Training was kicking my ass.

I had been sacked twice by my own teammate and threw the ball to the wrong side three times.

Fucking hell.

If I wasn’t as good of a player as Coach knew I was, he would have benched me by now.

“Baker!” he yelled from the side of the field. “Get your head in the game!” He tapped his finger against the side of his head roughly.

“Dude, what’s the problem?” Chunk asked, running next to me.

I shook my head. “No fucking clue. Things have just been tense, man.”

“Well, knock that shit off.” He frowned down at me before smirking. “I need my line-backer out there at the top of his game. Get her to rub one out or something.” He nodded his head toward the stands that would be packed this weekend.

I stopped running.

Centred a few rows back, sat Tillie. She waved enthusiastically at me, grinning. I waved back, loving that she had chosen to come and watch us train. Well, ‘watch’ was a loose word. She had no clue about the rules of football. I had tried explaining them to her, but she quickly got bored and started talking about art pencils. She ducked her head, focusing back on her sketchpad. She never went anywhere without it.

The coach ordered the whole team to run suicides for the last twenty minutes of practice. It wasn’t a problem for most of us as we were used to Coach’s orders, but Sammy and Logan were struggling. Sweat was pouring off them and they were groaning like a couple of senior citizens.

The coach called time and it was followed by a few groans of enthusiasm. He smirked, walking toward his office.

I jogged over toward the bleachers as the rest of the team made their way to the changing rooms and I leaned over, giving Tillie a quick kiss. “What are you drawing?” I took a seat next to her and she immediately slung her legs over mine. I smiled at her growing confidence. Every day she was getting more comfortable around me.

She turned her sketchpad in my direction, grinning.

“Not bad.” I shook my hand back and forth with an unimpressed expression. It was a beautiful and detailed sketch of the field we played on.

She rolled her eyes at me, scribbling her initials in the bottom right and dating it. I expected her to rip it out, but she never did. It stayed firmly attached to the spine.

“So, what are we doing?” She wrinkled her nose, her eyes flickering down to my chest before looking back up. “Aren’t you going to shower?”

I laughed, tossing my head back. “What’s the matter? I don’t smell that bad.” I slung my arm around her, pulling her toward me while digging my fingers into her ribs and tickling her.

“Stop! Stop tickling me!” she shrieked, trying to pull away from me.

I laughed, letting her move away.

One by one, each of the boys trickled out from the changing rooms and made their way to the exit of the field.

Logan and Sammy gave us a wave before jumping on their skateboards and escaping home. They had a ‘Call of Duty’ marathon that night with a few of the boys.

I stood up, holding my hands out to her. “Want to come in and wait for me while I take a shower?” I looked down at her, chuckling at the way her face blushed bright red before she took it.

Leading her into the locker room, I went to my locker, taking my towel and shower gel out before toeing off my shoes and socks. Winking at her, I walked between the lockers, taking my jersey off as I went.

The mirror ahead of me showed the way her eyes trailed over my back muscles before quickly looking away.

Standing beneath the spray, I zoned out, letting it run down my back muscles, soothing the burn there from practice.

After a few minutes, Tillie's voice filtered through. “So, are you ready for the game next week?” It was higher pitched than normal but that was probably due to the ambience in there.

“I’m always ready.” I wasn’t being cocky. I was all ready for the game. My training, exercise and diet made sure that when it was game day, I wouldn’t fail. Looking down, I groaned at the way my cock was standing at half-mast. It had basically been like that since I’d kissed her. It was used to having pussy on a regular basis and lately, it hadn’t.

Grasping myself in my hands, I decided to rub one out.

No way could I fucking go out there fully erect. It would only scare her. Right now, I was on a mission to win her trust and acting like the horny jock was only going to push her away.

Pumping myself a few times, I groaned when her voice filtered back through.

“I can’t wait to watch you win,” she said excitedly.

Fuck, if she continued talking, I’d be marking this wall in no time. I closed my eyes, imagining what I had always stopped myself doing.: Tillie in my bed, her hair fanned out around her in a halo with my hand between her legs.

Fuck, she'd be perfect.

Completely untouched.

Only for me.

I groaned quietly, feeling my balls tighten at the vision of her in my bed: chest heaving, legs open for my touch, her hips slowly lifting off the bed, urging me to go deeper. Rougher. Harder.

I gasped, my eyes shooting open as I unloaded against the tile wall.

Fuck.

This girl was going to be the death of me.

“Everything okay?” she called. “You’ve gone really quiet.”

Nothing got past her. I shook my head, chuckling. I directed the showerhead to wash my mess away before turning the shower off and wrapping the towel around my waist.

This was going to get interesting. In my rush to get in the shower, I’d left my clothes in my locker. Right where Tillie was sitting. Walking toward her, I smiled when I saw she was over by the picture cabinet. According to rumor, it was a cabinet of the previous teams the coach had trained. She had her face pressed so close to the glass, she was leaving little condensation marks when she breathed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, grabbing my underwear and jeans out of my locker.

