Chapter 6

Getting ice cream with my brother was a lot of fun. We talked about everything under the sky. I made sure though not to bring up Gabriel because I had a feeling that wouldn't go over so well. Cris can be very protective over stupid things like that. Plus I didn't plan on talking to Gabriel again, especially after the way he treated me earlier. Being a jerk doesn't get you anywhere.  

Just being with Cris and doing something normal to us made me feel a lot better. To me it helped make my first day of college better. I hadn't expected to feel this way or need my brother so much but I do and I am so glad I decided to go to Columbia instead of NYU.  

Sadly we couldn't stay and eat ice cream forever. Cris had to get back so he could get ready for the football game tonight. I knew it was a big deal for him and Andrew. First game of the season and they were hoping to take it all this year. I knew they could and probably would. When Cris set his eyes on something he wouldn't stop until he got it. That is what made him great at sports and it will be great for when he takes over the Hotels from my father in the future.  

The car ride back to campus was a quick one. Cris and I sang loudly along with a song on the radio. Both of us sounding like dying whales but it didn't stop us from screaming loudly to the words. We had only sang along to two songs before Cris pulled into a parking spot. A few cars over I could see my own car sitting there.  

My car was my baby. Instead of letting my parents pay for one I made them a deal that I would get straight A's for 2 semesters and pay half if they would pay for the other half; which they agreed to do. My 2010 Honda Accord wasn't the most prettiest car but I worked hard to get it. It ran like a charm and I never had any problems with it. My dad did want to get me a new car for graduation, something more 'dependable' he said but I refused. I earned this car and it worked perfect for me. I didn't drive all the time but when I did, it did the job. Plus it showed how independent I was. I wanted to work for things in life, not have them handed down to me.  

I couldn't say the same about Cris though. For graduation he accepted a 2014 Jeep Wrangler from my parents. Sure he already had a car that he did pay for himself but in his words "Why turn down a free car!?" Yep my brother ladies and gentlemen. Cris did however help my parents to kind of pay back something for the car. So it wasn't a total handout. And I had to say it was a pretty damn nice car. A bright cherry red color that you could see from a mile away. Four doors and the top came off. To him it definitely was a chick magnet. And it is fun to drive, he has only let me drive a few times and maybe one other without his permission.  

"Thank you for the ice cream Cris." I said as we trekked back towards our dorm buildings.  

"No problem. It is our thing we can't stop doing it." I smiled at that. Cris was definitely the best brother anyone could ever have. Even if he looked out for me too much I was glad he did. Without him I don't know what I would do. I always thank my lucky stars that I got such a great family. A few minutes later we came to a stop in front of my dorm building.  

"I'll see you tonight at the game, good luck and kick some ass." I said smiling over a him.

"Good I will look for you and Mia in the front row. Make sure to wear my jersey." He pulled me into a bear hug. I squeezed him back breathing in his scent.  

"Good luck and tell Andy the same." I said pulling away.  

"I will. See you in a few hours." With a quick peak on my forehead Cris bounded away. Grinning at I turned and headed inside.  

When I entered the 'apartment' I saw Mia sitting on the couch staring intently at the tv. She changed out of her jeans to her pj bottoms.  

"Hey." I greeted going over and flopping down beside her.  

"Hey. How was the date with your bother?" She asked.  

"Wow that didn't sound disgusting or nothing." Mia just waved me off still staring at the tv. "It was good. We went to this cute little ice cream shop a few minutes away from here, and it was great." She of course didn't reply.  

"How was your final class?" I asked. That got her attention.  

"The class was okay but there is a total hottie who sits a few seats down from me." As she said that my mind flashed to my English class with Gabriel only a few seats away from me as well. "I didn't get his name but Carmen he is a cutie."  

I couldn't help but shake my head at her. She is always like this. If there was a guy who was slightly cute she would go on and on about him for a little bit before a new one came along. Thankfully though she didn't go out with any of them. she just liked to look as she always told me. When it came to boyfriends Mia was very loyal.  

"So I was thinking that since the game isn't until 8 that we would go grab something to eat in a few hours then head over. Sounds good?"  

