Give Me You (5 page)

“T
hink a case of Natty will be enough?” The cheap bell overhead jingles as we enter the Stop-N-Shop right off campus.

“For me,” Landen answers heading to the beer coolers. “But what are the rest of you fuckers going to drink?”

Tension is rolling of him and I wish he’d just lighten up already. One girl blew him off, big damn deal. I lift a case of beer from the cooler and am about to suggest he crack one open right now to take the edge of when he starts chatting up the cashier about nearby liquor store. I’m starting to think this girl stole his dick or something.

We get into his truck and even though I don’t feel like hearing the high school drama, I can’t help but ask.

“Dude, liquor?”

“It’s necessary,” he says, like I’m a dumbass for not getting it.

“Have anything to do with that girl blowing you off at orientation earlier?”

He frowns without looking at me, his eyes still searching for the liquor store. “Something like that,” he says, licking his lips like he can’t wait to be shitfaced.

O’Brien sober is intense. I have a feeling a wasted O’Brien is going to be akin to wrangling a wild animal. Part of me wonders if we should say to hell with it and call it a night early. But then I remember Kelsie and those short fucking skirts and tight tit-revealing tank tops she wears. Surely she’ll bring a friend or two. Landen might need more than one girl to deal with his shit. Threesomes always helped me to take my mind off the pain.

O’Brien is already deep into his bottle of Johnnie Walker by the time we arrive at Blackburn’s. The townhouse is a two-story with a balcony and it’s packed.

I keep making comments about how stoked I am to kick Blackburn and Taite’s asses at beer pong, but really I could give a fuck. I just want to him to relax and find a chick to help him forget the blonde from orientation.

Music fills the townhouse as we make our way inside. A few girls give us interested looks so I smile back. O’Brien doesn’t bother, probably hurting their feelings. Maybe I’m looking at this all wrong, and he’s the perfect wingman. He can piss them off and I can kiss it all better.

The kitchen is at max capacity as we squeeze in and set our case of beer on the counter. O’Brien clutches his bottle like a security blanket. I would get the awkward psycho as a roommate. Naturally. I vow to fix him, because hell, I’m a fixer apparently. I check my phone and send texts to a few other female friends in case Kelsie doesn’t show or disappoints with her friend selection.

“Hey, man. You okay if I take off?”

I glance up to see O’Brien looking like a cornered animal ready to bail. “Aw hell, dude. Kelsie’s roommate is all excited to meet you. What’s the problem, man? You need a hug?” I slip my phone in my pocket and mock his intense ass with open arms. “Come to Papa.”

“Get the hell away from me, dickslice,” O’Brien says, shoving me backward.

I frown, because damn. Dude can pout. “Come on, O’Brien. Don’t be a pussy. So some chick blew you off. There’s probably a dozen or so here who’d probably be happy to blow you off in a way that doesn’t make you all pouty.”

“Fuck you,” he returns, before taking another long pull from his bottle.

“What’s going on, ladies?” Ben Blackburn booms, swiping Landen’s bottle and taking a swig before handing it back.

Christ.
This should end well.

“I’ve killed guys bigger than you for less,” O’Brien tells him. Blackburn laughs like he’s amused, and I picture Landen smashing the bottle over his head.

“Don’t piss him off. He’s already trying to bail,” I say as a few other guys from the team cram into the obscenely overcrowded kitchen.

“Afraid we’ll kick your ass at beer pong?” Blackburn challenges, backing up to lean against the fridge.

“Yeah, shit keeps me up at night.” O’Brien takes another swig from his bottle.

“Let’s get Taite and do this,” I say while stepping in between them. I am going to pay for sex tonight, I think to myself. Only not for me. Never in my life have I met someone more in need of a vagina.

“Taite’s working something right now. Probably best to leave him be. Besides, I can handle you girls all by myself.” I follow Blackburn’s line of sight to where Taite is hitting on some chick. I can’t see her but I can see a short dress and long legs, so yeah, good for him.

“I’ll be on Blackburn’s team,” a younger guy whose name I can’t remember volunteers.

We make our way into the living room, which is thankfully less crowded. I’ve just started setting up cups in a triangular formation when Landen bugs out. I watch in horror as he darts around the table, leaps like goddamn Olympian over a couch, and presses Lucas Taite against the wall with his forearm.

“Jesus, O’Brien. What the fuck?” I hear Taite choke out.

My thoughts exactly.

Making my way over to them, I hear Landen say, “There are a hundred other girls here. Find one.”

Oh hell. I look over, and sure enough, the girl next to Taite is the very same blonde hand grenade that set O’Brien off earlier. Wonderful. Mentally I try to do the math and figure out if I’ll have enough cash on hand to bail him out of jail tonight.

“I’ll have you kicked off the team for this,” Taite threatens, but O’Brien isn’t deterred.

“How about I break your goddamn legs and then neither of us will play?”

“Taite, you good?” Blackburn calls from behind us. A small crowd is forming.

“Yeah,” he says, straightening as O’Brien backs off, allowing Taite and me both to finally fucking breathe.

Taite mutters something to Landen that I don’t catch before my crazy roommate storms out the back door.

“Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for watching our improv hour,” I shout with a bow. “Please enjoy your evening and don’t forget to tip your beautiful waitresses.”

The crowd disperses with the exception of a redhead who has a mouth that stops me dead.

Her lips were made for kissing, and well…some other things I probably shouldn’t say, but most likely will. The slap to the face will be worth it.

She doesn’t look like any of the girls here. She’s sure as hell not from California. Her hair is a deep dark reddish-brown with a hint of almost purple. The lacy dress thing she’s wearing is short enough that I can already imagine getting my hands under it. But it’s the black boots that hit just above her knees that do me in.