“I’m just...” She froze, gawking at me before I slipped my left leg into my boxers followed by my jeans. She spun around so fast I thought she was going to collide with the glass.

I snickered. She really hadn’t been expecting me to be standing behind her, practically naked. Lifting my jeans up, I kept the towel on until I could zip them up. Hoisting my Texas Cowboys t-shirt on, I walked toward her, wrapping my arms over her chest with her back to my front.

She leaned her head back against my chest, before pointing to the photo on the top shelf.

It was the oldest photo in the cabinet. It was of the coach's first team and it had been taken in the 1970's. It had been the first and last time the college had won the championships. We were determined to beat that record this year. Every member was determined to get to the championships and lift that cup.

She looked surprised that the coach had worked here so long.

She turned around and pressed a kiss to the column of my neck.

I swallowed heavily, not expecting her to do that. If she carried on, I’d be hard and ready to go for round two, which she really did not want to happen in the middle of the boys’ locker room.

Grabbing my backpack, I led her out of the block and began walking her home. We spoke about our college essays mostly. I was trying hard to remember that art was her passion. I didn’t want to fuck her first year up by taking up too much of her time. I’d keep her locked in my bedroom if I had my way.

Giving her a kiss, I kept it PG and watched her go inside.

It was pitch black when I walked into the house and flicking the light on, I headed upstairs, determined to get some research done for my Economics class the next day. Walking into my room, I froze in the doorway. There, on my bed, was a half-naked female student and sadly, not just any female student…

Lucy Fucking Jones.

She was dressed in pink, lacy lingerie lying on her stomach with her legs at the foot of my bed.

I walked toward her, causing the smile on her face to grow. As I reached her, her hand automatically went out, catching hold of the buckle on my waist. She had lust in her eyes and she assumed I was going to deliver.

No fucking chance.

“Get the fuck out of my bed!” I snapped.

Her eyes widened in shock at my outburst. “Excuse me?” she shrieked. Sitting on her knees, she put her hands on her hips, looking at me in shock. “I know you want me!”

My eyes trailed down to her chest, noticing the way her tits were pushed together and forming a very edible cleavage. If she were Tillie, I’d already be on her, but she wasn’t.

“You heard me!” I grabbed her clothes neatly folded off my desk and tossed them at her. “Go and seduce some other idiot.”

Her eyes filled with tears, but I just didn’t have it in me to care. Not with her.

She slammed my door as she left, stomping down the stairs.

I rolled my eyes, taking the seat at my desk and turned the laptop on.

It was time to lose myself in the boring world of political statistics.

* * *

Jogging to campus, I cringed when I realized I was twenty minutes late for my first class. Falling asleep at my desk last night hadn’t been part of the plan. Running inside the marketing building, I snuck through the door when the professor’s back was turned.

Taking my seat, I wanted to high five myself when it went unnoticed. Grabbing my note pad, I cringed when the professor turned around, his eyes immediately settling on me.

“Thank you for joining us, Mr. Baker.” He cocked his eyebrow at me, making me feel about two feet tall.

I smiled politely, giving him a two-fingered army salute. He rolled his eyes, turning back to the board.

I grabbed my pen, taking down as many notes off the board as I could. One thing I hated about this class was that he used a lot of algorithms. I had enough trouble remembering shit without him throwing those in.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, disturbing me. I ignored it until the class was over. Forty minutes later, it vibrated a few more times. The professor called the end of the class with orders to catch up on the handout. Tossing everything in my bag, I exited class, taking my phone out of my pocket. I had several text messages of congratulations from a few boys off the team.

What the hell was going on?

I then got to a few messages off Logan asking me what the fuck I was playing at?

I replied, asking him what the fuck his problem was.

I froze when I got a reply.

They say a picture can say a thousand words. This one did. It was a picture of me in my room from last night—more importantly, a picture of Lucy and me with her hand on my belt buckle. He sent more pictures of Lucy on my bed. Some were censored but a lot weren’t.

I was going to fucking kill her.

Turning around, I ran straight into her.

“Hello, lover.” She slid her arm around my neck, attempting to pull me toward her.

“What the fuck have you done?” I’d never wanted to hit a woman as much as I did right then.

“Sweet, little Tillie isn’t going to want you now.” She smiled up at me before walking away.

Fuck. Tillie.

I ran down the corridor and didn’t stop until I reached the art building. Spotting Bex in the crowd, I ran up to her. She’d know where Tillie was.

“Where is she?” I gasped, my chest tight with lack of breath.

She turned, narrowing her eyes and her lip curling at me in disgust. “She never showed up.” Her eyes flickered down and back up. “Not that I’m surprised.”

“I didn’t cheat on her,” I replied, trying to reason with her. “I would never do that to her.” I swallowed, trying not to let the anger coursing through me get me into any more trouble. “I’m crazy about her, Bex.”

“Whatever.” She walked past me, obviously refusing to help me. “If you want to see her, you should know where she is.” She walked into the building, leaving me.

