Trying Not To Love You

I barely slept last night, worrying about how Dominic and I had left things and worrying about my first day of classes. Hailey and I had our first class together, and we were lucky it did not start until 10 a.m. Dominic had to be up at 5 a.m. to run with the football team, and then they had practice and meetings until noon. He was not going to be around much to walk me to class, but I wish he could have today so we could talk about what happened last night.

I gathered up my books and purse, getting ready to head out to class when there was a knock at the door. When I opened it, I was shocked to see Dominic. He had his arm up against the doorframe, and his hair was still damp from his shower. He was wearing my favorite jeans and a Yankee's t-shirt. "Are you ready to leave Kenzie? We have a little bit of a walk."

Still feeling a bit puzzled that he was here, I asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you had practice."

"They let us go after our workout, since it's the first day of classes." He closed the distance between us and moved his hand to cup my face. "I'm sorry about last night. That wasn't how I saw the night going."

I just shrugged. "It's okay. We will talk about it later." I did not want to be late on my first day. I yelled over my shoulder, "Hails, let's go."

She came out, looking all disorganized. "Ok, ok I'm ready."

It was about a fifteen-minute walk to class, and when we arrived, there was already a bunch of people there. We all walked in, and Dominic spotted Logan, a football teammate of his, so we walked over to him so Dominic could introduce us. As we were approaching, Hailey nudged me in the ribs and wiggled her eyebrows at me.

"Geez, Hails, you haven't even talked to him yet." I said in a loud whisper.

With a dreamy look on her face, she said, "Who needs to talk when he looks like that?"

Laughing, I cannot help but think she truly is something else. "You're impossible, you know that right?"

Logan was a handsome guy. He was tall and skinny and his t-shirt stretched across his toned chest. He had hair that was sticking up all over the place, but it looked good on him. I also noticed a tattoo on his upper arm that was peeking out from his t-shirt. He was just Hailey's type.

After introducing everyone, Logan asked Dominic, "Are you going to the party on Friday night?"

"Of course I'm going; I haven't missed a party yet."

I snapped my head towards Hailey, and gave her a what the hell look. I now know what he has been doing every weekend since he got here.

Logan looked over in Hailey's direction, with a twinkle in his eye. "Hailey, are you going to come to the party with MacKenzie?"

I looked over at Dominic, and answered Logan for Hailey, "No, Hailey isn't coming with me because I wasn't invited."

Dominic slung his arm around my shoulder, "Babe, of course your invited."

"How do you know I don't already have plans? It would have been nice of you to invite me first."

"Well, do you have plans?" he asked.

"No. What plans could I possibly have already? I don't know anyone here."

He squeezed my shoulder a little. "Good, then it is settled. You and Hailey are coming to the party. I'll pick you girls up tonight at 9."

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.

Dominic placed both hands on either side of my face, caging me in. "Kenzie, you look f*cking amazing in this." He kissed me hard, teeth to teeth. "I can't wait to strip you out of this later."

I reached down between us and started rubbing him through his jeans. He groaned at the contact. "Baby, stop."

I started to unbutton his jeans. "But you're so worked up." I looked around to make sure no one was in sight, and slid his zipper down. I would never have done this, but we had worked ourselves into a frenzy.

"Kenzie stop, really, I don't want…"

I interrupted him. "Dominic, just shut up, okay?" I dropped to my knees in front of him, looked up with a sexy smirk on my face, then pulled him inside my mouth and proceeded to twist my hand up and down, as I moved him in and out of my mouth.

Dominic's hands wrapped tightly in my hair, holding my head in place. He groaned his approval of what I was doing. I continually sucked and swirled my tongue along his length. I knew he was not going to last long, not with the way he was moving his hips back a forth.

"Ahh, baby that feels amazing…I'm not going to last long." Moaning my name repeatedly, his breath hitched and I felt his legs go stiff.

"Baby..." He gripped my hair a little tighter, pumped into my mouth once, twice and then he let go.

A few seconds later Dominic pulled me back up and wrapped his arms around me. He started placing kisses on me while he whispered, "Damn, baby that was hot. Now let me take care of you."

I cupped his face with both of my hands. "No, that was a thank you for the outfit. I love it."

"I love you so damn much, Kenzie. I am so glad that you are finally here with me." We stood there together for a few more minutes, just holding each other before we headed back into the party to find our friends.

Dominic straightened his clothes out, and made sure my hair was back in place before we made our way back into the house to find Hailey, and get some beer. I looked around for her but did not see her. I texted her but she did not answer.

I was getting worried and Dominic sensed it. "Hey Bentley, can you watch Kenzie for a minute? I'm going to go see if I can find Hailey."

"Yeah, sure man." Bentley said. Dominic gave me a kiss and then went to search for Hailey.

Bentley grinned at me and handed me another beer. I told myself this was going to be my last one. I needed to get Hailey and me home in one piece.

"Have you been here since he came down a few weeks ago?" Bentley asked, while peering at me as if he was trying to put a puzzle together.

I shook my head. "Oh no, we just got here.." I looked out into the crowded living room, trying to figure out what was taking Dominic so long. "So do you live here all the time, or is this just where you stay for school?"

"This is my parent's vacation house so I live here all the time. Like I said, during school, I have a roommate." He shrugged. "It helps pay for the bills and shit."

I looked back out in the crowd, trying to spot Dominic again, but I still could not find him or Hailey anywhere. I know Hailey would not just leave me at the party without at least texting me first. I was starting to get worried that neither one of them had come back.

I turned on the stool I was sitting on to face Bentley, "I'm going to go look for Dominic. He should have been back by now." Bentley put both his hands on the tops of my thighs, and I froze.