"Yep it does. You do have the passes though right?"  

"They are on my dresser." We lapped into silence Mia watching whatever it was on TV and me texting my parents.  

"Hey Mia have you heard from Amy?" I asked suddenly. I haven't heard a thing from her since the day of the frat party.  

"Actually I haven't. She hasn't replied to any of my texts." She frowned. That is too unusual. It wasn't a big deal if Amy didn't reply to us for a day or too but we both thought since we started school today she would be wanting to tell us about how there were tons of hot guys in her classes, or how the professors were rude. Hell even about cheering at tonights game.  

"I bet she is just busy with classes and getting ready for the game tonight." I supplied. Mia nodded although not entirely convinced.  

We sat around watching tv and talking before going to go eat somewhere. I knew from past games that everywhere would be busy in the next few hours as everyone went to eat before going to the game. Football here at Columbia University was a big deal. People got really into, especially on the first game day. This year would be worst since everyone believed the team would go undefeated all year and win the championship.  

Both of us were expecting tons of people tonight and were beyond grateful we already had passes for seats. I knew my parents would probably come tonight as well. They never missed Cris or Andy's first game. Of course they couldn't come to each game but as long as they came to this one and the last one it was all good.  

The next hour or so passed by quickly and soon both of us headed to our rooms to get changed. It wouldn't be too cold thankfully and being surrounded by tons of people we wouldn't have to worry about being cold. Deciding that my tan skinny jeans wouldn't look good with Cris's sky blue jersey I quickly stripped them off, grabbing another light blue pair. With Cris's last years jersey on I tied it with a hair band since it was too big for my frame.  

I didn't mind our school colors. A light sky blue, white and occasionally dark blue. Once I had the jersey on I slipped back on my black booties. Looking in my full length mirror I noticed my hair was still curled but looked more relaxed. Liking my outfit, I headed to the bathroom to quickly fix my makeup before we left.  

Making sure I had everything in my purse and my newly charged cellphone Mia, and my camera to take photos, we left the apartment. Mia was dressed in her clothes that she wore all day, unlike me. Cris has offered for her to wear one of his jerseys but she always refused.  

"I bet you are excited for the game tonight. Front row to seeing Andy in tight football pants." Mia winked at me.  

"No that isn't why..." I trailed off.  

"Yeah right I saw the way you looked at him the other day."  

"I was not!"  

"Oh come on, yes you were. It was plain as day." She shrugged. I knew she was right. I'm actually surprised that Andy or Cris hasn't figured it out.  

"I know." I muttered.  

"Maybe you should just tell him how you feel. Get it off your chest." Mia suggested glancing over at me.  

"You know I can't do that."  

"Why not? You are both adults now and you have been holding this in for years now."  

"But Mia if I tell him it will get all awkward because he won't return the same feelings. And with him Cris's best friend he is always around, so it would be even worse and Cris would find out. It would just be a disaster." I have been through all the options and there is no way it would work. Every one would end up with the same result, me heartbroken and my brother hating me. Yep did not want to go down that road.  

"Just think about it okay? I hate seeing you pining after him so hard." She sent me a sympathetic smile. You and me both. I thought. A few minutes later we walked up to 95 degrees. We have literally only been here for 3 days and have been here everyday. They will definitely start to know us here. But it kind of wasn't our fault, the cafe was literally 5 minutes away from us.  

"You know the people in this place are going to hate us soon." I commented as we got in line to order.  

"So they have good food and delicious coffee, what more could we want." I couldn't argue about that.  

Ordering the same hamburger I got a few days ago with fries I moved to the side for Mia. I grinned hearing her order the same thing. That is why we are such good friends, we both love food. We lucked out by finding a small table near the back. The place was packed and almost everyone was wearing the schools color for the game.  

"So you didn't tell me if there were any hot guys in your classes." Mia asked as we sat down. Instantly Gabriel's face appeared in my mind. I don't know why especially when he was nothing but a jerk to me. Since I didn't answer right away Mia took that to mean yes.  

"What!? There is! You better tell me who!" She practically yelled. I glanced around not wanting everyone to stare at us.  

"It is no one." I muttered taking a sip of my water.  

