I close my eyes and tilt my face into the hot water as Matt’s arms close around me. This has got to be the best feeling in the world, I think. His hard body surrounding me, his mouth licking and sucking on my neck, my skin sizzling with want. There’s a twinge from my knee but even that just helps to ground me, to put the rest of the pleasure in perspective.

I reach my arms over my head to wrap them around Matt’s neck and he groans into my skin, watching my breasts lift. Then his soapy hands start wandering leisurely over my body, pinching and soothing, rubbing and probing, all while he feasts on my neck and watches me. And I was wrong. This is the best feeling in the world. When he presses a finger inside me I moan and wriggle against him until his breath hitches and he presses the other hand against my hip to still me.

“Slow down,” he gasps, though his hips flex against me.

“I can’t. Too much. No. More.” I keep babbling, incoherent with wanting, arching my back against him and riding his hand. I’m not sure what I’m moaning but I want more, now.

“What? English, Anni!” Matt’s voice is shaky and he sounds like I feel, undone.

“Harder!” I clutch at him as my body tightens. I’m so close and I want more. Matt’s whole body tenses and he pumps two fingers inside me as his motions become more frantic and his other hand slips back up to my breast, pinching my nipple hard.

And just like that I shatter and buckle so he has to hold me up with a strong arm around my hips, still grinding against me. I lean my forehead against the cool tiles while the warm water flows over us in rushes. I turn my head in time to see Matt’s look of shocked wonder as he comes against my bare skin, holding my hips in a death grip. He sags against me as we both try to catch our breath and pull ourselves together.

“Omigod,” I manage.

“Yeah,” he breathes out, shifting to ease his weight off me. “Omigod,” he repeats. “Is your leg okay?”

He sounds worried and I reassure him, though he stoops to check it as he helps me out of the shower and wraps me in a towel. I feel boneless and stare unabashedly at his naked body as he moves. He’s so beautifully knit together, strong and muscular, with a light trail of dark damp hair defining his torso. And still he seems perfectly at ease, naked or clothed—except when lust makes him unravel. And I do that to him. I hug that secret to myself.

“We should talk,” I say reluctantly as we stare at each other. He runs a finger over my cheek, then traces my lips.

“Yeah.”

Neither of us moves though. We just stand in the steamy bathroom, wrapped in towels, radiating afterglow. Finally he takes my hand, interlaces our fingers and pulls me into my bedroom, closing the door behind us and settling us on my narrow bed so I stay tucked against him. He wraps an arm around my shoulder, his hand fiddling with the edge of my towel. He tips his head back on the wall and closes his eyes.

“Okay,” he sighs. “I’m ready. Shoot.” He sounds so resigned that I laugh.

“I wonder what you’re expecting me to say?” I tease. He opens one eye to study me and one side of his mouth quirks up.

“That we shouldn’t have done that. That we agreed to keep our hands off each other. That it was a mistake,” he prompts.

“Right,” I sigh. “Remind me why we agreed on that again?” I trace a finger from one broad shoulder to his wrist, marveling at the slightly rougher texture of his skin. He captures that hand and pulls it to his mouth, licking my fingertips.

“Damn if I can remember right now—” His other hand starts tugging at my towel.

“You think we could have this conversation without the towel? That way I could work on committing your naked body to memory—just in case I don’t get to see it again.”

He tugs harder and my towel unspools. I watch him while he admires me, feeling powerful—and getting turned on again. Apparently he can make my nipples tingle just by looking at them.

“Is this really conducive to talking?” I ask and my voice sounds too breathless. And he seems too distracted to answer. The hand that released the towel is now tracing circles on my hip.

“No,” he admits finally. “Not really. I can’t seem to help myself.” His tone is rueful.

I close my eyes against the rush of desire for him but my body has a mind of its own and it’s flooding with heat. The next moment he pulls me onto his lap facing him so my bare breasts are on display. His hips are still encased in a towel but I can feel him stirring again. He watches my breasts rise and fall as my breathing accelerates. He raises his hands to cup them, exploring with his fingertips as I shiver.

“So beautiful,” he murmurs, “and, I bet, very delicious too.” He ducks to lick and tease me. I gasp and clutch at his head, digging my fingers into his dark still-damp hair.

