Goal Keeper_A Pearson Players novel

by Sarah Nego

  I shook my head. “The guys have an away game tonight.”

  “Okay then.” Erin hopped off the bed and pulled me up with her. “You can call him tomorrow. But tonight you’re coming out with me. It goes against the roommate code of ethics to allow anymore wallowing in self-pity.”

  I stared down at my phone. “But what if Ryan calls and I miss it?”

  Erin’s mouth quirked, and her eyebrows drew down into a V shape. “So, to be clear, you didn’t want to talk to him all week, and now you’re worried that he’ll call and you won’t get to talk to him.”

  “Well, it sounds crazy when you say it like that.” I huffed and checked my phone again.

  “Love is a serious mental disease.”

  “Wow, Erin.” I punched her shoulder. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

  She held up her hands in defense. “It wasn’t me. Plato said it.”

  “Plato?”

  “Yeah.” She grinned at me and opened her closet. “I went to philosophy club on Tuesday. Now, let’s get you dressed, lover girl.”

  I rolled my eyes and joined her at the closet, but my stomach swirled. This wasn’t love. I’d only known Ryan a little over a month. But thinking about him made me feel things I hadn’t before. Not even with my ex, Matt. We’d been together for over a year, and I was sure I’d loved him, right up until he crashed his truck, broke my ankle, and then told me he couldn’t be with someone as selfish as me.

  The way I felt about Ryan was confusing as hell. I wanted to be around him every chance I got, and he made me feel like not only could I achieve everything I wanted, but that I deserved it. At the same time, being around him felt totally chaotic and out of control. Like I wanted to scream into the wind and then throw up. Actually, a lot like being on a rollercoaster.

  I paused in front of my closet and reached in blindly for a clean shirt.

  This absolutely wasn’t love, and all I had to do was keep telling myself that.

  Thirty-One

  Ryan

  Friday

  I sat on the roof swing and stared blankly at everyone else having a great time at Mark’s party. It was a bad idea to come, but maybe not as bad as sitting in my room sulking. We’d driven all the way to Abilene only to turn around and come back when our game was rescheduled due to lightning. The team bus had pulled back on to campus with plenty of Friday night left. Scooter and Crash had gone to a party at TriSig, but I’d begged off, claiming I wanted to get to bed early.

  The bus to take us back to Abilene was scheduled to leave at eight the next morning, but getting extra sleep was a lame excuse, and my roommates had known it. I’d played plenty of early morning games with nothing more than a two-hour nap and a strong cup of coffee.

  I’d fully planned to sit in my room and wondered what Luci was doing. But then Mark had called and begged me to come out. I hadn’t been able to spend much time with my newspaper friends since classes started, and I’d figured I could sulk about missing Luci as easily there as anywhere. But this was definitely a bad idea.

  The can of beer I’d grabbed when I came in was still sitting barely touched on the ground by my feet, and I had no desire to drink it. Everyone else was laughing and enjoying themselves by the fire pit or sitting around the half dozen wooden picnic tables Mark had spread around the property while I sat by myself on the roof. When had I gotten so lame?

  I knew the answer. When Luci Ryder showed up and changed everything. All thoughts of enjoying my single status and dating as many girls as I wanted flew right out the window the first time Luci smiled at me in class. Hell, maybe even before then. I might have fallen for her when she rushed out of the goal and passed the ball right between my legs. That pre-season scrimmage felt like a lifetime ago, but it wasn’t really. Hardly any time had passed since then. Certainly not enough time for me to be feeling this way.

  Yet here I was.

  I scanned the dimly lit yard in search of Mark. I should probably get up and go be social. At least make an attempt at enjoying myself and seeing my friends.

  Pushing off the swing, I stretched my arms over my head and scanned the group by the fire pit. That was a good place to look for Mark. I glanced from one person to the next and then froze when my eyes found Luci’s sweet face. The red glow of the fire casted shadows on her face, making her even more beautiful and a little mysterious.

