Give You Up (Dumas University Book 1)

by Ashlyn Mathews

  “He’s a cool kid, Taron, and understands more than any five-year-old should.”

  His hand slides in mine under the covers. “If you’re okay with it, then I am too, Pixie Dust.”

  Smiling, I give him a quick kiss, then FaceTime Beau. He answers right away, his handsome face taking up space on the screen of my iPad. Dark mahogany hair and eyes the same color as me.

  Youngish, too, for his age. No wonder women my age hit on him left and right at that nightclub we were at, celebrating my twenty-first birthday. But he ignored them and danced and drank the night away with me. It was nice to see that side of Beau, him giving me his full attention.

  “How’s it going, Syn?”

  “Nice, Bounce.”

  “Syn.”

  “Beau, meet my friend Taron. Taron, Beau.” I point the camera at Taron.

  Taron does this little wave thing. Then he does something utterly swoon-worthy but also not good. He plants a kiss on the top of my head. Beau might not pay me a lot of attention. How I like it. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t an overprotective dad.

  “Hey, lay off my little girl.”

  Pregnant silence.

  “Fuck.”

  There is no backtracking or keeping secrets now—I am Beau Huntington’s daughter.

  Taron takes the tablet from me. “Sir, you don’t need to worry I’ll give up your secret. Syn wants to live a drama-free life, and I plan on giving her that.”

  “How can you when your antics on and off the field are widely known, boy?”

  “How so, sir?”

  “Fuck sake, stop with the sir. You make me feel old when you say that.”

  “My apologies.”

  “Boy, I don’t pay much attention to what the media says about me and my life. What I do is no business of theirs. What I do care about is who Syn associates with. You have a bad rep with the women. Get territorial when you think your QB position is threatened by another player. You are not good for my little girl, kid.”

  “I’ve made mistakes, Mr. Huntington, and have learned from them. I strive to be the better man for Syn.”

  “That so? If you get her pregnant, watcha gonna do, boy? You gonna stick by her? Or take the selfish route and abandon her for your dreams?”

  “I care for Syn. Will take care of our baby or babies.”

  My heart melts. My body is next. I melt against him, resting my head on Taron’s shoulder.

  A smile lights up Beau’s face. “That’s good. That’s really good, boy. Ready to say hello to Gunner, Syn?”

  “Yep.”

  While Beau is walking from the kitchen to Gunner’s bedroom, I grab the iPad from Taron. Gunner is sharp for his age, but him seeing the guy who gave me the mean look could be a setback for me and Taron. Plus, my little brother freaking out will bring up questions from Beau that I am not ready to answer. With how decent my father was with Taron, I want to keep “progressing” in this work in progress of ours.

  Gunner’s little face fills the screen. He is wearing his favorite pair of pajamas. They have on them these cute dinosaurs.

  “Hi, Syn.”

  “Hey, kiddo. How’s my favorite kid?”

  “Sleepy.”

  “What’d you and Dad do that got you that way, sleepy head?”

  “Zoo. Bicycling. I fell.”

  “Aw, I’m sorry, buddy, but animals and sea creatures and putting pedal to the metal sound like an awesome day.”

  His eyes light up. Warmth blossoms across my chest. Never would I have thought I’d be a big sister to such a great little kid. I wiggle my fingers in front of the screen and pretend to tickle him.

  It’s something left over from my summers with Gunner before my time with him was cut short by Dare’s need for me to be close. He laughs, drawing me out of the war I’m fighting inside. Eventually, I’ll have to pick. Give up Taron and stay in Dumas with Dare. Or abandon Dare and go wherever Taron goes.

  “Miss you.”

  “I miss you too, kiddo.”

  “See Syn soon.”

  “That’s up to your dad, Gunner.”

  “About that, Syn. What he means is we’ll be seeing you soon. The dean for the university asked me to make an appearance for the team’s first home game. We can discuss the logistics on a different call. Text me your next availability. In the meantime, start looking at clearing your schedule on the fourteenth.”

