Next Man Up (Making the Score Football Romance Book 2)

by Tawdra Kandle

  But as he so frequently did, Eli surprised me. He did speak up, but his tone was mild, belying any inner mad. And he addressed me first.

  “Chill, Zelda. Nate didn’t mean anything. You know that. And Nate, Zelda was just being sarcastic. She was pointing out that while Quinn says she and Leo are over, she’s not moving on. Are we all clear about this?” He glared around the circle of us. “Christ, what’s wrong with everyone today? I’m the surly one, remember? I’m the only guy entitled to be pissed off and moody here. I’m watching a football game. From my fucking wheelchair. Taylor’s a gifted player, sure, but he doesn’t have the moves I did. Trust me on that. And Matt Lampert—” Eli’s lip curled in derision. “That fucker is wasting the chance I’d kill to have. He’s throwing it away with both hands. You can defend him as much as you want, G, but we all know it’s true. So, if I’m not sitting here moaning and bitching, the rest of you sure as hell shouldn’t be. Got it?”

  At first, Quinn, Gia and Nate seemed stunned by Eli’s outburst . . . and then Gia started giggling, Quinn joined in, and before long, all of us were laughing. Even Eli grinned, shaking his head at us.

  I gazed at him, at his full lower lip, his arms rippling with muscle, and God, I fell for him all over again. I wanted to claim him as mine, then and there, in front of all of our friends. I wanted to kiss him senseless and then drag him off to my bedroom.

  But it turned out that I was a huge coward. I couldn’t make myself do it, not yet. Instead, I stood up and stretched, wandering toward Eli, meeting his eyes and smiling into them, hoping he could see what I felt even when I couldn’t say it out loud.

  “Come on, Eli. I’m hungry for chocolate ice cream, and I don’t want to go alone. Let me take you and your fucking wheelchair away from the annoying football game.” I tilted my head, waiting for his answer.

  Eli looked at me, his expression softening. Nodding, he released the brake on his chair and wheeled toward me. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” He shot a quelling look at our friends. “We’ll see you guys later. Try not to brawl while we’re gone.”

  After we’d closed the apartment door behind us, I realized I’d forgotten a jacket. Darting back inside, I overheard Quinn’s squeal of laughter.

  “Did you hear that? She called him Eli.”

  “She always calls him Eli.” That was Nate, sounding reasonable. “As long as we’ve been friends she’s done that. Why is it such a big deal now?”

  “Haven’t you noticed how Tuck stares at Zelda? And when she thinks we’re not looking, she’s staring right back. Gia and I are almost positive they’re seeing each other secretly.”

  My cheeks burned. Shit. We’d been made. Part of me wanted to hang around longer and listen, to find out just how much they suspected, and the other part wanted to get away fast.

  Considering that Eli was waiting for me in the hall, that was the part that won out.

  “Do you really want ice cream, or was that just an excuse? Because I hope it was. My apartment is empty, Zel. Why the hell were we up there watching football when we could’ve been in my bed together this whole time?”

  “Good question,” I murmured. “Do you think Nate’s going to stay up here long enough, though? What if he comes back down before we’re, uh, done?”

  Eli smirked. “Babe, it’s been weeks since we’ve had sex. Trust me when I say it’s not going to take that long.”

  “Great.” I heaved a long sigh, pretending to be disappointed. “That’s a perfect way to lure me to your bed. Promise me mediocre sex.”

  “Hey.” Eli caught my wrist as we entered the elevator. Turning my arm, he lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss in the center of my palm. “Any sex between you and me is never mediocre. Fast doesn’t mean bad. I promise, babe, I’ll have you moaning my name as you come within the first ten minutes. That’s a guarantee.”

  A shiver ran up my spine. “I take guarantees very seriously. Is there a money-back option there?”

  The elevator doors slid open, and we stepped into the hallway. “I don’t know about money, but let’s just say that if I don’t do what I say within the time span I promised, I’ll continue until I get the job done and I’ll throw in an extra orgasm, too. You’re not going to get a deal like that anywhere else.”

