-10-
JAY
I hadn’t had to chase a girl in so long my game was slipping, and Kayla was more stubborn than I’d anticipated. The girl I’d had fun with at Dave’s wedding had gone into hiding, but she was still in there somewhere. When I distracted her, she’d let her guard down and I got a glimpse.
Okay, focus, Harris.
I didn’t mind doing a little chasing. On campus, I was the one getting pursued by girls, and on the field, I was chased by my opponents. So, this role reversal was enjoyable.
She was quiet again during the drive back to Biff’s, and I let her be. She shifted uncomfortably in the seat like she felt trapped. I wanted to shake my head at her. Ohio State fans. They could be balls-to-the-wall crazy.
Didn’t matter. I wanted to be all up in her brand of crazy. Her disgust that I was a starter for Michigan was . . . hilarious. I clearly went to the better school, but was smart enough to keep that comment to myself. The asshole part of me wanted to kiss her again just to get her worked up about it.
“The Kia Rio,” she said when I pulled into the parking lot. “That’s me.”
Her car was like her—small and adorable. I pulled into the empty spot beside it.
As I shifted into park, she popped her seatbelt off and scrambled to open the door. Only I hadn’t shut off the car yet, so the auto-locks were still engaged. She’d pushed on the door at Biff’s when she needed to pull, and now the lever on the car door didn’t work.
“Do doors usually give you this much trouble?” I teased.
She sighed loudly.
I turned off the car, which disconnected the auto-locks and released her. I was fast, but I’d never be fast enough to get around the car and open the door for her, so instead I went to her Rio. She was digging her keys out of her massive purse when she stepped into view. She pulled up short at the sight of me leaning against her car, my arms crossed casually over my chest.
She pretended to look disinterested, and failed. Her gaze started at my feet and traveled upward, and fuck if it didn’t make me hot the way she looked at me. I gazed at her the same way, only there was no filter or shame on my end. It was pure lust.
Sure, she went to the hated Ohio State, but it wasn’t like I was personally competing against her. Also, I was from Indiana. I didn’t buy into the blood-feud mentality as much as most of my teammates did about the Buckeyes.
“The season hasn’t even started yet,” I said casually. “Tonight, I’m just a guy, and you’re just a girl.”
She shook her head. “Still a guy who goes to Michigan, and I’m—”
I straightened to my full height, and whatever else she was going to say died in her throat. “We need to get you past this rivalry thing.”
“Not in a million years.” Her eyes widened as I made my approach, cutting the space between us to nothing. “What are you doing?”
“I like a challenge.” I placed a hand on her cheek.
Tilting her head up, I gave her every chance to shut me down. She didn’t blink, like she was paralyzed with shock. I lowered my mouth to hers. I came in slow and deliberate, and Kayla stood motionless.
She inhaled sharply through her nose as my lips pressed against hers. She wouldn’t yield to me, but at least she hadn’t bolted either. I drew back, lingering a breath away and regrouped my efforts. Slow and restrained hadn’t cracked the wall she’d put up. Time to make good on my promise of kissing the shit out of her.
I wanted her, and maybe I was a cocky shit, but I felt confident she wanted me, too. I needed to show her where we went to school didn’t matter.
I hauled her up to meet me. Her body was rigid, but her mouth began to soften. When she parted her lips, my tongue shot past them and searched for hers. This girl was electricity. It sparked across my skin, crackling and demanding more. A sliver of a moan came from her as her tongue found mine.
Fuck, yes.
Tension fell from her body as she gave in and kissed me back. In a single breath, she went from hesitant to fully committed, matching the intensity I was throwing down. Her warm hands cupped my neck, holding on as our lips moved together.
Our hurried breathing synced, but fell out of rhythm when I scooped my hands under her legs and lifted her into my arms so she was straddling my waist. She didn’t let me break the kiss either. Not until I turned and pressed her back against the window of her driver’s side door. She gasped.
Okay. Grinding on her up against her car, in a public parking lot, was way too much, too fast, but I couldn’t stop myself. Kayla didn’t seem to mind either. She was enjoying it, given her breathy moans and the way she squirmed against me. She moved like she wanted my pants down and my dick out, and I got hard at the thought.
Not here.
The thought banged repeatedly in my mind as I thrust against her. Could she feel how turned on I’d gotten? From kissing? Unreal. Her legs were tight around my back, squeezing my hips, urging me to grind into her. My dick pressed against the fly of my jeans, threatening to bust the zipper.
Kayla made me so goddamn needy, I barely felt like myself. Her heart was racing. I could feel it with our chests flattened together, and mine was thumping along almost as fast as hers.
