by Hughes, Maya
Falling forward, he caged me under him. He peppered my face with sweaty, half-delirious kisses. “Did I already tell you I missed you?”
“At least once.” I ran my hand along the back of his neck. Sweat clung to the hair there. “I got you all sweaty after your shower.”
“Any time, Wild Child. Any time at all.” He grinned at me.
I pulled him in for another kiss. I hadn’t had a thing to drink, but I was definitely drunk on him, and I was more than happy to drink in as much of him as I needed for as long as I could, for forever. My heart stuttered. What if we couldn’t have forever? He had been clear about what this was and what it wasn’t. He’d be drafted at the end of the year—what then? Even if I stayed, that didn’t mean he could.
He hopped off the bed and got rid of the condom before diving back in beside me.
The TV noises from downstairs transformed into a thumping bass that vibrated the bed. Voices sounded in the hallway.
“Were you supposed to be having a party today?” I propped my head up on my hand.
He threw his arm over his face. “No, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one going on downstairs. We don’t have to join in. I’ll lock the door and they’ll leave us alone.”
“You don’t want to go?” I didn’t want him to miss out on a party because of me. I wanted to go down there, but the old insecurities came creeping back, the ones that snuck in whenever we were around people he knew. Would they look at us and ask how the hell it had happened? Would there be looks and snickers? Should I suck it up and go out there anyway? I thought I should add it to my list; then I could feel accomplished for doing it and give myself the excuse to not give a shit what anyone else thought. “We can go, if you want. I haven’t been to many parties—scratch that, any parties other than the last one you had here.”
He set up in bed and gawked at me. “Ever? The grilling we did in the backyard was the first party you’d ever been to?” His eyebrows shot up.
I nodded. “I don’t count academic mixers with people almost forty years older than me as parties, per se.”
“What about your birthday parties?”
“I never had any. It wasn’t like I had friends to invite. My mom would make my favorite meal and sometimes a cupcake, but that was it.” I lifted the sheets over my chest, feeling even more naked than in just the physical aspect. The kids on the street always tied balloons around their mailboxes or taped them to their front doors whenever there was a party. I’d sit on the wingback chair in the living room, my knees sinking into the hard leather cushions as I watched them stream in and out of the houses, laughing, playing, and chasing each other.
Reece pounced, caging me under him. “You’ve never had a birthday party?” He said it like I’d told him I’d never breathed air.
I shrugged. “They weren’t really a priority in the Alexander household.” I parroted back my dad’s words.
He pulled the sheets off me. “Then we’re getting in all the partying we can. Come on, Wild Child. Get dressed.” Scooping our clothes up off the floor, he piled them onto the bed. I leaned back on the mattress and watched him. His tanned, muscled ass disappeared under the dark blue denim. Damn shame.
Glancing over his shoulder, he stared back at me with his jeans unbuttoned. “Is there something on my jeans?” He spun in a circle, trying to check out his own butt.
I held back my laugh, smiling wide at him. I crawled across the bed and tugged him forward by his belt loops. “No, I was admiring the view. The only better one is when you’re taking them off.”
He smirked and let me have my way with him, stepping to the edge of the bed. Rising up onto my knees, I traced my finger along his abs, trailing it down. He caught my wrist and lifted it up, kissing the inside of it.
“Get dressed. I’m showing you off.” He pressed my shirt and pants against my chest.
“I don’t really think these are showing-off clothes.” I dangled them in front of my face.
“That’s what you think.” He grinned and tugged his t-shirt over his head.
I shook out my clothes, trying to find the one missing piece. “Where are my underwear?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He winked and tapped his naked wrist. “Chop, chop.”
26
Reece
Sprinting as fast as I could, I made it away from the line of scrimmage. There were two seconds left on the clock. Nix’s head whipped back and forth, looking for a way to end this. We were down by three. I jumped up, waving my arms in the air as I streaked down the field.
Keyton, a couple yards ahead of me on the other end of the field, had half the number of defenders on his heels. Nix’s gaze locked with mine. Linemen rushed at me and I raised my arms, waving them to my left. Pass to Keyton! He’s wide open! Nix shook his head and launched it at me.
The ball sailed through the air. The stadium was dead silent, thousands of people on their feet and not a sound in the entire place. It would have almost been eerie if the blood pounding in my ears hadn’t been such a roar. The ball flew through the fingers of the defender, nearly knocking me off my feet. I recovered, spinning backward and dodging another defender, and the ball slammed into my chest with a satisfying smack.
Pushing off the still slick grass on the field, I pumped my legs. My muscles strained and I ducked around one block. Spinning around another, I shifted, changing directions, and sprinted into the end zone. The silence of the crowd transformed into an ear-splitting rumble that shook the ground beneath my feet.
The entire team crowded around me, piling on top of one another. Keyton jogged over, his smile wide even under his helmet.
“I tried to get that one to you.” I slapped him on the shoulder pads.
He smiled wider and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. A win’s a win.”
We rushed off the field, the fans chanting my name. This was what I’d always wanted, but on this night, something was missing.
