Change My Game: An Emotional Second Chance Romance (North Haven University Book 2)

by Kelsey Clayton

  He flips us over so that he's hovering above me and slips his tongue into my mouth. His hand slides down the front of me and he doesn't pause for a second as he dips under my pants. Within seconds, he has two fingers inside of me. I clench around him, but I want more.

  "You're always so fucking needy," he growls. "Are my fingers not enough for you?"

  I bite my lip and throw my head back. "Fuck."

  "Don't worry, babe. We're getting there."

  As he pulls my shirt over my head and tosses it on the floor, I watch as his eyes darken with lust. He slowly kisses his way down my chest and over my stomach until he reaches what he's been wanting all along. Sliding my pants down my legs, he moans.

  "You smell so good." His tongue juts out and lightly grazes my pussy. "And you taste fucking incredible."

  It's only a few seconds before I'm no longer able to fully speak. Instead, I'm just a jumbled mess of moans and words that don't make any sense. He pumps his fingers in and out of me as his tongue works magic on my clit. As I start to get close, I grip his hair and grind into his face, but he pulls away.

  "You're getting greedy, princess."

  All I can do is watch helplessly as he undresses and stands there, looking every bit like a Greek god. Since he's been stuck in his house for the last two weeks, he's been working out a lot in the gym. His abs are more defined, and his arms look like they could crush me with just the right amount of pleasure.

  He takes his hard cock into his hands and starts to stroke, staring back at me. The smirk that appears on his face shouldn't be anywhere near that sexy, but fuck, it is. He runs his fingertips over my skin, just to see the way it makes me shiver.

  "Jace," I pant. "Please."

  Winking, he smiles. "Patience, baby."

  He climbs back onto the bed and lines up at my entrance, but doesn't push in. Instead, he just rubs the head of his dick up and down right over my clit. If there was a king of teasing, Jace would take the gold medal, every time.

  It takes more whimpering than I’m proud of before he finally pushes himself inside of me. He fills me entirely and feels like absolute heaven, but just as I think he's going to go full force like he normally does, he stills.

  "You know," he murmurs against my ear. "I bet I could stay just like this, and you'd still cum. Just my cock inside of you is enough to get you off. Isn't it?"

  I try to fight him on it. Try to keep it away. But between the gravely tone of his voice, and the way his breath feels hitting the side of my face, I don't stand a fucking chance. His gaze locks with mine as he stays in one place, completely unmoving, and watches me come undone.

  The second my orgasm hits, he smirks—pleased with himself—and then it's on. He pulls back, only to slam into me, and I cover my mouth as I scream out. He takes out all his anger and frustrations on me, pounding into me like I'm unbreakable. Bulletproof. Only around for his own personal pleasure.

  "That's it. You take me so well. Everything I give you. Every inch."

  Pulling out, he flips me over and instantly thrusts back in. He brings my arms behind my back so I fall forward and my ass is stuck in the air. With his grip on my wrists, he uses the leverage to fuck me as hard as he can. The headboard bounces off the wall with every motion, and I've never been so glad to have the house to ourselves.

  "I want another," he orders.

  His free hand comes down hard against my ass, and I yelp at the contact.

  "Another."

  As if he has full control over my body, it doesn't take long before I'm off the edge again, settling into pure bliss as he uses my body as his own personal playground. He fucks into me a few more times before pulling out and stroking himself to finish off. Streaks of hot cum cover my back, but I can't be bothered to move. My whole body tingles, and all I want is to lie here forever.

  Jace takes the time to clean me off and then crawls into bed next to me and kisses my forehead. "You are so much more than I deserve."

  I want to argue it. To tell him that we belong together. To convince him he's not this monster he paints himself to be. But my mouth won't move as I drift to sleep.

  SITTING IN THE PARKING lot of North Haven Behavioral, I'm waiting for Jace to come out of his appointment. Becca's voice flows through the speakers in the car. When Jace got arrested, she was able to extend her trip a little, but since he got out, she had to go back. However, she's made sure to check in even more than normal.

