Steeling Her: A Romance Novel

Nick

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I groan from hearing that awful vibration against the wooden drawers to the left of my bed. Who the hell has the nerve to call me at this hour in the morning? I crawl over to grab it without opening my eyes. I swipe across and yell, “WHAT? What do you want?”.

“Nicolas Aiden Jackson, you better lose that tone with me right now, mister!” My eyes then snap open in pain after hearing my mother’s hard voice. Oh fuck! Nick, you idiot! I facepalm myself at being so rude to her. Why did I do that? I should’ve known better.

“Sorry, mom, I just woke up and I’m really tired. I’m sorry, I love youuu!” I tease, trying to get myself out of trouble, and I hear her huff. I’m her favorite, she always gives in to me, especially when I tell her how much I love her.

“Hmmhmm . . . you’re exactly like your father, you know that! I love you too, sweetheart, but don’t you ever speak to me like that ever again, you hear me?!” I know she has a pointed look etched on her face. I know my mom all too well. Mixed with her southern accent, I can tell she most certainly was not happy with me initially.

“You got it, Mom! I promise I won’t. To what do I owe this glorious call from you at . . . nine in the morning?” I check the time to emphasize that it’s way too early for her to be calling me right now. I’m clearly not a morning person, unlike her.

“Oh yeah . . . Nicolas Aiden Jackson!” There she goes again with my full name. What is with everyone doing that recently? “Why on earth have you not told me you’re dating someone! I’m really annoyed at you! Your aunt Rita called me last night, telling me you brought her into the diner for food!” Oh fuck! I run my hand over my eyes, feeling fully awake now. My mom hates not being in the loop. She’s the gossip queen of our entire family, and I know my aunt is in on it too. They’re both as bad as each other.

“Mom, I’m not dating anyone. We just went in for a bite to eat—”

“That’s not what it looked like, Nick!” I laugh at her, thinking, How would she know? she wasn’t there. Then she speaks up again, “Nick, this is not funny! How could you not tell me?” That’s when I hear the shakiness in her voice. I sit up, realizing she’s about to cry. I’ve really done it now. Why is this such a big deal?

“Mom, no, no, no! Please don’t cry! Seriously, Mom, it was nothing! I don’t see her like that, she’s Haley’s roommate and I helped her out that day, then we stalled into the diner for some breakfast. That’s all it was, Mom, I promise you!” As soon as those word left my mouth, I immediately regretted it. I do see her like that. I have only seen her like that. But I keep messing it up for myself. I have to tell my mom that so she doesn’t pester Carter, that’s the last thing I fucking need. I want to see what she’s feeling towards me. I don’t know if she’s just a nervous person in general or if she’s just like that around me. I want to figure this girl out so badly.

I want her.

But I need time to do that. She’s a tough nut to crack.

“Well, Rita says otherwise!” I roll my eyes at my gossiping aunt. They’ve always hounded me to get a girlfriend. Both of them were on my case about it constantly.

“And what did Aunt Rita say about it, then?” I ask in a bored tone, slumping back down into the covers. I know exactly what she has said to her. She told her that it looks like we’re dating and that we like each other.

“She said that it reminded her of me and your father when we first started dating, that you both couldn’t stop looking at each other . . .” My heart literally leaps into my mouth. That’s what it looked like? Well, shit! My mom is going to never leave this alone. I need to keep her and Carter away from each other. My mother can be the nosiest person you can ever meet. She’ll question everything until she hears what she wants to hear.

“Ughhh! Mom, that’s not what happened. Seriously, I was just helping her out that day . . .” I know from her tone that she’s not buying it, not one bit.

“Then answer me this, do you like her? More than what you’re telling me? Do you like her like that?” As if she can hear the wheels turning in my head of how to answer that question, she warns, “And don’t you dare lie to me, Nick!”

I take the phone away from my ear and start punching the air, mouthing “Fuck” over and over again. Once I was finished, I place it back and lie, “No, no I don’t like her.” I hate lying to my mom. I’ve only ever done it when I was in serious trouble and didn’t want to get into more trouble, but nine times out of ten, she figured me out and cursed me to the high heavens.

There was a long pause from her end of the line, like she’s deciding whether to believe me or not. Please believe me. It’s a long shot, but I can hear her sigh, knowing she doesn’t.

