Page 9

Nine

Colt

PRESENT – 21 years old

I stared down at my phone in absolute disbelief. My hand almost swallowed the tiny thing, but the letters in front of me were in black and white — so to speak.

Mom: Colt, I have a teeny tiny favor to ask you.

Me: Anything, Mom.

Me: Actually, not everything. You would take advantage of the situation.

But if I can make it happen, I’d be happy to help.

Mom: Ha ha. Aren’t you hilarious? What are your plans for Saturday?

Me: Don’t have any at the moment.

Mom: For all I know, you could be hanging out with your friends at a party.

Me: You do know who you’re talking to, right? Just to be clear, I don’t have anything going on Saturday.

Mom: Perfect. Then you can help Hailey move in around noon. Her parents are away on a trip. You’re a sweetheart, I’ll send you the details later.

I’d almost dropped my phone in the sink, and after scrambling to catch it, I stared at it for two minutes, completely flummoxed.

Hunter popped up next to me, put a tumbler on the counter, and started preparing a protein shake for himself. I still hadn’t moved. What the fuck? The amount of information my mom had dropped on me in just one message was insane.

First, had she really signed me up to help Hailey move in without actually asking me? Also, Hailey would be here. At brU. Hailey? She was moving here?! I felt as if I was on the verge of having a stroke or something.

Hunter sent me a quizzical look.

“You haven’t moved an inch since I walked into the room,” he stated. Not asking, just stating the obvious. When I didn’t react, he raised his eyebrows and gave me his full attention.

“Okay, this here” — he made a circular motion in my direction — “would be perfectly normal behavior for me. Given that you’re not me, this is starting to seem a bit strange. What’s the deal? ”

I unlocked my phone, the conversation with my mom still open, and slid it across the counter to him without uttering a word. He scanned the messages, his eyes moving from left to right, and then stared blankly ahead for a moment.

His neck twisted back in my direction, and he burst out laughing. That didn’t happen too often. “Oh, that’s just great. Alicia totally got you. Ice cold. And we’ve just come full circle.”

“Not funny, motherfucker,” I growled. “Besides, what the fuck is that supposed to mean, just come full circle ?”

“Hilarious, to be precise. I get that you don’t see how ironic this is, dude. When Hailey was involved, you were as blind as a mole in sunglasses.”

“Okay, thanks, Mr. Cryptic.” I put my phone away and rested my hands on the counter.

“I’m just going to say this — you’ve spent the last couple of years trying to distance yourself from Hailey, and she just keeps popping up again and again. And now your mom — of all people — has thrown you to the wolves, or rather, to the she-wolf. I find that kind of ironic, don’t you?”

“Not really.”

He arched an eyebrow as he took a sip of his shake. “All I’m saying is, this kind of opportunity doesn’t come along often. Don’t blow it.”

I let out an exasperated groan. “This isn’t an opportunity, for fuck’s sake. You do remember Hailey, right?”

“Yeah. I especially remember you being completely and irrevocably infatuated with her. And it never really stopped, and likely never will.”

“So?”

“So?” He shook his head. “How about you pull your head out of your ass and stop pretending you don’t want to be around her, since it doesn’t seem to work anyway.” Grimacing at the taste and muttering something about how much he hated vanilla flavor, he tilted his head back to chug the rest of his protein shake.

“All right, Hunter.” I shot back at him with a sarcastic laugh. “Why didn’t I think of that before? Oh, right. It wouldn’t make a difference either way. She doesn’t want me.”

“Right. Why don’t you let her make the decision? Listen, ever heard of shoot your shot ? Well, it’s about time you give that a try.”

He raised his eyebrows meaningfully, put his tumbler in the sink, and strolled out of the room. Fucker. He’d probably used up all the words he had allotted for the rest of the week and now needed to plug himself in to recharge his battery.

I took another look at my phone and skimmed over the conversation with my mom again. My palms were turning sweaty, and I refrained from running them through my hair. This was bound to end badly, but what other option did I have? There was no way in hell I would let Hailey down like this.

Guess I’ll just have to grit my teeth and hope I don’t mess up her start in college.

