Chapter Twenty-One
Dominic
Waking up next to Corey was the highlight of his day, followed closely by going to sleep next to her. Going to sleep inside her wasn’t too shabby either. He was in domestic bliss. Sappy bastard. Dom rolled over, fully prepared to put his morning wood to good use, and found the bed empty. What the shit? It was way too early to head to school. He heard some banging coming from the kitchen. Maybe she was planning to make him breakfast in bed? After the three orgasms he gave her last night, she should be. He got up to help her. She needed to know how he liked his eggs cooked after all. Dom was not prepared for what he saw when he reached the source of the noise. Corey was standing on the dining room table with a wooden spoon in her hand, wearing an apron and nothing else.
“Uh, baby? What’s up?” Dom crossed his arms over his chest, hiding his smile behind a hand. He turned toward the kitchen where there was flour and what appeared to be some kind of batter splattered everywhere.
“Oh. Hey. Sorry, did I wake you?” Corey winced as she brushed the hair out of her eyes, getting flour on her face in the process. “I was up early trying to Google Mr. Henderson, you know, in case. And then I got this pop-up from the school website telling me it was Linc’s birthday today.” She gestured around the messy kitchen with the spoon in her hand. “I wanted to make him some cupcakes.”
“That’s really sweet.” He cocked his head to the side, studying her bare legs. “Why are you wearing only an apron?”
She looked down at her short white get-up. “That was in case I woke you up with all my noise. I figured at least you would end up happy I woke you.” She put her hands on her hips and wiggled her eyebrows.
Dom licked his lips, how could one man get so lucky? Corey was making cupcakes for his friends while wearing nothing but an apron for him. “Okay, sweetheart, third and final question: why are you standing on the table?”
“Oh. There’s a big snake over by the back door.”
Dom jumped onto the chair next to her in one swift motion. “What the hell, Corey, you couldn’t have led with that? What kind of snake?”
“It’s either a rattlesnake or a bull snake. I’m almost ninety-five percent sure it’s a bull snake. But they make that sound with their tail that kind of sounds like a rattlesnake, except not really. I didn’t want to get close enough to find out, so I hopped up here.”
He looked over at his mate, mostly naked and all the way beautiful. “Baby, what was the plan? Stay up here and wait for the snake to politely let himself out? Or wait ’til I came in and stepped on it?”
“I figured if you stepped on it and didn’t die, it was a bull snake.” She looked at him, straight faced, blinking. He stared back at her, positive she was joking. After several seconds, he started to doubt his original thinking, but then she broke into a smile. “I’m kidding, Dom. I jumped up here like sixty seconds before you walked in. I have my eye on the snake. It’s still coiled up and pissed off over there by the door.”
Dom got on the table next to her and looked to where she was pointing. He could see the snake pretty clearly. Since the faculty housing backed up to the woods, there were always snakes around when it got warmer. “I think it’s a bull snake too. Like ninety-nine percent sure it’s a bull snake.” He turned to her with a huge smile. “Wanna have a little fun with the guys this morning?”
“Yes.” She had a devious gleam in her eye that proved to him once again that she was made to be his.
Dom hopped down from the table and walked to her bedroom. When he came back he had his phone to his ear. “Hey, Kell, man, sorry to call so early but Corey has a bit of a situation at her house. I’d go help her but I have a fund meeting with the dean in five minutes.”
“Okay, yeah, man, what’s up?”
“She said that there was a snake in her dining room, apparently she is standing on the kitchen table and she’s afraid to get down because she thinks it’s a rattlesnake.”
“A snake? Uh, okay.”
Dom had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at the petrified tone of Keller’s voice. “Go through the back door. I left it unlocked this morning when I left.”
“Um, yeah okay.”
“Thanks, man, I really appreciate it.”
Dom ended the call and let his chuckle loose. When Corey started shaking her head at him, he held his hands up. “Hey, you said you wanted to have some fun with them.” He pulled his shirt off. “Here, take off that apron and put this shirt on.” Dominic waited to make sure that all his favorite parts of his girl were sufficiently covered before he got off the table and went into the living room. He positioned himself so he could see the back door. Keller hated snakes so he would either make Linc or Baze come with him. Either way, it had to be caught on video.