“Yes, delicious,” he growls, sucking harder, then nipping and biting until I’m grinding against him again, out of my mind all over again. “You like a little sting, don’t you?”

My eyes widen because I don’t know what I like except that he should never stop. He twists one nipple a little roughly, while soothing the other one with his tongue. I cry out at the intensity of the pleasure.

He pauses to look at my face. “Not too much?”

I shake my head and pull him back to my breasts, which are swollen and throbbing. I feel possessed.

“Just right,” I manage. “Matt! Make me come again!”

When he raises his eyes to my face again he looks as flushed and wild as I feel. “Jesus, Anni! This is crazy—” But he’s already pushing his erection against me.

“I know,” I moan, grinding back.

“I want you so much!” With an impatient hand he unwraps his towel so we’re skin to skin again and I catch my breath at the sight of him. His hand delves between my legs and my thighs clench.

“So wet—” He lifts dark, dark eyes to mine. “Condoms?”

I bite my lip, suddenly embarrassed, and shake my head. “Umm. No….”

He groans as my hands move over his chest then lower, stroking and exploring.

“We don’t have to stop, do we?” I pout.

“Ahhh,” he manages, thrusting into my hand. “No. Can’t. We gotta come and fuck me if it won’t be too fast again.“

I start to giggle but before I know it he’s flipped me onto my back and his mouth is between my legs, both sweet and sharp, soft and hard, tender and teasing, driving me crazy. Again the ache in my nipples, the dull pain at my knee heighten the sensations and soon, too soon, I’m coming apart all over again.

“Did you get some secret manual to my body that I don’t know about?” I ask breathlessly, wiping a stray damp piece of hair off my face. My chest is still heaving. “Did I actually scream your name? I didn’t know that was a real thing—”

He flops onto his back and chuckles, but his eyes look serious. “We’re well matched,” he says softly.

I don’t want to think about that right now though so I distract him.

“Let’s see about that,” I murmur, leaning over to kiss my way down the sculpted ridges of his torso. “Would you like to come, Matt?” I whisper, hovering over his erection so he can feel my words.

“Anni!” His hands fist in the sheets.

“Does that mean yes?” I lick him once and I’m loving this.

“Anni!” He says more urgently, lifting his hips. “I. Hate. You!”

I laugh, then devote myself to his pleasure because this intense thing we’ve got going? It may be unsettling, but it’s all ours.

* * *

“We never talked,” Matt says, much later. I can see through the sliver of window that’s not covered by curtain that it’s getting dark out. And we’ve officially spent the whole afternoon in bed. He yawns and scratches his bicep lazily.

I roll onto my stomach and prop my chin on my folded hands. “Not done admiring your nakedness.”

He tears the sheet off me and runs his gaze down my backside. “Yeah, well…likewise, but we need clothes if we’re going to talk. And I’m starving.”

His hand takes a long trip down my back. “So let’s get going!” Then all of a sudden he smacks me hard on the butt.

I jerk at the sensation and stare at him in surprise. Our eyes hold, and there it is. He shakes his head and smirks at me. “You are in so much trouble now.”

I actually blush as I roll away from him. “You started it,” I grumble, but I can’t really complain because he’s got my number. And I didn’t even know I had a number—or that it’s his number too. Something else to think about some other time.

We dress quickly, as if afraid of getting derailed again, and head over to the cafeteria, which is gradually filling with students returning from break. Everywhere people are excitedly waving at each other and catching up. Matt and I exchange a nervous glance because we haven’t prepped for this and we don’t have a plan. We’ve just spent hours doing very intimate things. I feel tied to him but I don’t know how, or if, to show it.

“Annika! Matt! Over here!”

Holly did not just call our names out in the crowded cafeteria! Yep, she did.

I see her waving frantically from the table she’s sharing with Noah, Kyle, and Lani. With a sigh we join them, trying to ignore the curious stares aimed at us.

“Don’t you look more stunning than ever!” Holly raves at me, giving me a fierce hug. “How’d you get so rosy in the middle of March?”

I hope that’s a rhetorical question but I can’t look at Matt. I still feel overrun by pleasure.