  I smirked, leaning against the wall as Eli unlocked the door to his apartment. “Since I’m not looking for orgasms anywhere else, that’s a moot point. But I appreciate the sentiment.”

  The door swung open, and Eli spread his hand. “After you.” Once we were safely inside, with the door closed and locked behind us, he grabbed me around the waist, hauling me onto his lap.

  “Hey.” He traced my cheekbone with one finger, his eyes alight with something I wasn’t ready to name yet. “You’ll never know how much that means to me—that all of your orgasms come from me. That you’re not looking for them anywhere else. That you and I belong to each other.”

  “Always,” I murmured. “But if this is your way of stalling, I’m going to point out that the clock is ticking.”

  Eli grinned. “Don’t you know I’ve already begun, baby?” Moving his chair with one powerful arm—and don’t think that wasn’t a turn-on, that muscled arm steering both of us toward his bedroom—he used his free hand to unbutton my jeans, easing down the zipper. “Move up just a little,” he whispered. “Just so I can—yeah, that’s it.”

  His fingers slid between my legs, and he smiled again, his eyebrows raising when he found me already wet and ready through my silky panties.

  “Close the door behind us, Zel.” His bent over me, seeking my lips. “I need my hands for more important things right now.”

  “Yes.” I fairly gasped the word, as his fingers nudged my underwear out of the way and began to move over me. “Door closed. Mission accomplished.”

  “Not quite yet.” He spoke against my lips. “But getting damn close.” His finger found my clit, circling it languidly. “If you wanted to play with your tits, babe, feel free. I’d like to be sucking those pretty pink nipples, but I’m not sure it’s possible logistically.”

  “Anything is—possible.” I shifted a little on his lap, reaching behind me to unhook my bra. “You just need the right motivation and some initiative. I’ve got that in spades.” With my bra loose, I yanked up my shirt, shoving all the material out of the way and arched my back, presenting my boobs to his mouth. “No excuses, babe. But I think you lose points for not thinking of this yourself.”

  “Do I?” His head bent over me, and his lips captured one aching peak. “Let’s see if I can make up those points somehow.”

  His mouth worked on my nipple in complete concert with his fingers between my legs. He wasn’t playing now; his hand was hard against me, rubbing relentlessly, bringing the focus of my entire being to that one small spot on my body that was slick with need and throbbing for release. I moaned, grasping blindly to link my hands around his neck and hold myself even tighter to him, desperate now to reach that climax that I’d been craving.

  “Come for me now, Zelda.” Eli plunged two fingers into me, using his thumb to continue the assault on my clit. “Come against my hand. Let go, baby. Let it come.”

  His teeth bit down just slightly on my nipple, and that was all it took. My hips raised and froze, pressing wildly against his hand, my inner channels pulsing around his fingers as the orgasm rolled over me like a wave breaking again and again.

  I was almost sobbing with relief as he brought me down with gentler touches and quiet words, kissing a path up my neck until he reached my lips again. I collapsed back to his lap, cuddling closer with a sigh of total surrender.

  “Now that is mission accomplished.” I heard the smugness in his voice, but damned if I was going to argue with his words.

  “And no need for an extra orgasm, either.” I let faint regret tinge my tone. “Shit.”

  His chest moved as he chuckled, brushing my hair away from my face. “You know what? I think we can still make that happen. I’m a gen
erous guy . . . and satisfaction—repeated customer satisfaction—is my number one goal.”

  I sighed happily. “God bless the guarantee.”

  Much later, we both lay in Eli’s bed. My head rested on his chest, and his hand was on my breast, lightly stroking my nipple. I wasn’t even sure he was aware that he was doing it; I’d already come twice more and ridden him to what had sounded like a mind-blowing climax. But we were greedy, both of us. Greedy for each other, which was the best kind of avarice.

  “I’m not at all sorry we left the football game,” I mused, brushing my palm over Eli’s chest. “Gia makes me a little crazy sometimes, the way she goes on about Matt and all the injustice he deals with.”

  Eli stiffened a bit, his touch stuttering just slightly before it resumed. “I still think you should’ve told her about Matt. Christ, Zel, we should’ve called the cops that day. What if he does it to someone else? What if the next time, there’s no one to stop him?”

