Hail Mary (BSU Football Book 2)

by JB Salsbury

“It’s missing the thing that goes on top.” I dig through the bags from our shopping and pull out a furry black spider and the black cat we found in the Halloween clearance section. I place them both in the branches on the top, then pull Emery into my arms and admire our creation. “Now it’s perfect.”

  “Ya know,” Rowan tilts her head, studying the masterpiece. “It is kind of cool looking.”

  Carey grimaces. “It looks like a fucking graveyard exploded in our living room, Ro.”

  I nuzzle Emery’s neck. “I want to make love to you under this tree.”

  She giggles. Yep, that’s right. Emery giggles. “This isn’t the kind of tree you make love under, Theodore.”

  “No?” I run my hands along her body, feeling her warmth through her cable knit sweater. “What kinds of things happen under a tree like this?”

  Her eyes flash with that dark deviance I fucking love. “Lots and lots of things that would put us on the naughty list.”

  “Should we bring our toys?”

  She slips her hands up over my shoulders and locks them behind my neck. “Absolutely. And maybe some plastic to protect the carpet. Blood stains.”

  “You guys know we can hear you, right?” Carey sounds mortified.

  We both burst into laughter. I scoop her into my arms and make my way to the stairs. I need to get naked with my wife.

  “Ignore anything you hear coming from our room for the next couple hours,” I say over my shoulder.

  “I’ll try to keep my screaming to a minimum!” Emery yells.

  I place her on our bed and slam and lock the door.

  “Our roommates are so easy to fuck with.” She slips off her sweater and tosses it across the room.

  I pull my shirt off over my head while prowling toward her. In the short time we’ve been married we’ve spent more time naked than we have in clothes. I’ve memorized all the places that make her moan, and all the ways to make her scream. Making love to my wife is my most favorite thing to do. My second favorite is just being close to her.

  I grab her in a bear hug and we tumble to the bed. Her head on my chest, leg thrown over my thighs. “I can’t wait to hear Kaipo’s reaction to our tree.”

  With my lips pressed to the top of her head, I chuckle. “I’m sure we’ll hear it from up here.”

  She traces the tattoo on my left ring finger, one word in black script—Emery. “I hope you didn’t get me anything expensive for Christmas.”

  “Me? Never.” I smirk knowing she can’t see me. I got a smokin’ deal on a ’92 Ford Bronco. It needed new tires, some wiring, and body work done, but Carey has been helping me out with that. His mom has a connection with a body shop here in town and we’ve been sneaking in the hours to work on it here and there.

  “I’m serious. You know I can’t afford to get you anything fancy and you already do so much—”

  “You’re my wife.” I kiss her knuckles then return her hand to my abdomen. “It’s my job to spoil you.”

  “Shouldn’t I be spoiling you then too?”

  “You do.” I pull her on top of me, loving the feel of her body heat pressed against my chest. I have never known another person who has made me feel this completely loved and accepted. “Just being mine is enough.”

  She presses a soft, tender kiss to my lips. “I am yours.”

  “Forever.”

  “Mmmm,” she hums as she kisses me again, this time parting her lips to toy with mine. “Carey and Rowan think we’re doing all kinds of illegal sexy stuff in here.”

  Confession: Our sex life isn’t as deviant as we lead everyone to believe. There are no toys and never blood.

  I cup her ass cheeks with two hands and squeeze. “This ass should be illegal.”

  She pulls back and stares down at me. “Wow, that was awful.” A burst of laughter comes from her delicious mouth and I can’t help but kiss her and roll her to her back.

  If someone would’ve told me months ago that I would have Emery as my wife and that she’d giggle and burst into laughter, I would’ve told them they’re confused. Every day since the night in the hotel in Tempe, her protective shield chips away more and more. She still delivers off-handed comments about murder and manages to freak out everyone within earshot, but now she smiles while she says them. Which, if I’m being honest, makes her even more terrifying to those who don’t know her.

  Only I know her down to the very essence of her being.

  And everything I know is absolute perfection.

  “I love you, Emery.”

