Chapter Six

"What do you mean you have a date?" Selson shouted, louder than necessary. Corey, Selson, Diego and Jude were all sitting in the lounge watching the TV with beers in their hands.

"I'm pretty sure the word 'date' is pretty self-explanatory, Selson. I'm going on a date. With a guy. Tonight" I stated, picking a can and popping the lid. None of the boys said anything as I sipped the beer, but I could see all their eyes on Selson.

"I'm not happy about this" he finally declared. "I mean how do you even know this guy? You've been in LA for twenty-four hours. How the hell do you already have a date?"

"Look at her" Corey added in, "who wouldn't want to date her?"

Selson sent him a glare, "not helping Corey. Look, Alora, I'm just not comfortable with this. You hardly know the guy, and all college guys are only ever after one thing--"

"You would know" I muttered

"--and they don't respect women. Plus you're only here for a month, so it's not like anyone is going to be interested in something serious. And what happened to Max?"

"Max? Who's Max?" I asked in confusion.

"You know, that guy you've been tutoring. Dad said the two of you really hit it off".

"Max Pickle? The kid is fifteen and has brace headgear" I exclaimed.

"He sounds perfect to me". Selson crossed his arms over his chest, and gave a dismissive shrug. I rolled my eyes, as I checked my watch again. Chad would arrive any minute to pick me up. So I chugged the beer quickly, to settle my nerves, before throwing the can in the bin. The boys look impressed with my drinking – I was like my brother in that respect.

"Look, Selson, I'm going whether you want me to or not. I thought I was meant to be having a summer without Dad breathing down my neck" I crossed my arms under my breasts, and I saw Selson's glance at my cleavage because of it.

"Fine you can go, but you're not going dressed like that". He waved dismissively at my dress – it was a summery lace white dress, which was low cut and fell to my mid thighs. That paired with some white flats; I thought I had breached the line between too formal and too casual that was always an issue on a first date.

"Selson, she looks amazing" Corey spoke up, laughing at his best friend. "Just let her go on her date".

Selson glanced at him, "shouldn't you be on my side? I thought you wanted to date her?"

"Of course I do, just look at her" he gestured up and down my body. "However, the quicker she goes on a date with this random guy, the quicker she realises the only person she actually wants to date is me. So the quicker she gets this date out the way, the quicker she comes home to me".

Selson and I both rolled out eyes at him. "There is nothing wrong with what I'm wearing" I told him sternly. My brother turned to the other fraternity members we were with.

"Which of you want to fuck my sister right now?" he asked. Jude, Diego and Corey all put their hands in the air. Selson turned back to me. "See? You're not going out like that".

I turned to the boys, "which of you would fuck me no matter what I was wearing?" Again, they all threw their hands up. I turned back to Selson with my eyebrows raised. He sighed heavily, sending a glare at his college brothers. Then the door knocked, and I turned.

But before I had the chance to move that way, Selson grabbed my arm so he could hold me back. I thought he was going to say I couldn't go, but I quickly realised it was so that Corey could go ahead of me and answer the door. I let out a sigh of annoyance.

Corey opened the door with a bright smile, before scowling at who he saw. "Chad? What are you doing here?" he asked, before glancing back at us. "False alarm, it's just Chad. Perhaps Alora's date was scared off by me already".

"Corey, I am Alora's date" Chad replied, heading in and offering me a shy smile. "Ready?"

"Sure, let's go" I grabbed my bag, and walked towards him. Corey grabbed my arm, before I could leave the front door. I turned to look at him, ready to make a joke, but then realised he didn't look in the mood for a joke.

"You're not going on a date with him" Corey growled out, and a second later Selson was next to us – removing Corey's hand from my arm.

"Corey let her go" he hissed softly. I was confused with how just seconds before the conversation was the other way around.

"Not with him" Corey snapped, voice low but Chad and I still heard. We exchanged looks of confusion, and Chad raised his shoulders softly showing that he, too, had no idea why Corey was so against him all of a sudden.

"Bro not now" Selson whispered to Corey. There was a moment of pause, before Corey cussed under his breath before turning on his heels and storming away up the stairs. His bedroom door slammed shut aggressively, just seconds later.

My brother glared at Chad unkindly. "Have her home by eleven and not a second later". With that he turned his back to us and stormed after Corey. I glanced at Diego and Jude, who both quickly looked away.

A part of me wanted to see what was wrong with Corey and Selson, but the larger part of me liked Chad and wanted to go on my date with him. Quickly deciding that Corey and Selson were both adults and could look after themselves, I smiled at Chad.

"Ready to go? Or did that little macho display scare you off?" I chuckled.

Chad grinned brightly, blue eyes sparkling. "Takes more than that to scare me off". He gestured for me to go ahead of him. "Shall we?"

"Yes, Mr Quarterback, we shall" I giggled, heading out the door with Chad at my heels.

Chad drove a nice car, and I was sure if I knew anything about cars I would be impressed. But I didn't, but I knew it was a nice car. He was nice enough to open the door for me to get it, and open it again when we got to the restaurant.

"You like sushi right?" he asked, as we got out the car.

"Sure, who doesn't like raw fish?" I smiled, knowing Selson was one of them. Chad laughed, but didn't comment. He placed his hand on my lower back and led me into the restaurant. He was smiling brightly, chatting to me the entire time. I couldn't help but smile back – Chad's happiness was contagious.

"I meant to say it earlier, but the Alpha Male demonstration when I picked you up distracted me. You look beautiful" Chad complimented, and I grinned massively.

"Thank you. Yeah, sorry about Selson and Corey. I have no idea what that was all about. I mean Selson is very protective over me, but Corey, I hardly know the guy".

Chad offered me a small smile. "I think that was more about me than you. I thought Corey and I were friends, but there has always been tension. I don't even know why, but the guy just really doesn't like me. We play football together, and I thought maybe it was just competition. I guess he really doesn't like me". He looked genuinely upset by the fact.

"Maybe he's just jealous of UCLA's best Quarterback" I winked at him. He boomed a laugh.

"Corey is the Quarterback. How many times do I need to remind you that I am a Backer?" he laughed, shaking his head. "Anyway enough about me. Let's talk about you" he grinned.

"Me? Well I'm amazing".

"I'm sure you are" he laughed. "Come on, what do you do? What do you like?"

"I love running, used to want to do it professionally but now I just do it for fun. I do photography as well, again just as a hobby".

"But no college?"

"Only just finished high school. Originally I wanted to go to college, but then after some personal issues, I put it on hold for a while. Took a year off" I shrugged, not wanting to go into it. Chad noticed, and moved the conversation away.

We ate, and chatted, and I enjoyed myself. Being with Chad was easy, and enjoyable, and I couldn't help but laugh and have fun. Chad was a genuinely nice guy; he didn't have anything bad to say about anyone, and offered everyone a smile when he walked past. His brightness was something my life had been void of for a while.

"Thank you for the meal, Chad, I had real fun" I smiled, as he led me out the restaurant.

"It's still early, Alora, we're not going yet" he grinned, taking my hand. "You ever seen the beach at night?"