Chapter Five ~ What are you doing here

“Um, excuse me, but what are you doing in here?” I asked, my voice shrill even with the water running.

I held the shower curtain to my chest and then poked my head out. I glared at him waiting for an answer, but he just stared back, his face flushed an interesting pink color. The shampoo on my head ran down my temple onto my cheek, and my bright idea was to blow at it, hoping it went away. Of course, it didn’t, and my gesture blew the bubbles right into my eye.

“Well?” I snapped, the instant burning in my eyes making me close them in hopes the pain would stop, but more bubbles fell and made it even worse. “God damn it! Hand me that towel, would ya?”

I couldn't let go of the shower curtain, so I thought I'd wipe my eyes, put the towel around me, and confront him, which should make him leave. Then, I could finish my shower in peace. He handed me the towel.

“Well, you're in the men's showers,” he replied in a gentle voice, but I swore I heard humor behind his words.

“What?” I shrieked as I snatched the towel away from him and wiped my eyes.

I heard snickers and men whispering as I finished wiping the bubbles out of my eyes. I hoped to God that he was joking, but when I finally built up enough courage to open my eyes, a group of eight guys stood there, chuckling and whispering while pointing at me.

Chase turned to the group, letting out a growl.

“Get the fuck out!” He boomed.

I jumped inside when he bellowed at them, but I was too surprised to be scared. The guys didn’t even try to protest. Instead, they turned and wandered out of the room. I gaped at Chase, wondering how his voice had gotten so deep, and why the guys did as he ordered without any protest. I tried to glare into his eyes, but they darted around the room as he glanced at anything but me. Every so often his gaze landed on my chest, making him blush, then look away.

What the hell is his deal? I thought as I searched for what he kept glancing at. When I finally found it, I gasped.

The shower curtain was a pale gray color, and as soon as my wet body pressed against it, it became see-through. The group of guys and Chase had more than an eye full of my boobs, and I was mortified. I let go of the curtain and faded away into the shower.

“Why the fuck didn't you tell me that my boobs were on display?” I screeched at Chase while trying to wrap the tiny towel he'd given me around my body.

“I...um...shit. I’m sorry. I was speechless. Your boobs are incredible, and they had me hypnotized,” he replied, his voice way too arrogant for my liking.

“That's no excuse to let a whole group of guys leer at me and mock me. What kind of guy does that make you?” I snapped at him, still trying in vain to cover myself with the tiny towel.

“I totally should have acted sooner, but in my defense, your boobs really did render me speechless,” he replied in a kinder tone.

I shook my head and huffed, not caring about the fact that he was enamored by my breasts. He still acted like a dick. I gave up on the towel and placed it in front of my body, making sure it covered my chest and my privates. Ripping open the curtain and storming out of the shower towards him, I shouted, “This isn't my fucking towel!”

His eyes grew wide, while a smirk found its way onto his face. He then looked me up and down, biting his lower lip while a low grumble reverberated through the shower room.

“Oh my God. Ugh! You're so infuriating,” I screamed at him in frustration and then marched towards the door.

I could hear him chuckling as I walked away, and I guessed it was because my ass was completely uncovered since the towel was barely bigger than a hand towel. Truthfully, I was too angry to give a crap, so I pushed the door open and peered over my shoulder at Chase.

“Get my things, and then follow behind me so that no one sees my ass!” I snapped at him.

He held his hand up to his forehead and then saluted me as he said,

“Yes, ma'am.”

I rolled my eyes and exhaled heavily as I waited for him to pick up my clothes. Once he had them, I strutted out of the shower room and towards the women’s room next door. People gasped and snickered in the hall, but I was beyond embarrassed at that point. Chase’s low growl caught my attention a few times, and it always made the laughter and gasping stop. Their reactions didn’t bother me too much, anyway. My ass was fabulous, so instead of acting like an embarrassed woman, I held my head high and walked like I owned the building.

Once in the women's shower room, I headed for the closest cubical and went in. A few girls murmured between each other, and Chase ordered them out. As I turned the shower on, I hoped he would just leave. He'd done enough already. Of course, I wasn’t that lucky.

“Look, um…” He paused for a second. “What’s your name? I haven't even asked.”

“Aubrey, but people call me, Brie,” I replied in an even tone.

“That's a beautiful name. Look, Aubrey, I sincerely apologize for my behavior back there. I really didn't want to embarrass you, and I didn't mean to give you the wrong towel, I swear. I grabbed the one laying on top of your clothes,” he said in a soft voice.

I sighed as I washed the last of the shampoo out of my hair. He sounded remorseful, and I couldn't help but melt a little at his apology. I edged over to the shower curtain and popped my head out to look at him, making sure I didn't let the curtain touch my skin. He had taken a seat on the sink right outside my shower.

I offered him a gentle smile.

“Can you grab me my wash bag, please?”

“Of course!”

Jumping off the sink, he all but ran to my bag, picking it up and handing it to me before he sat on the sink again. After a quick thanks, I ducked behind the curtain again, washing and shaving in record time. Turning off the shower, I realized it had gone awfully quiet out there, so I hoped he’d gotten bored and left. I peeked out to find Chase holding an enormous black towel open. I wrinkled my brow. He doesn't expect me to just walk out of the shower and let him wrap me up, does he? I thought as I peered over at him. He gave me an alluring grin and shrugged.

