Scored

by Sloane Howell

  I released her and stepped back. Kelsey’s chest heaved up and down with each deep breath she sucked into her lungs. Her cheeks were fully flushed with pink hues this time and she almost looked catatonic, like she was frozen in some sort of trance.

  I waggled my eyebrows at her and grinned. “Tell me how girly that shit was.”

  She finally regained her composure and I reached down and took her hand once more. She squeezed it back, hard, and a warmth spread through my chest.

  “It was a little manly. I guess.” Her words came out weak on her labored breaths. She leaned into me as we walked.

  When we were about a block from the parking lot I glanced over to her. “My turn. Top five concerts. Go!”

  Kelsey didn’t miss a beat and immediately belted out, “One, Stones, obviously. Two, White Stripes. Three, Pearl Jam. Four, Florence + the Machine. Five—” She hesitated and stopped in her tracks.

  I stopped while she looked out at the line of headlights on the road, seemingly thinking through her next words.

  After a few beats she cleared her throat and looked up at me. “Five, Spinderellas at Bizzell.” A smile crept across her lips.

  “Was it this show? Or the one you saw before?”

  “This was my first time seeing them at Bizzell.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep.”

  “I thought it was an amazing show, too. Definitely in my top five.” My Mercedes came into view and I steered us in that direction.

  I looked down and noticed Kelsey had both of her hands wrapped around mine. Something told me she probably hadn’t noticed it, but I didn’t give a shit. She was amazing.

  “Real quick, before we get to your car. Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

  I liked the game. It was fun. Rendering Kelsey speechless had been the highlight so far, but I needed to give her something in return.

  “Okay, I’ve got one.” I nodded.

  “Mmm, yeah, give me the juicy deets. Then slap me for saying deets.”

  I chuckled. “I hate this shirt that I have on.”

  She stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms. She really should’ve given warning before she did things like that. The way it shoved her tits together kept my dick popping up like it was auditioning for the lead on Meerkat Manor.

  “You hate your shirt? That’s the big reveal?”

  She released my hand and I scrubbed it through my hair. “Yep, that’s pretty much it.”

  Kelsey frowned. “Well, why did you wear it, then?”

  She fell right into my trap. I couldn’t go on dressing like this forever anyway. It just wasn’t me.

  “I usually dress, well—like you do. When I’m not working, anyway.”

  Shit!

  Kelsey died laughing.

  Smooth, Matty. Really fucking smooth.

  “Maybe we can go jeans shopping sometime?” Her face was red and her whole body shook trying to hold back another outburst of chuckling.

  I started to say something when she said, “What are your thoughts on capris? The denim capris, of course. I couldn’t see you in khaki.”

  I’d learned in all of my years that there were two kinds of guys when their masculinity was called into question. Those who angered and those who were comfortable enough with their sexuality to play along. The first screamed insecure and there wasn’t a drop of insecurity in my body.

  “Don’t be jealous of how great my ass would look in women’s jeans.”

  Kelsey chuckled and then bit her lip playfully.

  That’s right. You’re thinking about my ass, aren’t you, Kelsey?

  I did a slow spin so she could have a look. She’d been swaying her hips in front of me all night, making my dick twitch. It was high time I gave her a clit flutter to deal with.

  She whistled. “It is a decent ass, Matthew. I’ll give you that.”

  I halted when I faced her once again. Matthew. Only my mother ever called me that. Well, and Ethan, when he was being a prick. Something about the words falling from Kelsey’s soft, magnificent lips—I don’t know, but I liked it. I liked her. A lot.

  “No, but seriously. I don’t wear these shirts. I have a closet full of workout clothes and T-shirts of my favorite bands. Oh, and Chucks. Definitely Chucks.”

  Kelsey looked down at my feet and then hers. “They are essential, aren’t they?”

  “Yep.”

  She regarded me for a quick moment. “So why didn’t you just wear one of your shirts you usually wear?”

  I looked away. “It’s stupid.”

  “No, tell me.”

  I sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want you to think I was just dressing like that to score points or something? Like you’d think I was just wearing it to try and hook up with you. I mean, I figured it might look that way, from your point of view. It was stupid.” I paused. “And I wanted to look nice for you, too. But that’s why I’m telling you. I don’t usually wear shirts like this. I’ll shut up now.”

  She stared at me for a minute and it seemed a battle was taking place somewhere behind her eyes. “That’s actually pretty sweet and thoughtful.”

  “Thank you.”

  She grinned. “And weird.”

  My smile faded.

  She reached out and grabbed my forearm. “No, no. Like a good weird. Not creepy weird. I like that you thought about details like that. Most guys don’t give a fuck.”

  I shrugged. “I usually don’t. But it was you.”

  The moon lit the side of her face while she stared up at me. “You say things like that and it just—” She shook her head.

  “What?”

  She laughed, but it was one of those sarcastic laughs. Like she couldn’t believe why I would ask such a question.

  “It’s like you elevate me up to your level. Like I’m something special. I’m just a normal commoner. There are hundreds of thousands of girls just like me all over the world, and you could take your pick. I’m not trying to shit all over who I am, I’m just being honest with you.”

