Page 7 of Steeling Her
Bobbing his head up and down, he says, “Yeah, you, come here. You look a little lost? Wanna come sit here?” He pats his knee, indicating I should sit on his lap.
Not happening. Ever. Creep.
Feeling my eyes widen, I shake my head slowly to decline and not try to hurt his feelings. “Um, n-no thank you. I’m just trying to find my friends?” I wave my hand around and start to move away from him, but I see him rise up to his feet.
“Let me help you? I know my way around.” He sends me a smile. Maybe this guy isn’t that bad. I was about to thank him and agree for him to help me but I hear a deep husky voice perk up, making my eyes fall back on to his. “Leave her alone, Ryan.” I watch his eyes trail my body and he stands up to his full height. Towering over me.
Wow.
I let my eyes wander around his body but another voice grabs my attention. “Look who I found.”
I look up to meet his eyes focus on someone else when he speaks again, “Haley? What the fuck are you doing here?” Hearing the anger in his voice, I realize he said Haley. I whip my head around to see her standing there with a gorgeous guy. Long black hair in a white shirt and black jeans. His arms slinked around her shoulders in a possessive manner.
Seeing Haley standing there, she squeaks out, “Carter! Thank God! I couldn’t find you! I thought you went back to the dorm. I was going to call you but I didn’t have your number! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Slipping away from the guy’s arm, she makes a beeline for me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and hugging me. I’ve never had a friend like her. It feels good to know someone actually likes me for me. I smile to myself and feel happy I met her. I’m glad she’s my roommate, she’s so caring.
“I just came in now. I was going to come find you guys and this guy was going to help me.” I point to the guy, who I know now is Ryan, standing there with a beer in his hand smiling down at me. It was nice of him to offer to help me find Haley and Danielle. He’s large, with broad shoulders, much like the other guys who are surrounding us tonight.
“How do you two know each other?” Hearing his smooth voice knocks me back to reality. His voice is low and inviting—sexy even.
“Carter, this is my brother, Nick. Nick, this is Carter, my new roommate,” Haley introduces us with her arms still around me.
Brother? Wow, alright then. Her brother is hot. Like, Calvin Klein model hot. But he probably gets that a lot of the time.
He whips his head around and mumbles something to himself but I couldn’t catch it. Seeing his back muscles move hypnotizes me. He’s so toned. God, he’s so good looking.
He shifts the bottle to his other hand and holds it open for me to shake as he steps a little closer to me. I do unknowingly and shake it. His cold skin meets my warm one. His hand is rough and worn but it feels good—too good.
“Hi, nice to meet you, Carter,” he says, staring into my eyes. The way he says my name causes an unfamiliar feeling inside me. His bright green eyes glint in the moving lights, and I can’t hear the music anymore. I stare at him and snap myself back to reality.
“Nice to meet you too, Nick,” I mumble shyly, averting my eyes around the room and taking a step back from him. I’m a little intimidated by him. I see a lot of girls staring at him in the room, and I can’t help but feel so out of my depth. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be talking to him by the looks of things. He’s one of those guys that gets every girls attention when he enters a room, and I’m one of those girls who sits in the corner by herself, going unnoticed.
“That’s TJ, Nick’s best friend. All of these guys play football for this college—” Haley points to the guy whose arm was around her earlier and then to the rest of the guys.
“Football?” I interrupt her in surprise. Oh God, not again. I can’t be here. I shouldn’t be here. I look around to each of the guys standing around us while Haley nods her head skeptically at me. Time to leave. I need to get out of here before someone recognizes me and won’t leave me alone about my family, trying to befriend me to get to my dad so they have a shot in the NFL. Especially college football players.
I begin to feel nervous. I back out and walk away from the group. Meandering through the crowd, I make my way up the stairs to try find a bathroom but I notice all the doors are locked.
Dammit.
I begrudgingly make my way back down with guys trying to feel me up along the way.
Air, I need air.
I see double doors and make my way towards them, passing by the kitchen.
I shut the door behind me and walk out into the patio with a range of tables and chairs, inhaling and exhaling at a rapid rate to relax myself. “They’re all football players? All of them? I should’ve known!” I pace back and forth on the tiles, hearing my heels click on every step.
Clearly, it’s not going well for me. I decided to go back inside and find Haley or Danielle. Opening up the door, I whisper to myself, “Okay, come on, Carter. You can do this! It’ll be fine.” I smile to try to convince myself of that and to rid my discomfort. It’s not working so well.
I take another deep and slow breath in and I turn my head to see him again. With a girl standing in front of him. Should’ve known he’d have a girlfriend.
What, no! Carter! He’s you’re roommate’s brother! It’ll be awkward.
Seeing each other, I back away from him again and make a run for the door, only for me to run into someone and spilling their drink over them. “I’m so sorry!” I apologize to him.
He looks down at his shirt and then up to me changing his expression almost immediately. “Uh, it’s cool . . . Would you mind helping me clean this up?” he asks me with a small smile on his face.
I nod rapidly and tell him, “Lets go to the kitchen. I’ll clean you up—”