"Nuh uh you aren't getting away with not telling me." I let out a sigh. I should have known Mia would find out about Gabriel.  

"Fine but it's nothing."  

"When it comes to guys it isn't nothing. Spill."  

Knowing I can't keep anything from her I told her everything from when she drunk dialed me and having Gabriel help me, to our encounter this morning after class. Once I started talking I couldn't stop myself from telling her practically everything. Because we are so close and have always told each other everything I knew Mia would understand or at least help me in some way. I stopped a few times, once when our food got here and when Mia asked about Gabriel carrying her inside the apartment.  

"Wow he sounds hot." She said a minute after I finished.  

"Really that is all you got out of that?" I munched on a fry.  

"Basically yeah." She grinned at me. "But no really that is all he has said to you?"  

"Yeah only like 20 words and all of them were rude. I was just trying to be nice." I frowned.  

"Car, you may have thought you were being nice by thanking him again, but guys find it annoying when you keep bringing it up. And from the sounds of it this Gabriel guy doesn't have much patience."

"No kidding." I muttered softly.  

"Do you know anything about him? Last name? Age? Has a brother or best friend that is hot perhaps?" At the last part I sent her a look to which she just wiggled her eyebrows.  

"I don't know his last name or his age." I trailed off thinking about him. He didn't look much older than me or Cris. But there was something about him the screamed maturity, like he had seen more than he should at his age. I tried to remember if he said his last name or anyone else but I came up blank. I didn't know his last name. "Plus I don't think he has any friends with his attitude."  

"Well I'll settle for a brother or maybe a cousin. If they are anything like you said he looked then I will be just fine." Gabriel's face popped into mind. I have only seen his full face once, when I was cleaning his cuts, but it was like it was engraved in my mind. He strong jawline, pointed nose that looked like he had maybe broken it a few times, gorgeous hazel eyes. Yes there was no doubt he wasn't hot.  

"If you are done thinking about him we may want to go." Mia's voice jerked me out of my thoughts.  

"Sorry. I'm ready." I quickly drank the last of my water before standing up. Grabbing our dirty trays we put them in the designated area before heading out the door. We definitely went at the right time for the line was already out the door.  

"Hey Mia can we maybe not tell my parents or Cris about this?" I asked playing with my fingers as we headed towards the football stadium.  

"Definitely not. Your father would have the poor guy followed and interrogated and forget about Cris and Andy. They would track him down and beat his ass. We will be keeping him to ourselves for now." I nodded with her. She was right my father would go insane until he found Gabriel and figured out everything about him and lets not get started on Cris and Andy. They both would find him and tell him to leave me alone. This is why you don't have brothers people.  

"Thanks Mia." I smiled over at her. She was the only one who really knew how protective the boys in my family were of me, hell practically her too. They thought of Mia as their daughter/sister so it was only reasonable they would just as protective of her as me.  

"You are 18, you can decide who you want to hang out with or what you want to do. College is where you make terrible decisions and then look back on them laughing about it."  

They do say that college is one of the best experiences you will ever have. A time to do stupid/crazy things that you may regret in the future, but nothing too severe that could haunt you forever. A time to do things out of your comfort zone and experience new things.  

By now it was nearing 7:15. We were a little early but having to go through the crowds, security and find our seats was going to be crazy. Mia and I stuck close to one another as we got closer to the stadium not wanting to lose each other. All around us was a sea of blue colored shirts, bare chests, jerseys. I could tell quite a bit of the students around us were already hammered for they were yelling loudly, messing around, and had beer bottles in their hands.  

More than a few guys were shirtless covered in blue paint. We passed by a group of guys that were shirtless and had different letters spelled on them. Lets just say that only a few looked good shirtless, there were a few that probably should have worn a shirt. Thankfully it was dark out or they would be sunburned at the end of the game.  

It was only a little chilly tonight. Definitely warmer than it was the other day when I went to get Mia at the frat party. But then again it could be because we were surround by tons of people. As we continued to move forward to the tickets part I could feel all the excitement from everyone melting into me. Every football game I could feel myself feeding off everyones excitement making me just as excited as they were. The feeling was addicting.  

