Determining Possession (Connecticut Kings Book 3)

by Christina C Jones

  And it showed.

  If some random commenter on Wil in the Field, which had gone live with the first episode just last night, had noticed… surely Darius had too, right? He’d met me when I was super young and super fine, only for me to…

  “So, like I said. My fist, your head. Consider it a date.”

  “Oh hush,” I replied. “I gotta go, I’m supposed to be meeting Ramsey for a workout this morning, and God knows I need it.”

  “A workout, sure. Those “workouts” are why your hips are spreading as it is.”

  “Not that kind of workout,” I told her, as I grabbed my dri-fit pants from the bed to pull them on. “We’re going to the track, like usual.”

  “Of course, tell me anything girl. You do know you do not have to lie to me about your intentions with this man, when I have been encouraging you to drop that other one for years. Ramsey has powerful thighs – tells me everything I need to know about him. This is a man that my friend deserves, a man that is worthy of her. Not that chicken-legged man, no.”

  I burst out laughing as I pulled a tank top over my head. “Chicken-legged though Ri?”

  “I said what I said. Now get off the phone, it is too early for this.”

  “Ri, you called me!”

  “Because as soon as I saw that comment, I knew you were going to take it personal, and I was right, like I always am.”

  “You’re not always right.”

  She sucked her teeth. “Name a time when I was not. Oh – oh – is that silence I hear? Yes, it is, because you cannot name one, can you? No, is the correct answer. You cannot. Goodbye.”

  I giggled as the phone went silent, and a second later, chimed to let me know Soriyah had hung up the line. As silly as she was, I really couldn’t think of a time when she’d been wrong about anything. I was tying my shoes when my doorbell rang, and I quickly finished up to answer the door, already knowing it was Ramsey on the other side.

  “You ready for me Champ?” he asked, as soon as I opened the door, immediately setting off heat between my thighs. He’d been calling me “Champ” since before we were friends, and it was a nickname I’d grown to love. Now though, ever since he’d implored me to take his dick like a champ, and taken to calling me that while he did very dirty things to me… it had a whole other connotation, and set off a different feeling than before. Now, it turned me on.

  But who was I kidding?

  Everything about him turned me on.

  “Uhh, yeah,” I said, pulling the door open for him to step in. “Let me just grab a jacket, it looks a little gross outside.”

  He nodded, closing the door behind him. “Yeah, we may have to skip the bleachers today. Can’t have you falling on that little booty and getting hurt.”

  “Little? Please!” I shouted from the hall as I headed to my room to get a jacket from the closet. “A little too much is more like it. I’m trying to go get rid of some ass, some thighs, some stomach, all of that. The internet will not be roasting me, no thanks. Well… not anymore than they already have.”

  I zipped up my little yoga jacket as I moved back into the living room to find Ramsey standing there, arms crossed, with a strange look on his face.

  “You ready?” I asked, and he scoffed a bit, then shook his head.

  “Wil… you got me up at six in the damn morning to workout because of some shit some strangers on the internet said?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”

  “What’s wrong with that is – that’s not what I’m interested in spending my time doing. You want me to help you be stronger, be faster, be healthier for you, cool. We can go beast this shit any time. But I’m not trying to be part of you looking down on yourself because of some bullshit comments from people who don’t even really give a fuck. They’re just talking shit on the internet because they can.”

  “But it is for me. For my damn self-esteem, so I’m not getting talked about like a damn dog, and so I don’t scare off another fiancé.”

  Ramsey’s eyes went wide. “Oh! So this is about your bitch-ass ex too? Yeah, nah. We can do this today because I already committed to it, but after that, I can’t hang. If looking a certain way for somebody else is your motivation, I gotta tap out, because I can’t cosign that shit. You can holler at me when it’s about you again.”

  I stared at him for a long moment, lips parted, waiting for him to crack a smile, laugh, anything to give some levity to what was surely just our normal back and forth. But when he didn’t, I shook my head.

