Bad Coach (An Alpha Male Bad Boy Romance) (Forbidden Romance)

by Claire Adams

  We all grabbed a corner of the table and started talking about what we wanted to do with our majors. Georgia told the other girls about my goal to possibly join Greenpeace, and we came up with one or two other post-graduation scenarios that would be just as wild. Giselle thought she might want to go to Korea to teach English, Sam said she was going to go backpacking through India. We started to get to know each other better, comparing notes on what we had learned over the couple of days since we’d moved in. Apparently the RA on our floor was pretty nice—though Annie had managed to embarrass herself by knocking on the RA’s door in the middle of the night, locked out of her dorm, and discovered that while our RA had strict rules for us against having boys in our rooms, she had one of the other RAs over—and they were barely dressed.

  I was relaxing, my mind off of Johnny for once, talking to the girls on my floor and getting to know everyone. It was nice to have a little bit of time when I wasn’t thinking about the incredibly hot guy I’d only run into twice. I smiled and laughed, telling an edited story about what had happened to me that morning, without mentioning Johnny—and fortunately, Georgia had the presence of mind not to bring it up. We all joked about how hard it was to get around on campus and how we were eventually going to be the mistresses of the layout, how we were all going to end up being much nicer than the upperclassmen who refused to help us freshmen when we were lost or frazzled.

  As I was talking, though, I was looking around, just taking in the scene around me and trying to get a feeling for the people in the dining hall. I had eaten my dinner and got up to get some dessert—the brownies actually looked decent, and I thought I had seen “Chinese donuts” among the offerings. “I’m going to get something sweet, anyone want anything?” A few of the girls said that they would come with, and I started back into the food service area.

  I made my way over to the dessert area and looked around as I grabbed a brownie and one of the sugared donuts. Off to the side, my gaze stuttered to a stop as I caught sight of Johnny. He was talking to one of the upperclassmen girls, smiling—not quite the way he had smiled at me, but smiling at her nonetheless. For a moment I was frozen in place. The girl, whoever she was, was obviously into Johnny; she kept touching him, moving her hips, tilting her head, playing with her hair. I heard her cloyingly sweet laugh and wanted to throw up.

  Georgia had come with the rest of us to grab a quick dessert; she saw me staring and glanced in the direction I was looking in. “Oh,” she said. She nudged me, shaking her head. “Snap out of it, girl,” she told me quietly.

  I gave myself a shake and shrugged. “It’s a free country, I guess,” I muttered, grabbing another brownie and piling it on top of the one I’d already gotten. Georgia rolled her eyes.

  “Dude, he’s the hottest guy in the school,” she said lowly. “Of course women are going to throw themselves at him. I mean, it’s no big deal, right?” I shrugged again, taking a deep breath and trying to get better control over my face.

  “Right, of course.” I turned and made myself walk away without causing a scene, without trying to interrupt the two. I knew I was being foolish; after all, how many times had I told Georgia that Johnny probably hadn’t even taken any particular notice of me? But I felt a little rattled, nonetheless. He’s just a nice guy, and he probably flirts as easily as he breathes. It’s no big deal. Let it go. I told myself I was getting depressed over nothing, and that probably Johnny didn’t mean anything with the upperclassman girl any more than he had meant anything with me. He probably invited every girl he ran into to the frat parties. He had just been being nice to me when he’d helped me get to class. I should take what I’d said to Georgia seriously and just pretend like nothing at all had happened—because obviously, Johnny didn’t think anything at all had happened.

  Georgia and the girls and I headed back to the dorms a little while after that, and we parted ways from the other girls on our floor. “We should get some reading done,” Georgia pointed out, and I had to agree. We sat in the common area of the room, our books out, talking about our classes while we took notes and went over what we could remember from our classes. I could barely remember anything; my whole brain was still consumed with the sight of Johnny—not just the shock of seeing him talking to the other girl, but also the way he’d been so nice to me when I’d literally run into him, when he’d found me lost and wandering around campus. I flipped through the chapters I’d been assigned in the textbook for the first couple of weeks of American Literature and tried not to think about him.

  Eventually, it was too much for me to stand. I got up out of my chair and put my books aside. “I’m going to grab a shower before I turn in,” I told Gigi. She shrugged.

