by Hughes, Maya
He tugged me forward and captured my lips in a demanding kiss, covering my hand with his own and tightening the grip around it.
“You’re playing with fire, Wild Child.”
I licked my lips. “I’m playing with you.”
“I am your jungle gym. Play to your heart’s content.” He released my hand and rolled over, opening the drawer on the nightstand. The silver foil package caught the low light filtering in from outside and my clit throbbed as he ripped it open with his teeth.
“Are you ready for this?” I shoved the blankets back, showing myself to him completely.
He rolled on the condom. “I thought that was my line.” He grinned and fell down, covering me with his body. Rolling me over so I straddled his hips, he grabbed my ass and pulled me forward. His dick stuck up straight, resting between my thighs.
Pushing forward, I lifted off my knees and held on to him, slowly lowering myself. I stared down at where we were joined, watching more of his length disappear inside of me while relishing the feeling of him thickening within me and rubbing against every pleasure spot I had.
My ass finally hit his thighs, and I rocked back and forth.
“I swear you’re going to kill me,” he murmured.
“Glad to know I’m a quick study.”
“Any quicker and you might be a lethal weapon.”
“But what a way to go.” Using all my studying to my advantage, I moved my hips in a figure eight. His hands shot from my ass to the sheets, fisting them in his hands and squeezing his eyes shut. He slammed his hand against the bed and thrust so hard up into me that I nearly fell off. The climax smashed into me like a freight train and my fingers dug into his chest. My thighs quaked and my pussy clamped around his cock as it swelled, the pulse of his orgasm setting off another for me.
I slumped forward, falling onto his chest, my heart pounding so hard I swore he could hear it too.
“See, what’d I tell you? You’re a dangerous woman.”
21
Seph
The small wooden staircase was full of people. Berk and LJ stood in the middle of the snow-covered backyard in snow boots, shorts, and jackets, crowded around the grill, which was billowing smoke into the air.
I crossed my arms over my chest. Being there with just the guys was one thing, but the house felt different with other people in it. These weren’t strangers at a club or a bar. These were people in his house, his other friends. Their opinions had to matter to him too, right? What if they found me lacking?
The volume increased as more people came in through the front door. I was surrounded. I kept expecting someone to show up and tell me it was time to leave.
Reece carried a keg out of the kitchen, and we backed up against the railing to let him and Nix past. The corners of his mouth lifted higher as he passed. “Don’t even think of bailing, Wild Child.”
“How’d you get roped into all this?” The girl beside me leaned over and talked out of the side of her mouth, lifting her chin toward the backyard grilling and snow-diving. She had bright blue eyes and curly black hair. “Is Reece blackmailing you with unseemly pictures?” Her eyes glittered with mischief.
“No, I think we’re kind of dating.” It was the first time I’d said those words out loud. Was that what it was? Was he my boyfriend? “Is that how LJ got you here? Sexy blackmail pics?”
She snorted into her beer, spraying foam over the rim of her cup. “Not unless they’re our bathtub pics from when we were five. And good for Reece. LJ said he had a rough year last year. You seem like just the kind of person he should be dating.”
“We met like two minutes ago. How can you tell?”
“I just can. I’m Marisa, LJ’s best friend, whether he likes it or not.”
“Seph, Reece’s…girlfriend?” My voice went up at the end like it was a question.
I glanced up and watched him helping LJ build a wall of snow around the keg. That was one way to handle it. We’d spent every night together since that night in the pool house. Usually we stayed at his place. It was a chance for me to get out of my apartment, and his house was closer to campus anyway. We’d watched movies with the guys, made dinner together, and fallen asleep in each other’s arms. That was kind of like a girlfriend, right? Or maybe I was getting ahead of myself. I nibbled my bottom lip, thinking I shouldn’t have said it until I’d asked him.
“Are you heading home for Thanksgiving?” She brushed her hair back from her face. Sticking her hands into her pockets, she glanced up at me, waiting for my response.
The break was something most people looked forward to, but not me. The coil of dread at the thought of heading back up to Boston sat deep in my stomach.
“Yeah, I leave tomorrow.”
Marisa cupped her hands around her mouth. “L!” She pointed to her head, gathering up her hair in her hand. Her glossy curls tumbled everywhere.
His head snapped up and he rolled his eyes before tugging something off his wrist and shooting it at her slingshot style. Her hand shot out and she snagged the light blue circle from the air.
“Thank you,” she shouted over the din of the party chatter and music, putting her hair up in a bun. “It’s getting hot, right? Or is he slipping extra shots into my drink again?”
“No, it’s definitely hot.” I tugged my shirt away from my chest as sweat trickled down my back, even standing in freezing temperatures. Body heat from the people pouring out of the house and into the backyard melted the snow around us.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. After taking it out and glancing at the screen, I shoved it back into my pocket. Could he read my thoughts now? The crush of bodies spilling out into the small space made the freezing temperatures tolerable.
“Where’s the hot tub? I can’t believe they got rid of the Brothel fan favorite.” A girl behind us walked down the steps, her nasal voice reminding me of Alexa. I was sure they’d be best bitch friends. She laughed with a girl in a bright pink sweater, weaving their way through the party.
