At the Buzzer: A High School Bully Romance (The Ballers of Rockport High Book 3)

by E. M. Moore

  For the first time, this is about me and a boy I like.

  “You like it?” he asks, hopeful.

  I smile. “Yeah, I do.”

  He looks pleased with himself then. We make small talk. I ask him how often he comes here and even though he plays it down, it’s apparent that the Ivy’s are well known here because the waiter who takes our orders knows him. He takes his order with respect, making sure to call him Mr. Ivy, and me, Mr. Ivy’s guest. When he leaves, Sloan confesses that he and his parents are invited to a lot of dinner parties here. Several people who are leaving for the night stop by to say hi to him, and Sloan does an excellent job of introducing me to them. Each of them shakes my hand with a polite smile.

  When our dinners come, I’m assaulted by all the delicious smells I was met when we first walked in. The steak I ordered looks delicious. We eat, talking here and there. The Sloan who shows up just for me is still teasing, but he’s not teasing me about the fact that Ryan and I had sex. He doesn’t ask for details, he doesn’t want to make me blush about that. We talk about normal things anyone on a date would. He asks me about my classes in between sips of water. He holds my hand after our dinner plates are cleared, and watches as my eyes shine when I tell him about the first ever basketball game I can remember being in, then laughs when I tell him how bad I was, and how my dad told my mom that sports abilities must skip a generation.

  The waitress brings by our dessert after that, a huge slice of chocolate cake that we opted to share. As soon as she moves out of the way, a girl comes up to the table. Her fingers play over the sides as she smiles for Sloan. “Hey,” she says, batting her eyelashes. “I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight.”

  Sloan looks like he’s about to choke. “Oh. Hi, Nikki.” He swallows. “Nikki, this is Quintessa Dale.”

  She smiles at me then looks right back at Sloan. “I called your house earlier.”

  I look at Sloan with my eyebrow raised. She called his house? Okay.

  He turns toward the girl. “I’m obviously not there.”

  “Oh, that’s okay,” she says, still smiling. It’s like it’s permanently fixed to her face. “I got to talk to your mom, and she said we should attend the garden party together tomorrow. What do you think?”

  A surge of jealousy rides up my spine. In one minute, I’m at the top of a hill on a rollercoaster about to ride the bitchy wave down, but then once I’m at the bottom, my mouth pressed tight together, I’m calm and collected. Watching Sloan shift uneasily in his seat is kind of fun.

  “I’m busy tomorrow,” he says. “My mom probably forgot.”

  “Oh, well,” she shrugs. “Maybe some other time.”

  He peeks at me then straightens his suit coat. “Well, probably not,” he says. “This is my girlfriend, Nikki. If I’m going anywhere, I’ll be taking her with me.”

  The girl, Nikki, looks at me again like it’s the first time she’s seeing me. “But your mom said—”

  Sloan interrupts her. “I don’t care what my mom said.”

  She lifts a perfectly manicured brow. “Oh. I see.” Then, she spins on her heel and leaves the table.

  Sloan picks up his dessert fork and starts eating, but there’s no way I’m going to let him get away with that. “What was that?” I ask.

  “Nikki,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Mom wants me to date her. She goes to Springs. Her dad’s the mayor or something. I don’t even know.”

  “Are you serious?” I choke out. “Is setting your kid up really a thing still?”

  “It’s all about who you know,” he says, not the least bit worried.

  “Sloan,” I say, grabbing his hand across the table and forcing him to look at me. Now I know why Sloan’s mom doesn’t like me. There’s this other girl she wants Sloan to date. Probably for some sort of political prestige.

  “Don’t,” he says. “It’s not even worth it. I understand what a relationship with Nikki will be because I live in a fucking house like that. It would be me cheating on her because I have zero interest in fucking her whatsoever. Then, it would be her screwing my best friends because she wants to get back at me because no matter how many hours she spends in the gym or on plastic surgery, I still have zero interest in fucking her.”

