Nic's Devotion: An Endless Series: Book One (12 page)

     “Amanda will most likely develop an immediate girl
crush on you and declare you lifelong BFF’s.” I said ironically. “How about I
get your number and that way I can give you heads up if anything changes?” I
opened my phone contacts. I’d been trying to find a reason all week to get her
number and now I had the perfect excuse.  

     Silence reigned again for a few seconds before Carrie
responded. “I don’t have a cell phone, just a land line.”

     I barely contained my shock. I thought everyone had a
cell phone, but then Carrie went without a lot of things it seemed. “That’s
okay, just give me that.”

     She read off the numbers like they were a countdown to
a bomb explosion. “Nic, if you get my mom don’t leave her a message; just tell
her your name. If you get the answering machine, again just leave your name. I
wish I could give you a good explanation why but there really isn’t one. My mom
is just…complicated.”    

     I wondered what the deal was with her mother. My
relationship with my mother wasn’t complicated; she pretty much overlooked me
unless I was penciled in on her social calendar. However, my relationship with
my father was utterly convoluted. The man sought absolute control over my
entire life…when he wasn’t also ignoring me.

     Carrie opened the truck door to step out and pulled her
bag out from the back with a self-conscious smile. “I guess I’ll see you
tomorrow then and…uhm…thank you so much for tonight, Nic. It was the most fun
I’ve had in forever.” With a small wave she shut the door and jogged up to her
apartment door.

     I watched her until she was inside the building
ruminating over her ‘thank you’ and recognizing that it was more than surface
gratitude. Every ‘thank you’ from her seemed to encompass more than the moment.
I wasn’t sure if she realized it, but her trust in me was deepening.

    Twenty-five minutes later I walked through the door of
the house to see Noah and Amanda sitting on the couch watching television. I
used to roll my eyes seeing them wasting a prime Friday night in front of the
television, but now the idea sounded pretty good. The thought of having Carrie
cuddling up to me…

     And there went my erection.

     I adjusted myself and walked over to sit in the chair.
They both looked at me in surprise.

     “How come you’re here and not out paintin’ the town
red, white and awesome?” Noah grinned at his lame joke.

     “I need my energy for the scrimmage tomorrow. Hey,
Amanda, you’re going tomorrow, right?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the movie
playing.
Jaws
? Huh?

     “Yesss,” Amanda answered warily. I knew she was
wondering why in the hell I cared. I never had before.

     “I have a friend coming tomorrow and I was wondering if
she could sit next to you. You could help her understand the game a little.”

     Amanda groaned. “Nic, I really don’t want to sit next
to one of your groupies for two hours.”

     I couldn’t blame her, I wouldn’t either. After two
years she should realize that I would never invite one of those girls to a
game.

     “She isn’t a groupie, she’s a friend.”

     “She must be a relative, that’s the only kind of girl
Nic would invite to one of his games.” Noah said watching the people on the
screen get munched on.

     I still hadn’t told any of the guys about meeting up
with Carrie again. I hadn’t wanted to hear any of their unsolicited remarks,
and there would have been many. I had been so adamant about her being too young
and innocent that they would have ribbed be unmercifully. And for some reason I
had wanted to keep her to myself. I could see the guys stopping in and
‘chatting’ her up just to annoy me.

     There was also the way I felt about her, and it wasn’t
something I wanted to discuss. Obsessive, lustful, hungry, protective; the list
was extensive.

     I sighed knowing it was time to come clean, they would
all find out tomorrow anyway. “It’s Carrie.”

     Noah looked puzzled for a moment and then an evil smile
spread over his face. “You sly dog.” Noah reached over and grabbed the remote
to turn the volume down. 

     I rolled my eyes. “I went into the Sports store last
week and found out she was working there. We’ve been hanging out ever since.”

     Noah’s smirk was annoying. “So I guess she isn’t too
young.”