That space of flesh between the top of the boots and the hem of her dress has my dick hard already. Kelsie calls out to me from the doorway, but I can’t bring myself to care.

Red is glaring fiercely at O’Brien’s back and before I can blink, she’s going after him. Blondie tries to stop her but fails so I step forward and give it a shot.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” I tell the petite girl with fiery emerald eyes. “He needs time to cool off.”

She turns her laser beam stare on me and I’d flinch if females intimidated me. But they don’t, so I smirk instead.

“Well you’re not me. So mind your own fucking business.”

God help me, that mouth. I want to bite those pretty red lips. Just before I tell her she can put them around my—

“Corin, I’m fine. It’s fine,” Blondie says. I hadn’t even seen her approach.

Corin.
I like it. It’s unique. Suits her.

“No, it sure the hell is not fine.” With that, she walks out the screen door letting it bang shut behind her.

Blondie and I don’t bother with introductions, we just watch Red lose her shit on O’Brien through the screen door.

“So you don’t want her but no one else can have her either? Is that it?”

Damn. Girl does not mess around. And she’s obviously a lot more in the know than I am.

Landen slurs something at her that I can’t make out from where we are. The music is too loud. But I hear Corin loud and clear. Because she’s yelling.

“I’m Layla’s roommate. And I know exactly who the fuck you are. You’re that guy. The one who tossed her aside for some chick in Colorado and then showed up here to ruin her life.”

O’Brien looks like she’s punched him. I’ve never seen dude look so beaten down. Blondie walks past me out the door. The three of them engage in some weird triangular exchange and I’m slightly worried for O’Brien’s safety, but he’ll live. Or I’ll get a new roommate that’s less fucked up. So it’s a win-win.

I turn back to the party while taking a drink of my beer and tip my head back because it’s almost empty. Crazy roommates can drive a man to drink. They should’ve put this shit in the brochure.

Kelsie is less than a foot away and as I swallow, she slides up beside me and wraps an arm around my waist.

“Skylar,” she purrs, moving in closer and pressing her full breasts against my side. “Missed you.”

I nod. This is more like it. If O’Brien won’t blow off steam, I’ll blow off enough for the both of us.

I open my mouth to ask if she wants to find an open room so we can get “reacquainted” but Corin picks that moment to burst through the door and glare at me like I’ve committed a cardinal sin.

Her gaze drops to Kelsie at my side and she contorts her face in some feral female look of disapproval.

“Figures,” she mutters before moving on.

“Whoa,” I call out, disentangling myself from Kelsie and telling her I’ll be right back. “Slow down, Red,” I call out, following Corin out the front door and catching it with one hand just before it slams in my face.

She whirls around on the porch and folds her arms across her chest. “What?”

“What did you mean by ‘figures’?” I make sure to overly mock her with a sassy head tilt and huffy female impression on the last word.

She grins in spite of herself. “I know you. You’re
that
guy.”

“
That
guy? What guy? The guy that’s about to get laid? At a party? In college—as in two consenting adults enjoying each other while they’re young enough to do so?”

Her eyes narrow and, holy fuck, I almost back up.

“Ugh. Get away from me. Go back to your overly spray tanned
consenting adult
.”

I frown. Catty little minx, this one. “No. I want to know why I’m some horrible guy because there is a willing participant who’d like to sleep with me. Clearly it’s not you. So why all the hostility, Red?”

“It’s Corin,” she corrects.

“No,” I say, stepping close enough to lift a strand of her hair and twist it lightly between my fingers. “That, sweetheart, is red.”

She licks her lips and so help me, I want to get on my knees and beg her to tell me what it takes to get her to go home with me.

There’s a flicker, a flash of lust that flares in her eyes and hope explodes inside my chest. Maybe I can somehow work this to where I get to see that clean white skirt on my bedroom floor. I want to hear that pretty mouth moan my name while Red apologizes for being so rude. Damn it to hell, I want to pull her red fucking hair.

“Do you have protection?” she asks suddenly.

Maybe she wants me, too. God bless America. I have to be careful, though, because she’s looking a little cagey.

“I do,” I say, because hell yeah I do. I may be the easy guy, but I’m not the knock you up or give you a venereal disease guy.

“What about birth control?”

“What about it?” Now I’m confused. Isn’t that her end of the deal?

“Is she on it?”

“Who?”
Stop mind-fucking me, Red.

“That girl,” she begins, pointing toward the house. “The consenting adult in there.”

I shrug. “Hell if I know.”

“And you were going to sleep with her. What if the condom broke? They’re not one hundred percent effective, you know.”

Annndd suddenly this is a public service announcement. No thank you.

“I truly appreciate your concern.” I shake my head because
fuck this
. “But you’re right, I should get back to my consenting adult. Why I’m out here with a pain in the ass one is beyond me.”

Shaking my head at my own stupidity for following an obvious nutjob outside when I could’ve already been rounding third with Kelsie, I turn to go back inside. Strangely enough, I can’t seem to remember exactly what Kelsie looks like or what she was wearing.

Just as I step into the doorway, Blondie storms out past me and there’s something in her expression that I recognize.

Guilt. Whatever happened, she feels guilty.

I open my mouth to say something but I have no idea what to say. Red shoots me a glaring look, a nonverbal warning to keep my mouth shut. I watch her put her arm around the other girl and lead her gently away in the direction of the dorms.

Maybe O’Brien’s particular brand of crazy is rubbing off on me, because not only am I pretty sure I’m going to see Red again, I think I actually want to.

No, I know…I really,
really
want to.