Sweet Rome

by Tillie Cole

  Gripping her waist, I brought her straight into my arms. “I got back to the frat house and I immediately wondered what you were doing. I decided to stop wondering and just come find out.”

  Tucking her arms around my back, tilting up her chin so I could see her, she teased, “You just want to stay again, don’t you? You planning on making this a regular thing?”

  “Oh, you can count on that, baby. After today, I’m now entitled to certain privileges.”

  Fuck. This felt good—so fucking good.

  “Really? And what are they?” she asked with an arch of her brow.

  “You’ll find out in due course, Shakespeare. Now move that fine ass, get into bed and into my arms.”

  And hell, she did as I instructed but looked back as she crawled on her mattress on her hands and knees, showing me a glimpse of her tight, curvy ass. “I don’t remember Romeo being this pushy with Juliet!”

  My cock showed its appreciation of her position, and I had to restrain myself from slamming into her from behind. “And look at how that worked out for them. My way is better—less death, more orgasms.”

  She burst into laughter and I pointed her way and instructed, “You. Bed. Now.”

  I quickly stripped down to my boxers and strode to the bed, getting in beside her, watching her golden eyes drinking in my every muscle.

  Immediately kissing and licking the side of her neck, I reached around and plunged my fingers straight into her panties. God, she was so hot, wet and ready for me.

  A shocked loud moan came straight from her mouth, causing me to slide my fingers into her warmth, murmuring, “Now about those privileges…”

  Mol’s back arched and she reached her arm up and wrapped it around my neck, rocking against my hand.

  I was never leaving this damn bed again…

  16

  Training the next morning was the best I’d had this season. I never missed a pass, made new PBs in my weight routines, and every snap I popped was perfect.

  Coach came over, smiling widely, exclaiming, “Whatever the hell got you out of your slump, Bullet—hell, keep doing it! We’ll be getting another national championship for sure if you keep training like this!”

  Showering quickly, feeling pretty damn good, I dressed and arranged to meet with Austin and Reece for lunch in a few hours. As I left through the gym doors to head to my Business class, I spotted Shelly leaning against the fence outside the stadium, waiting, I assumed, for me.

  Stopping dead in my tracks, I tipped my head back, groaning. I prepared myself to breeze straight past her, but then I saw her face. It looked so friggin’ miserable that I couldn’t help but soften a fraction. I knew I treated her like shit most of the time, but there was a time when we’d been friends. We’d grown up together, been forced to go to every damn prom and cotillion together, and I’d even liked her—as a friend—for a while. But then the pressure from our folks to be together became insane and we’d drifted apart. Or at least I’d drifted; she just became crazed with the need to stick in her claws. She wanted the life that was waiting for her, that was being dangled on a string before her eyes.

  I knew seeing me with different chicks over the years had killed her. God, even the thought of another guy besides me touching Mol would have me spitting mad, so, for the first time in a long time, I actually felt sorry for her. She was failing in her duty just as much as I was, and although Martin Blair wasn’t as fucked up as my daddy, he wasn’t exactly easy-going either.

  I reluctantly walked over to where she stood—head down, arms folded—and greeted her, “Shel.”

  As she lifted her head, I could see she’d been crying.

  “Hey, Rome,” she croaked.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Staring into the distance, she shrugged. “I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I hated how you spoke to me in the cafeteria. I know I probably deserved it, I was in a bad mood, but… it’s just… just…” She cupped her hands over her face and her shoulders began to shudder with sobs.

  Clenching my jaw, I looked around us before awkwardly laying a hand on her shoulder. “Shel, calm down.”

  She moved forward, pressing her face into my chest, and I stiffened before patting her back a few times in comfort. I spotted some of the team walking past, throwing me suggestive gestures or knowing smiles. Most of the team would have her in a heartbeat. But I’d never felt it. Damn, it would’ve made my life a hell of a lot easier if I had.

  Taking a step back, Shelly looked up at me, smiling in embarrassment. “Sorry about all this.”