  “Wait… are you serious?” I asked, frowning.

  “Hell yes I’m serious,” he told me, in a tone that eliminated any question about it. I watched, dumbfounded as he headed for the door, barely tossing a glance back at me. “You coming or not? Let’s do this.”

  Any other time, he would have waited for me, but this time I got no such courtesy. He left me there while he headed to his truck, and I grabbed my keys and wristlet to hurry behind him, concerned that he really was going to leave me there.

  I was… completely thrown off balance. The whole ride to the smaller track we used when the big one was occupied was completely silent, which had never, ever happened. Ramsey kept his eyes on the road, and the few times I glanced at him, there was obvious tension in his jaw.

  He was mad at me.

  I’d never experienced Ramsey being mad at me.

  I didn’t even know how to react to something like that, had no idea what to do or say. So I said nothing, and his silence continued all the way to our destination. Even then, he only spoke to advance the workout, and tell me what to do.

  About twenty minutes in, right after he’d bossed me through running a lap at a pace I hadn’t seen in years, it occurred to me that he was working me harder than usual. I didn’t know if that meant he’d been taking it easy before, and he was pushing my limits now because of what I said I wanted, or if he was pushing me because he was pissed. Either way, I kept my mouth shut and worked as hard as I could, until I got sick of… whatever this was.

  “Come on Wil. Five more burpees, lets get the shit out of the way,” he said, once he realized I wasn’t just stopping to breathe.

  I crossed my arms. “That’s all it is to you? Just some shit to get out of the way?”

  “At this point? Yes. I’ve got better shit to do.”

  “Then go fucking do it!” I pointed to his truck. “If you’re gonna be pissy, you can go do your better shit, because I’d rather not be a burden or a chore to somebody who’s supposed to be helping me as a friend!”

  He scowled. “That’s what you think this would be, Wil? Really?! You think that feeding your insecurity is the type of thing a friend would do? Validating the idea that you should give a fuck what some internet trolls think, that’s friend shit to you? I don’t know what kind of friends you have, but if that’s what I gotta do, then nah, I’m not your goddamn friend, I’m somebody who actually cares about you, unlike the motherfuckers you’re trying to look good for. When you’re already bad as hell.”

  “To you!”

  He threw his hands up. “Yes, to me! Maybe I’m wrong for thinking this, but… shit, doesn’t my opinion hold a little more weight than some damn strangers and your cheating ex?”

  “I never said it didn’t!”

  “But you’re sure as hell acting like it! We’ve been working out together for damn near two years, and I’ve never heard you talk down on yourself, until some shit was said on the internet. And for you to think that grimy-ass dude left you because of your body? That’s wild, Wil. I don’t even understand that shit, can’t wrap my mind around it.”

  He shook his head as he spoke, with such a peeved look on his face that tears started to prick my eyes as he turned away from me.

  “I… I’m sorry,” I told him, wrapping my arms around myself as a cold wind whipped past us.

  My words made his head jerk back in my direction. “What?”

  “I said I was sorry,” I repeated. “I didn’t mean to
upset you, I just—”

  “Wha-no,” he interrupted, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Wil… I’m sorry. Shit,” he cursed, more to himself than to me, then approached me, cupping my chin in his hands. “I’m sorry,” he said again, looking me right in the eyes. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, this is… this is my bad. I didn’t mean to blow up like that, I just… if you could see you how I see you…” he trailed off, like he didn’t know how to finish, but I didn’t need him to… I got it.

  It was the same way I felt when it was Naima, or Soriyah. I hated it when they talked down on themselves, or downplayed their talent, or saw themselves as any less amazing than I did. It actually made me angry, because I never wanted to see them letting doubt settle in, or letting negativity change how they saw themselves. Because I loved them.

  And honestly, the same went for Ramsey.

