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  “And this here is Dylan. Don’t fall for any of his lines, he is the biggest player here so don’t waste your time. But he’s Christopher’s best friend, so I have to deal with him.” Her tone had turned icy for the first time since I had met her which seemed to only amuse Dylan.

  His chocolate brown eyes were glittering with laughter and I caught sight of one indented dimple on his cheek. Where Jake had always been good looking, Dylan would easily outdo him in a heartbeat. Everything about him seemed perfect, from his messy brown hair, to his nose that seemed just a little bit crooked, but fit his face well. He had a tan arm thrown over the back of the seat and I could see the corded muscles, I’m sure the rest of his body matched perfectly.

  “So nice to meet you, Paige,” Dylan replied, ignoring the glare that he was receiving from Kitty for even talking to me. I felt my cheeks flame from the way he was looking at me, like he was trying to eat me alive with his eyes.

  “Um, you too.”

  “So Kitty, where we headed?” Christopher asked, interrupting the awkward stare down I was getting from Dylan. I saw his brown eyes flicking back and forth to me in the rearview mirror, so I pulled out my phone, willing it to ring to offer a distraction. His looks were making me nervous and doing weird things to my stomach.

  “Let’s head over to the Columbiana Centre, there’s a ton of outdoor shops over that way. I’ll treat you two to lunch while Paige and I hit up some stores.”

  I drowned out the conversation while the two guys argued over where they wanted to go to eat and Kitty tapped away on her phone. My phone rang and the screen showed that it was Dad.

  “Hey Paigey girl, how’s things going?”

  “Good, I think,” I answered back. “We’re going shopping right now.” Dad’s booming laugh came over the speaker and I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “It’s not that funny. Did you make it home alright?”

  “Sorry Paige,” he said in between gasps, “I just know how you are when it comes to shopping. Apparently, that roommate of yours is already rubbing off on you. But anyway, I’m still about an hour away. I just needed to call and warn you about next week, I almost forgot. I know it’s the first home game and I just wanted to let you know that the Gamecocks are like the Red Sox of football. Their fans get a little crazy, but I know you’ll have fun. Just be careful.”

  “Ok, thanks for the warning. Text me when you make it home. I love you.”

  “Love you too, Paige.”

  I ended the call and looked up to find Dylan’s eyes on mine again. “Was that your boyfriend back home?”

  “Nope,” I answered back with a pop. “Just my dad.”

  “Oh, so what was he warning you about? Probably guys like us, right?”

  “Actually, no. He was comparing the football fans around here to Red Sox fans. He has a baseball analogy for everything, he’s into every sport, but he eats and breathes baseball.”

  Christopher and Dylan both let out a snort and Kitty rolled her eyes. “Those two are both on the baseball team and they basically do the same thing your dad does. That’s normally all they talk about; I’m surprised you’re the one to bring it up.”

  “Oh, well yeah. My parents actually met at a baseball game and got married like two months later. When my dad found out my mom was pregnant with me, he handed her a list of the greatest baseball players and told her to pick one. Luckily, she didn’t pick out Babe or Ruth like my dad wanted and just went with…”

  “The great Satchel Paige,” Dylan interrupted as Christopher pulled the truck to a stop in front of one of the biggest shopping areas I had ever seen, by the gleam in Kitty’s eye, I could tell she was already in shopping mode. “Ok boys, we’ll meet back up with you in a few hours, here’s some cash.” She shoved a wad of money at Christopher and pulled on my arm. “Let’s go Paige, we have some shopping to do.”

  Chapter 3

  Dylan

  “Ok dude, you hungry yet or you need to hit up a few stores?” Chris climbed out of the truck and slammed his door, pulling me out of the daze that Kitty’s roommate had me in. Wow, that girl was fucking gorgeous and I’m pretty sure she didn’t even know it. She wasn’t like the typical girls Kitty hung out with, but I guess since they were roommates they were kind of stuck together.

