The Player and the Bet: An Enemies-to-Lovers College Sports Romance

by Liv Reid

  “Yeah,” I finally say.

  His hand tightens on my shoulder, and he leads me away. I get one quick look at Britney, and I can’t help the smile that crosses my lips. She looks so shocked it’s comical. Her mouth is hanging open and her eyes are wide. All of her friends are looking at us like they just saw the Loch Ness Monster or something.

  Mace leads me away, and my friends follow us.

  He leans down and whispers, “I’ve wanted to do that for the last few days. It’s been next to impossible to resist.”

  It feels good to hear him say he wants me too. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about his lips since the first time we kissed in New York. Even though we’ve been spending so much time together the last few days, we haven’t done anything sexual since he fled from my room after our gazebo date.

  I know we’ve been growing closer, but I never thought he’d kiss me in front of everyone like that. My heart feels warm and fuzzy in my chest.

  “I told her not to do that anymore,” Mace mumbles to himself.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” he says quickly. “This way.”

  He leads us over to a crowded area in the middle of a circle of cars. The music is blasting, and some anonymous person shoves beer cans in all of our hands. Jess, Marty, Luna and I look at each other, then shrug and open our drinks.

  Mace stays by my side and makes an effort to include my friends in his conversations. Pretty soon we are all having a great time. I never thought I’d enjoy something like this, but it turns out it can be really fun when you let yourself go and just give in to the moment.

  But my mind keeps replaying what happened with Britney, and I suddenly realize why she was trying to provoke me. She wanted me to fight her, not because she thought she was going to win, but because she wants me to get expelled. Mace notices the look on my face.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks in concern.

  “Nothing,” I say quickly.

  He looks at me like he doesn’t believe me but doesn’t press the issue. He just puts his arm around my shoulders again and takes a sip of his beer. The weight of his heavy arm feels right somehow. I lean into his side and can smell his familiar scent.

  I can’t believe he’s being so public about this, but I can’t deny I like how it feels. What this means for us, I don’t know, but I’m trying not to think about it. I know Mace and I could never work as a couple, but that thought sends a jolt of pain through my heart, so I push it to the back of my mind.

  I’m going to take a page out of Mace’s book and live in the moment. My life is a complete mess but there’s nothing I can do about it right now, so I might as well enjoy the king of the school’s arm around my shoulder, the jealous looks I’m getting from the other girls and the cold beer in my hand.

  I take a deep sip and listen as Mace jokes around with the other Players.

  34

  Sadie

  I spend the rest of the pep rally tucked under Mace’s arm. My friends eventually call it quits and head back to our dorm. They are reluctant to leave me, but Mace assures them I’ll be fine and they know I’ve only had one beer, so I’m making the sober decision to stay, and eventually they relent and go.

  Later in the night, we’re walking over to another section of the woods when Mace leans down and whispers in my ear, “Come this way. I want to show you something.”

  We break off from the group and head into the darkness under the trees. Immediately, his lips are on mine. He grabs me and presses me backwards into the hard trunk of a tree. He attacks my lips with a passion so intense I find it almost impossible to keep up.

  “I’ve wanted this all night,” he murmurs.

  “Me too,” I gasp.

  His bulge presses into my upper thigh, and I can feel how hard he is. His teeth scrape against the sensitive skin of my neck, and I let out a moan.

  “What did you want to show me?” I pant.

  There’s nothing more I want right now than to keep making out with Mace, but I’m a curious person and have to know. Mace pulls back and gives me a “really?” look. I suddenly realize how dumb I am and laugh. There’s nothing to show me. It was just an excuse to get me alone.

  “Come on,” he says.

  He grabs my hand and pulls me deeper into the woods. We soon come to a small, quiet clearing. There are a few people wandering around, some making out on the grass, but it’s practically empty compared to the other place we just were.

  He leads me over to the edge of the forest, and I see a car tucked between two trees. It’s the same luxurious black SUV that keeps driving us around.