  But… still…

  “You yelled at me,” I protested, in my most pitiful voice, and his eyebrows drew together in guilty concern.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” he said, then pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, followed by one that was more firm, which immediately melted my hurt feelings away. It was crazy how he managed to do that so well, but I wasn’t complaining. Not when he nibbled at my bottom lip for a second before he pulled it into his mouth, or when he slipped his tongue between my lips, tasting me. Not when his hands drifted to my waist, pulling me closer to him, or when I felt his hardness pressed against my leg.

  “You see what you do to me?” he asked, then grazed my neck with his teeth. “If you want to make personal improvements, for you… I’ve got you. But just for the record, this body is perfect to me.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not.”

  “How are you gonna argue my opinion with me?” he chuckled, then lowered his hands to my ass and squeezed. “I’m sorry for going in on you like that though, seriously. I don’t like you beating yourself up, or letting any bullshit bring you down, but… it’s not cool for me to add to that by getting upset with you about it. You forgive me?”

  I smiled. “I do. Soriyah threatened to “go upside my head” for pretty much the same thing, so if I’m not mad at her… I guess I can’t be mad at you.”

  “Tell me how to make it up to you.”

  He said that in a tone that made a tremble run up my spine, and I grinned. “Well… the other night, you did this thing with your tongue that—”

  I stopped speaking as his cell phone started to ring in his gym bag a few feet away, and he groaned.

  “Shit… I gotta at least see who it is. Give me a second, okay?”

  “Of course.”

  I watched as he jogged over to his bag, quickly digging the phone out, pressing the button to answer, and pulling it up to his ear. I wasn’t trying to be nosy, but the solemn expression that crossed his face as soon as he looked at the screen let me know it was important, and it didn’t shift. He spoke quietly to whoever it was, doing more listening than talking, and I had to force myself not to ease closer to hear. Several minutes into the call, he nodded, and I was watching hard enough to see a “Thank you” form clearly on his lips. A few seconds later, it was over, and he dropped the phone into his open bag, propping his hands at his hips.

  “Ramsey,” I said, but he didn’t move. His head was hanging, which worried me, so I went ahead and moved closer until I saw that his lips were moving. He was… praying.

  So I shut my mouth, and I waited. When he looked up, it was with clouded eyes, and an inscrutable expression that made me feel like my chest was about to burst. And then… he smiled. He smiled so big that it cut through the gloominess of the day, completely erasing my concerns that something was wrong.

  “I… I got it,” he said, and I froze where I was standing.

  “You got it? You got it?! That was the call?! From the Kings?!”

  “Yes,” he growled, then threw his arms around me, lifting me up off the ground as I laughed.

  “Yes!” I screamed, grabbing his face and pressing my lips to his. “I knew it! I knew you would get it!”

  He was holding me around the thighs, putting me in a perfect position to rain kisses all over his face as he laughed. When he put me down, it seemed like it was only because he was so wired that he couldn’t keep still. I was so happy for him I could barely stand it myself, so him bumping his fists together, repeating, “I got it. I fucking got it” only seemed right.

  “Hey,” I gushed, grabbing his hands. “You know training camp is right around the corner? Like, a few weeks from now, right?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. That’s what Eli was telling me, that he wants me to start early, with the rookies, just so I can get re-acclimated.”

  “Exactly,” I nodded. “And you know how tough it’s going to be.”

  “Yeah…” he raised an eyebrow. “I do… but what are you getting at?”

  I grinned. “What I’m getting at, is that… since training camp is right around the corner, and then you’ll be going into what’s probably going to be a really tough season… maybe you could use a little getaway first. Maybe… a little getaway with me? I’m thinking Bali.”

  He frowned. “What are you talking about? Let’s back up – me and you, on a trip together? On your honeymoon trip together?”

  I took a step away from him. “Oh, shit. Am I being weird? Am I freaking you out? Forget I asked, okay? It was just the heat of the moment, and I was excited, and—”

  “Wil, relax. It’s not that,” he shook his head. “It’s just… I thought you were going on that trip by yourself, to take a breather, and reconnect, all of that.”