  Not that Kitty would ever hang out with someone based on their looks, she just tended to migrate towards all of the other perky blondes. But Kitty didn’t have a mean bone in that tight body of hers, except when it came to me. I think it had to do with the fact that I pretty much had every girl around campus besides her and it made her angry.

  I had dodged her flirting for the first two years since Chris and I had become roommates, I knew all three of her brothers would gang up and beat the shit out of me if I even looked at her funny. Now apparently, she was turning the flirting into anger. Not that I noticed much in the car ride over here. I was more focused on Paige.

  Truthfully, she wasn’t the type of girl I normally went for. Her sandy brown hair looked like it had a soft natural curl to it and hung to the middle of her back. Her wide blue eyes made her look so innocent and I’m pretty sure she was. I would have no problem helping her with that. I couldn’t help myself but to check out that body when she got in the truck. She was probably only a little over five feet tall, but had curves in all the right places. Damn, that ass.

  And those cheekbones of hers were like nothing I had ever seen before. Cut high and prominent on her angelic looking face. What the fuck is that all about, Turner? I shook my head to clear all of the girly thoughts and jogged to catch up with Chris, who was already heading towards a restaurant on the corner. Food it was, I guess.

  We were instantly seated since most of the lunch crowd had already come and gone. The waitress took our drink and appetizer orders, lingering at the table for longer than necessary to bat her eyelashes between the two of us.

  “Anytime you could get those drinks for us, beautiful, that would be good. We sure are thirsty.” I licked my lips to emphasize my point and she giggled as she turned on her heel and Chris rolled his eyes at me.

  “What dude? The ladies can’t resist my charm, it’s not my fault.”

  “Sure, Dylan. Why don’t you just try laying off the lame one liners every once in a while?” We were interrupted once again by the eager waitress who set our drinks down along with a bowl of chips, while ‘accidently’ brushing into my arm. I knew, without a doubt, that her number would be plastered at the bottom of our bill when we were finished eating.

  “Don’t be jealous, just because you’re tied down, doesn’t mean I have to be too. I’m not a one woman kind of man, you know that.” Chris snorted in between chips. “Yes, unfortunately I do. Did you really need to screw around with one of Claire’s best friends? I’ve had to listen to her bitch and moan for the past two weeks about how you kicked Rachel out as soon as you were finished having sex. She seems to have forgotten that I warned Rachel about you, but nope, now I’m the bad guy. Would it have seriously killed you to at least let her stay the night?”

  “Yes, actually it would have. Let the girl stay the night, and then they want to cuddle and talk about their feelings. Then they expect you to make them breakfast and all that shit in the morning. And then there’s the awkward stage when you just want them to leave and they want to hang out with you all day. Not my thing, you know that. Besides, it would definitely be awkward if one of my regulars showed up, don’t you think?”

  Chris leaned back on his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, like he was in deep thought over this. Sometimes I wondered how we ended up being best friends, he was so uptight about things and I just liked to live life to the fullest.

  When your crack whore of a mom abandons you at the hospital, just hours after being born, and then were ping ponged back and forth through the foster care system because no one wanted a crack baby, you sort of have to live that way. And yeah, I’m not afraid to admit it; I definitely have some trust issues. Other than the Chapmans, I’ve
really never had anyone in my life that I could trust and depend on.

  When I ended up with Chris as a roommate almost three years ago, it was like fate or something. I had an instant family built in that welcomed me with open arms. His parents, Tim and Susanne, were so warm and accepting, I just kept waiting for them to say something nasty to me. I wasn’t used to it at all.

  And then all of his siblings, Bryce, Jared, and Kitty. Sure, they fought from time to time, the normal sibling rivalries intact, but you could tell how much they loved each other and were always there whenever needed.

  Just like today. Tim had basically demanded that Chris make sure Kitty found her way around campus all right. Not that Chris really needed any instructions for that, all three brothers had a soft spot for Kitty and I could see why, when she was actually nice to me.

