Players of Marycliff University Box Set, Books 1–3

by Jerica MacMillan

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Lance set a couple more books into a liquor box and surveyed his room. His nearly empty room. At least half of his things were in boxes. And worst of all, Abby wasn’t here. It was almost midnight and he hadn’t seen her all day.

  It was a strange sensation, this emptiness. He didn’t like it. Without Abby here, he had only his thoughts to occupy him, and he wanted to get out of his head right now. Didn’t want to contemplate how lonely he was without her. He’d asked her to come over, told her the guys wouldn’t mind her hanging out until he could finish work and get home, but she hadn’t wanted to do that. When he’d realized it was going to be another late night, he’d conjured the idea of her asleep in his bed when he got home, but that didn’t work out.

  Her and her annoying stubbornness. He’d hoped she’d bend for him just this once, but no. “What am I going to do?” she’d said. “Watch them drink beer and play video games? What if one of them brings home a girl?”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time that happened with you there,” he’d said with a laugh.

  He’d sworn he could hear her rolling her eyes at him. “Yeah, but you were there those times. It would be so awkward if I was there just waiting for you. No. I’ll just sleep at home tonight.”

  With a sigh, he picked up his phone, thinking about texting her on the off chance that she was still awake. But she’d texted him almost an hour ago to say goodnight, meaning she’d gone to bed then and would be fast asleep by now.

  He put down the phone and took another swig of his beer before going back out to the living room. The lights were off, only the flickering of the TV illuminating the room as Matt and Chris laughed at something on The Late Show. He plopped down at one end of the couch, accepting a beer from Matt who kept a cooler of them next to his spot in the recliner so they wouldn’t have to keep heading to the kitchen for another.

  Chris took a pull of his own beer, looking at Lance out of the corner of his eye from the other end of the couch. “No Abby tonight?” He asked it casually, not taking his eyes off the TV.

  “I told her I wouldn’t get home until late, but she could hang out here if she wanted. She decided to stay home.” Lance shrugged like it was no big deal, like he couldn’t bring himself to go to bed without her despite the exhaustion dragging at him.

  Chris nodded, then laughed at Jimmy Fallon.

  “It’s probably better that she didn’t come over,” said Matt, giving his input from the other side.

  Lance flexed his jaw in irritation, but managed to keep his voice neutral and his eyes on the TV. “Oh yeah? Why’s that? You guys have a problem with her?”

  Chris finally looked at him. “C’mon, man. You know it’s not like that. We’d’ve said something weeks ago if we had a problem with her being around.”

  With a nod, Lance took another drink of his beer, needing the moment to rein in his growing anger. What the fuck? Why were his friends ragging on Abby? He thought they liked her. “Okay. What’s the problem?”

  “Dude, you’re leaving in like two weeks.” Matt again.

  It was like they’d planned this, teaming up on him, coordinating their responses and questions. What was this, some kind of intervention?

  “So?” Lance couldn’t keep the defensiveness out of his voice this time.

  Chris muted the TV and gave Lance an appraising look. “When was the last time you dated a girl?”

  “What are you talking about? I’ve been dating girls for forever.” More defensiveness. More jaw clenching. He set his beer down because he gripped it so tightly he worried he might shatter the bottle. Not that he’d ever done anything like that before, but he was pissed off enough now that it might be the first time.

  Chris shook his head slowly. “I don’t mean just taking a girl out on a date. I mean dated dated. A relationship. Like what you’re doing with Abby.”

  Lance forced himself to take a deep breath, folding his hands in front of his face as he thought about the question. “I don’t know. High school maybe?”

  “Exactly.” Matt again, like his answer proved some kind of obvious point.

  “What does that mean?” Lance practically shouted, his grip on his temper slipping by the second.

  “Fuck, man,” Matt responded. “You’ve had her over every night for like a month. You’ve been fucking her for a month. She’s hot and all, but I figured you’d have worked her out of your system by now.”