  "I cannot believe we don't agree on this," she groans. "Chris Hemsworth is the hottest Hemsworth brother."

  I chuckle. "You pronounced Liam wrong."

  "Dude, he made all the problems in his relationship look like Miley's fault when we all know she's a literal queen. There's something wrong with him."

  "Maybe," I concede. "But we're not talking about who is more mentally stable. We're talking about who looks the best, and Liam is hotter than Chris. I'm not sorry about it."

  She makes a sound of disgust. "I don't know why I deal with you."

  "Because you love me."

  "You tricked me," she claims. "I didn't know you had such bad taste in men until it was too late." After a pause, she giggles. "Speaking of bad taste in men, how is our little felon?"

  "Becca," I warn.

  But that only makes her laugh harder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I had to."

  "Did you though?"

  "Absolutely," she says shamelessly. "I mean, you really don't think he did it? Like you fully believe he's completely innocent?"

  It's a question I've been asked a lot lately, especially since the whole school caught wind that a potential murderer has been going there since September. It only took a matter of a couple days before everyone figured out his name, what dorm he was in, and who I am. Still, the one thing that hasn't changed is my belief in him.

  "He didn't do it," I answer with confidence. "I mean, think about it, Becs. You've known him for years. Do you really think Jace London is capable of murder?"

  I can hear as she falls back onto her bed. "At first, no. But don't you think it's strange that he still won't tell anyone what happened that night?"

  She's not wrong. Even with the trial coming up in a couple of months, he still is yet to disclose the details of Davianna's death. Finn has been on him about how he doesn't know what he's working with if he doesn't have Jace's version of events, but still nothing.

  "I mean, would you be able to talk about an event where you watched someone plummet to their death?" I ask her.

  "Uh, if it meant proving my innocence so I don't go to jail for their murder? Absolutely."

  I lay my head against the headrest and close my eyes. "I don't know. All I know is that he didn't do it. I don't really know what else to say other than that."

  She takes a deep breath. "I just want you to be careful. I'm not saying he would ever hurt you, but you're going to get hurt if he ends up being found guilty."

  A knock on the passenger side window makes me jump. I open my eyes to see Jace standing there, waiting to be let in. Fuck. I hit the unlock button so he can open the door.

  "I know, but I've got to go."

  Before giving her the chance to answer and possibly say something she shouldn't when Jace can hear, I hang up the phone. Jace looks at me intently.

  "Who was that?" he questions.

  I shake my head and act casual. "Just Becca. I figured I'd call her while I waited for you."

  The two of us buckle our seatbelts, and he doesn't say anything else on the topic, but I know he's suspicious. He's always suspicious these days. It's like he's waiting for everyone to walk out on him.

  He just needs a bigger support system. People who love him and won't let him fall. And when it all comes down to it, he needs his best friend.

  MY CLASS LETS OUT, and just as he promised, Carter is waiting right outside the building. He's leaning up against the wall, talking to some chick, but the second I approach, he leaves her. She gives me a dirty look as she walks off. If only she knew how unwarranted her jealous
y is.

  "Hey, Paige," he greets me.

  I give him the best smile I can manage. "Hey."

  The two of us start walking together towards the parking lot, but Carter keeps looking over at me. I can't even say I blame him. My hair is thrown into a messy bun, and I'm wearing baggy sweats. I look like I just rolled out of bed and ended up at school somehow.

  "Is everything okay?"

  No. "I guess." Ugh, not what I meant. "Actually, no. I'm really worried about Jace."

  Carter's face drops the same way it does any time I mention Jace. It's been almost a month, and he still refuses to talk to him. And it's not for a lack of trying on Carter's part. He has called, texted, and showed up at his house. At one point, he even sat outside of his room for six hours, waiting for him to open the door, but he never did.

  Regardless, he hasn't fully given up. "What's he doing?"

  "He's moody. He's restless. He won't talk about anything—he would rather just fuck out his problems. I mean, he barely even eats anymore and works out more than anyone I've ever seen."

