I remember waking up every single day excited to see him and his handsome, tan face and with those sexy brown eyes. I remember how he would say good morning to me and open my door for me if we got to school at the same time. The only problem with all of this is that he's my roommate’s boyfriend.
I'd just moved to Oregon from Texas and I was completely out of my element. Everything was wet, green and cold. Texas was dry and hot. I didn't know anyone and that was the basis of its appeal. I didn't want any of my old issues following me here. I had a crazy mother who was drunk all the time and a brother who had no ambition in life but to play video games and drag me down with him. My father has been gone so long I can't remember his face and my only friend went to Michigan for school.
I was alone for the first time and I was scared but excited.
I walked to my dorm room with a box so big I could barely see over it. I pressed the key to the lock and rested the box against the door so I could open it but just as I turned the knob, the door was pulled open suddenly and I fell face first into the box, onto the floor.
"Oh crap. I totally didn't see you there," The sexiest voice I'd ever heard said. I felt my face instantly heat up and I wished I could rewind time.
"Are you ok?" He asked when I didn't get up right away. I felt his hands on my arm and I finally moved to look at him.
Gasping, I moved back slightly and pushed his arm off me. He was the sexiest damn guy I'd ever seen and I'd just made the biggest ass of myself.
"Brandon, leave her alone. Can't you see she's embarrassed?" A feminine voice spoke and I looked over his shoulder towards it.
"Sorry," I said quietly and moved to grab my box only to have those strong hands grab it before me.
"No one was hurt and it's my fault. I heard you and thought I could open the door before you got to it. I was trying to help but made it worse. I'm Brandon by the way and your roommate is Erica."
"Hi. I'm sorry about Brandon. He means well but he always does something stupid." She smiled a cheesy smile at him and then looked back at me. Hurt crossed Brandon's face for just a second but it was long enough that I saw it. Not wanting to cause any issues, I just reached for my box out of Brandon's hands.
"I'm Davis and thank you, I got this." I gave him a genuine smile and he returned it.
"Do you have more stuff? I don't mind helping. We just brought up the last of Erica's things and I've got some time if you want the help." Why was he being so nice to me? He didn't know me. I looked to Erica, silently asking for permission and she just waved us off.
"I don't care. I'm going to take a shower anyways. Babe, did you want to go to that party tonight? Oh and Davis, did you want to come with us to the party? I know some sexy hot guys I can introduce you too." I looked back at Brandon and he was just smiling at me, waiting for me to answer.
"Sure, if you don't mind. I'd like to meet some new people." Maybe being in a new place was exactly what I needed. People were so nice here. "You're sure you don't mind if I borrow Brandon for a few to help me bring up my stuff?" I asked Erica one more time.
"No, of course not. Use him any way you need him. He doesn't ever do anything for me, so if you can get him to help you that's great." She rolled her eyes and I opened mine wider in shock. She was so rude to him and in front of a stranger no less.
Erica moved to her dresser and grabbed her things, not paying any attention to us. I gave Brandon a sympathetic look and he replaced his hurt look with a smile. "Come on kid, let's go."
Brandon grabbed the box from my hand and set it on the floor and pulled me from the room. He released my arm a few steps down the hall but suddenly stopped and spun around, causing me to crash into his hard chest.
"Umpf," I groaned but didn't take a step back. I was enjoying the feel of him against me.
"Enjoying yourself?" Brandon asked me quietly but I heard the smile in his face. I looked up to see him looking down at me with a smirk. I moved back, turned away and started moving fast down the hall towards the stairs. I just couldn't stop embarrassing myself in front of him.
"Davis, wait!" I heard him yell behind me but I didn't stop. I pulled the door open to the stair well and quickly started running down the two flights of stairs. "Davis!" He called again as I reached the bottom exit but again, I didn't stop.
I saw light as I opened the doors and I started running for my car. I hoped I could just get lost in the crowd and not see him again for the rest of the day. I was almost to my car when strong hands wrapped around my waist. They jerked me to a stop and I was pressed against an all too familiar hard chest.
"Damn you’re quick," Brandon said out of breath in my ear. He didn't release me and I realized I was off the ground still.
"Can you put me down please?" I asked quietly and his hard breathing stopped.
"What?" He asked, dropping me and spinning me around in his arms. I was so close to him I could feel his breath on my face. I looked into his eyes and he was just watching me with a smirk on his face. He winked at me suddenly, causing me to break out in red again. I covered my hands with my face and tried to move back.
"Davis, look at me." He didn't sound annoyed at all, he sounded a bit worried honestly and it caused me to open my finger to peek through them to look at him.
