ROMANCE: BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE: At His Request (Bad Boy Alpha Billionaire Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Alpha Male Romance) (33 page)
Authors: Carly White
Tight End
Chapter 1
“Lou, what are you doing after class?”
Lou shrugged. It was Friday night and while she was supposed to be out like most of her friends, Lou was more interested in getting her project done early. Her friend Charlie knew that she wasn’t going to go with her by the way she looked.
“Come on Lou. You promised.”
“Don’t be dramatic. I didn’t even say anything.”
“I’m not. You were giving me that look while you tried to think of an excuse.”
It was exactly what she was doing and she wished sometimes that she didn’t always know her as well as she did. The two had been friends for years and while they were as different as two people could be, Lou couldn’t have asked for a better friend. Even though she got drug to too many parties to count, Charlie would come with her to the planetarium or something as equally dull to her bubbly friend.
“Okay, I don’t really want to go, but I said I would though. I will.” Lou groaned inwardly as she walked towards their apartment on the other side of campus. They had been living together for the last year and it was working out well, most of the time.
“Don’t sound too thrilled.”
“I won’t. So who’s parties is it anyways?”
“The jocks.”
Another grimace. “Ah, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better. You want to go get drunk around a bunch of meatheads?”
“They are pretty to look at.”
“Yeah, as long as they don’t talk too much.”
Charlie was braiding her hair as they walked. The woman couldn’t be bothered to bring anything besides her phone to class. No books, notepads, folders, color-coded anything, while Lou was carrying half her weight in her backpack. Charlie was the type to breeze through everything that she attempted, Lou had to work double for everything it seemed. It was no clearer to her then, as to watch her friend walking beside her with not a care in the world.
Lou was the pessimistic, while her friend was the one who knew that there was some cosmic plan that would make everything turn out okay. It was a mixture between relaxing and irritating to be around and today it was pushing towards the latter feeling.
They got back to the apartment and made lunch. Both girls had class that evening as well, though Lou had one of her law classes, while her friend had taken an art class for her elective. Lou sometimes wished that she had taken a few classes for fun, but she was driven towards her goals and it had just seemed a waste. So instead she was taking some extra law classes to help her when she worked on her masters. Every move was figured out already and sometimes she wished she could just be as relaxed as Charlie was.
Charlie came back in the room and she had changed into a pair of paint splattered overalls. She looked ridiculous and Lou told her so, but Charlie couldn’t care less. “What does it matter what people think Lou? They are comfortable and I was sick of getting all of my good clothes messed up.”
Lou just shook her head. “So what are you guys doing today?”
“We have a project. You should have seen it last week, we had nudes. Enough of us girls complained that it was always a woman and they ended up paying one of the football players to do it.”
“Really? Who?”
“Phil.”
Lou couldn’t believe it. Phil was the star tight end and at his last year in school, everyone knew that he was going to make it big. “Why would he do that?”
It didn’t make sense to Lou. The man came from money and he could have anything he wanted. Surely he didn’t need to make a few dollars on the side running around nude for the art class. Charlie didn’t seem to see the problem. “I don’t know. He has a big wanker. Maybe he was just trying to show off. You know how guys like him are.”
Lou nodded her head, but she still didn’t get it. She would never get naked in front of a bunch of people, no matter how much money they wanted to pay her. Lou had no extra money and she still couldn’t see why someone would do it.
Charlie saw the look on her friend’s face and wanted to shock her. “Do you want to see it?”
“See what?”
“The drawing.”
Lou shook her head that she didn’t. “No, I think I am good.” Her friend had a painting style like Picasso and she figured it wouldn’t be that good anyways. Not what she wanted to see it of course.
“Oh come on, I used a realism technique. It’s like practically having it in front of you.”
Her friend’s face started to get red and she went into her bedroom to get it to show her. She didn’t mention how big the canvas was and when she saw it, she was shocked. “Oh my God Charlie!”
“I know.”
“That can’t be real.”
“Well it is.”
Lou turned her head sideways and once again wished with all of her might that there was some way that she could get into the art class. “Wow.”
“I know right? I can kind of see how he gets those crazy women that chase after him.”
Lou nodded, not being able to take her eyes off of it. It wasn’t just his package that caught her eye, but the hard ridges of his chest and stomach. The man was as close to an Adonis as she had seen and Lou was starting to feel a little hot under the collar.