  “Wait, do you have your own driver?” I ask as that realization suddenly dawns on me.

  “Of course,” he says with a shrug, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “He’s around here somewhere. I gave him a couple of hours off, and I’ll call him when I need him. Hop in.”

  He opens the backseat door.

  “This is what you wanted to show me?” I ask jokingly.

  He smirks mischievously. “Alright, you caught me. I just wanted to get you alone. Touching you without actually touching you has been torture. You’ve been teasing me all night.”

  “I haven’t done anything,” I say innocently.

  He looks at me with lust-darkened eyes. He looks like a predator who wants to eat me alive, and I can’t help but shiver.

  “You’ve no idea what you do to me,” he whispers, and my body erupts in goosebumps. “Now, get your ass in that car before I spank it.”

  “Yes, sir,” I joke, but my words make him growl low in his throat in response.

  I move to get in, and he slaps me once on my ass. Just one firm spank. I yelp in surprise, but I don’t have time to do much else because he’s quickly pushing me inside the car and shutting the door behind us.

  He’s on me in an instant, his large body covering mine and ripping off my clothes. I yank his coat off his broad shoulders and push it down his arms. I try to take off his shirt, but it feels like he’s everywhere at once, and I’m suddenly completely naked beneath him.

  When he flicks my nipple with a rough thumb, my fingers sink into the hard flesh of his arms. He continues to work my nipple as his lips find mine again. His tongue licks my bottom lip and then plunges in when I gasp. He kisses me like he wants to devour me.

  I continue trying to pull open his shirt with clumsy fingers that now feel as useless as if they were frozen.

  “Ugh!” I let out a frustrated noise and pull hard on his shirt.

  He leans back and there’s a ripping sound. A shower of buttons lands on my naked skin. I look up. It’s dark in here, but outside a small amount of moonlight makes it down through the canopy of trees and is coming in through the windows. His shirt is open, and I can see his perfect abs outlined in the faint blue glow.

  “Is this what you wanted?” he asks huskily.

  “Yes,” I breathe out.

  I reach up and grab his ruined shirt, using it to bring him back down to me. Our lips collide again and we kiss each other like that moment apart was years long. I run my hands over the smooth, hard muscles of his chest.

  He slips his fingers inside me, and I freeze. He curls them like he did back in my room, and my toes curl with it.

  I hear the sound of his zipper, then I feel his heavy cock against my naked thigh. I want it inside me.

  “Your pussy is so wet,” he mumbles against my skin. “You’re going to drown me, but what a way to go.”

  He leans back, and I hear different sounds. There’s rustling, but it’s too dark to see what he’s doing. I grab impatiently at his clothes and try to pull him to me.

  A second later, he’s back on top, kissing and grabbing me so hard I’m going to have little finger-shaped bruises on my hips tomorrow—but right now I don’t care.

  He shifts and lines himself up at my entrance. I suddenly realize those rustling sounds were him putting on a condom. I breathe out a sigh of relief that we didn’t have to ma
ke a big deal about that. Then, in the next second, I realize how real this just got.

  I’m about to have sex with Mace Law, the quarterback of the Mountain Rebels, the bad boy of Winterford University, the one everyone warns you to stay away from. The guy who I couldn’t stand only a couple of weeks ago.

  And I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.

  This is insane, but it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but us. I spread my legs wider, a clear invitation. I can tell how badly he wants this, but he seems to be hesitating for some reason. I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. He can’t run off again just when we’re about to finally have sex. I couldn’t handle the rejection.

  He’s hovering over me, and it’s dark so I can only see his outline in the moonlight. I feel his breath on my face and his heavy cock resting at my entrance. I squirm against him, slipping just the barest tip inside. He hisses, almost like he’s in pain. He involuntarily thrusts slightly, and I feel the pleasant ache of him starting to stretch me. It feels incredible, and I want the rest of him inside.

  “What are you waiting for?” I finally ask breathlessly.

  “Tell me you want me,” he says in a rough, strained voice.

