The Freshman (College Years 1)

I blink him back into focus. “Did you just say something about naked women?”

Caleb snorts. “I’m guessing you’d only care if I brought a naked Hayden in the kitchen.”

“You’re not allowed to see Hayden naked,” I say, immediately incensed at the mere idea.

What the hell? Why am I thinking like this?

“Bro, until you put that chick on lock, she is fair game.” He chortles when he spots the expression on my face. “Ooh, I just pissed you right off, didn’t I?”

He’s harmless. Giving me shit, but it still riles me up. “I like her,” I admit.

That’s all I say. What more is there to say? I do like her. A lot. More than I probably should.

I told myself I wouldn’t fall hard and fast for a woman once I got into college. I agreed with Caleb and Jackson over the summer that we should keep ourselves single for as long as possible. We don’t need to attach ourselves to girlfriends. We’d miss out on opportunities. Hookups. Being adored by lots of girls versus just one.

And here I go, meeting a woman only a few months into school, and now she’s the only one I can think about. The only one I want to think about.

“You only just met her,” he reminds me. “What about our pact?”

“Was it really a pact?” I ask.

“Yeah. I thought it was. And I’m sticking to it. So is Jackson. You should too.” He points at me.

“I’m happy where I’m at right now, thanks,” I say, thinking—yet again—of Hayden. Feeling smug.

Hoping I get to see her again soon.

“Jumping on the first girl you meet,” Caleb mutters under his breath. “Fuckin’ ridiculous.”

“What did you just say?” I ask.

“I don’t get you.” He sounds truly perplexed as he waves his arm around. “There are so many hot babes on this campus. And all of them are dying to get a look at your dick, especially after last night’s game. You shouldn’t limit yourself to just one so early in our college years. Find someone else. Better yet, find a couple of someone else’s. Make out with a few of them. Cop a couple of feels. Make a move, son. The bounty is out there.”

He sounds ridiculous.

“No thanks,” I tell him, his words reminding me of how I definitely made some moves last night.

Not going to tell Caleb about it though. He’ll just want all the dirty details and I don’t feel like sharing them.

“What happened last night at the party?” Caleb asks.

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you sitting in the living room surrounded by a bunch of hot girls watching you with lust in their eyes. Groupies?” Caleb nods, his eyes gleaming. Not giving me a chance to answer. “Good job.”

“They were boring. And Jocelyn drove them all away.”

Caleb frowns. “The hell? Why would she do that?”

“We started talking and next thing I knew, they all bailed.” I shrug. Jocelyn’s little speech is what kicked me into gear and encouraged me to text Hayden, so go Jos.

“You can’t let women you’re not with ruin your game play. That’s exactly what Jocelyn did. No offense against her, but Diego maybe needs to keep her closer,” Caleb says. “She cock-blocked your ass.”

“You sound like a complete asshole. Next thing you’ll suggest is she needs to be on a leash.”

“Not a bad idea. Seriously, stick with your man and don’t interfere with my night. That’s what I would’ve told her,” Caleb says.

Here’s the deal. Caleb says terrible things. He thinks terrible things. But he says and does these things in such a way that it’s completely harmless. He needs a ball buster like Hayden to put him in his place.