***

My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles turned white and it made a soft creaking sound. I jerked my hands away so I didn’t break something — it wouldn’t be the first time — and banged my head off the headrest several times.

I couldn’t do this. How was I supposed to keep it together around her? My dick got hard just thinking about her. I was on the verge of coming merely looking at pictures of her, and now I was supposed to spend considerable time in close proximity to her?

If I fucked around any longer, I’d be late, which wasn’t an option, so I opened the door and slowly climbed out. My stomach was in knots, and sweat was beading on my forehead.

Fortunately, the fall weather in Tennessee tended to be warm and still somewhat humid, so the sweat would be nothing out of the ordinary. Hailey would probably regret my mom setting this up the second my sweaty hands sullied all her stuff.

Well, there was nothing to be done about it. I didn’t know if I was more afraid of her asking me to leave or her letting me stay.

I adopted the expressionless mask I usually sported on campus or anywhere else that isn’t home or the field. No one who didn’t know me was entitled to any insight into my inner workings. Few people had that privilege .

Things had gotten better for me in college — I wasn’t as much of an outsider as I’d been before, but surrounded by freshmen, I was bound to draw some looks.

As I headed up the stairs to her room, several people gaped at me with wide eyes. I clenched my hands into fists and could already feel my shirt sticking to my back. As I knocked on her door three times, tension spread through my chest like a spring slowly being compressed.

The door was yanked open by a tall girl — taller than I’d expected — who clearly wasn’t Hailey. She wore her dark-red hair in a ponytail, looked a little frazzled, and stared up at me in disbelief, her eyes wide. I raised my hands defensively to show her I meant no harm and stepped back to give her some space.

“Is this Hailey’s room? Hailey Brentwood?”

“Yes it is!” she replied, her face breaking into a bright smile. “I’m her roommate. Oh my God, are you Hailey’s boyfriend? Nice to meet you. I’m Ella. Come on in!” She grabbed my arm and pulled me over the threshold with surprising force for her stature.

“Um, I’m Colt, but I’m not—” She didn’t let me get a word in.

“I’m sure Hailey will be up in a minute. She just popped downstairs to get something. You can wait here.” She eyed me and said pensively, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

I gaped at her, speechless. That wasn’t the typical response I got when I first met people. What the fuck?

“Oh, wait, I’ve got it! Aren’t you on the football team? My little brother plays too, but he’s still in high school. He’s completely obsessed with your team. Have a seat, make yourself at home. I’m so excited that it’s finally happening! Hailey and I are definitely going to be besties.” She clapped happily.

“But don’t worry, I won’t take up too much of her time.” She actually winked at me. I had no idea what was going on here.

Clearing my throat, I was about to try again to explain to her that Hailey was definitely not my girlfriend when the door swung open to reveal the person I had been waiting to see. My mouth suddenly felt as dry as desert sand on a scorching summer day, and I swallowed hard. Fuck me.

I’d only seen her on my phone since that vacation, and she looked even more stunning than I remembered. Ella waggled her eyebrows at her and suggestively said, “You didn’t tell me your boyfriend would show up. Lucky you, having a strong man to help you out. Colt, couldn’t you ask some of your friends to help me move in?” Hailey didn’t seem to know what to say for a moment and turned to me.

“Um, I … well …” I didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m just kidding, of course. I wouldn’t dream of taking advantage of you or your friends.” Ella’s eyes got big, like she realized what she’d said could be taken the wrong way.

“I’m happy to help you,” I muttered.

She looked at me with a big grin on her face before turning to Hailey. “You have to let me in on all your secrets! How did you land a guy like that? I mean, not that you’re not drop-dead gorgeous, but I’m already dreading all the frat boys.” She pretended to shiver. “I need to find a man who looks at me like that too.”

Looks at her like what? I guess my eyes wandered to Hailey on their own. Fuck. I quickly averted my gaze to my feet.

“I’m n—”

“To be honest, Ella … I have no idea how I landed him. But you’re right, lucky me.”

What the hell was she doing? My stomach tightened, my cock was already pressing half hard against my zipper again, and I hadn’t the faintest idea what to say to that.