  “Fuck you. If you—”

  Chris laid a hand on Lance’s arm, cutting him off and keeping him from getting up and punching Matt. He forced his fingers to uncurl and shook off Chris’s restraining hold.

  “Dude.” Chris sat forward, no longer even pretending this was a casual thing, like it wasn’t planned out. “We get it. You like her. But you’re leaving. Really soon.”

  “So what?” Anger still laced Lance’s tone. He knew he sounded like a petulant asshole, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. His friends were tag-teaming him. They couldn’t expect him to be happy about it.

  Matt spoke up again. “You’re leaving, Lance. Abby’s staying here. Maybe it’s not a bad idea for you guys to have a little space before you go. Cool off. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Lance clenched his teeth, feeling the muscles in his jaw bulge and tense. He was tense all over, the two beers he’d had already not helping him relax at all. “So, what? Why do you even care? What’s with this bullshit? Have you been planning this ambush for a while?”

  Matt and Chris both burst into laughter, like his rage was a fucking joke. Apparently accusing them of ambushing him was fucking hilarious.

  “We’re not a couple of chicks trying to stage an intervention or something,” Chris managed to get out between peals of laughter. “But we’ve never seen you like this about a chick. Any chick. Ever. We didn’t expect it to last this long.”

  “Fuck,” was all Lance could say in response to that. They were right. He’d never been like this before. He hadn’t expected it to last this long, either. Like Matt, he figured he’d work her out of his system quickly once he got past the challenge she originally presented.

  Chris turned the sound back on, and they all watched Jimmy interview some celebrity about her latest movie while Lance stewed in his own misery. How could he have gotten so twisted up about a girl in his last summer here? He’d managed to avoid any messy entanglements for four years, and now … now it was almost time for him to go, and he’d gone and fallen for a girl, making it even harder to go back to Texas than he’d thought.

  Not only that, but he’d gotten so twisted up that he’d turned on his friends when they were just trying to look out for him.

  “So I noticed I’m the only one packing,” Lance said at the next commercial, having managed to calm down enough to stop acting like a dick. “Does that mean you guys are going to find a new roommate?”

  Chris nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to take over as primary on the lease. You can stay as long as you want. Just let us know when you’re officially going so we can advertise for someone to take your spot.”

  “Thanks, man.” Lance recognized Chris’s peace offering for what it was. Since they were taking over the lease, he could stay past August first, try to spend more time with Abby.

  Maybe he could put his parents off again, get another week or two before having to leave. Not that it would do more than delay the inevitable. But he’d take what he could get, even if it was only a temporary stay of execution. Something—anything—was better than the nothing he had to look forward to.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Abby had never been so glad it was Friday. Not only would she get to spend the weekend with Lance, but she was exhausted from sleeping like crap the night before. Her twin bed felt tiny and lonely and cold in a way that had nothing to do with the thermostat settings. She’d stolen her cozy comforter back from Megan and it had done no good whatsoever.

  “Abby, it’s not fair,” Megan had whined. “You’re never here. I lo
ve your comforter. You don’t use it. You should just let me have it.”

  Abby had pulled it off Megan’s bed, giving it a good yank to keep it out of Megan’s reach, and dragged it back to her own room. “Yes, I know I haven’t been spending the night here much lately.”

  “Ha. Try not at all,” Megan’s sarcastic voice had followed her out into the hall.

  “Fine,” she’d called over her shoulder. “I haven’t been spending the night here at all lately. But it’s still my comforter. You can use it if I’m staying somewhere else, but when I’m here I want it.”

  Megan had huffed and flung herself on the couch in dramatic fashion. “Alright, fine. It’s yours. And, really, Abby? ‘Somewhere else?’” She made air quotes with her fingers. “Where else would you be staying except Lance’s? Besides, he’ll probably come get you in the middle of the night anyway.”

  Abby had stayed up as late as she dared, half hoping that Megan was right. But by eleven she still hadn’t heard from him, so she’d texted him a goodnight and gone to bed. Where she’d lain awake for over an hour, still secretly hoping that he’d text and insist she come over.