"You are so cute when you blush. You just have to relax, ok. You didn't hurt me. No one died. I know I have a sexy chest and you can bump into it any time you want." He moved his arms from around me to the tops of my shoulders and it caused me to stand right in front of him.
"You do have a sexy chest," I said and before I knew it I was red again and he was laughing at me.
"You blush a lot huh?" He asked me between laughs. I didn't answer. I turned around to my car and started grabbing more of my things.
"I'm sorry. Why don't we start over? I'm Brandon and you are?" I turned around and Brandon was standing there with his hand out to me, waiting for me to shake it. I looked at it and then back at his face, then back to his hand again.
"I'm Davis," I responded as I shifted the items in my hand to shake his.
Brandon pulled me forward and hugged me tight, throwing me off big time. "I hug my friends, sorry." He whispered it softly into my ear and I felt his breath on my neck. I shivered and he moved back to look me in the eye. He just winked at me again and moved to grab some stuff out of my car.
"We should be done in no time. You didn't bring a U-Haul full of useless crap like Erica did. It seriously took us four hours to unload all her stuff."
"If you're tired, you don't have to help me. I can do it on my own, really." I moved towards him and I threw the clothes that were in my hand on top of the box he was carrying. I moved to grab it from him and as I pulled, he pulled back, causing me to fall.
"You sure do fall at my feet a lot, huh?" Brandon said as he stood above me. I just rolled my eyes because I was getting tired of being embarrassed by him.
"Can I just have my stuff please?" I moved to grab the box again and this time he let me take it. This box probably weighed 70 pounds and I knew I wasn't going to make it very far before I dropped it. I wasn't going to show weakness so I adjusted myself and walked quickly towards the elevator.
I could only see about an inch over the box and with all of the people around today, I was just asking for trouble. I said excuse me about fifteen times and when I was ten feet from the door, I kicked the curb and started to fall. Hands reached me before I hit the ground and another set of hands grabbed my box.
"Whoa there, are you ok?" A new male voice asked me. It scared me to be in a strange man’s arms and I quickly moved away and spun around to see him.
"I'm ok, thank you."
"I'm Mike. You are?" He smiled flirtatiously at me and I couldn't help but smile and blush.
"I'm Davis."
"You're a cute little thing." He looked behind me and it caused me to spin around to see what he was looking at.
I looked back towards my box and Brandon was holding it, watching me talk to this strange guy. The look on his face was one I hadn't seen before and before he caught me looking at him and had a chance to change it, I caught a good glimpse of it.
"Davis is Erica's roommate Mike, so be nice." I frowned at Brandon's rude tone but I felt an arm slide over my shoulder and I looked up the body it was attached to, seeing Mike's smug face.
"Even better. Do you have a boyfriend Davis?" Mike moved his face closer to mine and I tried to take a step back from him and put some distance between us. Mike had player written all over his face and I didn't want anything to do with that. He let me move about two inches away, but not more.
"No, I don't and can you please let go?" I grabbed his hand and removed it from my shoulders, gaining the space I wanted.
"Mike, take it down a notch. She's too inexperienced for you. Leave her alone before you hurt her." Brandon's statement caused me to gasp and frown at him.
"How do you know what I've done and haven't done?" I was a virgin, yeah but I wasn't a prude. I'd been on dates and had boyfriends before.
"I didn't mean anything by it Davis just that Mike should leave you alone." I saw the confusion cross his face and I'd had enough of this conversation.
"Thank you for helping me. I can get my own stuff from here." I grabbed the clothes off the top of the box and moved towards the front doors of the building.
"Damn it Brandon, now you made her mad," Mike said from behind me. Brandon responded but I didn't hear what he said.
I walked inside and pushed the elevator button about twenty times before someone cleared their throat beside me.
"Did that button do something to hurt you?" Brandon asked me cautiously.
"No, but I'm annoyed. Why can't you just leave me alone?"
Brandon gasped in a fake tone and placed one hand on his chest as if my statement had caused him pain. "You want me to leave?"
I just rolled my eyes and silently prayed the elevator would come. Maybe Brandon wasn't as cute as I thought he was. Mike was looking better and better.
"Davis? Davis? Davis? D.A.V.I.S?" Brandon said and spelled my name over and over, trying to get my attention.
After hearing my name ten times, I turned to him and screamed, "WHAT?"
He jumped slightly and the whole floor stopped and looked at me. I felt my whole body turn a dark shade of red and I felt the tears starting to form in my eyes. The ding of the elevator saved me and I quickly got inside, away from everyone's gaze. Brandon moved next to me but didn't say anything. He was clearly shocked that I'd screamed at him and I honestly felt back about it.
