by Germaine, KF
At the end of the hall, the door swung open, and I spotted Coach’s silhouette. “What the hell are you doing, Peters? It’s gotten so bad you’re messing around with walls? I saw that girl leaving. You better be focused on the game Saturday.”
“Yes, sir,” I yelled, straightening my body. Covering my junk, I ran back into the locker room and welcomed the silence. I was the only one left, so I took another shower and relieved myself, thinking about Sydney’s ass and her plump soft lips. Lips I had to taste tonight, even if that’s all we did. I would get on those lips. They’d haunted me for years, and I’d never found their equal.
Chapter Thirty-One
What the hell was I thinking?
I wasn’t thinking. My body was reacting.
The second I saw Peters in that towel, I was wet. An agonizing ache built between my legs. For Gray Peters. My brain was screaming at me to not trust him, but every nerve tingled when I felt those ridiculous muscles on his chest.
And why shouldn’t I trust him? Really, it was Peters who shouldn’t trust me.
I’d been the one gossiping over the airwaves. Dragging his character through the mud. And based on what? Something I’d heard half awake through a closed dorm door two years ago?
A coward. I was a coward back then. Unable to face the embarrassment. I should have thrown that door open and yelled in his face. At least then I’d know for sure it was him. That’s what today’s Sydney would have done. No, she would have done worse.
As I headed back to my dorm, I received a 9-1-1 text from Jack. He wanted me to meet him at the athletic dorm. Either Jack needed help or he’d found out about Sunday Lane. I always thought Jack was capable of murder. We were related after all, and the Brown-eyed Virgin might push him to his breaking point.
“I can’t get through to her, Syd.”
I sat on Jack’s bed. The setup was eerily close to Peters’s room freshman year. Same bulky twin mattress. Same octagonal seventies-era window. Same beefcake athletes parading the halls, wearing next to nothing (didn’t mind that so much).
“She’s not talking to me anymore, but she sends me notes. You know, stuffs them under my door.” Jack stopped pacing and pointed at the gap between the door and the floor. “I was sitting on the bed earlier this week when a pink envelope arrived. When I jerked the door open, I saw a tall blonde wearing all black booking down the hallway. She dove into the snack machines alcove, and when I ran out there, she’d opened the window and climbed down the fire escape like a cat burglar.”
I lay back on Jack’s bed, stared up at the ceiling, and laughed. The idea of a swift-footed, black-clad Allison was blowing my mind.
“It’s not funny, Syd.”
“How do you know it was Allison? It sounds like someone on the Romanian gymnastics team.”
“The letter said, I’m sorry, Jack. Miss your sweet face. Love, Your Ranch dressing-addicted Norwegian Princess. And there was a chocolate kiss inside.”
Those fools, but they were fools in love. Speaking of “extreme like,” which was the stage I was at with Peters, I whipped out my phone and sent him a text to meet me at Jack’s.
What? A girl’s gotta eat, right?
“Syd, she said Katharine’s putting her through hell. She hasn’t said anything to you?”
I shook my head. “She hasn’t stayed at the dorm all week. I just assumed you two were cooped up, procreating.”
“Ewww, Syd. We haven’t done that yet. I want it to be special.” A dreamy grin crossed his face and his cheeks reddened. “I was going to take her to the zoo on our next football bye weekend. She really loves sherbet, so I was going to take her to Ben and Jerry’s. Todd from our team has one of those vans you can sleep in, you know, with the black bubble window. It was going to be romantic.”
“It sounds like you’re trying to abduct a child, Jack. Jesus, the zoo, ice cream, a creepy van.”
He was quiet for a second. “Yeah, when you put it that way… Maybe I’ll think of something else.”
A forceful knock came from the door, and Jack sprang up to open it. Peters stepped in wearing a pair of black lounge pants and a fitted white shirt. Naturally, I closed my legs as he entered, because this was confusing. Peters had gone from the most vile person I’d ever met to a man who reduced me to a quivering pool with one lift of an eyebrow.
