Chapter 4 : Colton

September of sophomore year...

"Dude, why the hell did you drag my ass here?" Beck doesn't bother to wait for a response as he glares around the wide-open space. "You know I hate this place. It's too damn quiet."

A librarian sitting behind a long stretch of counter in the middle of the second-floor scowls at us before raising a finger to her lips. "Shhhh!"

Beck stiffens beside me as his mouth sinks at the corners. "That woman just shushed me."

I glance at the older lady who is now full-on glaring at us. "Yup, that's her job."

"Why the hell did you bring me here?" His grumbled words are barely decipherable. "Is it payback for something I did to you? If so, I'm sorry. All right? Whatever it is, I apologize. And I'll never do it again." There's a beat of silence. "Can we leave now?"

I roll my eyes. What a damn baby. "Just give me a few minutes. I need to check out a few books for an econ project."

"Sounds boring."

He's not wrong. Most of the time, economics is dry and tedious. And micro-econ makes me want to hurtle myself off a cliff. It's a necessary evil for the finance degree I'm working toward.

As we wind our way through a few of the stacks, looking for the business section, Beck grinds to a halt. I stop and raise a brow. I swear to God, if he's about to bitch and complain again, I'm going to punch him in the face. Then he can bitch and complain about that.

Instead, his gaze is riveted on something in the distance. He's like a bird dog who has spotted, well...a bird. Normally, Beck is a laidback kind of guy. Nothing riles him up and he doesn't take life too seriously. I'm pretty sure that his father, Archie, tried to beat it out of him but it didn't work. Beck is who he is and that's not going to change.

"Beck, you want to get out of here, then let's move."

He doesn't respond.

Hell, I don't even think he heard me.

From past experience, there's only one thing capable of harnessing his interest to this degree. Or maybe I should say-one person.

I scope out the surrounding area until my gaze lands on Mia Stanbury.

Yup, it's just as I suspected.

Beck's had a thing for the dark-haired girl ever since I can remember. Even though they grew up together and are next door neighbors, she refuses to give him the time of day. I'll admit that it's kind of funny. There's nothing he won't do to get her attention.

He doesn't bother to glance at me. "I'm going to see what Mia is up to while you dick around."

"Dude-"

He walks away before I can spit out the rest.

Typical Beck.

I shake my head and watch as he beelines for the table she's camped out at. She's so focused on the books spread out around her that she doesn't realize she's being stalked until he's hovering over her. It takes a moment for her to blink to awareness before a scowl settles over her pretty features.

Yup, just the reaction I was expecting. He should have been expecting it, too.

I'm not sure why he bothers. She is never going to give him the time of day. It's been that way since freshman year of high school. There are plenty of girls at Wesley who would give their left tit to sleep with him.

What's the point of getting hung up on a girl who wants nothing to do with you?

Trust me, we've had this conversation on multiple occasions.

What I've learned about Beck Hollingsworth is that he's stubborn. When he wants something, he goes after it until it happens. Apparently, he's going to try and wear Mia down.

Good luck with that, dude.

I shake my head before taking off.

Hopefully, by the time I need to find the books I'm looking for, Mia will have shot Beck down and we can get the hell out of here. Although, something tells me that trying to drag Beck away from Mia might be a losing battle.

It takes about five minutes to locate the books I'm hunting for. With a big breath, I blow off the dust covering them before pulling each one out and thumbing through the pages. One peek at the table of contents is enough to confirm that this project will be just as painful as I first suspected.

Fucking economics.

With my books in hand, I swing around, ready to find Beck. With any luck, Mia will have torn him to pieces, and he'll be licking his wounds. As I retrace my steps, I catch sight of blond hair from the corner of my eye and turn my head. My footsteps falter when I spot Alyssa sitting at a table buried in a corner of the business section. It's not exactly the most popular place for obvious reasons, but I guess if you're looking for a quiet area to work, this would be it. For just a moment, I take her in. Her long blond hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun and she's wearing a shirt that hangs off one shoulder. There are black glasses perched on her nose.

