Sapphire

As I slowly gain consciousness, I roll over and bury my face into a pillow.  By the scent alone, I can tell I am in my bed.  I rub the sleep from my eyes as I sit up.  Yup, I am in my room.  I remember leaning on someone at the pub, but my memory is blurry afterward.  I walk into the kitchen to find Riley standing at the cooktop.  Riley is a decent cook.  I pour myself a cup of coffee as he glances at me over his shoulder.  I can fully admit that Riley is hot.  I can see why he enamors the girls here.  

“Where are you off to?”  He asks.

“I am going to walk around.  I need to take some pictures for a class, and I want to find places around here that fit the requirements for the project.”  I answer.

“Ok, just remember we will have new roommates when you come home, so don’t freak out if you run into someone when you walk in.”  Riley tells me. 

“Ok, I will be back later.”  I say.

I shut the door behind me as I head for the gym.  I decide to get some training in before I go exploring.  The gym is relatively quiet when I walk in.  Harold is at the counter and waves at me as I walk to the back, where the locker room is.  I change and tape up my hands.  I  walk out to find a few of the guys I train with here.  I spend the next hour working my ass off.  The shower's hot water in the locker room beats down on my sore muscles.  I slip into a pair of cargo shorts and a tank top and head off to find somewhere in this town that fits the description that my professor wants in our pictures.  I walk around admiring the town.  I must admit that this place is beautiful, and I am all but falling in love with it.  I know I haven’t been here long, but something about this country screams to my soul.  Even when I graduate, I will not return to the States.  An image of Dylan pops into my head.  I shake it to clear him out of my mind.  I need to get over this stupid crush.  I am still not sure who carried me home last night.  I know it wasn’t Riley.  He looked like shit when I saw him this morning.  I remember him being reasonably drunk before my memory began to get fuzzy.

I step out of the cab and hand the cabbie some money.  I watch as he drives off.  Riley would probably lose his shit if he knew I took a cab, but I don’t care.  I make my way to the beach.  I find a spot overlooking the ocean.  The view is beyond amazing, and I don’t want to leave.  I do not know how long I have been there, but I realize it is getting dark.  I checked out the pictures I took, and they all look fantastic.  As I look through them, I stumble upon quite a few with Dylan in them.  I have taken some around campus and even a few during their games.  I shut off my camera and put it back into my bag.  

The house is quiet when I walk in.  I turn on a few lights, but there is no one there.  I find a note in the kitchen.  Riley left a note telling me that the guys got moved in, that they were at the pub having a couple of drinks, and that I was welcome to join.  I  dig through the fridge and find some leftovers.  I heat them and walk to my room.  I finish my dinner while the tub fills up.  I tossed in one of the bath bombs I bought today while exploring and taking pictures.  I place my dirty dish on the counter.  I strip down and slip into the tub.  Fuck, I didn’t realize how sore I was until I sunk into this heavenly hot water.  I pull on a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top.  The air is on in the house but still hot and humid.  I flop down on the bed, which is the last I remember.

I smirk as I walk by the two rooms and down the stairs.  I can hear snoring from one of the rooms while whoever is asleep in the other room is mumbling about something.  Riley never did tell me who exactly was moving in, but it doesn’t matter.  I know all the guys on the team, and most of them are good guys.  There are three that I don’t like being around because they give me the creeps.  Lina doesn’t like them either.  I walk into the kitchen.  I pull out everything needed to make waffles, eggs, and bacon.  

“Well damn, a home-cooked brekky on our first morning here.”  A very familiar voice says.

I turn around to find Dylan standing there in a pair of athletic shorts.  His muscular chest and arms are on full display.  For fuck sake, he has a fucking eight-pack, and my fingers itch to trace along his v-line that disappears beneath the athletic shorts hanging dangerously low in his hips.  I hurriedly turn back around to concentrate on making breakfast and not on the ridiculously hot guy standing behind me.  I screamed when two hands landed on my hips, causing tingles to erupt where they touched my bare skin.

“Sorry, my precious jewel, I didn’t intend to scare you.”  Dylan tells me.

I can’t help the shiver that runs through my body as his warm breath flows over my ear.  The heat from his body seeps into mine as we stand there.  His chest is pressed against my back, and I catch the faint scent of his cologne.  As his hands slide toward my stomach, I hear footsteps coming down the stairs.  I damn near whine when he pulls away from me.  I feel cold and want to step back into his arms.  As I turn around to see who has walked into the kitchen, I am snatched up and spun around.  I see Luke smiling down at me as he stops spinning us.