“I get that he is hot, but what are you supposed to do with that thing anyways?”
Charlie just shook her head and started to put the picture back in her room. “If you don’t know what to do with that Lou, I don’t know what to tell you. I can think of several things that should be done with a man like that.”
Lou’s face was red when she got back out and she knew that she would never be able to look at him the same. She suddenly really hoped that she didn’t have to run into him at the party. It would be quite hard to not look at him and not blush.
“Are you coming?” Charlie looked back at her friend in amusement.
“Yeah I am coming.” Lou grabbed her bagged that weighed sixty pounds and sighed when the straps cut into her back. “I really need to take some more electives.”
“Yeah I can see that. Do you want me to see if they have any more room in art class?”
Lou shook her head. “No, the first time someone drops their pants, I am out of there.”
Chapter 2
Lou couldn’t pay attention through class. All she could think about was that painting that Charlie had showed her. She wished that she hadn’t seen it, but it was something that couldn’t be unseen, no matter how much she wanted to. It was distracting to say the least and after the class, Lous didn’t think that she had really heard anything that the teacher was talking about.
She met up with Charlie after class and asked how Art was. Lou secretly wondered if there were any more nudes that she had painted or if she had seen Phil, though she couldn’t ask any of those questions. Charlie said she had a good time, but didn’t elaborate. “It was alright. I will be happy when it is over. The teacher is kind of a drag.”
“A drag? I will switch classes with you in a heartbeat.”
“Well next term take something you would actually like Lou. College isn’t going to be all about what you can put on your resume. Ten years from now, you will wish that you had gone to more parties and had more fun.”
“Maybe. Though I said I was going to go tonight.”
“Are you actually going to drink?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
Lou was still working on loosening up, but it was hard. Every time she got to drinking, she did something stupid and she was still trying to get over some of the things she did when she was a freshman.
“You should. I won’t let you get too crazy.”
The reminder wasn’t needed and Lou didn’t say anything. “Don’t worry about it Lou. People barely even remember it.”
It didn’t matter if someone else did, she remembered and she remembered how fast the short video had spread through the college. There weren’t very many people on campus then that hadn’t seen her drunken strip tease. “I know. I can go through most days without the looks, but I think that is because Dante doesn’t go to school here anymore. He liked to keep it going.”
“Yeah, well he is gone and didn’t even get drafted. So who really cares what Dante said?”
Lou agreed in some ways, but there was still a heat rising to her face with the memory. Lou had almost quit school over it and if it hadn’t of been for Charlie, she knew that she would be back in her home town, working as a bagging girl at the grocery store. It was not her dream and even though she stopped doing much of what she had before, it had passed and Charlie was right. It was a growing pain that she didn’t want to go through again.
“I know but, I am a light weight nowadays. I don’t even really drink anymore.”
Charlie just shook her head. “People will never know how fun you used to be.”
“I’m still fun.”
“You are, but now we have to party at the house. Just one night, let’s forget the past and just have a great time.”
Lou said she would try. “As long as you promise nothing else.”
She was talking about the X that Charlie liked to do. It would make her disappear in the middle of the party and she would be left by herself. “I’m not. Tonya is coming though too. She is even more uptight than you are.”
“I’m not uptight.”
“Honey you have your panties on way too tight, trust me. A night out will do you good. It’s been almost a month since you and Danny broke up.”
“Don’t even mention his name.”
“I heard he is going to be there. With Becky.”
She tried to act like she didn’t care, she did though. All she wanted to do was stay home and away from all reminders of her ex. Charlie saw her shoulders slump slightly. “No we are not going to be depressed Lou. We are going to get dressed up, get all hot and you are going to make him eat his heart out.”
Lou giggled. Her friend had an expression to go with her orders that was hilarious. There was something about her that made her love her even more. “Fine, that sounds like a good idea.”
“Just remember your underwear this time Lou.”
She gave her a grim look and Charlie just laughed, not able to be bothered about any of it. “Haha.”
***
Lou had let Charlie pick out her clothes. They were more colorful and more revealing than she was used to, but after a couple of drinks at the apartment, Lou didn’t really care how she looked. She felt sexy and the mirror image told her that she was. For a few moments, she wanted to run into Danny. Just so he could see her like that.
