Sky Cowboy (19 page)

Chapter 1

Linc

We pull into Drake Hall, the coed dorm parking lot, I look over at Russ grinning ear to ear.  I laugh at him, “What in the hell are you so happy about?”

“I just can’t believe we actually got into the coed dorms.”

I roll my eyes, “Hey Don Juan, I know you’ve always been the man-whore, but the two chicks we’re moving in with are OFF LIMITS…I’m serious we have to live with them so I can’t have you pissing them off.”

He sighs, “I know I know, but that’s only two of the thirty six chicks living in this hall.”

I scoff, “Really Russ, you found out how many girls were in this hall?”

“You’re damn right I did, had to figure my odds.  You should really loosen up here.  I mean I know Jules screwed with your head and all of your friends but me for three years but, maybe all you need is some
strange…”

I shake my head, “Maybe you’re right.”

~*~

Gabby

As I walk into Drake Hall I find my room assignment from the R.A.  I start walking down the hall 213A/B.  I’m in 213A…I wonder if I’m the first one here.  As I walk in our dorm room isn’t as grungy as I thought it would be…we have a nice living room, small kitchen and bathroom.  With bedroom A on the left for the girls I’m guessing and bedroom B on the right for the boys.

I walk into side A, my roommate is already here and almost unpacked.  “Hey I’m Gabby.”

“Hi I’m Daria.  I hope you’re okay with the side I picked, I got in yesterday…we’re lucky they let us move in for summer session, they normally don’t do that, but last year they lost a bunch of money.  I think the board of trustees threw a fit, so they opened the dorms back up for the summer sessions.”

I giggle at how comfortable she is she must have been here for a year already.  “Are you a sophomore?”

She laughs, “Yes, I think I’m the only one in our suite.  You can tell I’ve been here more than a day or two huh?”

“Our other roommates are guys right?”

“Yeah, you’re okay with that right?”

“Oh yeah, I don’t think I could handle living with more than one female…I have a sister and she was enough.”

She laughs, “That’s funny that’s the way I think too.  I can’t stand being around a bunch of stupid girls…I mean most of the time people have two reasons for wanting coed housing.  A.  You’re a slut or B. you were late signing up for housing.  But I like having guys for roommates as long as we make ground rules and stick by them.”

“I agree…I’ve had my fill of the bullshit that guys throw out and I just don’t want to deal with it here.”

~*~

Linc

As we walk into our dorm room, Russ looks like he’s going to blow his load in his pants like a kid in Jr. High.  I turn to see what he’s staring at, whoa I may just be looking the same way right now.  Those tan curvy legs hooked to an incredible ass bent over in a pair of red shorts like cheerleaders wear. 
Oh shit my dick…Baseball, ice cream, Platoon, The sound of Music…okay I’m better.

She looks up at us, “Hey I’m Gabby; Daria is in our room finishing putting her things away.”

I’m almost in a trance at her beauty…you can tell she doesn’t know how gorgeous she is, that dark hair, the ass, the boobs, the eyes damn the whole package…

“Hey Earth To
Linc!”  Russ is waving his hand in front of me.

“Oh Hi I’m
Linc.”  Russ starts laughing, “Jackass I think she got that.”

“Oh sorry…I space out sometimes…comes from getting hit in the head too much playing football.”  Crap now she’s
gonna think I’m mentally challenged.

She laughs, “It’s okay…so are you playing football here?”

Russ pipes up, “Yep, they picked us up as a duo…he’s the quarterback and I’m the wide-receiver.”

She smiles, “That’s cool,
I like football…my best friend in high school played football.”

I smile, “What position did he play?”

“He was a running back, well is he’s actually playing here too.  I was hoping he would get to be in this Hall but, he ended up over in Swelly Hall.  We’ve lived next door to each other our entire lives.”

Russ is roaming around the apartment talking I’m guessing to Daria.  I need to keep talking to this girl, “So what’s his name since he and I are going to be team mates and you and I are roommates?”

“His name is Cade Johnson.”