“It's not like I haven't seen it all already.”

“Ugh! You just can't help it, can you?”

I snatched the towel out of his hands. Chase chuckled as I wrapped the soft towel around my body. It smelled of his cologne and I couldn't help but hold it to my face and inhale deeply.

Aubrey, enough! The dude is a player.

“Can't help what, exactly?” He asked, pulling me out of my daze.

I picked my things up and ripped open the curtain.

“Being a damn jerk!”

He held his hands up in defense while laughing at me, which showed off his cute dimples and incredibly white teeth.

Aubrey! Stop!

Huffing, I walked out of the door, moving down the hall and towards my room. I closed my eyes and sighed when I heard him running behind me. I could still hear people giggling at me and whispering about me, and I'd had just about enough for one day. I spun around and screamed,

“Why the fuck are you still following me? I am not interested in you! Leave me alone, Chase.”

I heard a few gasps, but I didn't care. I was beyond pissed off by this point. Because of him, this had been the worst first day ever, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. He skidded to a halt, then held out my clothes.

“You forgot your clothes. I'm sorry, Aubrey. I didn't mean to piss you off.”

He handed me my clothes and stepped past me. I turned around and watched as he made his way to his room, his head angled towards the floor. And I couldn’t lie, I felt sorry for the guy. He was just so damn persistent, and I'd already told him that I wasn't interested. I didn't understand why he was so obsessed with me. I’d get it if I was a new student arriving at a high school, but there were hundreds of new students arriving at the college, so why me? Shaking my head, I marched towards my room. I couldn’t wait to get in my bed and sleep, to forget today even happened. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better.

“You never did tell me who sent you the flowers,” Chase called out.

I positioned my hand on the door handle of my room and sighed. I then turned my head to face him, he looked miserable, so I elected to just answer honestly,

“They were from my cheating ex. Begging me to take him back.”

“Fucking idiot!” He snarled.

“Excuse me?” I snapped.

“Not you. He's an idiot. How could he have your heart and throw it away like that? If you were my girl, I'd make sure that you knew you were my everything. You are so special, Brie, and anyone who doesn't see that is a blind fool,” he said with honesty and passion.

“He is an idiot. But Chase...” I began, trying to let him down gently again, but he cut me off.

“Look, Aubrey, I get it, you're not ready for anything serious right now. But how about you come with me to the party tonight. I swear, no funny business, just friends having a good time. If you don't have fun, I will leave you alone,” he said enthusiastically as he approached me.

His smile was infectious, the twinkle in his eyes adorable. And those dimples… My body relaxed as he came closer to me, but my heart pounded and the butterflies in my stomach went crazy. My breathing became hard and labored the closer he got. I turned around to face him, and he was now just inches away from me. I let out a defeated breath.

“So, if I don't have fun tonight, you'll leave me alone for good?”

He nodded his head and then drew a cross across his chest.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

I rolled my eyes at him as he held his hands up praying to me, begging me to say yes.

“Ugh! Fine, give me twenty minutes,” I said with a forced smile.

“Yes! You won't regret this. You're gonna have a blast, I promise,” he said as he threw his fist up in the air in excitement.

I rolled my eyes again, but now the smile on my face was genuine. He looked so delighted and pleased with himself, that I couldn't deny how cute he was.

“I'll pick you up in twenty minutes,” Chase shouted out as he trotted off down the hall towards his room.

I giggled at him as he turned to face me, and then did a standing backflip. I had to admit it was impressive. He grinned like the Cheshire Cat before he disappeared into his room. I opened my door, walked in, and then went straight to my bed, throwing myself on it. I sighed into the pillow and wondered what I'd gotten myself into.

“So, he convinced you to come to the party then?” Payton asked.

I sat up and stared at Payton. She wore a gorgeous yellow summer dress with black stilettos. Her subtle makeup added to her beauty, while her raven hair hung down in beautiful loose curls. She looked spectacular. I threw her a judging look, and she shrugged.

“Don't you judge me! Connor asked me to go to the party with him. I was going to tell you when you got back. I never thought Chase would be able to convince you,” she said as she began rifling through my closet.

“Well, he presented me with an offer I couldn't refuse,” I replied.

Hopping off my bed, to riffle through my underwear drawer.

“Oh really, and what was that?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not anything you're thinking with that dirty mind of yours!” I giggled.

“Well, that's no fun. So, what did he offer?” She asked while holding up one of my little black dresses.

I shook my head.

“He said if I didn't have fun with him tonight, he would leave me alone. Which, with the crap day I've had, I doubt I'll have any fun, so how could I turn down the chance to be rid of him for good?”

She shook her head and chuckled while pushing more of my clothes aside.

“What?”

“Why don't you just admit that you like him?”

She pulled out my cream summer dress. It was perfect and I felt great when I wore it. The crisscross tie-up front pushed my boobs up perfectly. It sat just above my knees, and the material felt awesome against my skin. I loved that dress. I nodded at her and picked out a nude bra and thong set to go with it.

“Look, it doesn't matter whether I like him or not. You've met him. He's so much like...” My speech was cut off by a knock at the door. I walked over to it and yanked it open.

“Kyle, what are you doing here?"