Page 59 of Steeling Her
“So you’ve heard about me?” I ask, wary of her reply. I watch her head nod and I sigh to myself. It’s my own fault I played around so much.
Half of the girls people think I’ve gotten with make it up just to get a status. It’s the one thing I hate about college. Being the star quarterback of a iconic football college has its perks, but it also has its downfalls. People only want to be friends with you for those perks and the status, and not because of who you are. That’s the one thing I’ve hated about being here.
Sure, it got me girls. I loved it initially. I slept around, putting Charlie Sheen to shame. I was like the Hugh fucking Hefner of this college. I had five girls in one night; multiple threesomes that I can hardly remember; too many wild nights to count. But at the end of the day, I realized that they only want me because of the name I was making for myself. They sniffed that out and used me, like I used them.
It became meaningless after a while. I fucked for pleasure that wasn’t being fulfilled. Night after night, I woke up in different beds in different company. Usually naked. “What have you heard?” I ask, treading lightly. I know I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear, but I want to know.
“Just that you move from girl to girl when you get bored . . . but . . .” She stops midsentence to look at me. I wait for her to continue but she hesitates.
“But what?” I push her, wanting to know, so I can prove her wrong.
“But you always go back to that . . . same girl . . .” She nudges her head to the side, asking me to silently connect the dots. Maya. She’s talking about Maya.
“Maya?” I ask for confirmation. I watch her nod with a blank expression on her face. I run my hand along my face, wanting to punch something because of these rumors. I’ve probably ruined any chance with her. “It’s not true. Sure, Maya and I have some history. We were in high school together, but I never dated her . . . I never dated, period. I’m not here to bash her, but she got around. She also helped me through a tough period, I really owe her one for that.” She nods in understanding to me.
I know she’s curious about what I’m talking about, but I’m not ready to talk about that just yet. That was a tough time for me. “Yeah . . . I got around. I’m not proud of that. I was bored and . . . well, you know . . . but some of those rumors you hear are just that—rumors. I mean, some people thought I was suspended from the team because I took drugs. I didn’t, by the way. I failed a subject and my mom beat the shit out of me and got benched.” She laughs hard, clutching her sides and resting her body against the door for support.
“Seriously, my mom is terrifying if we do something she doesn’t like . . . I was suspended from the team until I could get an A or else I wouldn’t play the next game, and I’m on scholarship, so I can’t afford to miss a game. So, people thought I got caught for doing drugs from a party. Not doping, actual hard drugs. Some people swore they saw me do it in a room full of people. I mean, come on. If I was going to do it, I wouldn’t do it in a room full of people.”
I roll my eyes and I see her lean against the door, watching me tentatively. “I have never touched a drug in my life. Well, except for alcohol.” I reach my hands up above on the door frame outside the room. I see her checking me out quickly, making me smirk with hooded eyes. I couldn’t help but do the same. She looks good tonight. Well, everyday.
“People say you’re a player,” she whispers again. I lean my head on one of my arms, thinking about how to approach that statement. She’s fishing to see if I’m worth her time.
“And what do you think?” I ask. I need to feel this girl out. Any hope she gives me, I’ll take it. I want her. I really want her.
“When I first met you, I saw it. Girls were all over you. There was no denying that you like girls and went through them like a train. When I was around you, I could see the attention you brought. Both guys and girls, you’re like this god to them. Every single one of those girls eye you up like you’re meat and they’re sharks, even just walking through the campus tonight showed me.”
She looks off down the hallway, like they’re all still their waiting for me. She continues, “But as I got to know you a little better, I saw the other side of you. The real side, and I could tell you only let certain people see that. I knew there was more to you than your playboy image. You’re sweet, caring, and . . . I feel at ease when I’m around you. You ignore all that attention. You focus what’s in front of you and you’re really protective; especially of Haley. I’m sorry I judged you . . . I shouldn’t have, but it was hard not to. You were so intimidating when I first met you..”
