Cam

 

Another win down.

Our loss to BelV a few weeks ago had been a tough pill to swallow, for the whole team. Losing to those schmucks always was. But we hadn’t lost a game since then, so everything seemed to be back on track.

I noticed Boyd gazing intently down at the phone in his hand after I got out of the showers. “You got a girl you haven’t told us about, Newton?”

It took him a second to register what I said, but he finally looked up with a confused expression. “What?”

I fell down on the bench in front of my locker and tipped my head at his phone. “You’ve been on that thing a lot lately, way more than you usually are. Everything okay at the ranch?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he muttered, attention moving back to the phone.

I caught Jesse’s and Colt’s eyes in my peripheral vision. “It’s definitely a chick, then,” Jesse stated.

As he had alluded to us many times before, Boyd was a monogamous relationship type of guy. He didn’t do the whole hookup scene, and certainly didn’t subscribe to the “love ‘em and leave ‘em” mantra. If he had a girlfriend, it was news to all of us.

“Not a chick,” he said curtly.

“So, it’s a dude?” Colt teased. “Huh. Didn’t see that one coming.”

Boyd sighed like a father dealing with his petulant children. “It’s not a chick and it’s definitely not a dude, assholes. I’ve just got stuff going on that’s none of your business. Is that enough of an answer for you?”

Colt let out a low whistle. “Touchy.”

The three of us chuckled, but Boyd acted like he’d already tuned us back out. Come to think of it, he had been acting weird over the past month or so. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something had definitely been off with him. I’d just chalked it up to stress over classes or maybe there were some family issues, but now it felt like something more than that. But he was right. It wasn’t any of my business. If he wanted to keep secrets from his teammates, well, that was his prerogative.

After all, I was keeping a pretty big secret from all of them.

Speaking of which…

“I’m off,” I announced as I stood up and flung my duffel bag strap over my shoulder. To Jesse I asked, “You think you can keep your boy out of trouble for once this weekend?”

Jesse scoffed, shaking his head at his brother. “I stopped being his babysitter a long time ago. If he wants to get shit faced and wake up in women’s underwear the next morning with his face plastered all over the internet, that’s on him.”

I laughed and headed for the door.

“Whoa, whoa,” Colt exclaimed, shooting to his feet. “Are we not hitting up The Lair tonight? I thought that was the plan.”

The Lair was a popular bar-slash-nightclub downtown that we used to frequent a lot together. It was a primo spot for hookups and cheap liquor, the perfect combination for poor college students who didn’t give a shit about anything but scoring.

But things were different now. And it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why I would choose having sex with Reese over having some sloppy, drunken co-ed hang all over me at a packed club, then listening to her throw up in her bathroom, right after I just got done screwing her.

Those days were gone.

“Sorry, man,” I told Colt. “I never heard those plans. Besides, I’ve got physical therapy early tomorrow morning, so I’m hitting the sack early.”

The first part of that was true. But there was no way in hell I was going to bed early. Not if I had Reese in my arms.

Colt threw his arms up. “What the hell is happening here? Newton’s acting all weird, not giving us shit about going out and shopping for pussy—”

“You’re literally devolving right before our eyes, Lancaster,” Boyd spoke up.

“And now Donovan is bailing on us to go to bed early,” Colt finished. “Did I get hammered and wake up in another dimension or something?”

“It’s called growing up,” I chided.

He waved me off. “Fuck that. There’s only a few more months left before all of this ends and then we have to grow up. Until then, I’m going to take advantage as long as I possibly can. Anyway, you’re one to talk. You were the one dragging me out to bars last year.”

I shrugged. “Thing’s change.” I walked out in the middle of another one of his rants, leaving a trail of laughter behind me.

I was ensconced by a barrage of cameras and reporters as soon as I walked into the tunnel. Sucking back my frustration, I answered their questions about the game, the team’s prospects, and the championship tournament in a few weeks. I kept my responses short and to the point because I needed to get to my girl. With one last smile and wave, I left them to latch onto the next guy to leave the locker room and made my way out the stadium door to my Jeep. I was hoping Reese might have been waiting for me by her car, but it wasn’t there. Glancing down at my phone, I realized it had gotten later than I’d thought.

I sent her a text as I started the ignition.

Me: On my way to see you.

Reese: I’ll be waiting.

My dick twitched in my sweats. Hearing she was at her apartment waiting for me, that her gorgeous face would greet me the second I walked in the door, had warmth blooming inside my chest. And me sporting wood, as always.

I reached her apartment in record time, bounding up the stairs like my ass was on fire.

Expecting to find the door locked, I tried the doorknob just in case and was surprised to find it open. Alarm whirled through me at the thought that something could be wrong.

“Reese?”

“In the kitchen!”

Both relieved and turned on to see her sitting on the kitchen counter with a bowl of ice cream in her hands, I relaxed. Or at least, the top portion of my body did. The lower portion, well… It was ready and raring to go.

“Hey,” I said, leaning against the doorway. “Why wasn’t your door locked?”

She looked at me like I’d just told her I thought I might be growing boobs. “I left it unlocked for you.”

I decided to shelf the lecture on keeping it locked at all times, regardless of whether or not I was coming over. She looked tired and God knows I was tired. Not too tired for some things, though.

I nodded down to her bowl. “Hungry?”