I nod my head trying to seem cool, “Okay well I guess I’ll go help Russ unpack our stuff.”

She laughs, “What are you guys brothers or something.  I saw that you have the same last name.”

“We’re actually cousins/best friends, but he could be my brother.  We act like it most of the time.”  Russ’s laughing breaks my thoughts of her.

He’s laughing, “Really that’s some awesome shit…Hey Daria this is my cousin Linc…Linc this is Daria…she was here last year…she says the people across the hall were  straight up Jerry Springer shit last year…All like you slept with my man…you hoe…you bitch…”

I start laughing, “Really Russ…”

Daria sticks her hand out, “Hi nice to meet you.  Yes I was here last year.  That’s what I wanted to talk to you guys about, I told Gabby that we need to have some ground rules and stick by them.  If we don’t shit gets messy and all full of drama and I hate messy drama.”

I nod, “I agree I said something like that to Russ.  Since you’ve done this before and all of us haven’t I’m nominating you.”

Gabby raises her hand, “I second…I’m just as new at this.”

Daria looks around, “Okay first of all it’s best if none of us get involved with each other…that’s how the Jerry Springer shit from across the hall becomes reality.  Second we make a chore chart and hold each other accountable.  We also have to figure out an agreement on shopping, but we can do that later.  Third, just respect
each others boundaries…we will be in here a lot together…we are going to get on each others nerves…in each others space…just respect each other…oh and don’t be uptight…have fun with each other.”

We all nod in agreement. 

Chapter 2

Gabby

There is someone knocking at our door at freaking 5:30a.m.  What the hell?  I stumble out of my room and head for the door.  I swing it open ready to kick someone’s ass only to see Cade on the other side.  “What the Hell Cade?  Are you drunk, this isn’t your room and it’s five fucking thirty in the morning?”

He laughs, “No, I’m here to get the guys for our workout.”

I shake my head, “Oh, well go over there and wake them up I’m going back to bed.”

“Why don’t you come for a run with us?”

I roll my eyes, “No.”

“Come on Gabby you haven’t run in the month you’ve been here and the cross country stuff starts in a few weeks…so that scholarship that helped get you here…you need to be ready to follow through with your obligations. I’m sorry we haven’t been running together already, but practice has been killer.”

“Gabby’s an athlete too?”  I hear Russ say from behind me.

I turn around to see him and
Linc ready to go work out.  Russ laughs, “Alright Gabby, go get your shit on, so you can run with us.”

I look at him like he’s lost his mind, “Who in the hell do you think you are?”

Linc tries not to laugh.  Russ looks at me, “Okay well I want you to come train because if you lose that scholarship then we have to get another roommate and I like you being my roommate not some crazy girl so get your ass in gear.  I’m sorry I’m a selfish bastard okay?”

I laugh, “Okay since you put it so nicely.”  I go into my room and put on some old red running shorts and a black and red sports bra/tank.  I tie up my running shoes and pull my hair up to meet the guys.

“Okay I’m ready.”

Cade looks at me, “Damn Gab what did I tell you before about covering up those tits around me.”

I’m pissed and embarrassed, its one thing for he and I to joke around alone, but these are my roommates that I have to face everyday.  I punch him in the arm, “Fuck you Cade.”

He laughs, “I’m just saying, you…never mind lets go.”

Russ is dying laughing behind us, “Hey Cade is that where all of your bruises come from?  Does Gabby beat you?”

I laugh, “Oh probably I’ve been kicking his ass on a regular basis since I was born.”

We all stand in the courtyard stretching for our run.  I look over to Cade, “How far are we running?”

He laughs, “Oh we are going to jog down to the field for practice and while we do our practice you are going to run the rocks.”

“What the Fuck Cade?  I thought we were all running?”

He glares at me, “No that’s the way I got your ass out of the apartment.  I have to get you training baby girl…forget all that shit that drags you down.”  He shrugs, “You can be mad with me if you want. But we both know you do better if I ride your ass.”