  “Don’t you think that haunts me? Don’t you think I’ve considered it, again and again?” I raised my head to look into Eli’s eyes. “And I always come back to one thing. What if Gia didn’t believe me? I mean, we don’t have any evidence. If she took Matt’s side and swore it couldn’t have happened . . .” I shook my head. “I don’t think I could take that.”

  “If you filed charges against him, the police would have to look into it. The school would have to investigate it.” Eli was stubborn about this. It had been a point of contention between us since the day that Matt had tried to attack me.

  “I’m not sure they would.” I rested my chin on my fist in the center of his chest. “Quinn told me once that she thinks Matt is the way he is because he’s never been held accountable for any of his actions. She said that with his grandparents being so rich and influential, any time he acted out or did something wrong or even criminal, it was covered up. Made to go away. Why would this be any different?”

  Eli blew out a breath of frustration. “I don’t know. Because I want it to be different? Because this time, it was you he almost raped?”

  I winced at his use of that word. I’d been unable to say it, even to myself. Attack somehow was more palatable to me than rape.

  But the truth was that I knew Matt would’ve raped me that day, if Eli hadn’t come in at the right time or if I’d been unable to fend Matt off. I hadn’t spoken of it to anyone—not to Quinn, certainly, who was wrapped up in her own misery at the moment. And whenever Eli and I discussed it, we came back to the same point, over and over.

  Thinking about that now, I subtly changed the subject. “I’m sorry about the football game, by the way. When you said what you did, I felt horrible. Why didn’t any of us stop to think that maybe it’s still painful for you to watch the game? We’re shitty friends.”

  “Nah, you’re not.” Eli combed his fingers through my hair. “And actually, I don’t mind it. I can still enjoy the game. I still love the game, you know? It’s just kind of hard when I think about someone like Matt. He has all the opportunities in the world. He’s talented—I hate to admit that, but it’s true—and he’s strong. He was given the chance to play football at a top-notch college. If he were a little more of a team player, if he wasn’t so much of an asshole, he’d be logging more time on the field and less on the bench. So yes, that irritates the fuck out of me.”

  “Do you miss it?” I laid my cheek back against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “Do you miss being out there, even now?”

  For a moment, he was quiet, and I was half-afraid that I’d offended him, said the wrong thing. Then he sighed.

  “I do. I miss . . . the team. The sense of having a group of guys who know what we’re doing, who live the same kind of life and who love the game, too. I miss the smell of it—that’s what I remember most from the last night I played. The smells. The feels. I loved it all, from the time I played peewee football to the night I broke my back.

  “So sure, I miss it. But in another sense, I don’t. Playing football made me arrogant. It made me—” He paused. “If I had continued playing, if I’d never been hurt, there’s a decent chance that I would’ve ended up like Matt Lampert. I would’ve been a cocky asshole, getting everything that I ever wanted without much effort at all. And if losing the ability to play the game means I avoided that . . . then I don’t mind.”

  I pressed a kiss to his pec, just above the flat brown nipple. “I can’t imagine you ever being like Matt. There’s something rotten and wrong about him, something off deep inside. You’re not made that way. I think if you hadn’t gotten hurt, you’d have matured. You’d have grown up and realized that you weren’t really a dick.” With one finger, I drew a light circle around his nipple, smiling when he shivered. “As I understand it, Leo wasn’t always the nicest person, but he seems to be outgrowing his issues.”

  “I’m surprised to hear you say that.” Eli captured my hand and lifted my fingers to his mouth, brushing kisses over my knuckles. “I didn’t think you were a big fan of Leo Taylor. Especially after this summer.”

  “Well . . .” I considered. “I don’t dislike Leo. I’m pretty sure he’s a good guy. How could Quinn love him so much if he wasn’t? I don’t like it when he hurts her, but I don’t think he would ever do that on purpose. It’s a fucked-up situation, and that’s no one’s fault.”

  “You could blame football.”

  I laughed. “I could, but Leo wouldn’t be the man he is if he didn’t love the game. Quinn doesn’t realize that yet. And it’s not the game that’s tearing those two apart—it’s all the shit that goes along with it.”

