“So . . . Zelda and Quinn. I guess you two ended up rooming together because you’ve both got weird names at the end of the alphabet?” Nate cocked his head at me, smiling.
I cast Gia a warning look. I wasn’t going to share the more colorful parts of my new roommate’s story with Nate. Not yet, anyway. As protective of me as he was, he’d flip out for sure.
“I don’t know.” Zelda answered before I could. “I’m thinking it was because we’re both hot chicks who aren’t going to take shit from anyone.” She smirked at me, bumping her shoulder against mine, and I grinned in return.
“I think I like your reasoning.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “It’s going to be an interesting year.”
Freshman Year
September
One of the first things I’d discovered about college was that locker rooms were pretty much the same. Oh, the lockers were a little nicer at Carolina, sure—but the smell and the noises were both exactly the same. So was the vibe, the mood and attitudes.
“Hey, Taylor. Looked great out there tonight.” Thom Wilkens, the QB and team captain, paused behind me and punched me in the arm. “Keep up the good work, and you might see more play time during the games.”
“Thanks.” I grinned. “I know I’ve got a lot to live up to.”
Thom shrugged. “Yeah, I hear that. Being the quarterback who comes in after Drake Stamos, the guy who led us to a national championship? Not fun. I’m constantly feeling like those shoes are way too fucking big. We’re a young team, and we’re all figuring this shit out. So you need anything, you come to me, yeah?”
“Got it.” I nodded as Thom made his way toward his own locker, stopping here and there to drop encouragement to other players. Dude was new to leadership, but he was doing a terrific job.
“Fucking asshole.” Next to me, Matt slammed his locker and fisted his towel. “He acts like such a big fucking deal. Who the hell does he think he is?”
“Shut up.” I glanced over his shoulder, hoping Thom hadn’t heard him. “What the hell’s your problem?”
Matt scowled. “It’s not my problem, dude. It’s that guy, who thinks he’s some fucking bigshot because everyone says he’s the second coming. He’s a fucking sophomore. A year older than us. Why does that make him so amazing?”
“Matt.” I grabbed his arm. “You’ve got to keep your voice down. I don’t know what Thom did to you, but—”
“Oh, he’s Thom now, is he? Your new buddy? Yeah, you’d like him, because he’s stroking your dick, huh? And you’re sucking up so you get to play in another game.”
I bit down the anger rising up in my chest. “You’re a fucking idiot, you know that, Lampert? You’ve been acting like a jerk for the last month. What’s wrong with you?”
“Guess I’m just not a team player.” Matt pivoted and stalked off toward the showers without giving me so much as a backward look.
“Someone didn’t take his happy pills today.” Tate came over to the bench, drying off his hair. “What’s going on?”
“Wish I knew.” I closed my locker. “I don’t have the time or energy to deal with his shit right now, though. I’ve got to hit the showers.”
“Yeah?” Tate raised one eyebrow. “You got plans tonight?”
I grinned at him. “Oh, yeah. My girl’s gonna be here in about an hour. I got plans on top of plans.”
“Hey, that’s great. You haven’t seen her since you came down, have you?”
“Nope.” I hadn’t let myself think about this weekend too much today, since I’d had a full schedule of classes and then practice to get through. But now, with all that behind me, a kind of jubilee made me want to dance or shout or something. I couldn’t wait to see Quinn, to hold her . . . to talk to her in person.
“So what’s on the agenda?” Tate pulled on his jeans.
I shot him a look full of meaning, and he rolled his eyes. “Okay, bro, I get it. But seriously, you’ve got to get out of the sack at some point, right? I mean, you’re planning to show up for the game Saturday, right?”
“Yeah, of course. And I can’t do anything too wild tomorrow night, since we’ve got curfew, but we’re going to get some dinner tonight, and I don’t have class tomorrow, so I figured I’d show them around the campus.”
“Them? You got more than one woman coming down?”