“Intimidating?” I question her, cutting her off. I’ve been called that a few times. I should really work on my first impressions.
“Yeah, when I first met you, I thought you didn’t like me at first. I thought that you thought I didn’t belong at that party . . . I didn’t, but you had that look of ‘why bother coming to something like this?’ ” She shrugged. I immediately felt guilty that she thought I had thought that about her. I did, but not in a rude way. I was on the prowl that night and it stopped once I found her. As soon as I met her eyes I knew I wanted her, but then my sister had to know her. She just had to be my sister’s roommate. I knew that I was in big trouble.
“I’m sorry . . . I gave off that whole vibe, really. Well, it was to stop myself . . .” I look around the hallways, avoiding eye contact with her.
“From what?” she asks so softly I almost missed it. It struck a chord in me. I meet her blue eyes and stare at her for the longest time, thinking about how to tell her that I thought she was incredibly sexy that night and every other day I saw her. It’s best to show her. I lean down, hovering over her lips once more.
“To stop myself from doing this . . .” I kiss her once more, the heat between our lips being revived again. I take her waist once more and pull her to me, loving the feeling of her body against mine. I can’t get enough of this girl. I break the kiss and hover above her lips once more. I smile down at her. This girl is driving me fucking crazy.
“Why?” she asks breathlessly, and I grin at the effect I have on her. This is the second time I’ve made her breathless. I’m not far behind her.
“Why what?” I feather her lips, our faces still close and our noses barely touching.
“Why didn’t you do that, that night?” She blushes again. I can almost feel the heat from her cheeks.
“Trust me, I wanted to but Haley would’ve killed me. Plus, I wanted to know you first,” I tell her. Realization flashes across her face in the blink of an eye. Seeing the slightly offended look on her face for a brief moment, she covered it by breaking eye contact. I immediately felt bad, but it was the truth. Shifting in my touch, she leans back a bit.
“You wanted to know if I would use Haley to get to you. It’s alright, you can say it. I know the tactics, it’s happened to me too many times to count. Girls pretending to be my friends to get to my brothers . . .” I nod, not lying that I was fishing out her motives initially, but then I became more interested in her and less about finding out if she wanted to use my sister.
“But I realized you’re not like that. You know the pain every time a girl ignores you when she gets what she wants. I watch Haley almost hate me every time it happens, but she always forgives me when she realizes it’s not my fault. In a way, I was helping her rule out the ‘bad eggs.’ ” I use air quotes, copying my mom. I realize her body is still pressed against mine. Her curves fit perfectly against my crevices; a perfect fit.
“That’s not what’s going to happen with me though. I value her friendship. I’ve never met a girl so willing to be my friend before. Usually, they tell me I’m strange and don’t talk to me, but not with Haley. Or Danielle. I’m glad they’re my roommates. This is going to sound sad . . . and weird . . . but I’ve never had friends before. Not even in high school. Everyone was only around me for the perks of saying they knew me. It didn’t help that my brothers went through the girls from my school like no tomorrow. I actually didn’t talk to them for months because they did that . . .but I realized it wasn’t them. It was the girls who wanted their fifteen minutes of fame with an up and coming athlete who are now fucking everywhere I look.” She rolls her eyes and I chuckle at her.
She curses?I mentally smirk to myself. I agree. They’re on magazine covers, billboards on the freeway, at bus stops, on girls’ phones as their wallpapers; they’re everywhere. The sound of the elevator caught our attention and we both look behind to see who it is.
Seeing blonde hair whisp through the air, I immediately step out of Carter’s touch, not wanting my sister to know just yet. Carter catches on and fixes herself, sending me a warm look with a mutual agreement.
“Da da, da da da, da da, da da da.” Hearing Haley’s voice down the hallway, I turn around and see her swinging her legs from side to side with her arm wrapped around TJ. Danielle is looking at her like she has five heads, with a guy on her arm. She snorts at what my sister is doing. Or trying to do.
