4

                                    

                                          
Sierra.
She was all I could think about as I sat in the back of the lecture hall on my first day of classes. Every class had been the same, an introduction to the semester, a welcome to the campus and a summary of what is expected in freshman classes.
I'd been lumped in the eight o'clock Math class on a Monday morning, because I didn't register early enough. That was followed by a three-hour science class and then I had my first meeting with my premed advisor to get the ball rolling on my portfolio for med school early. Matt thought I was crazy for planning on doing four years of pre-med and then going on to med school, but I knew what I was getting into.
It would be a lot of work, but it would be worth it in the end. Our family business wasn't one you could easily slip out of to pursue other things. Even Matt knew that college and playing for the team was only going to get him so far. He wouldn't ever go pro, because we were obligated to the family before anything else. And having that kind of limelight would only put us in danger.
But I knew I couldn't be the front man. I wasn't like my dad, not in that sense. I had his temper and I'd die to protect my family, but I didn't like resulting to violence, if I could help it. I usually left that to my brother. So, I decided to go down a different path, one that could still benefit my family and the business, but one that allowed me to help people instead of hurting them. 
Unfortunately, that meant a lot of extra work in college.
And I'd barely paid attention to anything so far, because all I could think about was the smart-mouthed girl I'd met the other night. Matt had told me about her, Rose's friend who dad was helping out. She'd lived next door to Rose in Thornhill, listening to her piece of shit dad beat the shit out of her through the thin wall between their apartments. Matt also told me she had a kid, a little girl. He'd said she would be there Saturday night and to keep an eye out for her, but I never expected her to be anything like what she was.
She was beautiful. Taller than Rose and her friend Tori, but still small when she stood in front of me, looking up with that pouty glare on her face. Her eyes were enormous, big, round, innocent kind of doe eyes that were completely deceptive. And God, she'd smelt good, like cocktails on the beach in summer. 
That game of beer pong had been the most fun I'd had at college so far and I was already eager to see her again. I watched to see that spark in her eye and the scowl she directed at me whenever I scored and the way she'd stomped over to me when I'd said she was losing, squaring up to me as though she wasn't nearly a foot shorter than me. 
She wasn't what I'd been expecting at all, but I wanted to know more. 
When I was finally done for the day, about mid-afternoon, I grabbed a sandwich from one of the cafés on campus and ate it on the way back to the dorm. Dad had sorted the dorms for us, making sure that Matt, Jay and I were in the same one and Rose was nearby in the closest girls' dorm. We'd also been put in the nicer dorms, with our own bathrooms, rather than having to use communal ones, and I was incredibly grateful. There were two other guys in our dorm and when I reached the common room, they were all gathered in there. 
"Hey," Matt called over his shoulder from his spot on the couch.
"Hey." I chucked my bag in front of my door and then flopped down in one of the empty chairs. One of the guys, Jake, was sat at the table in the corner, already hunched over his laptop and typing furiously. He seemed like a nice guy, but skittish and a major workaholic. And then there was Dean. He was an athlete, an avid runner, always heading out at six in the morning and getting back around eight. It seemed to be his entire personality and when we'd first arrived, I'd tried talking to the guy but hadn't really gotten anywhere.