Trying Not to Love You

I looked at Hailey to see if she was ok with that. She nodded and I said, "All right, we'll go."

He kissed the side of my head. "Sorry, I just assumed you would want to go. You never had a problem going to parties with me when we were at home."

"Yeah well, I knew about those."

Class was about to start, so Dominic and Logan said their goodbyes and left. After class was over, I said goodbye to Hailey. On the way to my second class, I heard someone call my name. I turned around and saw Hunter jogging towards me. A few girls did a double take as he passed them. He was wearing his favorite black Yankee's hat, a tight fitting black and white Yankee's t-shirt and dark blue jeans.

"Hey CC, how was your first class? Did you find it okay?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, Dominic walked Hailey and me to class." I looked at the door, and then back to Hunter, "Do you have a class in this building?"

"Yeah," He looked down at his watch, and then up to me, "in about ten minutes."

My stomach grumbled. "Nice, want to grab lunch after this?"

He held the door open for me. "Yeah sure, I'll meet you here after class." He gave me a hug, and then said goodbye.

My class seemed to drag on forever. I was hungry, but I was also looking forward to spending some time with Hunter too. I walked out when class was over, and Hunter was leaning against the railing with his foot propped up, waiting for me.

As the rest of the week went by, Hailey and I had a little routine going. She and I would walk to class in the mornings. Afterwards, Hunter and I would go grab some lunch. The middle of the second week, Hailey and I met Gracie and Zoey. Since they also lived on our floor, they started walking with us in the mornings.

Friday, after I had lunch with Hunter, I came home and there was a black box with a pink bow sitting on my bed.

"What's this?" I asked Hailey, who was lying on her bed reading, a magazine.

She put the magazine down on her stomach. "It was sitting against the door when I got here; the card has your name on it."

I put my purse and books down on my desk and grabbed the box. I slipped off the pink bow, lifted the top up and removed the tissue paper. There was a pair of pink studded earrings, a pair of pink peep toe heels and a little black dress.

As I laid it all out on my bed, Hailey came over to see what it was. "Damn Kenzie, that's hot." She picked up the card that Dominic had put on the box, and read it. "Dominic is doing some serious ass-kissing. He needs to, after the way he has been treating you."

"Yeah, I guess he is." Grinning like a fool, I sent a quick text to Dominic, thanking him for the gift.

"Well, let's get ready. I want to curl my hair, so I'm going to need your help." I took my curling iron into the bathroom and plugged it in the outlet.

Hailey walked in behind me with a huge-ass grin on her face. "You have got to find me something just as hot to wear tonight. I'm hoping that a certain football player will pay attention to me." Then she winked at me, and went to the closet to go through my clothes.

I could not figure out why she was not the crazy, happy girl she normally was. Ever since we came here, she had been just a little different. Then, it dawned on me. I wondered if she missed Mason. "So Hails, are you going to tell me what's going on with Mase?"

Groaning, she said, "I told you and everyone else, there is nothing going on with us. We're just friends. Besides, I don't think he wants anything more than that anyway."

I smiled. "If you say so. One day Hails, you are going to spill it, and tell me everything. It's just a matter of time. So until then, I will just have to wait until you are ready to talk about your feelings for him, and admit to yourself and everyone else that you have them."

"Whatever, now shut up and help me pick something out already." Just like that, the conversation ended, as we started to get ready for our first college party.

I texted Dominic, asked for the address and told him we were just going to grab a cab. We were going to be a little late and did not want to hold him up.

We were about an hour late to the party, since it took us twice as long to curl our hair. We pulled up to a gorgeous contemporary house that was a cheery yellow color. There was no way a college student could afford a place like this. The property was right on the beach, and I knew from my parent's house that it cost a pretty penny. When we walked in, the party was already in full swing. There were people everywhere, dancing, playing poker, guys doing body shots off girls in the kitchen and people playing beer pong on the kitchen table. I knew there was no way I would find Dominic, so I texted him, told him we were in the kitchen and to come get us.

We made our way around the crowd surrounding the girls on the table. We found the guy that was manning the keg; he asked us if we wanted a beer. We both took the beer he offered to us, and he introduced himself as Bentley and told us that this was his house.

"You live in this big ass house all by yourself?" Hailey asked, looking around. Everything was stainless steel and modern. The kitchen even had one of those flat surface stoves, very similar to the one my mom had.

Bentley looked Hailey up and down, and gave her a sly smile. "No, I have a roommate, but he's working tonight. There's an extra bedroom, if you want to move in, too." Bentley was definitely not Hailey's type. He was a scrawny tall kid with bright red hair and brown eyes. Hailey liked a guy with meat on his bones.

Hailey laughed a nervous laugh. "Oh no, I'm good back at the dorms, but thanks."

"So Bentley, do you know Logan and Dominic? They play on the football team here." I asked.

"Oh yeah, Logan is actually right over there." He pointed to Logan, who was in the corner near the DJ, talking to a couple of the other guys dressed in their football jerseys. "I saw Dominic a few minutes ago out on the back deck."

Hailey and I talked to Bentley for a little while, and then Dominic finally made his way into the kitchen. I was standing near the back door but he had not seen me yet.

"Psst." I said, trying to get his attention.

When he noticed me, his face broke out in a grin. Then he gave me the once over, examining my outfit. He came over to me, let out a low whistle and said, "Damn baby, I knew you were going to look hot, but damn, I'm speechless."

Dominic pulled me tight to his body, started kissing me lightly, at first and then deepened the kiss as his tongue met mine. I almost forgot we were at a party with a bunch of people all around us.

I ran my hands slowly up Dominic's chest, under his shirt; I looked up at him and gave him a sly smile. He grabbed my hand and quickly took us out the sliding glass doors, down the stairs and to the side of the house.