  I’m taken aback by how he sounds. He sounds like he’s in genuine pain.

  “I want you,” I say without thinking.

  I don’t have any more time to think because immediately he’s inside me.

  I throw my head back against the smooth leather seat, my mouth hanging open in a silent gasp. He was holding himself back for so long that now he can’t go slow. He thrusts in and out of my body, barely giving me time to get used to his size. I’m so turned on that despite how large he is, the stretching quickly turns to pleasure.

  Soon I’m moaning and clinging on to him as he fucks me in the backseat of his chauffeured car. I feel his teeth on my earlobe and my eyes practically cross.

  He pulls back, but keeps his hips moving. He stares down at me, and, even in the dark, I can see how turned on he is as he looks at my naked body. My tits are bouncing as he thrusts, and it’s like he’s hypnotized.

  “Fuck, you have an incredible body,” he says.

  I can’t say anything back because my brain is so swamped with pleasure it’s barely working—and certainly not capable of forming words right now.

  He gives one extra-deep thrust, and my eyes slam shut. I see stars. He then pulls all the way out of me. I breathe out a frustrated grunt as I’m suddenly left feeling empty and hollow.

  I don’t have much time to think though because in the next second he grabs me roughly and flips me over like I weigh nothing. My eyes pop open in surprise, and I find myself on my hands and knees. I look over my shoulder and then Mace is immediately inside me again.

  I let out a moan so loud I think I just made both of us deaf, as he hits a new angle. This new position, and his ample girth, hits me in just the right spot.

  My eyes cross and all I can do is cling on to the seat desperately as the pleasure builds quickly like an out-of-control freight train. That’s what this thing between us feels like, like we are both out of control and just spurring each other on even though neither of us knows where we are going.

  He grunts and buries his fingers into the soft flesh of my hips. He uses his strong grip to pull me back against him with each thrust. The sounds of our flesh slapping together fill the small space. The smell of sex and his cologne hang in the air.

  “Fuck yeah. The sight of your ass is so fucking hot it’s going to make me come,” he groans.

  I can’t believe it, but I’m close too.

  “Yes,” I moan, and the sound seems to make him slam his hips into me even harder.

  He shifts behind me and reaches down. I’m barely aware of anything except the slightly different angle of his cock, hitting places inside me that are so good it feels hard to breathe. Suddenly, I freeze as pleasure shoots from my clit and up my body. He’s rubbing in just the right spot.

  I don’t have time to think before I’m convulsing around his cock and grinding into his fingers. My orgasm rocks through my body like an earthquake. I feel untethered and can’t concentrate on anything except the amazing pleasure he’s giving me. Stars burst behind my closed eyelids.

  I’m barely aware of him saying, “Yes, that’s my fucking girl. Come on that cock,” but the rough, almost desperate, tone of his deep voice draws out my orgasm. I can tell he’s so close to the edge he’s about to come with me.

  Finally, my arms give out, and I fall down onto the seat, gasping and shaking.

  His hips slam into me violently, until I hear a strangled growl, and he pulls out. There’s a snapping sound—which I will later realize is him ripping off the condom, but at the moment I’m too high off pleasure to think straight—then I feel warm ribbons of cum shoot all over my ass and back.

  I lay, catching my breath and coming back to myself as Mace shoots his load all over me. It feels like he comes for ages before finally collapsing back in the seat, breathing heavily.

  “Wow,” he mumbles, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “That was one of the best fucks of my life.”

  It was the best fuck of mine, but I’m not ready to tell him that—not yet. I raise myself up on shaking arms that feel like spaghetti. My head is still swimming, and my pussy already aches in the most delicious way. I want to sit down. I look over my shoulder at him.

  “Uh, Mace?”

  He looks at me dumbly. “Yeah?”

  I just look at him with raised eyebrows. He’s still in post-orgasm bliss, so it takes a few seconds for his brain to figure out the very obvious issue I’m facing.

  “Oh, right,” he says and quickly leans down to pick up my panties.