     “She’s a
young
eighteen.” I stressed. “She goes
to UVA
on a full scholarship, but lives off campus with her mom. She
stays at home and works to help out her mom when she could be living on campus
for free having everything paid for.” I wanted the guys to appreciate what
Carrie had accomplished and what she was going through.

     Noah’s expression lost the smirk at my disclosure.
“Tough. So you like her?”

     “Yeah,” I answered gruffly.

     Noah’s evil smirk returned. “Like-like her?”

     “What is this, junior high?” I returned tersely.

     Noah hooted uproariously.

     Amanda elbowed Noah in the stomach making him gasp, and
then she leaned over and patted my arm. “I can’t wait to meet her. Any girl
that could catch your interest for two weeks must be special.”

     I cleared my throat in discomfort. There was no way I
was talking about my feelings. “She’s pretty cool and she’s really funny.”

     Noah was done coughing up a lung. “Babe, what the
heck?”

     “Nic is trying to share with us about a girl he likes;
he doesn’t need your juvenile input making him uncomfortable.”

      I grinned at Noah’s set down. “Yeah, Noah.” I stood
up. “Be nice to me or I’ll tell your girlfriend.” I walked out of the room.

    “Am I supposed to tell the rest of the female population
that you’re off the market?” He yelled at my back.

     “Go for it,” I tossed back, leaving a surprised silence
behind me.

Chapter Ten

NIC

     I got up at eight the next morning and hopped in the
shower. After taking care of my morning erection and washing up I stepped out.
We were required to wear dress clothes on any game day so I pulled on some
dress slacks with a button up shirt and a tie. I brushed my hair and then gave
it a finger comb and shake. I didn’t bother with any hair gel; it would only be
dripping down my face in the next couple hours.

     I was the first one downstairs but could hear the other
guys moving around. We were lucky to have a house where each bedroom had its
own bathroom. The perk was reflected in the cost of the house, but who wanted
to share a bathroom with four other guys. The price of the house was also high
being as it was close to campus.

     Thinking about the cost of the house made me think of
Carrie and how she was helping to support her mother. I never really thought
about the cost of this house because I wasn’t really paying for any of it. I
mean I paid the bills, but the money came from my parents. They were footing
the bill. If I lived on campus it would be free because of my athletic
scholarship, but who wanted to live in a dorm if you didn’t have to.

     Shit, talk about getting a perspective about something.

     Whipping up some pancake mix I set up the big griddle
and between each cake frying I cut strawberries and put some blueberries in a
bowl. We would all need the carbs and sugars for the game today. I was flipping
cakes when Seth came down the stairs.

     “Hey,” he grumbled, heading for the refrigerator.
Grabbing the orange juice and milk he set them on the table. He then headed for
the cabinets for glasses and plates.

     Landon came running down the steps but slowed when he
saw that it was just the two of us. “Whew, thought I was going to be stuck with
the dishes.” He went over to the silverware drawer to get some forks and
knives.

     The last person down was responsible for washing the
dishes on a morning game day and nobody wanted that chore so we all raced to
not be last. You couldn’t cheat though, you had to be dressed and have
everything, no going back up.

     There came the sound of a mad scramble from upstairs.
Feet thumped across the floor. It was a fight for fourth place.

     “Hurry, Amanda, grab my shoes.” Noah yelled.

     “Hey, that’s not fair. You have help.” Evan complained
loudly.

     Amanda had slept over last night.

     Feet scampered down the stairs. “You could have some if
anyone could stand your sorry ass.” Noah yelled and he and Amanda hit the
ground floor with Evan close behind. Last was last though.

     “I call foul.” Evan protested. “He should be getting
his things himself.”

     Amanda jammed Noah’s wallet into his back pocket.

    You were allowed to dispute if you thought someone bent
the rules.

     “No girl help.” Seth grunted.

     “Yeah, only boy help.” Landon quipped.

     “Ehw,” Evan said. “I call foul on that too.”

     Everyone turned to me, and I put on my most serious
face. “I’m not opposed to girl help behind closed doors, but to have her carry
your junk, well, that’s just wrong. Sorry, Noah.”

