Chapter Nineteen
Channing
The glare from the lights in the stadium burned into the back of my eyes and stuck when I walked back into the locker room, covered in sweat. I collapsed on a bench near the door and took off my helmet, hoping that it would help me breathe, but my lungs were pounding too fast.
The excitement of the battle was starting to wear off, leaving me tired and dreary. I barely noticed the guys congratulating me as they walked by, until Mike took a seat next to me. He was covered in beads of sweat, and he was breathing fast.
“You took a pounding. They tackled you like, what? Six times?”
“Four, but it felt like nine. I’m aching. My whole body is sore. One of those guys slammed me with his elbow and drove my chin into the dirt.” I pointed at the mark they left.
“I’m still pumped.” Mike stood up and offered me a hand to lift me up. I took it. “You ready to party? Every house on the block went in on a keg.”
“I can barely stand. I’m too sore.”
“Come on. When was the last time you had a night out?”
Mike walked back to his locker, and I ducked down to open mine. “I have nights out every week. I’m tired, Mike. Not tonight.”
“Suit yourself.” He grabbed his towel and walked away to take a shower. I followed closely after him. I was hoping that the water would be enough to ease my muscles, but there wasn’t enough water pressure, and I was too tense, so I cut it short and decided to head back to the dorms.
The walk back from the stadium was several blocks. I wasn’t sure if I could make it at first, but once I got my feet moving, I felt a lot better. The air was cool, and there weren’t a lot of people walking around once I got onto the neighborhood streets.
I rounded the corner and saw Ava’s building at the end of the block. I could see her window lit up from behind a tree that grew on the side of her building. She was in there; I knew she was. I could probably go up and see her.
Would that be weird? Would she think I was some stalker, showing up at her house unannounced? Maybe it would be sexy. I couldn’t help myself. I hopped over the gate and walked right up to the elevator.
My skin was swimming when it opened up to her floor. I was being reckless. This might be seen as a fatal offense. I didn’t want to ruin things before they got started, but I was already up there, and she was so close. I couldn’t help myself. I knocked on her door and tried to remain calm. This was stupid.
She cracked the door and peeked out. When she saw me, she closed the door. I wasn’t sure whether to wait or leave. Maybe I interrupted her. I waited a moment, just in case she tried to open the door again, then turned around to walk away.
The door opened, and she ran out. “Wait.”
“I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind me showing up like this.” She was wearing an old T-shirt and a pair of cut-off shorts. It was sexy, raw. She could’ve been wearing a pillow case and it would’ve looked like a designer gown.
“No,” she beamed. “I’m just glad I caught you before you walked off.”
“Yeah?” I closed the space between us.
“Yeah,” she reached up and pecked me on the lips. I followed her back inside, where the TV was blaring in the living room. She shut it off, and walked back into the kitchen. “You want anything? Soda?”
“That’d be nice.” I sat down on the couch.
“You look like you’ve just been through a fight.” She handed me a drink and sat down next to me with one of her own.
“I feel like it.” I sat back, ignoring the ache in my shoulders. “I just got back from the game.”
“Did you win?” she asked.
“Barely. We pushed the team back as far as we could, and I shot a pass. The guys I was aiming for got tackled. I was lucky Mike caught it when he did. He took the ball straight to home.”
“Huh,” she took a sip of her drink.
“You don’t know anything about football, do you?”
“No,” she said, “not one thing, and I hope that doesn’t put you off.”
“God, no. All everyone talks about is football, all day, nonstop. It’s because I’m the quarterback.”
“Well, I promise that you’ll hear nothing about it from me. I can be your escape.”
“That’s refreshing.” I took a drink. “You don’t have to come to any of the games, either. A lot of the other girls show up and cause a huge fuss. I wouldn’t want to subject you to that.”
“I wouldn’t go. My friend is always begging me to come with her, but I don’t see any point. I wouldn’t have any fun. Football is brutal. To me, it’s kind of like something a lesser species would do.”
“It’s not like that,” I said and took another drink.
“It’s dry. I don’t care about who can throw a ball better, or whether or not one guy can tackle another. They might as well just pull their dicks out and start measuring them. It would take less time, and at least then we’ll have a real show.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “I can see where you’re coming from, but you have it all wrong. You can’t just walk onto a field and throw a ball around. We’re testing our strength, our endurance and willpower, and we spend every second we can trying to better ourselves.”
“When you put it that way, I can see where you’re coming from.” She sipped her drink. “You do work hard.”
“Oh, I’m dying. I didn’t think I could make it back to the dorms. My back is killing me. I feel like somebody stuck a dagger between my shoulder blades, and all the guys wanted me to go out. They said there’d be drinks, and everyone will be wanting to see me.”
“Why didn’t you go?” she asked.
“Because I was tired,” I turned to her, “and it wouldn’t have felt right without you there. There’d be girls trying to talk to me, and everything, and I didn’t want that. I wanted to see you. I didn’t plan on coming here like this. It just happened.”
“It was a nice surprise,” she said and took a drink.
“I keep thinking about you,” I said. “All the time, in fact. It’s getting kind of hard to study.”
“You do?”
“Mm-hmm,” I leaned over her and grazed my lips across hers. “I can’t get you out of my mind.”
“Would you like me to help you with your back?” she asked. “I can give good massages.”
I raised my arms up and lifted my shirt off. Her eyes fell down my chest, over my abs, and rested on the bulge sticking up out of my jeans.
“Here,” she stood up. “Come to my room and lay down on the bed. That way I can do it right.”
“Okay,” I followed her into her room, slipped off my pants, and laid down on my stomach. She knelt down at my side and started easing the tension out of my neck. She knew where to press in, and where to pull away. She dug into the soft places, and kneaded her way down my shoulders, and over my back.
I could feel my cock pressing up against my boxer briefs. She was moving down my back, pulling at the skin, digging her fingers in. She was intuitive. It was like she knew my body better than I did, and she knew how to work it.
She moved down my hips, dug into my cheeks, and moved onto my thighs. She spent extra time, adding in the force she needed to soothe the beasts, and ease the tension building up on the sides. I slowly relaxed and melted into the pillow while she moved onto my calves, this time using sharper, harsher movements that left a sweet burn behind.
She moved back up to my shoulders, filling in the tender spaces. Her touch was sweet, her lips against my neck even sweeter. My pain was melting from the warmth into a soft tingle that gave way to a raging fire as her lips pressed against the space between my shoulder blade, and her fingers began to walk down my spine.
Her hand fell down my hip, and she grabbed my shaft. The blood rushed straight to my cock, and she pulled her hand down my shaft. Her kisses moved further up my neck and around, behind my ear, while her hand moved up towards the head of my dick. I tensed up and her teeth dug into the sensitive skin behind my ears.
“Oh,” I sighed.
She laughed, so I turned over and pulled down my boxer briefs. My cock fell out. She was on her knees staring at it, so I grabbed it by the base and swung it back and forth. Her head moved with it. I turned over, wrapped my arms around her neck, and kissed her. She fell limply into the kiss and wrapped her arm around my neck while my tongue dove through her mouth. I bit down on her bottom lip and pulled my head back.
“Come here,” I wrapped my hand around my cock and pulled my palm up my shaft.