“I don’t know why my dad’s so mad at Wesley,” I tell her. “If it wasn’t for him, we’d still be losing like we always do.”
“It seems to me that Wesley’s the type to push limits,” Taylor says. “He totally ignored your dad’s call and substituted one of his own.”
“Well, isn’t that what a quarterback needs to do sometimes?” I ask, genuinely baffled.
“Probably not during his first game, on his first day playing at a new school, for a new coach…”
Taylor looks at me as if I have three heads, for not being able to figure these things out. But I decide to ignore her. It’s obvious that both my dad and Wesley have big personalities, and they clash because each of them is so headstrong.
As I approach them, however, I can’t seem to help keeping my opinions to myself. My dad is berating Wesley, who looks embarrassed in front of the whole team, although he’s trying to keep his cocky demeanor in check.
I wait until my dad finishes yelling at him, and the rest of the team, and then until he dismisses them to the locker room. After that I walk up to my dad.
“Dad, please calm down!” I plead with him. “Can’t you just be happy that the team won for once?”
Sometimes nothing ever seems to be good enough for my dad. I appreciate that he raised me to value hard work and success, but he isn’t very flexible in his thinking.
“Chelsea,” he says, using the same stern voice I’ve heard since I was a little girl. “This really isn’t any of your business.”
“Why not?” I ask him, as a surprised look crosses his face.
He’s not used to me challenging his authority, but I feel that he’s being ridiculous.
“I’m a student here,” I continue arguing my case. “I cheer for this team, and I want to have some school pride. I want our team to win, and that’s what happened today.”
I resist the urge to add “finally.”
“And I need to break the new quarterback in and teach him some respect,” my dad mumbles, as if I’m not even here.
I know that when he’s in one of these moods, there’s just no reasoning with him. I decide to give up, for now.
“Well, why don’t you head home and cool down,” I suggest, knowing that he’ll be getting together with Taylor’s mom later, after Taylor and I head to the lake house.
He still hasn’t told me about their plans, which bothers me. I know he has no obligation to fill me in on his social life, but Taylor’s mom had obviously told her. And I don’t like to feel as if my dad is hiding something from me.
“That’s a good idea,” he tells me, almost in a patronizing tone. “Let’s just each head our own way, and mind our own business.”
Fine with me, I think, but I say, “Have a good weekend, Dad.”
“You too, Daughter.”
As I walk away, I can’t help but smile at his tone.
As much as I might fight with my dad, I never stop feeling grateful for his presence in my life. No matter our disagreements, we’ve been through a lot together, and there’s a special bond between us, knowing that both of us have lost her— my mom, and his wife.
I hate to stay mad at him for long, or to cause him any more grief. But I have a feeling that Wesley is going to cause a rift between us in more ways than one. Because Dad wants to teach Wesley to obey authority, and I want to let loose and go wild with Wesley.
Chapter 9 – Chelsea
Taylor and I go to her house to shower and change, and then we head out with some other cheerleaders to pick up alcohol and snacks before driving to the lake house.
Soon the party’s rocking and I’ve forgotten all about my fight with my dad. It’s nice to just relax and bask in the fun of a new school year and a new cheerleading season.
Except for the fact that Wesley isn’t here. I try not to appear too anxious as I look at the door every time someone comes in, but it’s never him.
I wait until the party’s been going on for a couple hours until I start to give up hope. Maybe he’s just not that interested, after all.
“Waiting for Prince Charming?” Taylor asks me, and I glare at her.
“Very funny.”
“Here, drown your sorrows,” she says, handing me some kind of spiked punch concoction in a red Solo cup.
“What is this?” I ask, crinkling up my nose.
“Who knows?” she laughs. “Mandy made it.”
“Oh great.”
We both groan.
Mandy fancies herself a bartender because she’s hung out with them at the country club to which her parents belong. She’s been drinking and supposedly learning how to make cocktails and other mixed drinks since practically middle school.
Somehow Mandy can party all night but work hard all day: she always makes the dean’s list and she’s one of our most talented cheerleaders and by far the best gymnast, with great acrobatic moves I always make used of in our routines.
And it’s cool that she likes to tend bar before she gets too sloshed to stand up straight. But her drinks are always way too strong, like they’re straight out of some high school party that lasts way too long into adulthood.
Tonight, though, I don’t care. A little alcohol will do me good. Hopefully it will take my mind off of Wesley’s absence.
I down the drink and then Taylor heads to get us a refill, as Jeff Milton approaches me.
I do my best to return his warm smile. He’s been hitting on me since orientation of our freshman year, and he just can’t seem to take a hint. He’s an oversized defensive tackle, and completely not my type, although he’s nice enough. So nice, in fact, that he’s failed to notice that he’s been friend zoned, and continues to keep trying unsuccessfully to make us into more than that.
“How’s it going, Chelsea?” he asks, handing me another drink.
I start to protest that Taylor is already bringing me one, but I think better of that idea, and start sipping from this one, too.
Why not?
Tonight’s a lost cause and I’d better plan on getting drunk and playing beer pong or some other mindless activity to pass the time, without Wesley.