  But he hadn’t, and she’d slept like shit.

  She’d missed him more than she’d expected to. She figured one night wouldn’t be such a big deal. He’d be leaving soon and they’d have to spend every night apart after that. She honestly didn’t even know if he planned to stay in touch. Part of her wanted to, but … what was the point? He’d be thousands of miles away with no plans to return, and she had two years left of school and a mother who couldn’t survive on her own.

  They were doomed. And while her sense of self-preservation urged her to cut her losses now, the rest of her wanted to get whatever time with Lance she could while it was an option. She’d be cut off soon enough, why start the pain earlier than she had to?

  So she’d been thrilled instead of annoyed when he texted an hour ago to inform her that she’d be staying at his house all weekend and to pack appropriately. Once upon a time that would’ve made her refuse on principle. But now? Now time with him was precious, and she’d squandered too much last night. She wasn’t going to do that again.

  Rather than continue analyzing the fact that being with Lance was changing her in unexpected ways or what it would mean for her—for them—once he was gone, she chose to keep busy while she waited. She tried reading, but was too fidgety. Looking up cat videos on YouTube didn’t hold her interest for long either. She didn’t really need to pack, since most of her clothes were at Lance’s house anyway, but she got together the few things that she took back and forth with her every day. Since she knew it would make Megan happy, she dragged her comforter back to Megan’s bed and dumped it there.

  Megan wasn’t home yet. Her current temp job lasted until six this week, so she might not get home before Abby left. Abby decided she’d text Megan to let her know about the comforter.

  She looked at the clock. Okay, so that had only taken like ten minutes. So much for keeping busy. She plopped down on the couch and flipped channels, fidgeting constantly and checking the clock every ten minutes.

  At last there was a knock at the door, and Lance let himself in. Abby hopped up and crossed the room, practically flinging herself at him. He caught her against his chest, taking her mouth in a punishing kiss that she returned just as fiercely. His hands traveled down her back, over her ass, and then hoisted her legs around his waist. She clung to him, not wanting to stop for air.

  Lance carried them to the couch and sat down with her straddling him still, never breaking the kiss.

  After a minute or two, or maybe an hour, Lance pulled back. “Hi.” He punctuated the greeting with another kiss, this one languorous and sweet, his tongue sweeping past her lips, dipping and tasting. She could kiss him like this for hours.

  Abby smiled against his mouth and pulled back to return his greeting. “Hi.”

  Lance’s hands still traveled over her back, under her shirt, kneading her ass, and his smile stretched across his face. “Did you miss me?”

  Abby laughed and nodded, too happy to see him to hold anything back. “Yeah. Did you miss me?”

  As an answer he kissed her again, full of desire and longing. His hands went to her hips, and he pushed her down, moving her against the full length of his hard dick, grinding his pelvis against hers. When he pulled back, he was trying, and mostly failing, to keep a straight face. “Just a little.”

  Abby laughed again, and dropped a kiss on his lips. “So what’s the plan for tonight?”

  Lance thrust his hips against hers again, making her catch her breath with desire. “Is Megan home?” he asked.

  “Not yet, but she probably will be soon.”

  “Good. We’ll be fast.” He made quick work of the button on Abby’s shorts and started pulling down the zipper. Before she could object and suggest moving to her room, Lance’s mouth was on hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth to dance with hers, and his hand was in her pants, making her forget anything other than the way he made her feel.

  Lance broke off the kiss to stand Abby up and pull off her shorts and panties, push his own shorts and boxers to his knees and roll on a condom before pulling Abby back onto his lap. She moaned into his mouth, feeling his erection rubbing against her clit, his hands sliding under her shirt to pluck at her nipples.