  We are heading toward September already. Where did the time go? Spending it with Mr. Hotness next to you. Biting down on my smile, I nod, the change in plan somehow not stressing me out when a week ago, I would be pacing, wondering what I can take out without upsetting the balance of my life. Or causing a ripple effect if I took time away from Dare or Riley.

  Before I can dwell on how calm I am, “a week ago” sinks in. We are moving too fast. Flustered, I sputter, “Text you tomorrow, Beau. Good night, Gunner!”

  I give Beau time to hand the iPad over to Gunner, and Gunner says good night before I end the call.

  “Syn?”

  “Yes?” I reach over and set the iPad on my nightstand.

  “We’re moving too fast, aren’t we?”

  Oh, God, he can read my mind too.

  “Our talk on our way to Dare’s—”

  “We never finished talking, Syn. What’s your take, babe? If you want to slow down, I’m in.”

  “You don’t want to spend time with me?” No, no, no, I cannot be one of those girls. Taron is giving me what I want, and I am turning it around and saying he doesn’t want to give me what I want. He must find this so confusing!

  “Every second and minute of every day. But I understand it can get to be too much. People need space. Need friends and a life separate from who they would rather spend all their time with.”

  And I completely understand. Even Dare gets it too. That’s why he makes his insane asks of my time when he sees an opening in my calendar. Some would call him selfish. I go easy on him and say he is considerate.

  “How’d you get so wise?” I ask.

  “I’m not. We’ll get wise together.”

  Of course. “Our work in progress.”

  “Yes, baby.”

  We slide under the covers, and he pulls me close. Resting my head on his shoulder, I curl into him and set my hand on his chest. I should fall asleep, happy, but I can’t. What Hunter said earlier still bothers me.

  “Taron, what if I were to ask that we not have sex until you stop paying my wages? Can that be a part of our work in progress?”

  “You’re serious.”

  He looks down at me the same time I glance up. I don’t need to see his face to know he is unhappy. I heard it in his voice.

  “That’s going backward, Syn.”

  “It’s the right thing to do. Technically, you’re my boss. If anyone were to find out—”

  “I’d tell them to stay the fuck out of our business.”

  “Hunter—”

  “Is a coward using coercion and threats to get what he wants.”

  We don’t get further in our conversation. My phone on the nightstand pings. I pick it up and glance at the screen, then set it back down.

  “Speaking of Hunter, that was him. He apologized.”

  “It doesn’t mean he’ll stay out of your business. Or Midnight’s. It wouldn’t surprise me to know he’s built a shrine to the Sterling hotshot. Probably has Midnight’s face inked on his ass too.”

  I laugh. Roll my eyes at him. He grunts.

  “There is such a thing as hero worship,” I point out.

  “Or he has ulterior motives.”

  I wouldn’t put it past Hunter.

  “Do you go to parties with Midnight and Dare?”

  “All the time,” I answer.

  “Do they have rich and powerful friends?”

  “Rich. No clue about powerful. I’ve never seen his friends leap over tall buildings. Or shoot lasers from their eyes.”

  My snark gets me a resounding kiss on the mouth. Hmm, I’ll have to snark
more.

  “Here’s my theory, and you tell me if I’m dead wrong. Midnight, Dare, and Beau are loaded. They also have access to rich and powerful people. If you and Hunter couple up, he goes where you go. Where you go is with your friends. They are important to you.”

  “You are my important guy. The one who matters most.”

  “That so?”

  Soft murmur on my bare shoulder. My arm. On my breasts. Sifting my fingers in his hair, I pull him closer. Moan when he licks the little balls of nerves. Clamp my legs around his waist when he takes each little bud in his mouth, his mouth wet and warm.

  “Taron?”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “I can’t give you up. I thought I could, but I can’t. Taron, about the PA position . . .”

  “Hmm?” He unwinds my legs from around his waist and goes low. Drops kisses on my stomach. Along my bikini line.