Her black hair was short and curly around her face, while her skirt and shirt were tight, showing off all of her curves. She had to stop herself from pulling it away from her body, but she resisted. Charlie had her long, brown hair down and she was in one of her colorful skirts that went all the way to her ankles. The shirt was more revealing though with a strong V-cut down the front. She looked as she always did, with an ease that the woman embodied.
“So is James coming?”
Charlie shook her head that he wasn’t. James was her on again, off again boyfriend, but Lou hadn’t seen him in a few weeks.
“No, I told him that we needed a little break.”
“Why?”
Charlie kind of sighed to herself. “Because he always wants more and I don’t have that kind of energy for him right now. Ever since he graduated, all he wants to talk about is going to the next level, marriage, kids. It’s just too much for me.”
“Most girls would love for their boyfriend to talk about things like that.”
She didn’t care, it was clear. “Yeah, I guess so. I am only twenty-two. I am not trying to get married. Why would anyone think about such a thing yet?”
“Don’t you love him?”
Charlie wasn’t so sure that she did. Every time he talked about the future, it was almost like she got the hives. “I don’t know. I feel something for him.”
“Yeah well I feel something for Phil, but it doesn’t have nothing to do with love.”
Charlie smiled at her friend. The rum was kicking in and she suggested that they leave. “I thought we were waiting for Tonya?”
“She’s not here, so let’s just go. I will text her that we will meet her there. She probably isn’t ready yet. You know how long she takes.”
Lou agreed and finished her drink before they left the apartment. The old sorority house where the party was happening was loud as they walked up. There were so many people there that if Lou had been sober or alone, she would have just turned around and let. But Charlie knew her pretty well and stopped her by looping her arm in hers.
“Come on Lou. Let’s have some fun.”
Chapter 3
Phil was bored with the party and he had only been there a couple of minutes. There were far too many people that he didn’t know and if it hadn’t been his house, he would have left. The downstairs were filled with people in all states of drunkenness and though he saw many of his teammates putting them back, there was a big game tomorrow that was going to have recruits there and he wanted to be in top form.
“Phil, what are you doing sitting over here all by yourself. Look at all of these lovely ladies to choose from.”
Scott smiled at him, with his hand on one of the lady’s breast and she didn’t seem to mind at all. Phil had already had most of her friends. If he was honest, there weren’t many ladies left on campus that he hadn’t partaken in at some point. It was getting to the point that he was ready to leave college, just so he would have some more choices. The NFL would bring more women and though it was what all of them had talked about when they were younger, it was different now that he was there.
Ever since he could remember, all Phil had wanted was women. When he was in middle school and the first year or two of high school, the man had not been very popular. Phillip had been skinny and interested in nerdy things that were never going to get him a girlfriend. So his last couple of years of school he started to work out and bulk up. That got him into playing football the last year of high school and since he had been good at it, Phil was rewarded a full ride scholarship to Dundee University.
It was the life that he had always dreamed about, but there were some things in his old life that he still missed. Good conversation was one of them. Now all of the girls that he dated were vapid and though some of them were nice, they were all with him because of what they thought he could offer them.
“I hear you Scott. I am just not feeling it. Is there anyone upstairs yet?”
Scott just shrugged. The dark haired man was becoming far more enthralled with the woman beside him to really notice anything else. Phil sighed inwardly and got up from the chair and got a beer. One beer wouldn’t hurt anything, though the noise was getting to him. He decided to head upstairs and see if he could get a little sleep, even though he was sure it was going to be impossible with the loud music going on downstairs.
His friend had walked off and though he waved to several others as he ascended the stairs, there wasn’t anyone that he really wanted to talk to. Instead, he shut the door behind him after he kicked the couple out of his room that were making out on his bed. There were rules, the bedrooms were off limits, but no one ever listened and he checked out the sheets for anything amiss before laying down. His beer was getting warm next to him, as he laid there with his eyes closed.
There was a loud knock at the door and after a third knock it became clear that there was going to be no way that they were going to just go away. “This room is occupied.”
Another knock and he figured that whoever it was, didn’t even hear him over the loud music playing. Grumbling to himself, he staggered to the door in the dark and yanked the door open. He was expecting one of his friends trying to drag him downstairs but instead it was a short girl that he didn’t remember seeing before. “Can I help you?”
