Anywhere With You (2 page)

Blitzen is close to the same height as Liam, probably 6’3 with shaggy blonde, curly hair. He is built! The sleeves on his shirt look like they could rip any minutes from the muscles in his arms. His abs are rock hard. This I know because his shirt is skin tight, leaving nothing to the imagination.
No fat on these fellas
.

“The pleasure is all mine, beautiful,” Blitzen croons as he leans in and kisses me on the cheek.

Liam reaches out and smacks Blitzen on the back of the head. “Come on, Romeo. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Blitzen winks at me as we all begin carrying everything up to our dorm. I will have to admit, with the use of two football players at our disposal, the move went much faster than if it would have if it had been just Hailey and I. Once both cars were unloaded, the guys threw themselves on a futon in our room while digging water out of a cooler that I had packed for the trip. I was nervous being close to two hot guys in such a confined space. The only guy I have really spent any time around was Ace, and we have been friends since I was ten. I didn’t date in high school. I was too busy taking care of Gran. I decide that I need to break the tension.

“So Blitzen, that’s an interesting name,” I say casually

Blitzen throws his head back and roars with laughter. “That it is, sweetheart, but my real name is Preston Campbell. Blitzen is my nickname. I’m a defensive lineman and blitzing is kind of my thing.” He shrugs his shoulders. “So my teammates started calling me that freshman year and it just kind of stuck,” he laughs.

“Yeah, Blitzen, Liam and Dash, Liam’s roommate, are all seniors this year and are all in line for the next year’s NFL Draft,” Hailey gushes.

“Wow! That’s awesome. Congrats to both of you,” I say smiling at Blitzen trying to avoid looking at Liam. I’m afraid of embarrassing myself by drooling over him.

Liam looks as though he is going to speak when his ringing cell phone interrupts him. “That’s Dash, we are supposed to be meeting him at the field to run some plays. He doesn’t want to be there late. He’s meeting up with an “old friend” tonight, so he says.”

“Hales, see you later. Allison, it was a pleasure meeting you,” Liam says while answering his phone.

Blitzen pulls himself off the futon and waves his goodbye, and just like that, I release the breath I was holding. I didn’t realize how tense I really was being that close to them.

I was annoyed when my dad called and requested that I help Hailey and her roommate move into their dorm. Dash, Blitzen, and I had plans to go to the practice field and run a few plays. Blitzen of course was game, he’s all for checking out the new freshman and trying to pick out his next fling. I, on the other hand, could care less. All I care about is keeping my grades up and focusing on football. Football is my life. I’m majoring in sports medicine as a fall back, but I really want my shot at the draft, the NFL. All I have ever wanted to do is play football. Don’t get me wrong, I date, a man has needs, but I am not a serial dater like Blitzen. Football is priority, football is my life, and nothing will ever change that. I scratch the itch when I need to, help take the edge off but nothing more. I don’t want or need the drama that comes with relationships. I have the reputation on campus as a player. I don’t care what other people think of me, unless it’s a scout.

“Fuck me, is that Hailey’s roommate? She is smokin,” Blitzen says as we climb out of my Pathfinder.

I turn my head to look, and standing with my baby sister smiling and laughing, is the most striking female I have ever seen. She has long thick, curly brown hair that just makes you want to reach out and touch it just to see if it’s as soft as it looks. She’s a little shorter than Hales, probably 5’4, and a body that would make any man drool. Now, I am not usually one to lust after women. Yes, I date, but usually I am the one lusted after. Being the quarterback of the undefeated Tar Heels for the past two years basically puts a target on my back. I don’t even have to pretend to be interested to have my needs met. Don’t get me wrong, all the girls I’m with know the score. I don’t do permanent. It’s hard for me to distinguish between who is in it for me or the draft. No commitments on my end. I make sure they enjoy themselves as much as I do and then we go our separate ways. Football and my dreams for the NFL are my main priority, my life. However, as I stare at this girl laughing with my little sister, I am overwhelmed with what I can only describe as lust … she’s beautiful.

I make my way towards them and stop beside Hales, never taking my eyes off of the beautiful girl in front of me. Hailey bumps my shoulder with hers as she introduces us.

“Allison, this is my brother Liam, Liam this is Allison, my roommate.”

When she finally looks up at me, I am gripped by her emerald eyes.

“Nice to meet you,” I say as I thrust my hand towards her. I smile at her, she seems nervous not as carefree as she was when we first pulled into the lot. After a few moments she takes my hand.

“You as well, thanks for your help,” she says while quickly releasing my hand.
Fuck her eyes are amazing.
Our gazes remain locked until I hear Blitzen beside me clearing his throat. Reluctantly I turn to face him.

“This is Blitzen, a friend of mine,” I say to Allison. This gives me the chance to look at her without feeling like a damn stalker.

Allison greets Blitzen with a warm smile, “Hello Blitzen, I’m Allison. It’s nice to meet you.”

Of course my horn dog friend is also obviously in lust with this girl; however, he doesn’t care to hide it. “The pleasure is all mine, beautiful,” he says to Allison as he bends down and kisses her on the cheek.
What the Fuck!

Without even thinking, I smacked him on the back of the head.

Watching another man, even one of my closest friends, touch her or kiss her throws me off kilter. If I didn’t know any better, I would say I was a feeling jealous. But that’s not possible. I don’t do jealousy.
I need to get laid
.