  “Sloan,” I say, taken aback. I blink a few times, realizing he means every last word he’s said. I sure wasn’t going to tell him he should be with Nikki. Fuck that. And screw his mother. She knows he likes me. I tilt my head at him, contemplating something. “There’s no way the Ballers would screw her,” I tell him.

  He laughs at that. I’m sure he thought I was going to say something else. “Exactly,” he says. “Who would want to screw her when they have Quintessa fucking Dale?”

  I shake my head. “That’s not what I meant. I meant you have friends for life. They wouldn’t screw her because there’s no way they would do that to you, even if they knew you really didn’t like her.”

  He smiles. “Yeah, that too.”

  They’re all so lucky. I know how Lake must feel right now because I’ve felt just like him. It’s torture being on the outside when all you want is to be on the inside. “Let’s get out of here,” I tell him. I look around the room and see this place in a whole new light. I see plastered on faces, and every woman is a Nikki with her fingertips sunk in deep into the man sitting next to her while the man checks out the help. It’s a fancy place. It tastes good. It smells good. But it’s not the kind of place I’d like to spend a lot of time in.

  He pays the bill, and then we leave, his arm through mine. When we get back to his Jeep, the decidedly least expensive car in the lot, he sighs. “Sorry it ended like that. I just wanted to show you a good time.”

  “I had a great time,” I tell him. “Bitches and all.”

  He sighs, his head falling back to the seat. “Sometimes I forget that what looks nice on the outside isn’t all that nice. I guess I just wanted to impress you.” He peeks over at me. “Is that terrible? How am I supposed to impress you? I’m sure you’ve been to a lot of nicer places.”

  I turn in the seat and grab his arm. His muscles tighten underneath my touch. “You don’t need to impress me, and I enjoyed every last bite of that meal, so I guess I am impressed. Congratulations.”

  He smirks, but there are shadows in his eyes now that weren’t there before.

  “I know something else you can impress me with,” I say, teasing.

  His eyes hood over. “What’s that, Mr. Ivy’s guest?”

  My lips thin. “Call me that one more time.”

  He chuckles. “Whatever you want, you got it.”

  “A tour of the greens?”

  We get right back out of the car, and he puts his arm around my shoulders as I snuggle into him, trying to block the chill in the air from getting to me. He takes me around the side of the building and then onto the course. We stay hidden in the trees until we walk further and further along perfectly manicured fairways. Up ahead, there’s a water hazard that’s a lake that deserves to be on the front of a postcard. The moon reflects off the surface of the water just like it did back at camp.

  I smile. “This reminds me of Camp Holly.”

  “Does it remind you of skinny dipping at Camp Holly with me?”

  My cheeks burn as I look to my side. “I don’t need the lake to remind me of skinny dipping at Camp Holly with you.”

  He pulls me down into the short cut grass, just inches away from where the grass is cut a little higher, then a little further, it’s even higher before the banks of the lake are rimmed in cattails. “I know for a fact that was the best time I’ve ever had at camp.”

  He teases the hem of my dress up with his hands. When I don’t tell him to stop, he gets bolder. His hand slides up the inside of my thigh, stopping at the apex. His breathing has shallowed out. He’s staring at the sliver of my panties he’s revealed with a look of pure want.

  “Tell me you want this,” he says. “Tell me you want me.”

  I lie down
then and pull him half on top of me. With my hands circled around his neck, I say, “I want this. I want you.”

  His lips descend on mine, kissing me in every way imaginable. He teases my lips until it feels like he’s tasting my very soul. His hands slide over the crotch of my panties, and I buck into him. “You’ve saved me, Tessa Dale,” he says. “I only saw a life like my parents have.” He nips at my lip and then pulls away. “Now I see so, so much more.”

  His words hit me in the chest. My heart’s so full, I can feel it swell like a balloon. It’s been feeling that way more often than not around my Ballers. I want it to keep growing and growing, but I don’t ever want it to pop.

  For a guy who seems like he has it all, Sloan needs this. Needs me. I slide my hand down to cup his cock. He’s straining. When I start to stroke him over his pants, he clenches his teeth. “Here?” he asks.