  A slamming door made us both freeze. I held my breath, my eyes wide, as we heard Nate’s steps, coming closer and closer.

  “If we’re really quiet, maybe he’ll go away.” Eli breathed the words into my ear. “Don’t make a move. Or a sound.”

  “Tuck! You here?” It sounded as though Nate was standing right outside Eli’s bedroom door. I prayed he didn’t open it. We’d been a little preoccupied when we’d gotten to the bedroom, and we hadn’t locked the door.

  After a few agonizing moments, Nate moved on. His bedroom door closed, and shortly after that, music began to play.

  “That was close.” Eli grinned at me. “It’s a good thing Nate suffers from a basic lack of curiosity. And a healthy respect for my privacy. Otherwise, he would’ve opened the door to see if I was in here.”

  “Holy shit.” I closed my eyes, letting out the breath I’d been holding. “We’re lucky he was alone, too. I’m surprised Quinn wasn’t with him. They seem to be hanging out more these days.” I made a face, wrinkling my nose. “Actually, I don’t like where that’s heading.”

  “Really? Why not?” Eli tucked my hair behind my ear. “I thought you liked Nate.”

  “I do. Mostly. But have you noticed that he seems to have some kind of strange hold on Quinn? I swear it goes back to when they were kids. She’s uber-protective of him, and anything he asks of her, she does. Back we were all freshmen, Gia told me that it was at least partly Nate’s fault that Leo and Quinn broke up in high school. And I don’t think he’s at all unhappy that they’re not together anymore now. I’ve been seeing things. . . I think Nate’s getting ready to make his move.”

  Eli narrowed his eyes. “You make it sound like Nate’s going to trick Quinn into . . . what, dating him? Falling in love with him? Sleeping with him?”

  “You can laugh, but I think that’s exactly what he’s going to do. He’s playing on Quinn’s natural sympathy for him, and he’s going to reel her in. By the time she realizes she’s in a relationship with him, it’ll be too late.”

  “Zel, I don’t think Nate’s as calculating as you’re saying.” Eli sighed. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s single-minded, sure. When he knows what he wants, he’s going to go after it.” He paused. “Maybe you’re onto something, come to think of it. Nate told me yesterday he was going to talk Quinn into going to Homecoming with him. He said it was for her own good, because she’s mop
ing and he thinks she needs to move on.”

  “Ugh!” I dropped my face down onto Eli’s chest again. “Dammit. And there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “Speaking of Homecoming, are you interested in going to the dance?” Eli’s words were measured and neutral. “You know, if some hot stud asked you?”

  “Well, which hot stud might ask me? What have you heard?” I blinked in feigned innocence, and Eli pinched my side.

  “Brat. I was referring to the hot stud who just made you come three times. And you knew it.”

  “Oh, that one.” I winked at him, but then my smile faded. “No, I don’t have any interest in going to Homecoming, Eli. It’s not my thing. I’d rather spend time with you, alone.”

  He was quiet for a few seconds. “Okay.”

  “Is it really?” I touched his chin, nudging his face so that he didn’t have any choice but to look me in the eye. “Because if this is something important to you . . .”

  “It’s not really the dance that’s important,” Eli conceded. “But I’ll be honest. I’d like to do something . . . public. Where we’re out together. I feel like we’re hiding, Zel. I want everyone to know you’re mine.”

  “Isn’t it enough that you and I both know it?” I countered. “Why does anyone else matter?”

  He didn’t answer me for a few minutes. When he did speak, his voice was strained. “Last week, I was waiting for you outside your sustainable practices class. There were a couple of guys sitting near me, just hanging out. I think they were freshmen. I saw you come through the door, and those guys did, too. They started talking.” He cleared his throat. “They were talking about you. About how you look, about things they’d heard. They didn’t even really know you, but they knew of you. They knew you by reputation.” Eli ran one hand over my shoulder and down my back. “I know you belong to me. I know you’re not with anyone else. But I want the world to know it. I want the right to be tell dudes like that to shut the hell up, because they’re talking about my girlfriend. I don’t think that’s asking too much.”