Jesus.
Completely disregarding Jack, he focused on me lying across the bed. Eventually, his eyes scanned the dorm room, taking in the familiar setup that led us to one another in the first place.
“Peters?” Jack backed away, shocked by his arrival. When Peters ignored him and stared down at me, Jack grew suspicious. “Syd? What’s going on?”
“Out, Porter,” Peters barked, jerking his head toward the open door.
Both Jack and I stood and started for the door, but he held out a hand to stop me. “Just Jack Porter.”
The look on his face was a tossup between lust and anger. I didn’t know which one I preferred. Maybe my locker room visit was too much for him.
I dug into my bag and handed Jack some money. “Jack, would you mind getting me a drink from the machines?”
Jack grabbed the money and stood there like the wind had just been knocked out of him.
“Go,” Peters said, pointing a finger at the door.
Shooting me a quick glance, Jack sighed but ran down the hall as ordered.
Peters slammed the door shut and began pacing the room. From time to time, he’d mumble something and look over at me, then continue to pace, involved in some kind of internal argument.
“What’s up, Peters? You’re starting to freak me out.”
“I’m freaking you out?” He stopped in front of me with a glare on his face.
Ding, ding, ding, it was anger.
“My life was just fine, Sydney. It was all going according to plan. College… NFL… everything was perfect,” he scolded. “I thought I had everything I wanted. Everything.”
“What’s that have to do with m—”
“Quiet,” he snapped. “That wasn’t a question.” Grabbing my hips, he drew me close. “Fuck. What I’m trying to say is I can’t do this anymore. My body’s on fire every day just knowing you’re somewhere on campus. Please tell me you’re not messing with me.” He slid his hand down to my ass, giving it a light squeeze. “Because I need to feel something real… with you.”
Pushing him away, I moved to the opposite corner of the room. “This isn’t going to happen.”
Peters turned in a dramatic circle and slammed a fist on Jack’s desk. It was actually comical, and I worked hard to suppress my laugh but wasn’t successful. Hearing me snicker, Peters turned with a hurt expression on his face.
“I meant not in Jack’s room,” I added.
His shoulders dropped and he smiled. It was my favorite smile. “Then let’s get the fuck out of here, Sydney. You’re driving me crazy.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.
“Wait.” I held my hand up to his chest. “Jack’s upset.”
Peters let out an annoyed growl and slammed down on Jack’s bed. When he looked up with his solemn amber eyes, I understood what he needed. Hell, I wanted it too. I couldn’t believe I’d gone from despising him to envisioning our bodies entwined together in the throes of passion.
“I know, Gray.”
His expression turned from pained to surprise when I said his first name.
“I know we need to… ummm… release our building tension.” God, tension. I made it sound like we should hit the gym, not the sheets. Smooth, Sydney. “But I have to talk to Jack first.”
He lay back on Jack’s bed and wiped his palms down his face, trying to cool down his hormones. I made the mistake of lying next to him.
And like magic, we were freshman again.
He’d give me that charming smile and pour me a whiskey. He’d hold me tight in his arms. He’d slide his tongue over my body like no boy ever had to this day.
I wanted nothing more than to re
live that night but this time make it perfect. Two years apart from Gray, harboring immense hatred, left me bitter and angry. But right now, my bitterness melted just seeing him smile, and my anger disappeared reading the honesty in his warm eyes.
“I like it when you call me Gray,” he said quietly, pulling his eyes over my face. “Sydney, I jus—”
“Can I come in?” Jack yelled through the door, and I bolted straight up with a look of guilt.
“Come in, Jack!”
He entered holding a Sprite and scanned the scene for evidence of a struggle. “What were you two doing in here?”
“We just got done having sex,” I teased, standing up and fake-straightening my bra. “You might want to clean the sheets.”
Jack’s mouth fell open as Gray sat up and laughed. “We didn’t, Jack. We wer—”
“We were discussing Allison,” I cut in, and Gray furrowed his brows.
