“Dray, I would never. I meant what I said. You aren’t to blame, and you don’t deserve to carry around that sort of guilt.”
Our eyes locked and my heart started to race when I felt his hot breath fan my face. A current of electricity surged between us, becoming stronger as we moved closer. I’d always been impossibly attracted to Drayton, but now that I knew him on a deeper level, a level that opened a wider understanding and a more intimate connection displayed by trust, I was certain that I loved him.
He closed the distance between us, and our mouths met, erupting so much need from within me that I couldn’t move fast enough to wrap my arms around his neck. I couldn’t get him close enough as I threw my leg over his lap. His hands slid up my thighs as we kissed with a passion so strong that I could feel my head spinning because of his touch, his mouth, his hands as they came around to the backs of my thighs.
Traveling up the length of my spine, his hands tangled in the hair on the back of my head as he pulled it back and exposed my throat. He worked his way down my jaw and neck as I ground my hips into his. He groaned, a loud, carnal groan that only added fuel to the burning fire that was flaming all around us.
“Do you want to go upstairs?” My breath was ragged and harsh.
He leaned back, staring up at me with awe and lust. Without giving a verbal answer, he cupped my ass and jumped to his feet, swinging my legs around his waist.
“Fuck yes, I do,” he growled.
Being with Drayton was different. Better. The way that he watched me was tender, but his hands were rough. His touch was driven by affection, but his grip was fueled by desire. The words that he whispered beside my ear, hot breath on my neck, were dirty and carnal but his tone was emotive. Between us existed more than just lust—we knew each other. We were vulnerable and our hearts were on our sleeves, and it was a difference that I never knew was missing. But moving with him, in perfect sync as we’d always done, naked, exposed in more than just a physical sense, I’d never felt more connected to another person before, and it was a sensation that left me undone.
Chapter 17
I was on cloud nine.
I needed a shower; my hair was probably a wreck and I wasn’t going to walk right for a day or two, but I had literally never felt more satisfied in my entire life. It had been a while since the last time I woke up in Drayton’s bedroom. Flecks of light peeped through the trees on the other side of the window. The fireplace was on a low heat, keeping us warm.
I stared out the window and smiled at the feeling of Drayton’s naked chest pressed against my back, his arm slung over and clutching my waist. I was being spooned and it was as perfect as I’d imagined it would be. Happiness wasn’t even the right word for my current state of emotion.
“Morning,” Drayton’s raspy morning voice startled me out of my reverie. His arms tightened around my waist and he softly pressed his lips to the skin behind my ear.
“Hey.” I chewed on my lip as his toe-curling kisses traveled down the side of my throat. It took very little from him to erupt that carnal need that burst under his touch. I was mildly disappointed when his lips stopped and he turned me around to face him.
“Last night was perfect, Cheer.” He brushed his fingers along the length of my forehead, tucking my hair behind my ear as his eyes traveled my face.
“It was perfect,” I agreed, enraptured by his presence. I knew that I was in trouble when my heart felt as if it was going to come out of my chest when he watched me. “So, just for curiosity’s sake, what were you doing last night? Following me?”
“Dreamer,” he scoffed with a grin. He sat up and leaned against the headboard with one arm behind his head. The sheet draped across his hips, revealing his V-line. He was mouthwatering. “I was at Maxon’s. Got bored. I was on my way to see what you were doing.”
“Ah.” I smiled and nodded.
He mimicked me. He wrapped his arm around my middle and pulled me in so that I was on top of him. It was one swift, effortless movement, and his hand tangled in the hair on the back of my head.
“What ar—”
The door opened and we both turned our heads to the left. Standing in the doorway was his father. Drayton lifted the sheet up as I dipped lower so that my chest wasn’t exposed. Even under the cover, I was mortified.
“Dad.” Drayton sat forward and gestured with frustration. “Knock. What the hell?”