“Two more games!” The voices and screams bounced off the closed tunnel walls on the way to the locker room as I followed the rest of my teammates toward the door. I wanted everything ready for Seph’s surprise. She had tutoring to do tonight but had promised she’d make it to one last game before the season ended. There was a ticket at the will call office with her name on it.
“Michaels, what are you doing?” Coach stared at me like I’d grown a second head.
My eyebrows scrunched down.
“Press conference.”
I shook my head. “Right, sorry Coach.” I jogged after him. Nix stood at the door of the small conference room already. My leg bounced under the table as the reporters went through their questions.
“It was a good game, a nice team effort. Keyton could have made that touchdown just as easily as I did.”
The heads from everyone on either side of me whipped around. A pin drop would have sounded like a bomb going off in the room. I ducked my head and waited for the next question.
“Will you be attending the scout training in the lead-up to the championship?”
“He’ll be there.” Coach leaned into his mic, the feedback sending a squeal ricocheting in the small space.
We made it through the rest of the press conference with minimal effort from me. The reporters had to ask every question twice. I ran through the checklist in the back of my head. I wanted tonight to be perfect for her. Even more than the night in the pool house, I wanted to do this for her, to show her that it wasn’t just me who cared about her. She’d need that when I was gone, when she was gone. There were less than six months until the end of the school year—until we’d have to say goodbye.
I froze in the middle of the locker room and Keyton knocked into me.
He grabbed hold of my shoulder, steadying me. “Hey, man, you okay?”
I nodded, shoving myself out of the temporary paralysis that had taken hold of me. The rest of the locker room buzzed with the energy that always came after a game, especially a win. What would she do up in Bosto
n? Find some other super genius to date? They’d go over equations and theorems together and laugh at weird math-related inside jokes.
Or maybe she’d hook up with someone who played in an orchestra and they’d create music together. The ticking clock only got louder the more time I spent with her, and I didn’t know how to slow it down. Sometimes I’d wake up at night, run my fingers through her waves, and watch her sleep until it got too hard to breathe. Then I’d have to slam my eyes shut and let her steady breaths calm me.
“Why are you so quiet? The press conference wasn’t that bad.” Nix sat beside me and rubbed a towel against his hair. “Nervous about tonight?” He tugged his shirt over his head.
I nodded. Better that than let everything running through my head explode all over him. “I think she’ll like it.”
“Of course she will. If you haven’t already noticed, she’s really into you. If you planned a sock puppet show, she’d be into it.” He laughed and grabbed his stuff.
All my worries about her getting too attached and I was the one finding it hard to catch my breath when I thought about never seeing her again. Getting out of there, I texted the guys to make sure everything was ready.
Jogging up the steps to her apartment, I tried to calm the nerves ricocheting in my stomach. I knocked on the door and bounced from one foot to the other.
Dan opened the door and let me inside. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but based on the tight-lipped responses from Seph, things hadn’t thawed out between her and her roommate.
27
Seph
Reece pulled up in front of his house. The street was quiet. Finals, studying, and the weather had finally driven everyone indoors to hibernate.
“I hope you left room for dessert.”
He picked up my hand off the center console and laced his fingers through mine, kissing the back of it. The way his lips danced on my skin sent a zing up my spine. He stared into my eyes, the light from the street catching the green and brown swirl of his. Dropping my arms to my sides, I curled my fingers into the sides of my leg to pinch myself.
He ran his hand down my arm and held on to my wrist, bringing it up to his mouth. His lips pressed into the thin skin there, sending my pulse through the roof. He dropped another kiss onto my open palm and I covered his hand with mine. If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake up.
He was all mischief and sweetness, like a candy holding a yummy surprise.
“What’s up with you tonight?”
“Nothing.” His grin widened, and I had no doubt in my mind he was up to something. “Let me get the door for you.” Inside the silence of his car, I tried to figure out how I’d gotten here. He jogged in front of the vehicle. His button-down shirt fit him perfectly, like it had been tailored. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his jeans hugged his trim waist and strong thighs.
The December air was crisp and freezing. Every time I stepped outside, it felt like I was attempting a polar plunge.
Closing his car door, he grinned over at me. “What?”
We climbed the steps to the porch. The house was totally dark. “Are we home alone?” My stomach flipped. With him living with three other guys, it wasn’t often we had the house to ourselves, and my apartment wasn’t exactly the most inviting.
He threw a look over his shoulder. “I love the way you think.”
The L word made my heart race. He wasn’t saying it for real, but if I mentally squinted a little, I could imagine he had. Slipping his key into the lock, he opened the door and let me walk in first.
Shapes and shadows moved on the other side of the living room and I backed up, wondering if someone had broken in. My pulse raced.
“Surprise!” A chorus of what seemed like a hundred voices all screamed at once and my eyes adjusted to the light. There were at least fifty people inside the house. Rainbow streamers hung from the ceiling. Balloons were taped to the walls and covered the floor. Everyone had on little party hats with elastic straps tucked under their chins.