FUCK!

“Okay, if you say so, baby.” I know her tone is telling me she doesn’t believe me one bit, but her words tell me otherwise. This can only mean one thing and one thing only: she wants to see for herself. She wants to make a judgement. Based on that, she has something planned.

“I’ve got to go, Nick. I’ll call you later, honey. Bye.” The fact that she didn’t say “I love you” at the end upsets me. She knows I lied to her.

“I love you, Mom.” But she hangs up before I even got halfway through it. She’s pissed at me. I know she is. Time to send her flowers like I always do when I fuck up with my mom. She’s the only woman in my life that I don’t need to be pissed off at me. Haley, I can handle. I just give her time and we go right back to normal. But my mom, no chance in hell can I handle her being annoyed with me. I throw my phone on to the lower part of my bed and between my legs and sigh to the ceiling, knowing I’m in big trouble now.

There are so many curse words running through my head right now. Since I’m wide awake, I decide to take a shower. I peel my boxers off of me and run the water to heat it up. I look at last night’s suit hanging on my study chair, making sure it’s not creased. I make a mental note to hang it back up in the wardrobe for the next occasion and to wash the shirt.

A flashback of Carter in that sexy number races through my mind. She looked so gorgeous in that tight green dress, her hair effortlessly flowing down her back in soft curls, and her long lean legs on display that distracted every male in the room last night. She was driving me crazy and had no idea.

I couldn’t stay away from her that night, I didn’t want to. I was afraid another guy would take the opportunity to talk to her. Not once did I leave her side unless she went to the restroom and when everyone decided to leave. I was going to walk her back to the dorm, so I waited for her alone outside and told the guys I’d catch up with them, not without a smirk from TJ.

Once everyone had cleared, I texted her and she said she’s was staying with her family. I felt disappointed that I couldn’t walk her home. I wanted to hold her hand again. I wanted Haley and Danielle to be asleep when we arrived and for her to forget her key. I wanted them to not hear us banging on the door. And I wanted to take her back to mine. I wanted her to stay with me, in my bed. I wanted to sleep next to her. But none of that happened. None of what I fantasized played out.

I wanted to rip that dress off her and run my hands along her soft skin—along her luscious curves. I wanted to take her perfect tits into my mouth and suck on them hard. And those silky legs; I wanted my head to be between them, and I wanted them to be wrapped around my shoulders and waist. I wanted to kiss her, I really wanted to kiss her.

Hell, I wanted to fuck her.

I slip into the shower and allow the steam to open my pores up, along with the need to have her here with me. This girl can’t get out of my mind. It’s driving me crazy how much I think about her. The obsession I have over this girl is a lot longer and stranger than usual.

I lean my arm against the cold tiles and look down to see that I’m rock hard. I watch the water pool at my feet with small frequent splashes. I feel the blood pumping to my dick and I watch it pulsate. I instinctively reach for my hardened dick and slowly start to stroke it, thinking it’s her doing it. I shouldn’t be thinking that. She’s too innocent for that, but I can’t stop the thoughts. The thoughts of what it would feel like to be inside her. To hear her scream my name in pure bliss.

Up. Down. Up. Down.

I groan out, thinking it’s her small hands milking me to ecstasy. I grip it harder and pump faster. I don’t think I’d last as long as I usually do. Repeating the motions, I picture her body, minus the dress, and what it could feel like. I picture her in red lace covering her most edible parts.

“Fuck,” I moan out lowly. I picture her crawling up on top of me while I’m pumping myself on my bed, then she takes it in her hands and takes over for me. I feel my eyes roll to the back of my head because her movements.

Faster. Faster. Faster.

I’m reaching my peak and I close my eyes. Reaching that place I know all too well, I picture nothing but her eyes—her striking blue eyes.

I rest my head against my arm as I feel the urge to finish myself off but I still keep going. This is the longest I’ve gone. It’s like one wave of pleasure after the other. “Jesus!” I moan loudly and I can’t stop pumping myself. My body can’t take it anymore. I rest my entire body against the tiles for support before I collapse. I take deep and slow breath to gather myself.

