“Rylee is that the last of the boxes?” my mother called up the stairs.
I jumped on my suitcase one more time in an attempt to close it.
“I just have one more suitcase, Mom,” I said and continued to struggle.
“Oh, honey,” my mother laughed. “Have I taught you nothing over holidays? You have to do it like this.” She sat down on the suitcase and pushed everything inside before she zipped it shut with ease.
“I don’t think I weigh enough; I wasn’t blessed with the family height sadly.”
“That hasn’t stopped you from getting into San Marco for JV Cheerleading. I thought you would be over the moon right now, and you’ll finally get to join your brother and Aiden.”
My heart stopped at the mention of my childhood crush, the boy I could very well call another brother from a different mother. Our family has known the Reed family since before my brother and I were even a thought. My mother and Aiden's mother were best friends in high school and were on the same cheer team at University. They both got pregnant at the same time and chose to raise their kids together; Avery Parks and Aiden Reed were born to be best friends.
Which always left me to be the third wheel. I was only a year younger than both of them which meant we were always thrown together during family vacations and get-togethers. Over time I had quickly become one of ‘the boys’, an inseparable trio had been formed.
But there was no denying that over time I developed a major crush on Aiden and his rugged good looks and sweet personality. He was just the right amount of goofy and caring but knew how to be strong and stand up for those he cared about, he was perfect boyfriend material.
But he has never looked at me as more than a little sister, no matter how much I tried to get his attention, I was always shot down and reminded of how close our friendship was.
“I am excited, but I’m also a little nervous. I’m not going to know anyone there and I doubt I’ll be able to hang around Avery and Aiden while I’m there. They have their own frat house and I’ll be in the dorm rooms.”
“I’m sure you guys will have plenty of time to hang out. Now come on, your Dad is waiting in the car downstairs.” She grabbed the last suitcase, and we headed downstairs.
It was a pretty short drive to the school, but my parents wanted to get me in there earlier and make a quick stop to see my brother, who hopefully remembered they were coming today and made his shared house somewhat manageable for their visit.
My heart continued to pump nervously as I thought about seeing Aiden again. It has only been a few months since he and Avery had last come home for the weekend to visit, but every day that I was unable to see or talk to him has been brutal. Our time spent together in University was going to be different than when we were all in high school together.
Despite taking after my mother with her gorgeous, good looks and athletically built body, I looked nothing like the many girls Aiden showed interest in during our high school years, he never looked twice at me.
But over the summer my body finally decided to fill out and catch up with my age, instead of being a 19-year-old in a little boy’s body. This was going to be my year to stand out and what a coincidence that this was the year I finally reconnected with Aiden in a place where frat parties are plenty and anything could happen.
My parents helped me bring my bags and boxes into the dorm rooms and set up my side of the room before we had our tearful departure. Then, I was finally left on my own.
It wasn’t until later in the morning when my roommate finally arrived, a sweet girl named Isabelle who was studying music and had a huge celebrity crush on Henry Cavill, judging by the many, many posters she hung of him.
I was halfway through unpacking my suitcase when the door flew open, and I was tackled by two large bodies. “Ryles!”
“Ugh, can’t breathe. Get off!” I struggled to push them off me.
My older brother Avery helped me off the floor and pulled me in for a bear hug.
“Do you need any help unpacking?” Aiden asked.
I could feel the sweat perspire on my hands as soon as my eyes landed on his, the familiarity of their blue warmth washed over me and almost caved in his arms.
“I don’t have a lot of stuff, and classes don’t start for another day,” I said.
“Then, let’s go grab something to eat. I can show you all the good places to go around here,” Avery offered. “You also have to come to check out the frat house and see the guys, they’ve been dying to meet you.”
“Sounds good, let me just change really quick.” I pushed them out the door and rummaged through my suitcase to find a clean pair of jeans and a shirt to trade out my joggers and sweatshirt.
We walked around campus sipping on Starbucks as Avery and Aiden took me to all the local and hot spots that students frequented, including the campus bar that was pretty loose on checking I.Ds. After that, we were headed to the infamous Alpha Sigma Phi Frat House that Avery has taken so much pride in as the house's President, Aiden of course being the Vice President or whatever the titles were.
When we walked into the house, I was greeted right away with loud hollering and shouting coming from the living room.
“Hey guys, come meet my little sister!” Avery called out.
I heard what sounded like controllers dropping to the ground before two towering guys rushed around the corner, both of them built like damn trucks.
