The second home football game was even better than the first one. I was prepared for the crazy school spirit. Calvin was there for the weekend, so I was excited that I got to introduce him to the experience. Also I got to see Alfred and Norma again. It was like I had known them forever. Seriously they were so much fun. They invited us to road trip with them to the away game the following weekend. They said every college kid needs to experience at least one road trip, and by going with them, I wouldn’t even want or need to hide it from my brothers or my dad. As a matter of fact since Calvin was there, he said he would make the drive to meet up with us. Seriously, the weekend couldn’t have gone any better; having Calvin there, letting him see that I am experiencing new things but not going crazy, will hopefully be something he’ll share with Dad and Kyler. The dorm rules said he couldn’t stay in my room, but we were sneaky and thankfully we didn’t get caught. We spent the majority of the weekend with Sierra and Steve; it appears that Curtis may have found himself a girlfriend or is trying to anyway.

Sunday morning Calvin and I spent some much needed alone time together. He took me off campus for breakfast and in that one meal I felt our relationship shift. He wasn’t looking at me like I was a little sister he needed to protect. He saw that just because I was away from home and out of their direct reach I was still doing well. For the first time in my life I felt like I was grown up and with that, I could feel his trust in me. That feeling gave me the boost I needed to tell him I wanted to try driving. Anytime I had ever expressed the desire before, I was quickly shot down. This time I was beyond thrilled when he offered to teach me and let me drive his truck.

I didn’t waste any time, I took full advantage of his offer. I wasn’t going to be picky about what I was driving, but secretly I was ecstatic that he was letting me drive his truck. I realized if I wrecked his truck he could just get a new one, it’s not like he hadn’t wrecked a truck or two while he was still in high school. Regardless of that fact, it was a big deal that I didn’t take lightly. I drove all over the place, I went downtown, I got on the freeway, I went into busy parking lots; I felt a little bit like Forrest Gump when he ran and ran and ran. Only I drove and drove and drove. The whole time we talked and talked and talked. We stopped for a late lunch before he took me back to the dorm then left to head home. Our good bye was so much easier this time; we had bonded on a completely different level. A major bonus, he told me he’d see what he could do about getting dad on board for operation let Hannah drive.

Hannah is the one. No ifs ands or buts about it, she is the one I will spend the rest of my life with. She is everything I have ever wanted in my life. I’ve heard that when you know, you know. I know. I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, I mean I knew with every female I have ever met before that they weren’t the one. Curtis calls me picky. If I’m picky, fine by me because I know that when the one comes along, I will be able to offer her all of me.

So many things have been racing through my mind since she has become a part of my life. I don’t sleep like I used to; I forget to eat; my focus is crap; and if it weren’t for her, my grades would be suffering.

I have spent the last four years of my life knowing that life is precious, in one minute your whole world can change. Knowing that I could lose everyone I love in the blink of an eye, makes you take inventory of what is important. Sometimes that means cutting ties with those who will bring you down and other times it means cinching the ties to those you don’t want to let go.

It took me less than 10 seconds after Hannah walked into the dorm room with her family for me to know she was the one. My world stopped as soon as I saw her, even her dad’s bark of her not living there didn’t bring me out of the haze I experienced. Most guys worry about impressing their girl’s dad and truthfully, I had thought about that each time I went in for new ink. Ultimately I knew myself well enough to know that when the one came into my life, I would be treating her like she was the most precious thing in the world and that was something every father wants for their girl, right? My treatment of her would overshadow all the tattoos I have.

I was thankful for the opportunity to show her dad and brothers that Curtis and I were there protecting Sierra, in the same way they protect Hannah. It was with that common thread that Calvin and I instantly connected, it probably didn’t hurt that Curtis and I were willing to help carry in boxes from his truck.

Before her dad invited us to dinner, I had already given him and Calvin my cell number. I knew that if I wasn’t there to protect Sierra, I would want someone else I could keep in touch with that would be honest with me about what she was doing.

I send her family a daily text message, her mom every other day and alternating days to the guys to let them know how things are going. I knew how much Calvin missed Hannah so I wasn’t surprised when he told me he was going to come up for the weekend. I let him know he was welcome to stay with Curtis and me at the fraternity, but he was willing to risk it by staying with the girls in their dorm.