“Actually, I do. Quinn’s friend Gia rode with her, so she didn’t have to make the trip on her own.” I studied Tate, my eyes narrowing. “So what’re you doing tonight, Durham? Want to come along?” Since that awful day when Tate had driven me home from the shore, we’d kept in touch and even hung out a little over the summer. We’d driven down to Carolina together and gotten to be friends in the past month. I liked Tate; he was steady and even-tempered, likable and friendly. He didn’t have the same hair-trigger hot temper that Matt did. He also wasn’t a partier, and it was gratifying to have a friend like him, who understood that I didn’t want to get wasted every weekend. That I had different priorities now.
He considered as he shook out a Henley and slid his arms into the sleeves. “You’re not setting me up with the extra chick, right? I mean, thanks, but I’m really not looking to date. Or for a relationship. I’m not in a place where I feel like I can commit to that.” His expression was serious, and I knew he was speaking the truth. Tons of girls had offered themselves to him since we’d been here, but he’d explained to me that he needed to focus on classes and football right now. Girls were a distraction he couldn’t afford.
“No, I just figured it might be fun. And maybe Gia wouldn’t feel like a third wheel.”
Tate nodded. “Okay, I guess I’m in.”
“Awesome. I’m thinking Moonie’s at seven.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Be where?” Matt was back, shaking his wet hair like a dog just out of the bath.
“Yo! Watch it.” I shoved his shoulder. “That was a really fast shower. Did you even use soap, Matt? Do I need to start checking behind your ears, like your grandma?”
“Bite me, Taylor. I shower faster than you because I don’t shave my legs and pits like the ladies and you do.”
“Yeah, whatever. You’re just jealous because I’m so much prettier than you.”
“In your dreams, boy. In your dreams. So where are you going with Durham?”
Tate shot me an apologetic glance and waved. “See you tonight, Leo. Later, Matt.”
I sighed and wrapped the towel around my waist. “I need to hit the showers, bro.”
“Sure. Fine. After you tell me what’s going on and why you’re hiding something from me.”
“I’m not hiding anything from you.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. I just hadn’t gone out of my way to let Matt know what was going on. “You know Quinn’s coming down this weekend. Remember? You promised to make yourself scarce tonight and Saturday night.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. So why is Durham going out with you guys tonight? Three’s a crowd, right?”
“Gia’s driving down with Quinn. I thought it would be nice for her to meet someone down here, too. Nothing big, just hanging out.”
“Why’d you ask him and not me?” Matt dropped his towel and reached into his locker for pants.
I looked longingly toward the showers again. Quinn was going to be here any time now. She and Gia were checking in at a local motel and then coming over to my dorm. I wanted to be there when she arrived. But Matt seemed like he might be genuinely hurt that I’d ignored him in favor of Tate.
“Well, Matt, for one, you don’t like Quinn. I didn’t figure you’d want to come out with us.”
Matt straightened up and stared at me, his eyes wide. “I don’t not like Quinn. Why would you think that?”
“Oh, let’s see. Maybe it’s all the times you told me you didn’t like her, or how you treated her like shit when we were dating in high school. And how you stayed away all summer, when I was with Quinn. And how you didn’t even bother to show up to pay your respects
when her dad died. Rest of the team came by. But not you. Not my so-called best friend.”
Matt frowned. “That was in high school. And this summer—I figured she needed you, so I stayed out of the way. I don’t do funerals or death. You know that.”
“Yeah.” Matt’s upbringing hadn’t made it easy for him to deal with loss or disappointment. I understood it, but I didn’t have to like it.
“Anyway, it doesn’t mean I don’t like Quinn. You’re my bro. If you like her, I’m okay with her, too. Right?”
“I don’t just like her, Matt. I love her. Quinn’s my girl. She’s around for good.”
His lips twitched. “Right. Then you should let me come tonight, so I can get used to it.”
I heaved a breath and ran a hand through my sweat-damp hair. I could argue with Matt for another hour and not change his mind. It was easier to just make it easy on myself and give in.
“Fine. You can come with us tonight.”
A smile lit up his face, and I felt guilty that I’d been trying to avoid including him. “Cool. So who’s the chick coming down with the Quinnster?”
