves better than our teammates because every player was important to the cohesiveness of the team.
Seth growled at Evan’s use of the nickname, ‘Pit’. Evan had given him the nickname two years ago in our freshmen year at the University of Virginia. Evan bequeathed him the moniker ‘bottomless pit’ (shortened to ‘Pit’) because of his substantial appetite. Every time Seth heard it he said it made him think armpit which left a bad taste in his mouth. I had to concur it would for me too if I was called that.
Landon stepped up beside me as I tapped the button on my key lock. The truck beeped once telling me it was secure. This wasn’t the worst part of town, but it wasn’t the best either.
“Looks like another championship year for us.” He stated, slapping me on the back. Landon was six-one with dirty blonde hair…with touched up blonde ends…that was always perfectly coiffed. While the rest of us were wearing jeans and t-shirts he was in an expensive pair of dress slacks, button up shirt, vest and tie. However, underneath that buttoned-up businessman apparel he sported one large badass tattoo.
Noah came up on my other side. His physique was the same as Landon’s but his hair was brownish red. “Was there any doubt. We’ve ruled the last two years, and this year is going to be another slam dunk. Don’t kill me for the basketball reference.” He laughed and jogged ahead to escape the head cuffs that were about rain down upon him.
Our team has basically ruled Divisional I for the last two years, but we did lose some good senior players this season while only gaining rookie freshmen to replace them. It was a pain in the ass whipping freshmen into college material players. They left their high schools as the cream of the crop and came in thinking they were the shit, but we made them realize that high school was over. They were in the big leagues now. We didn’t play; we cut down the weak, stomped all over them, and then made something new out of what was left. You either cut it or crawled away crying. We had all been there at one time and we had all come away stronger.
“As long as these freshmen keep shaping up we shouldn’t have a problem. I’m not too worried about Craig and Jesse, but Matt, Trey, and especially Curt could use more in-depth training. The three stooges can’t seem to shake their high school mentality. Curt‘s attitude has been setting me especially on edge lately. The next cocky word that comes out of his mouth is going to earn him a fist in the mouth.” I gritted out in annoyance.
Being made team captain this year had not been a surprise. I was a natural leader and I’d been voted MVP the last two years, but keeping some of these ingrates in line was really trying my patience.
“Just make sure it’s away from campus grounds and we can corroborate that he swung first.” Noah joked from up ahead of us. I knew he wasn’t completely kidding though. If I was caught fighting on campus I would get in serious trouble with the school and coach.
“He’s a douche and a half. A few fists in the face is the only way to beat the shit out of him. And when I say shit I mean actual shit, because he’s full of it.” Seth muttered dryly.
I laughed. “Well then you better stand back because the shit will be flying.”
Noah made it to the door of the restaurant ahead of us and walked in while the four of us jostled each other to be next. Seth shoved us all to the side and went in second as he was the biggest. I went next as I was the second largest at six foot four, two hundred ten pounds. Landon and Noah squeezed through together.
This restaurant was a new one for us. I had gone a different route so Noah could stop at a specialty store to buy a gift for his girlfriend. We had all ribbed him about it until we saw the shop…a naughty lingerie store. Piling out of my truck we had followed him in and stood gawking at all the satin and lace. The sight wasn’t a new one for me or the other guys as we got to see it on the female form regularly. Women came easy to athletes…easy women who normally wore really nice lingerie. But to see a store full of sexy underwear in all shapes and colors was a sight to behold.
The female clerk’s eyes had almost popped out of her head when the five of us had walked in the door. She was early to mid-twenties, stacked, and looked like she didn’t know who to set her sights on first, but when her eyes had lit on me she’d began to sway towards me in that way women do…not to sound boastful but with my athletic body and blonde good looks I drew girls like bees to honey.
Noah must have seen the intent in shop girl’s gaze because he had intercepted and told her that he was the one in need of the stores services. However, as we were leaving the woman had given me her number. I wouldn’t call her though. I never called chicks. That raised expectations, and it was like chasing. I never chased. They chased me. If I was interested I gave them a little of my time and a lot of pleasure, but then I was out of there. I didn’t have anything more to give them.
The smells from the kitchen as we came through the restaurant doors sent all of our stomachs rumbling. A waitress was walking our way and had gone wide-eyed at the sight of us, but at the sounds of echoing stomachs a small smile curved her lips before disappearing just as quickly. The sound had been rather loud and reverberating.
“Five for dinner?” She asked.
“Yes,” the guys chorused.
I remained silent staring at her.
