Heading out of the house, I plugged my earbuds in and set off for my early morning run. It was a pattern I had fallen in to since attending as a football student. I shook my head. No. Not a football student. I was THE football student.

On game day, all eyes were on me and my ability to lead our team to victory.

Around college, I looked like the easy-going, cocky prick. That’s what I let everyone see and think of me, but inside… inside was a different story completely. I felt the pressure from the whole campus and I carried every single team member’s hopes and dreams on my shoulders. It was a heavy burden to wear but I was the only one that could do it. Getting my head into a routine was the best way I knew how to handle it. Keeping my grades up to a B average, keeping my fitness routine to an above average level and hanging out with the boys was the only way I knew how to operate.

That and receiving more than my fair share of female attention.

It’s not like I was a player or anything. It was just normal to be the one that the ladies would flock to. It didn’t matter anyway. It wasn’t like anyone met the love of their life in college. Right?

Jogging down the street, I could have sighed in bliss. It was my favorite part of the day: no people, no passing cars and no flirtatious looks—just me and the cold air.

After doing a quick circuit of the campus and after my second turn around the football field, I began making my way back home. Jogging up the street, I slowed my pace. Looking ahead, I could see my neighbour, Joy, out in her garden, no doubt checking on her flowers.

For as long as I had lived there, she had been fascinated by her garden. From my very first day of college, she had taken me in as a part of her family. She was almost like a grandmother to me these days. Her kindness had even reached over into our house and all the boys had come to think fondly of her.

“Good morning, beautiful.” I stopped outside her garden wall, leaning my arms on top. As she turned to look at me, I gave her a cheeky wink.

She smiled warmly at me, making her way closer. “How are we doing, kid?” she asked, leaning her weight against the wall from her side.

“Nothing much.” I shrugged my shoulders dismissively, acting my cocky, confident self. “Just been for a run so, going to go and get ready for class.”

“You found yourself a girl yet, Johnny?” She cocked her eyebrow at me.

I rolled my eyes, laughing at the fake stern expression on her face. “Why settle for one when you can have several?” I grinned cheekily at her, knowing how much she would hate my reply.

“That brother of yours arrived yet?” Her eyes flickered over to look at my house. “I hope you’re looking after him.”

I nodded, secretly loving that she was already worrying about him. “Yeah, Sammy’s already on the team as well.” I frowned when I saw one of her upstairs lights turn on.

“You got company?” I tried not to act like an ass, but I knew I sounded like I was pissed off. I tried not to be, but if she had a man in there, he and I needed a chat. Like I said, she was like a grandmother to me and no way was he getting comfortable in that house without me checking out if he was genuine enough for Joy.

She rolled her eyes at me, smirking. “It’s my new house guest.” She couldn’t hide the smile on her face, even if she was trying to. “She’s started college and needed a place to stay.”

I relaxed my shoulders, rolling the tension out. “Well, that’s okay then, I guess.”

“I’m glad I have your permission.” She laughed, shaking her head at me.

“I hope she’s helping you out with the house.” I nodded my head at the house. I knew I was being nosey, but I didn’t want a lazy sponger abusing Joy’s good nature.

She chuckled, turning away from me. “See you later, Johnny.”

“I’ll bring Sammy over to meet you,” I called after her.

She waved her hand at me, making her way inside the house.

I sighed, hating that she might feel like I’d overstepped the line. I’d make it up to her later by taking Sammy over to see her.

Heading inside the house, I took a quick shower and later made my way down to the kitchen. I rolled my eyes at how empty it was. The boys still had their asses lying in bed. Classes started in just over an hour and they were still snoring the day away.

I quickly poured myself a bowl of cereal, scoffing it down with a glass of orange juice.

My attention was quickly diverted when I saw Sammy stumble through the doorway dressed in only his yankee shorts. I laughed at how hungover he looked. Logan followed behind him, looking a lot better.

Sammy was my younger brother and had just started his first year of college. He had already attended three rounds of try-outs and would be starting his college football career as a reserve. He was gutted with that position. He had his heart set on being on the starting team. Sammy just hadn’t learned the lesson that nothing in life came easy. If he wanted it as badly as I knew he did, the coach would see that. He just had to wait for the opportunity to prove it.

“Too much booze last night, Sammy?” I mocked, grinning cheekily at him.

“Whatever.” He chuckled, taking the dig respectfully.

I laughed, leaving them in the kitchen, grabbing my bag from the lounge.

Hours later, I was finally exiting Marketing 101 and decided to make my way to the cafeteria to hang out with the boys. My eyes landed on Logan sitting at a table all on his lonesome.

Ever since Sammy and Logan had been little, they went everywhere together. Wherever you found one, the other was never far behind.

Logan was Sammy’s best friend, although he was a year older than him. I guess you could’ve said Logan was a bit of a rebel. He was usually found hanging with the skater crowd. Although, due to his bad boy reputation and the fact that his arms were completely covered in ink, you’d assume he was from the wrong side of the tracks. He was; but Logan was also a family man. Family meant everything to him

I quickly made my way over to him, and, before I knew it, we were joined by some of our friends.

