Reckless

Seven

*Lil*

I sat on the floor, putting my hand on my forehead, reaching up for some pizza as the girls settled down around me.

"So, wait. I'm confused. Theo, from the club, is your brother's best friend?"

"Mhm."

"And your brother doesn't let normal guys date you, let alone someone he knows?"

"Mhm."

"And Owen talks about him all the time?"

"And he just sleeps with anything?"

"Yup." I grabbed the glass of wine, downing it in one. Because apparently, drinking wine is what you do in situations like this. Or so Kaz said. She brought it over when I said we were having a boy disaster. With in minutes, Lara and Callie were out to get the pizzas and me and Kaz were setting up our living room for a movie night. I'd jumped in the shower quickly, sweaty and achy from practice.

My phone buzzed again on the table and Callie looked at it, sitting back with a sigh.

"Theo. Again."

"Honestly. What the fuck do I do?! I can't tell Owen! Which also means I can't see Theo again."

"But he's so hot." Lara pouted and I held my upturned hand out at her.

"Really hot. And he plays hockey."

"I love me a sports man."

"Hockey men are just different too. Have you seen them shirtless-"

"Can we stop?" I almost gagged. "This is my brother and his friends we're talking about."

"I don't think there's a problem." Callie shrugged, all of our eyes settling on her. "I mean, he obviously still wants to talk otherwise he wouldn't still be texting."

"I don't think you understand Callie." I reached up for my phone, holding up a photo of Owen. "This man wants to remove the balls of any man who touches me. I got stood up before my first date last month. Owen drove the 2 hours home, pulled the guy out of his house by his ears and broke his arm."

"What?"

"He apparently 'tripped down his front porch steps during a silly scuffle'. That's what the police report said." The girls stared at me. "Owen doesn't fuck around. And we're not talking about any friend here. We're talking his best friend from the moment he started here 4 years ago. They've lived together. For 4 years. The team wanted Owen as captain and he wouldn't do it without Theo."

"And you didn't know Theo was-"

"Owen only ever calls him Goulding or 13 or dickhead." I sighed, pouting into my hands like some pathetic child who wasn't getting her way. "He kissed so good as well." The glug of my glass being filled echoed through the room. That, some Taylor Swift playlist Callie had put on and a collection of heavy breathing and the occasional sighs. "Why is it, that even when I pull myself to a place where Owen's fucking threats haven't followed me yet, he still manages to fucking ruin stuff with this over protective big brother thing. What 18 year old only had her first kiss the first night she came to college? And not even because I keep to myself. I've had dozens of chances but he always finds a way to fuck it up. And then, I find a guy that might not have been the one but he could have been the one to take me through all of that without the stress of it being my first time and he has not only already been threatened by my brother BUT HE'S LIKE MY BROTHER'S FUCKING BROTHER." I grumbled, hitting my head on the edge of the coffee table. "This. Fucking. Sucks."

"You really liked him?"

"I don't know Lar. That's the problem. I can't even go to Owen and say I really like this guy, back the fuck off because I've known him for literally like not even 3 days."

"So, keep talking to him."

"Ha. You're still high."

"No, I mean it." She reached over, taking the phone out of my hand and swiping down on my phone, reading the texts out loud without giving him the notification that I'd read them. "Ahem. Hey. Lil? I know this isn't great but I really didn't know you were Price's sister. I'm guessing he never mentioned me. Either that or you didn't care. Anyway. It shouldn't be a problem us still being friends and we just never have to tell Owen this weekend. And then he asks if you're there." I let out a sigh. "Okay I think that makes it pretty-"

"Clear. Pretty clear." Kaz grabbed the phone. "Okay. Look here's what we do. We leave the hockey god. Move on, find you someone who's not been up your brothers ass for 4 years. We put this down to gaining some experience and its onward and upward. One singular hiccup. If you can bag Theo after being here less than 24 hours Lil. We should be able to really track you down some good options. There's some mixers this weekend. Friday night is down stairs, only this building are allowed in. Saturday there's one the girls- you know the bleach blonde 2 doors down? her- she said the student union throws this party in the event space in the middle of campus before the first week. Or we can just go out. To the other side of town by MTU."

"Oh, I've hear things about MTU boys." Callie sat up straight. "Artsy and beyond smart."

"90% of them are filthy stinking rich too." Kaz nodded. "I am almost certain they have a hockey team t-"

"You want me to be murdered!" Kaz chuckled. "Can you imagine! Hey, brother who won't let me date a normal guy, I'm dating a guy from MTU and he's on your rival team. He'd have a heart attack, recover and then burn me at the stake."

"Yeah but you wouldn't have the whole dating problem." I tossed the pillow from the floor at Kaz and Callie as they both burst into laughter. "It's just a crush Lil. Best way to get over a crush is to get under a hot, smart guy from a different uni who has no idea who your brother is." She makes a valid point.

"Okay fine. Friday night drinks over by MTU."