“How were your breaks?” Matt asks easily and I’m struck again by his innate poise. The very thing I admire most about him is also what bugs me the most—how smooth and fake he can seem sometimes. At least on the surface. Beneath that? Who knows—but that’s what I glimpse when we fight or fuck. That realness underneath the façade. It’s tantalizing.

“Good.”

“Long.”

“Fine.”

“Dull.”

Everyone answers automatically.

“Gotta find food,” Matt says. He gestures at his workout clothes, which he had to put back on. “After all that soccer I’m starving! Want something, Anni?”

I nod and try not to blush at his grin, but I do catch Holly and Lani staring.

“You two friends now?” Holly asks in confusion.

“Partners!” Matt and I say at the same time, then I make a face at him and he laughs. I can’t help sneaking a glimpse at his muscled legs as he moves away.

“Friendly partners,” Holly says, shaking her head. “We know where that leads…!”

Kyle leans back in his chair, looking smug. He and Lani have something going on, though I’d never have predicted it. He’s planning to join the military and she’s a dancer so who knows what they talk about, but they seem to have some chemistry. I don’t know him very well, but I like Lani and I like how they are together. I scoot in next to her and she bumps me with her shoulder.

“Anni?” she whispers.

And shit, I forgot about that. I don’t know when or where that started but it’s definitely a sex thing. All at once I feel overwhelmed. I’m exhausted from jet lag and multiple orgasms, I haven’t eaten or slept, my knee still aches, and I’m emotionally spent. It’s as if all the fizzy bubbles in my bloodstream suddenly went flat.

When Matt returns with food I eat in silence, listening to their banter. I’m a part of this, I realize with a start. I have friends. A group even. Huh. I mull this over and find Matt’s eyes on me, brow furrowed. What’s up? he seems to be asking.

I shake my head and smile a little and he relaxes some. I watch him turn back to talk Final Four with Kyle, his profile sharp and clean. Holly and Lani are talking too and only Noah and I just watch and listen. We exchange sympathetic smiles.

Lani notices and adopts an all-too-innocent look. “Hey Holly, you’re always trying to match Noah and Annika with dates—ever thought they’d make a good couple?”

Complete silence greets this suggestion and Noah looks so alarmed that I giggle and rush to reassure him. “Don’t worry, you’re safe from me!”

Kyle and Lani are laughing at us, but Holly and Matt do not look amused.

“No poaching partners!” Holly says sharply. I raise my eyebrows at her but Kyle nods sagely.

“Partnerships are sacred,” he confirms, and Lani beams at him. They make a good-looking couple—his blond bad-boy thing a perfect complement to her dark coloring and grace.

Not knowing what to say to that, I stand up and start to excuse myself, pleading fatigue. I’ll see them all in class on Wednesday anyway. I can see Matt trying to figure out what to do. We haven’t talked and we need to talk. But we also need to be discreet. He’s gathering his stuff, frowning, when his phone beeps. He glances at it then jumps to his feet.

“Shit! Lucy’s here?”

“Who’s Lucy?” I ask with dread. We’re all staring at him as he grabs his jacket.

“My sister. She says she’s at my room. What the fuck?” He glances around hurriedly. “I gotta go.”

His eyes meet mine and I can’t read his expression so I just nod and we leave the cafeteria together, me scrambling to keep up with Matt’s long strides.

“I take it your sister really is here? That wasn’t just an excuse to leave together?” I ask, huffing as we speed-walk through the quad.

“Of course she’s here!” He shoots back at me, impatiently. “I don’t make up shit about my sister!” Then he stops abruptly and turns to me.

“Shit, Anni, I’m sorry!” He runs a hand through his hair and I’m reminded of how it feels under my fingers. “I know we still need to talk, but I have to handle this now. She’s supposed to be back at school in Pennsylvania—so how did she even get here?” He starts walking again and I hasten to catch up. I’ve never seen him this concerned.

“It’s okay. Can I help?” I’m getting kind of worried now too. “She’s younger, right? I have two younger sisters.”

“Would you just come back with me til I find out what’s going on? Maybe everything’s cool.” He sounds anxious so I’m quick to reassure him. I’ll stay if he needs me.