"No, uh…," he looked over my shoulder, and then back at me, "You'll never find him with all the people in there. Plus, you don't know your way around. I'll go get him. You stay here, just in case Hailey shows up looking for you."

He released my thighs and walked past me. I let out the breath I did not realize I was holding. That was strange. I followed Bentley with my eye, and that was when I saw what exactly was holding Dominic up. Some girl was grinding herself all up on him, and kissing his neck. Being nearly tipsy from all the refills Bentley gave me, I stormed over to where Dominic was.

I shoved his shoulder. "What the f*ck was that Dominic?"

He tried to grab my hand, but I yanked it back. "Baby what are you talking about; I was just telling her I had to go find you."

"Kenzie, what's wrong?" Hailey asked from behind me. Now she shows up.

"Stop the bullshit Dominic. I saw you dancing with her, and she was kissing your neck. You just left me in the f*cking kitchen, waiting for you to come back." I looked back at Hailey, "I think I have had enough fun for one night. I'm leaving."

"Baby…," he started to say something, but I cut him off by grabbing Hailey's arm, and pulling her towards the front door. After what we just did outside, how he was doing this to me? What happened to the Dominic that made me feel as if I was his whole world?

Hailey pulled her arm, causing me to stop walking and turn around to look at her. "Kenzie, wait a second. I was just coming to find you to tell you I was going to stay with Logan for the night."

"Shit! Hailey, you just met him and you are already going to spend the night with him? Do you think that is such a good idea after you have been drinking?"

Looking past me over to where Logan was standing, she gave him an I'm sorry look, and then she nodded her head at me. "Okay let's get out of here."

I knew we both had not made many friends here at school since we had only been here a week. It was not fair to Hailey for me to guilt her into coming home with me tonight.

"No, no it's okay Hailey. You stay here and have some fun. I'm going to go out front and call a cab to come pick me up. Send me a text in the morning when you wake up, and please, be careful."

She gave me a hug, "Are you sure? I know he'll understand. We both have been drinking pretty heavy, so we were just going to stay here anyway. Logan knows Bentley, and he said we could take the extra bedroom for the night."

I gave Hailey a kiss on the cheek. "Yeah I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow."

I was upset, and on the verge of breaking down in tears. I needed to get out of here. I opened the front door, and ran right into a hard chest. Groaning to myself for not paying attention, I mumbled, "I'm sorry," and tried to move around him. He kept blocking my path so I could not move past him. I looked up, wondering what the hell this guy's problem was. I started to tell him to get the f*ck out of my way, but was shocked to see that it was Hunter.

I was frozen in place by his piercing blue eyes. "W-what are you doing here? You're a little late for the party."

He broke eye contact, and looked me up and down, "I live here CC. Where you off to by yourself, and where the hell is Hailey?"

The beer was starting to catch up to me. My words were slurring. "Dominic and I got into a fight, Hailey is going to stay here with Logan and I'm going home. If you could move out of my way now, I need to go out front and call a cab to come get my ass."

Hunter put his hands on my shoulders to steady me. "First, you're not calling a f*cking cab. Second, you aren't going anywhere. You can stay here tonight, in my room. I'd take you home, but I'm too damn tired, and I don't want you to stay by yourself like this."

Hiccupping, I said, "I can call a cab. You don't need to take me home. I'm a big girl." Damn Bentley, and the way he kept refilling my cup!

Hunter did not respond, and I did not have the energy to fight anymore. I knew I was going to lose this battle. Hunter guided me up the stairs to what I assumed was his bedroom. Once he unlocked the door, he flipped the light on, pulled me inside and then locked the door behind him. He walked to his dresser, put his keys down, took out his wallet from his back pocket and placed that on the dresser as well.

"I have my own bathroom over there." He pointed to another door. He opened his drawer, pulled out a pair of boxers and a t-shirt and handed them to me. "Here, you can sleep in this, because you sure as hell can't sleep in that."

I grabbed the clothes he handed me and made my way to the bathroom to change and wash my face. As I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Hunter grab a pillow, and a blanket from the bed and place them both on the couch that was up against the wall.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He turned to look at me as if I asked a stupid question, "I'm sleeping on the couch. You can take my bed."

I shook my head, "No, I'll take the couch. I'm smaller than you."

"CC, no, just take the bed. I'm fine on the couch."

"Fine, I'll take the bed, but only if you sleep with me. I can't have you giving up your bed for me."

He looked at me for a minute before he grabbed the pillow and blanket off the couch, and put them back on his bed. I climbed in while Hunter stripped down to his boxers, and then he climbed in too. After laying there for a few minutes staring at the ceiling, I looked over at Hunter, who was also looking at the ceiling.

"Thanks for letting me crash here. I hope this isn't going to be weird for you. I can go sleep on the couch. I really don't mind."

Turning his head, he looked at me with a painful expression. "This isn't weird CC. It's not like we've never fallen asleep together before." He grabbed an extra pillow that he had thrown at the foot of the bed and positioned it between us. "There, just like we used to have it."

Sighing, I said, "It's too loud out there; I'll never be able to fall asleep like this."

Hunter reached over, careful not to touch me, and grabbed the remote to turn the radio on. The radio stared playing Trying Not To Love You.

When he laid back down, I looked over at him and whispered, "Thanks." Then I flipped to my other side to try to get some sleep. I was thoroughly exhausted from the events of the night, and just wanted to shut my brain off for a while. I would deal with all the other problems tomorrow.

I heard Hunter mumble, "Nice f*cking song," to himself and that was the last thing I remember.