  “Well, I think you are, in fact, special, and that there’s no one else like you. And just because more people know who I am, it doesn’t mean I’m not just a normal person.” I looked out to the west. “I was born in a hospital a couple of miles from here. Not in a manger with wise men.”

  Kelsey narrowed her eyes at me and then she nodded. “You’re right.”

  I leaned over to her and cupped a hand to my ear. “Huh? Didn’t catch that.”

  She shoved me away by the shoulder, playfully. “I’m not saying it again.”

  I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Fine. And I didn’t realize my shirt would bring out some deep philosophical shit.”

  “Well, you look nice in the shirt. But you have proven that you are a music junkie, like myself. So from now on, just be yourself, okay?”

  “Deal.” I paused. “And seriously, if I’d shown up in a Spinderellas shirt it would’ve been awk. Wouldn’t it?”

  “Yeah.” She drew out the word. “You’re right. I probably would’ve judged you. I hate saying that. Your thoughts were pretty accurate.” She smiled at me. “But I know you a lot better now.” She paused. “It’s funny, isn’t it?”

  “What?”

  “I mean, we’ve met like, what, a handful of times? But we really didn’t know much about each other until tonight. I mean, you checked me out plenty of times and flirted, but we never really had a chance to talk.”

  “Wait, I flirted? You were the flirt!”

  “No!” She gasped as she said it. “It was all you. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” She looked out at the night sky.

  “You still hungry?”

  “You know, I’m not really.”

  My heart felt like it dropped into my stomach. I thought for sure she’d actually let me take her somewhere to get food. I didn’t want the night to end. Ever.

  She reached over and slid her hand into mine. “But I could sit and talk for a while.” />
  My heart went back to a full-on sprint in my chest.

  We sat on the hood of my car and talked for another hour in the parking lot. Before we were done she had on one of my baseball jackets I’d retrieved from the car. She told me about musicians she’d dated and I wanted to use their faces for batting practice after hearing how they’d treated her. How could some loser guy do that to her?

  We talked about our favorite bands, shows we’d seen, everything we loved about music.

  At the end of the date I drove her home and walked her to the front door of her apartment.

  “I don’t have a house and a porch like you talked about earlier.”

  I put my palms on both of her cheeks, just like I’d told her I would, and then snaked my hands through her sandy locks of hair. Her eyes fluttered closed and then opened again. There was a spark inside them that hadn’t been there all night and she nuzzled her cheek into one of my palms.

  “It doesn’t matter. I could do this anywhere.”

  “Please do.”

  Her soft skin was heaven against my fingertips. “I don’t want tonight to end. But I’ll do whatever it takes to get more tonights out of you.”

  She started to speak and I slid a finger over her lips. Fuck me if they didn’t feel perfect like the rest of her.

  “But if you’re worried about screwing things up with our friends, or think we could ruin that, I’ll wait. Not because I want to. But because I don’t want you to be anything but happy.”

  “I want—”

  “You don’t have to say anything. I’ll call you tomorrow after you’ve had time to think about things. I want another date with you. You choose if and when that will happen, okay?”

  I fought every urge in my body to kiss her right then and there. She’d have let me. We both knew it. I could see it written all over her face and feel it in every one of her actions—but when I kissed Kelsey Martin for the first time, it wasn’t going to be something she regretted the next day. That wasn’t an option.

  I ran my hands through her hair one last time and cupped the back of her head.

  “This was hands down the best first date I’ve ever had in my life.”

  She nodded against my hand with half-hooded eyes. I snaked my hand back through her hair and released her.

  She turned and I watched her walk through the door. At the last second she peeked over her shoulder and a huge smile spread across her face. She waved and disappeared inside her apartment.

  When I got back in my car I thought I might vomit. I hadn’t planned on the emotions and feelings being that intense with Kelsey Martin when I’d asked her out. It wasn’t right, what I was doing. What if I had to leave for New York? I mean, I wanted to stay in Texas. I probably would stay in Texas. But shit fell through all the time. Nothing was ever totally in my control.

  The worst part of it was that I could tell she felt the same way, even if she did put up her walls. I knew how she felt or I wouldn’t have let my guard down for as long as I had.

  We hadn’t even kissed at this point and I could already tell that she was susceptible to being hurt. Maybe Ethan was right after all.

  —

  I sat down on my couch and pulled my phone out in front of me before swiping the screen. Ethan’s head shot from the firm with a Snapchat filter of him throwing up a rainbow sat inches from my face. Obviously, I laughed and pressed the screen to call him.

  I counted out the rings and like clockwork he picked up right after number three.

  “Always three.” I shook my head.

  “I don’t know why you think I’m going to do something different every time. What do you want?”

  I let out an over-the-top gasp. “Is that any way to talk to your best friend and biggest client?”

  “I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment.”

  “I actually called to talk about my contract, if you must know.”

  I heard Jenny grumble something in the background. “Oh good, she’s there. Glad you guys are making this easy on me.” I grinned.

  “Yep. Get on with it.”

  “You know what I want.” I whispered like it was a secret code voice.