“Not bad, Jeff. How’s it going for you?”
“Great,” he says, nodding his large head up and down. “It’s nice to win a game for once.”
“Cheers to that,” I say, and he meets my cup with his, for a toast.
“I love your nails,” he compliments me, reaching out to touch the school color themed polish and glitter I’d had applied at my manicure with Taylor yesterday.
“Thanks,” I tell him, and as he’s practically holding my hand, inspecting my nails up close, I feel a strong arm encircle my waist, almost possessively.
I turn to my left to find Wesley Reynolds peering down at me with a happy grin on his face.
I can’t help but return the grin. My night just got a whole lot better.
Chapter 10 – Chelsea
Right after Wesley grins at me, he turns to Jeff with a snarl.
“Chelsea, let me get you a real drink,” he says, leading me away from Jeff, as if the two of them are mortal enemies.
“Well, hello there, Wesley,” I say, and happily follow him, much to Jeff’s obvious dismay.
Christian’s with him, and looks a bit annoyed.
“Where’s Taylor?” he asks.
“I don’t know but maybe you should go find her,” I tell him.
I want to be alone with Wesley, obviously.
“I know I’m a bit late, but you had to go slumming in the meantime?” Wesley asks, with a flirtatious glint in his eyes.
“Very funny,” I tell him. “Jeff and I are just old friends.”
“That’s what you think,” he says. “I saw the way he was pawing at you, desperate for any excuse to touch you.”
I laugh, secretly happy that he’s jealous, even though I know that Jeff has never stood a chance, even before Wesley transferred to Calton. And no one stands a chance now that Wesley’s here, although I’m not going to tell hi
m that.
“Sorry we’re late,” Wesley says. “Christian got us lost on some crazy turn he thought was necessary but clearly wasn’t. It took us forever to find our way back to the main road.”
“Dude, not cool,” Christian protests. “Who’s the one who has lived here forever? Me. Whereas you just moved here, and had some hair-brained idea that you had some better way to find this place, so who’s fault is it that we got lost…?”
“No,” Wesley insists, shaking his head. “The only time I mentioned that maybe we were going the wrong way, we were definitely going the wrong way. Before that, I was happy to let you navigate, because you’re fucking right— I don’t know my way around these dark country roads.”
“Now, now boys, stop fighting,” I chide them. Then I call out “Taylor!”, as we approach the kitchen and I see her scanning the crowd with two Solo cups in her hand.
I’m happy to spot her and to break up the little tiff between Christian and Wesley. But I’m hoping she’ll entertain Christian so I can get some one on one time with Wesley.
As if reading my mind, she winks and says, “So look who finally made it!”
She hands the drink to me— now I’m double-fisting it— and takes Christian by the arm.
He looks all too eager to follow her. I wonder if Wesley and I have started something contagious. Maybe we’ve accidentally set up each of our friends together.
It’d be surprising, since neither of them have ever shown an interest in each other, and Christian tried to get with me last year. But stranger things have happened. And it would definitely be convenient.
“Let me show you the fine selection of drinks we have to offer,” I hear Taylor say to Wesley, just before they pass out of earshot. “Just make sure Mandy doesn’t make any of them.”
“Ha,” I laugh at my best friend’s humor, even though she isn’t here to hear it.
Then I pass my second drink to Wesley and say, “Take this. It sounds like you need it more than I do.”
He laughs and thanks me and then takes a drink.
“Christian was the first person to welcome me here, but he sure can be an insufferable jackass.”
I laugh so hard I nearly spit up my drink.
“That’s definitely one way to describe him,” I agree.
“I like the guy enough, but there’s something… off about him, maybe,” Wesley continues.
“How so?”
“I don’t know. It’s just weird that he’s being so nice to me.”
I laugh again and say, “Oh ye of little faith in humanity. How dare someone be nice to you, without you questioning their sanity?”
Wesley laughs too, and I like the way his whole face lights up in a big smile while he laughs. But then I consider the way that Christian came on pretty hot and heavy to me last year, and realize that there is something rather… intense… about him. Desperate, maybe. Possessive. Or something.
“In all seriousness, maybe Christian’s just lonely?” I suggest to Wesley, not wanting to fill him in on my own personal knowledge.
I’m pretty sure Christian hadn’t mentioned it to Wesley, and I’m sure all parties involved would rather let the past stay in the past.
“I guess,” says Wesley, with a shrug. “But I’m not thinking about Christian anymore right now.”
He’s staring down at me, his brown eyes melting mine, and I love the way he talks to me. I’m ready to let him do a lot more than talk to me.
Chapter 11 – Chelsea
Wesley smiles, and asks lightheartedly, “So, are you going to give me the grand tour of your lovely lake house?”
“It’s actually…” I begin, before stopping myself. I was going to say “my dad’s” but I don’t want to bring him up. “…a pretty humble little abode,” I finish, congratulating myself mentally on the quick save. “Just a small cabin. But yes, I’d love to show you around.”
The outside is the nicest part, but I skip it. There are way too many people out there, and it’s too dark to see the beautiful view, anyway.