  He listens intently but there's not much he can do about it. "I don't know what to tell you, babe. He's home all day, just waiting for the trial that he's already convinced himself he's going to lose. My dad said he even considered just pleading guilty."

  I stop dead in my tracks. "He what?"

  "That's just what I overheard my dad talking about with Finn." He shrugs. "I don't know if anything became of it, but he doesn't seem to have much fight in him."

  "See? This is the problem!" I shout in frustration. "He needs people that can convince him he needs to try here! Carter, he needs you."

  He instantly starts shaking his head. "He doesn't. He's made that perfectly clear. I mean, the second my phone rings and he tells me to come, I'm there, don't get me wrong. But he doesn't want me there. I don't know if he ever will."

  I'm about to give up when an idea comes to mind. "What if I make him talk to you?"

  Cocking a brow, he looks at me like I've lost it. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

  "Probably not, but it's all I've got."

  Carter leans against my car and crosses his arms over his chest. "And what if he cuts you out too?"

  My shoulders straighten, and I hold my head high. "He won't. He needs me too much."

  It looks as if he's thinking it over until finally, he sighs and nods. "Okay, fine. But if this doesn't work, I get to say I told you so."

  "You can tattoo it on my forehead," I reply excitedly and jump into his arms. "Thank you."

  After telling him that I'm going to pick up food from Jace's favorite Chinese place and that I'll meet him at the Londons’ after, I get in my car and take a deep breath. This could go horribly wrong. I may act strong, but Carter has a point. Jace could very well cut me out for this. But the risks outweigh the potential positives.

  He needs his best friend.

  He needs Carter.

  PULLING UP TO JACE'S house, I notice that no one is home. I'm honestly not sure if that's a good thing or not. Carter might not be here yet, but he already texted me to let me know he's on his way. If this goes wrong, I'm not strong enough to break up a fight between those two.

  I grab the bag of Chinese food and head inside, grateful for the key Mrs. London gave me the other day so I don't need Jace to keep letting me in. Angry music echoes throughout the house, but it sounds like it's coming from Jace's bedroom. As I get closer, I can hardly hear myself think.

  Pushing open the door, the deafening sound somehow gets even louder, but as I see Jace, everything goes deadly silent. I can't hear the music that vibrates the walls. I can't feel as the bag of Chinese food falls out of my arms and lands on the floor. I'm not even sure I'm breathing, because every part of my body is fixated on Jace as he snorts a line of white powder right off his desk.

  He tilts his head back, clearly enjoying the rush, but my heart is shattering right inside my chest. As he opens his eyes again, his gaze locks with mine. He scrambles to turn off the music, but I don't care to hear what he has to say. I don't know where I'm going, but I can't be here.

  "Wait, Paige!"

  I keep walking until I'm at the top of the stairs, and he comes running out of his room.

  "Please," he begs. “Don’t go. I l—“

  “Don’t say it," I snap, feeling as everything in me crumbles away. "Not like this. Because if you say it, I’ll stay. I will stay with you, and I can’t stay with someone who is bound to kill himself eventually. It’ll break me. So I’m begging you. Please. Don't say it."

  Tears pour down my face as Jace drops his head, thankfully not saying the three words I genuinely cannot hear right now. I run down the stairs and out the door as fast as I can. Carter is just walking up the walkway when I reach the grass and fall to my knees. I'm trying to breathe, but I can't.

  My lungs just won't seem to fill.

  The sobs wrack through my body as Carter rushes over to me. "Whoa, what's wrong?"

  I shake my head quickly and scramble to my feet, just trying to get to my car.

  "I can't," I tell him through my tears. "I'm so sorry. I can't."

  Carter watches with fear in his eyes as I get in my car and fumble with the keys. I finally manage to get the car started, and the tires screech as I speed right out of the driveway.

  Away from the lies.

  Away from the drugs.

  Away from the love of my life.

  Fury.

  Rage.

  Shame.

  Devastation.

