THREE
Austin
On my way to the house I shared with Trey and two guys who weren’t on the football team, I ran the events from earlier through my mind. Had I done something wrong in saving her or wanting a little thanks in return?
Brooke had overreacted. Big time. I had no need for women like her, but thoughts of her lingered in my mind unlike most of the women I met. She’s just stuck-up. Don’t let it get to you, I told myself as I neared our two-story house a few streets over from where Brooke lived.
If I had left earlier or later, I would have never crossed paths with her. As I walked up to the porch, I heard the sounds of guns and explosions coming out of the screen door.
Brian and Teddy were hardcore gamers, but I enjoyed having them as roommates. Neither of them looked up from their spots on the couch as I walked in our shared living room.
The stench of sweat, Mountain Dew, and junk food hit my nose as I walked over and looked at the carnage happening on the television screen.
“What’s up, fellas. You won the war yet?”
Teddy looked up and grinned, a mess of curly red hair on the top of his head.
“Oh, hey, Austin. Trey said you guys almost beat down some frat-fucks tonight.”
“Almost,” I said nonchalantly, as if it had been an everyday occurrence.
“We didn’t think you would make it back.”
“Watch out! Your flank!” Brian yelled.
Teddy turned back to the television. I made my way upstairs where Trey and I had bedrooms across the hall from each other. Seeing light streaming across the hardwood floor from under his door, I knocked. No tie on the doorknob meant he wasn’t busy.
“You up, bro?”
“Yeah, come in,” he said.
I opened the door. He looked up from his desk with a textbook open in front of him.
“You made it back early,” he said. “Did you screw Brooke?”
“Nah,” I said, playing it off. “She’s not my type.”
“Gotcha,” he said. “I was going to give you her phone number. She gave it to me this summer when I was in the Med-Center.”
“You want her?”
He shook his head.
“Hell no, but you never know, right? I thought she might be a nerd, but it didn’t turn out that way.”
“You’re a dog, bro,” I said, causing him to smile proudly. “It’s the quiet ones that always seem to surprise. I bet she’s got some untapped potential. Just needs the right guy to bring it out.”
“So? Do you want her number?”
“Yeah, sure. Maybe one night I’ll want to see what she’s got.”
“You got it.”
“Alright man, see you tomorrow.”
“‘Night.”
We nodded at each other before I closed the door and walked across the hall to my room. Inside, I turned on the light and wandered straight to my bed. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Brooke’s number in a text from Trey.
Replaying the night and why she had gotten angry with me, I instinctively pressed call and then put the phone to my ear as I laid down on my King Size bed.
What are the odds she would pick up a call from an unknown number? This was probably...
“Hello?”
The sound of her voice captivated me as I laid back with one hand behind my head and the other holding the phone.
“Hey, it’s me. I wanted to check in to see you got back okay?”
“Who is this?”
“Me. Austin. Your white knight.”
“I was practically on my lawn when you left. Of course I’m fine.?”
“Good to know you appreciate the gesture.”
“How did you get my number?”
“Does it matter?” I asked. “You doing okay? Those fucks better not try anything else.”
“I’m fine. A little busy though. I’m knee deep studying for a pop quiz tomorrow.”
“How is it a pop quiz if you know about it?”
“Well, it wasn’t officially announced, but I’ve caught on to the professor’s patterns.”
“Ah, smart woman.”
“I bet you don’t have much experience with that, do you??” she asked.
“I spend the majority of my free time chasing guys. It’s nice not having to chase women too. But…”
I stopped talking.
“What?”
“Nevermind. It’s pointless,” I said.
“Come on, Austin. Don’t play games. It’s late and I’m busy.”
“I was thinking of asking you to dinner, but you made it obvious you don’t want anything to do with me.”
“What are you talking about? I’d just been attacked, and you turn right around and try to get into my pants too.”
“I never said anything about getting into your pants.”
“No, but it was assumed. I’m a smart woman, remember?”
“Right. How could I forget that? So let me make it up to you. Dinner. Tomorrow night. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“You’re something else, Austin King.” She paused. “I don’t know.”
“It could be a two-for-one. An apology dinner and a celebratory dinner for you doing so well on your pop quiz.”
“I haven’t done well yet.”
“You will,” I said confidently.
“If I say yes, will you hang up so I can get back to it?”
“Definitely.”
“Fine. Then yes, I’ll go to dinner with you tomorrow. You can pick me up at six. Don’t be late.”
I ended the call without another word. After setting the phone on my nightstand, I rolled out of bed to get a few exercises in before I hit the sack. I always slept better after exercising.
As I completed my first set of reps, I smiled at the thought of Brooke. She was hot in that sexy teacher type of way. I figured I would fuck her once to see if I liked it. After that, who knew what would happen.