  Shaking my head in dismissal of her apology, I replied, “What’s up?”

  “My daddy and I had a fight… over you.”

  Raking my hands through my hair, I cursed to myself. “What happened?”

  “Daddy said it was my fault you were refusing the marriage, that I hadn’t tried hard enough to be your girl. He said he only wants you to take his place at Prince Oil to keep it in the family, and if you don’t, he wouldn’t be able retire as planned, and he already has a heart condition and said that he’d end up working himself to death.”

  Shit. I couldn’t imagine Mr. Blair being that harsh—he adored Shelly—but fuck, look at my folks. People are completely different when the world doesn’t see.

  “Shel, I’m sorry. If it helps, I know how you feel, okay?”

  Sniffing, she looked up at me and smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

  A few moments of uncomfortable silence passed, then, suddenly, she moved in, throwing her arms around my neck and pressing her lips against mine. It only took me a second to realize what was going on, and, gripping her arms, I ripped her off me, shouting, “What the fuck, Shel?!”

  “I just… just… Why don’t you want me? Everyone else at this damn college does, but not you! Not the great Romeo Prince!” I stiffened as she said that name. Only Mol could get away with calling me that.

  “Calm the fuck down, now,” I said flatly.

  Taking a deep breath, she seemed to mellow out. “I just don’t get you. You have this perfect life mapped out for you, richer than you could dream, but you choose to fight it all the way, and for what? For football—a career that will last, what? Maybe ten, fifteen years if you’re lucky. If you don’t get on board with the plan, I don’t get that life either, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted… I don’t know what else to do to make you change your mind!”

  “Well, sorry, Shel, but I’m not marrying you. And that’s the end of it.” I folded my arms across my chest to keep my control.

  A cold expression drifted across her face. “Face it, Rome. This marriage has to happen. The quicker you accept it, the better everything will be.”

  “All this, this little performance, was all fake, wasn’t it?” I hissed through gritted teeth. “You haven’t fallen out with your daddy?”

  “No, believe me, it happened, keeps happening, and I’m sick of it! I thought if maybe you saw what your stubbornness was doing to me you’d reconsider. It’d be a piece of paper. It wouldn’t even have to be a real marriage. Just, please, I’m begging you, change your mind!”

  “I can’t, Shel. Things are different for me now.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “It’s because of her, isn’t it?”

  “Who?” I answered, feigning confusion.

  “Molly!” I could see the disbelief on her face and she snapped, “Whatever, Rome. The sooner you get over your little obsession with that nerdy horror show, the better it’ll all be. We all see how you watch her. It’s friggin’ weird if you ask me. People have been talking, and just so you know, I’m going to tell your folks, and we both know they won’t be happy.”

  Fuck! I never wanted Mol to have to deal with my parents, but Shelly was playing hardball, and by threatening to tell my folks, she’d just started a fucking dangerous game. One thing made me feel better, though, and that was the knowledge that apparently everyone already saw my interest in Mol, knew I was gone over the girl. Perfect. No need to keep it a secret anymore, then
.

  Leaning down to Shelly, I warned quietly, “You stay the fuck away from me, you hear? Molly too, for that matter.”

  “You’re choosing wrong, Rome.”

  “The hell I am! You know, Shel, you weren’t always such a bitch. What happened to the happy-go-lucky girl I knew when we were kids?”

  She seemed to choke on a bitter laugh. “The same thing that happened to the kind little boy you once were… life! We’re both pawns, Rome, and we both have our parts to play.”

  Hell, that hit home. I suppose, in a way, we were the same, both jaded. But it didn’t change anything.

  I abruptly turned as fast as possible before things got out of hand, hearing the click of Shelly’s heels as she stalked angrily away. The sooner she saw Mol on my arm, where she belonged, the better. My girl would hate me for it, making us so public, but by end of classes today, the whole damn campus would know she was mine. No more hiding, no more pretending we didn’t belong to each other.

  Just as I was about to enter my business class, a text came through on my cell. I braced, expecting it to be from my daddy over Shelly, maybe over Molly, but it was Ally.