  I rushed down the stairs and made my way to the fire pit, ignoring everyone who tried to say hi along the way. My brain was focused on reaching the girl who had dominated my thoughts all week. Just as I reached the edge of the firelight, I stopped short, almost tripping over my own feet.

  Luci had asked for space and practically forbid me from contacting her. She was scared, and I got that, so I’d given her what she asked for. It wasn’t like I’d followed her there, but it didn’t change the situation. I took a step back away from the group, even as every part of me begged to close the distance to her.

  The fire popped, probably some log finally burning through and falling deeper into the pit. Everyone jumped a bit and then laughed at themselves. Luci smiled along with the others, but the laughter didn’t reach her eyes. Those beautiful brown eyes gave away all her emotions, especially the ones she was trying the hardest to hide.

  Her head popped up, and then those eyes were staring at me. Confusion fell over her face followed shortly by … relief. Was Luci happy to see me?

  She leaned over and whispered something to her roommate, Erin. Erin glanced up at me, said something back to Luci, and then turned to talk to someone else.

  Luci stepped away from the heat of the fire and walked toward me. The few minutes it took for her to navigate across the gravely yard and the thick press of people felt like eons. When she was finally standing in front of me, all I wanted to do was pull her close. But this was her show. She’d asked me for space, and I would give it to her until she said that was enough. And then I planned to never let her go again.

  “Hi.” That tiny word felt heavy in my mouth. It held all the things I was dying to say.

  Luci took a deep breath, her Sorry I’m late. I didn’t want to come. t-shirt constricting around her chest. “I thought you had a game.”

  I nodded. “We did, but there was lightning. It’s rescheduled for tomorrow.”

  She nodded back and pressed her lips together. My gut clenched with worry. Was that it? Would she walk away now?

  “I’m sorry,” she breathed out. “For Tuesday and this week.”

  Luci reached up and brushed at her cheek. Oh god, she was crying. My restraint disappeared, and I pulled her to my chest.

  “You don’t have to apologize for telling me what you needed.”

  “But I was wrong.” Luci’s breath shuddered out. “When Coach put me on probation, I panicked and lashed out at you even though it wasn’t your fault. Not even a little. And I thought that if I could create some distance between us that I could go back to how things were before.”

  I rested my cheek on the side of her head. “Did it work?”

  She let out a sad laugh and pulled back to meet my eyes. “Not at all.”

  I took her face in my hands and brought our foreheads together. “So are we done with that now? Because I really want to kiss you.”

  Luci threaded her hands around the back of my neck and pulled me down until our lips crushed together. Kissing Luci was like finally being allowed to breathe after a week underwater. How in the world had I gone my entire life without kisses like this? Every time Luci’s lips met mine, my body discovered new nerve endings to light up. Like being electrocuted and set on fire; except instead of pain, all I felt was pure bliss.

  “Get a room,” someone shouted from behind me.

  Luci broke off our kiss and tried to take a step back, but I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close to me. After a week of feeling like I’d lost her, I needed to hold her a while longer.

  My phone buzzed in my jean pocket, and Luci let out a little snort of a laug
h.

  “Is this where I ask you is that a phone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

  I pulled her tighter against my body, and the tiny squeak Luci let out turned into a something far more sensual. “Make no mistake, my Lucinda. I am very, very happy to see you.”

  Luci slid against my body, lifting her head toward me for another kiss, but my phone buzzed again. She shifted her head and pressed her lips against my ear. “You better get that.”

  Dammit if everything this girl said didn’t light my body on fire.

  I stepped back and pulled out my phone, cursing under my breath when I saw the two text messages.

  The first was from Coach.

  Bus leaves at 8am sharp tomorrow. Get your asses in bed now.

  The second one was from Scooter.

  Where are you?

  He and Crash must already be back at the house. When they’d left, I’d been moping around in a pair of ratty sweatpants making excuses about going to bed early. I was definitely going to hear about this the next day.

