“Quarterback in the house! Ladies line up because he’s single again!” Garret Marks, one of the team’s wide receivers’ shouts as he ushers Simon Bentley—our schools resident quarterback—into the door followed by two other large men. Great, this was all she needed. All eyes on the star quarterback with me between him and this damned party. She knew his presence was going to draw all the giggling girls and she be likely to get trampled by the stamped.
Why nearly every girl was crazy about a guy who could run around a field with a leather ball in his hands while wearing peter pan’s tights with a pound of plastic on his shoulders was beyond her understanding. Ella just don’t get it. Well she did get that they were hot. Hell, most of them likely belonged in a Magic Mike movie. Still why the chicks threw themselves at any jock who’d take them while tossing their self-respect out the window was incomprehensible to her. Then there was the constant speculation about every tiny aspect of their lives. The hero worship and treating them like gods was not something Ella could understand.
Garret practically knocked her over as he and two other big guys come barreling past Ella. She glared at them as she fell backwards her hip banged hard into the table beside the entryway.
Yep, college is great!
With pain radiating from her injured hip as she tried to right her balance Ella let out a little hiss. Overcorrecting she felt herself falling as her hands reach out desperately preparing to catch herself before she took a header into the wall. With her heart beating wildly, Ella was sure that she’d end up three weeks into her senior year with a nasty concussion. Only her momentum was stopped abruptly and hard arms were suddenly wrapped around her waist. Her breath catches and she felt herself pulled forward landing against a large, hard body.
With her heart roaring in her ears she stared at her hands which were now resting on a hard-male chest that was covered in a grey t-shirt. The shirt left little to the imagination and a shiver of desire slipped down her spine as she inhaled a rather enticing whiff of bayberry and man. Making her feel slightly lightheaded.
“Whoa, sorry about that.” A husky male voice said close to her ear, his breath tickling her neck. Ella almost moan as desire slammed into her. It poured through her veins like liquid lightening. Unable to stop herself, Ella raised her eyes up to meet his. Her gaze meeting the bluest eyes she’d ever seen staring down at her from a tanned male face. They were crinkled in the corners as he smiled down at her sending her already out of control libido spinning. Damn. She needed to stop looking at the face of the dark-haired Adonis who was now holding her tightly to his hard body. Ella blinked unsure if maybe she’d fallen and hit her head and was now having some kind of sex dream. His hard looking lips curled into a lopsided smirk as he stared down at her.
Get a hold of yourself Ella! Speak damn it.
Ella tried to say something but her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth and her eyes seemed to be glued to his face taking in every detail. Her eyes traced his rugged jaw line up over his chiseled cheeks to take in the longest lashes she’d ever seen. Stubble lined his jaw and she wondered what it would feel like rubbing against her inner thighs. Hey, no judgment—she was a virgin not dead. His smirk made his eyes darken and his lids had lowered. If she didn’t know better she might mistake the look in his eyes for interest. Ha, as if there was a chance in hell of that. Shaking that thought aside because she knew it was just wishful thinking she tried to push away from him. He wouldn’t let her go his hands on her hips tightening as he forced her to stay in his arms.
“You okay, babe?” Simon asked gently his head titling as he watched her silently.
“Um—I don—yes,” she stuttered out.
Wow, way to look like an idiot Ella.
“Good, you weren’t leav—,” Simon’s eyes were flowing over her face as if he were trying to puzzle something out when a loud voice called out from across the room interrupting what he’d been saying.
“Bentley! Get your ass over here and meet these babes.” Ella glanced over to see Garrett holding two large breasted blondes with their cleavage spilling from their too tight tops as they giggled and waved at Simon. Ella rolled her eyes at the obviously over done makeup and the artfully displayed goods realizing that in comparison her jeans and conservative top were too reserved to catch a man like Simon’s eye. Women threw themselves at him for their fifteen minutes of fame.
“Ignore him. I usually do.” Simon grunted with his hands still possessively cupping her hips as he moved her back away from the door so they weren’t blocking the entrance.
“Uh…right, sure.” Ella found herself saying unsure what was going on but her heart wouldn’t stop pounding and her body seemed to crave his touch. She knew thinking he was interested in her was stupid. He was a football king and she was the girl who studied too much and didn’t bother to go to parties or football games. That was a huge no, no at one of the top football universities in the country.
“Dude, you promised!” Garrett yelled out again catching Simon’s attention.
He frowned before looking back down at Ella his blue eyes raking over her face again. Ella felt a shiver rush down her spine as she wondered what that look was about because it was intense, almost possessive. The look in his eyes confused the hell out of her leaving her feeling like she needed to run before it was too late. She wasn’t ready to handle this—whatever this was. She just needed to get away. Ella’s eyes darted between Simon and Garrett like a ping pong ball trying to figure out what to do. Her heart beating in her ears so loudly that she felt lightheaded.
“Look, I promised them I would do shots with them. You can come with me if you want.” Simon said, his eyes narrowed as they flowed over her face again if he were trying to read her.
“Um…I’m only twenty.” Ella stuttered out.
