Red Zone

by Shannon West

  I was just finishing my shake when I heard Kingston coming down the hall. He was sleepy and rumpled and altogether delicious looking. He couldn’t quite meet my eyes and my cock gave a little twitch. I mashed it a little with the heel of my hand under the table. Damn it. Kingston was a serious distraction and I didn’t have time for it. I wanted to help him by giving him structure and discipline, not seduce the guy. I’d already kissed him and had his cock in my hand, which was, I have to say, damn nice. But I couldn’t afford to let my attraction to him get in the way of helping him. He had enough cheerleaders as it was. Now if I could just get my heart to calm down and not get so excited at the sight of him.

  I told myself sternly to cool it and glanced up at him to wave him over to the table. “Sit down and I’ll pour you a protein shake.”

  He made a little face. “None for me, thanks. I just want coffee.”

  I shook my head. “No caffeine. Your fall practice starts tomorrow and it’s going to be tough. Not only do you have to learn a new position, but Coach Bradley’s not going to take it easy on any of us, including you. You know how bad the first week always is. We’re going to need all the strength we can get just to make it through.” I got up and poured him a glass and plunked it down in front of him. He frowned at it, but once he realized I wasn’t going away until he drank some, he took a small sip.

  “Finish it,” I ordered him and he shot me a defiant look. I decided to ignore it, and see if it escalated. Baby steps.

  “We’ll go for a late breakfast after this, and I’ll tell you about the training schedule I have planned for us.”

  “Training schedule? Don’t we get enough training already?”

  “We need more, if we want to be the best. And we do, don’t we?” I gave him a stern look as he shrugged.

  “Whatever, dude. You’re the quarterback now. What difference does it make for me?”

  “I’m not going to tolerate attitude, Kingston. Your first instinct is to flare up every time something doesn’t go your way. You know the answer to that, and don’t call me ‘dude’ again, or I’ll have to punish you.”

  He looked up at me, startled, then his face got bright red, and he started to stand back up, getting mad. “Punish me? You and who else?”

  I took hold of his wrist and held on, squeezing a little. “Who’s in charge here, fireball?”

  I could see it trembling on the tip of his tongue to cuss me out and tell me to go to hell. His eyes got stormy and his face sullen, but I waited him out, pressing his wrist harder. “I’m waiting for an answer. I thought we’d already decided this last night. Now who’s in charge here?”

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, but was really only a few, long seconds, he dropped his gaze. “You are,” he said, grudgingly. I loved his little hesitations. They told me this was hard for him, but he was doing it anyway, because I’d told him to.

  “That’s right,” I said, my voice soft and coaxing. Sometimes it felt like I was encouraging some wild animal to come out of its hiding place in the shadows. “And what is it you have to worry about today?”

  He looked up at me, a little blank at first, and then he got a nervous look in his eyes, like he’d forgotten something. I sighed and said, “The answer is nothing. You don’t have to worry about a damn thing because I got this for both of us. I’m making the decisions now and all you have to do is go along for the ride.”

  He hesitated for a few more seconds and then nodded. “Oh.” A look that was a little like relief came over his face. “Okay.”

  I smiled at him and leaned in, brushing my lips over his. He rewarded me with a little blush.

  “Good. Now finish your shake, go get dressed and let’s get something to eat. Maybe we’ll go for some steak and eggs. Oh, and I know a place that has great waffles too, so we can maybe do a little carb loading—we’ll need it for tomorrow.”

  “What’s the plan for today?” Kingston asked, still ignoring the shake. “I mean for after we eat and go over the workout schedule? I have a test tomorrow I need to study for.”

  “In what? School hasn’t even started yet.”

  “It has for me. I’m taking a couple of classes in summer session. I got behind, when…when all that happened. Most of my professors let me make up work I missed, but a couple of them wouldn’t. Business Law was one of them.”

  “Sounds like fun,” I said, making a face as I turned to clean the kitchen counter. “Is that your major—Business?”

