Mine to Protect

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “So you’re not in trouble?”

  “Nope.”

  “And we are going to Bali together?”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay,” Jennifer leaned down and wrapped her arms around me. “So tell me everything,” she said as she held onto me.

  “Well I’d like to take care of something else first if you don’t mind?”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  I pulled her shirt up over her head and brought one of her nipples into my mouth.

  “You…I’d like to take care of you first.”

  THE END

  Crossroads

  Prologue

  “Oh that brunette over there, wow, I’d marry her right now,” Noah said to his friend Derek as they sat at a table at one of the campus parties.

  He was joking of course, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off of the tall brunette that was standing across the room with her friend. Noah wasn’t the kind of guy who got swept off his feet quickly by a woman; in fact, he had just had a breakup a few months before with his high school sweetheart. But this woman was exactly what he was looking for.

  But the girl across the room from them had an energy about her that Noah just couldn’t ignore. His whole body was drawn to her and he couldn’t want to get to know her. His mind flashed to what it would be like to be standing there with her and having her laugh at his jokes like she was laughing with her friends.

  Noah loved a woman who didn’t take life too seriously and could have a good laugh. He was serious enough for two people and needed that light hearted personality to off-set his serious one. His eyes focused in on her as he watched her lips take in the beer bottle. He couldn’t help but think of what her lips would feel like if they were ever wrapped around his body. The idea of her lips anywhere near him sent his member into rock hard status.

  He watched as her and her blonde friend laughed and talked to each other. The tall brunette smile was mesmerizing as she glanced over and slightly looked at Noah and his friend Derek. Noah melted, his thoughts of her ran rampant as he got a glimpse of her full face before she turned back toward her friends.

  “She’s a little too high class for you, don’t you think?” Derek replied. “She couldn’t even be bothered with us before she went back to her friends. She’s probably one of those snooty sorority girls.”

  “I think I could handle her. I’d be willing to give it a good college try.”

  Noah and Derek were both juniors at Drake University and were finally legally able to hang out in the bars, drink and pick up their women. But the best parties were always at people’s houses anyways. Derek was well known on campus and very confident. He had a variety of women all ready and willing to go out with him on a moment’s notice. Derek enjoyed the company of women and wasn’t particular about who they were or what they looked like; except they were beautiful. It was one of the things about Derek that had always driven Noah crazy.

  Noah preferred to concentrate on school over women, although he was a red-blooded college male who could enjoy the company of a beautiful woman for the night without any troubles. He just preferred relationships over one night stands.

  Noah and Derek had been friends since they got put in the same dorm room freshmen year. Noah studied hard and got excellent grades. School was easy for him and he expected to have his pick of law schools to attend when undergraduate was over. He dated his high school sweetheart up until he was a sophomore at school and then they broke up, but remained friends. Noah didn’t find chasing after every woman a very good use of his time. He was waiting for just the right woman.

  “Go grab us a couple more drinks,” Derek ordered his friend as he handed him a twenty dollar bill.

  It wasn’t all that unusual for Derek to pay for the drinks, or for Noah to go grab them. Noah was used to it and really didn’t mind all that much. Except on that night, his error in listening to Derek would end up costing him more than he ever thought.

  When Noah got back with the drinks, Derek was standing at the table with that beautiful brunette and one of her friends. Noah was initially excited that Derek had gone over and got his dream girl and brought her to where they were sitting, but he quickly learned the truth. He knew better than to think Derek would have left the woman alone. Derek was so use to getting what he wanted that it was difficult for him to think of others, even his friend.

  “Ladies, this is Noah, didn’t I tell you he was handsome Angela?” Derek said to the young blonde co-ed. “This is Rosaline Tate,” Derek said as he introduced Noah to his dream girl. “And Angela Thornburg. Rose, will you dance with me?” Derek asked as he winked back at Noah.

  Noah, played it cool like any good friend would do, but inside he was fuming that he hadn’t seen what his friend was up to. All was certainly not fair in love and war, Derek always got his pick of them women and Noah was relegated to hanging out with whomever was leftover. He made a mental note not to tell Derek when he thought a woman was beautiful so Derek wouldn’t steal her from him again.

  “It’s nice to meet you Rosaline and Angela,” Noah said as he tried to fight off the anger that was building.

  “Call me Rose,” Rosaline said as Derek pulled her off to the dance floor.

  It also wasn’t that unusual for Derek to steal the prettiest girl for himself and leave Noah to keep the friend busy. But Noah had become use to that as well. The friends of the pretty ones were often easy to talk to and could make a night just as fun.

  Once Derek decided he wanted a girl, the game was pretty much over for Noah. He knew that and didn’t fight it. That was just his place when he was around Derek and he was use to it. Even if he didn’t like how things turned out, he at least knew what was coming.

  “It’s nice to meet you too,” Angela said as she reached her hand out to shake Noah’s.

  It certainly wasn’t the first time that Derek had gotten a girl which Noah had found attractive, but Noah had never been as angry as he was at that moment. Rose was strikingly beautiful and carried herself with confidence, grace and kindness. Noah saw a sweetness in her smile that attracted him to her, but he supposed that was what had attracted Derek as well.