  Ethan inhaled a long breath. “She likes you. She’s worried. It’s not a good time for her. But you’re awesome. You have great taste in music. She thinks you’re hot as balls. We done here?” Ethan spoke faster than one of those infomercial people trying to make a sale. “Ouch!”

  It sounded like he took a punch. I couldn’t help but smile.

  “You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.” I made sure to speak as slow as humanly possible, just to make him wait it out. Dragging this on while Jenny sat on the bed—most likely naked—seemed like a pretty good way to entertain myself.

  Static and rustling landed in my ear and Jenny’s voice rumbled through the speaker loud and insistent. “You did good, Matt. But I need to borrow Ethan’s body for” —she paused—“thirty seconds or so. And then you can call him back, okay?”

  I nearly choked on a glass of water I took a sip from.

  “What the fuck? Thirty seconds, my ass!” Ethan’s voice boomed from the background.

  “Shh, babe. You know you can’t handle this.”

  I appreciated the fact that Jenny appeared much more comfortable with our friendship, but we had quickly approached the land of TMI.

  “Did she say anything specific?” Jesus, I sounded like an excited twelve-year-old boy with a crush. Part of me didn’t care, though, because it’s exactly what I felt like.

  “We have to go. Ethan looks like he might cry.” She laughed. “But seriously, Matt?”

  “Yeah?”

  “She is tough as nails and guarded. But she has feelings, too. And if you hurt her I will kill you. And I don’t mean that figuratively. I will literally put you in the ground.”

  I nodded. “I know.”

  “You need to figure out if you’re going to be around before you take it any further. And you need to tell her about it, because I can’t, legally.”

  “I know.”

  “Good. We won’t have any problems, then. Have a nice evening.”

  “Night.”

  I tossed my phone aside on the couch and grabbed the remote. Anxiety ate at my stomach. The television flickered on to SportsCenter. Hockey highlights played, nothing exciting. I grabbed my favorite book of all time—Cash by Johnny Cash—off the coffee table and started to read, but nothing registered.

  Kelsey Martin held every thought in my head. I groaned. “Fuck.”

  I dropped back on the couch and kicked my feet up. When I looked up at the ceiling all I could picture was Kelsey on top of me, her hair falling around my face as she leaned down for a kiss. My cock twitched in the gym shorts I’d changed into.

  I rolled my eyes over to the television. Still hockey.

  You like the way I ride you?

  My brain was fucking relentless.

  Kelsey’s words, all in my mind, of course.

  She licked down my neck and her soft-yet-firm tits pressed into my chest and slid down as she took me deeper. I glanced down at my aching cock that went from Leaning Tower of Pisa to Empire State Building in roughly three seconds.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Well, you aren’t going away anytime soon, are you?” I reached down the front of my shorts and fisted my dick. He approached morning wood status. “Impressive. Guess I better help you out with that so you can sleep tonight.”

  I slid my hand up and down my shaft and imagined Kelsey’s tight, wet pussy taking all of me. In and out slowly as she moaned with each thrust.

  I raised my hips up and slid my shorts halfway down my thighs. There wasn’t time to get them all the way off when I was balls deep in imaginary Kelsey.

  God, your cock is amazing.

  I haven’t even fucked you yet.

  I looked up and it seemed so real. Every expression on her face, every word from her tongue—I lived it.

  Her eyes widened and I cupped her breasts in each
hand, rolling her nipples between my thumb and index finger on each hand. She arched her back and moaned, driving my cock to the hilt.

  My hand sped up and primal instincts took over. I wrapped my arms around Kelsey and locked my fingers behind her back, pinning one of her arms behind her. Lifting up on the balls of my feet, I yanked her into my chest and hammered into her tight pussy. She belted out a squeal that turned into a loud moan.

  “Holy fuck.” Her words were a gravelly mumble and her eyes rolled up into her head. My balls slapped against her ass and the suctioning sound of my cock hammering into her echoed through the room.

  She clamped down on my rock-hard dick when an orgasm ripped through her limbs. Her lips formed an O and she looked like she wanted to scream, but the words caught in her throat. My balls tensed and a huge load crept up my shaft.

  I grunted and held it back as long as I could before pulling out of the warm wonderland that was her wet pussy. I started to reach down as her orgasm finally subsided and her eyes locked on to mine.

  Let me. She reached back and stroked my cock. I let loose after her second stroke and groaned. Hot jets of come shot across her ass as I thrusted into her hand.

  She milked every drop from my cock and my fantasy subsided. My breaths came fast and hard. I opened my eyes and realized I was still thrusting into my own hand. The V-neck tee I’d worn was covered in a jizz bomb from hell, and my cock was still hard as fuck in my hand.

  I glanced at the shirt once more. “Well, I didn’t like you anyway.”

  The back of my head sank into the couch with a thud when I fell back. Sweat beads formed across my hairline and I fought a moment longer to catch my breath.

  Jesus Christ, I have it bad for this girl.

  I stood up and carefully removed my shirt without covering my face in jizz. The kitchen lights were still on and I walked shirtless to the pantry door. I opened it and tossed the shirt into the trash can.