  “Yeah. My father thought it would be a good choice. It will make it easier after I graduate. I don’t have the size for pro ball.”

  His father chose his major for him? Huh…

  “And that’s what you wanted for yourself too? To go into some business career?”

  “My father’s business. And no,” he said softly, almost grudgingly, like he was telling me something he shouldn’t. “I always wanted to teach school. Maybe High School or even Middle—I like kids and I think I’d be good at that. I could maybe even do some coaching. But my dad said there was no money in teaching.”

  The words were so flat, so emotionless, I looked down at him, not surprised to see his eyes looking completely dead and without expression, his face carefully composed as he stared out the window beside him. It was like a mask he put on, and I wondered how often he wore it.

  “I think you’d make a great teacher.”

  He looked up at me, and I saw a brief flash of a smile and then it was gone. “Too late for that,” he said, his voice cold and dispassionate. “I’m a junior, so I’m pretty much locked in at this point.”

  “Bullshit,” I said softly, and he flinched like I’d hit him. “You can switch majors, or hell, do a double major. Lots of people do.” But he was already shaking his head.

  “I don’t have time for the extra work, and like I said, it’s too late. Besides, my father would…”

  “What? What would your father do?” I knew I was pressing too much, but I already knew from what he’d told me that his parents pushed him pretty hard, and he felt a lot of pressure to do what they wanted. I waited to see if he’d tell me more.

  His smile was brittle. “My father’s right. You can’t make a good living as a teacher. At least not the kind he expects. Besides, teaching little kids is a woman’s job.” I just stared at him, surprised at the ignorance of that statement on so many levels—a statement I knew he was more than likely just repeating, probably because he’d heard it said to him so many times.

  “Anyway, I need to study today, so I’ll be prepared for my test.” He picked up his glass, frowned down at it, then finally drained it all in one go, giving me a look as he put it down on the table a little too hard. But that didn’t bother me too much. The fact that he obeyed me even though it was hard for him was the thing that was most important for now.

  He got up and I nodded. “Good boy.”

  His face flushing a little, he almost spit out the words. “I’m not a damn dog.”

  Two steps forward, three steps back, I guess. I sighed and walked over to the sink to stare out. It was a bright, sunny day outside. A good day for beginnings. “There you go, flaring up again. You’re whatever I say you are, fireball,” I said, turning to look back at him. I leaned back against the counter. “Now go get dressed. I’m hungry. But Kingston,” I said, as he turned to the door. “Come over here first.”

  Warily, he came back across the tile floor toward me. When he got closer, I reached for him, pulling him between my legs. Damn it, I couldn’t seem to help myself. I pulled him forward so abruptly he got off balance and had to grab my shoulders as his chest bumped mine. His pretty face was only an inch away, so I kissed him hard and long until I could feel his heart thumping against my chest and his dick swelling to a hard ridge against mine. Those long eyelashes were fluttering against my cheeks when I finally let him up for air. He looked up at me with a dazed expression. Dazed was far better than that blankness in his eyes. I had already come to hate that.

  “Now you
can go,” I said, putting him back on his feet. I straightened up too, patted his ass and walked off down the hall to my room, whistling our school fight song under my breath.

  Chapter Six

  Kingston

  I was groaning when I pushed back from the table, but Memphis was smiling at me, still teasing me. “Come on,” he said, “you can do better than that. You only had like two trips to the buffet.”

  “I seriously can’t eat another bite. I told you not to put that last waffle on my plate.”

  “It was good though, wasn’t it? The carbs will help maximize the storage of glycogen in the muscles and the liver. You’ll thank me when we’re doing all that running tomorrow. I can guarantee you Coach Bradley is not going to go easy on us, first day back or not.”