Another small timid smile came and went over her face at the guy’s loud consensus. Turning she grabbed five menus off the hostess desk and then motioned for us to follow her. Leading us to a large round mahogany table with six chairs the guys jockeyed for seats and another fleeting smile crossed her face.
I just stood and stared at her because, damn, this girl was gorgeous…a hit you in the gut how could anything be this perfect gorgeous. Since walking in I haven’t been able to take my gaze from her. Her eyes were an icy blue color that was almost mesmerizing, and there was a small mole at the end of her right arched eyebrow that accentuated the effect of her eyes even more. Women killed for those eyebrows. She wasn’t wearing any makeup and didn’t need it, because her lashes were black and thick giving the
allusion of eyeliner and mascara, and her complexion was creamy taupe and clear. Her lips were full, red and pouty like Angelina Jolene plushy, and there was another small mole at the corner…the left side this time. Ohh, what I could do with that mouth. Hair that was almost black, but not dyed, was pulled back into a French braid that fell to the middle of her back.
The girl looked to have some Spanish ancestry and everything about her face was striking, but with a softness to it. However, her body in a white shirt and black pants that were two sizes too big was hard to rate. Even the apron tied around her waist hung slightly loose giving me no idea on her waist measurement. She appeared tiny under all of it though.
“Dude, you sitting down or what?” Evan asked. The guys had finally seated themselves in their chosen places, and were now staring at me. Evan wore a smirk and looked from me to the waitress and then back to me. The others were wearing identical expressions. The waitress was passing out menus looking like she was doing her best to overlook my apparent ogling. There was blush on her face and even though she wasn’t looking at me I could tell she was uncomfortable.
Heat rushed into my face. What the hell! I never blush. And I didn’t stare at women, they stared at me. Sitting down I threw a glare in all their directions that conveyed ‘not another word’. A few eyebrows rose, but they all refrained from going any further with what could have been a good roasting on my behalf.
The waitress walked by setting a menu on the table in front of me and I found myself unconsciously rotating my body trying to catch the scent of her perfume, but all I caught was a faint whiff of soap and shampoo. Mostly she smelled like food.
That would be because she’s a waitress dumbass, and you don’t do waitresses. So quite ogling the waitress!
I didn’t consider myself a snob or anything, but my family was extremely wealthy and if I hooked up with someone without money the girl could set a lot of expectations on a relationship which was something else I didn’t do. So I only had sex with those in my own class bracket who knew the score that way when I moved on I didn’t feel like I was taking advantage of them. Doing girls in the low income range just made me feel dirtbagish’. I’d tried it a couple times and each time it had left a bad taste in my mouth. Even though they’d known the score and went on their sated way having had their orgasms, I still felt like a shit afterwards.
The waitress whose name tag read ‘Carrie’ stopped in front of the one empty chair and pulled out a pad of paper and pencil with a yellow feather attached to it. For some reason the sight of it had my lip twitching in amusement. The women I ran with weren’t that frivolous. They wanted guys to see them as sexy not playful.
“Can I start you off with something to drink?” A commercial smile curved her lips. I liked the others she’d flashed before more even though they’d been small and fleeting. Her mouth still made this one look damn good, but the other ones had been real.
We all ordered water and then additional soda’s and some chocolate milks…it does do a body good.
“I’ll be right back with your drinks.” She pocketed the pad and pencil and walked over to another table. Again, her clothes were just too baggy to appreciate the rear view, but she had a graceful walk.
“Cute waitress.” Landon remarked in a deadpan tone.
“Nice eyes.” Noah added.
“Great mouth.” Evan commented conversationally.
“Black hair.” Seth grunted.
I held a fairly stoic expression until Seth’s comment. The others guy’s also lost their cool at his remark. We all snorted with laughter. The waitress looked back at our table curiously. I couldn’t seem to stop checking her out.
“Black hair, that’s all you could come up with?” Landon gasped between snorts.
“What? It’s black. It’s in a frick’in braid, what do you want me to say about it. I could have commented on those orthopedic shoes that she’s wearing. Now those are hot! But the hotness of them would have been beyond your limited comprehension.” Seth grumbled picking up his menu.
“You got some kind of foot fetish we should know about. Do I need to start covering my naked tootsies when you enter a room?” I asked with a bogus concerned frown.
Seth raised his menu in front of his face. “Boy, you don’t want to know what my fetishes are, they would scare the hair off your butt.” He voiced from behind it.
We all raised our eyebrows at that statement but left it alone to scrutinize our own menus. After all, a man’s inclinations were his own affair.
A giggling commotion erupted from the front of the restaurant and we all instinctively lowered our menus to take a look. Four females stood at the hostess desk. All of them were decked out in short miniskirts with barely-there shirts, boots up to their knees, four blonde heads of hair arranged perfectly, and makeup artfully applied.