Blitzen and I proceed to help the girls pack everything up to their dorm room. It takes us all of twenty minutes, and most of that time we were packing Hailey’s things. Allison packed light, when I ask her about it she just shrugs her shoulders. “I’m only forty minutes from home and plan to visit often,” she says as she continues to hang her clothes in her closet.

I am taken aback by her answer. I have yet to encounter a girl that doesn’t care about the right clothes, shoes and a whole other laundry list of accessories that they can’t seem to live without. This includes my baby sister.

Blitzen and I are kicked back on the futon is the girls’ room when I get a text from Dash. He’s wondering where in the hell we are. I had told him we would be there in thirty minutes tops. That was an hour and a half ago. We quickly said goodbye to the girls and head to the field.

Once we arrived at the field, Dash is raring to go. He’s pissed that we’re late because he’s meeting with his best friend, Ash, later tonight. She’s a freshman this year at UNC and is arriving today. Dash insists they are just friends and have been since he was thirteen and she was ten. He talks about her all the time, so of course we razz him about it being more. Honestly, either way it is none of my business, but my boy thinks a lot of her. He warned us all last weekend to control ourselves and I quote, “your horn dog ways around Ash, she’s different, special.”
Just friends my ass.
I have yet to see a male and a female in a non-romantic relationship just being friends. I’m not saying that it’s impossible, but I’ve just never been witness before.

Hailey and I finish unpacking and are lying on our beds relaxing. We were fortunate to have a rather large dorm room with our own private bath and mini kitchenette. We unpack all of our items in the shared space easily. She and I are both fairly laid back so we have no issues. We discuss our class schedules so that we’re both not trying to use the bathroom at the same time. Classes start on Monday and we’re all set. College life, here we come.

“So,” Hailey says as she sits up on her bed. “You think my brother’s hot?”

“What? I … um, well yeah he’s nice too look at, but so is Blitzen,” I respond honestly. No sense in trying to deny it, she obviously saw me ogling them earlier today. “Can you honestly blame me: two beefy, sexy as hell football players with bulging muscles helping us move, hello I’m only human.”

Hailey busts out in laughter, “First of all, EWWW! This is my big brother we’re talking about. Second of all, forsaking the bloodlines, hell yeah they’re both hot. Just wait until you see Dash, he is just as gorgeous, more so that the other two, in my opinion.”

“Do I sense a small crush, Hales?”

“Just stating the facts,” she says not committing to the conversation. I can tell that she is holding back. “So what are your plans for tonight?”

“I’m actually meeting up with Ace. I’m supposed to meet him at Longhorn for dinner at seven. How about you, any plans?”

“I actually have a date with this guy Todd that graduated with my brother. Todd is a senior at Duke. Please don’t tell Liam, he and Todd don’t exactly see eye to eye. Liam would flip his lid if he knew I was going out with Todd.”

“So, why go?” I ask intrigued as to why the drama of the situation would be worth it.

Hailey shrugs, “It’s just a date, and it’s not like we’re getting married. Besides, I am getting the full college experience and dating is a huge part of that,” she says with a wink.

“Well alright then. Mums the word. Don’t tell Liam about Todd, got it.”

My cell beeps alerting me of a new message.

Ace:
Hey are we still on for 7

Me:
Yes. Can’t wait 2 c u

Ace:
me 2 cu soon

“Was that Ace?” Hailey asks me.

“Yeah, he was just making sure that we were still on for tonight.”

“When am I going to get to meet this guy? Your best friend?” she questions.

“How about we make plans to all get together tomorrow night?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

As I pull into Longhorn, I spot Ace immediately. He is standing out front leaning up against the wall with one foot propped against it. His shaggy brown hair is hanging down over his eyes. He’s messing with his phone. As I approach him, he looks up and graces me with a warm smile. I run to him and wrap him in tight hug. “I missed you, Ace,” I whisper in his ear.

Ace pulls me tight and kisses the top of my head. “I missed you too, Ash, it’s so good to see you.”

We proceed to walk into the building and are immediately seated. Ace arrived early to put our name on the list. “So, how’s the roommate, Hailey, right?”

I smile. “Yes, Hailey and she’s great. Her brother and his buddy actually helped us move in, which was a huge time saver.” I pause wondering if I should mention how taken I was with Hailey’s brother. Ace is my best friend, we talk about everything. However, I have never dated or really been interested in a guy before so this was new territory for me. Sure I have talked about actors, bands celebrities that I thought were hot, but it’s never been anyone within reach. Who am I kidding, Liam’s out of reach too.
Just spit it out.
“It didn’t hurt that he and his friend are hot,” I add as I take another bite of my pasta.

Ace smiles, “So you think her brother’s hot, huh?”

“Yep,” I shrug as if I haven’t been thinking about him all afternoon. “Hot and so out of my league, but good eye candy”

“Out of your league? You’re kidding me, right? You know that you’re gorgeous.”

“Psh, you are required to say things like that. It’s part of your job description as my best friend.”

“Ash, listen to me, you are amazing and I am sure that whoever this guy is, he’s not good enough for you. I don’t want to hear any more of this out of your league shit. Got it?”

I shake my head yes, afraid to let the emotion in my voice show.

“I talked to my parents earlier, they were worried about you. You apparently didn’t call them and let them know that you had arrived.”

Shit.
“No, I forgot. I did call Gran and let her know though.” I take a sip of my water. “Speaking of your parents, I have a care package for you in my car from your mom.” I grin at him and then stick out my tongue, “She made me one, too.”