Let Me Be the One Read Online Free Page A

fit.  He was a man and I was in full-on lust. 
    Jenna and I, along with all those other girls, went to the after-party.  There were a lot of people crammed into the clubhouse.  With both teams there, the number of very large, dirt-covered, rowdy guys made it a wild scene.  There was a keg in the corner of every room and random guys were offering you shots every ten minutes. 
    I was cautious at these parties.  I knew several of the guys on the team and Dan was there, so I was in good hands, but my brothers, who played rugby for years, had hammered home the idea that things could quickly get out of hand and they’d witnessed good people getting involved in things they were sure to regret. 
    I spent most of my time talking to Chris, Mac, Jenna, and Dan, and was just people-w atching, taking in the scene.
    These guys seemed to have a following, girls who came to the games and parties solely for the hook-ups.  They didn’t appear to be anyone’s girlfriend in partic ular.  Those girls stayed away from Dan; he was so obviously into Jenna that even though he was gorgeous, they knew he wasn’t a possibility.  Not so much with Tom.  I could have gagged watching the parade of flesh practically throwing themselves at him.  He wasn’t overtly reciprocating but wasn’t exactly shooing them away either. 
    I saw him look my way a few times but I didn’t meet his gaze.  I wasn’t about to beg for it.  After two beers and barely any attention from Tom, I snuck out without saying goodbye to anyone—classic Irish exit.  I don’t know what I thought was going to happen between us, but today was a let-down in every way. 
    I ran into the rest of my roommates on my way back and got dragged to another party in the Village.  The Village was the area of campus where all of us seniors lived in these crappy, pre-fab, modular houses.  The walls were so thin we could talk to each other without leaving our bedrooms.  It was great, though, because we each had our own room—didn’t matter that it was like the size of a walk-in closet, it was mine—and also, you could pick from ten different parties on any given night and not walk more than a few yards.
    The party we walked into was packed and people were well on their way.  Nick was there but thankfully, so was his girlfriend.  I didn’t remember crossing paths with her sophomore year and although I wondered how she put up with him, I wasn’t about to introduce myself and have a heart-to-heart.  Aside from a few looks in my direction, Nick left me alone tonight but I was getting unwanted attention from another guy.  For the most part they were harmless but some nights there would be a guy that could be a little too determined or downright aggressive.  That crap was starting tonight when some over-served fool started to get grabby. “Come on, just have a shot. What, you’re too good to hang out with me?”
    Beth ran interference for me.  She was my ballsy, five-foot-three, pitbull of a roommate.  She stomped right on his foot and met his gaze, “She just said she doesn’t want to. What’s your fucking problem?”
    Usually her act would save the night and reduce me to fits of giggles but tonight that wasn’t the case.  The fact that she felt the need to step in and defend me just burned.  Who was I?  Couldn’t I stand up for myself? After all that I’d been through, was I still too weak, still unable to tell a guy no? I felt so disappointed in myself. 
    I wanted to go back to my bed. 
    Another Irish exit. 
    I was just done.
     
     
    Tom
    “Where’s Darcy?”
    “Darcy left with that hot scrum-half from the other team about an hour ago.  Where have you been?”
    I felt my chest crack.
    Jenna dug in, “Oh, would that bother you, Tom?  Well, here’s a tip.  If you want a girl to think that you’re no longer a man-slut then discourage your harem of tramps from pawing at you in front of her.”  She shook her head with a look of utter disappointment.