Gage (The Player Book 6)

by Nana Malone

  Once he parked, Gage slid his hands into Becker's thick hair. She moaned slightly as he gently guided her. “Becker, I'm not…”

  He pulled her up gently and kissed her full and deep. When she leaned back, her eyes were hazy, and she blinked at him dreamily.

  When she returned her mouth to its assigned task, his hips cocked, and she took him deep. Her tongue was so hot. Her cheeks hollowed out as she sucked him deep, and he gritted his teeth, groaning as she worked him. Stroking him at the same time, with her hands and her tongue.

  The tingling started to roll up his back, and he tapped her gently on her neck. “Baby, I'm going to come.” He indicated the glove compartment. “There are tissues in there.”

  A small frown marred her smooth forehead. “You don’t want me to swallow?”

  Jesus, fuck. “Swall— You want to?”

  She met his gaze. “Aren’t I supposed to?”

  Gage didn't have much to say to that anymore. His body had taken over. His hips ticked up again, and she took him into her mouth, smoothly sucking him in and stroking with her hands.

  The wave of bliss slammed into him, hard and fast, taking over all his motor functions. Wiping his mind clear of all thought, making his vision dim.

  He wasn't sure how long he sat there, unable to move, think, or see, but slowly, his mental faculties returned, and he turned to stare at Becker. She looked worried, and he tugged her forward, to press a kiss to her lips.

  “You are going to kill me, Becker Johnson.”

  “Nah, I like having you around too much.”

  Twenty-Seven

  Gage was having the time of his life. His last game had been televised, and he'd had the best game he never had. And as far as he was concerned, he'd pretty much sealed his starter spot for the rest of the season. Daniel could go fuck himself. Gage was still wasn't sure what he was going to do about the guy. He wanted to respect Becker's wishes, but he couldn't just let it go. The asshole had hurt her. And every time he looked at the jerk's face, Gage struggled not to pop him one.

  “Well, aren't you the great white hope,” Daniel muttered, as Gage repacked his bag.

  Gage tried to shake off the feeling of impending doom. He turned slowly to face him.

  What he wanted to do was hit Daniel so hard in the face that he broke several bones. He wanted the kid to feel as much pain as he put Becker through. But no. You made her a promise. Besides, he was going to meet Becker and his mom at the restaurant. So getting in a fight with this asshole right now would delay that. “Fuck off, Sanchez.”

  “Nope. I know you probably think that with today's game, your starting spot is solidified. But I'm not giving up that easily. See, I know you were fucking Becker before your hundred points.”

  Gage ground his teeth. “You don't know shit.” He stepped into Daniel's space, and backed the kid up. He had a solid three inches on him. This would be so easy. Not that he been in many fights, but he’d taken boxing as part of his training in high school. He knew the satisfaction of getting a good hit.

  Daniel help up his hands. “Hey, man, I can attest that that shit is good. That doesn't mean you can break the rules, though.”

  The fuck was he talking about? “Stay the fuck away from me.”

  He went to turn, but Daniel grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, seizing the attention of everyone else in the locker room. Their teammates crowded around, and the seniors pulled them apart from each other.

  “No, you see, your girlfriend forgot to pull her blinds one night. My friend's dorm is right across the lawn from hers. I could see straight inside. Becker's juicy ass rocking back and forth. You two are obviously fuck—”

  Gage couldn't help it. His fist connected before his brain even caught up. And then he was hitting Sanchez. Over, and over again. It didn't even register, as his teammates tried to pull them back. “You’re a sick fuck. A damn rapist. You think she didn't tell me what you did to her? You think I don't know? The only reason you're still standing, the reason I haven't done anything about it, is because she asked me not to. Because she didn't want everyone to know.”

  Both of them were too far gone to care about who was overhearing them. A couple of the seniors were now holding Daniel back, too. “Is that what she told you? She wanted what happened. Now she's crying foul? That's bullshit. Far be it for me to tell you how to control your girlfriend, Coulter. Although, you're not going to have much control of her when she's in New York, are you?”