LJ and Berk stood in the doorway of the kitchen, balancing a huge cake between them. It was a white unicorn with a rainbow mane, and sparklers streamed out of the unicorn’s horn. I glanced back at Reece. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and walked me forward, never letting go. Marisa stood beside them with a party blower that curled in and shot out straight with a whistling noise.
“Happy Birthday, Wild Child.”
If my heart hadn’t already belonged to him, it would have been wrapped up with a bow and presented to him on a rainbow platter at that moment. “But it’s not my birthday,” I whispered over my shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter. You deserve a party.” He nipped my earlobe and buried his head in my neck, nuzzling my skin. I laughed, tilting my head to escape his tickle assault.
“Come blow out your candles, Seph. This thing is heavier than it looks.” Someone grabbed a lighter and relit some sparklers and the candles along the front. Most of the lights were turned off again. There was a countdown and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” in a mottled mess of a chorus, but I’d never heard anything sweeter. How was I supposed to leave all this at the end of the semester? My first real friends, the first time I felt like I belonged.
Blinking back tears, I blew out a breath and laughed at the cha, cha, cha Berk added in at the end of each line. The glow of the candles lit up the room and I took it all in. Everyone was there for me—well, maybe not just me. I was sure when Reece asked people to come to a party, there was no shortage of those wanting to stop by, but still, he’d planned it for me.
Tucking a loose bit of hair behind my ear, I leaned over and closed my eyes. A wish didn’t come to mind because I’d already gotten it. I blew out the candles, and the room broke out into applause.
The guys set the cake down on the table and handed the knife to me to make the first cut. Apparently fondant was harder to cut through than it looked. Reece covered my hand with his and helped me cut the first piece, his body against my back. I peered up at everyone around the room, waiting for someone to start asking questions, like What the hell are you two doing together? Lifting it out, there were layers of rice crispy treats, chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and rainbow layers.
“Wow, you went all out for this.” I grabbed a fork and took a bite. The chocolate was heavy and rich, so thick I needed a glass of milk.
“Nix got it from that bakery I got the cupcakes from, Bread & Butter.”
“Where is Nix?” I craned my neck, scanning the party.
Reece shrugged.
As if on cue, the front door opened and a blast of cold air blew in with the man in question. Nix closed the door behind him, turning off the glowing screen of his phone. He shrugged off his coat before joining the rest of the party.
“Thanks for the cake, Nix.” I pulled him in for a hug.
“It was no problem. I got a good deal since my dad’s assistant uses them a lot for their charity and corporate events.”
Metal clattered to the floor and I turned around. Berk stood a couple feet away, mouth hanging open with his plate teetering in his hand and his fork on the floor. “He gets a hug and I don’t? I think I should be offended.” He tilted his head to the side dropping his chin to his shoulder with a dramatic sigh, biting his knuckle. The rainbow and unicorn hats everyone else had discarded had been added to Berk’s head, so he had a mane of pointy party hats around his face.
“You might want to give him a hug or he might go into full baby meltdown.”
“I’m sorry, Berk. Can you ever forgive me?” I held out my arms and he set down his plate, running to me in slow motion. Lifting me in his arms, he spun me around.
“Happy Birthday, Seph. Did you like the unicorn?” He set me down. “That was my suggestion.” Of course it was.
“It’s the best birthday cake I’ve ever had.”
“You’re not just saying that because it’s your only one?” Reece took me out of Berk’s hold and I rested my hand on his chest.
“No, not because it was my only one. Any other ones I have after this will have a lot to live up to. Thank you everyone. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.” My throat tightened and I pressed my lips together. I’d lost out on having people like them in my life before, but now that I knew what it felt like to have friends, there was no going back.
“Enough of the sappy stuff. Let’s play pin the tail on the donkey. If you miss, you have to take a shot.” LJ cupped his hands around his mouth and broadcast the rules and line-up to the party.
“I had to call off The Pink Menace again next door,” Nix grumbled and massaged his shoulder.
“You did hit her in the face with your balls.” Reece shrugged.
My head shot up.
Nix’s mouth thinned into a line of annoyance. He turned to me. “Ball—singular. A football. Not that I only have one ball or something.” His cheeks brightened like he’d been on the beach all day and had forgotten sunscreen.
“It was at the beginning of junior year. I apologized a million times.”
“Maybe she wants you to do it again.” Reece chuckled and his arms tightened around me.
Nix pulled his phone out of his pocket and wandered off.
I wrapped my hands around Reece’s arm and buried my face in his shoulder. “So you did have something up your sleeve.” Grinning, I pulled him down for a kiss.
He slipped his hand along the back of my neck. “I’ve got to have some secrets.”
“Enough sucking face, you two. You’re first up.” Berk waved us over.
Someone cranked up the music and everyone dug into the pizzas in the kitchen. A pizza party birthday complete with kids’ party games, a delicious cake, and the guy who’d stolen my heart—there hadn’t been a better night ever.
Berk chucked a fork at Nix, who looked up from his phone. “Get off your phone, man. You’ve been glued to that thing since you walked in. You didn’t even have any cake.”