  Understanding what’s coming next, I let my legs fall to the sides and trench my fingers deeper in his hair, ready to guide him over my sex. To beg him to lick and suck on my clit until I cannot think straight. But for this part, I have to think straight.

  His mouth covers my sex, and afraid I’ll lose it, I tell him what I want. What will make being with him okay.

  “I quit.”

  33

  Taron

  I have to hand it to Syn. She is brilliant, though broke.

  “Syn, I’ve got this.”

  We are sitting in front of her two computer screens, going over her calendar and her bills. She has a spreadsheet for everything, including a roster of the players on the team.

  “I don’t need you paying my bills. I also can pay for my own groceries, thank you very much. No need for you to tag along.”

  She has so much pride, and I like her more for it. I pull her onto my lap, hoping to God we don’t break her rickety chair, and hold her tight to me.

  “Think of it as my severance pay to you.”

  “You—”

  “Understand what you’re doing, protecting the ones you care deeply for. I’d do the same were I in your shoes.”

  “Hunter can still go to the media.”

  “If he does, we spin our own tale. We’ll tell the media Hunter is an ex with a chip on his shoulder for you breaking things off with him. He’s telling lies to get back at you. He’s also an attention-seeking, opportunistic son of a bitch using your friendship with the Sterlings as leverage to extort money and favors from you.”

  “Wow, you are good. Remind me not to piss you off.”

  Chuckling, I plant a kiss on her mouth and quickly break off our kiss before we end up in bed, though that is the final goal after we go over our most important goal—finding the guy who hurt Natalie.

  I run my hand over Syn’s spreadsheet. A third of the guys are blocked off in red. Those are the guys we’ve eliminated based on hair color alone. Next, there is a block of green. After practice, we guys head for the locker room to get out of our smelly practice gear and get in a quick shower. I do a walk-through, disguising my reconnaissance as joking and ribbing on the guys, including the ones who hate my guts. The ones blocked off in green do not have a snake and butterfly tat.

  That leaves us with six guys. These guys stick to their pack, and their pack leader is, you guessed it, Jackson. The chicks dig him and his friends, so why does a guy need to drug a girl to get himself tail?

  I run it by Syn.

  “It’s not a crime of passion. Rape is a crime of violence.” She stares intently at the block of names highlighted in light green. “What should we do with them?”

  “Bonding time.”

  “Oh, like paintball?” She runs the plan by me. I give her the bad news, letting her down easy. I mean, my girl went out of her way to come up with ways to get these dirtbags off my back.

  “Syn, babe, I would love to play me a game of paintball with you kicking my ass in Nerf war. How about we save it for after the season’s over? Coach will have our asses if anyone rolls their ankles before games start.”

  “I didn’t think of that.”

  I press another kiss to her mouth.

  “You would have, Pixie Dust. You’re smart that way. It’s just you have a lot on your plate lately.” Case in point, her calendar and the spreadsheet opened side by side on separate screens.

  She wears down her bottom lip with her teeth. Clenches and unclenches her hands over her thighs.

  “It is a lot, isn’t it?”

  I would never openly admit that to her. Syn has to do what works for her life.

  “Baby, if you’re okay with how you live your life based off your calendar, I’m all for it too.”

  “That’s the thing. It’s a lot, and seeing it like this, with someone else, I’m having second thoughts.”

  “Would it help to un-color code what you think can be put off?”

  “I can start with my old library shifts.” She gets rid of the yellow. Already, her calendar is less hectic. “Time with my friends, I’d like to keep.”

  I cradle her jaw in my palm and stroke the curve of her cheek, needing to touch and reassure her that I am here for her. “They’ll appreciate that. Time with friends is important.”

  “And you?”

  “Andy and Jordan are good people. I consider them my friends. My old teammates too, but we were never close like you are with your friends. They have busy lives. Girlfriends. Families. Some have a family of their own.”

  “Really?” Her eyes are wide.

  She is so damn sexy and adorable, I nudge her face up with my finger under her chin and suck her bottom lip in my mouth. Her lip ring strokes my flesh and a groan lodges in my throat. Fuck, I’ll never tire of feeling that sliver of metal on my flesh. I kiss her over and over. Deep kisses. Lingering kisses. Plundering, devouring kisses. We break apart, each breathing heavy.