  “Shit.” I wrapped my arms back around Luci and kissed the top of her head. “I have to go before Coach skins me alive.”

  She nodded, pressing her face against my chest in the little valley that seemed divinely created for Luci. “Sunday?”

  “It can’t get here soon enough.”

  Luci pulled back and then planted a firm kiss on my mouth. “Good luck tomorrow.”

  I kissed her back and then pulled away before I wasn’t able to resist the need to stay there wrapped up in her. Of course, that was in the physical sense. In every other way, I was already completely wrapped up in Luci.

  Thirty-Two

  Luci

  Sunday

  Spanish project at Ryan’s

  “Okay, that has to be worth an A, right?” I handed Ryan the concluding paragraph I wrote to finish our report and snagged a piece of pineapple off the last piece of pizza. We’d moved to the floor when the pizza arrived, and I had everything I needed within arm’s reach. My book, my favorite pizza, and a hot guy. My hot guy.

  For a Sunday night it was kinda perfect. Scooter and Crash were off somewhere, a thunderstorm created a perfect soundtrack, and I had Ryan all to myself.

  Ryan read through the last few lines, nodding his head along with the words as if he was listening to a concert only he could hear. I tried not to stare at him, but it was too hard to resist. There wasn’t a girl alive capable of shutting out his devilishly handsome combination of features. Every part of him from his tousled brown hair to those melty brown eyes was pure male magnetism. All my attempts to not fall for him had been a complete waste of time.

  And I’d fallen, fast and hard. Part of me was terrified at how much of my heart I’d already given to Ryan VanKamp. That little part of my brain liked to remind me that all of this could fall apart, and when it did, I’d end up with way more than a broken ankle. But the rest of me didn’t give a damn. Not when being with Ryan meant I felt more alive than I’d been in years.

  “This, my sweet Lucinda,” he said, waving the paper in front of him, “is pure Spanish 101 gold. We’re going to ace this project. Again.”

  Ryan leaned over, trapping me against the couch. My gut reaction was to push his chest back, but that was the old Luci who was afraid of letting herself live outside the lines of a color-coded schedule. Instead, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into me until our lips met.

  Kissing Ryan was always like a series of fireworks; sometimes they started slow, building to a grand finale, but other times they started off right away with a bang. This time, Ryan teased at my mouth, nibbling at my bottom lip until every touch elicited tingles up and down my spine.

  I needed more contact and grabbed at his shoulder to pull him closer to me.

  Somewhere in the house something popped, and an unnatural silence filled the room.

  Ryan pulled back, and I opened my eyes to darkness.

  “The storm must have knocked out the power.” Ryan walked to the front window and pulled back a thumbtacked bedsheet that served as a curtain. “The whole street is dark.”

  My phone buzzed with an incoming text. “It’s Erin. I bet the school is out, too.”

  Ryan shuffled back toward me, using the flashlight on his phone to navigate around the furniture and our spread of books. “I’ve got some candles somewhere. Why don’t you call her back while I find them?”

  “Okay.” I called my roommate while Ryan walked out of the room.

  Erin picked up on the first ring. “Oh, thank god, are you okay? The power went out here. Some of the roads are flooding with all this rain, and none of the traffic lights are working. The University tweeted that everyone should stay off the roads. They want everyone to stay home.”

  “Erin,” I called out over her rambling. “Breathe. I’m fine.”

  Erin let out a loud breath that whooshed out over the phone line. “Right, okay. Are you still at Ryan’s?”

  My roommate knew exactly where I was and fully approved.

  “Yeah, we were just finishing up.” At least we were finishing the assignment. Something else was just getting started.

  “Well, the roads are a mess, so you should stay there tonight.”

  Panic flared in my chest. “I don’t think—”

  “Luci.” Erin practically shouted into the phone. “The police are saying no one should be out on the streets. Are you really going to ignore the police?”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers. The roads probably weren’t nearly as bad as the news said they were, and I was a really good driver.