  He wipes the cum off my back with the thin fabric.

  “Gee, thanks,” I say sarcastically.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll buy you a new pair. In fact, I’ll buy you any lingerie you want. Just remember that skankier is always better.” He raises his eyebrows suggestively, and I can’t help but laugh.

  His cleaning efforts linger on my ass for way longer than necessary.

  “You’ve got a great ass.”

  “Um, thanks,” I say awkwardly. I’m not sure what else to say.

  He drops the panties on the floor of the car, and I wonder who’ll end up cleaning those up. I can’t think about it for long because in the next second Mace is dragging me to him. I let out a squeak as he crushes me against his large body. In the next second, he kisses my breath away.

  “That was amazing,” he says with a smirk, and for once the smirk doesn’t bother me.

  “Yeah.” I try to sound noncommittal but can’t stop a smile from spreading across my face.

  It was amazing, but there’s no way it was as good for him as it was for me. He could get any girl he wants—and probably does. He’s just being post-sex charming, and I’m not going to complain about that.

  It suddenly dawns on me for the first time that we just had sex in a car in the middle of a very busy party. I nervously turn to look out the windows and find them steamy. It would be hard for anyone to see inside right now—hard, but not impossible.

  I try to cover myself self-consciously. Mace nuzzles my neck and places a kiss on it. A shiver flows through my body from my neck down to my toes. Even though I’m already sore, I suddenly want to do it again.

  I start looking around the small space for my clothes, eager to get something on my body just in case we get caught. With a sigh, Mace reluctantly lets me go. I quickly get dressed while he does the same. He pulls up his pants and zips up his fly. His shirt is completely ruined and hangs open with its ripped threads hanging off it where the buttons used to be. I can’t help but sneak another peek at his perfect abs as he sits and waits for me to finish.

  When I’m almost done, I look up and realize he’s been watching me the entire time with dark, hungry eyes. My heart catches in my throat, and I have to look away, otherwise I won’t be able to resis
t climbing back on to his lap for round two.

  He pulls out his phone and makes a call. Suddenly fear floods through me. Who could he possibly be calling right now? A horrifying thought barges into my mind. His demeanor changed so quickly in the last couple of weeks that I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a bet with his idiot friends to see if he could fuck me or something. It would suit the cliché jock stereotype that he is. I could see them right now, gathered together in the locker room, joking about how much it sucks he has to hang out with the biggest loser at Winterford and betting on if he could fuck her or not.

  He’s probably calling right now to tell them he made good on the bet before he kicks me out of the car. I’m so stupid to have trusted him.

  “Who are you calling?” I ask, my heart in my throat.

  “Driver.”

  Just as fast, relief washes away the fear. You’re being ridiculous, Sadie. Sometimes my mind spins out of control and concocts the strangest things.

  “Ready,” he says into the phone, then hangs up and turns to me. “I’m taking you home with me.”

  35

  Mace

  She spent the night in my bed, and I wake up with her in my arms. It’s a surreal experience for me. I don’t normally let girls sleep over. Normally, I can’t wait for them to leave once we’re done so I can get some sleep, but with her it’s different. I didn’t want her to go anywhere.

  I don’t understand what’s happening.

  The whole night is a blur of sex and half-sleep. As soon as we got back to my room, we went for round two. I was hard for her almost as soon as we’d finished round one and couldn’t wait to get back in her panties—only she wasn’t wearing any anymore.

  We drifted off to sleep, then woke up sometime later and did it all again. That kept happening for the rest of the night. It’s like we are magnets and there’s some force that keeps drawing us together. I can’t describe it, but it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.

  The whole night was incredible, and it’s going to give me spank bank material for a long time to come. I don’t want to say it was the best night of my life because that’s too terrifying, too much pressure, and what if it all goes wrong? What if she doesn’t feel the same way? What if she wakes up and wants to pretend none of it ever happened? No, I won’t admit it was the best sex of my life or the best night I’ve ever had. I won’t.