“There was some traffic tonight on the way back.” She gave me no resistance when I put my arm over her shoulder to warm her up.
“Back from where?”
“Stuff I needed to take care of,” I told her. I still kept my little part-time restaurant gig under wraps, intended to keep it that way until my debt was paid. I didn’t mention that I’d gone home and showered to get the smell of the place off of me this time.
“Well, let’s get upstairs before curfew,” she said. “It’ll be easier to keep you up there if I don’t have to sneak you in.”
“Right. I forgot about that. No guest of the opposite sex after midnight, or something like that.”
“Exactly.”
“Lead the way, then.”
As I followed her up to her room, it occurred to me that her roommate might have been home. That would explain her willingness to let me come over, and the outfit too. The door to her room swung open to show a dorm room with no roommate.
Good.
Coming to this tiny space reminded me of why I enjoyed the frat house, and needed to keep working my ass off so the landlord would let us stay there for the rest of the school year. These on-campus housing units were so small. Here in her two-person room, there was just enough room for two small beds, one shared desk, a side-by-side closet for their clothes and a small bar fridge. Above the computer desk was a makeshift vanity, which was basically a mirror hanging on the wall. Both sides of the room were identical, until the girls started decorating. Miranda’s side was immediately obvious with its dark tones, while Cassidy’s was covered in university memorabilia. It could have belonged to one of the guys on the team.
We sat down and got to work. Well, the desk was too small for us to actually work side by side. Cassidy sat at the desk and took out her laptop, while I sat on the corner of the bed admiring her. My eyes followed the way her back arched as she used her keyboard. Every curve of her body was perfect, but my eyes kept coming back to those legs stretched out under the desk. I felt my cock stirring as I watched her begin to work. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep my hands off of her, but I did my best.
She pulled up her draft speaking points and we got right to it, deciding how best to cover each section. She tweaked the pitch as we talked it out, and in less than two hours we were close to wrapping up the work. I admit, I may have reached out and slid my hand down her leg once or twice.
“Slade,” she whined out, pushing my hand off at one point so she could finish typing.
“Yeah, sorry. I’m having trouble staying focused right now.”
“I can see that. Let’s finish this up. I’m pretty beat too.” Was she just trying to be understanding, or was she telling me that my distraction was welcome? I couldn’t tell, but I figured it was best to get down to work so we could finish up and I could find out for myself.
I hadn’t realized how much work went into it. I figured we’d do the business plan, have a discussion with the investor or a business owner in town, and turn in a final report. Cassidy was going all out, trying to make sure we were prepared for each step of the way when it was time to move forward.
“So, do you think we should both deliver a part of the presentation?” she asked.
“I’d like that.”
“Or do you think one of us should handle most of the talking while the other just provides support?”
The topic really was my idea, and I was already a natural when it came to addressing any size audience. I also knew that she wanted to contribute as much as possible. She was strong and independent that way, and could have easily knocked this whole thing out herself, so she deserved the chance to do some of the talking.
“Let’s split the time,” I told her. “You start, and I’ll drive the idea home.”
“That could work.”
I watched her fingers click-click-click away on the keyboard, and a few minutes later she turned the screen towards me.
“The way I’ve got it arranged now,” she started, “it works if we just walk through the pitch. I also added a section that anticipates some common investor questions.”
“That sounds great,” I said, a little more absently than I’d planned. All these long hours made it near impossible to avoid being distracted, or to keep my hands to myself, let alone the fact that I’d started to see her in a different light. I didn’t just want her the way I did with the other girls I banged before her. That was what I couldn’t handle. Before this, my college priorities were simple. Football came first, then coursework, and then the girls.
Cassidy wasn’t just a girl anymore, and that was ruining everything for me. I was starting to feel things for her, and more than a few times I was ready to call off the bet I’d made with the guys. I’d already slept with her anyway, but no one knew yet. That wager loomed over my head now, and now more than ever I didn’t want the news getting back to her.
“All right. This pitch is ready to go,” Cassidy said cheerfully. “I’ll do a proofread tomorrow, and we can check this off our list until it’s a few days before we have to present.” How could she be cheerful at this hour? It was practically the middle of the night.
“Awesome.”
“So all that’s left is our summary assessment of how we rate our pitch performance, and the final write-up.”
“You’ve got to leave me something to do too.”
“I don’t mind. Plus you gave us a great head start.”
“Still, how about you send me a copy of everything, and I’ll start on the final write-up now. After the pitch all we’ll need to do is add the assessment.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay,” she said hesitantly. “Give me two seconds, and I’ll email it all now.”
When she was finished, she logged off her laptop and got to her feet. “All set. We should probably call it a night.”
“Yeah. Long day.”
“We got a lot done,” she said, placing a supportive hand on my shoulder. “And you look so beat right now. Get home and make sure you sleep.”
There was that concern for me again. I had planned to use this convenient partnership to get her alone to finally get her where I wanted her, but I got something more than just a piece of ass. I never thought it would feel this good to know that someone was genuinely concerned about me.
