The Campus Jock: A College Bad Boy Romance

by Serena Silver

  Kylie splashes the cold water from her shower onto Chloe and then turns it off. Chloe shrugs her shoulder and heads to the chairs around the pool. She puts her bag on one and then stretches out.

  “We may have, but my mind has changed,” Chloe tells Kylie.

  “Mine hasn’t and it will not. Flavio is not a great guy.”

  “Please do this for me. Besides, you will make him feel small because you will have way more medals than him.”

  Chloe goes for the angle that she knows will work.

  “I guess we could talk about swimming while you talk with Raul about who knows what,” Kylie admits.

  “I will love you forever,” Chloe chimes.

  Both women get into the pool, doing laps back and forth, Chloe going for longer than her friend and doing a plethora of different strokes, trying to find her marathon rhythm.

  Chapter Nine

  Raul is sitting next to Chloe in the stadium, both wearing warring colors. Chloe has her American flag gear back on, and Raul is displaying Brazil all over. Flavio is only wearing regular colors, but he is also not involved with Chloe and Raul right now.

  “I will root for Kylie when she comes up later, but for now I am rooting for my own people,” Raul announces.

  “That’s fine, like they could win against our people, though,” Chloe counters.

  Raul scoffs and turns back to face the pool where the men are lining up. Chloe has her flag up and ready to cheer her teammates on. Raul is pulling her hand down, but she keeps putting it back up. Flavio clears his throat, catching the couple’s attention before rolling his eyes at them. They both laugh at the exasperated Raul.

  The gun goes off as soon as the arena is silent and the men are off. Chloe jumps up and cheers her two racers on. Raul is cheering his own teammate on and still trying to steal the American flag from Chloe who is jumping up and down as the race nears the end. America is in the lead and just barely makes it through at the end. Brazil did not medal.

  “Have you eaten your words yet?” Chloe gloats.

  “I will take that flag away by the end of the night,” Raul counters.

  “Don’t you dare steal Old Glory from me, we have been through a lot.”

  Raul just shakes his head and sits back down. Chloe stays standing, still cheering for America. Flavio mentions going to stand for a bit, but Chloe isn’t paying attention to him anymore.

  “Kylie is up next,” Chloe tells Raul.

  “Can I borrow Old Glory?”

  “No, I cannot trust you with my precious. You will throw her away, and then I will cry.”

  Chloe sits back down and smiles up at Raul who smiles down. She has him pegged, and they have been like this all night. Chloe has just felt like she belonged with Raul since he waved at her at the front of the building. They both have forgotten about Flavio a few times throughout the night, and he has made it known.

  “There she is,” Chloe chimes.

  Chloe and Raul stand up and do a cheer for Kylie before sitting back down and quieting. Chloe is on the edge of her seat. Kylie is guaranteed for first now that Katie Ledecky isn’t racing against her. The gun sounds in the air, and Chloe shoots up in her seat.

  Raul holds onto Chloe’s hand as she silently cheers her friend through her laps, each time gaining and losing the lead. Raul is also right there doing the same squirming movements for each change in the race. It finally does come to a close, and Kylie just beats her competitor to the win.

  Chloe and Raul both shoot up in excitement and cry out in pride. Kylie now has a medal of each metal, and she is probably just as excited. Chloe hugs Raul, and they get a few looks from the people around them. They spent the majority of the night messing with each other, but now they are celebrating.

  “We are definitely going to celebrate tonight,” Raul says over the din of the crowd.

  “You thought we wouldn’t?”

  Flavio comes back down to his seat and trains his eyes on Kylie who is looking around for Chloe. The friends wave at each other and blow kisses. Raul and Flavio wave to Kylie too, who has the largest grin painted across her face.

  “She is better at swimming than you, Flavio,” Raul jokes.

  Flavio grumbles something unintelligible, and Chloe ignores him. He has not been in a great mood since they arrived. She wants to know why but doesn’t care right at this moment.

  “Let’s get going, they are going to start the medal ceremony, and I want to be waiting for Kylie when they finish,” Chloe announces.