I grab his shirt collar and pull him to me, “Fine, but if you start that yelling shit like last time I’ll drop your ass…don’t try me…oh and if you bring up my boobs again…you won’t have children…get it?”

I hear Russ and
Linc chuckling and I remember they are standing there.  I look at them and Russ smiles, “That was awesome Gab.  Did you guys date before?”

“Hell no we didn’t date he’s like my brother…well step-brother.”  I wink at Cade because now that I think about it I’m sure I embarrassed him a little in front of the guys.

I look over at Linc and Russ I can tell I’ve confused them.  Linc looks at me he’s normally pretty shy, he shakes his head, “Step-brother?”

Cade looks at me as if to ask for permission…I go ahead and nod, so we can get this started.  Cade smiles and says, “I always tell her I love her like a step brother, no blood so I can still enjoy the view…but I don’t want to date or have sex with her.”

Both of the guys burst out laughing…Russ looks up, “Man it’s a miracle she hasn’t really taken away your ability to have children.” 

I start pacing myself toward the practice field and the guys fall in behind me.  After a few minutes we get to the field.  Cade looks at me, “Okay Gab you know the drill my practice is an hour so you run the rocks.  When I’m done you’re done.”

Linc looks at him, “Cade man that’s a little rough don’t you think?  I mean damn running the rocks sucks.”

Cade looks at him, “No man she’s got it…Gabby has to have a goal to look at, I didn’t say how fast she had to run the rocks just how long.  Her training is more about endurance.”

Linc looks at me almost worried, “Gabby are you sure you want to do this?” 

I smile, “Yes Cade and I have been doing this for years.  He’s a tough trainer but that’s also the reason I was one of the most sought out prospects for the cross country team.”

He smiles and for once I hear Linc make a joke, “You know they say it’s all about endurance and stamina.”

Cade cuts him a glare and Russ burst out laughing, “Finally my cousin has quit acting like a priest around you.”

They go out for practice and I start running the rocks.

~*~

When their practice is over I hear Cade whistle.  I make my last run down the rocks and jump on Cade’s back.  “Okay now since you’ve killed me this morning you can carry me back to my apartment.”

“Yeah right, get off me I’m sweaty and I don’t want your
bo…”

I let myself down and punch him in the arm, “Remember you might want children one day.”

Linc looks over to me, “Hey Gabby are you gonna come work out with us in the weight room?”

I take a big drink of water, “What time?  I’ve got an interview for a T.A. job for Professor Jennings, this afternoon at 3.”

“Oh, um how about after your interview then.”

I nod…”Okay sounds good.”  I look at Cade.

He smiles, “Sorry Gab I’ve lined up and extremely beautiful coed from your building for this afternoon.”

Russ looks at him, “Don’t you mean I lined us up a couple of roommates from my building.”

Cade shakes his head, “Well I didn’t see her roommate refusing to go out with me.”

I shake my head, “Come on the testosterone is too much for me here.  Let’s head back to the dorms.”

As I jog back up to the dorms, I wonder what Russ meant earlier by saying that Linc finally quit acting like a priest around me.  Linc’s always seemed pretty shy…I mean don’t get me wrong he’s hot as hell…but he seems like he’s a people watcher.  He never says much and when he does he’s not like the other guys…he just hangs out and talks.  We really haven’t even gotten to do that because of his summer practice schedule and their camps.

The day creeps along and now I’m sitting here waiting for my interview…God I hope I get this job.  I really don’t want to work in fast food or anything.

“Gabriella Lewis.”

I look at who I’m guessing is Professor Jennings, whoa he’s hot and the way he said my name just makes me….holy crap.

I stand up, “Yes.”

He motions for me to come in, “Hi I’m Professor Jennings.”

After about forty-five minutes that didn’t really seem that long, because we talked non-stop.  He let’s me know that I have the position, he can tell I’m fit for the job and he’s willing to let me work around my cross country schedule.  Now I need to go get ready for the weight room.  Just thinking about Linc’s chest working out, sweating, the way his gym shorts hang on his hips and show his little light brown happy trail running down to… oh Jesus help me.