A zip of unwanted attraction ricochets through my heart. I don't think I've ever seen Alyssa wear glasses before. She looks all kinds of sexy in them. And studious.

Fuck.

I like to give Beck shit for being hung up on Mia, but the truth of the matter is that I've been stuck on Alyssa for just as long. Fooling around with her after high school graduation was a huge mistake. One I regret. If I thought it would help evict her from my head, I was wrong. More like the opposite. One taste was never going to be enough.

Instead of giving in to the feelings, I've steered clear of the west end of campus where the dance building and her dorm as located. If I catch wind that she'll be at a party, I hit a different one. That's been my tactical plan ever since.

Has it helped to stomp out my feelings for her?

Nope. Not a damn bit. When I do run into her, the intensity is like a tidal wave crashing over me, threatening to suck me under. Instead of cautiously backing away, I take an unconscious step in her direction. Before I can think better of it, more distance gets eaten up between us. Even though my brain is shouting at me to turn around and walk away, instinct takes over, propelling me forward.

This is the one girl who continues to override my feelings of self-preservation. I've never understood how she's managed to get around it. Alyssa stirs emotions inside me that I'd rather not have. There's something about her that draws me like a moth to a flickering flame. As much as I want to put her behind me, I can't. She's always there in the back of my head. When I'm with other girls, it's Alyssa I envision.

She's the one girl who makes me feel something. It's the very reason I continue to deny myself.

Which is...yeah, it's all kinds of fucked up and I damn well know it.

When Alyssa flashes a smile across the table, my gaze shifts and I realize she isn't alone. I straighten to my full height, only now noticing the guy parked across from her.

Jameson Daniels.

He's a teammate.

What the fuck is she doing with him?

His lips hitch at the corners as he reaches across the table and brushes his fingers across her knuckles.

Oh, hell no!

That is so not going to happen!

Not on my watch!

Before I realize it, I'm stalking across the space. It only takes a handful of long-legged strides before I'm pulling up alongside their table. Alyssa blinks out of her Jameson-induced haze as her gaze flickers toward me. Ever since that girl turned fifteen, she's been after me. I've never seen her so much as look at another dude.

A potent concoction of jealousy infused anger vibrates through every cell of my being. It takes every ounce of self-control not to tackle this asshole to the ground and get him away from her.

"Hey." I'm almost impressed at my ability to keep my fury from bleeding through that one syllable. I want to rip his head off and shit down his throat. I want Alyssa to know that she belongs to me. Whether we're together or not.

She's mine.

She's always been mine.

"Hi." Her gaze stays pinned to mine as she leans back against the chair. The movement has her fingers slipping free from his outstretched hand.

I release a pent-up breath the moment they're no longer touching. I'd hate to beat the shit out of one of my own teammates, but I'll do it. I don't like him touching her. Hell, I don't like anyone touching her.

Anyone but me.

Fuck.

I plow a hand through my hair.

Only now does it occur to me that I have no idea if she's gone out with other guys. Whenever we run into each other, her attention has always been focused on me. Even if I'm surrounded by other girls, she'll fight her way through the crowd to get to me.

And you know what?

That's exactly the way I like it.

I like her single-minded determination where I'm concerned. I like knowing that even though I'm holding her at a distance, it's me who she wants.

Does that make me an asshole?

Maybe it does.

But...what if that's not the case. What if she's been going out with other guys? What if she's no longer interested?

Icy cold tendrils of fear slither down my spine. I can't have Alyssa for myself, but I don't want anyone else to have her either.

I don't know what to do.

Whether Jameson realizes it or not, he's treading on my territory. "Daniels."

With reluctance, he sits back and folds his arms across his chest. "What's up, Montgomery?"

Instead of responding to the question, I ask one of my own. "You two know each other?" I wince at the bite of jealousy that threads its way through my gruff voice.

"We have psychology together," Alyssa says, beating him to the punch and drawing my attention to her.

Fuck this. I need to get her away from him right now. I jerk my head toward the stacks where we can have a little more privacy. "Let's talk."