  They all course through my body at once, taking no mercy as they rip my mind to shreds. I grab my desk chair and slam it onto the ground. Shards of wood fly in all directions, but that's not enough. The anger is still so strong I can feel it boiling over the surface.

  Watching Paige walk out the door was worse than I could have ever imagined. The words that were about to come out of my mouth, I meant them with everything in me. But she didn't want to hear it, and who can blame her? I'm a fucking mess who doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as her. I had the best thing in the world in the palm of my hands, and I lost it. I lost her. She's gone.

  I pick up my nightstand, and in one fluid move, I throw it with full force into the window. The whole thing shatters as the nightstand flies right through it. I flip my bed and swipe everything off my desk, watching as it all scatters on the floor.

  Just as I throw one of my football trophies into the mirror and see it shatter, I'm yanked backward, and my whole body is slammed into the wall. Carter pins me, staring me down with both fear and anger in his eyes.

  "Get the fuck off me!" I roar.

  I try to move but he shoves me harder. "Not until you calm down!"

  He might have had a chance at holding me in place in normal circumstances, but the adrenaline coursing through my body gives me an extra edge. I put both hands on his shoulders and push as hard as I can. Carter stumbles backwards, falling on the ground and cutting his leg on a broken piece of the chair.

  As he looks down at the blood oozing from the cut, his expression darkens. Before I know it, he's charging full force at me. I feel as the sheetrock breaks against my back and the two of us go right through the wall and fall onto the floor in the hallway.

  Carter lands on top of me, but the punch to the face that I was expecting never comes. Instead, he uses all his strength to hold me down.

  "Are you fucking done, you goddamn psychopath?" he sneers.

  "Screw you."

  He smirks in a way that irritates the shit out of me. "Thanks for the offer, but I like my women a little less scrappy."

  I try to buck him off, but he doesn't budge. He stares down at me, and I can see when it clicks. All the confusion leaves his face and is replaced with clarity.

  "You're seriously high right now?" he growls. "Are you out of your mind? You have a murder trial in a month and a half, and you decide now is a good time to fall off the damn wagon?"

  "Don't pretend like you care now. You'r
e nothing but a fucking traitor."

  "I was trying to protect you!"

  Balling my fist, I manage to get enough leverage to wind up and knock him right in the jaw. He releases me to grip the side of his face, and I'm finally able to throw him off.

  "Protect me?" I shout in outrage as I get up. "Face it, Carter. You were only protecting yourself."

  He stands and shoves me backward as I try to walk by him. "Cut the betrayal shit, Jace! You know damn well I've always had your back."

  "Then why didn't you tell me? Huh?" I growl. "Why didn't you fucking tell me?"

  "Leave it alone, Jace," he orders.

  Not a chance. "Stop being a pussy and answer the question."

  "No."

  I push his shoulder just hard enough to piss him off. "Tell me!"

  "Because I didn't want you to die!" he snaps.

  "I'm already fucking dead!" I yell back. "Don't you get that? Your best friend is gone! He fell off the roof with Davianna and splattered all over the fucking pavement!"

  As Carter storms into my bedroom, I wonder if he finally realized what a lost cause I am, but instead, he comes back with a piece of my broken mirror. Without a bit of hesitation, he grabs my wrist and slices right into my palm. I rip myself from his grasp, but it's too late.

  "What the fuck!"

  He keeps his eyes locked on mine. "You feel that, right? That pain. That aching sting that tells you you're hurt. That's your body fighting to stay alive." Without looking away, he lifts up his hand and cuts into his own flesh. The blood starts to trickle out and slides down to his wrist. "You bleed, I bleed. You die, I die. That was the pact, remember? From the playground to the grave."

  I shake my head, not even paying attention to the blood pooling in my hand. "It's too late for me. It's too fucking late."

  "It's not, but it will be if you don't start fighting like you have something to live for." He takes a deep breath. "Davi died, Jace. She died, and that sucks, but she didn't take you with her. You're still here. Somewhere under all the trauma and the emotional scars, you're still you."