“Are you done in here so I can go?”
“Go?”
“Yeah, come on I have to go and you have been in here forever.”
Phil was confused for a moment and then she made a little dancing motion and he realized that she had to use the bathroom. “This is my bedroom, not the bathroom.”
“Oh.” The woman looked stumped and he figured he should help her out.
“It’s down the hall, blue door.”
“Thanks.”
She walked away without another word, leaving Phil looking behind her as she left. He had never seen her before and he was sure that he should have seen her around. He wanted to ask her a name, who she was, but she was gone into the bathroom and he was left standing in the doorway like a goob.
When she got back out, she said hello like she had never seen him before and he could tell she had had a bit too much to drink. “What’s your name?”
“Lou.”
“Lou?”
“Yeah, like a boy’s name. My dad wanted a boy named Lou. But he got me instead.”
Phil shook his head like he knew what she was talking about. He was still trying to place her though and he couldn’t think of where he had seen her before. She was hot and he should know who she was. Phil always made it a habit to talk to the prettiest girls and Lou was one that he hadn’t had before. “Are you new here?”
“Nope, been here almost four years. Are you new here?”
How did she not know who he was? He was kind of shocked that she didn’t and it made him wonder where she had been hiding all this time that he didn’t know her.
“No, I play football here. This is my last year too.”
“Oh, you’re a meathead.”
He didn’t like the way she said it, dismissing him as if there was nothing else she could do for him. When she started to walk away, he tried not to get offended. “A meathead?”
“Yeah, you are a jock. I stay away from you guys. You’re bad news.”
Phil wasn’t used to that kind of reaction and it hit his pride more than anything else. “Wait. You can’t just say something like that and then walk away. What did the football players do to you that made you not like any of us?”
She shrugged. “I just know how you guys are.”
“Sounds like you have dated a couple.”
His eyes went to her round backside as she walked in front of him down the hallway and towards the stairs.
“One or two, but I learned my lesson.”
“Phil. My name is Phil.”
She turned around suddenly and her eyes trailed down his body. Lou narrowed her eyes and then she saw the man from the painting. “Oh the guy from the Art class.”
He wasn’t sure what to say, but there was a moment that he thought he recognized her. “Did you take that class?” The smile on his face widened. If she had, then the conversation was about to get a lot easier in his experience. Once a girl knew who he was and what he had to offer, they were all over him. For a man that couldn’t be bothered much beforehand, there was something about the woman that ignored him, that made him want to be seen again.
“No, but I saw a couple of pictures that you inspired.”
“Ah, so what did you think?”
She had turned back around, already dismissing him again. “I don’t know. I wonder why you would do it in the first place. I mean, half of the campus has seen it all Phil, but why would you?”
“I don’t know. Miss. Cretan was always my favorite teacher, so when she put out the ad for it, I thought why not?”
His hand went to her arm to stop her at the top of the stairs. “Do you want to have a drink with me?”
She looked back at him like she was surprised. “Why?”
“Because I like talking to you.”
Lou wasn’t hearing it. “I am just here because my friend dragged me here. So as soon as I find here, I am out of here.”
“Oh, well at least let me help you find her.”
She didn’t agree, but pulled her arm away from his touch. Lou hadn’t had that much to drink that she didn’t realize he was the hot guy from the painting. “I don’t need any help, really. But thank you Phil. I hope you will have a good night.”
Phil watched her go down the stairs and didn’t try to stop her. He stopped his friend Scott though that was taking his new lady friend upstairs and asked who she was. “Lou? Oh come on, everyone knows who Lou is. Didn’t you see that video she made for Dante a few years back? I still think it’s on the sorority website.”
Scott left him still not understanding what he was talking about. Why would she be on the website? After a few minutes, it dawned on him that Lou was the short blonde that had been videoed giving Dante a strip tease. No wonder he was attracted to her, he thought to himself, she was one fire cracker that he wished he had gotten to know a little better. It wasn’t just her body or the way she had moved on the video, but her eyes and the teasing that were in her depths. Lou had broken Dante’s heart as well, though she never would have known it. Only the sorority members had remembered the fallout of their breakup.