  “Please remind me how you actually have girls that regularly just come over for sex with you again? I just don’t get it; don’t they ever want more? It seems a little degrading.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and answered him back in between bites of my burger. “Dunno, what can I say, the ladies just keep coming back for more. It’s all my mad skills, word gets around campus and they all come flocking. Sara and Mia knew that was all I was offering and they agreed; no strings attached.”

  “Whatever, dude. I just can’t wait till you finally meet someone that will settle your ass down. Hopefully, you don’t get someone pregnant before then.”

  We finished our late lunch and sure enough, I ended up with the waitress’ number, I tucked it into my pocket on the way out, throwing a wink her way. Maybe I would put it to use later. I was instantly assaulted by the thick heat that I still wasn’t used to.

  Growing up in the Midwest and having to deal with the oddball weather up there, never prepared for me for South Carolina weather. As soon as I turned 18 and was out of the system, I knew where I was headed. Even having to switch schools every couple of years when I was shuffled around, I still managed to keep my grades high at the top of the class and joined the baseball team at each school. My hard work paid off and I got a full ride to the university on a baseball scholarship.

  I followed Chris around to a few stores while he picked up some things before the new school year started. I rolled my eyes every time he pulled out the credit card I knew his parents footed the bill for.

  Tim and Susanne were very well off and although their kids never acted spoiled, they still had just about everything they wanted. I was more used to working for my money and I kept pretty busy juggling a job during baseball season along with school.

  “C’mon, Kitty says they’re ready to go,” Chris pulled out his keys and I followed him to the parking lot, running straight into his back when he abruptly stopped and turned around, staring at me with narrowed eyes.

  “And don’t even think about trying anything with Kitty’s roommate. I know she’s not really your type, but she’s a beautiful girl. And I know you. So please, just don’t.” He clasped his hands together like he was actually praying that I wouldn’t do anything. Did this guy seriously think I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants? Well…..I snickered aloud, the thoughts that I already had of Paige running through my head, conjuring up again.

  “I mean it,” he bit out. “Kitty already hates you as it is, for whatever reason. Wait,” he put a hand on my chest and I bit down the grin that was fighting to come to surface. Yeah I might be afraid of all three Chapman brothers put together, but I was well over six feet tall and had a much more athletically built body than Chris. And he knew it. “You didn’t mess around with Kitty behind my back did you? Because if you did, I will…”

  “No dude,” I interrupted, brushing past him with my shoulder. “You don’t have a thing to worry about. I might be an asshole, but I’m not that big of an asshole.” I wouldn’t do anything to damage the relationship with the one true family I had ever had and I was kind of offended that he would even think that. The Chapmans were the perfect substitute family and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, to leave Paige alone would be the real challenge.

  Chapter 4

  Paige

  “I didn’t know shopping could be this much…..fun.” Kitty grinned as I followed behind her with my arms loaded down with bags. I figured I would get bored after awhile as she flitted from store to store, but it never happened. And she didn’t try to push her style off on me, a few suggestions here and there, and I practically had a whole new wardrobe.

  We hit up a home goods store too and I was able to pick up a black and white flowered comforter, along with towels and a few other accessories to make my side of the room more me. After our shopping was complete, we stopped off at a salon to get our hair and nails done. When all was said and done, I felt like more like a girl than I ever had before in my life. It was actually kind of nice.

  “There you two are,” Dylan called out, leaning against the truck with one foot propped up behind him and his arms crossed over his chest. Yup, my assumptions were correct. That body of his was one that belonged in magazines. His dark gray shirt was pulled tight across his chest and I’m pretty sure I could count his abs. And he easily towered over me, even more so than Jake did.

  “Here let me get those for you.” He reached out to grab my bags and I pulled them back closer to my body. His brown eyes lit up with amusement and he took a step back. “I can carry my own bags, thank you very much.”