Mia and I almost got separated but I quickly grabbed her hand steering us to a line. Glad I took out our passes earlier I showed them to the lady. Checking the pass she let us through. Walking in the direction we needed to go I looked around grinning at people. I forgot how big the first game of the season was. Everywhere around us people were yelling or chanting the schools name or mascot. Not even a second later we passed by someone wearing a Lion's costume going around high-fiving everyone. Yep our school mascot was the Lion.  

Seeing as it took us about 20 minutes to get in we made our way to the entrance we needed. Having front row seats was nice for we could skip all the crowds. After the steward made sure we had real tickets we went down to our seats. The place was slowly starting to fill up and you could literally feel the excitement in the air. Our seats were directly in the middle of the stadium on the same side that the team would stand on. Pulling out my phone as we sat down I wondered when my parents would show up.  

We only sat down for a few minutes when the cheerleaders came out, Amy being one of them. Standing up Mia and I leaned over the railing yelling her name. She was close to the end of the line and when she saw/heard us she waved. I thought it was great that she was able to get on the team and only be a freshman. She wanted us try out with her but cheerleading was definitely not my forte, neither was it Mia's.  

Mia and I talked back and forth for a few minutes before I heard my name being called. Turning I saw my parents making their way towards us. The moment they were close enough my mother launched herself at me. Her arms wrapping tight around my body stopping air from reaching my lungs.  

"Oh how I missed you!" She said into my ear squeezing me tighter. I hugged her back breathing in her scent. Next to me Mia hugged my father.  

"I missed you too." I said quietly.  

"Can I hug my daughter now?" My dad asked a teasing tone to his voice. My mom reluctantly pulled away from me letting my dad move past her.  

"Hey sweetheart." He said before pulling me into a bear hug. I had to stand on my toes to reach him. I loved my dads hugs, they always made you feel warm and loved. While I hugged him my mom grabbed Mia pulling her into an equally tight hug.  

"Hi dad." I took a minute to breath him in too. His familiar cologne filled my nose making me realize I missed him more than I thought. The way we acted you would have thought we haven't seen each other for months but it has only been 3 days. Once my dad let me go we all took our seats, my mother beating my father to sit next to me.  

"So how are you girls doing? Have you been eating right? Did you go to classes today?" My mother, Danielle, spurted out questions one after another.  

"Yes we have been eating, 3 meals a day. We went to all of our classes today and have gone to bed at a reasonable hour." I answered. Even if I wanted to feel annoyed that my parents didn't trust me or asked too much questions I couldn't. It just showed they cared.  

"Yeah I've been the more mature one here." Mia butted in grinning widely at my parents. "Carmer hasn't done anything to help out." I rolled my eyes at her while my parents just smiled. They knew she was kidding. I wasn't someone that let others do everything.  

"I'm glad you girls are doing good. Has Cris and Andy been around?" My father, Nicola, asked.  

"We hung out with them all day yesterday, and had lunch with Cris today." Mia answered. My parents didn't even have to ask if Cris and I saw each other today, they knew we would do our ritual like every single year.  

"Good. They need to make sure you are doing good everyday." Mia and I shook our heads at my dad. Theres my dad for you.  

"I'm so excited to see them play. I know they have both been working so hard." Mom said grinning out at the field.  

"Everyone is saying they will be undefeated this year." I commented.  

"As long as they all work together they will." My dad use to play football with my uncle Stefeno and Luca and it was something him shared with both Andy and Cris. There have been so many times they would sit at the dinner table talking about football the entire time.  

We talked back and forth with my parents for a little bit, catching up on whatever happened in the last 3 days. As we talked the stadium filled up with screaming fans. Before we knew it the announcer came on introducing both teams. At the sound of ours people stomped their feet and stood up cheering. Bursting through the thin paper that had LIONS printed on it the entire team spilled out onto the grass.  

As they came towards us I looked around for my brothers number as well as Andy's. Almost instantly I spotted number 16 and 17 jogging towards us, helmets on. Cris and Andy have had those same numbers all through high school. And it made sense that they were only one number apart, on the field they were like one person. It was like they mind linked while Cris threw the ball exactly where Andy would be.  