  I shrugged. “Well, I was, but… the thought of that scares me, honestly. However, I do need this vacation, and with everything you have been through in the last year, you can’t tell me that you couldn’t use a break too.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I could, but… I don’t want to impose on your trip.”

  “It wouldn’t be an imposition. If I went on this trip by myself, I’d probably spend the whole week crying about being alone. And if I don’t go, my vouchers will expire, and it’ll just be money blown. You’d be doing me a favor, honestly.”

  “Wil…” he sighed. “I don’t know.”

  I sidled up to him, pressing my chest to his. “What is it? You don’t want to spend your last week of freedom in paradise with your bestie? That is what you said I was, wasn’t it?”

  “It is,” he agreed, planting his hands right above my ass. “I just want you to be sure about this before I agree.”

  “I’m sure,” I whispered against his lips. “Now… if that’s settled… I’ve never had sex with an NFL player before.”

  Ramsey’s response to that was to slide his hands lower and pick me up, draping me over his shoulder as easily as if I were his gym bag. He picked that up next, and started toward his truck, ignoring my half-laugh, half-screams.

  “What are you doing! We weren’t finished working out!”

  “We are now,” he said, then firmly smacked my ass. “We have other things to do.”

  I giggled as he put me down beside the truck and opened the door for me. “Like what?”

  “Well, I need to call Chloe, my aunt, and Clayton.”

  My eyebrow went up. “Okay… what does that have to do with me?”

  “Nothing,” he grinned. “But after that… I’m giving you enough dick to pay for my half of this trip to Bali.”

  Nine

  She needed this.

  She’d made a whole big thing about me coming with her – which wasn’t exactly a chore – but she needed this much more than I did, whether she would admit it or not. It was obvious as soon as we were shown into our private villa, and she let out a deep exhale. I listened for both of us as the butler gave instructions and details for everything, while Wil headed straight for the sun deck, to take in the panoramic ocean view.

  I tipped the butler when he was done, then stowed our luggage in the closet before I went out to where Wil was standing, starin
g out at the water. I stood beside her, taking it in for myself for a long moment – the turquoise water, lush vegetation, and just an air of… peace.

  “This really is paradise,” she whispered, so low that I didn’t know if she was talking to herself or talking to me. She leaned into the stone-carved railing of the deck, then turned to me, wearing a lazy smile that hit me right in the groin as she grabbed the front of my shirt and pressed herself against my chest. “Thank you for coming with me.”

  “Thank you for inviting me.” My hands went reflexively to her waist – a location that had become their natural landing spot in the few shorts weeks since our friendship shifted into something else. “This is… bananas.”

  She shook her head at my word choice, then grinned as she pulled away. “I’m going to take a shower. I feel grimy from traveling.”

  “Okay. While you do that, I’m gonna check in with my people, let them know we made it in. And then… maybe dinner reservations? Or, no – room service, scheduled for later. But before that, we can explore a little.”

  She stepped back into my space to brush her lips over mine. “That sounds perfect, but you sure you wouldn’t rather just join me in the shower?”

  I groaned as her hand cupped my groin and squeezed, then reluctantly caught her by the wrist, stopping her. “I would… but I think you should enjoy this first one alone. Relax. Get yourself in the whole “paradise” mood. And then later… I can get back to working off my debt.”

  “Why must you always make such good sense?” she grumbled, but shot me another grin before she headed off to the bathroom. I was just settling into the seating area with my cell when I heard the shower come on.

  There was a twelve hour time difference, so I knew my calls would be quick. Ten in the morning here in Indonesia was ten at night in Connecticut, so I kept it brief, spending a few minutes with my Aunt, and then Wil’s parents, letting them know we’d arrived. After that, I shot texts to Clay and Jordan, then used the phone in the room to call the butler. For dinner, Wil and I would dine here at our villa, in the outdoor dining area on the deck. For lunch, all I did was make sure there were places in walking distance for us to choose from. Other than that, for today… we would just go with the flow.