And just like that, the guilt was gone. “Don’t call her that. You know she hates it. Oh, and it’s Gia who drove down with her.”
At his blank look, I added, “Gia Capri? One of Quinn’s friends? Worked on the newspaper with her? Was in our class? Graduated with us, like, three months ago?”
He shook his head. “Name doesn’t ring a bell. Is she hot?”
I hesitated. “Uh, she’s cute. Petite—”
“Petite? What the hell does that mean? She’s short?”
“Well, she’s . . . petite. You know, yeah, a little short.” Inspiration struck. “Like Mila Kunis.”
Matt perked up. “Nice tits?”
“Mila Kunis? Uh—”
He shook his head, impatience on his face. “No, idiot. This chick. Quinnst—Quinn’s friend. Does she have nice tits?”
I counted to ten under my breath. “I’m not going to answer that question, bud. You can wait and see for yourself.” When he began to smile, I hurried to clarify that. “But don’t say anything about her tits to her. Or to Quinn. Or to me, in front of the girls. Got it? Are we clear? And I am serious as fuck about this, Matt. I haven’t seen my girl in six weeks, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you screw it up.”
“Fine. I got it. Geez. When did you get to be such whipped wussy, Taylor? You used to be fun.”
I shot him a one-fingered salute and headed for the showers. “I’m still fun. I’m just fun with the sexiest, most beautiful girl in the world. And if you get in the way of my fun tonight, I swear I’ll cut off your fucking balls.”
Somehow, even with all the delays in the locker room, I made it back to the dorm before Quinn and Gia arrived. She’d texted me that they had checked into the motel and were getting changed before coming over.
Just knowing she was close drove me out of my mind. I wanted to jump into my car and drive over there, plans be damned. If it weren’t for Gia being at the motel with her, I might’ve done just that. But if I was in motel room with Quinn, I didn’t want a third person there with us.
My phone buzzed, and I jumped to check it.
On our way. <3
Okay. If they’d left the motel, they’d be at Bratton, my dorm, in about ten minutes. I’d add five more minutes for parking and getting inside and upstairs.
Twenty minutes. I could wait that long.
Probably.
Matt had disappeared from the locker room by the time I’d finished my shower. I’d texted him that if he was serious about coming out with us, he had to be in our room by seven, or we’d leave without him.
At two minutes before seven, he strolled in and glanced around.
“Where are they?”
“Almost here.” My knee jiggled with nerves. “Should arrive in about . . .” I checked my phone again. God, was time going backward? “Ten minutes.”
“Uh huh. What’s going on with your leg there?” He pointed to my bouncing knee.
“Oh, nervous energy, I guess.”
He smirked, raising one eyebrow, but I ignored him. Clearly he had no idea that if I stopped my leg jiggling, I’d end up pacing the floor, wearing out our carpet.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m going downstairs, so they don’t have any trouble finding us.” I stood up and almost sprinted to the door.
“Should I come down, too?” Matt turned in his desk chair.
“No.” I pointed at him. “You stay here. We’ll come up.”
“Okay, boss.” Matt nodded. “Whatever you say.”
I jogged down the three flights of steps and burst through the doors. A group of girls stood in the lobby, and a couple of them called out to me. I smiled but didn’t respond. I had a more important goal.
Outside the early fall air was still warm. I’d already fallen in love with nights in the south; the sky was like velvet, and it seemed like there were more stars than I’d ever seen up north. I stood in the shadows, listening to the sounds of people coming and going. It was still early enough that some students were on their way back from the dining hall, while others were probably heading to the library or to evening lectures. I felt sorry for every one of them who wasn’t me tonight.
I heard her voice before I could actually see her. She was saying something to Gia, and then they both laughed. I couldn’t stand still one more second.
Rounding the hedge that lined the pathway in front of the building, I stepped onto the bricks and scanned the few people walking until I saw her. Our eyes met at the same time, and then she gave a cry and took off toward me.
I used to think those scenes in movies where two characters ran in slow motion into each other’s arms were ridiculously corny. Who did that? Apparently the answer was me, because there we were, and I had zero regrets.