“This is Carter Romero, our Treasurer, and the official Hazing King.” Avery pointed to the one with short-cut dark hair and tanned skin.
“Pleasure to finally meet the littlest Parker's sibling.” He stuck out his hand for me to shake.
“That’s Noah Knight, our House and Scholarship Manager.” He pointed to the other guy next to Noah with shaggy blonde hair and bright green eyes who gave me a small wave.
“I’m Ryan Hayes, and I’m the house Secretary and Academics Chair. We’ve heard a lot about Avery’s famous little sister, and word is you can drink him under the table.” A preppy kid with curly brown hair and glasses that slightly hid his brown eyes.
“Thanks for the warm welcome, I’ve heard a lot about the house as well and I look forward to these infamous parties I hear you guys like to have,” I said with an excited grin.
“Well then you gotta come tonight!” Carter said. “It’s our first party of the semester, so it always goes out with a bang.”
“She just got here, give her the night to settle in,” Avery frowned.
“I’m up for it if you guys don’t mind me bringing a plus one.”
“What plus one?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah, you’ve barely been here an hour, who have you met already?” Avery piped in.
I rolled my eyes. “I meant my roommate, geez. I don’t remember asking for two brothers, by the way.”
The guys chuckled. “I can’t wait to see these two in big brother mode, I never thought I’d get to see that,” Carter said and slapped Avery on the back.
“Yeah, yeah, alright. Let’s get you to the main building, you still need to grab your locker keys and cheer uniform. What are your classes like this semester? Have you gotten your schedule yet?” Avery bombarded me with questions as he pushed me out the door.
“You’re acting worse than Dad right now, he already forced me to make a list and check it twice before we left the house. I have everything I need already; I just need to unpack.”
“Then, let’s get you unpacked.”
“Why are you shoving me out the door?”
“I’m tired of my friends checking out my little sister,” he grumbled.
I slapped him on the arm. “Don’t start that now, no one is checking me out. Now, drive me back to the dorms, I’m not walking back.”
“I don’t have any gas left.”
“I’ll drive you back to the dorms,” Aiden said.
My heart lurched in my chest at the thought of a car ride alone with him after not speaking for almost a year.
“O-okay.”
“So, how did your Mom take the move this morning?” Aiden asked into the silence of his truck. “Just like Avery, she couldn’t wait to get me out the door,” I chuckled, but it came out a lot more forced than I wanted it to. “She’s just excited that you’re following in her footsteps. My Mom used to always say that you were the daughter she always wanted.” Just another reminder that I was nothing more than a little sister in his eyes. I forced another smile. “What time is the party tonight?” “Just text me whenever you guys are ready, and I’ll come and get you. Avery is going to be busy setting up for the party.” “Okay, thanks for the ride back, Aiden. I’ll see you tonight,” I said and hurried to get out of the truck. My heart pounded the entire way to my dorm room. This was how it always was when I was around Aiden. I can never control my feelings and my emotions are all over the place. This was supposed to be my year to start anew, but I wildly underestimated how much I thought I
Jake and I moved back onto the deck and sat down. “You have a lot of guts showing up to a San Marco frat party. I guess I can assume you and your friends are also on the Jacksonville State football team, right?” He slapped a hand to his chest in fake surprise. “How did you guess?” I chuckled. “Well, I should warn you now, my brother is captain of the San Marco Tigers, and I start my first year as a JV cheerleader this year for that exact team.” “Then this must be my lucky day.” “Oh, how so?” I was barely in my drinks, but I already felt the liquid courage coursing through my veins as the flirtatious conversation flowed between us. “I was hoping I’d get more excuses to see you, and it turns out I’ll get to see you at every game with San Marco. I used to dread those, now I’ll have something to look forward to.” He flashed me a cocky grin but for some reason it made me laugh rather than gag. “Wow, you really are the sweet talker.” He leaned a little closer. “It’s pretty easy when
When I woke up the next morning I was so disoriented I nearly forgot where I was. A look at the familiar décor reminded me that I crashed in Aiden’s room last night and looked down to confirm with the shirt I was wearing. I looked around the room and didn’t spot him anywhere, my guess was he successfully crashed in Avery’s room, and he was somewhere asleep downstairs or in the yard. I let out a loud yawn and trudged out of bed to grab my clothes from the bathroom and get changed, but I decided to keep Aiden’s shirt on and tucked it into my jeans. The smell of eggs and bacon greeted me as I walked down the stairs and I found Aiden in the kitchen cooking up a storm. “You’re up early. Where is everyone else?” I asked and took a seat at the island counter. Aiden just pointed over his shoulder with the spatula toward the living room. Sprawled out on both couches and the ground were Avery, Carter, and Noah. None of them made it to their rooms it seemed. “Sucks to be them, they’re going