  “Luci.” Erin’s voice held a note of warning that she was not going to put up with any bullshitting. “I’m not comfortable with you driving my car in this weather.”

  “Fine, I’ll stay.”

  “Okay, have a good night, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Erin rattled the jovial words out and hung up before I could even say goodbye.

  Why did I suddenly feel played? Except even Erin couldn’t coordinate a thunderstorm and a city-wide blackout. She was good, but not that good.

  I stood up and stretched, letting my muscles warm up after an hour of sitting on the floor. A soft glow partially lit the hallway, so I headed in that direction. I needed to check on Ryan and let him know I was staying the night. Butterflies suddenly filled my stomach. What if he didn’t want me to stay?

  Our pre-blackout activities suggested he wouldn’t mind, but there was a big difference between a make-out session and staying over. Some guys were totally weird about that sort of thing, even if it was all PG. Oh, god, did I want it to be PG? Not really.

  I followed the candlelight down the hall to Ryan’s room. The door was halfway closed, but enough light filtered out to keep me from running into a wall.

  “Ryan?” I pushed the door the rest of the way open, and all the air in my chest whooshed out.

  When Ryan said he thought he had some candles, I was expecting three or four. Dozens of candles of all different sizes covered his dresser and nightstand. He even had a few lined up on the floor against the wall.

  Awestruck, I took a few hesitant steps into the room.

  “Don’t move,” Ryan shouted.

  I froze, terrified I’d knocked a candle over and was about to burn the house down.

  Ryan pulled his camera out of a beat-up bag and tore off the lens cap.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, still frozen in place.

  “This lighting is doing magical things, and I need to take your picture.”

  “What?” I stuttered out and took another step closer to him.

  “Luci Ryder, do not move a muscle.”

  Ryan held the camera up to his eye and snapped several pictures. He stepped over the bed and moved so that he was almost behind me.

  “Look over your shoulder.” Ryan’s voice was soft but commanding.

  I felt ridiculous, but I followed his order anyway. His camera clicked again.

  Ry
an walked up behind me and brushed a stray strand of hair off my face. “You’re unbelievably beautiful.”

  And I felt it. Ryan looked at me like a classic sculpture that was beautiful and rare. And even though our bodies weren’t touching, I could feel him. His desire for me was almost a tangible entity in the room. Never in my life had I ever felt more treasured.

  “Can I move now?” I whispered.

  Ryan set down his camera and nodded.

  Slowly, I spun around. Tiny insignificant inches separated us, but they were too much. Ryan ran his fingers along my neck and up into my hair. I leaned into his touch, letting my body appreciate every millimeter of contact between us. His other hand snaked around my waist and tugged me forward until our bodies were pressed flush against each other. His need pulsed against my stomach and lit a fire inside the hollow of my bones.

  Ryan dipped his head and ran his soft lips against my ear. “I need you here with me.”

  I swallowed and forced the words out of my throat. “I can stay tonight.”

  Ryan pulled me even closer so that every plane of his body called out to mine. “We can start with tonight.”

  Before I could breath, his lips were on mine. This wasn’t the slow tease he’d started before the lights went out. His kisses were all grand-finale fireworks, and I was so there for it. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and Ryan grabbed my butt, lifting me so my legs could wrap around him, too.

  The friction between us lit up parts of me that had been dormant for way too long, and suddenly I needed so much more. As if sensing my desires, Ryan walked our joined bodies to the bed and lowered me down on my back.

  Any nerves I’d felt before were gone. With Ryan, I felt wanted and safe.

  He knelt between my legs and braced himself on either side of my head. “I’m going to worship you,” he said, between kissing me again.

  My back arched as my body craved the contact between us again.

  Ryan broke the kiss, and his fingers gripped at the edge of my shirt. He smirked down at the red-and-blue t-shirt that read: Never trust an atom. They make up everything.