  Gage fought against the hold of Thomas McMillan. He was their center, and the only guy taller than him. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Daniel grinned evilly. “Oh, the little slut didn't tell you she got that fellowship, or whatever? I guess she keeps things from you. Just like she didn’t tell you the truth about what happened with us.”

  It was only then that it dawned on Gage what he'd said in front of his teammates. Out loud. He'd announced to the whole world that Daniel had hurt his girlfriend. Fuuuuck. “Let me go. It's fine.” McMillan started to ease up, and Gage shoved him away. “You’re done on this team Sanchez.”

  “That's for Coach to decide.”

  Pure anger and shame coursed through Gage's blood. Becker. He had to fucking get to Becker. He had to tell her. To warn her. He fucked this up. And he had to figure out a way to fix it.

  Becker was having a wonderful time, chatting happily with Gage's mother. She regaled Becker with stories of Gage growing up. It seemed he'd been the same as a kid. Serious. Always thinking he had to take on everything on his own. Hated asking for help, especially from his siblings. Didn't want to be treated like the baby. Yeah, that was Gage.

  “Next time I come to San Diego, I need to see all the pictures.”

  Julia laughed. “Oh, we don't have to wait till you come to San Diego for that.” She pulled out her phone. “I have a bunch right here.”

  Becker giggled. “Excellent.” But when she stood to join Julia on her side of the table, her phone rang. It was Avery. “Sorry, Mrs. Coulter let me just quickly take this.”

  “Of course, dear. I'll just call and check in on Brent. Take your time.”

  Becker scooted outside of the restaurant and answered. “Hey girl. I can’t talk right now. I'm out for dinner with Gage's mom.”

  “Oh, God. You haven't seen him yet?”

  “No. We left the game about thirty minutes ago. He needed to do the whole change, postgame thing with his team, and there was some press, I think.”

  Avery groaned. “I'm so sorry.”

  Becker's heart pounded against her chest. “What are you talking about?”

  “Listen, Gage might have done something.”

  “Between the time I just saw him in the game and now?”

  Avery sighed. “Yeah. Listen, I got a call from Thomas McMillan. One of his teammates? He's a senior. He knows we're friends.”

  “Come on, Avery get to the point. What's up?”

  “Tom said that there was a big fight in the locker room with Gage and Daniel just now. That Gage accused Daniel of…” Her voice trailed off.

  Becker didn't need her to finish. She already knew. The bottom fell out of her stomach, and her world spun. “Oh, God.”

  “B, where are you? I'll come get you.”

  She didn't hear her best friend. All she knew was her world was closing in on her. From the parking lot, she saw Gage striding in her direction. “Avery, I need to call you back. Gage is here.”

  Becker barely acknowledged her best friend’s muttered curse, as she hung up on her. “Gage?”

  “Becker, I just fucked up bad. I'm so sorry.”

  She shook. “How?” Because she couldn't stand to be without him, she let him wrap his arms around her. But she knew she couldn't stay in his embrace. She pulled back.

  “Becker, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do it. But Daniel started, and I was furious, and he was saying things about you. And he saw us that night we decided we were going to be together. We forgot to pull the damn blinds. He
saw everything, and—” He dug his hands into his hair. “And then I don't know what happened. I was so furious and angry, and I wanted to hurt him for hurting you, and I just blurted it out.”

  She waited for the shock and anger to set in. The fear. The worry. But all she felt was numb. “I asked you to do one thing for me. I asked you not to do anything about it. And your version of that is announcing to your whole team what he did? Do you realize now the way everyone's going to look at me?”

  He reached for her, but she pulled out of his grasp. “Becks, I'm sorry. But look, this could be a good thing. Maybe if people heard, you'll find other girls that he's done that—”

  “I told you not to push me into doing this. Told you I didn't want anyone in my life poking around, making judgments about me. You let your temper get the best of you, and you exposed me.”