“Yeah, I need to do that. Thanks for waiting up tonight. We’re in the home stretch now with this project.”
“Pretty much,” she agreed, about to turn to show me the door.
I couldn’t leave like this, so I didn’t, opting to grip her tiny bare waist and pull her to stand between my legs. My eyes didn’t leave hers as my hands slid up under her tank top along her sides until I was cupping each breast over her bra. She didn’t stop me either, but closed her eyes and started running her hands through my hair. My hands reached around to her back and unclasped her bra, and Cassidy pulled it off with her tank top, exposing her perky breasts and soft pink nipples.
I was about to tug those short shorts off her body, spread her out on the bed and finally feast on her center when my phone rang. I should have ignored it, given the time, but I knew that ring tone. It was my brother, Shawn.
“I’ve got to take this,” I apologized, reaching into my pants pocket as she found her top and put it back on. I held a finger up to my lips before I answered to let her know I needed it to be quiet while I took the call. She didn’t seem to mind.
“Your timing sucks ass, Shawn. This had better be an emergency. What’s up?”
12
Slade
“Hey, brother, what’s shaking?” Shawn answered lightheartedly.
“It’s late, bro. What’s going on?”
“Everything’s fine. Look, I know it’s late, but you know how busy things get with me. I was just expecting to leave you a voicemail.”
Cassidy walked around to the other side of the bed and took a seat. “That’s cool. What’s up?”.
“I need
a favor.”
“Yeah. What?”
“I need you to order something for Mom at her favorite antique shop downtown. I’m flying in for Thanksgiving and the place will already be closed by the time I get there. Trust me I tried to pre-order it and give them my card. These little mom and pop shops don’t go for that crap.”
“That’s no problem. So is it the one with all that vintage shit in the window?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay I know the one.”
“What are you getting her for her birthday?”
“Huh? I actually haven’t thought about that yet. Shit’s been crazy this year with school.”
“Well you might as well see what else they have.”
As I sat there thinking about this conversation, something didn’t add up. This was a strange request for Shawn to call about this late at night. Unless he suspected something was up. He and Cassidy were really close, but she would never have told him we slept together. Her roommate would have been the first to know that, so if gothic pink chick didn’t know, my little brother all the way at Harvard couldn’t know. Not for certain, anyway.
“So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah, yeah. I already told you no problem.” I turned and stared at Cassidy, sitting with her legs crossed on the bed now, staring back at me with a confused look.
“Is everything all right, man?” he asked.
“I’m good. Tired.”
“Everything going okay with football?”
“Yeah, man, everything’s fine.” I let out a fake yawn. “Dude, I uh…it’s late, man. I need to get off this phone and head back to sleep.”
“Cassidy’s there with you, isn’t she?”
“Huh? What?” He’d caught me off guard.
“I’m not dumb. Just admit it.”
“What? Of course not. You’re at Harvard. You can’t be dumb,” I said with a chuckle, trying to change the conversation.
“Look, I know you, and you’re a dog when it comes to women. Just don’t hurt her. Actually, just leave her alone. She’s not trying to get stuck down on the bayou somewhere in Podunk, Louisiana. She’s got a lot going for her, and you don’t need to screw that up, man.”
“Uh-huh. So this is why you called?”
“She’s there, isn’t she?”
I looked at her, searching her face for answers to the question I hadn’t asked: what should I tell him? She looked just as confused by my responses as my brother sounded.
“Look, Shawn, I don’t know what you want me to say,” I started, trying to talk my way out of the conversation and not admit to him what was just about to go down before he called.
“Christ. Just put her on.”
“I, uh, let’s talk later, Shawn. You’re all upset and shit.”
I heard a key in the door just in, and Miranda bounced in with her fading pink hair.
“Oh, hey, Slade,” she said. “Have y’all been working on your project?” Her eyes moved from one to the other.
“You’re pathetic,” Shawn spat in my ear.
“Christ.”
“Just get the damn gift for Mom,” he said before hanging up.
Cassidy looked at me as I put the phone in my pocket. I shrugged, like I didn’t know what had happened.
“Listen, I’m glad you’re both here,” Miranda said, unaware of what she’d just walked in on. She plopped down on her bed, then looked at Cassidy and me with suspicion in her eyes. After a beat, she continued. “There’s a floor party down on the third floor next week. I thought it would be cool if Slade came along. You know, since you’ve been hanging out and you guys seem to be friendly…or fucking…or whatever.”
She was either drunk or high on something. I couldn’t tell which.
“I don’t know,” Cassidy hesitated.
“It won’t be like a date. I’m not trying to say you guys are turning into a couple. I just think it would be cool to give the girls on the floor a little something to dream about at night.”
She was definitely high…and drunk.
“It’s not a good idea,” Cassidy insisted. “Slade’s got a lot going on, and I don’t want to give people the wrong impression. We’re not together. You know that, right?” She looked at me, her eyes pleading for backup on this.