After a while, I zoned out of the conversation and began peeling the crusts off my sandwich. I could never stand to eat them. My attention was quickly diverted when Logan suddenly pulled a young girl down into his lap.

Logan had always been a ‘love them and leave them' kind of guy.

My eyes quickly landed on her, and I couldn’t look away.

She was beautiful.

She wasn’t my normal type of girl, but there was something else about her. This wasn’t a girl you could just love and leave. She had that spark in her eyes that would keep you going back for more.

As I watched Logan talk to her, I noticed how obviously comfortable she was in his arms. There was no awkwardness or hesitation. It was like they had been doing this for weeks.

I shook my head at the path my thoughts were taking but froze when I saw where his hands were. One was wrapped around her back, supporting her and the other was resting on her leg, just above her knee. My fists tensed in response and I couldn’t deny the unmistakable coil of jealousy that fizzled through my veins.

Thankfully, before I made a complete ass of myself, she slowly peeled herself from Logan’s arms and began making her way across to the table she was obviously originally aiming for.

“As you can see,” he chuckled, when she was out of earshot, “all the ladies want me.” He grinned mockingly, making most of the table erupt in laughter.

“So, who’s that?” I nodded my head toward her, needing to know her story and more importantly, why the hell hadn’t I ever seen her around campus before.

“Dude, that’s Tillie.” He threw a chip in his mouth before continuing. “She just moved here. She’s a freshman art student.”

I frowned in confusion, causing him to roll his eyes mockingly, almost implying there was something wrong with art students.

“Anyway,” he continued, “she's living across the street from us. She moved in with Joy and...” He shrugged his shoulders dismissively. “That's all I know really.”

Huh. I wanted to laugh at myself. This morning I was getting all bent out of shape at the thought that Joy might have had a man in her home and the whole time it was the little five feet of Tillie. Joy must have had a good laugh at me.

I nodded, taking Logan’s words in. I looked back to get another glimpse of her and noticed she was sitting with a few of her friends. I couldn’t deny that she was gorgeous. She had long, light brown hair that came to the middle of her back. She had a slim figure and the cutest smile on her face. Whilst I watched her laugh at whatever her friends were saying, her nose would crinkle up as though she was going to sneeze. It was kind of cute. I’m man enough to admit my eyes had wandered down to her chest more than once.

Fuck. She was perfect.

She turned around, her beautiful, Bambi eyes meeting mine. Fuck, she was beautiful. I gave her a wink before turning around.

I shook my head, bringing my attention back to the table I was sitting at. Before I could join any conversation, my attention was diverted once again when Chunk walked in.

Chunk and I had clicked from day one. We were both football addicts and we had slowly become inseparable since college started. We met at try-outs and began pushing each other at training sessions until we were moved from our reserve positions to full positions. He quickly became the team’s fullback and I swiftly moved into the line-backer position. My arm had greatly improved since leaving high school. In our second year, Chunk had pushed himself to his limits and had become the captain of the team. The college had never had such a young Captain before, but the team certainly didn’t suffer for it. The coach was impressed with how high the team morale was and that was all down to Chunk. If there were any issues within the team, he made sure he was aware of them. He made it his mission to make sure we were all on the same page.

He raised his hand, waving me toward him.

I frowned in confusion, clapping Logan on his shoulder. “See you later, man.” I quickly met Chunk by the doorway.

“We have a problem,” he said seriously.

It worried me when Chunk got all serious. He had always been the funny guy, and him and seriousness really didn’t go well together.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue.

“It’s Sammy.” He looked tense.

I pushed past him, making my way outside. I had only gotten a few steps when I heard voices yelling and chanting one singular word: fight. There was a ring of students all yelling, and I could see three boys in the centre. Two against one. Fucking pathetic.

I jogged down the steps, pushing my way through the crowd. Some moved. Some didn’t. It didn’t matter. I quickly made it to the centre of the ring just in time for one of the cowards to grab Sammy while the other punched him straight in the jaw. Fucking idiots.

I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed the back of the jackass’ jacket, who obviously loved punching my little brother in the face, and threw him backwards so that he landed behind me. The other one quickly let Sammy go, raised his hands and backed away from him.

“Right, people!” Chunk yelled behind me. “Show’s over. Fuck off elsewhere.”

I took Sammy’s chin in my hand, gently turning his face up to me and winced at the sight that greeted me. He had a cut on his bottom lip and his eye would be swollen tomorrow. “What happened?” I frowned, hating seeing these marks on him.

He yanked his face away from my grasp, kicking the ground with his sneaker. “Fucking losers started it!” he snapped, nodding his head toward the boys as they walked away from us.

“Because…?” I cocked my eyebrow at him, waiting for whatever he was going to say.

His eyes slowly moved from mine until he was staring at the floor. His short brown hair slowly fell forward across his forehead. He shook his head, mumbling something under his breath. He whispered it so quietly that I couldn’t make out what it was.

“What was that?” I ducked my head closer to his, needing to know what the problem was. I couldn’t help him if I didn’t know what the fuck was going on.