  Although he was angry, he undoubtedly wasn’t going to fight his best friend over a girl. There would be plenty more women in their life and there was no reason to make a big deal over her. Angela was a very beautiful woman and didn’t seem at all of a bad catch to Noah. She was able to have a great conversation with him and he did his best to forget about Rose.

  As the night moved forward, Noah made friends with Angela and found her very funny and nice to be around. She wasn’t his first choice, but he was still happy to have a beautiful woman to dance and talk the evening away with. There wasn’t anything wrong with her, except that she wasn’t Rose.

  “We should dance,” Angela suggested.

  Noah wasn’t a dancer, but he would rather be pressed up against Angela on the dance floor than sitting on the sidelines talking all night long. So they made their way out onto the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the living room and drank and danced the night away.

  Noah caught himself watching Rose and Derek a few times throughout the night. Derek would whisper something in her ear and Rose would giggle at whatever it was that he said. Derek had his hands wrapped around Rose and tucked into her back pockets as the two of them kissed and danced for most of the evening.

  When they all grabbed some water and collapsed onto a couch they realized just how late it had gotten. Even though they were all enjoying each other’s company, they did need to get going home.

  “Angela and I better get going,” Rose said as the house started to close down. “We have work in the morning. Let’s get to walking Angela.”

  “You two shouldn’t be walking home, let me get a cab for you,” Noah offered.

  “For God sake Noah, they are walking, not driving. Give them a break,” Derek protested. “Or maybe you ladies just want to come home with us?”

  “We should probab
ly just go home,” Angela added in response to Derek.

  Noah couldn’t help it though. Of course their campus was relatively safe, but they had all been drinking all night long and he would just feel better if he knew they got dropped off right in front of their apartment. If either of them had been his girlfriend he wouldn’t have let them walk home, so in his mind he wasn’t about to let them walk home just because he didn’t know them very well.

  “We appreciate the offer, thank you,” Rose said.

  Noah and Derek walked the girls out to the front of the house and Noah flagged a cab down for them. He handed the driver the money needed for the ride. He would have worried about the ladies all night long if they had walked home all alone. This way he at least knew that they would be safe.

  “It was nice meeting you both,” Noah said. “Take care of yourselves. It was great meeting you.”

  Noah got Angela’s number and gave her a hug goodnight. There wasn’t a burning passion between them, but he liked her and was interested in getting to know her more if she wanted to get to know him more. Since he had just broken up with his high school sweetheart, Noah hadn’t been able to find anyone else who he felt passionate enough about to date in the long term.

  As much as he preferred dating over just hooking up, he also wasn’t going to stay with a woman if they didn’t get along. But the nice guy in him had Noah giving women a chance even if he knew they weren’t compatible in the long run. He just couldn’t bring himself to say no to them.

  Derek, on the other hand, didn’t just hug Rose. He grabbed her and leaned her toward the ground in a dramatic kiss. It was quiet the sight to watch and when he brought her back up to the standing position Rose was flush with desire from their kiss. Derek just had a way with the women that Noah had never had. He was always worried he was going to say something wrong or do something wrong so he never made big dramatic moves. Which was apparently what the ladies liked by the look on Rose’s face.

  Derek helped the two women into the cab and shut the door as he and Noah waved goodbye to them. Derek had confidence in everything he did and Noah sometimes hated that. It was hard to be friends with a guy who all the ladies loved, even when Derek didn’t even try with them.

  “I’ll call you this week sometime, Rose,” Derek yelled out after the women as they got into the cab. “Noah, you’re such a sap. Are you going to go around paying for every woman’s cab ride?” Derek said before the cab was even out of sight.

  “Maybe,” Noah smiled. “If they look like that.”

  They both laughed. A beautiful woman was hard to resist for any man, but especially a young college man. Noah, had to admit he would pay for a cab for any beautiful woman in need, that was just the kind of man he was. Actually, he would probably pay for the cab for any woman at all, he hated the idea of one of the college girls getting assaulted or murdered because they were walking around late at night after drinking.

  “You can’t just get wrapped up in every pretty girl. They hardly have brains when they look that good. Just kiss them, fuck them, and move on to the next one.”

  “Shut up Derek. Rose and Angela seemed plenty smart. I heard Rose say she’s thinking of becoming a doctor.”

  Derek had always been full of himself. It was his charisma and good looks that got him the ladies. He didn’t actually talk very highly of any of the women he had dated. If you could even call what Derek did dating. It was more like one night stands mixed in with a couple week long relationships. That just wasn’t Noah’s thing. He preferred to get to know one woman at a time and see if they were a match before he moved on to the next woman.

  “Doubtful on that one. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for her to become a doctor. I bet she’ll marry and be a house wife or trophy wife to someone and won’t even finish her college degree.”

  “Why do you even chase after them if you don’t like them?” Noah asked angrily. “Do you actually hate women or something?”

  Noah felt the anger building up as he and Derek talked. Derek was a jerk and Noah knew it, most of the time he let things just slide by but it was pissing him off how uncaring Derek was toward the girls they had just been hanging out with.