She frowned at her giant spoonful. “Not really.”

Ah, shit. In my experience, there was only one other reason girls ate ice cream if they weren’t just starving for some. She was either grumpy or on her period, neither of which bode well for me and my plans.

“What’s wrong?”

“I saw you talking to the cheerleader,” she responded without hesitation.

No subterfuge. That was one of the many things I could appreciate about her. Not only did she prefer truth and honesty to lying, she also never kept up pretense. I hated that passive-aggressive shit. I was a pretty straightforward guy, and I preferred to deal with problems head-on so they could be resolved in the quickest and smoothest way possible.

Her words infiltrated my thought process.

Cheerleader. Rachel.

Damn it to hell. That girl was such a pain in my ass. I had to tread carefully here.

“Yes, Rachel came up to talk to me before the game.”

“What about?”

That’s when I noticed her eyes didn’t have their usual glow when she looked at me. Not like how they’d been in the training room before the game. That would have to be fixed, pronto.

“She was trying to invite me to a party.”

I hated seeing the hurt on her face. She was trying to hide it, but I knew her better than she thought and it was hard to miss.

“Have you slept with her?”

This was a time when I really needed her to accept my honesty and not kick me out of her apartment.

“Yes. Once, last year.”

She flinched and dropped her gaze to her melting ice cream. “Do you have feelings for her?”

Now, it was my turn to flinch. Feelings for Rachel?

“Hell no. It was at a party and I was drunk. I barely even remember it. Afterwards, she thought we were going to start dating, so I had to set her straight. I’ve been trying to set her straight ever since.”

She scrunched her eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

I walked further into the room to lean against the counter across from her. “I mean I’ve told her numerous times that nothing is going to happen between us, and she hasn’t taken the hint. I haven’t always been real nice about it, either. She has a reputation for being a manipulative shrew, so I’m trying to steer clear of her.”

She was silent for a few beats. “That’s all? There’s nothing else going on there?”

I laughed. She didn’t understand how ridiculous the implication was. “I promise, sweetheart.”

I walked to her, placing myself between her spread legs. Our position reminded me too much of what we did in the training room earlier, and I had to subtly adjust myself in my sweats.

“I keep telling you, there’s no one I’m interested in but you. No other girl can even hold a candle to you. You don’t need to worry about anything.”

She lowered her head before I could discern whether or not she truly believed me. “I don’t know why I even got this out,” she said, staring at the ice cream. “I don’t want it.”

“Let me see if I can help you out.”

I dipped my finger through one of the scoops of vanilla and raised it to her exposed neck. With wide eyes, she watched as I smeared it down the skin of her slender neck, sucking in a sharp breath at the cold sensation. She tipped her head back to keep it from running down into her sweater, giving me the perfect angle to savor my late-night snack.

Leaning forward, I snaked my tongue out to catch the melting trail of creamy vanilla, licking it all up from collarbone to jaw, delighting as I saw goosebumps pop up all over her flesh. She sighed contentedly as I repeated the action on the other side of her neck. Those sighs were really having an effect on my dick, but I knew I had to hold off. This was about reassuring her that she was the only girl I wanted in my life.

I grabbed the bowl from her hands and placed it on the counter. Guiding her to wrap her legs around my waist, I carried her over to the dining area table and laid her down gently on her back. Christ, she was like an all-you-can-eat buffet and I was the only customer. And damn, could I eat a lot of her.

I felt a sense of déjà vu as I ripped open her black pants and shimmied them down her legs, followed closely by her panties.

“Are your roommates coming home soon?” I asked, my gaze focused on her already glistening pussy.

“No,” she said breathlessly. “Gemma is out with friends and won’t be back until late. And Sydney’s spending the weekend at her parents’ place.”

Beautiful.

Questions answered, I buried my face between her legs without another thought. She immediately arched her back like she was trying to get away from me, but I held her hips down and didn’t relent.

“Oh, hell.” She was already breathing hard. “Don’t stop, please.”

Did she really think I could at this point? She was clenching around my tongue, dripping into my mouth, and it was all because of me. I did this to her. I made her wild and wanton and so desperate for a release she was willing to do almost anything. That filled me with an enormous amount of satisfaction.

I kept my tongue deep inside her and didn’t come up for air until her climax slammed through her and her whole body went into violent trembles. It wasn’t until her legs stopped shaking around my head that I finally released her from my mouth and stood up. She was sexy and comical at the same time—a look only Reese could pull off successfully—with her arms laying limp beside her, her legs dangling off the edge of the table, and her saucer-sized eyeballs staring up at the ceiling.

“Did I break you?”

She forced her head up. “You really do have a gift.”

I bit back my laughter and slapped her leg. “I’m glad you approve. Time to get up, though, lazy ass. I’m taking you somewhere.”

She pushed herself up with considerable effort. “Are you kidding? You’re going to do that to me and then make me get dressed to go out? I thought we were staying in tonight.”

I kissed her to shut her up. “We’re not going ‘out’ out. And what you have on now is fine. You won’t be wearing it long once we get there, anyway.”

She narrowed her eyes, unsure.

I rolled my eyes and pulled her off the table. “I promise you’ll like it. Just trust me, okay?”

The corner of her mouth quirked. “Okay.”

Did that mean she trusted me? Like, implicitly?

Because I had to admit, that felt pretty damn good.