  The guys follow her up the steps and to the landing where they watch as each race gets their medals. Chloe cheers out louder than anyone else, in her opinion, when they present Kylie with the gold.

  The anthem plays, and Chloe feels her eyes well up with tears in pure pride for her friend. It has been a long road for Kylie and Chloe was there for every step, cheering and watching.

  Raul puts his arm around Chloe as she wipes the tears away after the anthem and they move to go wait for Chloe in the lobby.

  “Are you that happy for her?” Raul asks.

  “She and I grew up together, so I have seen her struggle with past injuries and her own family. It was beyond tough. This stopped being her dream for a long time.”

  Chloe looks up at Raul and smiles, and he returns it back to her. Flavio is moving away from the couple, shaking hands with a few of the Brazil swimmers.

  “Stop with the goo goo eyes and let’s get going,” Kylie calls out.

  Chloe looks over to the door and sees Kylie racing over, her gold medal on proud display. The friends hug and jump together. Chloe looks over the medal and breathes on it to clean it. Kylie lets her giggle overflow.

  “I have been asked to go and talk with Ryan tonight if you guys want to come. We can go out afterward.”

  Chloe is already nodding, and so is Raul. Flavio is making his way back over to the group. He gives Kylie a hug and a kiss on the cheek, making Chloe raise an eyebrow. Kylie brushes it off.

  “You want to come, Flavio?” Kylie asks.

  “To where?”

  “To watch Kylie be interviewed by Ryan Seacrest? We will probably go out afterward,” Chloe says.

  “Sure, why not,” Flavio says.

  Chapter Ten

  Kylie is laughing it up with Ryan Seacrest while Chloe, Raul, and Flavio sit on the beach and watch her. It has been one epic night for them all. Chloe is still buzzing with excitement.

  “So, Chloe, what are you planning to do to the poor, innocent, Raul?” Flavio questions.

  Chloe looks away from the interview and straight at Flavio. She cannot tell if he is joking or if he is serious. She is hoping for the joking.

  “Leave her alone, Flavio,” Raul demands.

  “No, I want to make sure she is not going to hurt you,” Flavio admits.

  Chloe thinks about it for a moment. What does she want with Raul is a question she does not have the answer for yet. Chloe apparently takes too long because Flavio stands up and huffs at her.

  “You don’t even know what you want? Then why are you stringing him along?”

  Chloe stands up and crosses her arms over her chest. She keeps her voice low so no one else except their small group can hear.

  “Well, I was not the one who decided to hit on a couple of girls at the beach. I was not the one who offered to walk a girl home and just happened to get mugged. Do you want to know my intentions, well then you need to let me figure out my brain because we are in Rio and at the Olympics. Would you be able to figure a relationship out while competing?”

  Raul looks between his friend and Chloe before grabbing her hand and pulling her down onto his lap. Chloe lets out a little squeak as she falls and then laughs when she realizes that Raul approves of her response.

  “Leave her alone, Flavio,” Raul commands again.

  Flavio stomps off, away from the couple and closer to the interview area. Chloe nestles in closer to Raul and watches her friend lap up the attention. Raul is lightly running his fingers th
rough her hair, humming something.

  “I am going to be honest with you,” Chloe starts.

  “Okay,” Raul continues.

  “I don’t know how to feel about you.”

  Raul is quiet for a while, just running his fingers through her hair. Finally, he even stops that and leans back, away from her sitting on her lap.

  “I don’t really know how to feel about you either. When I was on that beach, all I wanted was a good lay, but after seeing how brazen and funny you were, I wanted to get to know you.”

  Chloe stands up and holds her hand out to Raul who grabs it and pulls himself up. They keep holding hands and move further away from the commotion. There are barely any people out away from the filming, and it feels really intimate for the couple.

  “It is hard for me to be in relationships, always has, and I don’t know how to do this or how to feel.”

  Chloe takes a breath after her declaration and turns to gage Raul reaction. Her mind races with the idea that this may be too early for this admission, or that he doesn’t see this relationship the same way.