I was glad Jack was distracted, because instead of an interrogation, he straddled his desk chair and handed me the drink. “Okay, well, the only thing I know is Katharine DeSonna hates your living guts.”
He waited for the shock to register on my face. Nope.
“So you’re saying I’m doing something right?”
Gray scooted across Jack’s bed and leaned his back against the wall. Jack watched with wide eyes as Gray opened his legs, tugged the back of my T-shirt until I fell between them, and pulled me back to rest against his warm chest. Bold move, Peters.
“First of all, what the hell is going on with you two?” Jack stood and kicked the chair across the room in theatrical fashion. “Peters, why are you touching Sydney? Syd, why are you letting Peters touch you? I thought you hated each other.”
Gray laughed. “Relax, Jack. We’re just hanging out.”
Jack was fuming. “Syd?”
I rested my head under Gray’s chin. “Come on, Jack… Tell me about Katharine before I leave, and mind your own business.” I couldn’t blame him. I’d be confused too.
“You are my business, Syd.” Jack ran his hands through his hair. “Christ. What’s going to happen when you guys get into a fight? Am I going to get my ass kicked for every little thing Syd does?”
“Just keep your big sister happy and we have nothing to worry about,” Gray teased, and Jack let out a dramatic sigh. “Now tell us what big, bad Katharine did to your girl.”
Resigned to the current situation, Jack settled back into his complaints. “Well, at first, the girls weren’t allowed to talk about you or think about you.”
“Think about me?”
He nodded. “Yes, and if they say your name, Katharine washes their mouth out with soap. It’s happened to Allison twice.”
“What kind of soap?” Gray deadpanned.
Jack looked to me for help.
“That’s an important detail,” I added, and Gray lightly pinched my side. “I mean, come on. Is it organic? Is it that blue kitchen shit? Give me the deets.”
“Oatmeal,” Jack replied. The agony in his voice nearly had me busting my gut. “And she gets those chunks in her mouth.”
I felt Gray’s chest rumble toward a laugh, and I drew my elbow into his tummy.
“What else?”
Jack looked at me and glanced up to Gray’s face. I had to respect the fact Jack didn’t want to embarrass Allison in front of a peer. After all, he was the polite Porter.
“Gray, could you wait outside for me?” I said, slowly rising off his chest.
He must have detected the air shift to somber because without another word, he raised his leg over my head and grabbed his bag off the floor. He shot me one last glance before he left the room, and I focused my eyes back on Jack.
“Spill it, Dimebag.”
“Well, it’s not a big deal, but when Allison told me about this, it nearly brought me to tears. You should have heard her voice. It was like her little heart was broken.” Jack cradled his head in his hands and kicked his backpack across the floor. “Katharine’s given Allison a new name. She calls her Shallow Puddle.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
I was leaning against the dorm wall when Sydney burst out of Jack’s door, her beautiful face twisted into scowl and a reckless fury behind her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
She shrugged her bag up her shoulder and started a brisk walk toward the elevators, leaving me behind in a daze. What have I done now?
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I ran up to her side as she repeatedly hit the down button. “Are you going to tell me what’s up, or am I supposed to read that sadistic mind of yours?”
She let out an aggravated sigh. “I’m going to tear Katharine’s face off with my own two hands and hang it from the campus flag pole as a reminder to all what bitches get when they cross me,” she said, channeling an emotionless psychopath.
I took in a breath of relief that I wasn’t the focus of her anger. “Why?”
She pushed the button rapidly, then smashed her fist against the elevator door. Pulling back, she rubbed her knuckles.
I took her hand, straightening her fingers one by one. “Don’t hurt yourself, baby. Who’s going to deliver those sweet beats if you go breaking your hand?”
She ripped her hand from mine and looked up with a warning glare. “Don’t call me baby, Peters. You think after one week you can slip back into my good graces?”
Great. Back to Peters.
“No,” I answered coolly, taking a step back. “I don’t, but goddammit, I’m trying. You keep holding a grudge against me for something I didn’t do two years ago. I’m getting tired of this shit.”