That had to have been the longest and strongest one to date. Thank you, Carter. I smirk at the thought of it. I wash my body and hair, then step out a few minutes later to dry my body off. I slip on a new pair of boxers. Just as I pull them up, my door bursts open. I swivel my head over my shoulder to see TJ with a look of shock on his face.

“You took Carter on a date?” He stands there in his underwear just like me and waves his arms around exasperated by this. I look heavenward with a large sigh. “Fuck, Nick! You actually took her on a date?” I release a small laugh at how people are reading too much into this.

“No, TJ, I didn’t take Carter out on a date . . . I’m guessing my mom asked you about it . . . ?” I trailed off, bending down to find some shorts and a shirt to wear while I’m at the girls’ dorm. I’m seeing Carter regardless of what people are saying.

“Yeah. She called me to ask who she was?” I whip my head around to him, panicking that he probably told her Carter’s name.

“Did you tell her it was—”

He cuts me off with a nod. “Carter? Yeah, I thought she knew but forgot. Your mom played me! She’s good!” He laughs at my reaction, but I rest my hands on my hips, staring at my wooden drawers and trying to find out what she’s doing. She’s up to something, I know my own mother. She can be sneaky when she wants to be. “I’m sorry man, if I’d have known she didn’t know, I wouldn’t have said anything . . .”

“What did she say to you exactly?” I ask him as I turn around to face my best friend, who will be murdered if he doesn’t answer correctly.

“She told me you went on a date with a girl to the diner and she met your aunt Rita. She said Rita forgot the girl’s name and I told her that the only girl you helped out the other day was Carter, who’s Haley’s roommate, then she squealed and hung up.” He shrugged and slumped himself on my bed. It reminds me of when he used to sleepover at my house.

His parents are always away so they left him with my parents. That’s why my mom treats him as one of her own, like a second son. TJ’s parents are business moguls who forget they have a son most of the time. In short, they’re assholes to him.

“Fan-fucking-tastic!” I grumble out. I slip the shirt over my body and reach for the shorts to put on.

“Where are you going?” TJ asks me while abruptly sitting up. He finally noticed that I’m getting changed to go over to see the girls. Well, for me, to see one girl.

“Haley’s, she has cake—chocolate cake. And lord knows I love my mom’s chocolate cake.” He doesn’t speak another word. Instead, he runs into his own room to get changed. I laugh at his actions; I would do the exact same. My mom’s cake is worth running for.

A few minutes later, we’re in the car driving to the dorm. I see Carter’s car parked up outside. I wonder if she’s inside right now. We both admire her car as we walk inside and notice the flock of females around the lobby. The looks we get from every one of them makes TJ laugh. I don’t give two shits if I’m honest. Not making eye contact with any one of them, we saunter to the elevator; we feel some girls following us to it. Once we step in, a number of them follow with flirty smiles and lip bites.

Freshmen.

Although, some of them look older based on the amount of makeup they have on. Again, I ignore them until one girls asks me what floor we’re getting off.

“Four.” I keep it short and sweet but she replies with a “Me too,” trying to begin a conversation I don’t engage in. I lean back against the elevator walls as I wait to get off, feeling a little claustrophobic. I take a deep breath as I wait until the number four lights up on the small screen above the elevator doors. Once it does, we meander our way out, hitting a few bodies and some girls “pretend” to fall just to grab onto me. I know people on campus know me, girls in particular, and that’s why they like me; because of the title I have. My known status.

We reach the door and knock three times to be greeted by my sister. with Danielle behind her. Haley beams her usual smile and I hug her. When Danielle waves to me, I return it apprehensively . I sneak a glance around the room and see Carter isn’t here yet. “She’s on her way.” Danielle smirks at me and walks back to the kitchen with Haley in step.

“TJ, go fix your hair. You look like you got dragged through a bush!” Haley laughs, pointing to the bathroom door for TJ to use. Knowing TJ, he doesn’t care much about it. He’s so carefree.

So, just to annoy Haley, he sits down at the table as smirks at her, “I’m good. I know I look irresistible right now,” he says cheekily, leaning on his elbows Haley rolls her eyes.

Hearing the door knock, my heart leaps out of my chest due to the excitement of seeing her again and for not expecting her so soon. “I’ll get it!” I say quickly. Seeing TJ smile and shake his head at me kind of pisses me off. I reach the door and see her standing between her two brothers in the same dress as last night, except with her shoes in her hand. She’s barefoot. “Hey,” I say softly to her, forgetting that her brothers, the meathead Steels, are standing right next to her.

