The Freshman (College Years 1)

I hear the front door slam and I glance up to find Jackson ambling into the kitchen without a care in the world. He recently cut his hair, and while it’s still long on top—his blond locks hanging in his face always make the girls go wild—it’s shorter on the sides. Despite the shorter hair, he’s got the rocker vibe going on strong, with the torn jeans and the faded black T-shirt. Chains around his neck and rings on his fingers. An unfamiliar girl under each arm.

Damn. What is with these guys tonight?

“I’ve got good news,” Jackson says with a grin, his gaze sweeping over the women who are all staring at him, their appetites forgotten. “Hey, ladies.”

“Hey, Jackson,” they all say like the fangirls they are. The only one who looks pissed is Ellie. She’s glaring at the girls. Glaring at Jackson.

Ouch.

“What’s up? Is this your big announcement?” I ask him.

“Yeah. Where’s everyone else?” Jackson asks me as he approaches me. “This is Lydia and Linda by the way. They’re twins.”

“No, we’re not,” one of them says, playfully swatting at his chest.

“Oh. My bad.” He grins at me. “They just look exactly alike. And their names sound the same. I can’t tell them apart.”

I roll my eyes. I wonder if he’s banged them both. Together. At the same time.

Probably.

“They’re outside,” I answer Jackson, jerking my thumb toward the sliding glass door that leads to the tiny yard. “Want me to get everyone inside?”

“I’ll do it.” Jackson makes his way to the door, the girls still firmly under his arms, as he shouts for our friends to come in.

Within minutes we’re all crammed into the kitchen, Jackson remaining close to the slider, the girls flanking him, smiling up at him adoringly. “I’ve got news. I know I said I wanted to hang out with you all this summer, but you’re all going to have to miss me instead, because I’m going on tour!”

We all start cheering for him, offering our congratulations. Jackson takes it all in, a smile on his face, looking pleased. There are all sorts of questions and he answers them, and the gist of it is this: he hired a management team in the spring, and they were able to book some gigs for him up and down the West Coast. Small venues mostly. Some outside, at festivals and fairs. He doesn’t care where they’re at, as long as he can perform live. It’s his favorite thing to do, he says.

“What about football?” Diego asks him.

“We’ll see where this tour takes me,” Jackson says with a shrug. “I have gigs scheduled through July, so I still have time to return for practice if that’s the choice I make.”

If he blows up any bigger, he’ll leave us. I’ll miss him. He’s become an integral part of our friend group. Eli will flounder without him, especially with Ava going away to college.

“And no, I haven’t signed a record deal yet. I’m still waiting for the right offer to come along,” Jackson adds with a shit eating grin. “Now where’s the food? I’m fucking hungry.”

Lydia and Linda are in a race to prepare him a plate and I watch it all unfold with amusement.

Until I smell something burning.

“Ah shit.”

I run outside to the grill, flipping the lid open to find my burgers are black circles of coal and the hot dogs are shriveled and burned to a crisp. “Damn it,” I mutter, scraping everything up with my spatula and dumping it all on a paper plate so I can throw it away. Thank God I bought extra.

I toss the burned meat and put new burgers and dogs on the barbecue, telling myself I can’t leave. It’s hot as balls out here though, and I’m sweating within minutes.

“Here you go, hottie.”

I glance over to see Hayden standing beside me, looking sexy in a red tank and denim shorts, a chilled glass of wine in her hand. She hands it to me. “Try my spritzer.”

I do as she says, and damn, that’s delicious. “Refreshing,” I tell her after a couple of gulps. I resume grill duty, not about to let shit get burned again. “Thank you.”

“Exciting about Jackson, right?”

“Definitely,” I say, my gaze never straying from the grill.

“We should go watch him if he performs somewhere close.”