  “Sounds good to me. I just want to finish this chapter.” I went into my bedroom to grab my towel and went immediately into the shower half of our split bathroom. Technically, my bedroom should have been private enough, but the walls were paper-thin, and I didn’t want anyone to know what I was up to. I plugged in the dock for my iPhone and put the phone in the base. I started up the shower and gave it a couple of minutes to warm up while I scrolled through my music; I didn’t want anything that would be loud enough to get us in trouble—it was quiet hours in the dorm—but I wanted to cover up any noises I might make.

  I finally settled on an old TLC album and stripped my clothes off, beginning to think of what Johnny had been wearing earlier when he’d helped me make it to class. He’d been in jeans and a t-shirt, standard college guy fare, but the jeans had fit him perfectly—not sagging, not overly tight. The tee shirt had given me a decent view of his broad shoulders and the muscling of his chest and arms without being obvious.

  I stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain shut behind me and started to imagine what he must look like under those clothes; his skin was a little less pale than mine, I could remember that easily. I pictured him in my mind, taking his shirt off, and bit my bottom lip, my hands staring to wander over my body, touching my breasts, giving them a squeeze. I imagined what it would feel like for Johnny to be doing it instead of me, how his strong hands would feel, and I played with my nipples, rolling and twisting them until a hot jolt shot from my breasts straight down to my pussy.

  In my head, I imagined reaching down and unzipping Johnny’s jeans, tugging them down over his hips. I pictured what his chest must look like, the deep v of his hips; did he have a happy trail? I closed my eyes and put my head under the shower, letting my hands wander downward until I came to my hips. I spread my legs a little bit and reached down between them, licking my lips and feeling my body heat up under the water while I thought about Johnny. What it would be like to have him right there in the shower with me, kissing me, touching me, teasing me. I started to rub myself slowly, working my way in between my labia, stroking lightly at first and then harder as I got more and more turned on.

  I knew I shouldn’t even be thinking about it; Johnny probably hadn’t given me a second thought as soon as he’d walked away from me after leading me to my class. But as I started working myself, touching and rubbing and stroking my clit, moans starting to leave my lips, I couldn’t help but imagine going down on him or having him playing with me like I was playing with myself. I thought about him pinning me down on my bed and kissing his way down my body, coming to my hips and teasing me with that sparkle in his eyes until I was ready to beg him to stop—until I was ready to beg him to go on.

  I slid one finger inside of myself, biting my bottom lip to keep from making too much noise as I thought about what it would be like for him to finger me, for him to work me with his hand until I couldn’t stand it anymore, and then finally what it would feel like to have him inside of me. I slid down to the floor, the water pouring on my head, down my breasts, beating on my shoulders while I worked two fingers in and out, my thumb pressed against my clit, my hips moving with a mind of their own. I could only imagine what Johnny looked like naked, what he would feel like, how big he was underneath his clothes. I knew I would probably nev
er get anywhere near enough to find out, but in my head, I imagined him pressing me up against the shower wall and holding me there, thrusting into me slowly and then faster and faster. My fingers mimicked what I was imagining until I was gasping and shivering, moaning at the thought of him.

  By the time I was finished, the hot water was almost exhausted, and I had to hurry to wash my hair before it went completely cold. I stepped out of the shower on unsteady legs, shivering until I got the towel wrapped around me, and made a beeline for my room; Georgia had apparently finished the chapter while I was in the bathroom, and the lights in the common area of the dorm were out—she must have gone to bed.

  I got myself dried off and climbed into my own bed, thinking about everything that had happened in such a short time. I shook my head; it had been so stupid to get myself off thinking about him. How many other girls were probably doing the same thing at the same time? Even if Johnny had been a total jerk, he was hot—and he definitely wasn’t a jerk. He’d been so nice to me, but it was stupid of me to even think of anything happening between us. He was just a nice guy who was being friendly to a freshman girl. I knew I was cute, but I didn’t think there was any way I could compete with every other girl on campus. I had felt better while I was in the shower, but that wasn’t enough.

  I turned onto my other side in the bed and told myself that it didn’t matter that a bunch of other girls—practically every other girl—was hot for him. I was just being silly; I just had a crush on a nice, hot guy. It would pass, and then I’d move onto someone I actually had a decent shot with. In spite of my pep talk, I couldn’t help but feel a little depressed, and as I fell asleep, I thought that if I was going to let some stupid guy completely screw me up after nothing more than a couple of conversations, I was a total idiot.