“Hey, Nick!” She beams and walks into her room, her brothers both scanning me. I clear my throat and greet them too. They both greet me with grunts. Once they walk in, I hear my sister’s high-pitched scream. Good lord, I knew she always had the biggest crush on Austin Steel.

“OH! MY! GOD! You’re . . . holy fuck balls!” she squeaks.

“Haley!” I grill her for her choice of words. If my mom heard her, she would be locked in an dungeon up a mountain with no human contact.

“Do you NOT see the Steels standing right in front of you, Nick! I think I’m going to faint right now . . .” She starts fanning her face, and both of Carter’s brothers start to laugh and walk over to my dramatic sister. They look like giants standing right next to her and Carter.

“Haley, these are my brothers, Austin and Chris. Guys, this is my roommate and huge fan, Haley Jackson . . . Nick’s sister,” Carter introduces her brothers to my sister with a soft voice, who I think may actually faint, come to think of it. When my name leaves her mouth, I shudder like I do every time she does. There’s something about the way she says it.

“Oh, fuck me . . . !” Haley whispers loudly, looking at the two giants occupying the kitchen space next to me. TJ chokes on a glass of water he helped himself to moments ago and starts to slap his chest. “You’re my first football player crush!” she squeals, making Carter laugh her angelic laugh. She stands off to the side, as if she doesn’t want to interrupt my sister’s excitement towards her brothers.

“I’m going to get changed, I’ll be back.” Carter slips into her room and shuts the door. Right now, I wish I could use X-ray vision. I hear a throat being cleared, and I see Chris standing next to me while Haley fangirls over Austin Steel, taking selfies with him.

“Eyes on me, pretty boy,” Chris says with a grunt. We’re watching each other, and his eyes are telling me not to mess with him. They may be a bit bigger than I am, but I’m not really scared of them. They’re looking out for their sister, the same way I’m doing for mine. They’re protective of her. I would be, too, if I was with her.

“Chris! Come here, she wants one with both of us!” He slowly turns away from me and moves over to my sister. Danielle steps out from her room to finally greet them. She wasn’t here when they first came inside the dorm. I get the feeling there is no rush on her end to meet them like my sister. I know Danielle doesn’t know much about football in the first place, so I don’t think she knew just how famous the Steel family are in the industry. Their dad is a walking legend.

“Here, I’ll take the picture while you guys just shimmy on in together,” she teases. Both of them were about to wrap their arms around my sister’s shoulder before I stand there and eye them up, silently telling them to not mess with me and keep those hands to themselves. I see they know exactly what I’m talking about and they don’t question it. They don’t want me to do that to their sister, and I don’t want them doing that to mine.

TJ has been sitting there the entire time, quiet, which is really unusual for him. He usually teases Haley about this sort of thing but now he’s just staring at them. No expression or emotion, just a blank stare. So, he cuts himself a slice of cake and takes it into the living room, walking by me and not saying a word.

What’s up with him?

“You want some cake? We made it last night. It’s my moms recipe!” Seeing both brothers nod, she cuts the slices big enough for them and slides it onto the plate. They both sit at the kitchen table. Haley hands me a slice but I join my best friend on the sofa.

“What’s up with you man?” I ask him and he forks a piece into his mouth, staring at the TV.

“Nothing,” he mumbles angrily. He’s in a good mood, I think to myself sarcastically. There’s no point in talking to him while he’s in that type of funk. I’ve got to let him calm down then I’ll get it out of him. I stand back up to take some of the fresh strawberries Danielle had cut up for us. As I walk by, Haley asks me to get Carter before the cake is gone. So I reach over to the door handle and open the door. My jaw drops at the sight of her.

Standing there in her bra and panties with her back turned to me is her, her ass creasing as she steps from side to side. The most perfect figure I’ve ever seen on the face of this earth, and it’s standing right in front of me. My brain is having a mental breakdown at her perfection. “Shit! I’m so sorry!” I snap myself out of the daydream very quickly, realizing I’ve been gawking at her for a few moments. Hearing that scream as she turns around, giving me a fully frontal view of her perfect body, I run back outside and press my head against the wooden door.

