CHAPTERONE
Joey
I've beenin love with Penny Fox for as long as I can remember. Ever since she transferred to my high school and I first set eyes on her, I was a goner.
It’s not just the way she looks either, though she's certainly beautiful with her gorgeous blonde locks and perfect little body.
There was something about those hazel eyes of hers when they met mine in the hallway that first day of senior year. Something clicked inside me. It’s something I can't explain to this day—just that when I looked into her eyes, I felt like I was looking at the other half of myself.
I've never been one of those romantic or sappy types, but looking into Penny Fox’s eyes was like coming home.
I want to look into her eyes all day every day for the rest of my life.
Not only was she the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, but there was something about her that tugged at my heartstrings. Maybe it was the lost little girl look in her eyes. She was so beautiful, yet she was so sad and lonely—and I quickly began to understand why.
Though Penny Fox had all the looks of one of the popular girls, she didn't hang out in that clique. In fact, Penny Fox didn’t belong to any clique. She was a girl unto herself, a loner. She didn't try to make friends with any of the rest of us and was usually found off in a corner by herself with her nose in a book.
She didn't dress like the other girls, in short skirts and tube tops. She wore simple jeans and plain shirts with modest sweaters. She looked so pure and wholesome, yet it didn't diminish her beauty one bit. Somehow, it only enhanced it.
I'm not the only one who thought so. I flex my jaw when I remember how many fuckers I had to beat up to keep them away from her. She had nearly every guy on the football team beating off to her every night, and if I ever heard any of the guys make a suggestive or derogatory comment about her, I set them straight real quick.
I never asked her out, though God knows how much I wanted to. Word got around quickly that Penny Fox couldn't date. Her father was the principal of the high school, and even with me being the team’s star quarterback, there's no way he would have let her go out with me—or anyone else for that matter. Word was he was notoriously strict on his only child. Plus, Penny was two years younger than the rest of us. She’s insanely smart. That's why she was in accelerated classes and able to graduate early with the rest of us, but that also meant when the rest of the class turned eighteen, my Little Penny was still sixteen.
So, I knew I had to wait for her to officially grow up before I could make my move.
Every decision I've made since the moment I first looked into Penny Fox’s eyes was for her. Forus.
I'm a football player. That's what I'm good at. I do alright with my grades, but I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, and I'll admit that.
But I've worked my butt off to get where I am today—which is at the same college Penny Fox goes to. It about killed me when we graduated high school and I couldn't see her every day, so I took to following her around like some sort of creepy stalker.
I followed her every day when she went to the library. I followed her when she went running in the park. Hell, I even followed her to the grocery store.
I'm surprised she never noticed me, but that's the thing about Penny. She’s above the rest of us. Not like she’s snobby or anything. More like she's in her own world.
And I want to be there with her in that world of hers. I already know it's way better than this world we live in.
She's always reading a book or scribbling something down on a notepad. I've been dying to get my hands on one of her notepads and read what she writes. It’s killing me not knowing what’s going on inside that beautiful mind of hers. But I've never been able to get close enough yet to do so.
One day.
Penny may have graduated high school early, but she's been taking college classes online. Apparently, her overly strict father wouldn't let her attend college on campus until she turned eighteen.
Well, my girl just turned eighteen, and now here we are. On campus together, though she doesn't even know it. We're both freshmen. I waited for her, helping my dad out at his auto shop and saving up money while I waited for Penny to turn eighteen so I could follow her to college. There was no way I was going off without my girl and leaving her alone. Anything could have happened to her.
I realize I'm a lunatic. I'm completely obsessed with Penny Fox, but soon, I'm going to make my move. I’m going to finally introduce myself to her. Get her to trust me, and then I’ll tell her just what she means to me and how long I’ve pined for her.
I glance around the fraternity and frown. All these guys do is party. They’re amping up for another one tonight, but I’m bailing. I’ve got to go check on my Penny. I’ve already scouted out which dorm is hers, and I like to wait outside it for in case she comes out. If I was a psycho about protecting her from the shadows before, I’m even more so now on a college campus with all these horndogs around.
Maybe tonight the perfect opportunity will arise for me to show myself to her…
I'm practically vibrating with anticipation when my jaw drops as none other than Penny walks into the frat house in a skirt so short it barely covers her ass and a halter top that bares her stomach and shows an ample amount of cleavage.
My eyes greedily drink up all her exposed skin, my body coming alive, before my nostrils flare and fire floods my veins.
I square my jaw, my hands balling into fists at my side as I see the way the other men at the party are looking at her.
Oh, fuck no. I'm not having this.