  Her answering smile is lazy and sexy as hell. “I know you do.” She wiggles as best she can with my hands gripped firmly on her ass. “So make love to me.”

  “See how you spoil me?” I kiss her throat, lick up her neck to her ear. “Giving me you is the greatest gift you could ever give me.”

  She cups my cheek, crystal clear eyes staring down into mine. “Then take what’s yours, Mr. Web.”

  I push off the mattress to roll on top of her. “Gladly.”

  Emery

  Theodore and I had the best first Christmas in the house alone while all our roommates went home to be with family. We stayed up late, slept in later, and enjoyed the simple act of being together. A few days after Christmas we took a drive up the California Coast to San Francisco for a couple nights to celebrate my new job working as an assistant in BSU’s

  criminal studies department. I’m still working at the coffee shop, so the two jobs along with the student loan and my husband’s financial support, I’m able to stay in school.

  As December comes to an end, the house fills up again. To celebrate ringing in the New Year it was Kaipo’s idea to throw a party. Rowan invited Bex, and our roommates invited the entire university, so the three of us have been hiding in my room away from the house full of people.

  “I still can’t believe you’re married,” Bex says, slurring and shakes her head, sending her unruly brown curls into her face. “The only thing I’ve ever been in love with is chocolate and snakes,” She picks the label off her fifth wine cooler. “I’m going to be single forever.”

  I’ll be the first to admit I know nothing about girl-talk but I don’t think falling in love with reptiles is usually part of it. “So? What’s wrong with being single?”

  “Absolutely nothing.” Rowan sips on her beer. “You don’t need a man to make you happy.”

  Bex pushes up her thick glasses, the lenses smudged with fingerprints. “This coming from the married girl and the practically married girl…” She sniffs and rubs her nose. “I did go on a date last semester with a guy from my zoology class. He loved snakes. But when we started making out…” Her face twists in disgust. “He talked dirty in snake language.”

  I look at Rowan who seems just as confused as I am, but she’s too polite to ask so I do it for the both of us. “Snake language?”

  “Yeah, you know, drawing out his sssssss’sss.” How she said that with a straight face, I do not know. “‘You’re sssssoooo ssssssexy’ and ‘I want to ssssssssssssuck your—’”

  “Okay,” Rowan says. “We get the idea.”

  “I don’t get the idea.” I swallow back my burst of laughter. “Tell me more.”

  Rowan elbows my side and I bite my lips to keep from laughing.

  “It’s hopeless.” She drops her head back dramatically. “He was so perfect until then.”

  “Why don’t you just tell him that you don’t like it when he…” I clear the laughter from my throat. “Talks to you in snake.”

  She lolls her head to the side, eyeing me through crooked glasses. “You don’t think he’d get offended and hate me?”

  I shrug. “What do you have to lose? You like him, right?”

  “Maybe we could introduce you to one of Carey and Spider’s friends.” Rowan looks excited about being Bex’s matchmaker.

  “No.” Bex shakes her head so hard she nearly loses her glasses. She smudges them up to get them back on her face. “I hate jocks. They’re arrogant, and pr
etty, and I can’t get naked with a man who has a better body than me.”

  “You have a beautiful body,” Rowan says.

  Not that anyone could make out her form beneath her baggy clothes. She does have big boobs, that much is obvious.

  There’s a knock on the door.

  “Come in!”

  Theodore walks in looking gorgeous as ever, the colorful tattoos on his arms and neck standing in stark contrast to his black clothes. “You ladies coming down?” His devilish green eyes simmer on me. “It’s almost midnight.”

  “Yes.” Rowan and I say in unison.

  Bex groans, “No.”

  He holds a hand out to me. “Come on, Kitten.”

  “Kitten.” Bex sticks her tongue out and blows a raspberry sending spit particles into the air. “You guys are disgustingly cute.”

  He pulls me to my feet then reaches for Bex. “Come on. Let’s get you some water.”

  “I can stand on my own, jock.” She folds forward to all fours and struggles to get upright. “Fine.” She holds out a hand and Theodore helps her to her feet. She brushes herself off and holds her chin up high. “Thank you.”

  His lips twitch. “’Welcome.”