“The Brothel?” I mouthed to Marisa.
“This place used to belong to a frat, as LJ explains it. The nickname for it was the Brothel.” She rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, the name stuck when the frat got kicked off campus for hazing and the Trojans took over. It’s probably the first time actual Trojans have outnumbered the used rubber kind hidden around the place. You wouldn’t believe the disinfecting they had to do when they moved in.” She waved her arms up at the house and over the crowd of people milling around below. The bright pink sweater and friend made a beeline straight for Reece and LJ.
“Does it get weird being friends with him when he gets so much…attention?” There had to be a better word for it, but I wasn’t sure what it was.
Her lips slammed together and she took another gulp from her cup, finishing it off. “He’s a big boy. He can do what he wants.” There was an edge to her voice, equal parts disinterest, anger, and sadness. “Let’s get another drink. I know where LJ keeps the good stuff.” She grabbed my hand and tugged me along with her through the ever-growing party. People streamed in through the doors like ants over a lollipop.
She slipped the key to LJ’s room out of her pocket and dragged me inside. His room was neater than Reece’s—well, neater than it used to be. The pile of clothes that migrated around his room had been successfully banished into his drawers, neatly folded. There were framed pictures on LJ’s desk, one of him with his arm around Marisa and another where they looked like they were in elementary school.
I picked it up. “Is this you two?”
Bottles clinked against one another as she rifled through the booze stash in his closet.
“That’s us. I still can’t believe we’ve known each other since we were that little.” She stared thoughtfully at the frame. “He’s my oldest friend.” She said it more to herself than to me. There was a thump out in the hallway. “Anyway, let me have your cup.”
With our cups filled to the brim with “the good stuff,” as she cal
led it, we headed back downstairs. There were even more people, and the volume and heat levels had increased exponentially.
The glowing screen of her phone lit up her face as we battled with the crowd. “LJ said they saved us some burgers, but he won’t be able to beat off the marauding horde for much longer.”
We pushed our way through the sea of people. A pair of arms wrapped around me and I jumped, my head whipping around.
Reece smiled back at me. My heart raced even faster and I held on to his arms as everyone gave him a wide berth to make our way to the back of the house. “You almost missed the food. I thought you’d left.” He tightened his arms around me.
“Marisa took me upstairs to get some of ‘the good stuff.’” I did air quotes. The wintry air from the open kitchen door was a welcome reprieve from the packed house.
“You keep stealing his booze during parties and he’ll open a tab,” Reece called back to Marisa.
“He won’t miss it. He’s too busy entertaining guests.” She lifted her cup in his direction from the bottom of the steps. Pink sweater and her friend had cozied up to him as he shut down the grill.
“Finally! People have been trying to steal these.” Berk rounded the grill as LJ’s head popped up and his gaze shot to Marisa. He jumped back from the girls like they’d become radioactive.
“Here you are, my lady. Your burger awaits.” Berk handed us plates with burgers oozing with loads of cheese.
My stomach growled and rumbled. Even over the ungodly loud party inside, everyone’s eyes widened at the kraken awakening in my stomach. Reece let go of me and I took a bite of the burger—juicy and delicious, just like a burger should be. I finished it in record time, leaving Berk in my dust. He threw his burger down onto his plate as I licked the last bit of ketchup off my thumb.
“You really know how to give a guy a complex.” He picked up the juicy patty sandwiched within a potato bun and stared at it like it had betrayed him.
“Next time, I’ll let you win.”
“It’s not the same.”
I pouted like a kid finding only clothes under the Christmas tree. Sighing, he took another bite.
“Only two more games this season—you ready man?” LJ squeezed Reece’s shoulder.
He stiffened beside me. “I’m ready, but my parents are bummed I’ll miss Thanksgiving. At least the hotels are usually pretty good about having enough food on hand for a ravenous bunch of football players.”
“Thanksgiving in Boston,” Berk grumbled.
“The game’s in Boston?” My head shot up and I wiped my mouth with a napkin.
Reece’s fingers crumpled the edge of his paper plate and he exchanged a look with Berk.
“Why didn’t you tell me the game was in Boston?” I turned to face him. Berk rushed off as Reece shot an intense glare at his retreating figure.
He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“If it wasn’t a big deal, you’d have mentioned it.”
“I thought you’d see it on the schedule. It’s not like it’s a state secret or anything.” He shrugged, and I felt a small sting. “We’re there for a game and we fly out the next day. It’s not like we have time to see anyone or meet up with people.” He took a gulp from his cup like he hadn’t had a drink in years. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Did you not tell me to make sure I didn’t invite you to meet my family?”
“No.” It was the least convincing no in the history of nos. He’d asked me if I’d watch his other games, but he hadn’t mentioned this one. I’d thought he figured it was over Thanksgiving and didn’t want to put that extra burden on me, but now it seemed he hadn’t wanted me to realize he was in Boston.
“I met your family.” Maybe I had been wrong. We weren’t dating. We were sleeping together, killing our time until we both left. I’d known that was the case but had thought maybe things had changed over the past week or so. The stinging pain spread, seeping deeper into my heart.