Immediately she wanted to smack her hand to her forehead for being an idiot. Simon didn’t care that she wasn’t old enough to drink. Hell, he likely didn’t care about her at all. Five minutes after he started those shots he’d likely forget she even existed. He snorted out a little laugh and leaned closer to her whispering in her ear.
“That’s okay baby. I can hook you up.”
“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Ella didn’t add that she had watched too many drunken co-eds running around making fools of themselves.
“Hmm. Ok well I need to do these shots so they’ll shut up about it. Come with me?”
“No thanks, but you go ahead and have fun.” Ella said motioning for him to go to his friends as she starting to move away from him but his hands stayed on her hips holding her in place against him. A frown on his face as his fingers pressed into her soft flesh.
“You’re not allowed to leave. You’re going to wait right here for me while I satisfy them and then we will go somewhere so we can get to know each other better. Stay here and don’t move so I can find you.” He hugged her tightly before he let go and headed over to his friends without a backwards glance.
Ella felt surprise flow through her at his demand. She knew he likely commanded people to do what he wanted all the time and they obeyed but she wasn’t that girl. She watched him take the shot from his friends lifting it up to the roars of his teammates and the women surrounding him letting out a whoop after he downed it. One of the girls sidled up to him batting her lashes at him as she threw herself into his arms. That was all it took to knock her free from the shock that had left her immobile. She turned away from the scene unfolding before her and headed towards the door. No way in hell was she going to be waiting on him against a wall all night while he hung out with his friends. With so many girls throwing themselves at him it wasn’t likely he would remember that she was waiting anyway.
Chapter 2
Simon tossed back the fourth shot holding the glass up as Garrett and Rodger let out cheers laughing. He again reached down removing the wander hands from his person. He needed to get back to his brown eyed beauty before she bolted. She’d nearly been trampled by Garrett and R
odgers as they’d entered. When she’d literally fallen into his arms he’d caught her automatically but once she was there he hadn’t wanted to let her go. His mind had blanked as she’d looked up at him and his dick had done its impression of a steel bar. She’d been wearing a light blue top which covered her curves. If she hadn’t fallen into his arms he likely wouldn’t have noticed her and that was a damned shame.
She wasn’t like the girls who chased him. He’d known that the moment she’d tried to escape him. A grin tugged at his lips as he made his excuses to his friend’s ready to get back to her. He needed to get her number and maybe convince her she should be in his bed. Of course, that wasn’t very likely to happen. She wasn’t the type to fall into a guy’s bed quickly. Nope she wouldn’t be easy. Simon felt his grin kick up a notch at that thought. He liked that she’d make him work for it.
As he moved back towards the wall where he’d left her already aching for a taste of his beauty he frowned when he saw that she wasn’t where he’d left her. A growl of displeasure escaped him as he glanced around looking for her. Damn, where the hell did she go? He shouldn’t have let her out of his sight but he’d known by the almost panicked look on her face that she hadn’t been ready to meet his friends. Seeing Logan his best friend standing nearby with his sister Jenna he shoved through the crowd heading towards them.
“Hey, have you see a brunette wearing a blue shirt and jeans around?” Simon barked the second he was close enough that Logan could hear him.
“Uh, no.” Logan said glancing around. “I was trying to watch out for Jenna and haven’t really been paying attention.”
Simon wasn’t surprised by his friend’s response. Logan was very overprotective with his little sister likely due to the tragic suicide of his eldest sister. Three years ago, Lisa had been away at Berkley college when she’d hung herself in her dorm room after three frat boys at a party roofied and then raped her. Was it any wonder that when Jenna showed up as a freshman this year he’d turned into a vigilant protector? Jenna took it well and only rolled her eyes at her older brother’s comment. She understood the scars he had after what had happened with Lisa.
“I didn’t see her either Simon. I’m sure you can find another girl here to take home though. It’s a mad house in here tonight and the girls look desperate enough.” Jenna said, glancing around at the jersey chasers who were trying to catch his and Logan’s attention.
“Nope, I need to find my cute little brunette. She was supposed to wait on me but she has disappeared.” Simon didn’t bother to hide the annoyance he felt from his friends.
“Wow, some girl really ignored the legendary charm of Simon Bentley the quarterback? What’s the world coming to? I have a feeling she got tired of waiting on you to come back after you spent half an hour downing shots with Kara Stanton hanging off your arm.” Jenna teased laughing and shaking her head.
“I invited her to come with me but she didn’t want to and I promised the guys I would do shots with them—shit your right. I’m an idiot. Garrett almost plowed through her when we came in she was about to leave. Damn.” Simon knew he should have kept the sweet little brunette close. His instincts had gone ape shit the moment he’d moved away from her trying to force him to go back. He should have gone back and dragged her with him even if she would have been uncomfortable. Damn, he didn’t even know her name. How the hell was he ever going to find her?
“This girl really got to you huh?” Jenna asked grinning.
“Hell, I don’t know. I need to find her, but I don’t even know her name.”
“Dude just give up there are dozens of other girls here. There are like forty thousand students attending here. No way you’re going to find her if she’s left.” Logan said motioning to the girls who were hanging around behind him trying to catch his attention.