  “Can I ask why?”

  “Well, I always played along with whatever the guy I was with wanted, but I made a promise to myself after my last relationship ended that what I do will be for me, but I don’t know what I want.”

  Raul is quiet again and sits down in the sand. Chloe remained standing, hoping that she hasn’t just ruined everything that was just built in a few days.

  “I get it; we can go at whatever pace you want.”

  “I haven’t freaked you out?”

  “No, I like that you at least know you want something,” Raul breathes.

  Chloe feels a weight leave her chest that she didn’t know was even there. Raul actually wants to let her figure herself out in this new, strange relationship. Chloe sits down next to Raul and looks out at the ocean. It has a rough surf tonight, but Chloe loves the noise. It is calming her down.

  “I definitely was not expecting to meet a spitfire American who would make my heart pound,” Raul whispers in her ear.

  “So, I make your heart pound?”

  Raul rumbles out a deep laugh, and Chloe can feel it from where she sits. She scoots closer to Raul and leans her head on his shoulder.

  “Would you want to get dinner with me tomorrow night? Somewhere nice?”

  Chloe looks up at Raul and smiles lazily. She is spending nearly every day with this man, and she wants to keep spending her days with him. The thought crosses her mind that it is just the air in Brazil, but she dashes that away quickly.

  “I would love to get dinner with you tomorrow,” Chloe whispers back.

  Raul smiles down at her now and puts his arm over her shoulder, rubbing her arm to keep her warm in the cool breeze.

  “So long as Kylie doesn’t question me like Flavio did you, I feel our future dates will go well.”

  “Look who is back to being his cocky self.”

  “I can’t help it. There is this beautiful woman who just makes me want to show off, to impress.”

  Raul laughs at himself and Chloe only smiles. She is actually beginning to like the fact he is this confident. She doesn’t know where it came from, but she doesn’t care right now either. All that matters is the fact that he is willing to work with her and deal with her weird conditions.

  Chapter Eleven

  Chloe and Raul are walking down the street toward the Village, holding each other’s hands. The night has painted the world around them in black with only the light from the signs and the street lights around them.

  “Did you really like the restaurant?” Raul asks.

  “To be completely honest with you, not really,” Chloe admits.

  Raul stops walking and pulls Chloe off to the side, tilting his head. Chloe meets his eyes with a sheepish smile and tries her best to soothe the feelings she knows she just hurt.

  “I just prefer simpler food. Nothing deconstructed would be really great. The food was good, but I felt like I was totally out of place. Pretty sure they were waiting for me to break something, too.”

  Raul breaks into a laugh and kisses Chloe on the forehead. She wraps her arms around Raul and lays her head on his chest.

  “I was worried you didn’t have a good time with me,” Raul calmly says.

  “No, I had a great time with you. Well, except for when you decided to brag on and on about how you are Brazil’s greatest swimmer.”

  “We casually discussed our racing careers. You made that, probably correct, assumption all on your own.”

  Chloe and Raul begin laughing at each other, both enjoying the joke between them. The air grows silent, and Chloe feels her heart draw closer to Raul and the air around them grow thick. Chloe leans close to Raul and presses her lips against Raul’s.

  It lasts for a second before Raul deepens their kiss. Chloe can taste the chocolate from the dessert they had. Her senses are filled with the aroma of Raul’s cologne and the feel of his hard muscles against the softer parts of her body.

  They both pull back to take some deep breaths, never letting their gazes move from each other. Raul lets his hands explore the backside of Chloe, and she massages at the muscles decorating his arms and chest.

  “Did you,” Chloe breathes, “want to come up?”

  Raul answers with a kiss more intense than their last, his tongue dancing the samba with hers. Chloe pulls back and grabs Raul’s hand to lead him to the doors of her building.

  They barely make it to the doors when Raul pulls Chloe back to him, kissing her the whole time. She responds in full, letting one of her legs wrap around his. Raul’s hand grips onto Chloe’s thigh, and he squeezes. Raul is the one to pull back now.

