Full Count (5 page)

And I suspected Dylan would be
there. Just the thought of seeing him, made my stomach swirl and nerves set in.
I expected him to move back to all of the girls who were fawning after him the
next time we had class together, but he didn’t.

Instead, I found conversations with
him to come pretty easily and we even grabbed coffee together after class. I
couldn’t help but see all of the jealous looks I was getting as he placed his
hand at the small of my back and guided me towards his favorite coffee shop. He
insisted on buying my Diet Coke for me since I despised coffee and surprised me
with a giant chocolate donut, covered in sprinkles. I had a serious sweet tooth
and finished off every last crumb.

I picked up several things that
Kitty had set aside. O-k-aay. All that she had set out was about ten different
styles of black sundresses and four pairs of cowboy boots. When I thought of
going to a football game, I assumed it was more of a jeans and school shirt
type of thing.

“So did you decide on anything
yet?” Kitty breezed back into the room wrapped in one of her pink fluffy towels
that I envied. Those things looked so comfy and I seriously needed to find out
where she got them, even though they were probably way too expensive for me to
buy.

“Well,” I replied yanking down on
the old ratty football shirt of Jake’s that I used as pajamas and kneeled on
the bed. “Is this really what you wear to games?”

“Mmhmm,” she pursed her lips
together as she rifled through the selections and threw a ball of black
material at my head. “Here, this will look perfect on you. Show off that pretty
skin of yours and your boobs aren’t too big for something like this.” I scooped
up the dress and pulled out a pair of lacy black panties, forgetting a bra
since this one looked like it had a built in one.

I took a quick shower and was
thankful that I was the second one in and there was still some hot water left.
All four of us had gotten together, having a meeting of the suitemates, and
agreed that we would each take a maximum of fifteen-minute showers. Maddie and
I seemed to follow the rule pretty easily but that wasn’t the story for the
other two.

Just as I suspected, Maddie and I
hit it off pretty easily. We were both a little bit more laid back than our
roommates were, even though I really was glad I ended up with Kitty, she seemed
to bring me out of my shell. 

But I put my foot down when Kitty
tried to drag me along to join a sorority; Maddie did the same thing when Kylie
tried it too. We suggested that they go together and they reluctantly did, thinking
maybe it would be a bonding experience for them.

So instead, Maddie and I checked
out the over 300 student organizations that were offered. I wanted to try
something new out, but I still wasn’t sure what yet. They offered everything
from a white water rafting club to an actual quid ditch club. Who ever knew the
power Harry Potter actually had over college students?

“Ok, how does this look?” I padded
across the  thick furry rugs we had picked up to cover up the cold tiled floor
and stood in front of Kitty, who was already dressed in a halter style black
sundress.

Her hair was pin straight like
usual and I was so jealous that her hair seemed to come out looking like that
almost instantly. She turned around from the mirror that she was centered in
front of after one last swipe of her makeup brush. “You look gorgeous, Paige.”

She smoothed out the bottom of the
skirt that flared out just a bit and ended mid-thigh. I had dried my hair and
pulled it up into a high ponytail, figuring that it would get pretty hot,
especially once we got into the stadium surrounded by all of those bodies in
the student section.

“Ok, just a few accessories and we
will be good to go. Did you see if Maddie and Kylie were up yet?”

“I think I heard movement when I
was leaving the bathroom. Hopefully it was Kylie since she takes so long to get
ready.” I bent my head forward as she slipped a chunky garnet necklace over my
head and added a few bracelets to my wrist.

“One last touch, we need our game
faces on.” She peeled back the paper on a temporary tattoo of our team’s mascot
and smoothed it onto the corner of my cheek.  She put a matching one on to her
face and threw an arm around my shoulder.

 “There, all set. Ugh, I’m so
jealous of those cheekbones of yours. You know women pay big bucks and still
don’t get anything that compares to yours.”

“Thanks,” I laughed out as we both
slipped on a pair of cowboy boots. Kitty had been telling me that same thing
just hours after meeting. My phone dinged from the small nightstand next to my
bed and I scooped it up, seeing that it was a message from Ben.