I turned around, heading straight home. Knocking on Joy’s door, I waited for an answer. I didn’t want to just walk straight in like I normally would, if she was pissed at me.

Joy answered the door, smiling up at me. “Johnny! Is everything okay?”

She looked far too happy to see me if Tillie had seen those photos. She should be ready to hit me.

“Is Tillie here?” I frowned, completely screwed. If Tillie wasn’t there, then where the hell would she go?

“No.” Joy frowned, worry creasing her eyes. “She should be at school.”

I nodded, trying to think of an easy lie I could pass off as the truth. “She probably is. I thought she said she had a free lesson, but I must have misheard her.” I grinned, trying to look relaxed.

She smiled, nodding. “I’ll tell her you stopped by.”

I nodded, turning around and leaving. Stopping outside her house, I looked up and down the street. Turning left, I headed away from campus, determined to find her.

Walking several blocks, I looked up and down every side street and every shop window. She was nowhere in sight. Jogging across the street, I spotted the skate park that Sammy liked to hang out at. Walking through the gate, I spotted Sammy sitting by a large oak tree. He got up and jogged across to me.

“Have you seen Tillie?” I asked, desperation in my tone.

“Dude, what happened?” He looked stressed. I wasn’t sure if it was for me or because of me. “How could you do that to Tillie?”

“I didn’t!” I yelled.

His eyes widened at my tone and he took a step back.

I sighed, taking a deep breath. Trying not to take my unused anger out on him.

“After training last night, I walked Tillie home. I then walked inside the house, went upstairs and that’s where I found Lucy. That’s when I tossed her out of my bed and threw her out of the house.” I sighed, looking down. “I’ve lost her, man.” I had never been this hung up on a girl before. Tillie had quickly become everything to me. I wasn’t ready for this to be over.

Sammy looked behind him and nodded, which confused the hell out of me. He stepped aside and there she was. She was so tiny that she could hide behind Sammy perfectly.

“Tillie…” I was shocked. She was there. I looked at Sammy and he gave me a small smile.

“I’ll leave you guys alone.” He looked down at Tillie, who gave him a small nod.

“Thank you, Sammy.” She took hold of his hand, squeezing gently before letting go.

He nodded, giving me a comforting pat on the shoulder before leaving us alone.

I took a step forward, wanting to hold her.

She responded by taking a step away from me. She looked scared.

I could handle scared, but I couldn’t handle her looking at me like I was the monster beneath her bed. Her cheeks were red and blotchy. She had been crying. She fiddled with the ends of her sleeves, pulling them down until they were basically covering her hands.

“Did you mean what you said to Sammy?” she asked, whispering. Her eyes rose to meet mine. “Or were you lying?” Her eyes slowly filled with unshed tears.

“I wasn’t lying.” I shook my head, at a loss of what to say. “I promise. Nothing happened.” I stared down at her, needing her to believe me. Walking away from here without her wasn’t an option. She was leaving with me. There was no other way. “Lucy is a bitch and will always be a bitch. She wants me. I don’t want her.” I stepped forward until I was closer. Taking her face in my hands, I quickly rubbed away the few tears that leaked from her beautiful Bambi eyes with my thumbs. “The girl I want is here. Right in front of me. No other.”

She shook her head, stepping away from me. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered. “You hurt me, Johnny.”

I growled, stepping forward and pinning her against the tree behind her.

She squeaked in surprise, shocked at my actions.

I slid my hands down her back until I could grasp her ass cheeks and hoisted her up. My hands trailed down to the back of her thighs and wrapped them around my waist. I turned her head up toward me and slammed my lips down on hers. She gasped, allowing me to thrust my tongue inside to dance with hers. I pressed against her, feeling her breasts against my chest.

I groaned, kissing her rougher. I always tried to be calm and gentle with Tillie, but she was fucking frying my nerves. I know I made shit look easy but being with her—and only her—wasn’t fucking easy. No women meant I was frustrated all the fucking time. My punch bag had been taking most of the tension coursing through my body. If she thought I was going to walk away and leave her, she obviously didn’t know me very fucking well.

I groaned, rocking my hips against hers. The feel of her luscious body against mine was making me as hard as a rock. My cock was doing a happy dance at the thought of doing anything sexual with Tillie. I pulled my lips away from hers.

“Do you feel that?” I rocked my hips against her, once more. I groaned at how warm she felt between her legs. “Feel it?” I asked.

She gasped, nodding her head like an enthusiastic kid at a candy store. Her lips were red and swollen from the force of our kiss.

“That’s for you,” I whispered. I dropped my head, resting my forehead against hers. “I promise, Tillie. I have never and will never be unfaithful to you. I am with you and only you.”

“I’m not ready to be…” she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again. “I’m not ready to have sex with you.”

“Then we’ll wait,” I whispered. I rubbed my nose against hers, making her smile a little. “I’m yours, whether it involves sex or not. When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

Her fingers entwined in the curls at the back of my head. “Promise?” she asked, looking vulnerable. She had hope in her voice, but she still looked scared.

“I promise.”

She nodded, bringing her lips back to mine.