Clayton high fived me and chuckled. “Way to go, bro. The best things in life don’t come easy and you are definitely going big.” Corbin just stood in his doorway with a grin on his face. Eli and Xavier, they were both hard-faced and staring. I wasn’t quite sure what they were thinking, but to be honest, I didn’t care. I enjoyed the time I had with Ruby before it all went to shit. She wasn’t the party girl, the type to do just about anything to gain a guy’s attention. Instead she was quiet and her timidity drew me in. I wanted to get to know her and I wasn’t gonna allow the fear or intimidation of my brothers or even Ruby’s father stop me.
“It’s a movie.” Holding up my hands in surrender, I looked around to my brothers. “I’m not planning on nailing her in the middle of the quad with an audience.” I was also a fucking adult and didn’t need any of their permissions. “All of you, well, with the exception of you―” I pointed to Isaac the man whore. “You’ve all been there, all found a girl you’ve enjoyed spending time with.” I didn’t care if I was giving them all ammunition to give me hell later. “Tell me this, if we’d come to you and told you each that you should back off,” I started naming off each of their girls’ names one by one. “Would you have backed away?” When none of them replied, I knew my answers. “It’s a fucking movie, maybe it becomes more, maybe it doesn’t. But to be frank, I don’t need any of your permissions to date her, so back off.”
Entering my room, I closed the door behind me and made sure to turn the lock. Eli thought he was slick with his master keyring to all our rooms, but joke’s on him. I changed my locks and added a slide lock. Crazy fucker wasn’t getting in here without knocking the door down.
Crawling on my bed and lying on my back, I grabbed my phone. The earlier message from Ruby was still covering my screen when I woke it.
Ruby: Tomorrow at seven sounds good. I will meet you there.
I would have much rather picked her up, but Isaac was right, it was best to steer clear of her father. I’d never admit it to him though, cocky bastard.
I hovered over the buttons, wondering what I should send back, or even if I should send anything. Overeager was not what I wanted to come across as, but truth be told, I was. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.
About two a.m. I was woken up to the sounds of what resembled a foghorn. Bolting out of bed, I ran across the room toward my door. After unlocking it, I jerked it open and found none other than Tweedle-dum, Corbin himself, huddled on the floor with his hands over his ears.
Standing only a few feet away was Isaac, hunched over holding his stomach, trying his damnedest to control his laughter. Eli stood at his side looking completely unfazed holding a foghorn in his hand. There was a stoic look on his face as he stared down at Corbin. One by one the rest of the frat brothers started to emerge into the hallway to see what the commotion was.
“I said I was sorry,” Corbin wailed, making no attempt to get off the floor. “How was I supposed to know she was naked?”
“It’s the bathroom, you douche.” Again Eli did not look amused or forgiving.
“I was half asleep, and to my defense the bathroom door was unlocked. Who takes a shower and leaves a door unlocked? Especially around here!”
“So it’s Blake’s fault now.” Eli kicked his foot out and Corbin tried to scoot away. A grunt escaped him when he felt the kick.
That’s when the door came open and Blake walked out of the bathroom looking like Ralphie from Christmas Story. She wore a big pink fluffy onesie, leaving no part of her body uncovered. We all stopped and looked at her as she remained frozen in the now open bathroom doorway.
I had no doubt that Red bought her the atrocious outfit.
“Hey Ralphie,” the words were out before I could stop them and everyone around me laughed, except Eli. Oh, and Blake.
This gave Corbin time to scurry away before Elijah had a chance to stop him and he was back in his room with the sounds of doors locking and something heavy being slid across the floor. My guess was a dresser or desk.
The rest of the guys slowly started to disburse and Eli grabbed Blake around the waist and carried her off, grumbling something about doors having locks for a reason. I imagined she was in for a night, or should I say morning now that the first half of his frustration had been taken out on Corbin. That guy was always in the line of fire.
***
I sat in my truck outside of the theater and watched the front doors like a fucking stalker. Part of me was worried she wouldn’t show. Another part was overwhelmed with anticipation for her arrival.
Then I saw a flash of red and it felt like my heart skipped a beat, or ten. She wore tight jeans, a red shirt that hung off one shoulder, and her hair flowed down her back. Ruby was a vision.
I took a few seconds to admire her, staring out the windshield of my truck. She looked left and then right, before pulling her phone out of her purse, staring down at it. I noticed a few guys pass and their looks lingered as they walked