     All the guys laughed raucously. Even Amanda snorted.

     “There’s really nothing I can say to refute that
statement.” Noah wheezed out.

     We all sat down to a stack of twenty seven pancakes;
five each for the guys and two for Amanda.

     “So Nic.” Noah stared at me while scooping up some
berries and putting them on his pancake. I scowled at him knowing what was
coming. “I guess you won’t be carpooling today.”

     I didn’t answer and continued to scowl around my bite
of pancake.

     “You know, because you have to pick someone up,” he
continued.

     All the guys looked at me except for Seth, he continued
to eat, and Amanda, because she was scowling at Noah the same as me.

     “I think it’s a…girl, right?”

     “You’re bringing some chick to the game today?” Landon
asked in astonishment. He turned to Evan. “Have we gone through a black hole
and landed in some kind of alternate universe?” He looked back at me. “Why
would you want to bring a chick to the game?”

     “Is there something wrong with bringing
a chick
to a game?  Amanda asked, looking at Landon like she wanted to crack him up
side the skull.

     “Only if you’re Nic Stanford. Nic Stanford doesn’t
bring chicks to games. He may pick one up at a game but he doesn’t bring one.”
Landon stated emphatically.

     Maybe they would continue talking and forget that I was
here. I took another bite of my pancakes.

     “Well, he’s bringing one, and he likes her, so don’t be
dumbasses and scare her away.” Amanda huffed.

     Landon turned on me and grinned. “Oh, you
like
her.”

     I guess I wasn’t forgotten.

     “Landon, shut it. The girl is Carrie.” Seth grumbled
impatiently, reaching for the milk to refill his glass.

     I looked at Seth in shock. “How did you know?”

     He shrugged gravely. “You moped around for a week after
meeting her, and then suddenly you weren’t any longer. At night you’d leave for
about ninety minutes and then come back. It wasn’t to have sex because you’ve
been jacking off every night. Moreover, Tina at Manny’s mentioned the nice girl
you’d brought in and how she was a pleasant change from the other skank’s that
hang around you. Tina went on and on about how beautiful the girl was, and how
she wished she had black hair that thick, and had just one of those beauty
marks. It wasn’t difficult to work out.”

     I gave him a look; he had to have thrown all that stuff
together after talking to Tina.  And had he really heard me jacking off every
night? And I hadn’t been moping!

     He quirked an eyebrow at me insolently. “I was kidding
about you jacking off, but I can tell by your expression that I’m right on.”

     I scowled fiercely but remained silent; protesting
would only verify the deed. Why did I get the feeling he was pleased about me
not getting any. 

     Amanda was looking kind of embarrassed with the
masturbation talk, but the rest of the guys were staring at me with varying
expressions of surprise.

     “Seriously dude, you hooked up with Carrie from the
restaurant?” Evan asked.

     I was done with my breakfast so I grabbed my plate and
headed for the sink. “She doesn’t work at the restaurant any longer; she’s
working at the Sports store now. And I haven’t ‘hooked up’ with her. We’ve just
been hanging out. I can’t get into it all now I’ve got to go pick her up.” I
really didn’t want to talk about what was going on with Carrie and me.

     “Hey, that’s cool. She’s nice,
and
a ‘hottie’.
They are few and far between. Good luck with that.” Evan said.

     I headed for the door and Landon called out with a
laugh. “It sounds like you’d better hit that soon if what Seth is saying is
true. You don’t want to go blind.”

     I heard Seth say ‘shut it’ as I turned back toward the
table rage uncoiling in my belly. 

     “Landon, we’re friends so I’m saying this as a friend,
and this can go for all you; don’t ever say something like that about Carrie
again. She’s not a hook-up or a groupie. I want you to treat her like you do
Amanda.”

     I saw Amanda smile. Landon’s expression sobered but I
could see the cynicism in eyes. I considered myself a hard core cynic, but
Landon was worse.

     “Okay, sorry bro, I didn’t realize it was that
serious.” He gave me an apologetic grin.