“I’m starting to feel guilty,” Corey whined, biting her lip.
“This is how things roll with us. Better get used to it.” He winked at her.
She snorted, rolling her eyes. “This is how things roll? Okay, Too Short.”
“Who the hell is Too Short?”
“You’ve never heard Too Short? Gettin’ it? Blow Job Betty? Nothing?”
“No, but a blowjob sounds amazing right now.” Dominic looked over at her standing there wearing only his shirt and covered in yummy cupcake batter. He glanced at his watch. He wondered if they had enough time to—
That thought was cut off by the sound of two car doors shutting. He could hear voices walking around the house to the back door. He really hoped Keller, with his irrational fear of snakes, walked in first.
Corey looked at Dom; he smiled at her and made the universal shush sound. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the door. The snake was still there. It hadn’t moved in a while. Maybe it’d come in to find a comfy place to die? As the door started to open, the snake coiled tighter. Nope. Not dead.
“Hey, Corey, you in here?”
Because the universe loved Dominic, it was Keller leading the charge. He walked right in and placed his foot millimeters from the snake. Which made the snake make that hopefully fake rattle sound.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Keller looked down, screamed like a twelve-year-old girl, and then used his other foot to kick the snake. He launched it up into the air; it made a wiggly arch and landed right on Dominic, who started freaking out. It could have been shock, but there was definitely a smidgen of fear. “Holy fuck, get it off. Get it off!”
Corey was laughing so hard Dom was pretty sure she was going to pee herself. “Oh my god, y’all.” She bent forward, clutching her stomach. “That was the funniest thing I have ever freaking seen. I wish I had my phone so I could have videoed the both of you. That was priceless.”
“Don’t you worry, sugar, I got the whole thing recorded,” Baze said as he stepped through the back door. He grinned at her, wiggling the phone in his hand. “Anytime Keller and a snake are going to be in the same room, I have my phone out. I had to rock, paper, scissors him to see who would walk in first.”
Keller was now up on the table next to Corey. Dom was standing on her couch glaring at them. His friend had a death grip on his mate’s arm. “Keller, get your hands off my girl. The snake is all the way in here now thanks to you, you aren’t in any danger up there on the table.”
“Like you are so big and bad? You’re standing on the damn couch.” Keller let go of her arm but didn’t make any move to get down.
“All right, boys, hold on, I’ll get the snake.” Baze calmly walked into the living room and picked up the now fighting-mad serpent. “In case you were wondering, it’s a bull snake. No one was actually in any real danger.” He took it out the front door.
Once it was out of the house, everyone came down off their respective perches and gathered in the living room.
Keller gave one giant body shiver, shaking his hands out at the end. “What the fuck, Dom? You know how I feel about snakes.”
Dom grinned. “Which is exactly why you should never let your friends know your biggest fears, my man. It was way too easy.”
Baze walked back in the house and scoffed. “Don’t sound so smug, Hardy. I have you on camera screaming as loud as Keller. At least Kell managed to look cool field-goal-kicking the snake across the room. You looked ridiculous running around screaming ‘Get it off.’”
Corey snorted and covered her mouth. Dom glanced across the room, and his eyes traveled the length of her sexy, scantily clad body. “Okay, baby, fun’s over. Can you go put some pants on please?”
“She doesn’t need to get all dressed up for the likes of us.” Keller playfully winked in her direction, no doubt paying Dom back for the snake prank. “She looks great like that.”
“Aww, thank you, Keller, you are always so darn sweet.” Corey smiled as she reached out and touched his arm.
“Corey.” Dom all but growled.
“I’m going, I’m going. Don’t get all domineering and pissed off, it’s too early.” She pointed toward the kitchen. “Keep an eye on the cupcakes in the oven, they should have another five minutes but I don’t want them to burn. Thanks to all you dumb boys, I don’t have time to make another batch.” Corey walked past Dom on her way out of the room, stopped, then stood on her toes and gave him a kiss.
Dom watched the way his shirt barely covered her ass as she left the room. Then waited until he heard the shower turn on before he turned to his friends. “Hey, I need to talk to you guys about something, quickly, while Corey’s in the shower.”