“Damn it, Luke, put me down,”  I tell him. 

All he does is laugh, but he does set me back down.  I see Arlo standing off to the side beside Riley.  That is when it sinks in that these are the three teammates that Riley told me about moving in.  Shit, how the fuck am I suspossed to live with Dylan.  Now my fucking crush won’t ever go away.  I look over to see Riley staring at the two of us and shake my head at him.  Arlo grabs me and squeezes in a bear hug of his own.   These guys are crazy, but I wouldn’t have them any other way. 

“Brekky, as you call it, will be ready soon.  The three of you could help by getting plates and silverware out and ready for us.”  I point out.

“On it.”  Arlo says.

He hops over to the cabinet, grabbing some plates.  He is like a giant, overly exuberant puppy.  I laugh at his antics.  Luke follows him and grabs some glasses and the orange juice from the fridge.  I place the last of the waffles on the plate, which Riley picks up and carries to the table.  I pick up the plates with the eggs and bacon, but Dylan takes them from me, following me to the table.  We sit down, and I try to ignore that Dylan sits beside me.  Riley has been trying to get me to tell him which of the guys I have a crush on.  I have refused to say anything.  I don’t think he would be mad, but I have heard around campus how these guys are players and have a revolving door at the house where they live at.  I sure as fuck hope they don’t think that they can pull that shit living here.

“Ok, I don’t want to offend the three of you, and I say three since Arlo has a woman, but I have heard a lot of shit about you guys on the team and how you guys are very popular with the ladies.  I don’t care what you do, but please don’t think the revolving door you had at the hockey house will happen here.  I don’t care if you bring your conquests here, but please be respectful of me, the only girl living here.”  I tell them.

Arlo starts laughing hysterically as the other three have disgusted looks on their faces.  After he stops choking on his bacon, Riley tells me I have nothing to worry about.  I can’t control a small giggle that escapes as Luke and Dylan take drinks of their orange juice. 

“While we are not angels, we wouldn’t disrespect you like that.  Out of all the guys on the team, we are the four that are not like that.  Arlo is off the market, and while we may chase some tail now and then our revolving door as you called it has been closed for a while.”  Luke states. 

Riley tells me that Luke is telling the truth and stopped doing that shit halfway through last year.  While it hurts to hear him say this, Dylan says he is pursuing someone.  I tell him that is great and that I can’t wait to meet her.  I look back down at my breakfast as the others continue eating.  I glare at them when I am pushed out of the kitchen as the guys tell me they will clean up since I am the one that cooks brekky for them.  I let out a huff as I leave the kitchen.  I am not sure what I might walk into the next time I walk into the kitchen, but I have to trust that they will clean the kitchen as they told me they would.  

I must admit that I am surprised they cleaned up as well as they did.  I shake my head as I leave a note letting them know that I am going exploring again.  This time I head down to a park close to the house.  I take some great pictures, but my mind returns to Dylan admitting he is dating someone.  He didn’t say how long they have been dating, and honestly, I don’t want to know.  This is one more reason I need to get over this ridiculous crush.

“Sapphire?”  A feminine voice asks.

I turn around to find Zoey, a girl from one of my art classes.  I was surprised to see her.  I wasn’t aware that any other students lived around here.  I hadn’t seen anyone else, but then again, the campus is enormous, and I only know those I have met through Riley and the guys and a few from some of my classes.  

“Hey, what are you doing here?”  I ask.

“My grandparents live a block away from here.  I didn’t know that you lived around here.”  She answers. 

“Yeah, Riley’s and mine grandparents bought us a house a few streets over.  Luke, Arlo and Dylan moved in with us yesterday.”  I tell her.

I can tell she is surprised by what I told her.  She also has a look of confusion on her face.  I ask what is wrong, and she explains that Dylan and Karli have been seen together and that everyone is saying they are back together.  I can see why she is confused.  Karli will be pissed when she finds out where Dylan moved and who one of his roommates is.  We go our separate ways as I walk back to the house.  I found a note telling me they had hockey practice and would be home later.  I wipe a few tears away.  I have no idea why I am crying.  I knew he wasn’t interested in me, and he and Karli looked good together.  She is precisely what any guy would want—tall blond with gorgeous blue eyes.  Not to mention the perfect body.  There was never a chance for me.  I lock my bedroom door and fall face-first onto my bed.  Sharing a house with him is going to be hell.