Pregame(4)

~~~~





Dinner wasn't as uncomfortable as I had thought it would be, and by the  time we left, everyone was laughing and having a good time, myself  included. I learned a lot about Gabe over dinner, like the fact that he  was a senior and hoped to be an architect after graduation. He wanted to  move out to California and design houses for the rich and famous. I  learned that he was from a small, wealthy town in Massachusetts and gave  myself a mental pat on the back for nailing it. He has two older  sisters, a cat named Nelson, and he just got over a bad break up with  his ex-girlfriend of two years. By the time we had left the restaurant I  had decided that dating Gabe wouldn't be a bad thing, because I knew it  wouldn't be serious. He was still on the rebound, even if he denied it,  and he had a cat that he adored.





"You still owe me a round of mini golf, ya know."





Gabe finished pulling the car out onto the main road that headed back to  my apartment and turned towards me, his expression a mixture of  surprise and hope.





"So does that mean you've decided to give me a chance, beautiful? I knew you'd come around."





I rolled my eyes at his arrogance and shrugged a shoulder, "why not? We  enjoy each other's company but neither of us wants a serious  relationship right now so we might as well have some fun."





"I never said I didn't want a serious relationship," he said pointedly,  but continued as I opened my mouth to reason with him, "but since I know  that it's the only way to get you to go out with me, I'll play along.  When you fall for me though, I'll be there, beautiful."





"Doesn't your eye get tired from winking so often?" I blurted out after  seeing him wink at me for the millionth time. Gabe burst out laughing,  caught off guard by my remark.





"I could same to you about all that eye-rolling." I rolled my eyes by  habit and then, catching myself, started to laugh along with him.





We pulled into the parking lot a few minutes after the others to find  that they had already headed inside. Unsure as to whether or not I  should invite him inside, I shifted awkwardly in my seat. Before I could  say anything, Gabe got out and walked over to my side, holding his hand  out to me. I took it, and walked with him towards my door. As I was  about to open it, Gabe interrupted me by taking my hand from the  doorknob and held it in his.                       
       
           



       





"I have a paper to work on, so I'm gonna head out, but thanks. I had a  good time." He stepped a little closer to me and I smiled up at him.





"I had a good time, too." I meant it.





Gabe leaned down and wrapped me into a hug and I was grateful that he  didn't try to kiss me. Although I had thought about what it would be  like, I hadn't kissed anybody in eight months and I was nervous. Pulling  away from the hug, I opened my mouth to say goodnight but was  interrupted by Gabe's lips suddenly pressing into mine. I tensed as he  planted a soft peck to my mouth before pulling away and flashing me that  smirk. I remained frozen where I stood as he started to back away from  me towards his car.





"I'll see you around, beautiful!" he called back to me just as I remembered how to move my feet.





I got into the apartment to find Colin sitting on the couch watching a  sports game with Ollie and Savanna cuddled up to each other. I waved an  acknowledgement and went over to Elle's room to find her stuffing an  overnight bag some clothes and toiletries.





"Hey, girlfriend! How was it?!" Elle exclaimed, bouncing over to me with a wicked grin.





"You are evil you know that, right?" She threw her head back and laughed  before heading over to her dresser to pull out some more clothes. I  gave her a couple of details but left out the part about the kiss. I  wasn't sure I wanted to hear her gush about it just yet.





"I'm gonna stay over at Colin's tonight but when I get back tomorrow I  want to hear everything," she pointed at me accusingly, "and don't think  you can leave anything out because I will know if you do, missy!"





I smiled my acknowledgement, "Have a good time tonight," I started to  turn away before throwing back, "and don't forget protection you slut!  The last thing anyone needs is another you running around!"





I laughed, ducking the pillow flying towards my face and headed to my room down the hall.





THREE





The next two weeks passed by quickly and I was starting to get more  familiar with the school's campus and more comfortable in my new  environment. I was doing well in all of my classes and even met a few  new people that I liked. I went out with Gabe a few more times and, as  promised, we went out to mini golf. Gabe had failed to mention that he  played golf with his father since he was a young boy and so, being a  sore loser, I had made him buy me frozen yogurt in order to redeem  himself. While Gabe was fun to be around and I enjoyed the time we spent  together, I never fully opened up to the possibility of becoming his  girlfriend. Gabe was sweet, never pushing me further than I was  comfortable with, so we had stuck to mostly kissing. The idea of being  intimate with someone still scared me a bit, and I was grateful that  Gabe understood without asking questions. Hanging out with Gabe was  easier than I had expected; our conversations were always light, and the  only time we got personal was when he was talking about himself.





Tonight was the night of the notorious Zeta Pi beginning of the school  year kick off party, and as I left my last class of the day I got a text  from Elle asking me to swing by the athletic center and check to see if  she had left her University ID card on one of the treadmills.





The trees had started to change colors with the change of seasons and I  admired the pretty scenery as I made my way across campus to the  athletic building. I swiped my ID card allowing me access and made my  way over to the section of treadmills that lined the far left side of  the wall in the downstairs section of the gym. I got to the first  treadmill and looked around, not seeing anything other than cords and  empty water bottles. As I was about to turn to the next treadmill to  resume my search I heard a grunt followed by a smacking noise, and then  another. I looked around, noticing a room to my right covered by  see-through glass. Inside were two heavyweight-boxing bags and a speed  bag, with mats lining the floor and three of the walls. A guy that I  faintly recognized from one of my classes held up his fists in a  defensive stance, shuffling his feet and blocking jabs from a second guy  who had his back to me. The guy, I think his name was Luke, was  sweating and breathing hard but was smiling and I could see his mouth  forming words that I couldn't make out from so far away. I moved my eyes  away long enough to notice that all of the girls who ran on the  treadmills and elliptical machines had their eyes trained on the two  men, most of them smiling dreamily. I laughed to myself and went back to  searching the empty treadmills, trying to block out the grunting and  smacking sounds that filled the air. Unable to resist the sight of two  guys punching each other, even without malice, I turned back to the  guys, except this time I was greeted by Luke's back. The guy who had  been facing away from me before now had his front to me, and I gasped,  suddenly understanding the girls' fascination. While Luke was cute,  there wasn't anything spectacular about him to steal the unwavering  attention of twenty sweaty college girls.                       
       
           



       





Now facing me, I was able to drink in the sight of the other guy in all  of his shirtless glory. He had broad shoulders but was lean, his muscles  toned, and his stomach sculpted, flexing with each turn of his torso as  he threw another punch towards Luke. His black athletic shorts hung on  his hips and I found my eyes trailing down his body shamelessly. His  tanned skin shimmered with sweat and I absentmindedly licked my lips.  His right arm was almost fully covered with black designs, while his  left shoulder donned intricate lines and patterns leaving the remainder  of his arm bare except for what looked like writing on his left forearm.  Another design, which appeared to be words in the form of a poem, was  placed on his left side, traveling down his ribs.





Shaking myself from my trance I tore my eyes from his body and met a  pair of liquid blue eyes as he and Luke stepped away from each other.  The both removed their gloves, and reaching down to grab his water  bottle, I watched as the beautiful stranger brought the bottle up to his  lips and took a sip, his eyes staying trained on mine. I felt my cheeks  catch fire and turned to exit the gym. I made my way over to the front  desk hoping someone might have found Elle's card and dropped it off. I  heard my phone chime in my pocket and opened up my new text message.