I’m fucked. So fucked.

“What the hell?” Her oldest brother comes straight over to me and clenches on my shirt. I push him off and walk back out of the dorm to try to calm myself.

“Fuck!” I pace up and down the corridor outside the room. I hear someone slamming the door open and notice Austin striding toward me. Here we go.

“What the fuck was that? What did you do?!” The six-foot-four tank storms towards me with no remorse. I’m a dead man. He knows it, I know it.

“I didn’t know she was still changing! I’m sorry! Fuck! I’m sorry! I . . . shit!” I run my hands through my hair out of embarrassment that I walked in on her practically naked before my eyes. The worst part is not only is her brother about to beat the shit out of me for doing that, but he’s about to beat me dead when he realizes I’m rock hard after the sight of her. I’m pretty much on the verge of cumming at this point because I can’t stop thinking about her.

“You ever heard of fucking knocking?! Jesus Christ! She’s probably in there crying now! I’m going to have to calm her down no—” The door opens and I see Carter walking towards us. I look away quickly, instantly feeling the heat rise on my cheeks. I couldn’t help but check her out quickly, though. “C-dog, go back inside, he was just leaving.”

She reaches us and takes Austin’s arm, pulling him away and pushing him down the corridor. She pushes him inside and shuts the door. Turning back around, she walks back to me and stands there, watching me.

I feel so embarrassed that I did that. I’m shifting awkwardly to hide my boner—a painful boner, at that.

“It’s alright, Nick. I guess we’re even?” I snap my eyes back down to her, confused by what she means by even. Her cheeks are the same color as mine, and I’m sure she can feel the heat from them. She’s embarrassed but acting like she’s not for my sake. “That time when we came over after the house party? You and TJ were in your underwear and how you looked caught me off guard. So . . . I guess that makes us even,” she explains and I smile at her reasoning. It’s not the same; guys walk around like that all the time. For girls, it’s a little more private.

“I’m sorry, Carter, I should’ve knocked. It was wrong of me, I didn’t think . . . I—” She nods her head, understanding and accepting my apology.

“It’s fine, we all learned the hard way . . .” Her choice of words are really not helping me right now. “It’s just the same as seeing me in a swimsuit, right?” I laugh at her logic. She’s not wrong, but I still don’t think it’s right that I saw her like that. “I mean, I should be the one saying sorry that you saw that!” She laughs loudly, clutching her sides. I raise an eyebrow, thinking if she’s testing me?

“You shouldn’t be sorry, I’m the one who walked in on you, Carter.” I shake my head seriously at her. I feel my teeth press together, wondering why she thinks she should be sorry. She did nothing wrong.

“We should get back inside before my brothers eat all of the cake.” Changing the topic, she points to the door and starts to walk towards it. She notices that I’m not following her. “Come on, I’ll protect you from my brothers,” she teases me, and I smile back at this girl who makes everything so simple.

I follow her inside and look around to see where TJ has gone. Instead, I meet two pairs of blue eyes that look like they’re going to Freddy Krueger me. I watch their little sister walk over to them, kiss both of their cheeks, and whisper something to each of them. Their hard looks fade into an adoring smile to her. I know I’m good. They both kiss her head out of protection and love. I get it. I would’ve reacted the same if some guy walked in on Haley like that.

Speaking of Haley, where the hell is she?

“Where’s TJ and Haley?” I ask Danielle.

***

Haley

I watch Nick run out the dorm room in total embarrassment. I think he walked in on Carter getting changed. He’s never reacted that way towards seeing a girl naked. If he saw her naked that is. Everyone is completely frozen in the dorm room as to what just happened. Then Austin gets up from the table and follows my brother outside.

Oh no!

I scurry around the table but Chris takes hold of my arm lightly, stopping what I was about to do. “It’s best if you leave them alone. You’re brother will be alright. He can hold his own.” Carter’s door immediately opens and I see her running over to us. When she notices that Austin’s not here, I point to the door and she runs to that direction, swinging it open. But not before Chris holds her back. “Cooks, leave them to it. He shouldn’t have walked in on y—”

“How was he supposed to know, Chris? He can’t see through the damn door!” Carter rolls her eyes, pushing her brother’s hand off of her. She continues to go outside and leaves us four standing in a silence. Chris walks back to his cake and continues to eat it with Danielle across the way.