  Al: Make a habit of climbing down balconies???

  Closing my eyes, I sighed. My cousin knew.

  Oh well. One person less to tell…

  “You want to go out for food? I have a hankering for Mexican,” Reece asked, as I met him and Austin outside the Business building at lunch.

  “Nah, let’s head to the cafeteria,” I answered and set off walking, slipping on my shades.

  “Why we eating there again?” he whined. Austin rolled his eyes at Reece and his pissy attitude before slapping him upside the head.

  “Something I need to do,” I replied.

  “In the cafeteria?” Reece asked once more, a confused scowl on his face as he rubbed his head.

  “Yeah! Or the quad. Quit bitchin’ and come on!”

  Austin stepped beside me, leaving Reece trailing behind us, sulking like a toddler, and hushed, “What the fuck you up to? I know that look on your face, Rome. You’re planning something.”

  “Yeah. Something I should’ve done a while ago.” Austin eyed me curiously but stayed quiet as he kept pace beside me.

  We strode through the quad; the place was teeming with people. The weather was still pretty damn hot, and everyone was taking advantage of it before winter set in.

  Halfway down the path, I spotted Jimmy-Don, Cass, Ally, and Lexi on the grass. Cass momentarily leaned away from Jimmy-Don and that’s when I saw Molly, sitting opposite them, smiling at something they were saying. She was stunning, and a bolt of happiness hit me as I watched her all relaxed, hanging with her friends.

  I was vaguely aware that people were watching the three of us walk by. They always gawked at the football team, but I didn’t pay any attention to them, too busy looking at my girl.

  The moment she lifted her eyes from her friends, our gazes met. A tiny smile set on her face. I knew what I was about to do would embarrass the fuck out of her. For a moment I questioned if it was the right thing to do, but I decided to stick to the plan… It needed to be done.

  “What you doing over here with us?” Jimmy-Don asked as we approached.

  No one expected the answer I was going to give, but, honing in on Molly’s gaze, I could see that she’d realized what I was about to do. “Just seeing my girl.”

  Molly’s mouth dropped in shock. I sat down, pulled her onto my lap, and moved in for a kiss. I fucking owned her with that kiss, showing the world that we were together.

  Pulling back, both of us breathless, I asked, “How are you today, baby?”

  I braced myself for her to be pissed, but when she beamed and answered, “I’m good. Great, actually,” I knew I’d done the right thing. She was happy for everyone to know about us, and it was the best damn feeling in the world.

  “Well, I guess that answers my question of whether he likes you!” Cass let her loud mouth go, but I couldn’t be pissed as my girl relaxed back into my arms.

  I met Ally’s gaze for a spilt second, and she winked. I knew she’d be pissed that I didn’t tell her about us, but I could see she was happy for me regardless. She loved Mol to pieces; they’d quickly become best friends. She was the one girl Ally wouldn’t give me shit over being with.

  “Yesterday at the cafeteria, I thought something wasn’t quite adding up. We all know Bullet don’t do relationships, so I thought he was just being weirdly nice. But the contact lenses, Molls going missing for hours… totally makes sense now!” Cass went on, her voice getting more animated with every word she spilled. I knew my reputation, knew Molly’s friends would probably worry I wasn’t going to do right by her. I needed to show how much she meant to me.

  “This is different. We’re together, a couple, right, Shakespeare?” I said to Molly, laying kisses all over her face.

  Blushing and lowering her long lashes, she agreed, “Yeah. We’re together.”

  I pressed a kiss on the side of her neck, and she lay back against my chest. I could see the students around staring, completely shocked, but I loved it, loved people knowing I was actually in a relationship.

  Reece was like a statue watching my girl and me, the horny fucker probably grieving over the fact he could no longer have my weekly castoffs. Beside him, Austin tilted his chin knowingly. Yeah, I guess I’d kind of given it away the other night, but he seemed good with it, even happy for me. Lexi, however, snapped at Molly for not telling her sooner, but she got over it and then couldn’t take that damn giddy smile off her too-white face.