Sydney shrugged and stared at the closed steel doors. “I never asked you to try, Peters. I was content on ignoring one another for the rest of our lives, and you ruined it.”
I moved in front of her, and she dropped her eyes to the floor.
“Don’t be a pussy, Sydney. You’re just afraid, and the easiest thing for you to do is leave. Just like two years ago.”
The elevator doors opened and she tried to move past me, but I blocked her access. “You just going to leave me again? Maybe I should go get us some waters and get you another bag of fucking gummy bears.”
Her nut-brown eyes shot up to mine, and I could see the memory knocking behind them. She thought I wouldn’t remember her, but how could I forget?
“And I could come back to a cold, empty bed.” I could hear the fury in my tone and my voice rise, but I couldn’t stop it. “Then I’d run up two flights of stairs to interrogate your friends, who you’d threatened so they wouldn’t tell me anything about the real Sydney. The Sydney I had an amazing night with. Who I wanted to spend more time with. Who I wanted to take to breakfast that morning. Invite to my games every weekend. The girl who rolled in like a whirlwind one night and I couldn’t get out of my head for two fucking years,” I yelled down into her face, and she pulled her head back in surprise.
A few doors opened up down the hall, Jack’s included, and several heads poked out, peering our way. I closed my eyes, feeling my rage swell. This was putting myself out there. I wasn’t ready for it, but I couldn’t get through to her any other way.
Sydney was a destructive tornado whipping through my mind and body. I couldn’t stay away. I had to experience the damage she’d inflict, because just feeling anything with her was better than nothing at all. I was an idiot because I loved Sydney, and even her glare in my direction gave me hope.
When I opened my eyes, she dropped her gaze and shook her head, like she was trying to deflect my words. I wouldn’t let her get away with it, not when she was so close to me.
“Sydney, I want to be with you. Not just one night, but for the foreseeable future. For as long as you can stand me. I want to be with you. I’m all in, Porter. Don’t ruin this… Don’t ruin us before we even get started, because it could be the best thing that’s ever happened to me… to us,” I said low, for her ears only.
Sydney glanced down the hall, noticing the curious faces. Her eyes paused on the
dorm staircase door, and her waist turned in its direction. So I waited. I waited for her to leave me again. In front of all these strangers and her own brother, Sydney was going to take the coward’s way out. I relaxed my body, readying myself for inevitable abandonment and the embarrassment that would follow. Just get it over with.
Then she did something unexpected.
Sydney rose onto her tiptoes, wrapped a hand around the back of my neck, and brought my face down for a kiss. Not just for a kiss, but for life support.
It was fierce and hungry, and at the feel of the heat from her mouth, I wrapped my arms around her waist, dragging her into the elevator. I could feel her smiling through our kiss as I hit the lobby button. When hoots and hollers erupted from the hallway, I laughed into her mouth.
When the doors closed, Sydney turned away from me and pulled the emergency stop.
“Sydney, campus security will be here in five minutes.”
She rapidly pushed her hands down my pants, and any argument was worthless.
“Jesuuusss,” I moaned when she reached the waistband of my boxers, dipped inside, pulling her hand across me. Pushing her up against the elevator rail, I gathered her skirt around her waist and slid my fingers between her thighs. God, she was wet and ready.
Her mouth skimmed across my jaw and stopped at my ear. “I want you, Gray,” she whispered, and I thought I was hallucinating, but she rolled her hand across me again, reminding me this was about to get real—very real.
I dropped my sweats to my knees and raised her soft, strong body against the metal wall. No condom. Why did I not have a condom?
“I’m clean, Sydney. Are you… protected?”
She nodded and settled her hips against the elevator handrail. “Yes and yes.” Her mouth crashed onto mine again, pulling my lips between her teeth.
Clumsily, I tried to pull down her underwear but ended up ripping it off like a caveman. “Fuck, I’m sorry,” I said, unable to hide the embarrassment in my voice.