  “On the contrary, I love women very much; all women, but with Rose I’m thinking more long term. I’m going to run for office someday and I need a sweet, nice girl by my side. I can’t take one of my slutty girls into an election campaign. A girl like Rose is exactly what people like to see. She’s put together and quiet. I might just keep dating her and see if she’ll work for my public wife.”

  “What do you mean your public wife?”

  “You know. The rock that stands by my side and makes me look like the perfect family man. But I really spend my evenings with hot pieces of ass with huge tits and she never finds out about it.”

  “You’re such an ass. Why not just marry one of your hot pieces of ass with big tits then?”

  Noah laughed off Derek’s comments because they were friends, but he didn’t agree with any of them. To Noah, one woman was all he needed and all he wanted. One great woman that he could love and she would love him back. But to Derek, he always wanted what was on the other side of the fence. Derek was constantly looking for a better woman or a better situation and never seemed to be happy with the girl he had. It didn’t matter how amazing a woman was, she was never enough to keep Derek occupied. For as long as Noah had known Derek, he had always dated more than one woman at a time.

  “They don’t get you elected.”

  ***

  “Are we inviting Derek and Rose over for dinner again?” Noah asked his girlfriend Angela.

  Noah hadn’t expected to get along so well with Angela, but since she and Rose were friends things just worked out for them all to date. It was fun to go out as a group and Noah enjoyed seeing Rose, even though she was dating Derek and not him. Noah also liked Angela, she was sweet and smart and certainly a good girlfriend.

  “Of course, I can’t wait to play Pictionary with them.”

  “We always get our asses handed to us when we play them.”

  “I know, aren’t they like the perfect couple?” Angela asked.

  “I don’t know about all that.”

  It had been six months since Noah and Derek had started dating Angela and Rose. Noah was happy with Angela. She was a really sweet girl and fun to hang out with. She loved running like he did and they had plenty to talk about. What Noah couldn’t figure out was why Rose was dating Derek. Rose was a smart woman and Noah just couldn’t believe she didn’t see the sly moves that Derek was constantly putting forth as he went out with other women.

  Rose and Derek didn’t seem to have all that much in common. Rose was a kind person who loved helping others and Derek was a self absorbed guy who didn’t care about anyone but himself. Even if Rose didn’t choose to be with Noah, he really didn’t think her and Derek were all that well matched up.

  Derek still went out at least once a week with other girls and although he didn’t outright tell Rose that was what he was doing, everyone knew he dating other people. Rose just didn’t seem to care, or she really didn’t know what was going on. Love was blind, that was for sure; Noah just couldn’t believe Rose couldn’t see Derek for who he really was. She loved Derek and Noah could see that in her eyes. He wanted to pull her aside and ask why she continued to put up with Derek’s crap and disrespect but figured it wasn’t really his place. Derek and he were friends and Noah wasn’t going to say or do anything that would break up his friends. Rose was also his friend now and he wanted them to be happy. So if their relationship worked for them, it wasn’t any of his business.

  When Derek and Rose arrived for their game night, Rose was looking absolutely stunning. She had on a short white sun dress and Noah felt his body react with such longing that he thought everyone in the room could see what he was thinking. Her silky smooth and tan legs were so enticing that Noah had to look away from her and at Derek.

  “I still can’t believe you’re go
ing to be a lawyer Noah,” Rose said to him as they came into the apartment.

  “I don’t know why this is so surprising to you all the time,” Noah teased.

  “Because you’re way too nice. But maybe you can be one of those free lawyers who helps people who don’t have any money?”

  “Maybe I will,” Noah replied.

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard Rose. Why would Noah go through all the trouble of going to law school just to become a free lawyer? The fun of being a lawyer is that you get to be rich.”

  “I know, I know, I was joking.”

  Noah hated how Derek talked to Rose sometimes. He didn’t do it all the time, but there were moments when he put her down or her ideas down and it drove Noah crazy. Rose never seemed to even notice, she was so in love with Derek he could have been swinging an axe around all the time and she probably wouldn’t have notices. But Derek certainly wasn’t all that nice to her sometimes.

  Then there were times when he put on an act like he was frigging Prince Charming himself. Like the time he showed up at school on a white horse and picked Rose up. The look on Rose’s face had been incredible and Noah had to admit that Derek certainly knew how to win over a woman. They really loved the grand gestures he made.

  Noah lusted after Rose any time she was around. Even though he talked himself out of having feeling for her, Noah always felt the pull toward Rose when they were in the same room. He thought she felt it too, but Rose never seemed to acknowledge feeling the same way. He knew he would eventually have to break up with Angela, not because she wasn’t a nice girl, but because he didn’t want her nearly as bad as he wanted Rose. Even if Rose was never going to be his, Noah wanted a woman that he lusted after just as much as he was lusting after Rose.

  Their game nights were always filled with fun. The four of them had been together for several months and things were comfortable when they all sat down to play. Noah and Angela would be on a team and Derek with Rose. Pictionary was just one of the games they would play, but they always had fun and played until well into the nights. It was perfect to have Derek and Noah dating friends, they never had to worry about their girlfriends getting along with each other.