I used my tongue, my lips, and my teeth on the kiss. Every sound of approval she made, or ragged swallow of breath, sent all my blood straight to my dick. The ache swelled until it was torture. I pushed her hair out of my way as I trailed my mouth down the curve of her neck. She shivered. Her whole body shook, and I pressed my erection right where I wanted to sink inside her if our clothes weren’t in the way.
“Let’s get in the back seat,” she whispered.
I nearly came in my jeans, but kept my shit together long enough to groan, “My car.” I released her legs, guiding her back to stand on her own feet. “Because I’m a giant and won’t fit in the back of your Rio.”
I took her by the hand and led her around the end of the car.
“Uh, close your eyes for a second,” I said when I had my back seat door open.
“What? Why?”
“So you don’t see this.” I always tossed my equipment bag into the back seat after hitting the gym, rather than bothering with the trunk. Kayla sobered as I tugged the large blue bag from the car, her gaze locked onto the ‘M’ in maize yellow. Her expression screamed outrage.
I popped my trunk, hurled my stuff in, and slammed it closed with a heavy thud. Hopefully out of sight, out of mind for her, but Kayla’s pretty face was sour. Her shoulders were pulled back and she looked stiff once more.
“Maybe we’re better out here, where—”
I didn’t let her finish the sentence. I sealed my lips over hers. Her mouth was hot against mine, and a stroke of my tongue over hers reminded us both of our goal. “Please get in the car,” I mumbled between kisses, “before I stop caring who might be around to watch the show.”
Our kiss ended as she turned and stared at the open back seat. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. This was a big step for her, and I didn’t want to push. I wanted her to feel safe. “Or we can stay here. I can be a gentleman.”
“Maybe I don’t want that.” Her voice was unsteady.
I let out a tight breath as she stepped away from me and crawled over the leather bench in the back. The interior of my car wasn’t spacious. I’d never made out in my back seat. I was twenty-two years old—if I was going to fool around, I found a couch or a bed like an actual adult. But I could tell Kayla would shoot me down if I invited her back to my apartment. Even if she was up for it, she’d freak when she saw all my stuff. Could I convince her to see past the Michigan branding that blanketed everything?
The moment I closed the door behind me, the air grew thick and heavy. We’d gotten in here with a purpose, and I was eager to get to it. She sat in her seat, her bottom lip snagged between her teeth as she stared at me. It was quiet, other than her uneven breathing.
I smiled softly. “Come here.”
I pulled her onto my lap so her knees were on either side of my hips, and my hands tangled in her hair at the same moment our lips collided. The girl outside had been holding back on me. In the heat of my cramped back seat, she exploded. The curtain of her hair fell into my eyes and I pushed it back, holding it out of our way. I leaned back into the leather, my head thudding onto the top of the seat, and let her go to town kissing me. It was fucking amazing.
My hands drifted down to her shoulder blades, and beneath my fingertips, I felt the outline of the band of her bra. I followed the ridges, slowly working my way toward the front, sliding my hands over the silky fabric of her shirt. I’d spent a lot of time over the past two days wondering how far we would have gone if we hadn’t been interrupted at the wedding.
Had I ever wanted a girl this badly?
She arched into my touch, and her tongue plunged deep, filling my mouth. I couldn’t tell if she was shifting on me to make herself more comfortable or me more uncomfortable. The seam of her shorts rubbed against my throbbing dick, and I strangled back a groan of agonized pleasure.
Her breasts were a perfect handful. I teased her nipples with my thumbs, and she turned her head to the side as if she couldn’t breathe easily and needed air. That exposed her neck to me, so I gently bit the skin there. I licked and sucked until she was trembling.
The car was stifling, but I was too busy to deal with turning on the AC. Another shift of Kayla’s hips brought on a fresh wave of lust.
As a receiver, there was that sweet moment when you’d broken away and you were twenty yards down field. The ball was coming at you, and no one would be able to stop you from making a big play. Your whole body was hyperaware. So conditioned with what to do, it came as easily as breathing. The ball dropped into your hands, you secured it in the hold, and you’d burn straight to the end zone as all hell broke loose in the crowd. It was a fucking rush like nothing else.
Nothing . . . except kissing this girl.
I slid one had up her neck and gripped her hair, while I fumbled from one of her breasts to the other, my fingertips slipping inside her open neckline. Her skin was warm, soft and smooth. Her panted breath was a wordless command to keep touching her.
“You didn’t give me a warning this time,” she said. “You just kissed me.”
The heat of the car made me honest. “I was afraid you were going to stop me.”
“I should have. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
I hesitated. “You . . . want to stop?”
Her eyes were level with mine, and she blinked her baby blues. “No,” she said.