His father appeared unfazed. He was tall, like his son. Well built, young with dark hair and stubble—the spitting image of Drayton but with a much more indifferent expression and a suit clinging to his muscular frame. He rested a hand on the doorknob. “You have a phone call with the coach and the head of the sports department at Baylor this morning.”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
“Hello.” He let go of the handle and tugged on the cuff of his sleeve. “I’m Leroy.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I nodded, horrified that I was meeting Drayton’s father for the first time with nothing on but a sheet that probably cost more than my car, but that was irrelevant. He acknowledged me with a brief tip of his head, then turned back to his son with the same no-nonsense expression that he’d regarded him with before.
“Eleven. Be organized, dressed, and alone.”
When he was gone, Drayton relaxed again. He fell back into his pillow and threw an arm across his face. I was disappointed to have met both of his parents under less than ideal circumstances.
“Do you realize that I was naked when I met your aunt and now your dad?” I clutched the sheet and frowned. “How does that happen to a person twice?”
“Lucky bastards. The most I got was the see-through shirt. Where were the naked meet and greets when I knocked on the door?”
I scoffed with amusement and peered over my shoulder. Drayton was still hiding beneath his forearm. “You okay?”
“He used to be cooler,” he mumbled. “I give him grace because losing my sister nearly killed him, but, man, he knows how to push me.”
“He’s pretty set on which college you attend?”
“Yep. He won’t stop hounding me about my letter of intent. I was offered six scholarships. Six. And I’m not even allowed to consider another school.”
Six was impressive. He had options and part of me was desperate to ask if he was offered one near CalArts. But I didn’t. Because I didn’t want him to base his decision on me. It was too big.
“Let’s not talk about it. It pisses me off.”
“Feeling wound up?” I asked, snuggling into his side. “You need an outlet?”
He rolled over me, my body pinned beneath his. “Are you offering one?”
His grin disappeared as he leaned in and trailed soft kisses under my jaw.
On Monday afternoon, in the last ten minutes of lunch, I leaned against my locker in the corridor and swiped through Instagram. Gabby had gone to the library so that she could catch up on her reading but I’d hung back, knowing that my next class was down the hall and there was no point wandering farther off. I scrolled through videos of dance teams that I followed and admired their routines, read announcement posts on new competitions, and marveled at still shots showing the sheer power that it took to move their bodies the way that they did.
I was so immersed, with my lip pinched between my fingers, that I didn’t notice someone coming up behind me. But when a strong pair of hands went around my middle and soft lips touched the side of my neck, I smiled and almost forgot that Drayton and I were meant to be keeping our situation a secret.
“What are you doing?” I turned to face him and swept my eyes along the corridor. There were a few freshmen hanging around near the staircase, but that was it.
Drayton stood tall in front of me and rested a hand on the wall as he backed me into it. “I cannot see you and keep on walking. It’s impossible.” He dipped down and kissed me, softly and gently.
Or it was soft and gentle until his free hand moved to cup my neck and his thumb drew circles on the edge of my
jaw. I melted into it and held a fistful of his shirt. My insatiable need to taste and touch him was overwhelming, and putting a hand to his chest to stop him was almost impossible.
“This is way too public,” my voice hitched as my tongue swiped across my bottom lip. I loved the taste of him. “You’ll get us caught.”
He exhaled with one hand still on the wall beside me and his gorgeous face just an inch from mine. Before I could react, he wrapped his hand around mine and dragged me into the closest classroom. With the door shut, he pressed me against the wall beside it and kissed me, hard. The posters crinkled and crunched behind me.
Desk legs scraped along the floor as Drayton lifted me under the thighs and propped me on top of the wooden tables. The sound of our mouths smacking and our ragged panting echoed around us, and when he moved his mouth to my neck and I threw my head back, legs clenching, I finally noticed that we were in the sex-ed classroom. The irony. A girl with a wide smile and her thumbs up looked down at me from the wall. The speech bubble next to her said: A condom is cheaper than a child. I almost laughed but Drayton’s hand clutched a fistful of hair and tugged as he pressed his hips into mine and I gasped.