  He held his hands out in front of himself in surrender and I felt like punching that cocky smirk right off of his face. “Alright, Sparky. Simmer down.” He hopped in the truck and slammed the door behind him, leaving me feeling a little guilty.

  He was just trying to be polite. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that I wasn’t use to any guys offering. Whenever I was around Jake and his friends, I was treated just like one of the guys.

  He was probably just trying to be nice so he could get in my pants though. Kitty had filled me in on some of his conquests while we were doing our shopping and he sounded like the kind of guy to avoid like the plague.

  I followed Kitty into the backseat after we had our bags safely tucked away and Dylan turned around as soon as I slammed the door. “You look gorgeous, by the way,” he picked up a strand of my hair and twirled a curl loosely around his finger.

  “Uh huh, how many girls have you told that to?” I questioned back flatly. Yup, definitely trying to get in my pants. “Oh and by the way, what’s with the whole Sparky thing? Should I be offended that you nicknamed me after a dog?”

  The truck cab filled with his booming laughter and I couldn’t help but smile. Kitty didn’t look pleased at all and it made me wonder if there was something going on between her and Dylan. They seemed to have a little bit of a love/ hate relationship.

  “Uh, no,” he answered back. “Far from it. Actually it’s after Sparky Anderson, you seem like you have a little bit of feistiness in you.”

  “If you say so.”

  “So Dylan,” Christopher gave him a sideways glance, looking back at me. “You gonna give that chick from the restaurant a call? She could barely keep her hands off of you during lunch.”

  Dylan answered back with a grunt and the rest of the ride back to the dorms was eerily quiet, I kept waiting for Dylan to hit on me again, but it never came. Which was probably for the best, Dylan Turner seemed like bad news, I mean apparently, he had just gotten some other girl’s number and then he was flirting with me. My new thing for school might be why not, instead of why, so I could have more experiences in life, but I had a feeling if I kept that motto when it came to him, I would be in trouble.

  *****************************

  Over the next few days Kitty and I got to know each other even more, I was surprised how well we actually got along. We also met our last suitemate, Kylie, who basically looked like Kitty’s clone with her tan skin and blonde hair, the only difference was hers was more of a platinum blonde and fell into loose curly ringlets. I figured her and Kitty would hit it off right aw
ay, but they seemed to clash. They were constantly fighting over bathroom times and somehow Kitty’s clothes kept disappearing from her closet.

  Kitty and I attended orientation together and I knew I had made the right decision in coming here, after exploring the campus even more. Florida might be the Sunshine State, but they definitely got it right when calling South Carolina the state with Smiling Faces and Beautiful Places. People all over campus emulated southern hospitality and I hadn’t met a person I didn’t like yet.

  I was a little awestruck and my feet hurt by the time orientation was over. The campus was huge, but breathtaking. Gorgeous trees lined the walkways and I could already imagine myself studying in the grassy areas or by the bubbling fountains that were placed all around campus.

  I hit my alarm button as soon as it went off. I had already been awake for at least a half an hour, with butterflies in my stomach. It was the first day of classes and I was beyond nervous. I peeked an eye over at Kitty, whose eyes were still covered by the pink sleep mask she wore to bed every night. We had compared our schedules and I knew almost every one of her classes was in the afternoon. She definitely liked to get her beauty sleep.

  After a quick shower, I dried my hair and let it fall down in loose curls down my back. I had picked out my clothes the night before, with help from Kitty; it felt strange to get this nervous over what to wear to school. Normally a jeans and t-shirt were the typical uniform, but I wanted to start things off different.

  I slid on the pair of white shorts that helped to deepen the faint tan that my skin would only allow. No matter how much time I spent out in the sun, I would never be able to achieve the sun kissed skin like Kitty. I paired it with a black tank top that had a racer back with a see through lace material and black wedge sandals. There, new and improved Paige Brinton.