  God, Coach Bradley…he was so tough. Memphis had already laid out his plan for the private training schedule he’d set up for the two of us, and it sounded grueling enough. I wasn’t sure where I’d find the extra time in my day. Between the squats and the lunges and plyo pushups he had planned for me, along with the weights and barbells, I didn’t know how I’d keep up. And now he wanted me to learn a new position? And I couldn’t even think about the amount of studying I’d have to do to keep up my grades. Was it really all so effortless for him? I was thinking there weren’t that many hours in a day, but when I argued with him, he simply brushed aside my concerns.

  “I told you, you have nothing to worry about. I’ll make the schedule and see to it that you keep it. Besides I think it’ll be good for you to keep busy. Less time for you to worry.”

  “I like to stay busy yes, but there’s a limit. What about my classes? My grades are bound to suffer.”

  “Don’t worry about them.”

  “Don’t worry about them?” I said, a little too loud. “That’s easy for you to say, damn it! I have to make good grades!”

  Memphis gave me a stern look with one eyebrow raised, and I quickly pulled both my wrists under the table like a damn little kid, but I didn’t want a scene, and he seemed to have this thing for grabbing and squeezing my wrists when he wanted to control me. I still had the bruises from last night when he got so grabby. I wasn’t going to risk them again. He noticed and gave me that evil little grin of his.

  “You honestly think that would stop me?”

  “Yes…No…” I huffed out a breath and glanced around us. “Please, Memphis. Somebody will see.”

  The grin got bigger. “I don’t care.” He leaned back in his chair. “Now apologize for being rude and raising your voice.”

  I could feel my face getting warm and knew I must be blushing. I hated him so much!

  “No, you don’t,” he said, and I knew I must have said it out loud again.

  I frowned at him. “Yeah, I really do.”

  “That doesn’t get you out of an apology. Now tell me you’re sorry or the next time I have to ask, you’re going on your knees to say it.”

  He was crazy enough to do that too. Sullenly, I muttered, “Okay. I’m sorry.” Then almost, but not quite, under my breath, I said, “Damn you.”

  “Try that again, fireball, without the cussing this time unless you want an attitude adjustment right here. And this time add a ‘Sir,’ to it.”

  I glared at him, seething. “Why do I have to call you that? You’re not my boss. I mean…” I trailed off as I realized that since last night, that was exactly what he was—my boss. And I’d given him permission to be.

  “Say it, Kingston, and we can go home.”

  I dropped my gaze to the table and after a long moment, I finally ground out the hated words. “Sorry. Sir.”

  “I like the sound of that. Now get up and let’s go so you can study for that ‘big test.’ God knows I want you to make a good grade so you won’t freak out.”

  “I know you think it’s silly,” I said, sliding back my chair. “But good grades are important to my fath…to me. And Business Law doesn’t come easy to me. I barely pulled out an ‘A’ in the first section of the class and a ‘B’ could have ruined my G.P.A.”

  “Seriously? A ‘B’ is a good grade.”

  Maybe. But it wasn’t perfect. And I couldn’t accept less.

  Memphis walked out beside me to his truck, listening to me ramble on about my grades. I knew I was probably boring him, but I was learning that he was a good listener, which was surprising in a way. He was being polite and feigning interest, at least. He may not be taking Business Law, but he had to maintain his grades too, and I figured his parents were probably as hard on him as mine were on me, so he must relate on some level. It just didn’t seem to bother him as much, though, while the thought of letting my father down again after everything that had happened made my blood freeze in my veins.

  We rode home the rest of the way in silence mostly, with just the radio playing his country music station. It was a companionable silence though, kind of nice after all the arguing we’d been doing up to that point. I didn’t want to antagonize him any further, because all I wanted to do was get to my room and start going over my notes from class.

  When we finally arrived and went in, I took off directly to my room, calling to Memphis that I’d see him later. I kept it as vague as I could, because my real plan was to avoid him altogether now until tomorrow, when I’d no doubt have to see him. But there were a lot of hours between now and then. To save my sanity, I decided to take it one step at a time. Tonight, I had to study.