Hailey stepped into the room and dropped her bag next to the bed Ella had ushered me onto.

“Well, I’d say let’s get to work.” She turned back around, giving me a fantastic view of her ass, which was conveniently right in my line of sight, and walked toward the still-open door. As she looked over her shoulder, I wished I could capture the sight for eternity .

“Whew” came from the other side of the room, and I looked over to see Ella fanning herself with her hand. “Turn down the heat a bit, would ’ya?”

I felt my cheeks flush as I stood up, feeling a little embarrassed. Hailey didn’t seem to mind much, just giggling and saying, “Come on, Colt, my stuff is still down in the car. Ella, I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to catch up later, but I need to get my stuff in here first.”

“No problem. Don’t let me hold you up. I’ll be in and out myself.”

Hailey took off, and I lumbered down the hall behind her, acutely aware of the stares from the other people in the hallway. Unfazed — or maybe just unaware — she sauntered to the stairs and glanced back over her shoulder at me again before heading down. Even though the stairwell wasn’t narrow, my broad frame was hindering some people carrying their stuff up.

A familiar face came into view, and I suppressed a groan. Knox Bradshaw, one of our wide receivers, popped up in front of me, smiling mischievously. I liked Knox. We spent little time together, but he was a decent guy — and unfortunately for me, one of the team’s biggest gossip mongers.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here? Michaels! What’s up? Whatcha doin’ here?” He peered around, his eyes passing over Hailey in front of me before moving on, as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at.

“Bradshaw. How’s it going? I’m helping, uh … Hailey with moving in.” I tilted my chin in her direction as she doubled back to us and positioned herself at my side. “What about you?”

His eyebrows rose slightly. Like I said, I liked him. “My cousin just moved in here, so I’m going to go pick him up so we can have lunch together.”

I gave a nod, but my shoulders were tense. The urge to get away from here was overwhelming. I realized Hailey must look like a delicate, immaculate doll next to me, and I knew questions were bound to arise, to which I had no fucking answers to.

“So, Michaels … who’s your lovely companion?”

My hands clenched into fists, my forearms flexed. Why did she have to be so beautiful that every motherfucker gawked at her? “This is Hailey. She’s—”

Hailey cut me off. Again . “His girlfriend. Hi! Nice to meet you.”

I froze in place. Not a single muscle moved, I wasn’t even breathing . What the actual fuck? Knox’s reaction wasn’t so subtle. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull, and he disguised a deranged burst of laughter extremely poorly as a cough and looked from Hailey to me and back again.

Maybe I didn’t like him as much anymore.

She raised an eyebrow, and her lips thinned. “Problem?”

I still had said nothing. Still wasn’t moving. No idea if I ever would again.

Knox cleared his throat and shook his head frantically. “Nope, no problem. Just … Michaels, why didn’t you tell us? Good for you, man.”

I already knew he’d whip his phone out as soon as this conversation was over, and half the team would know about this turn of events within five minutes.

Fuck. I suppose I should probably try to do some damage control, but I just couldn’t get my mouth to open. I was so shocked I couldn’t speak, and Hailey beat me to it again. “ Oh, it’s still pretty new. That’s probably why he hasn’t told you yet, right, Colt?”

I nodded. Why the hell was I nodding!?

“Well, um, I’m Knox. I’m also on the football team with this big guy here. And hey, I guess I’ll be seeing more of you.”

“Probably, since I’m one of your cheerleaders. I’ll be at your games at the very least.”

Excuse me?! Holy fucking shit! How many more unexpected turns would this day take? Hailey had been a cheerleader in high school, but I wasn’t aware she would cheer here too.

Dumbfounded, Knox nodded. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys to … whatever it is you were going to do. See you in the weight room, Michaels. Hailey, nice to meet you.”

He nodded at both of us, hiding how much this interaction had thrown him for a loop. Same, buddy. Fucking same.

Knox climbed the staircase, and Hailey eyed me for a moment, then abruptly turned and started back down the stairs. If she thought we weren’t going to discuss what just happened, she was sorely mistaken.