  “God, Abby. I need to be inside you. Now.” Lance’s voice was raw and husky. Abby rose up, positioned him at her entrance, and slid down with a soft moan. His head dropped back, his lips parting on a sharp breath, eyes closed in pleasure. Abby started grinding down against him, loving the way he felt inside her, how much control she had like this, the look of pure and intense bliss on his handsome face. She put that look there. Her. Abby. Pushing her shirt up out of his way, he tugged down the cups of her bra, exposing her breasts to his hands and mouth.

  A muffled squeak and the sound of a door slamming made them both freeze, Abby’s arms clapping over her bare chest.

  Megan rushed past, one hand shielding her eyes. “Don’t mind me! I’ll just go straight to my room!” she shouted.

  Abby’s face was so hot she thought she could probably fry eggs on her cheeks. “Oh my god,” she groaned, and not the sexy kind of groaning that was just happening. No, this was mortification. She wanted to fall on the floor and die of embarrassment.

  Risking a glance at Lance’s face, she watched the shocked look dissolve as he started chuckling. The chuckles gave way to full blown laughter. Still feeling too embarrassed for words, Abby couldn’t help but start laughing too. She collapsed against his chest, and his arms came around her as they laughed together. When one of them would start to quiet down, laughter would bubble out of the other and they’d both start again. More than once it was Megan’s laughter through the walls that started another round.

  They eventually settled, wiping eyes with only occasional small bursts of laughter coming out. By then, Abby was lying sideways on the couch, having fallen out of Lance’s lap at some point.

  He leaned over and gave her a kiss. “We’ll have to finish this later.” He pitched his voice low so it wouldn’t carry to Megan where she still hid in her room. He got rid of the condom and tugged his boxers and shorts back up over his now-fading erection before handing Abby the clothes he’d stripped off her.

  “We’re decent!” Abby called to Megan after she’d put her shorts back on.

  Megan’s door creaked open, and then Megan emerged with her hands on her face, her eyes peeking between her fingers. When she was all the way in the living room she finally dropped her hands. “I didn’t know you guys were going to give me a show when I got home.” She fanned herself. “Now I’m all hot and bothered. Why didn’t you bring me a playmate?”

  Lance laughed, and Abby’s face heated up again. “Abby,” Megan said, “the look on your face was priceless.”

  Abby forced out a laugh, hoping they could move on. Megan looked at her for a moment and didn’t say anything more about walking in
on them. For now. But Abby knew she’d hear more about Megan’s opinion the next time Lance wasn’t around.

  “So what are you two crazy kids up to for the rest of the evening?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “There’s a party tonight that a bunch of the football team is going to be at. You guys should come.”

  Lance wasn’t surprised when Abby immediately shook her head and said, “Thanks anyway, Megan.”

  But he wasn’t deterred. He really wanted to go to the party. It might be his last chance to say goodbye to his teammates. Sometimes Abby just needed a little convincing.

  “Give us a minute,” he said to Megan and ushered Abby into her room.

  After closing the door, he pinned her against it and kissed her, hard and deep, knowing that was the quickest and easiest way to lower her defenses. When the stiffness had melted out of her body and she relaxed into his chest, he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. It was his favorite way of talking to her between kisses. “Let’s go to the party.”

  She stiffened immediately, but he kissed her again. Soft and sensual, his hands roaming her curves. She relaxed at first, but then put up a fight and pushed against his chest. He stopped kissing her but kept his forehead resting on hers.

  She eyed him suspiciously. “Why do you want to go?”

  He raised his brows. Wasn’t the answer obvious? “Uh, parties are fun? Why else would I want to go?”

  “But we haven’t seen each other in like two days.”

  He couldn’t help but grin. Abby was practically whining. He didn’t see this side of her very often.

  He flexed his hand where it rested on her hip. “That’s why I want you to come with me. And I promise we’ll see plenty of each other all weekend. Let’s hang at the party for a little while before heading back to my place.” He dipped his head for another kiss, but she turned, giving him her cheek. Deciding to just go with it, he kissed a trail along her cheekbone to her ear, kissing once on the sensitive spot just behind it, and then taking the lobe gently between his teeth.