Hitting talk, I say, “Hey, Mom.”

“Hey, baby, bad time?”

“Nope, I just got out of practice, heading across campus to do homework,” I say as I start walking again, despite the protests of Rachael, who is still yelling my name.

I wiggle my phone at her and continued to walk as my mom says, “Ah, the life of a college kid.”

I smile. “It’s a good life.”

“I bet. Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to come to dinner tomorrow. Dad comes home tonight from Boston, and I think it would be good for Lucy.”

Lucy is going through a lot right now. The divorce is finally done with, but now Rick, the bastard, still gets to see Angie once a week and it is killing Lucy. She doesn’t want him anywhere near them, but it was court-ordered. Because of this, Lucy doesn’t really go much of anywhere anymore. She really doesn’t talk to anyone either, which is weird. She always used to call me – we’re only three years apart and I love my sister, she’s awesome – but lately she doesn’t. I’m always worried about her, but there isn’t anything I can do to help her but be there. I said I’d get the guys and we’d go kick Rick’s ass, but she wouldn’t let me. It was probably a good thing, since I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize my scholarship.

I know with my dad coming in town, and because of Lucy, I can’t say no even if I wanted to. Which I do. I want to sleep all day tomorrow and do laundry, maybe go to get a rubdown for my back, but my family means more than that.

“Yeah, Mom, I’ll be there.”

“Great! I’ll make your favorite.”

I smile at the gesture but say, “No, Mom, make Lucy’s. Maybe it will help.”

“You’re such a good brother, Jude. I’ll see you tomorrow at six. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

I hang up my phone, pushing my Facebook app as I climb the steps that lead me into the quad. I love the quad. Everyone gathers to hang out, do homework, listen to music, and just be together. We have a pit too, which was an area with steps going down into the ground where a big concert slab sits. Usually the band or dance team performs down there. The clear grassy area is full of people today, and I wave and nod at my friends, but suddenly, my eyes are drawn to a girl who is holding an armful of crumpled pink papers. She’s pulling down the pink pieces of paper from various spots, but it isn’t what she’s doing that has my attention. No. It is her gorgeous, round ass. It has been a long time since a girl’s ass caught my attention, but this girl’s ass is a showstopper. Soon my feet change direction, and I’m heading toward her.

I haven’t seen her face yet, but her curves and long red hair have me completely interested. I love a girl with some meat to her; skinny girls don’t do it for me and this one…man. I could go on for days about how hot her body is. She is completely covered, no skin showing since she’s wearing tight jeans with a pink Henley pulled over her fine ass. All I can do is cross my fingers she isn’t a butterface. For those who don’t know what that is, it’s a girl who is hot everywhere, but her face. Butterface.

Moving around the tree where she was standing, I catch a glimpse of her face, and I am completely stunned. Big blue eyes, framed with big black lashes. She wears thick black frames, but I figure it is for style and not for sight purposes. Her skin is silky looking, her lips a delectable red that matches her fire-engine red hair, with a little nose that needs to be kissed. Hell, all of her needs to be kissed. Suddenly I’m not all that tired or even worried about my homework; my back doesn’t even ache.

I want her.

I watch her for a moment as she moves from tree to tree, pulling down the papers with a scowl on her face. When I see that the flyers she’s ripping down are “Lost Dog” flyers, I’m confused. We can’t have pets on campus, but when I glance closer, I see that the picture isn’t of a dog, but of one of my teammates, Allen West. According to the flyer, Allen has every STD known to man, and for some reason, I don’t find that surprising. He gets around and is known not to wrap his shit up. Ever.

Dumbass.

Turning to look at her, I call out, “Do you have evidence to support this claim?”

She turns to look at me, her eyes locking with mine. Heat fills me from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. I could get lost in those eyes. I have never seen such a beautiful shade of blue before. They remind me of my mom’s heart-shaped sapphire earrings she always wears.

Raising her brow, she says, “I don’t, but then again, I wasn’t sleeping with him. He gave my friend crabs. I’m pulling them down though. Nothing to see here, keep moving.”

I watch her for a moment, a grin pulling at my lips as she pushes her glasses up with her middle finger. She reaches for another flyer just as another girl comes up and stops her.

“What the hell?!”

She must be the friend with the crabs. She’s taller than the redhead by a foot with blond hair, blue eyes, and big plump lips. She’s really skinny with a shirt that stops under a pair of fantastic tits and a skirt that is probably against the school code. She looks easy; I should be trying to talk to her, but one, the redhead has me in knots, and two, she has crabs. I watch as the redhead turns, her blue eyes blazing as she says, “Ellen, you can’t do this. Allen could sue you, or worse, come after you. Let it go.”

Ellen shakes her head. “Girls need to stay away from him. No reason for more vaginas to be infected by him.”

“Why do you care? It wasn’t like you two were dating! I was dating him, and look at me, I don’t even care. Your vagina will heal, and all will be right in the world. No reason to slander this guy and make it worse on you.”

Allen was dating her? I had never seen him with this girl or the Ellen girl, so really what did I know? I move my gaze from the redhead to Ellen, seeing that her eyes are filling with tears. I have to look away. I hate when girls cry.

“I can’t work.”

“It will be okay, I swear.”

“If I can’t work, I can’t pay my bills.” Ellen stresses, moving her hand along her cheek.

“But if you get caught doing this, boss lady could find out and fire you. Think, Ellen. Use your brain. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Ellen looks away, and for some reason, I find myself drawn into this drama. I want to ask who boss lady is and why the girl can’t work, but I have no business knowing anything. I really should walk away, but I’m not done talking to the redhead. I basically know everyone, and the fact that I have never seen her before has me deciding I need to change that. I don’t even know her name, and I find I desperately need to know it. I want them to work out their little issue so that the redhead can divert her attention back to me.