“Hey Kitty, I forgot to tell you
that I made plans to go to the game with someone. I figured he could join our
group, is it alright if he meets up to tailgate with us?”

“Of course! Have you been holding
out on me Paige Brinton, there’s a guy and you haven’t even told me?”

I shrugged my shoulders and
followed behind her as she pounded on the bathroom door to see if our
suitemates were ready yet. “Just a minute,” Maddie yelled through the door.

“We’re just friends, we have a
class together and he asked if I wanted to go to the football game. I didn’t
think it was a big deal.” I had actually forgotten since my head seemed to be
stuck in Dylan Turner mode only. Her painted pink lips curved into a wide O and
a musical giggle floated out from between her lips.

“Paige, don’t you know when a guy
asks you to a football game around here, it’s like considered a date. This is a
big thing for you.” She knew I hadn’t ever dated before and I had about as much
experience as a twelve year old.  “So who’s the lucky guy, do I know him?”

“Yeah, actually you do.” She
scrunched up her nose, trying to think of who my date could possibly be and a
look of horror covered her face. “Please don’t tell me it’s Dylan Turner,” she
whispered out in a hushed tone. “Because that would be like the worst first
date ever and then some. I don’t think he actually even dates, just screws
anything that walks--no offense.”

“No,” I shook my head to reassure
her. I had a feeling that she kind of had a thing for Dylan even though she
insisted that wasn’t the case. I’m sure knowing his reputation and how
protective her brothers were, they wouldn’t ever let Kitty and Dylan be alone
in a room together anyway. Kitty had filled me in on the two girls that
frequented the house that Dylan and Chris shared. Really, who does that?

“It’s actually Ben Davies and I
guess he’s going to be my first date. I had my first class on Monday with him
and he remembered me from when you had introduced us on campus one day.”

“Oh, okay that’s good, I guess. We
went to school together. We didn’t really run in the same crowds and he was
attached at the hip to his girlfriend, Amy.” The bathroom door creaked open and
Maddie’s head peeked through. “We’re ready whenever you two are.”

The four of us made our way through
the dorm that was actually buzzing with life this early in the morning. You
could feel the excitement in the air over game day and everyone was showing
their school pride in full force.

“Um, so if Ben was so attached at
the hip, does that mean he still has a girlfriend?” I looped my arm through Kitty’s
and let her lead the way to the area her parents tailgated in. If this was my
supposed my first date, I didn’t want it to be with a guy who was trying to
date around, while his girlfriend sat at home clueless.

“No, actually they broke up. Ben
caught Amy in the act with some guy from another school, things didn’t end so
pretty. He was devastated after it happened and everyone could tell how
depressed he was all the way up until graduation. He really is a nice guy
though, but just take things slow. You don’t want to be his rebound girl.”

I nodded my head and pulled out my
phone to text Ben to let him know where we would be so he could meet up with
us. He was probably just the kind of guy that would be perfect to start dating.
We both needed to take things slow, since he was getting over a broken heart
and I was just starting off.

                                                                ******************

“Can you believe this?” Ben
whisper-yelled into my ear as we stood in front of our seats in the student
section. He had one arm wrapped lightly around my waist and it actually felt
pretty good. He had showed up not long after I had texted him the area the Chapmans
were in, called the Cockaboose Railroad. That area was jaw dropping. Even after
all of the talk I had heard from Kitty, words really couldn’t compare. They
definitely tailgated in style.

I met Bryce and Jared, Kitty’s two
other brothers, who all seemed to look a whole lot alike, but they each had
their own unique personalities. Tim and Susanne were gracious hosts and
genuinely thrilled to meet their daughter’s roommate. Of course, Dylan was
there too. He seemed to fit in really well with the Chapmans and Susanne seemed
to adore him like a son of her own.

We made small talk, but things got
awkward when Ben showed up. I caught Dylan’s eyes narrowing over Ben’s shoulder
when he wrapped me in a quick hug and I really wasn’t sure why. After that, I
just caught brief glimpses of Dylan.