  “We should head inside,” Raul manages.

  Chloe nods her head and pulls the door open. She pulls Raul inside with her, but he takes the lead and takes her to the elevator. Raul pushes the button, and Chloe kisses along his jaw while they wait for the lift to come down.

  When the doors open, Chloe bursts through and presses the button for her floor. They momentarily end the kissing, yet their hands never leave each other’s bodies. It feels as if the elevator takes an eternity for it to open up to Chloe’s floor.

  The couple nearly runs down the hall, feeling each other the whole way. Chloe’s door looms in the florescent lighting, beckoning the couple inside. Raul takes the key from Chloe and opens it up for them. He tosses the key onto the small bedside table and pulls Chloe over to the bed.

  Chloe starts the kiss again, letting her own tongue explore his mouth, taking in the pure flavor of him. She breaks away and pushes Raul down onto her bed, smiling down at him as she reaches for the zipper on the back of her dress. Raul has his eyes glued to her as she takes the dress off her shoulders and lets it fall to the ground. All that is showing is her nude bra and pantie set.

  “You are very coordinated,” Raul jokes.

  “Let’s see what you’re working with then,” Chloe smiles.

  Raul nods and stands up. The first thing to come off is his sports coat and dress shoes. He turns in a circle with his arms out, making Chloe break into a laugh.

  “I think you need to take it down to the underwear,” Chloe decides.

  “I knew I forgot something today,” Raul jokes.

  Chloe’s eyes go wide as Raul takes his shirt off, one button at a time. He finally has his whole chest and stomach revealed and is discarding his shirt. Chloe stares on, her own body growing excited at the thought of getting to touch the body in front of her.

  Raul winks and takes the belt holding his slacks up off and tosses it onto the bed opposite of Chloe’s. Next, he slowly takes his pants off, showing a pair of SpongeBob boxers. Chloe loses it and breaks into a fit of giggles.

  “Probably should have not worn any today,” Raul comments.

  He takes the boxers off next, and Chloe freezes at the sight of what is to come next. Deciding to fight fire with fire, Chloe kicks off her heels and undoes her bra. She holds it close
to her chest before letting it fall, innocently, to the floor. Chloe pins her gaze to what Raul is growing below his belt while she slips her panties to the floor and kicks it to the pile she created.

  “You were probably right,” Chloe murmurs.

  Chloe takes the lead and saunters up to Raul, pressing their naked bodies together while giving Raul the deepest kiss yet. He responds and lifts Chloe up prompting her to wrap her legs around his waist.

  Raul sets them down onto the bed, smiling as he breaks the kiss and moves onto kiss other parts of Chloe’s body to make her squirm in pleasure. She grips onto his hair as Raul moves lower and lower until he is at her core.

  Chapter Twelve

  There is a warm body pressed against Chloe, making it unbearably hot in the bed. She opens her eyes to see Raul sleeping face to face with her. Chloe smiles to herself as the feelings and images from last night come pouring in.

  “What are you so happy about?” Raul murmurs.

  Raul’s own eyes blink open, and a smile takes over his face.

  “Wait, I think I already know that answer,” Raul replies to himself.

  He pulls Chloe closer to his body, and she forgets all about the uncomfortable heat in the bed. Chloe initiates their next kiss, letting her body wake up all on its own.

  “You are not helping my morning situation,” Raul purrs.

  “Oh, I think I could help it,” Chloe whispers back.

  “I really hope you don’t help it,” Kylie says.

  Chloe nearly falls out the bed in surprise as Raul yells in return. They both look over and see Kylie eating a bagel on her bed. She still has her pajamas on and smeared makeup of her own.

  “Were you in here last night when we?” Chloe asks.

  “Next time put a sock on the door or something,” Kylie laughs.

  “Seriously? You walked in on us?” Raul questions.

  Chloe looks over and busts out laughing as she watches Raul try to cover his erection with the pillow they were sharing. Kylie raises a brow at Raul as well before throwing her pillow at him too.