  The sounds of what has to be close to one hundred people hit us at the top of the stairs. We head down and Theodore’s towering, wide body parts through the people as we trail behind him holding hands.

  “There’s my woman!” Carey says from his spot poolside. He pulls Rowan onto his lap and kisses her.

  “Hey!” Kaipo smacks Carey’s bicep. “Break it up, it’s not midnight yet.”

  “Seriously, Bex?” Riley, Bexley’s cousin and president of her sorority, is wrapped up in Loren’s big arms. “We’ve been here for three hours and you’ve found no one to kiss on New Years?”

  Bex’s cheeks turn bright red. “No, but I found something for you to kiss.” She turns around and sticks out her butt. “My ass!”

  I laugh against Theodore’s chest and feel his rumbled chuckle against my cheek.

  “Jeez,” Riley says. “It’s a wonder you’re still single.” The sarcasm is thick enough for everyone in the vicinity to understand.

  “I’ll kiss you!” Kaipo holds out his free arm, the other wrapped around a pretty dark haired woman. “So long as you don’t mind sharing me.” He winks.

  Bex holds her hand up. “No thanks.” She shakes her head and hisses, “Jocks.”

  “Ten! Nine! Eight!” The entire backyard explodes with people counting down the last ten seconds of the year.

  At six, Theodore’s lips come down on mine. He kisses me long and thoroughly, his hands in my hair, his body folded over mine, and he doesn’t stop until long after Happy New Year is shouted and fireworks explode.

  He finally pulls away and I gasp for air, breathless, heart pounding, I give him a soft, lingering kiss.

  “I couldn’t wait until midnight.” He rests his forehead against mine, his big hands running up and down my back.

  “Do we have to stay down here, or can we finish celebrating upstairs—whoa!”

  He scoops me into his arms and takes me back through the house and to our room. He sets me down and presses my back to the door, caging me with his body. “A lifetime isn’t long enough for me to get my fill of you.”

  “Then I guess we’ll have to last longer than a lifetime.”

  His serious expression holds my gaze for a few long, silent seconds.

  I kiss him and whisper, “I love you too.”

  On the Sideline

  BSU Football Book Three

  Chapter 1

  Bex

  Matter is defined by anything that has mass and takes up space. Mass is the amount of matter in an object. Volume is the amount of space something occupies.

  According to science, I exist. And yet, I’m completely invisible.

  A sorority party might seem like a strange place to contemplate my existence, but with every party the Eta Pi house hosts I find I blend into the walls.

  Is it possible to have matter and not actually matter?

  Oh God, enough with the pity party. I sip my Seagrams Jamaican Me Happy wine cooler and wonder if it’ll start Jamaican me happy. I check my watch and groan. It’s only ten o’clock and Eta Pi party rules insist all sisters remain social until midnight. I stare longingly at the ornate staircase that leads to the second floor and my room wondering if anyone would even notice if snuck away.

  I consider it, look around the crowded living room and deflate when I see my cousin Riley, Eta Pi President, smile shittily at me. I roll my eyes and slump back against the couch. I hadn’t noticed how close I had scooted to the edge in anticipation of making a break for it.

  “Who am I kidding,” I mumble to myself. “I’m stuck here.”

  I search for something to do, something more engaging than staring at my knees while wishing for time to pass. My sorority sister Meegan is holding court near the dining room, her big personality and fake smile attracts people in droves. I rub my nose, push up my glasses and wonder if that’s my problem—I don’t smile enough. I turn to a huddle of three frat guys next to me and smile as big as Meegan. One laughs, the other shrinks away, and the last smiles back awkwardly the way one would to a child who just peed her pants. I drop the act and turn back to my knees, pick at the label on my bottle, tug at the collar of my Eta Pi sweatshirt, pull off my glasses to rub my eyes, and crack my neck. I check my watch again. Only fifteen minutes later than the last time I checked. I drop my head back to rest on the couch. “Why am I here?”

  No, not why am I at this party. In order to stay in Eta Pi I’m required to attend all social events.