It was the Stepford omegas’.
There was a collective groan around the table. These girls were alright for a one-nighters…no, make that fifteen minute quickies, because anything longer than that was suicide inducing. It’s like the sorority made a point of only pledging blonde, built, bimbo’s who held the minimum number of I.Q. points enabling them the capabilities of speech. Unfortunately, the conversations that came out of their mouths were equivalent to sticking a chop-stick in your ear and then using it to jab at your brain over and over and over again.
A different waitress went to greet them. The girls pointed in our direction, and then they were headed our way.
Another wave of groans encompassed the table. There was one empty table right next to us. I really didn’t want my meal interrupted by brain battering babble. Huh, say that three times fast.
Carrie walked past us intercepting the group. She said something to the other waitress and suddenly the four girls were wearing disgruntled expressions and headed to the other side of the restaurant. We could still see them but thankfully they wouldn’t be able to disrupt our meal. A couple seconds later Carrie came back with a placard and set it on the empty table beside us. It read ‘Reserved’. She then strolled past our table with a finger shake and a shy crooked smile.
“I’ll expect an extra tip for saving you guys.” She continued on past to the kitchen. We all stared after her with open mouths. My first thought was that she did it to keep us to herself for less competition, but I wasn’t catching that vibe from her. I think she’d done it because she’d noticed our communal displeasure. She did it to be nice.
“Dude, I am so calling dibs.” Evan laughed uproariously.
I opened my mouth to shoot that down instantly, but caught myself in time. Shit! Why did I care?
I don’t know why, but I definitely didn’t want to see her on Evan’s arm…or any of these yahoo’s limbs.
“No way, she’s too young.” I stated instead and raised my menu. It was possible; she did look pretty young, and innocent, and way too sweet.
There was a second of silence as if I’d shocked them.
With my objection, or the prospect that she might be too young, I wasn’t sure? If she was too young it would make me feel a lot better, giving me three reasons to stay away from her.
“You think?” Landon queried.
“She has to be eighteen, they serve alcohol here.” Noah declared, pointing to the menu.
“Not if someone else carries it to the table for her.” I theorized.
“You’re reaching man.” Seth mumbled from behind his menu.
I knew I was, but I didn’t want her to be old enough. I had already taken her out of the equation because of her status. I couldn’t go back on that rule. I would just fell like crap after I bagged her.
We looked over the menus and shopped talked for several minutes until Carrie came back with our drinks. After distributing them she pulled out her note pad and feather pen.
“You guys ready to order or do you need a few more minutes. Or should I just mark down steak and potatoes all around.” The corner of that incredible mouth twitched up. It was restrained but more r
eal than her commercial one, and it pulled at something inside me.
“Are you stereotyping us?” I asked with a teasing smile.
Her smile tugged higher and she gave a small shrug. “Well, you all look like you eat half a cow between you every day.”
“Did she just call us fat?” Noah exclaimed in mock indignation.
She shook her head with a mock frown. “No, of course not. You’re just husky or what they call ‘big boned’.” She raised her fingers in the air in quote signs.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter. This girl was actually funny.
Noah kept his expression bland. “Well, in that case I’ll have the Chicken Alfredo.”
She looked like she was holding back a smile. “You do know the steak has fewer calories?”
“I knew it, she is calling me fat.” Noah exclaimed.
“Never to your face, I promise.” She placated with a twinkle in those amazing eyes of hers. “Now what do the rest of you want; salads with no dressing?”
“Steak!” The four of us exclaimed collectively. Her head tilted down, but I saw an actual fully formed smile raise those lips. Oh, to have seen it straight on.
The rest of us ordered our individual steaks with some variety of potato. We did each get a salad with our meal which we asked to be smothered in dressing. She bustled off after we’d finished our food order and we began discussing the upcoming season that was starting soon at the end of January, dissed the newbie’s more, and complained about classes.
Through it all my eyes involuntarily following Carrie. Even with the baggy clothes I couldn’t pull my gaze away. I was visualizing all kinds of goodness under that outfit when I should be imagining rolls of fat because she was off limits. I estimated her at about five-four, and you could tell she wasn’t overweight from the contour of her face and neck. In fact, the loose fitting clothes only made her look more petite.
“Nic, you there; you-hoo, Nic?” A hand was waving in front of my face blocking my view just as Carrie bent over giving me a more detailed view of her figure…well, her ass at any rate, and it was an unquestionably tight rear end. She stood back up and I became aware of someone wiping my mouth with a napkin.