  “It wasn't like that. It wasn’t intentional. I would never do that to you. I don't ever want to do anything that hurts you.”

  “Well, you have a shitty way of showing it. Because you hurt me, and now everyone knows.”

  He reached for her but she backed away and shook her head. “Please say goodbye to your mother for me. I need to go.”

  “Becker—”

  She could no longer hear him. Her fear drowned out all other sound, replacing it with her loud, booming heartbeat as she ran to her car. Everybody knew. And just like her father, none of them would believe her. Judgment was going to be everywhere. Gage had done that to her.

  Twenty-Eight

  Five days, nine hours, and twenty-two minutes. That was how long it had been since Becker stopped speaking to him. Gage had tried everything. He'd gone by her room countless times, but she didn't seem to be there. Either that, or she was doing a real good mouse impression, and waiting until he left.

  He tried catching her after classes. But she must've been skipping a few, because he didn't see her there, either. He'd even tried Avery. That one had been the most difficult, because she'd read him the riot act. And in the end, she still hadn't given him access to Becker. Of course, she wouldn't answer her phone. Or her text messages. Emails.

  And even though things were tense with the team, they were still winning. The coach had benched him for the game on Monday. Daniel had started, instead of him. And it had been close. They only won by one. But for tonight's game, Sanchez had been benched, and Coach had announced that Gage was to be the permanent starter.

  He'd gotten what he wanted. The problem was, he'd also lost what he needed. All night, he'd been distracted. Every time he made a basket, he glanced up into the stands, expecting to find Becker screaming her head off. But she wasn’t there.

  He didn't stick around the locker room that night. He'd made an appointment to see the coach in the morning. Becker might be mad at him, and, maybe as far she was concerned, they were broken up. But he had to try and do the right thing.

  “Hey, Gage?”

  He turned at the feminine voice. Crystal. Damn. He was in no kind of mood for anything she had to say. “Hey, Crystal. Sorry, I'm headed out. I have some things to do.”

  She shook her head. “No, I'm not here to ask you to hang out, or whatnot. I just…I heard what you said about Daniel Sanchez. And what he did to your girlfriend.”

  Gage's skin burned. He hated that he'd been so weak he fucked up and blurted out her secret like that. He could kick his own ass for that one. “Look, Crystal, I'm not really trying to get into it now.”

  She shook her head, then planted herself directly in front of him, her eyes downcast, hands locked in front of her, her thumbs picking at each other. “I just wanted to say—” She sucked in a deep breath. “If she ever wanted to press charges, or talk to the administration about him, I'd back her.”

  He frowned. “What do you mean?”

  With another deep breath, she tilted her head up all the way to meet his gaze. “I believe her. I believe her, because Daniel Sanchez did something worse to me.” She shook her head. “I was too scared to say anything. Since I'm a cheerleader, and pretty much a basketball or sports-team groupie, I guess I thought no one would believe me.”

  Fuck. He really needed to kill Sanchez. “I'm really sorry. You should report him. Do you need someone to go with you?”

  “No. I just wanted you to tell her that she has support. And unfortunately, it's not just me. There are…other girls. Other girls that would be willing to go on record that he's a predator. She's not the only one.” She shook her head. “Sometimes it just helps to know you're not alone. Even if you're not sure what you're supposed to do about it.” She turned to go, and he called after her.

  “You really should—”

  She cut him off. “You tell her what I said. I'm someone to talk to, if she wants, and if she's going to press charges. Even if she can't press charges for what happened to her, because I don't know how long ago it was, she can definitely press charges for stalking. Or something. Because that's what he did to me. Everywhere I turned, he was there. He told me he had pictures of me.”

  Fuck. Who the hell was this kid? He nodded. “Okay. I'll tell her.” Now, all he had to do was find her.

  Twenty-Nine

  It had been three and a half weeks since Gage had seen Becker. Finals were approaching, and he had his hands full. He wasn't even sure if they'd properly broken up. But he acted as if they were together. He'd seen her across campus a couple of times, but it was as if she'd completely retreated. She didn't look up, or talk to anyone.

