Series Starter : Firsts in Series Collection

by Kaylee Ryan

  “I miss you too, sweet girl.”

  The drive to UNC is short and sweet. Thankfully, I’m able to get my emotions under control during the drive. When I reach the parking lot for my dorm, I send Hailey, my roommate, a text.

  Me: Hey! Just pulled into the lot.

  Hailey: Be there in 3 min.

  Me: K

  True to her word, Hailey arrives three minutes later, pulling up beside me in her blue Ford Fusion. We’ve been emailing for two months now, so I feel like I already know her. I don’t have a lot of friends. Really, Ace is the only friend I’m close to. I didn’t have a lot of time for friendships and hanging out while I was taking care of Gran. My heart squeezes in my chest. I miss her already. As I climb out of the car, Hailey’s already heading toward me.

  “Allison! I’m so excited!” Hailey screeches as she throws her arms around me for a hug.

  Her enthusiasm is infectious. “Me too.” I laugh.

  “Let’s get started. I know we said we were going to do this on our own, but my dad insisted my brother help. He’s a senior here at UNC; he and his best friend, Dash, live off campus. Wait, I’ve told you that already. There he is now.” I don’t think she even took a breath.

  I laugh to myself, what kind of name is Dash? Of course, I’m okay with some muscles to help with the heavy lifting. I assume Hailey’s brother is muscular, since he’s the quarterback for UNC. The good thing about Hailey and me reaching out to each other the past couple of months is I feel like I already know so much about her. It takes away that awkward feeling of living with a stranger. I’ve heard a lot about her family, and she knows all about Gran and Ace, of course.

  “Allison, did you hear me?” Hailey asks.

  I turn to face her… Holy shit! Standing next to Hailey is the sexiest guy I’ve ever seen in my entire life. He’s tall, at least six-four, and strong, broad shoulders. His hair is lighter than Hailey’s, cut short, and the most staggering sky-blue eyes I’ve ever seen. I know I’m staring, but I can’t seem to control myself. He’s wearing blue jeans that hang just right and a plain white t-shirt, which embraces his ripped abs and shoulders.

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

  Mr. Sexy, also known as Liam, smiles and reaches his hand out to me. “Nice to meet you,” he says as he flashes me a charming smile.

  I realize I’m still staring, and he’s waiting for me to shake his hand. So, I reach out accepting the handshake. “You as well, thanks for your help.” There, that sounds normal, a little breathy, but who can blame me. This guy is sex on a stick.

  I hear someone clearing their throat. I pull my eyes away from Mr. Sexy and notice there’s a huge guy standing right beside him. “This is Blitzen, a friend of mine,” Liam tells me.

  “Hello, Blitzen, I’m Allison. It’s nice to meet you.” I study him, partly to keep my eyes from searching for Liam and partly because, well, he’s fine. Maybe living in the dorms won’t be so bad after all.

  Blitzen is close to the same height as Liam, probably six-three, with shaggy, curly, blonde hair. He’s built, his blue t-shirt clinging to his muscles. The sleeves on his shirt look like they could rip any minute. His abs are rock hard. I know this 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 room. I 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 me. Ace is gonna be pissed when he finds out. He wanted to help and I told him no. Hailey and I wanted to do this together. Her dad shot that plan to hell, but I’m not complaining. Once both cars are unloaded, the guys throw themselves on a futon in our room while digging water out of a cooler I’d packed for the trip. I am nervous being close to two hot guys in such a confined space. The only guy I’ve really spent any time around was Ace, and we’ve been friends since I was ten. There were no dates for me in high school, so this is a new experience. I decide 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. 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’s going to speak when his pinging cell phone interrupts him. “That’s Dash, we’re 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.” You can tell by the tone of his voice he’s not believing his friend’s excuse.

  “Hales, see you later. Allison, it was a pleasure meeting you,” Liam says before placing his phone to his ear and answering the call.

  Blitzen pulls himself off the futon and waves his goodbye, then just like that they’re gone, and I release the breath I was holding. I didn’t realize how tense I really was being that close to them. Get it together, I chide myself. This is my new life. I’m going to have to get used to hanging out with mixed company. Ugh, now I’m talking like Gran. I miss her, and I worry, but she’s right. I need to start living life.