  Not even why am I in Eta Pi, that’s easy. My family insists. There is no option but to pledge my grandmother’s, mother’s, aunts, and now cousin’s sorority. It’s a prerequisite for being a Thunderbird.

  What I mean is why am I on this earth? Is my sole purpose to take up space? Because that’s all I’ve been doing since I arrived at Bear State University a year and a half ago.

  In that time I’ve made only two friends. This is not the college experience that was promised to me. I was told in college people would like me for me, that I no longer had to worry about not looking like every other midriff baring, wedge sandal wearing, bleached blonde beauty in Southern California. Don’t worry, Bexley, in college you’ll find your people.

  But tonight is no different than the hundreds of other nights before this. I remain nothing more than a piece of furniture.

  At least I have my snakes. They seem to be the only creatures that understand me. Gee, Bex, it’s no wonder you’re alone.

  No shit.

  Loren

  The very beautiful Riley Thunderbird is splitting in two and coming in and out of focus. Her dark brown eyes split into four and morph back to a hazy two. The whole funhouse effect is making my stomach uneasy. I groan and rub my eyes, unsteady on my feet, I reopen my lids to keep upright. I’m an idiot.

  I told myself not to get wasted tonight. Our last football game of the season was yesterday and me and my teammates have been hammered ever since. I made a vow before the game that I would not participate in the weekend-long binge drinking for one reason. Riley Thunderbird.

  She’s the president of the Eta Pi sorority and the hottest woman in the room. She’s like if Selena Gomez and Kylie Jenner had a love child—dark hair like silk, deep pools of molten chocolate eyes, and dark pink pillows for lips. We’ve been kind of seeing each other casually for weeks now, I was hoping tonight would be the night we’d take things a little further. That’s all shot to shit now that I can hardly stay upright without the assistance of the wall at my back. And is it just me or does that damn wall keep shifting.

  Even as drunk as I am, there’s a sense of urgency that tells me to get home before I embarrass myself. None of my roommates are anywhere nearby, or maybe I’m just too drunk to pick them out of all the blurry faces. I hang my arm over Riley and whisper in her ear, “Hey.”

  �
�Oh God,” she says, struggling under my weight. “You’re a mess.”

  “I know, I’m sorry.” I try to shift a little off of her, but end up throwing myself in the opposite direction and stumbling. “I need to go home.”

  Her pretty lips turn into a pout and I want to bite them so I make a chomping motion with my teeth and smirk.

  “Wow, yeah you do.”

  “I just need to call…” It takes me too long to fish my phone from my jeans pocket, and I flip it over, backwards and upside down waiting for the screen to light up. “What the hell…”

  She takes it from me, looks at it, then hands it back with amusement in her eyes. “It's dead.”

  “Shiiiiiiiit.” I drop my head back and immediately regret it when I have to throw my arms out to regain my equilibrium.

  “Just go crash in my room for a couple hours. I’ll see if I can find any of your roommates.” She grabs me by the shoulders and guides me toward the stairs. “I’ll send them up to get you as soon as I find one.”

  Sleep, yes. That’s all I need. A catnap to sober up. I take the bannister with two hands and pull myself up the stairs to the long hallway lined with doors on both sides. I remember which door is Riley’s, we’ve spent a few nights on her bed kissing until my lips would go numb.

  I push into the dark room and feel around the wall for a light switch. Finding nothing, I say fuck it, pull my shirt off, toe-off my shoes, and strip out of my jeans. The edge of her mattress is easy to find and I drop face first onto the sweet smelling bedding before slipping away into oblivion.

  Later on, without a clue to how much time has passed, I wake to the feeling of a soft touch on my thigh. I must not have been asleep for that long because I don’t question where I am or how I got here. I’m in Riley’s room and she must’ve come up from the party, seen me nearly naked on her bed, and couldn’t resist the opportunity to get her hands on me. Her touch has me smiling into the dark even though my eyes are still closed. My head is a little clearer, but I’m absolutely still very much drunk. We won’t go all the way when I’m not in full control of my faculties, but I don’t see anything wrong with letting her cop a feel. It feels so good as her delicate, exploring fingers slide up my inner thigh. “Mmm, that feels nice.”