  I nod. “Now.”

  Determination turns his hazel eyes a deep brown. I work on the buttons of his pants, pulling them down his thighs along with his boxers until he springs free. I lick my lips, and Sloan moans. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  I won’t even play coy. I know I was looking at him like I could eat him up. Sloan flips the skirt of my dress all the way up. His fingers hook around my panties, and he tears them down. He pulls my left leg through until he’s hovering over the throbbing in my clit. He moves back, settling down into the grass, dropping kisses everywhere but where I want him to. Wetness seeps out of me. He nips and teases the skin on my upper thighs, licks and gets oh so close to my apex, but never goes there. He’s driving me crazy. I try to slide my hand over his dick, but he keeps moving it just out of reach, most likely because he knows I want to tease him now, too. I want to drive him to the very edge and then pull back like he’s doing to me.

  “Sloan,” I finally say. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re not inside me in the next five seconds, I might die.”

  Then and only then, does the tip of his tongue run the length of my pussy. It keeps going, moving up my stomach, past my belly button until he hits my dress. Then he moves forward, his cock at my entrance. “Do I need to get a condom?”

  “Sloan,” I groan, arching into him. He doesn’t move forward though. I can tell he wants to. He’s hard as a rock. “I’m on birth control,” I finally say. At least that was one good thing my ex did for me.

  Sloan guides his cock forward. I open for him until he’s pushing inside. He lets out a slew of curses as he takes his time. “Oh my fucking God,” he finally says.

  “Mm-hmm,” I say, reveling in the feel of him inside me.

  He rocks into me, and my head falls back onto the grass. He seizes the opportunity to drag his teeth down the curve of my neck. The feeling flirts between pleasure and pain, but I love it. He lowers his head, nipping at my nipples right through my dress. He forces his hand up under my dress, under my bra, until he cups me and squeezes. I arch into him until he’s so deep inside me, I cry out.

  “Yes, Sloan. God.”

  Something shifts inside him. His pumps become more pronounced. He dives into me, making my mouth open in silent screams. He teases my nipples until I’m about to come apart. He can tell too. As soon as I start to tremble, he says, “Yes, baby. Let it go.”

  My fingers dig into his back. “Sloan…”

  He bites his lip as he looks down at me. “I want to come inside you.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “God, fuck me.” He shakes now, too. Palms on the grass, he quickens his movements until I moan his name. He explodes inside me at the same time I come around him. I can feel him release inside me in short bursts. I move my hands to his ass and pull him toward me until he groans hard. “Fuck, Tessa.” He keeps rocking into me with small movements until he shudders for a final time.

  He kisses my forehead, my cheeks, my nose, and then finally my lips. “Thank you,” he says. And just the way he says it, I know he’s not saying thank you for the orgasm or even for the sex. It’s for so much more.

  After we dress each other back up and head toward the car, he thanks me again right in the parking lot in the backseat of his Jeep, and this time, it is all about the sex and the resulting mind-blowing orgasm. It’s safe to say Sloan and I have exploding chemistry, too.

  15

  On Sunday, I stay home and do a bit of homework that now takes me longer to do than it used to because of my cast. I text with the guys throughout the day, mostly Alec who seems particularly chatty. I was determined to stay home, but near the end of the day, he texts that his sister wants to play basketball with me, so who am I to refuse her? We play on the outside courts near the high school until the spotlight comes on in the waning light to illuminate the court. When the chill in the air starts sprouting goosebumps up my arms, we call it quits. It isn’t as if I was able to really play anyway, which is fine because that wasn’t what Roberta wanted. She wanted Alec and I to show her some tips, so it was basically just an impromptu lesson on how to dribble and shoot with me explaining and Alec showing her.

  He rolls his eyes when Roberta asks me question after question. Apparently, he’s tried to show her how to play plenty of times, but she doesn’t want to learn from him. She wants to learn from me.

  When we finish, we all get in the car, so he can drive me back home. This not being able to drive thing is getting annoying. When we get there, he walks me to the front door and holds my hand in his. I can hear Roberta giggling from the truck, trying not to look at us, but peeking her head over the car door anyway, then ducking down like we can’t see or hear her.