“What do you think that was about?” Isabelle asked. “Guess it looks like I was right, he was watching you guys.” “Would you stop? He’s probably thinking of ways to tell my brother that I’m hanging out with the enemy. I’ll never be able to live this down,” I groaned. “So, who cares? Jake is a hottie and he seems really into you. Just go for it, don’t care what your brother thinks. He can’t keep you from dating everyone just because he doesn’t like them.” It wasn’t so much my brother that I cared about, it was more Aiden. What would he think of me if I started dating Jake? Would he start to hate me too and think I was a traitor for fraternizing with the enemy? That sounded ridiculous. “Let’s forget about that and just watch the game, I have enough drama to deal with,” I said and thought to when I’ll be on that field myself soon with Leah and her demanding tone. The first game of the year was as intense as I expected, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off two particular numbers the entire
“Ugh, my head,” I groaned. Last night's decisions were a huge mistake, I never should have drunk that much or moved around so much without a drop of water. I blinked my eyes open and was met with the familiar ceiling of Aiden’s room and looked around at the familiar décor.“How did I end up here?” I muttered.I looked around for my phone and spotted the bottle of Advil and a glass of water on the nightstand. A smile spread on my face as I thought of Aiden and how he must have been the one to bring me up here and even made sure I drank something and had painkillers for my hangover.‘Why does he make it so hard to not like him?’ I took this opportunity to steal more of Aiden’s clothes and searched for a pair of jogging pants to change out of my leggings that had been soaked with sweat after sleeping in clothes all night. Once changed I headed downstairs where Aiden was once again cooking breakfast and Avery was passed out on the couch.“I’m starting to enjoy these weekend morning routi
“Is Jake coming to pick you up? What movie are you guys going to see?” Isabelle continued to ask question after question as I prepared for my date with Jake. “Would you like to come with us, Izzy?” I joked. She groaned. “I’m sorry, it’s been so long since I’ve gone out. I have to live it through someone, don’t I?” I just rolled my eyes and laughed. I was just as excited as she was but add on a ton of nerves to that as well. “We’re going to see some horror movie, I can’t remember the name of it, but we learned we’re both huge horror buffs, so this should be interesting.” My phone went off with a text from Jake that said he was out front, and I rushed out the door to see his car parked in the lot. “You look beautiful,” he said and kissed me on the cheek. “This is for you.” He pulled out a single rose. “That is so sweet, and the first flower I’ve received.” He placed a hand over his chest. “It is my honour to give you your first. Is it alright if we go to the movie first and then
I paused and waited as Aiden got out of his truck and stood next to it. I didn’t need to be able to see his face to know he was scowling. I heaved a heavy sigh and dragged my feet over to him. “Why did it take you so long to get back home? It’s almost midnight.” I rolled my eyes and groaned. “And I’m 19 and in University, and it’s a Saturday! I’ll ask again because you still haven’t given me an answer, but what in the fuck is going on with you?” I cried. “You’ve been acting like a super over-protective older brother and it’s really pissing me off.” “I’m just trying to make sure you don’t make some hasty mistake because you feel like you have so much to make up for. You’re the one who has been acting like a completely different person ever since you started here.” I gaped at him. “What are you talking about? I went on one date, Aiden! Just admit that the only problem you have with me dating Jake is because he beats your ass on the field every time!” The silence between us becomes
**WARNING. This chapter includes scenes of attempted sexual assault and may be triggering to some readers. Readers are advised.***The first half of the party was amazing, I almost forgot that I was at a completely different house, and I wasn’t back at my brother’s. Jake was nice enough to ask what I drank and got me a case of twisted tea in advance, which allowed me to quickly let loose and forget all the drama between Aiden and me.We hit the dancefloor, and it was a breeze from there to get caught up in the music and intimate dancing with Jake. He didn’t comment on how awkward my dancing was and went with whatever tempo I went with. We laughed and had a great time, but another hour into the party and things were getting a little intense.Twice I had to politely swat Jake’s hand away as he tried to slip it up my shirt and once more when he grabbed my ass a little too hard. I could feel the shift in his attitude toward me as it had become more rough and demanding.“Are you okay?” he