Three

Colt

18 years old

When her parents signaled it was time to leave, she slowly rose from her seat, and as if connected by an invisible thread, I found myself standing as well. She recoiled, and I mentally cursed myself. With my eyes fixed on the ground, I hunched my shoulders, attempting to appear smaller. A futile effort, but I tried, nonetheless.

“Don’t do that,” she said softly.

“Don’t do what?” I glanced at her, slightly embarrassed at being caught.

“Hide.” I averted my gaze again, feeling exposed.

“People around me feel better when I do.”

“Fuck them.”

“Easy for you to say, Princess.” The nickname slipped off my lips without permission. How fitting. The princess and the frog, only this frog would never turn into a prince.

“Princess?”

“Suits you,” I said casually, though there was nothing casual about any of the feelings swirling around in me like a merry-go-round out of control.

“Colt.” Hailey’s soft small hand touched my forearm, and my stomach clenched as my balls pulled up tight. I gritted my teeth so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if they turned into mere dust in my mouth. Her touch, combined with the words she uttered, were slowly undoing me. “I’m serious. Fuck them. They’re all blind.” For a long moment, I stared at her in silence, then she released her grip.

She smiled, and without another word, I accompanied her to the door where her parents were waiting. Her dad would have collected her himself by now, but her mom seemed to have held him back.

“Thanks for today, Colt. I’ll see you at school,” she said when we’d almost reached her parents. She stepped in front of me, and her plump tits pressed into my stomach when she wrapped me in a hug. I sucked in a sharp breath, but she pulled away so quickly I didn’t even have time to think about returning the gesture. She’s just being friendly, Colt. Don’t read into it.

“Yeah,” I said lamely. “See you around.” And I probably would. Even a blind man with a cane could see Hailey was destined for popularity. Prom queen material. I wouldn’t ruin that for her just because she was kindhearted.

Hailey would find her place in the spotlight, where she’d be able to shine and twinkle like the star in the night sky that she was, while I would remain on the sidelines — in the shadows. No one actually wanted to see Colt Michaels unless I was mowing down our opponents on the field. Off the field, my presence was a stain on the pristine environment for most of these pricks.

***

Later that night, when I was already in bed, my phone buzzed with a notification from IG.

HAILEY brENTWOOD (@TheHaileyBW) requested to follow you.

Holy shit! My hands got clammy, and I almost dropped my phone as I opened the app. My thumb hovered over the screen for a moment, then whatever control I thought I had, snapped, and I accepted her request before scrolling her profile.

Jesus Christ. A fucking gold mine .

It was wrong and dirty, but I couldn’t help it. With a grunt, I shoved my boxers down my hips. My cock, which had hardened at the sight of Hailey on my screen, slapped against the slight bulge of my belly.

I closed my fist around my almost painfully throbbing length and stroked myself. Pre-cum dripped from the tip of my cock down to my balls as I skimmed through the pictures of Hailey, some of which showed her in a bikini, and jerked off.

Moaning, I pumped my hips, fucking my fist, and after only a few thrusts, I came. My balls tightened, my ass cheeks clenched, and sweat beaded my forehead.

“Fuckkkk,” I bellowed as cum covered my stomach and ran down my hand. Goddamn.

If looking at pictures of her made me this fucking hot, the real thing would probably be mind-blowing. A theory I’d never be able to prove.

***

A few weeks had passed since our first meeting and, just as I’d assumed, she had quickly climbed the social ladder. Whenever our eyes met, she gave me one of her radiant smiles that made my heart skip a beat. I tried to stay away from her as much as I could. On her first day, she had come up to me beaming with joy, and I had panicked, nodded at her briefly, then walked away.

I saw her around — in the hall, at practices and games, and every once in a while, we talked briefly, but I always made sure to keep an appropriate distance between us. It wouldn’t do to feed into my infatuation just to have the object of it inevitably snatched away. Even if she’d consider being close to me now, eventually, she’d move on to better things, and I’d be left in the dust. This was how it was supposed to be.