Miranda looked back and forth between us. “But you could bring him like a friend. Like, people go to parties with their friends, not always as a couple. What’s the deal? I just figured since he’s been around more, maybe he’d enjoy getting to hang out with all of us.”
“Not gonna happen, Miranda. Just no. He’s busy and I don’t have time to party.” Cassidy turned to me. “I’m sorry, but you understand, right?”
I cocked my head to the side. “I think I do, but I wish I didn’t. Whatever.” I got to my feet and made my way to the door. “I’ll get the write-up started. See you in class. Later, dolls.”
“Mmmm, later.”
I couldn’t believe Cassidy didn’t want to be seen with me. I was the Slaughter, for fuck’s sake. Every girl on campus would have killed or dumped significant others to have me as their date. Even Miranda seemed to want me there more than Cassidy did. Maybe this was just about sex for Cassidy now. Fuck, had the Ice Princess flipped the script on me? Shit, maybe I hadn’t given her enough credit. Maybe I’d been reading her wrong. She got a piece of the Slade, and she wanted more, but she wasn’t ready to let the world know it yet.
Well, I didn’t care what they knew. I wasn’t about to play her like that in front of her friends. Or in front of mine for that matter. We had a history, and although it wasn’t a romantic one, it was beginning to complicate things. Maybe it was time to call off the bet and forget about her.
Then, there was my brother. What the hell was Shawn’s problem? I knew they were friends, and at one point I’d suspected they were together, but that was years ago. He’d dated girls in high school and now at Harvard, so when did this possessiveness just creep up all of a sudden? I wondered how much his meddling ass knew. Cassidy would never tell him that we’d slept together, yet he seemed to know a lot about what was going on between us.
I sat in the car in front of Cassidy’s dorm, clearing my head so I could get my ass home in one piece. I wondered if she was spilling the Cajun beans on what Miranda had almost gotten a front row seat to. If Shawn hadn’t phoned, Miranda would have walked in on us. The most frustrating thing was having to drive home with that image of her perfect skin and pink nipples without getting to taste them.
I also had to try and get a handle on how she was acting. When it was just the two of us, she treated me like she wanted more, and as soon as anyone else was around, things went back to normal. In this case, normal meant that there was no sex, there was no friendship and she didn’t want anything to do with me. What the hell was her deal?
I pulled up to my place and parked in the back with everyone else. It was late, and I was tired, and I didn’t get laid.
Well, fuck me.
I stripped down to my shorts and crashed out for the night.
13
Cassidy
Slade and I didn’t speak for a few days after our last project meeting, which seemed to be par for course with everyone right now. Shawn wasn’t taking my calls or texts either, and even Miranda had a bone to pick with me for uninviting Slade to the dorm floor party. Something felt worse about Slade this time. We weren’t just not talking. We weren’t talking for a reason. He was pretty upset when he left my room that night, but I didn’t know what to say.
And I honestly couldn’t explain why I had treated him that way. I wasn’t quite ready to admit that my feelings for him were changing, or that he’d somehow managed to get his foot—and other key parts of his anatomy—in the door, a door I never thought could open. None of that was any excuse for how I’d been so rude.
I drifted those few days in a haze of worry and anxiety. I expected the situation to blow up in my face at any point. Shawn or Miranda would come down on me for sleeping with him. Sl
ade would pull me aside and have a tantrum, humiliate me, skip out on our team project, or force me to admit I’d been a hypocrite for sleeping with him at all. At the same time, I couldn’t leave him alone or get him out of my mind. There was more to him than just football and girls. I’d caught glimpses of it over the past few weeks while we worked together—and slept together. The first and only time we’d had a proverbial touchdown, it was rushed and purely physical, fueled by lust and probably years of pent-up curiosity. The other night, it would have been different, less rushed, more sensual. I just knew it. Or maybe that was hope.
I knew something was up when he missed the only class we had together. He may not have had a reputation as a great student but he almost rarely missed class. And after working with him and seeing his dedication to our project, I couldn’t understand how he’d even gotten a reputation. He was always there. It was part of his commitment to school. He showed up for practice every day, and he made it to all his lectures every day.
I was distracted for the rest of the day. I’d come to expect to see him every Monday morning. I depended on that as part of my routine, so all was not right in the world when he started to avoid seeing me. No longer were things okay. In between classes, I expected to run into him at some point throughout the day. Our campus wasn’t that big. I didn’t see him anywhere. I wouldn’t see him when it was time for cheerleading practice, as we had moved back into the gym we normally used.
I kept my eyes out for the football team. Every time there was a lull in practice, I’d look out the windows. At best, I could see uniforms, but I couldn’t see who was out there on the field. I called myself a fan, sometimes, and Miranda had even accused me of being a fan of Slade’s, but I didn’t even know what his jersey number was. I’d never paid particular attention to him that way before now.
“Hey, what are you looking for?” Miranda asked close to the end of practice. She glanced over her shoulder, looking for whatever it was I was trying to find.
Go Deep: A Bad Boy Sports Romance Page 9