  When I got to my room, I closed the door—I didn’t lock it so he wouldn’t get bent out of shape, thinking I was trying to keep him out—found my book and my notes and settled in for a study session. I soon saw that there was a ton of material that I just plain didn’t remember or had no clue about. The old familiar feelings of stress and panic began creeping over me, and I took a few deep breaths trying to calm down. I reminded myself I had some time, though it looked like I had a lot of midnight oil to burn between now and tomorrow’s test. The problem was the material was so damn boring. Nothing at all that I cared about, and I’d been awake most of the night before. I kept reading a page and realizing none of it had sunk in. Then I’d have to read it again. It was slow going and I was dozing off as I was reading over my notes.

  I closed my eyes again just for a moment and when I woke up, the room was dark. In a panic, I looked at the clock and saw that it was nine o’clock. I’d been asleep for hours! Cursing under my breath, I pulled the book to me and started trying to read again, but the words kept blurring on the page. Damn it! I had to do something to settle my nerves and help me concentrate.

  I got up off the bed and went over to my dresser, easing the top drawer all the way out. I’d already seen how Memphis had cleared out all my blades, the high-handed bastard. But he’d missed my secret stash. When I had first moved in, I didn’t know how nosy my new roommate might be—as it turned out, very damn nosy—but I had taken the precaution of hiding some of my blades under the top drawer. They lay there in a row, gleaming in the dim light coming from the lamp and sending prickles of pleasure-pain all the way down my spine. Sighing out my relief, I reached for one.

  ****

  Memphis

  I’d left Kingston alone all day to let him do his thing, while I went over to visit with my uncle before he left town. I hadn’t liked the way we’d left things the night before, and I didn’t know how soon I might be seeing him again. He was really glad to see me, so we talked and I hung around his hotel room for a while. Later, he talked me into going over to my dad’s house with him for dinner. It did give me a chance to talk to my dad about adding in training for running back for Kingston, and he even clapped me on the shoulder and said, “Now you’re talking like a real leader, son.” Yeah, whatever.

  He thought I was doing it for the good of the team, but really, it was all for Kingston. He was on my mind all day, and I worried a little about leaving him alone so long, but I’d taken his car keys with me when I left, so I wasn’t worried about him going someplace to buy new blades. Unless he decid
ed to go to a neighbor’s and ask to borrow a cup of razors, we were good. Besides, I felt like we’d made some progress that morning. He’d promised to turn things over to me for a while. He’d been fairly obedient to the things I asked him to do so far, and I thought we were doing okay.

  I got home late because my Mom wanted to show me the pictures she’d made of my sister’s family the week before. My sister was a little older than I was and married, with three adorable kids, so my mom didn’t have to twist my arm too hard. They lived in South Carolina, so I didn’t get to see them as often as I liked.

  It was quiet in the suite when I got home. I went to look in on Kingston, knocking softly before I went in and found him sound asleep with his books spread all over the bed around him. I closed the door behind me and left him to get some rest. We had to get up early in the morning.

  I had gone to bed myself about an hour later but was still watching a movie on Netflix when I heard his shower start up. His bathroom wall was right next to mine, so they could share the same plumbing, I guess. I went back to my show, but after a few minutes, I got up to go to the bathroom. I was standing in front of my toilet when I heard a soft moan coming through the walls from Kingston’s bathroom. It was a moan that sounded way too much like the ones he was making when I found him in the tub cutting himself.

  I stood there in shock for a few seconds, really hoping that he was just jerking off in the shower, but knowing the truth about what it was I was hearing. Furious, I took off to his room and flung open the door. I stood there in the doorway for a few seconds, just listening, in case I’d somehow been mistaken. I could hear the shower running, but no more moans were coming from his bathroom, so I stood there for a minute, looking around for any evidence. I felt a little awkward, like I was trespassing, but I needed to keep him safe. I wasn’t sure why it was so important to me, but it was, and I didn’t want to examine it too closely.