Our mouths met again and we became so frantic, grabbing, touching, and kissing, that I thought we were about to do it right there in front of the Sensible Sarah poster. But the bell rang, and we both knew that this would not be an ideal time to take our clothes off. Drayton groaned and his head fell into the crook of my neck as he remained between my legs with his hands on the desk.
“We should get out of here,” I said. I could hear the corridor getting busier. He nodded and stepped back, which made me slap a hand over my mouth because his arousal was blatant, standing to attention in his pants.
“Yeah, I know.” He ran a hand through his hair and gave me a devious grin. “Want to help me get rid of it?”
“Nice try.” I stood up and smoothed my hair down. “Just wrap your hoodie around your waist. The arms will hide it. Maybe.”
He sighed and dropped his backpack before pulling his hoodie off. It pulled his T-shirt up and I admired the brief peek of his firm torso. After he’d sorted himself out and we were safe to leave, I opened the door and stepped into the hall to find Emily about six feet away. I panicked and pulled the door shut, smacking Drayton’s arm with it before he could follow me. We should have been leaving separately, anyway. I heard him curse, but from the unbothered scowl on Emily’s face, I assumed that she hadn’t heard it.
“What?” She stopped beside me when I remained in front of the door, smiling.
“Nothing.”
“What’s with the dipshit smile?” She rested her hand on her hip, impatience in her tone.
“I was just so happy to see you that I couldn’t help but smile.”
She narrowed her glare, her pillowed red lips curling down. “You’re being very suspicious. What do you think you know?”
Now I was just confused. I didn’t let her know that, though. If she was the one squirming, I wanted to keep it like that. “We should hang out sometime. Get a coffee. A movie. Perhaps we could torment some small children together. You do that for fun, right?”
She scoffed and barged into me with her shoulder as she passed. I watched her leave with amusement, but when I looked around and noticed how packed the corridor was, I frowned. Still, Drayton couldn’t hide in the classroom forever. I opened the door so that I could tell him to give me a five-minute start. But when I peeped through the crack, he was nowhere to be found. That was when I noticed the open window on the other side of the room.
I laughed and closed the door again. This secret thing was kind of fun sometimes.
Chapter 18
Traditionally, Nathan and I spent Thanksgiving with Camilla and Gabby. But things were a little different this year. Josh and Gabby were dating. Drayton and I were together, even if it still hadn’t become public knowledge. Nevertheless, Drayton insisted that Nathan and I join his family’s Thanksgiving celebration. Josh had invited Gabby and Camilla as well. At around eleven Thursday morning, the four of us pulled up at the Lahey mansion and Camilla couldn’t contain her enthusiasm, “I bet the kitchen is beautiful!”
She was out of the car first. Her dark hair, much like Gabby’s, was in a braid that fell over her shoulder. We’d been told to dress in blue—for the Dallas Cowboys—but Camilla said that the color didn’t compliment her and opted for a green long-sleeved dress underneath her thick coat. Nathan still looked miserable because he knew that we were here as Cowboys supporters that night. He tugged at the blue beanie on his head, the only blue that he’d agreed to wear, and lingered behind Gabby and me as we went up to the front-door landing and rang the doorbell.
Ellie, Drayton’s mother, greeted us. She was head to toe in blue cashmere, and perfect dark-blonde waves framed her face.
“Come in, come in.” She was all smiles and Cartier bracelets jangling as she waved us forward. “Dallas, hello again.”
“Hey, Mrs. Lahey.” I was pleased to see that she was more relaxed than she had been the last time we’d met. We stood in the immaculate foyer, tiles gleaming and the water feature drizzling. “This is Nathan. Nathan, Mrs. Lahey.”
“Ellie,” she corrected as she and Gabby exchanged cheek kisses. Weird, but not unreasonable, I supposed. Gabby spent a lot of time here. “Lovely to meet you, Nathan. Drayton has told me so much about your history at the school. And you must be Camilla?”
Nathan seemed proud and Gabby’s mom snapped her head toward Ellie. She’d been immersed in the perfection surrounding her. “Yes. Hello. Your home is sensational.”