“It’s nothing.” He straightened his posture, looking back at me. “It’s nothing.”

I stared at him a few moments before nodding my head. I’d let it go for now. We’d definitely be having a chat later.

“How about some one-on-one before practice starts?”

He grinned, nodding his head exaggeratedly fast.

I chuckled at the change of expression on his face. Sammy loved football. I think he could throw a ball before he could even walk or run.

* * *

The days passed slowly.

I found classes were harder this year and more intense as a junior. The professors were building the pressure. Thankfully, we didn’t have to worry about any seasonal games at that point. The sports calendar didn’t start until the end of October, so the team would be using the time to get our new members up to the level we expected them to be and preparing ourselves for the first game of the season.

Walking into the house after a long day of Finance and Economics, I wanted nothing more than to just collapse face down on my bed. I groaned when I got inside and saw Chunk directing a few freshmen students where to set the kegs up in the kitchen. There’d obviously be no early night of chilling for me. Later tonight, this house would be party central.

Hours later, it was exactly that. Drinks were being passed around, couples were hooking up and I think some guy was already receiving a hand job in the corner of the kitchen. I laughed, tossing back another beer.

Chunk already had three ladies all over him and Sammy was currently being helped into a handstand over the keg and had a nozzle directed into his mouth. I laughed when I imagined how he would be feeling in the morning. I looked around the room, taking stock of who was there when my eyes landed on Logan. That boy was a party animal. He had his back to the room and no doubt had a girl already pressed against the wall. Whoever she was would have trouble with him. He was like flavour of the month around here.

Walking past the main door to the house, I planned to make my way upstairs to make sure my room was locked. No way was I going to have a couple fucking on my bed. That shit is disgusting. I stopped when I heard a hard bang on the door.

I frowned, confused.

Who the fuck knocks on the door at a party? The idiots can just walk on in.

I shook my head, grasping the door handle and swinging it open. The frown quickly left my face when I saw who it was.

Tillie.

She stood there in a pair of leggings, white tank top with some paint stains on and a small brown cardigan. She obviously wasn’t dressed for a party but there she was.

My eyes quickly moved past her tits until they met her eyes. She had the sexiest, pissed off expression on her face.

I took a quick swig of my beer, not bothering to hide the fact that I was obviously checking her out. “You coming in?” I asked, nodding my head behind me.

She looked disgusted by my question, but it still didn’t stop my eyes from once more wandering down to her chest. She quickly crossed her arms, blocking my view.

“No!” she snapped, fidgeting on the spot. “I want you to turn the music down.”

Seriously? She was here to complain. She’d barely been here five fucking seconds and here she was trying to tell me what to do.

“Look,” she said, pointing across the street to Joy’s house. All the lights were on and I could see Joy looking through her curtains. “She'd never come over here and complain but she shouldn’t have to put up with this.” She gestured to the doorway.

“Okay.” I nodded my head, indicating that I understood. “I’ll turn it down.”

“Thank you.”

She went to turn away but froze when I continued.

“As long as you’ll come in and have a drink.” I smirked at her, knowing I would win this battle. It was obvious she cared for Joy and I knew she'd do this.

She cocked her eyebrow at me, not looking impressed by my response. I guess parties really weren’t her thing.

“Excuse me?”

Now she looked even more pissed off.

“Just one drink,” I said, holding my left index finger up. If this was the only way I could get her to myself for a few minutes, I’d happily do it.

She narrowed her eyes at me in response before her expression suddenly cleared. “Fine.” She stomped her way past me and headed straight for the kitchen. She wasted no time in grabbing the nozzle that Sammy had been sucking on earlier and filled her cup up. She turned to face me and gave me a bright smile.

I frowned, confused by her expression. It may have looked like a bright and happy smile, but I wasn’t that stupid. She moved past me and walked straight up to Sammy and Logan. Within seconds, Logan had slung his arm around her shoulders, bringing her into his conversation with Sammy.

I lifted myself up on to the worktop, watching the three of them. It hadn’t exactly gone to plan. Right now, she was supposed to be throwing herself at me, like the rest of them around here.

I brought the bottle back to my lips, gulping it down, and then, tossing it into the bin, I walked closer to them, determined to try to steal her away from them. Whoever knew I’d be outdone by my geeky younger brother and his friend.

Stopping next to her, I looked down, but her attention was completely focused on Logan. I rolled my eyes, making Sammy chuckle. Logan looked at me, grinning cockily. He assumed this was a win, but I was just getting started. She turned to me, her eyes widening when she saw how close to her I was standing.

I opened my mouth to ask how her classes were going, when she suddenly brought the paper cup to her lips and took three gulps. She crumbled the paper cup up and offered it to me, and, like a fool, I took it.

She smirked at me and tapped me mockingly on the chest as she walked away. “Turn it down, jock!”

I laughed at the cockiness oozing from her, making Sammy and Logan laugh. They were completely drunk.

Watching her ass walk away from me, I knew one thing was certain: Tillie would be mine, whether she knew it or not.