"I'm sorry, “I said softly but he didn't say anything back. I took a deep breath and that caused tears to spill from my eyes. I used the clothes in my arms to discreetly wipe my eyes but the movement made Brandon look at me.
"Are you? Did I make you?" I looked at Brandon's face and saw the shock. His brown eyes looked pained and I wanted nothing more than to put that sexy smile back on his face. I couldn't though. He'd made fun of me and now he'd embarrassed me so badly I cried.
The ding signaling we were at our floor made me move away from him and I made a quick b-line for my dorm door. I heard footsteps behind me but I didn't look to see who they were. The dorm door was open slightly and I kicked it, causing it to open all the way. I looked around and noticed Erica wasn't inside. I placed my clothes on my bed and moved back to the door, only to be blocked by Brandon.
"Sorry," I said as I moved back out of his way. He kicked the door closed quickly and set the box down.
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad or cry. I'm sorry I embarrassed you. Please don't be mad." He placed his hands on the sides of my face and tiled my head up so I was looking at him. Being this close I could see that his brown eyes had specks of gray in them and he had small freckles along his nose.
The moment was lost by Erica opening the door, hitting Brandon in the back.
"Crap, I'm sorry." She said and Brandon took his hands off my face and we both moved out of the way before she noticed how close we were. What in the world was I doing letting him touch me like that? Or better yet, what was he doing touching me like that?
"Are you alright?" Erica asked me and I nodded yes.
"It's just been a long day and I'm really hot. I'm going to go get more stuff." I moved around her as she smiled at me and I heard Erica start to speak to Brandon. I stopped walking just outside the door when I heard my name.
"So, is she nice?" Erica asked him in a snotty tone.
"Yeah, she is. I think you guys will really get along." Brandon sounded like he meant it and it made me smile. He still said nice things about me after all that just happened. I was shocked.
"I don't trust her. I saw the way she looked at you. I don't want you helping her anymore. You never do things like that for me? Do you want to break up and go out with her?" I gasped at her freak out but Brandon's answer shocked me.
"No, are you crazy. She's so self-conscious and awkward. I'd never date someone like her, especially when I have you." I didn't hear anything after that and I figured they were doing something private. Tears streamed down my face and I hung my head as I walked back to the stairwell.
I went down the first flight and then stopped, taking a seat on the top step by the landing. I brought my keeps up to my chest and laid my head down, crying on myself. How did my great, new beginning come to this? Maybe I could get a new roommate and never see Erica or Brandon ever again? I jumped slightly as a hand touched my back. My head snapped up and Brandon's concerned eyes bore into mine.
"Why are you crying?" He asked me as he reached out to me. I moved down two steps away from him and my sadness turned to anger instantly.
"Why would you even bother with someone as self-conscious and awkward as me?" I heard him gasp as I turned away from him and ran down the rest of the stairs towards my car.
I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to start this new experience like this and I was going to be someone strong and confident. I was going to pretend like Brandon's looks didn't affect me and that I secretly wanted his body pressed against mine. I was going to date boys and experience new things. I was going to have fun and get into trouble. I was going to live life and experience college like all the movies and books talk about. I opened my car door and filled my hands with my stuff and as I turned around, Brandon was standing there watching me.
"Jesus, what now?" I asked him and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Wow. Your mood swings are out of control. Please, just let me talk for a second." He took a step towards me and I backed up.
"Alright, you like your space. I can respect that. I'm sorry for what I said to Erica. You probably noticed she's really insecure and bitchy. She can be really sweet too once you get to know her. You just intimidate her, and she isn't used to that."
"I intimidate her? How is that even possible? She's like California beach Barbie. She's perfect."
"She may look good, but her attitude makes her ugly sometimes." He paused for a second, thinking about the honest statement he'd just made and started backtracking. "I said that wrong. Just forget I said anything. Just forget this whole day ok? Just come out with us tonight. We will introduce you to some new people and you can have fun, forgetting this whole day. What do you say?"
I looked at his smiling face and I knew the second he asked that I wasn't going to say now. I just wanted an excuse to look at him for a few seconds longer. "Ok," I said quietly and he took a step towards me to hug me but I backed up again.
"Sorry. I'm a hugger. I'll figure out your boundaries eventually." I silently hoped he always tried to hug me but it was better that I kept him at a distance. He was my roommate’s boyfriend after all and I shouldn't be crushing on him at all.
Brandon helped me get the rest of my things from the car and Mike showed back up, helping with the last load. There were no more incidences and I was beyond thankful. I didn't think it was possible for anything else to go wrong... But man did I speak too soon.