But as time went on, I kept watching, always watching. Hailey Brentwood was my obsession my whole senior year. I watched her become the cheer captain and help and support every single member of her team.

Hailey had a way of making everyone feel at ease. She brought out the best in those around her, letting them share and feed off her bright light. I could probably suck it dry, extinguish it, and I’d still only rise to average.

It wasn’t just Hailey’s outward beauty that captivated me, it was her inner kindness and strength. More than once, I caught myself thinking that if anyone could accept me and maybe even love me, it would be her. Wishful thinking, I guess.

Despite the attention she received from other guys, Hailey never seemed interested in seriously dating anyone. I knew they wanted her; hearing them talk in the locker room had made me want to slam my fist against my locker countless times, but she never got involved with anyone.

Twice, she gave in and went on a date. Two absolutely horrible nights for me, where I’d been parked halfway down her street like a psycho waiting for her to return home — both dates mercifully ended without even so much as a goodnight kiss. She had probably realized no one in this town was her equal, and deep down, I knew I was no exception.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I fished it out, way too eager, almost like a fucking druggie looking for his next fix. I had the team group chat on mute, Hunter was sitting next to me, so it wasn’t him, and no one else had been texting me except my parents.

Hopeful — and excited — I peered down at the screen. A swarm of butterflies exploded in my stomach at the notification that popped up, and a tugging sensation started deep in my groin. I nervously pulled the hem of my loose shirt down to hide my pretty obvious reaction.

Hailey had posted another picture and, like a pathetic little stalker, I had turned on the notifications for her posts. My eyes were glued to the sight of her tanned skin peeking out from under a short floral summer dress. Long black strands of hair were being blown around by an invisible breeze. Wasting no time, I saved the picture to my dedicated — password-protected — folder, just like every other one I had gotten my hands on. Pathetic, but who gives a fuck.

Satisfied that the picture was safely filed away, I glanced around to make sure no one was paying me any attention. It was really astonishing that a guy my size could be invisible to the people around him. It didn’t bother me, especially when I didn’t want the attention on me.

I stealthily zoomed in, devouring every inch of fresh fodder for my obsession. God, she was beautiful. If I hadn’t seen up close that her skin was that smooth, that flawless, I might not have believed it. The ironic thing about this situation was that the real Hailey was sitting just one table over in the crowded, noisy cafeteria of our high school.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that she was chatting animatedly with a few girls from her squad — because, of course, she’d made the squad, constantly tormenting me with that skimpy uniform.

I was already looking her way too often. So often, in fact, I’d already overheard one or two people commenting on it, and the last thing she needed was an overgrown oaf with a soft middle mooning over her.

Not to mention, I wasn’t the only one interested in her, and the other options were much more fitting, like our quarterback, who had gone on about her more than once in the locker room.

My teeth were sure to crack soon with how hard I ground them when the others talked about her. It was all I could do, though, because I certainly wouldn’t let them know I had a crush on her. Over my dead fucking body.

***

As my senior year was coming to an end, I realized my infatuation with Hailey would have to end as well. Soon enough, she would be off to college herself, even further out of my reach than she already was.

It would probably be best to try to put her out of my mind. With that thought, my phone buzzed in my pocket .

Unknown Number: I got four for you.

Me: How much?

Unknown Number: 100 bucks

Me: Deal.

It would probably be best to try to put her out of my mind , I mockingly mimicked myself in my own head. As soon as the opportunity to feed my obsession presented itself, I jumped at it. I was such a fucking hypocrite. No, I was worse. If she ever found out I’d gone so far as to pay one of the photography nerds to take pictures of her on the sly, it would crush my already nonexistent chances.

Yet the mere thought of other girls made my dick shrivel. As if my body had decided it was Hailey or no one . In other words, there was a good chance my college years would end just as virginal as my high school days, because there was about a one-in-a-million chance I would end up with Hailey.

Fuck my life.