“She better make me some cookies after that sass,” he mumbles, making us laugh at him. He’s the funny one out of the two brothers, but Carter is even funnier. I’m pretty sure that’s not a word but I’m going to go with it.

I look up and make eye contact with TJ, who has been ignoring me since the Steel brothers have come in. I turned into such a fangirl when I first met them. I have had the longest and biggest crush on Austin Steel ever since I first saw him on TV. TJ looks away, setting his plate on the coffee table in front of him. Danielle and Chris are heavy in a conversation, so I decide to join TJ on the sofa to keep him company and figure out why he’s avoiding me. I sit next to him and edge closer to him. “Hey,” I say softly to him. I smile at his hair sticking out all over the place. He definitely ran out of bed when Nick mentioned my mom’s cake.

“Hey,” he says back coldly to me while not moving his eyes away from the TV. I roll my eyes at him. What did I do?

Suddenly, the door gets pushed open and we see Austin being thrown inside by Carter. She tells him to stay in here before going out again. Austin stands there, shocked by his sister, and stares at the door. I giggle at the face he’s pulling. God, he’s so handsome. So rugged, so—

“Your boyfriend’s back.” Hearing his cold tone once more, I turn to face the guy who I have fallen helplessly in love with since I was nine. He doesn’t know my feelings towards him because he’s always been such an player and I’m afraid to get hurt by him. I smirk at him now that I know he thinks he’s my boyfriend.

Is he jealous?

“What?” he asks me, and I pull him up and drag him to the bathroom. He doesn’t resist. Once we’re inside, I sit him down on the side of the bathtub.

“You’re hair is really annoying me today, TJ,” I say with a laugh and rummage through the drawers for a brush. I hear a small chuckle from him as I bend down to find the brush I had in mind. I run it under the faucet after finding it to get it wet to tame this boy’s hair. Shaking off the excess water, I walk over to him and start to brush it through his dark locks. I’ve always wanted to run my hands through his hair. Watching those other girls do it to him all these years broke my heart every time. Watching him make out with them broke it even more.

My eyes flicker down to his own that are closed with a smile on his face. I’m standing between his legs as I style his hair. His hair is compliant, much to my surprise. I released a small chuckle at him and his eyes open, meeting mine. Like always, I feel my heart speed up at his eyes locking with mine. His hazel eyes with flecks of gold rimming the iris.

“I always love it when people play with my hair.” He smiles up at me. I sigh as I remember all of those parties where I’d seen him allowing some tramp run her fingers through his hair. I feel my stomach drop at the thought of it.

“You mean, you love it when those girls play with your hair.” There was a slight bitterness to my tone that I couldn’t hide no matter how hard I tried. It was too hard for all those years, just watching him allow them do that. I used to cry at night sometimes, wishing I was the girl he’d fallen for; that I’d be that girl he ask out and be his first official girlfriend.

“They never did it half as good as you’re doing it right now, Haley.” His eyes were half-closed, and it made my palms sweat. That look—that look I’ve seen him do to other girls and never to me. He never saw me like that. To him, I was his best friend’s little sister. That’s it. I snort at him being so ridiculous.

Suddenly, the room feels hot and heavy. His hands take my waist and he pulls me slowly towards him. My breathing is uncontrollable at this point. Feeling every bit of his touch, I feel my stomach doing flips.

“What are you doing?” I whisper to him. The closer I get, the more nervous I feel. I swallow hard as his eyes never leave mine.

“What I should’ve done a long time ago,” once he finishes that sentence, his lips meet mine and it takes my breath away. I drop the brush on the floor and take hold of his shoulders.

His arms wrap around me, not wanting me to go. Even then, I wouldn’t want to leave. Our lips are moving in sync with each other, and I run my hands through his thick black hair. I let out a low moan. I relish in the feeling because it’s my turn now. His fingers dig into my side, not causing pain, but letting me know he’s enjoying this just as much as I am. Feeling his tongue run along my lip, I gasp, letting it slip inside. It’s then his hand slides up to the back of my head as he kisses me.

He’s really kissing me.