  As we chatted, I caught several of my old conquests scowling and making fun of Molly from a distance, and my anger was gradually building. But when that basketball cunt, Michaels, the guy who hated me most, saw us, a cruel grin spread across his face. Fuck. He’d been waiting to stir shit with me for months, and he’d just been given the perfect opportunity.

  I promised myself if he even came within a few feet of us, I would tear out his fucking heart.

  Him and me were going to throw down at some point; that was a fact. It was just a matter of when, and the way he was looking at me, at my girl, it seemed like it was going to be today.

  Michaels got to his feet, and I tensed, Molly’s gaze shooting to mine as she sensed my unease. I watched every move he made, and my blood boiled when I saw him turn purposely to the path that led right by our group.

  When Michaels reached us, he laughed, right in Mol’s face, and said, “Fuck, Bullet, I don’t believe my fuckin’ eyes! You gave up all the pussy on campus for that? Tell me, does she at least suck your cock good?”

  That? That? Was he for real? Mol was becoming everything to me and he had the audacity to stand there and shred her to pieces… in front of me! Letting my anger take hold, I picked up Mol and, moving her aside, got to my feet and tackled the fucker to the floor, ramming my fist straight into his face. A deep sense of satisfaction spread across my chest as I watched blood burst from his nose, but the asshole just didn’t know when to stop.

  “Time for payback, Bullet. I’m going to fuck your girl, see how you like it.”

  Edging forward, my arm pressed against his neck, and I hissed, “Like you’d even get a chance. She’d never fuck you, never even give a creep like you the time of day.”

  Smiling, his mouth full of blood, he whispered back, “Never say never. You’ll mess up—you always do—and when that time comes, it’ll be me that fucks her so hard that she’ll forget you even existed.”

  I saw red and pounded his face, kneeing at his ribs repeatedly. Pausing momentarily, I threatened, “Don’t you fuckin’ dare talk about Mol like that again. You get me, asshole?”

  But he just grinned and coughed out, “The geek ain’t shit to look at, but she clearly fucks good if she’s tamed your ass. Does she? Does she fuck like a seasoned whore?”

  I lifted my arm to finally knock him out, when someone grabbed onto my wrist. When I looked back, Molly was behind me, fear in her eyes.<
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  My stomach sank.

  “Romeo, don’t,” she begged.

  A war broke out within me. Michaels needed to pay for talking about my girl like that, but the way she was looking at me, like I was letting her down, was killing me.

  Michaels laughed, and my decision was made. “Get the fuck back, Mol,” I ordered and pushed her away. She let go of my arm, and my attention refocused on the smug face below me.

  I lifted my arm again, but Mol suddenly shouted, “Romeo, stop. Now. You’re better than this!”

  Wincing at her words, I stalled, Michaels taking advantage to sneer, “Yeah, Romeo, stop. Listen to your girl.”

  With one last glance at Molly and her devastated face, I sagged. What the fuck was I doing? Here I was trying to be better for her, be what she deserved, so I would listen and back away this time.

  But only for her.

  Looking down at Michaels, I spat, “You’re lucky I don’t cave your fuckin’ skull in, but I won’t do it in front of my girl.”

  I stood abruptly and, seeing Molly behind me, racked with nerves, I held her to my chest, breathing in the vanilla on her skin, using it to simmer the hell down.

  Glancing up, I saw Michaels being lifted off the floor by his teammates, and he brought two fingers to his mouth and spread them open, flicking his tongue toward Molly’s back. It took all the strength I had not to go after him, the pervert.

  “Fuck off, Michaels, and get outta my sight before I change my fuckin’ mind and end you!” I shouted, commending his friends for dragging his dumb ass away.

  I held on to Molly, the motion of her hands on my back gradually calming me down. After a few minutes, I confessed, “I should’ve beaten him good after what he said.” I didn’t go any further into the specifics, couldn’t bring myself to repeat them.