And then Quinn was in my arms, and I didn’t care about any other fucking thing in the world.
“Leo.” She was crying, trying to touch my face and kiss me and hug me all at once while her words ran together. “My God, what’re you doing down here? I couldn’t believe it, when I looked up and saw it was you . . . I’m so glad to see you.”
Glad didn’t even begin to cover it. I ran my hands over her hair, down her back and drew her as close to me as possible before I did what I’d wanted to do most and claimed her mouth.
She tasted just like always—that mix of mint and Quinn that drove me wild. My tongue stroked deep within her, tangling with hers, and my lips were relentless.
“Mia, I can’t believe you’re finally here. God, you have no idea. It felt like this day was never going to end.” I kissed her again, hard. “And now that you’re here, I don’t want it to end. I love you, baby. I’ve missed you so much.”
She half-laughed, half-sobbed. “I missed you, too. Video chatting sucks.”
I swept my thumbs over her cheekbones. “Why the tears, babe?” Quinn had cried a lot this summer, but as a rule, she wasn’t a weeper.
“Happy tears.” She twined her arms around my neck. “Only happy tears this time.” Her boobs pressed against me, and her hips canted into mine. And all I wanted was her.
My dick was hard and straining, and one part of my mind began trying to figure out how fast I could get inside her, even though I knew it wasn’t an option yet. First came dinner, where I’d have to act like a reasonable human being, especially since Gia—
For the first time since I’d caught sight of my girl, I remembered that other people existed in the world. Lifting my eyes, I found Gia, leaning against a tree, trying to look unobtrusive.
“Hey, Gia.” Sliding my hand down Quinn’s arm, I held firm to her hand and offered the other to her friend. “Thanks so much for coming down. How was the trip?”
Both the girls laughed. “Long and uneventful, except for us being silly, of course. Oh, and arguing over music.”
I grinned at them. “Well, I’m glad you’re both here.” Tucking Quinn ag
ainst my side, I nodded toward the dorm. “Want to come up and see my room? And then I figured we’d grab some dinner at this place off-campus. If that sounds okay.”
“As long as I’m with you, I don’t care what we do.” She smiled up at me.
“Then you’re in luck, baby, because everything I have planned for this weekend is you and me together.” I paused, considering. “Well, except Friday night, when I have to be in bed alone early, and Saturday during the game. I love you, Mia, but I wouldn’t want to have to protect you from Tennessee State’s offensive line on the field.”
She laughed. “True.”
I held the door for both girls as we went into the lobby. Quinn glanced around with wide eyes. “Wow, this is beautiful. It makes Birch’s buildings look pretty utilitarian.”
“Southern colleges. Most of the stuff here is pretty old, so it tends to be a little more ornate.” I led them up the steps, waving to a couple of the guys who passed us on their way down. When we reached the landing, three of my teammates were just coming through the doors.
“Taylor, you dog. Who’re these lovely ladies?”
I threaded my fingers through Quinn’s. “This is my girl, Quinn, and our friend, Gia. Girls, that’s Buck, Kevin and Dovan. They’re all running backs.”
“Oh, you’re the Quinn.” Kevin grinned. “Good to meet the chick who keeps Leo on the straight and narrow.”
Quinn didn’t reply, but I noticed that her cheeks went pink, and I made a mental note to thank Kevin for saying that. Yeah, it was the truth, but coming from a football player she didn’t even know, I thought it probably made more of an impact.
“You all going out tonight?” Donvan leaned on the railing, the position making his insane arm muscles pop. Yeah, that wasn’t an accident. These dudes were completely aware of their bodies; I knew this from locker room talk. There’d been a good-natured argument last week about which set of muscles made girls drop their panties fastest.
“Yeah. I thought we’d hit Moonie’s.” Thursdays were typically the team’s party night, unless we were traveling on Friday for our weekend game. Post-game blow-outs were popular, too, of course. Hey, football players took advantage of any excuse to let off steam and get a little crazy.
The Keeping Score Box Set Page 40