Simon didn’t care what his friend was saying none of the girls here could be anything like his beauty and he’d be damned if he’d ever settle for second best again. Nope he wasn’t going down that road again. Once was more than enough. Kelly had been enough of a shit storm that he wasn’t ever going to settle again. He would just have to find his girl somehow.
“Nah, just going to head back to my apartment and chill. Maybe do a few sketches.” Simon said. He wasn’t lying he would be going back to his place to do some sketches. He would sketch her so that maybe he could ask around about her. He needed to find her and he wouldn’t let her get away when he did. She didn’t know it yet but she was going to belong to Simon Bentley soon enough. No way would he ignore the way his instincts were screaming at him to find her. He felt like a caged animal and he wouldn’t rest until he found his sweet girl with chocolaty brown eyes and curves for days.
“Seriously just find a girl and take her home. You don’t need another Kelly hanging around. Shit you finally pawned her off on Ricks after she hounded you for six months. You said she didn’t leave you alone the whole time you were with your family and then she showed up at our place in your bed a few weeks ago.”
“You know I didn’t want her in my bed I almost tossed her out naked I was so pissed that she’d had a copy made of the key I’d given her when we were together. That’s crazy as fuck. She gave me back my key but she’d made a copy! Who does that?” Simon shook his head still amazed that Kelly had done it. Honestly it had freaked him out that she hadn’t given up even after six months and several very unkindly worded fuck off speeches. She’d slept with Tobin last year and he’d caught her but she’d refused to believe their relationship was over. He’d made it as clear as he possibly could but she’d just ignored most of what he’d said and even tried to scare off the two girls he’d dated after her.
Not that either of them had been serious dates. They’d been girls Garrett and Logan had set him up with to clean the pipes. Their words not his. He hadn’t slept with either of them and hadn’t wanted to. He’d gotten the meaningless hooking up out of his system by the end of his junior year. He’d started dating Kelly about halfway through football season last year and he’d thought they were exclusive. They seemed to get along well because she understood football being his priority unlike most girls and the sex was good. Not out of this world amazing but good.
They didn’t have much in common and during the season they’d grown apart. At first when she’d started making excuses not to spend time with him it had just seemed like she was busy with school but he should have known better. Finding her in bed with his supposed friend had been a shock but it shouldn’t have been. He really had known things weren’t real between them long before the night he’d decided to surprise her at her apartment and gotten the shock of his life when he walked in on them together. Kelly had tried to apologize repeatedly and she’d gone a little nuts trying to make things work between them despite what she’d done. It hadn’t worked and he was glad that he’d finally convinced her that she was not going to convince him to come back to her. I
Simon knew that he’d been settling for Kelly and their lukewarm relationship from the beginning. The relationship had been doomed from the moment they’d gotten together but he’d been tired of jersey chasers and fake friends when he met her. That was why he’d started dating her in the first place because she’d seemed so normal. Normal had been something he craved something he’d needed. A solid relationship like his parents had one that would last through the ups and downs life tended to throw at you. In reality she was just another type of jersey chaser. One with a plan to hitch her wagon to his coat tails and ride him all the way to a cushy life. He really should have seen through the act. Maybe he had. He could honestly say that what he’d felt in the ten minutes he’d been with his mystery girl was more than he’d felt during his entire relationship with Kelly. Thinking of his mystery girl made his cock twitch and his need to find her increased.
“That was a really bold move, but you brought that one on yourself, dude. I tried to tell you months ago she was crazy. Right after the last away game of the season when she freaked out on you for s
urprising her with a double date with me and that cheerleader I was dating. She kept telling my date to stop looking at you. That had crazy written all over it because the cheerleader hated your guts after you accidently hit her in the head with a bad pass the year before. She didn’t even want to do the double date.” Logan said shaking his head bringing Simon out of his silent musing. He looked at his friend shocked that Logan hadn’t said anything at the time.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Dude what was I going to say? Was I going to take you aside and just blurt out, ‘Hey you know your girls bat shit crazy, right?’, yeah that would have gone over well for sure.” Logan said rolling his eyes.
“Honestly he isn’t wrong about the girl being crazy. She warned any girl who came near you off even after you broke up, me included.” Jenna added. Simon couldn’t keep the shocked look off his face as he stared at her in surprise.
“What? She was warning girls to back off even after we broke up? What the hell? She has no right to do that after what she did.” Simon was pissed off that Kelly had been warning girls away from him. It was bad enough she’d done it when they were dating but after they’d broken up because she was cheating it really ticked him off. That shit would stop now and he’d make damned sure she knew it. Not that he thought he’d have any more issues after he’d told her he’d get a restraining order if she didn’t leave him the hell alone.
“You know crazy isn’t reasonable.” Logan said laughing.
“That’s the truth. Bitches be crazy—take it from a bitch who knows. I have dealt with my fair share of crazy girls who want to be my friend because of my brother. They will try just about anything to get to a famous guy. It’s really nuts.” Jenna snorted out a derisive laugh.
Saved by the Devil (Devils Arms Book 3) Page 20