This is mind blowing. There’s a trail of fire leading to my stomach from his touches. We hear the door close and he pulls apart from me, thinking that it’s the door to the bathroom opening. Sighing in relief that it wasn’t, he turn back to face me. I feel my cheeks heat up because I realize I still have my arms wrapped around him. I back away, feeling embarrassed, but he pulls me back to him. “Don’t do that, Haley. Don’t run away from me.” His tone is soft, and I allow him pull me back to him by my hand and, once I reach him again, he rests his arms around me again.

“Why did you do that?” I whisper to him, trying to not bring attention to us inside. My heart is beating so hard in my chest.

“Because I wanted to, Haley. I like you, I’ve liked you for so many years . . .” His winning smile takes over and I replicate his feeling. The excitement is too hard to contain.

“Really?” I can’t believe that he just said that. He likes me? He’s liked me all these years? I’m screaming and jumping up and down inside. “I’ve liked you since our first kiss . . .” I admit truthfully and he pecks my lips once more, making me melt into him.

Oh God, what is it about him?

“I’ve liked you since then too. Well, I liked you before, but the kiss only really amplified it for me.” My face is starting to hurt from grinning so much. The feeling is mutual, is what I want to tell him, but I can’t find the words because I feel so happy. I’ve always thought about this day but convinced myself that it would never actually happen. He’s around girls all the time, he has multiple options. I always thought someone else would be the one for him, breaking my own heart in the process.

I hear Nick’s voice asking for where we are. We need to go back outside before he thinks of something.

“We need to go back outside, Nick will kill you, TJ,” I whisper to him and stand up from his touch that I already miss so much. God, I miss his touch. He agrees and stands up, towering over me.

“Go out with me?” he asks out of nowhere as I put the brush back inside the drawer. I spin back around so fast, I almost fall over.

“W-What?” I stutter out in disbelief. Did he just ask that? Did he just ask me to go out with him.

“Go out with me? Like, let me take you out on a date?” He smiles contagiously at me. I bite my lip and nod at him, trying to keep my excitement inside, but it’s proving to be very difficult. “I’ll text you the details tonight . . .” We turn to walk back outside, but he takes hold of my hand once more, feeling the burn of his touch. I was about to ask what was wrong but he read my mind.

“I want one more kiss . . . and I also want you to wear my jersey to the next game.” He leans down for me to kiss him and I do. I place a soft kiss on his lips and cup the side of his face as he puts more pressure into it while backing me against the wall. I smile onto his lips and he pecks me once more before we leave out the door.

Once we do, we were greeted by my brothers angered voice. “Where the fuck were you two?” He furrows his brows, reminding me of my dad when he gets annoyed at me. I roll my eyes at him and keep walking towards the kitchen, acting like we didn’t just have an make out session in the bathroom.

“His hair annoyed me, so I fixed it. Thanks for noticing.” I’m trying to keep my cool so I chose not to face him. I’m silently praying he buys it.

I hear him laugh hard and I turn around to see TJ about to smack him. “That’s what you call fixing it? TJ, you look like a fucking choir boy!” The Steel brothers laugh lowly at him. It looks like Nick’s back in their good graces. Not that I’m surprised, my brother can charm his way into and out of anything he wants.

Boys will be boys, I suppose.

The sudden buzzing feeling on my butt snaps me out of my thoughts. I reach in and take my phone out to see my mom calling me. What did I do now?

“Hi, Mom!” I answer the call and place it up to my ear. Nick and TJ’s head whip around to me.

“Haley, sweetheart, how are you?” she asks me. She’s unusually chirpy today.

“I-I’m good mom, is everything okay?” If I sound skeptical, it’s because I am. She’s got something up her sleeve, something planned. She’s too sweet today.

“Oh! Why everything is fabulous, sweetie! Is Nick and TJ there with you now?” I raise an eyebrow at my brother, who returns it and mouths “What?” over to me. I take my phone away and put it on speaker.

“Yeah, Mom, they’re here. So is everyone else, so don’t say anything embarrassing please!” I beg her to not bring up any stories that could lead to the Steel brothers thinking I’m diseased or something.

