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.
“Nope.”
“Great, Hailey wants to meet you. I’ve talked about you so much she wants to see if you live up to all the hype,” I tease.
Ace chuckles. “I’m down, I’ll see if Mac wants to go as well.”
“Awesome sauce, we both get to meet each other’s roommates tomorrow night. Where should we go?”
“Let’s meet up at The Warehouse. A guy on the team’s dad owns it, so we get VIP treatment.” He winks at me. “Meet you guys there at eight?”
I nod in agreement.
We argue over who is going to pay for dinner, I lose the battle. After paying he follows me out to my car, so I can give him his care package from his mom. With a farewell hug, we go our separate ways.