  He shakes his head. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” I tell him. “You know I love your sister.”

  He places the hair that escaped my ponytail behind my ear. “Oh, you love my sister, huh?”

  I shrug. “Well, yeah. Someone in your family has to be cool.”

  He chuckles, then tightens his grip on my hand. “I had fun tonight, Tessa. I’m glad you decided you wanted to come out with us.”

  “Me too,” I say. I liked being on a court again even though I’m limited to what I can do. It was nice to be able to instruct her and see her determination in trying to get everything right. Not to sound full of myself, but she reminds me of me. When Alec and I just stare at one another for too long, I break into a smile and say, “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He leans in, giving me a peck on the lips while Roberta yells, “Ewwwww!” from the car.

  I bite my lip and smile up at him, then wave at Roberta before turning and going into the house. My mom’s on the computer when I get into the living room, so I just kiss her cheek and tell her I’m heading to bed, so I can make sure to get up for school on time. I feel like I’ve had a full week packed into two days. Well, one night and two whole days. First, the party at Ryan’s house. Then the date with Sloan. Now today.

  I’m pretty lucky.

  I head up the stairs. When I get to my room, I turn on the lights. I almost scream when I see a figure in my bed, but then I realize it’s Ryan. “Jesus!” I whisper-shout instead, then look out into the hallway to make sure my mom didn’t follow me up before shutting the door. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you get up here?”

  He’s sitting on the edge of the bed. He barely moved throughout my whole freak out, but now that my heart isn’t beating a mile a minute, I can tell something’s wrong.

  “Ryan, what is it?” I move forward, stopping just in front of him.

  “I have to tell you something.” His gaze travels up to my face, but then he turns away right after. “Fuck.” It’s like he’s too ashamed to look at me.

  I drop to my knees in front of him and place my hands on his thighs. “What’s going on?”

  Panic starts to settle in my chest. Is it my dad? Is it something else? Lake, maybe? Or why do I think he’s about to tell me he doesn’t actually like me? That this whole thing for the past few days was just a ruse that he and Lake cooked up just to pull me in and stomp me to th
e ground again?

  His gray eyes swim with emotion. He’s not crying, but he looks like he could. I grip his thighs. “Whatever it is, it’s going to be fine.”

  He shakes his head again, and then takes a deep breath. Then, when he looks at me, it’s as if something clicks, and he looks like he’s resigned himself to tell me whatever he doesn’t want to. He swallows. “I wouldn’t even tell you this except… Except Lake is threatening to tell the entire school if I won’t talk to him. I don’t know what the fuck to do, Tessa. It’s embarrassing. It’ll embarrass not only my family, but yours, too.” He grinds his teeth together and growls out another “Fuck.”

  He stands from the bed and moves around me. His hands are fists at his sides. He runs two shaky hands through his hair.

  I get to my feet as I watch him pace the length of my room. “Do the guys know? Do you want them here?”

  I’ve never dealt with Ryan Linc like this before. I’m sure they have, and maybe I’m being a bit of a coward, but I’m not sure what to do. He bites his next words out. “They know. They don’t know what Lake’s threatening to do, but they know.”

  “Okay…” I say warily. I don’t even care what he has to say right now. I only care about calming him down. He’s wearing a hole into my carpet. The curtains covering my window flutter into my bedroom, so it now hits me how he got into my room. Jesus. He must have scaled the outer shell of the enclosed pool. What the hell was he thinking? Moving forward, I cut him off and stand in front of him.

  Before I can even say anything, he curses again. It’s so loud I’m worried my mom will be able to hear him downstairs. “This is fucking bad, Tessa. And you’re so perfect. You’re going to hate this. You’re going to hate my mom. You’re going to hate me.”

  “Hey,” I say. “Knock that off. Do you have any idea how long I freaking waited for you, Ryan? Do you think I stuck around that long liking you even though you were terrible to me just to have one thing ruin it all? It’s not happening.”