All four of us stood up and leaned over the railing as the two boys came to us. Reaching down, extending my arm, I could grasp their hands. Both boys kissed my moms hand before shaking my fathers. Coming to me I grinned at Cris. We did our 'secret' hand shake that we did before every game. I could see Cris grinning through his helmet as well.  

Andrew was next and of course I felt my stomach warm up seeing him in his uniform, it was so sexy on him. Him and me didn't have big secret handshake like Cris and I but we did shake while hooking our index and pinky finger together. I honestly have no idea where we came up with it but ever since then we have done it.  

"Good Luck!" I yelled to them and gave them a thumbs up.  

"Kick their asses!" Mia beside me yelled. We all smiled to one another before taking our seats. The game was about to start.

*****  

Gage's POV:

Long dark brown hair and light baby blue eyes were all I could see all day. Her face kept flashing through my mind as I went to my classes and now as I stood in the gym. I couldn't seem to get her out of my head. Carmen. I really liked that name. It slide off my tongue so easily.  

Ever since I saw her in my English class this morning she hasn't left me. I had instantly recognized her when I walked in. I hadn't even realized my legs were moving until I took a seat only 3 away from her. It was a shock seeing her again. 2 nights has passed since she ran into me in the middle of the night. I was coming back from a fight and hadn't expected to really see anyone, especially a girl like her out so late.  

I knew I was rude to her even after she apologized for running into me. The moment I saw the hurt in her baby blue eyes I instantly felt bad. Me, Garbriel Wolf, felt bad for being rude to someone. That didn't happen everyday. I was halfway to my dorm when I noticed I had forgotten my phone in my car. Groaning under my breath I headed back towards my car but stopped halfway there when I heard voices. A few feet in front of me was the same girl that ran into me.  

She was struggling with what looked like a girls body. I watched as she almost dropped the girl and heard her let out a yell. I don't know what made me do it but I walked towards her and offered to help. I was fucking stupid to do that because she kept asking about the cuts on my face and my name. But when she offered to help clean my wounds I found myself saying yes. Her voice was so soft and gentle. I wanted to keep listening to it.  

Because she was nice to help me I told her my name as I left. Ever since that night I have thought about her. I never thought about a girl so much. Usually it was a hump and dump. It pissed me off so when I heard her yelling my name after class I didn't stop. I don't know why she kept following me I thought she would get the hint.  

So when she grabbed my elbow I snapped. But surprisingly she came right after me. Most people wouldn't come after me. I was scary and I knew it so having her still following me surprised me.  

Thinking back to the conversation we had I punched the punching bag. Gritting my teeth I continued on punching the bag, sweat dripping down my face and chest. The only way to get Carmen to leave me alone was to be a dick to her; and it worked well. But she was different than other girls who talk to me, she had fire inside of her. My words seemed to make her angrier and her blue eyes darkened. Seeing how she stuck up for herself made something inside of me spark.  

Instead of being glad that she walked away from me I felt curious. Curious about the girl who dared to talk back to me.  

"Fuck." I grunted grabbing the punching back and dipping my head down. Sweat dripped of the tip of my nose. Panting I closed my eyes wanting to get rid of her face. All fucking day she has been taunting me.  

"Gabriel." I heard my best friend call my name. Well he was my only friend. "Why are you punching the bag as if it was attacking you?" Daniel asked coming to stand behind the heavy bag. I didn't bother to answer him, trying to catch my breath.  

Daniel has been my best friend since I was little. We both grew up on the same side of town and have been through more shit than most people our age. He has been the only person to stick by my side and even though I don't show or say it I do love him like a brother.  

"Seriously whats got you so high strung?"  

"Nothing." I grunted. I lifted my head up and took a step back, getting back into position. I swung my fist at the bag making it move a few inches back.  

"Okay fine don't tell me. I came to ask if you want to go out tonight?" Going out sounded good. I needed to find some random chick to fuck and get my mind off Carmen.  

"Sure lets go out." Swinging one last time I hit the bag sending it into Daniel who grunted and cursed at me. "Lets go out." I muttered Carmen's face appearing in my head once more.