Baze and Dom sat at the table while Keller went over and checked the cupcakes. When he returned, he saw them both staring at him, and he shrugged. “What? I don’t want them to burn. They smell fucking delicious.” When he finally sat down he asked, “Should we not wait until Linc is here too?”
Dom shook his head. “There isn’t time, you can fill him in when you get to the office.” He cleared his throat and launched into everything that had happened over the last couple of days starting with his and Corey’s first date and ending with the fact that they were now mated, skipping over the juicy details of course.
“You’re mated?” Keller stared at him, mouth hanging open and eyes wide.
“Yeah, I’m mated. And to tell you the truth, man, I don’t know why I dreaded this for so long. Corey is fucking amazing and we have such a great time together. Even when we’re arguing, I’m still in awe of her. I mean she woke up early this morning and started making Linc cupcakes for his birthday. She cares about the team. The sex is, uh, not something I’m going to share details with you about. But it’s the best I’ve ever had. Ever.” He sighed, leaning back in his seat. “I’m a whipped bitch and I don’t care. And she took everything in stride, man. She had one tiny little panic attack, but then she was fine.” Dom couldn’t hide his huge smile. He was the happiest he’d ever been.
“So now she knows about us being shifters?” Baze asked.
“She knows that you guys are shifters, the dean, a few teachers, and a few players. But look, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Dom got quiet when he heard the shower turn off. Keller used the pause in conversation to go take the cupcakes out of the oven. When Dom heard the blow dryer turn on, he started talking again. “Corey met with Jace yesterday and she said she won’t clear him to play.”
Baze slapped the surface of the table. “What? He’s a starter. How am I supposed to find a replacement in under a week?”
“Corey thinks that Jace is dangerous. She called him a sociopath? I think that’s the word she used.”
“Yeah, I could see that.” Keller answered casually.
Dom turned to him, brow furrowed. “What do you mean? You agree with her?”
Keller shrugged. “Sure. Don’t you?”
“I have to agree with her, I am bound to her, forever.”
“Look, Dom, she’s right about Jace. The kid’s messed up, man. I know you give him space because you think he’s awkward or shy or whatever, but he isn’t. He is one of the most confident and in-control kids I’ve ever coached.”
“We all have thought there was something off with Jace from the beginning. He’s calculated and speaks in monotone all the time. I could see where she would think he’s a sociopath. But all that aside, I need my fucking third baseman.” Baze rubbed at his eyes, clearly stressed.
“Honestly, you might even be able to add psychopath to his little description.” Keller had gotten up and was licking the bowl of cupcake batter. “He’s an odd bird.”
“Yeah, that’s what Corey said.” Dom let out an irritated sigh. “How about the next time you guys notice that one of my players is a nutjob, you let me know. Maybe keep me in the goddamn loop.” He made eye contact with two of his fellow coaches.
“Well, sure, man. We thought you knew, I mean, he’s a great third baseman. We thought you were doing what was best for the team,” Keller said in between mouthfuls of cake batter.
“Jace is what’s best for the team, crazy or not. I don’t have anyone else to start in his place,” Baze mumbled mostly to himself.
“No, I wasn’t aware everyone thought he could be a sociopath.” Dom shook his head, pulling his bottom lip through his teeth. What the hell were they supposed to do with him when he found out he’d been benched?
“If it makes you feel any better, there aren’t any other players that I think are capable of some weird-ass shit.” Keller reached into the fridge and pulled out a gallon of milk, took the lid off, and was about to drink from the container.
“Keller Andrew Byrne. You get a glass.” Corey stood at the entrance to the kitchen, hands on her slender hips.
“Sorry, Corey.” Keller grabbed a glass from a cabinet above the sink that Corey was pointing to. Then walked back to the table and sat. “My middle name isn’t Andrew though.”
“Well, I don’t know your middle name, and it felt like a middle name moment.”
“It’s Nicholas.”
“Okay, next time I yell at you, I’ll get it right.” Corey checked to make sure the cupcakes were cool with the pad of her finger and then started stirring the icing she pulled out of the fridge. Dom couldn’t help but watch her every move. He was mesmerized by her. “You guys going to continue your conversation? Or would you like me to go turn the blow dryer back on?” Corey cut her eyes to Dom’s, and caught him staring.