“Hi, everyone!” she greets down the line, and everyone replies back with their own greetings. “I was calling to see if you’d all like to come down to our house this weekend. Haley, I’m extending the invitation to your roommates too. It’s my youngest daughter, Ellie’s, birthday. She’s turning six, so I want to throw her a birthday party, and you’re all welcome,” she added, very excited that she’s throwing a party.

“Mom, I thought you weren’t throwing her’s alone. What about Abbie and the joint birthday?” Nick stares at the phone like it’s a life or death situation. I roll my eyes at how annoying he’s being. It’s our sister’s birthday, and he sounds like he doesn’t want to be there.

“Oh, but we’ve moved it up to this weekend for the girls so we can still have the good weather. Carter and Danielle, I hope to see you both there too. I would love to finally meet you both!” What is this woman on? Has she started drinking already? She’s acting so weird. My two roommates mumble a “yes” and a “cool,” and she squeals while me, Nick and, TJ all roll our eyes.

“Perfect! It’s settled! You girls can stay at our house, there’s enough room; and TJ, you can stay too! I’ll set you all up in rooms, unless Haley wants the three of you girls to share in hers? Let me know, the party is on Sunday at two, you all can drive back up Monday morning for college then so you don’t miss any classes!” I can practically see her creased brows through the phone. The warning in her voice tells us to not question it and just do it. Thankfully, we only live just under two hours away from college, but it can be up to four depending on traffic.

“I don’t know, Mom, we’ll all be at a part—”

“NICOLAS!”

“Alright, fine, we’ll be there!” Nick’s hands go up, almost like he’s protecting himself from my mom. That was a bad move on his part. Never question my mom, especially when the plans are set in stone. Mama’s boy should know this by now.

“Perfect! Bye, my lovelies! I shall see you all on Sunday!” The line goes dead, and I hear Nick mumble a curse under his breath. What’s got him so worked up? He loves Ellie and takes any chance he gets to see her.

“Thanks for the invite,” Chris comments sarcastically. Carter whacks him in the stomach.

“You’re not even going to be here, you’re leaving on Thursday!” Carter playfully yells at her brother, making us all laugh with her. She has the funniest relationship with her brothers. They clearly adore her and she adores them in return. She’s so lucky to have such hot brothers. Good God, are they hot.

“Cooks, you gotta make me two batches of cookies just for that tone of yours! I’m not a fan of it!” He playfully rubs her hair out of endearment.

“Not happening, fatty!” She pokes his stomach, making him flinch. For revenge, he pulls her hand and makes her crash into him.

“Hey! Mom says I look beautiful!” He pouts down at her while we all sit there, enjoying the playful jabs each one is throwing. She doesn’t say anything more after an eye roll, but we all burst out laughing. He stands behind her and wraps his large arms around her shoulders as a sign of protection. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

I wish TJ would so that to me; wrap his big arms around me as I cuddle into his chest. I flicker my eyes to him and see he’s already staring at me. My heart misses a beat, and I gulp down hard.

I want him to cuddle me to sleep. I want to know what that feels like. I’ve never stayed with a guy. Not even TJ. I’m not a virgin, but I definitely regret my first time. It was so embarrassing. I was sober and the guy wasn’t. And it hurt like a bitch. I was a bleeder, too, not that he cared or noticed.

I send him a smile and he sends me one back.

We’re all sitting on the sofa. We spend the hours watching a movie. The boys were sitting on the sofa and Carter layed on her brothers’ laps while I sat on TJ and Nick. Danielle is on the single chair but she ran to it first. The furniture in the dorm is only really able to fit the three of us and one other person, so it’s a tight squeeze on the sofa.

We’re watching “Iron Man,” courtesy of Danielle. TJ is rubbing my foot under the blanket. It’s so relaxing, I could fall asleep right now. I’m usually ticklish with people touching my feet but this feels amazing.

Listening to the TV that’s on full blast, I’m not really watching it. I’m too focused on what happened between TJ and me in our bathroom. I smile just at the thought of it. I feel a squeeze on my foot, and I look over to see the culprit. TJ smirks over at me, and I shyly smile and look away. He knows I was thinking about it.

Everything is so calm despite how loud the room was. Nobody is speaking. This day is one of my favourites. I met the Steel brothers and I got asked out by the guy I’ve been in love with practically my entire life.

This is perfect. Everything is perfect.

I want to live this moment forever and never let it go.