“It wasn’t planned.”
“So if your mom hadn’t spotted us on the bridge, you wouldn’t have had me meet her?” The easy acceptance from Mary and John and the rest of the family felt hollower. I’d probably never see them again.
“Did you plan on meeting my parents? You wanted to have sex with me, put a check next to that line on your list, and move on.” He slammed his food down.
“Things changed.”
“Yes, they did.” He dragged his hands through his hair. “You’re a genius, Seph.” His shoulders sagged and he peered over at me.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Your parents are also crazy smart.”
“Again, why would that make you not want to meet them?”
“Because they’ll take one look at me and know I’m a jock nowhere near on your level.”
Relief washed over me and my lips curved up into a small smile. “You’re nervous?” The sadness radiating off him stifled that relief.
“Of course—who wouldn’t be?” He stared down at the ground.
I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed him tighter. Damn, he sure knew how to make himself even more endearing and adorable. “You don’t need to worry about that. They’ll love you.” At least Mom will. I swallowed past the lump in my throat.
He pulled back and stared into my eyes, running his knuckles along my chin. “Really?”
I breathed past the churning knot. “Really.”
* * *
I’d flown up to Boston on the ticket my dad had bought me. Of course, it was the earliest ticket in. The sterile quiet of my house didn’t make it feel like the home I’d once lived in. It felt like I was a guest even after two days back. I checked the score on my phone. They were heading into the last quarter. The game had started late because of the weather. There’d been a break in the snow, but Reece would be over an hour late as it was.
“Persephone.”
I dropped my hand under my desk and turned off the screen so the light didn’t give me away.
“Yes, Dad.”
He stood in the doorway to my room like a harbinger of bad memories. “Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes. You should get yourself ready.” He looked me up and down, and I had to stop myself from cringing. I kept my chin raised. Apparently my cream tights, navy skirt, and cream sweater weren’t a dead giveaway I was ready and had gotten myself together over the last hour. My hair was braided tightly against my head in a way I hadn’t done in a while. Never a hair out of place or a stray piece of lint, but no matter what I did, he’d find a reason to pick, to try to make me feel smaller.
“Thank you for letting me know.”
“What time will your friend be arriving? We won’t be holding dinner for late arrivals.”
Why had I wanted Reece to come here and be subjected to my father’s withering scrutiny, knowing Reece was already feeling insecure? Because we don’t have much time left. Every minute we had together was a minute I wanted to hold on to with both hands, but by the time the game was over and he did the press conference thing, it would probably be at least another hour until he arrived.
He was already nervous about meeting my parents; how would he feel if he walked in and we were finishing up Thanksgiving dinner after I invited him? Like he was an intruder barging in. I couldn’t do that to him after how amazing his family had been with no notice at all.
My heart squeezed at the idea of cancelling the invitation so late, but it was better he had the hotel Thanksgiving with the rest of the team rather than showing up here, even though I’d been using looking forward to his visit to keep me going since I stepped on the plane.
“Actually, he won’t be able to make it. His event is running over and he doesn’t want to disturb us.” It would be nothing like what he thought a family Thanksgiving should be. His family was probably all crowded in the kitchen, laughing and joking. I’d be lucky if I made it through dinner without frostbite. What had I been thinking? So selfish about wanting to see him that I’d subj
ect him to this? I was so used to it, I’d forgotten what it was really like to be back home.
Dad’s lips tightened and the corners turned down.
“I can go help Mom.” Closing my book, I set it on the desktop beside me.
“She can handle things on her own. We have a lot to discuss over the meal.” He closed the door behind him like he was locking a jail cell.
Had being away for a few months made me forget that my family was nothing like Reece’s? That mine wasn’t a sitcom version of a family, but the cold shell of what an alien might think a family looked like?
Grabbing my phone, I sent Reece a message. The wood of the steps creaked under my feet as I walked downstairs. My dad’s office door was closed and I tiptoed into the kitchen. Mom stood in front of the stove, mashing potatoes in a pot.
“Mom.” I touched her arm.
She jumped and turned. Her smile for me was always real, always there, and sometimes it was the only thing I had to cling to for warmth.
“Come to help me?” She bumped me with her hip.
“If you need it.”
“I’m sure I can find something for you to do. What time is your friend arriving?” Lifting the pot, she gently transferred the potatoes into a serving bowl.
I cleared my throat. “He can’t make it.”
Her face fell. “Oh, that’s a shame.”
“It might be for the best. Aunt Sophie mentioned coming up for Christmas. Has she talked to you at all?”
She froze, spatula in hand, a lump of potatoes on the tip of it. “No, I haven’t heard from her.”
“It’s hard to get past the gatekeeper.” I glanced over my shoulder.
She did the same and went back to the potatoes. “You know how your father is once he gets something in his head.”
“How did you two even meet? Aunt Sophie said you were a free spirit like her growing up.”
Her cheeks pinked up and she set down the pot. Letting out a sigh, she covered the bowl of mashed potatoes in foil and opened the oven. “I was. Your father was my tutor in college. My parents were always trying to get me to settle down. They always wanted me to get serious about my studies so I could find a nice, responsible college boy to marry.”