  I cradle her face in my palms. Her full lips are parted. Her small hands rest on my chest. I run the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip. Her eyes close, and she trembles. Syn is so beautiful, and I tell her so.

  Her eyes flutter open, the slate gray–blue pulling me into their depths. “I am? You like me tatted and pierced?”

  “Fuck yeah. What I dig most, though, is this.” I set my palm on the spot over her heart. “You’re a great friend to Dare. Am an angel for putting up with a hot-tempered bastard like me. Do an amazing job being a buffer between Midnight and Riley. You have a big heart, baby.”

  Smiling, she takes my hand and drops a kiss on the center of my palm.

  “I like you so much, Taron.”

  I smile back. “I dig you too, Pixie Dust.”

  It is so easy to be with her. What won’t be easy is dealing with one another’s secrets. That’s my gut feeling. Our secrets have the power to make or break our progress.

  Her smile not leaving her face, Syn continues to clear up her calendar. She frees up the entire day of the first home game for me, Gunner, and Beau. Nice. When she’s done, she closes her calendar, and we move on to her spreadsheet.

  “Back to the bonding time. Would Dare be open to opening his place and his pool up for the guys? I overheard them talking about Darksoul’s upcoming release, that it’s available for beta testing by invitation only.”

  “Taron Vaughn, you are one sneaky bastard.” She hops off my lap and, grabbing my hand, tugs me off the chair. “You are so turning me on with your smarts. If you can get them in the pool, you can see who has the tat.”

  “Yeah, but this son of a bitch will need to be one cocky bastard to flaunt the tat in front of Dare.”

  She tips her head at the excel spreadsheet that she quickly closes before demanding I strip. “Those six are the very definition of cocky. Whoever he is, he’ll do it so he can show off to Dare.”

  She’s not wrong, and I am liking how right she is.

  I like it so much, I make her come apart on my fingers, my face, and my cock for being so damn right.

  34

  Syn

  Between spending time with Dar
e and Taron, keeping the peace between Taron and his teammates—my presence on the bleachers helping with Taron’s temper—and more hours at Shades to make up for quitting on Taron, three weeks fly by.

  Dare sent an invitation to our six suspects. The pool party will happen on Sunday, giving the football team time to celebrate after the game on Saturday if they win. But if they lose, they’ll still party. Those guys and parties. Shaking my head.

  The idea of waiting three weeks to find out if any of the six have the tat kills me, but patience is a virtue for a reason.

  Waiting gave me the chance to plan other things, like more of Cindy and Hank “bumping” into one another. There was the time Cindy and I accidentally bumped into Hank when she met me at one of the practices on the bleachers to go over Primie’s new habit of looking awfully lonely the last time Cindy went to Alexandria. Maybe Primie needs a sister or a brother, I offered.

  I said that part loud enough at the end of practice, and success when Hank piped in, telling Cindy all about the rescue dog he adopted last year.

  “Maybe you two should take the dogs on walks or to the dog park together. Then you wouldn’t have to find Primie a friend,” I said innocently.

  The two smiled and exchanged numbers. Yes!

  You win some, and then, you lose some.

  I set time aside for Beau, excited to see him and Gunner, but Lola changed plans on him and is taking Gunner with her to Paris for the weekend.

  Hmm, Dumas or Paris? I FaceTimed Gunner and wished him a fun trip. He promised to bring me back a souvenir. That kid. He is growing up too fast and is in the unfair position of being his parents’ peacekeeper.

  A bowl of popcorn and a tray of shots is set near my face, yanking me out of my thoughts of my little brother and his already chaotic life stuck between a supermodel and an ex-football superstar.

  “Thanks, Dare.” I take the bowl off the tray and down a shot of fireball whiskey. He plops down next to me on the couch.

  “You sure you don’t want to make the game in person? We can be there in time for kickoff.”