  He made it clear to everyone on the basketball team, and anyone they knew, that if he heard of anyone giving Becker any grief, there'd be hell to pay. And as far as he knew, no one had harassed her in any way. And most everyone on the team gave Sanchez a wide berth. Daniel's father had tried to complain to Coach, about the fact that Coach hadn't put Sanchez in a game since that one night he started, but as far as Gage knew, the complaints hadn't gone anywhere.

  He tried to convince Crystal to go to the authorities without Becker, but she'd shaken her head. Insistent no one would believe her.

  Mostly, he just missed Becker.

  He looked up at the ornate, Tudor-style mansion. This was his Hail Mary shot. If this didn't work, he knew he'd lost her forever. That thought squeezed his heart, and he couldn't breathe at the thought of it. He had fucked this whole thing up, and he hated himself for it.

  Despite the chill and the rain, he wiped his sweaty palms before ringing the doorbell and waiting.

  He wasn't sure what to expect. He didn't want them going into finals with this crap hanging over them. He just hoped he could find a way to get through to her.

  When the door finally opened, the warmth spread through his chest. “Becker.”

  Her hand clasped over her heart, and she let out short exhale of breath. “Gage.”

  He indicated his umbrella with his head. “Do you think I can come in for minute?”

  For a moment, she looked like she wasn't going to allow it, but then she stepped back. “Yeah, sure.”

  There was a huge Christmas tree sitting in the living room, with all the trimmings. But there were no presents underneath the tree. It was too immaculate. Too perfect. “How are you?”

  She crossed her arms, and gave a short nod. “I'm fine. You know, studying. And I took some more tutoring jobs.”

  He nodded. “I figured you were keeping yourself really busy.”

  She cleared her throat. “I thought it would be best if I just kept my head down.” She shifted on her feet. “Finals, you know, so, I'm just trying to focus.”

  Gage shoved his hands into his back pockets. “Becker, I know I don't have any right to be here. But I just wanted to see you, and apologize again. I screwed up. I was just so fucking crazy about you, and the fact that he had been anywhere near you drove me bat-shit crazy. I didn't think. After everything we meant to each other. It was out of my mouth before I could control it, and I feel terrible and I would call it back a million times if I could.”

  She bit her bottom lip and n
odded, blinking rapidly, as if to ward off tears. “I know. I just—” She inhaled deeply. “I felt exposed, Gage. I trusted you.”

  “I know. I'm so sorry. I didn't know what to do. I love you.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “What did you say?”

  He said it again, meeting her dark gaze. “I love you. I should have said it at Thanksgiving. I should have said it before my stupid game. I should have said it when we were in the middle of our fight. I should have said it a million times. But I'm saying it now, even if it's too late. I just wanted you to know.”

  “Becker? What the hell is going on here?” Her father came in somewhere from somewhere near the study. Gage nodded at him.

  “Mr. Johnson.”

  Cain Johnson didn't acknowledge him. Instead, he pinned his angry gaze on his daughter. “I thought you were done with this boy?”

  Becker swallowed hard. “Dad, stop. Gage and I are having a private conversation.”

  “This is my house. There is no such thing as a private conversation.” He turned his attention to Gage. “What are you doing here? You know you have no shot, right? She will never choose someone like you. She will choose someone I approve of. Because that's Becker. She’s a good kid who does what she's told.”

  Gage snapped his mouth shut. He wanted to tell the man that he was wrong. Wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up. Instead, he turned his gaze to Becker. “Becks, I meant when I said.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her. “This is an early Christmas present.”

  Her hands shook as she accepted it. “Gage—”

  But he couldn't listen anymore. He had to leave. He'd torn his heart out enough. But then, Cain Johnson said the one thing that would guarantee Gage would never be on his approval list.

  “Becker, if I told you once, I told you a million times. He's not the kind of guy I want you with. The kid is all jock. That is the only thing that will see him through.”