He and Chris seemed to run back and
forth, from the Chapman’s to a student section of tailgating. Each time, I
noticed Dylan seemed to stumble more and more as he came back and I could smell
the alcohol on his breath whenever he got close enough, which wasn’t often.

“Not really,” I finally answered.
The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and you could feel it humming in the
air. This was nothing like the baseball games I attended with my dad pretty
regularly, compared to this those were like watching someone play golf.

Dylan, who was standing behind me,
leaned forward and yelled at me, “Nothing like a baseball game, huh?” It was like
he had been reading my mind. I looked back up at him and he pretty much took my
breath away.

 He wasn’t dressed extravagantly
like some of the guys I had seen here, with bowties and dress shirts on.
Instead, he had a garnet PFG shirt on, that seemed to make his brown eyes
appear even more intense, and a pair of low riding khaki cargo shorts. His hair
was a mess, like usual and the sun was beating down on it, showing just a bit
of a red tint to his hair that I had never noticed before.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear
and I stood on my tiptoes to hear him. The alcohol was still fairly prominent
on his breath, but at least he didn’t seem to be stumbling anymore. “You look
so fuckin’ gorgeous today.” He brushed back a loose strand of hair that had
fallen onto my bare shoulders and I had to contain the shudder that was trying
to take over my whole body. His lips lowered to my ear one more time, like he
was going to whisper something else, but instead he snagged the tip of my ear
in between his teeth, pulling away slowly.

Holy fuck, I’m pretty sure my
panties just got soaked totally through. What the hell was this guy doing to
me? He was making me feel things that I had never felt before in my life. I
pulled back quickly when I felt Ben’s arm reappear on my waist again and I
twisted around to see his normally cheerful eyes, narrowed at Dylan. He did not
look happy.

I heard Dylan’s friend from the
baseball team who was standing next to him yell loudly, “They all love cocks on
their face, huh bro?” I self -consciously rubbed the temporary tattoo that
Kitty had applied that morning and turned around to glare at the asshole.

Dylan’s face had turned a deep
shade of red and I could see the veins popping out in his neck. “Fucking say
something about her one more time and I will beat the shit out of you, Dean.
Trust me when I say you won’t make it to baseball season.”

The guy whose name was apparently
Dean backed up a few steps and held his hands out in front of himself
defensively. “Whoa, settle down, Turner. I was just joking.”

Dylan squeezed his eyes shut and
pinched the bridge of his nose for a minute, before reopening his eyes, looking
just a little bit calmer and he gave me a small smile before I turned around.
There was something about that boy that no one else seemed to see, and I
couldn’t help but wanting to find out what it was.

The stadium hummed to life even
more if that was possible when ‘Sandstorm’ blared through the sound speakers
and I was memorized at how wild the crowd went. White towels were being lassoed
around and everyone was jumping up and down, chanting USC, USC.  I was worried
the stadium might collapse with all of the excitement, but I joined right along
with everyone else, feeling a sense of belonging with this family of football
fans.

The game ended with a loss after
four nail biting quarters, but the crowd didn’t care, they still cheered their
team on like they were winners. Kitty invited me along for dinner with her
family, but I declined after Ben asked if I wanted to grab something to eat. I
felt like I would be intruding on their family time, plus I wanted to spend
some alone time with Ben.

“What are you hungry for, Paige?”
Ben asked after he pulled me through the crowds of people that were still
lingering in the stadium. “I’m up for anything, as long as it’s good. I am starving;
I could eat a whole freakin’ cow right now.”

He let out a quiet laugh as he
quickly led me to a parking lot that was still jam packed, and opened up the
passenger side door for me on a cherry red Mustang that had the top down.

“Good, I finally found a girl
that’s not afraid to admit she’s hungry, it’s a miracle.” His hazel eyes
twinkled as he checked for traffic and we seamlessly made it out of the parking
lot without hitting much traffic. He stopped the car after just a few short
minutes and hopped out to open my door for me again.