We had so much fun throughout the weekend. It solidified the fact that Hannah was the one. Saturday night while the girls were getting ready for bed, I asked Calvin if he and I could meet up without the girls before he headed home. When I told him I didn’t want Hannah to know, I could see the light go on in his head. Instantly, his demeanor changed. I was okay with that, it was his protective mode kicking in. As I said good night to the three of them before heading back to the fraternity, Calvin told me he was taking Hannah out for the day tomorrow starting with breakfast.

I hadn’t anticipated waiting all day Sunday to hear from him. I let Curtis know he was on Sierra duty because I was going to see Calvin before he took off. I got caught up on homework while I waited. At 4:45, Calvin finally sent a text saying he had just dropped Hannah off at the dorm and that he was on his way to pick me up. He knew why I wanted to see him without his sister around and I knew there was a good probability that he was going to be pissed at me. I met him outside, no need to piss him off anymore by having to wait for me. I knew that I could reassure him of my intentions if he would only listen to me. And I wasn’t above begging if necessary.

When he pulled up I jumped in his truck. We’d agreed to head to the diner not far from campus, on the drive he had a few choice things to say. “I like you a lot. But I don’t give a fuck what you have to say, she is my sister and she will always be more important to me than you.” Fair enough because I knew I would probably say the same thing and more to anyone who wanted to be with my sister.

I knew I had nothing to lose, Hannah is the one and I would do anything to prove myself to her family. Right now Calvin was the first hurdle. “I know you put two and two together last night, I am not going to blow sunshine up your ass when it comes to your sister. I have nothing to hide, but there are things you don’t know about me. I know your natural instincts, if you don’t hear me out completely; you are going to want to kick my ass. That being said let's head inside and order before I tell you my life story.”

As soon as the waitress dropped off our drinks and walked away with our order I took a deep breath and began laying my life out for him. “I don’t know if Hannah told you that my parents passed away when Curtis and I were 16; Sierra was only 14.” He nodded which honestly gave me mixed feelings and left me wondering what all she shared with him about me. The reality is, at this point, whatever she had shared with him couldn’t possibly be as bad as the whole truth I am getting ready to tell him. But there wasn’t anything I could do to change my story and if I had any hope of him accepting me as part of his sister's future he had to know it all.

Knowing that Hannah was the one, I took a deep breath and for the first time I told what I considered “My Story.”

I was thankful he was following my request to hear me out completely. Throughout the course of telling him everything, the look he gave me changed from the expected sympathetic, to hurt, and ultimately ended on understanding.

“I don’t know why you protect Hannah, but you now know why Curtis and I protect Sierra. I doubt there will ever come a time when she isn’t one of our top priorities and there is nothing I won’t do to protect her.”

I didn’t need any words from him, his reasons for protecting Hannah weren’t important to me, but I needed to finish telling him what I wanted him to know. So I looked him square in the eyes and said what I need to, “I love your sister. I am telling you now that I will give up my life to protect her. I will work my ass off to provide for her. I will honor her until the day I die. I have to live with the regret of what I did and didn’t do back then for the rest of my life. The only positive thing that has come from it is that I knew immediately that I would not give myself to anyone other than the person I spend the rest of my life with. I wouldn’t allow the distraction in my life.” I knew he understood what I was saying, without me having to come out and specifically tell him I was a virgin. “I want to give myself, my heart, my body and my soul to your sister. She already has my heart and my soul. I want nothing more than to give her my body. I give you my word that I will not give her my body nor will I take her body until we are married. You can call me a pussy if you want, I will proudly wear that honor knowing that she is the only person I will know in that way. I know you are not the person I need to be asking permission from, but I want you to know that I respect you enough to include you in the decision.”

I know I gave him a lot to think about. I certainly wasn’t expecting him to give me his blessing right then and there, even though I secretly hoped he would. What he did give me was even better than that, “I want you to know that while I was with Hannah today, I could see the change in her. I have feared for years that she would go away to school and rebel against all the things we have spent years protecting her from. In one weekend I have seen that isn’t what she is doing, she has accepted the protection and that, I believe, has to do with you. I have always hoped she would follow in my parents’ footsteps and I can see now she is.” He could see the confusion on my face and simply suggested, “ask her to tell you my parents story…. and ask her soon.”

With that he stood up and tossed a few bills on the table before telling me he needed to get on the road. He dropped me off at the fraternity house and told me he’d see me next weekend at the football game.