Wesley tightens his hand around mine and I’m anxious to be alone with him. Since he’s already seen the living area and kitchen, I show him the two bathrooms and two smaller bedrooms and then we’re in the master bedroom.
“That’s about it,” I say, rather timidly, hoping he’s not looking too closely at my dad’s embarrassing fishing plaques and mementos that decorate the room. But he’s staring straight into my eyes again, as he shuts the door behind us.
“Chelsea Thompson,” he says, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close. “I have wanted to do this since the first time I saw you on that football field.”
He leans down and kisses me, causing my knees to wobble underneath me.
In times past, with other guys, I would have felt awkward and out of place. But this feels so natural and right that I just go with it, returning Wesley’s kiss and hoping it feels as good for him as it does for me.
His tongue explores the inside of my mouth, pushing further and deeper inside me, and causing my panties to dampen.
“Come here,” he says, and leads me to the bed.
I begin to pull down the covers, but he wastes no time pulling off my shirt instead.
“I want to see you,” he says, looking down at my bra. “All of you.”
Suddenly shy, I’m glad when he kisses me and I don’t have to say anything. He pulls me down beside him and slides his hand up my skirt. It feels so good and I know he can feel how wet I am. And yet…
“Wesley,” I whisper, breaking free from his kiss.
“Chelsea?” he answers, looking deep into my eyes.
His finger rubs the outside of my panties, and as much as I want him to keep making me feel so good, I also need to tell him something. My most embarrassing secret, that only Taylor knows. She was sworn to secrecy, and everyone would laugh if they found out.
“I… I’ve never…”
I start to tell him, but then I put my head on his chest, unsure of how to say the words. Being close to him feels right, even though I don’t know what to say.
In the past, I’ve just stopped seeing a guy after the second date or so, when things would start to naturally progress to this point. He’d assume I wasn’t interested, and I never have been, at least not enough to go this far. Until now.
“You’re a virgin?” Wesley asks, leaning down closer to me, his breath light and sexy against my neck.
I nod, not wanting to confirm it by saying the words out loud.
I didn’t intend to make it to my sophomore year of college without ever having sex, but it just turned out this way, at first mostly due to my strict dad scaring away any potential suitors. Then it started to seem to me that no one was special enough to lose my virginity to, and I began to wonder if it would ever happen— if there would ever be anyone good enough to meet the impossibly high standard I’d somehow set for “my very first time.”
But now tonight, with Wesley, I know things are different. I want to be with Wesley for my very first time. Maybe not all the way right now, but eventually. I’m completely sure that I want to. And I also want to not die of embarrassment for being a virgin when I know that he’s most definitely not.
And yet, he surprises me by being completely cool with it.
“That’s great,” he says, and begins kissing me again. “We don’t have to rush anything. Is this okay?”
He presses firmly against my panties, and I nod while returning his kiss.
“I just want to touch this sweet little pussy of yours,” he says, and pulls my panties to the side as I wiggle eagerly against his soft yet firm touch.
I open my legs a bit for him and he runs his finger up and down my “pussy.” I’m not used to hearing that word, but I like how he says it. It feels exciting to be doing something so sexual, yet not actually having sex.
“This feels so good,” I tell him, as he rubs my clit.
Then he puts his finger inside me and I feel my juices gush out.
“I’ve been waiting for you to do this.”
“And I’ve been waiting to make you feel amazing,” he says, fingering me while he continues to rub my clit.
We kiss, and he plays with me, until my breath is so fast and heavy I can barely catch it, and I’m digging my fingernails into his back.
“Wesley, I’m going to…” I begin, and then I can’t help but moan.
“Come,” he says, finishing my sentence for me at the same time that he finishes helping me orgasm. “Go ahead and come, Chelsea.”
“Wesley, I’m coming,” I tell him, trying to keep my voice low as I groan into his neck.
I completely let myself go in a way that I never have before. I lie back on the bed, trying to catch my breath, while he smiles down at me, obviously pleased with himself.
“Now what?” I ask, as the ceiling spins above me.
“Now we sleep together,” he says, putting his arm behind me like a pillow. “Just sleep. That’s it, for now. I’m just glad to be here with you.”
“And I’m so glad you’re here too,” I tell him, trying not to sound overly excited.
I close my eyes and let my head rest against his broad shoulder. My mind is spinning with a mixture of alcohol and ecstasy.
This is the best night of my life, and I have a feeling that things with Wesley are only going to get better. I smile as I drift off into a peaceful sleep, certain that everything is going to be perfect from now on.
And then I wake up to the sound of incessant knocking on the door.
“Chelsea! Wake up! Wake up!”
I bolt up, recognizing Taylor’s voice but confused as to why it sounds so urgent. Wesley is next to me, and he grabs a hold of my arm as he wakes up too, obviously as surprised and confused as I am.
“Your dad is here!” Taylor shouts, through the locked bedroom door. “He just drove up to the house.”
“Holy shit.”
I look down, remembering that I still have all my clothes on and glad for that fact now that my dad is here.
But the fact that I’m still dressed isn’t going to pacify my dad much if he finds me in bed at his lake house with his least favorite new player.
SEAL's Virgin: A Bad Boy Military Romance Page 78