Ellie touched a hand to her chest with appreciation and wrapped an arm around Camilla’s. “Let me show you around.”
That left the three of us, and we wandered through the first living area, which led to another living area that was twice as large with two huge sofas and armchairs. The flat-screen television was theater sized and had Nathan salivating.
A catering table was laid at the back of the room, and there were more snacks to choose from than at a convenience store. Leroy had an old school–looking blue football hoodie on. It had his name and number across the back of it. He had a beer in hand and was focused on the sports highlights on the television until he heard that he was no longer alone. He turned around and regarded us with his usual flat stare. We hadn’t spoken since he walked in on Drayton and me in bed, and it seemed that his impression of me wasn’t great.
“The kids are in the dining room,” he said.
Gabby piped up with a nervous appreciation. “Okay, thanks.”
She gripped my elbow to drag me out of the room, but I didn’t want to ditch Nathan. It was a misplaced concern, though, because Nathan walked toward Leroy and offered his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, sir. Nathan Bryan.”
Leroy shook his hand and I could tell Nathan would be happier here, talking with an adult rather than hanging around with the teenagers. Gabby and I went back the way that we’d come, past the kitchen where we could hear Ellie and Camilla, and entered the dining area.
It looked beautiful, sure. A long table was elegantly decorated with rustic placings, little pumpkins, floral designs, and expensive china. But my focus went straight to the corner of the room where Drayton, Maxon, Austin, Emily, and Becca were standing beside a table of chilled beverages.
“Oh, is Josh upstairs?” Gabby asked.
Drayton nodded but he watched me.
“Ew,” Emily sneered when she saw me. Her scowl moved over my outfit—a simple blue hoodie that was snug, a white beanie, and a pair of black jeans. No matter how hard she tried, she could never make me feel inadequate—I would have to care for that. “What is she doing here?”
Drayton stared at her with so much hatred that if the other three hadn’t been watching me with interest, they would have known that there was something going on.
“She came with me,” Gabby interjected with a small voice, pushing her glasses up her nose. I appreciated her defense, d
espite being nonconfrontational. “I’ll be upstairs, Dal. Want to come?”
“No.” I smiled at the group of athletes in front of me. “I’m good here.”
She left and Drayton mouthed Sorry before the rest of them could notice. I tried not to stare at his muscular frame underneath his blue shirt—the sleeves rolled up to his elbows—and jeans. He leaned against the wall with a bottle of beer in his hand and watched me approach the drinks table.
“Come on, Becca,” Emily ordered as I stood beside her and poured a soda into a glass. “This event just got kicked from classy to crap.”
I kept my head down but laughed at her pathetic attempt to insult me. She and Becca wandered off arm in arm, and I quietly hoped that they would leave altogether.
“How’s it going, Cheer?” Maxon gave me a teeth-baring grin, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Drayton stiffen. “Nice blue nails. Spirited.”
“Please don’t call me that.”
I saw Austin’s devious stare move to Drayton, but I didn’t look or give it mind. “Only Dray gets to use that name, right?”
“No one does,” I snapped. I wanted to know what they were doing here in the first place, but I was the new one. This was probably a long-standing tradition, and I had no right to get upset.
“Excuse me.” I turned around and left the room, hearing the sniggering male voices behind me and Drayton telling them to shut it.
The afternoon just became duller from there. Everyone else was having a good time. We all sat around the exquisite table and the food was five star, but I’d come with the idea in mind that Drayton and I would be able to relax and be ourselves. Instead, it was as if we were at school. Nathan and Gabby sat on either side of me. They were both immersed in conversation, though. Leroy and Nathan had been chatting all afternoon, and Gabby was focused on Josh. Drayton sat on the opposite side of the table with Maxon on his right and Austin on his left.
As hard as I tried, I couldn’t stop looking up at him, and he was always watching me first. His hands clasped in front of his chin, his leg shook. His movements were restless throughout the entire meal and at one point, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen.
The QB Bad Boy and Me Page 22