  Chapter 2

  Liam

  I was annoyed when my dad called and requested 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 freshmen and trying to pick out his next fling. I, on the other hand, couldn’t 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 backup plan, but I really want my shot at the NFL. All I’ve ever wanted to do is play football. Don’t get me wrong, I date, a man has needs, but I’m not a serial dater like Blitzen. Football is my 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, well, 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’ve ever seen. She has long, 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 five-four with a body that would make any man drool. Now, I’m usually not one to lust after women. Usually, I am the one lusted after. Being the quarterback of the undefeated UNC 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’s in it for me and who’s in it for my potential NFL future. 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 of the NFL are my main priority, my life. However, as I stare at this girl laughing with my little sister, I’m overwhelmed with what I can only describe as need ... she’s beautiful.

  I make my way toward them and stop beside Hales, nev
er 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’m mesmerized by her emerald eyes.

  “Nice to meet you,” I say as I thrust my hand toward 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 smack him on the back of the head. If anyone is calling dibs, it’s going to be me.

  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 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 haul everything up to their dorm room. It takes us all of twenty minutes, and most of that time we were carrying 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’m taken aback by her answer. I have yet to encounter a girl, including my baby sister, who doesn’t care about the right clothes, shoes, and a whole other laundry list of accessories they can’t seem to live without. Just something else that adds to her appeal. Shaking out of my thoughts I plop down on the futon, Blitzen taking the seat next to me.

  We’re both quiet as we watch the girls work, well, Allison work, 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 stopped and got some lunch before coming here and well, we could have left a half hour ago, but the scenery was too good to pass up. Quickly, we say goodbye, and head to the field.

  By the time we get there, 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’re 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’s 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 to it before. Although he does date and Dash isn’t the type of guy to cheat, he’s better than that. So, maybe there is something to this just friends business. She’s here now, at the same college, living on campus so the truth is bound to come out.

  Chapter 3

  Allison

  Hailey and I finished unpacking, and now we’re lying on our beds relaxing. We were fortunate to have a rather large dorm room with our own private bath and mini kitchenette. We easily unpacked all of our stuff in the shared space. She and I are both fairly laid back and haven’t had any issues agreeing yet. We’ve already discussed our class schedules, so we aren’t both 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 to 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’s just as gorgeous, more so than 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 she’s holding back. “So, what are your plans for tonight?”

  “I’m 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, who graduated with my brother. Todd’s 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’m getting the full college experience and dating is a huge part of that.” She laughs.

  “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 we were still on for tonight.”

  “When am I going to get to meet this guy? Your best friend?” she questions. I can tell from her tone that she’s not fully convinced Ace is just my best friend.

  “How about we make plans to all get together tomorrow night?” Seeing us together is the only way to prove it. He really is like a big brother to me.

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  An hour later I’m pulling into Longhorn, and I spot Ace immediately. He’s 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 greets 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 restaurant 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’ve never dated or really been interested in a guy before, so this is new territory for me. Sure, I’ve talked about actors, bands, or celebrities 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 fumble with my napkin.

  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 you’re gorgeous.”

  “Psh, you’re 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’m sure, whoever this guy is, he’s not good enough for you. I don’t want to hear anymore of this out of
your league shit. Got it?”

  I nod my head yes, afraid to let the emotion in my voice show. He’s always been there to support me since the day we met. I truly don’t know what I would do without him in my life.

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

  Ace laughs. “Did you expect anything less?” We order our food and get caught up with life in general. It’s so good to see him. He had to come back to campus early for football, so I didn’t get to see him much this summer.

  The waiter brings our food, and we talk while we eat. I tell Ace about Hailey, how much we have in common, how nice it is to have a girl for a friend. He fakes being hurt by this, but I know he understands where I’m coming from. He talks about football and how excited he is that his team has gone undefeated the last two years. He talks about his hopes to carry that on this year, being it’s his last year at UNC and on the football field. Unless the draft comes through for him, that is. If not, he’ll be a free agent, which makes his chances slim for getting picked up by any of the NFL teams. He always has his degree of Sports Medicine to fall back on.

  I want to tell Ace that Hailey’s sexy as sin brother is on his team as well, but decide against it. I know Ace would know him, and I don’t want to deal with the teasing and the lecture that will follow my admission.

  As we finish our dessert, a hot fudge sundae we split, I remember I’d promised Hailey we would all go out tomorrow night. “Hey, do you have plans tomorrow night?” I ask Ace.