  Chapter Seven

  By the next morning when I got up, I had resolved to put Johnny out of my mind completely. I mean, how hard could it possibly be to stop thinking about him? I probably wasn’t going to run into him again—the two incidents where we had ended up speaking were total flukes, and I had a much better idea of where I was going on campus. I would find my own way around, and I was almost determined to not draw any attention to myself whatsoever—the better to avoid risking having another run-in with Johnny that would twist my thoughts around in circles yet again. The less attention I paid to him, the better off I would be.

  I made it to my first class of the day without a hitch, following a bunch of other freshmen to the building and even managing to keep up a bit of conversation with them before the professor arrived. I told myself that I would make a decent showing in the afternoon math class I had—that I would actually be focused instead of distracted and make up for the fact that I hadn’t been paying attention at all the previous day when the professor had been going over the introductory material. I participated in the class discussion and got a few grins for my occasionally smart ass remarks. The class was one of the Freshman requirements—and I thought to myself that if there was any class that I could possibly sleep through and still manage to get all As, it would be this one.

  I was feeling much better about the situation as I started to make my way across the campus, heading towards the dining hall to meet with Georgia. She’d had a different first class—I thought it might have been her Biology class, with the lab set for later in the day; but we had Precal together, so we had made an agreement that we’d walk there every day, unless one of us got sick and had to stay behind in the dorm. I was actually starting to look forward to my afternoon classes, thinking that it would be so much easier to deal with everything without worrying about whether or not Johnny knew I existed and who might be flirting with him. I’d skip the party—and the crazy frat boys that would come with it—and find my own group of friends, probably some of the girls from my floor of the dorm.

  “Becky!” I heard a familiar voice calling my name from behind me and turned just in time to see Johnny jogging up, looking out of breath. I was surprised; had he rushed to catch up with me? I told myself he’d probably been running for another reason, spotted me, and somehow or another remembered my name. It was nothing. I wasn’t going to let him infiltrate my brain the way he had before.

  “Hey,” I said, putting on a polite smile as he came to a stop next to me. Some of the people around us kept going, moving towards the dining hall and the food it promised. My stomach was growling; I had managed to grab some fruit and some coffee, but I was more than ready for more to eat than that.

  “How’s it going? Settling in all right?” I smiled in spite of myself and nodded.

  “Yeah, I actually managed to make it to my first class of the day without having a meltdown or ending up on the completely wrong end of campus,” I replied. Johnny laughed.

  “See? I told you you’d get used to this place in no time. You’re too smart to wander around lost every day of the first semester. Who did you have?” I showed him my textbook for the Introduction to Academic Life class and he grimaced with sympathy.

  “I’m pretty sure I could sleep every day in that class and still manage to get an A,” I said, shaking my head. Johnny nodded.

  “Oh God, yeah, it’s boring as hell, and anyone with half a brain could manage a passing grade on the tests. Banks isn’t too tough, though. I heard—what’s his name—Kircher is a total asshole when he teaches it; makes everyone write like ten essays.” Johnny grinned.

  “Ten essays wouldn’t be that hard,” I said. “As long as I could stay awake to write them.” Johnny laughed.

  “You know, I think that might be the first actual joke you’ve told me! Congratulations, you are officially a full student here.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Oh, so everyone who wants to be a fully-accepted student has to tell you a joke?” Johnny shook his head.

  “Nah, but it shows you’re getting used to this place. Not afraid of us big, bad upperclassmen anymore.” I gave him a playful shove, and he responded by giving one of the braids I had put my hair into a playful tug.

  “How do you expect me to be afraid of you when you’re so nice to me all the time?” Johnny smiled, and there was something in his eyes I couldn’t quite read, but it made my heart start beating faster.

  “Hey, I’m just doing how I do. It’s easy to be nice to a pretty girl like you—but I’m still plenty capable of kicking ass and taking names.” I rolled my eyes.

  “I’ll believe it when I see it.” I could feel myself blushing at the fact that he thought I was pretty and told myself to stop it.

  “Who else have you got today?” I showed him my Precal textbook and made a face. Johnny groaned.

  “God, I’ve only had one class with this guy and already I’m hopelessly confused. Is he as uptight as he seems?” Johnny nodded.

  “Every bit. I had him my freshman year, too, and I swear, if you didn’t phrase things in your answers exactly the way he put them in the notes, you were screwed.” I groaned and put my face in my hands.

  “God, I’m screwed. I’m going to fail.” I sighed. “Well, at least I know it now.” Johnny laughed.

  “Well, there are lots of tutors, and if nothing else, I’m sure he’s never changed the answers on his tests in all this time, so you can ask me what you should write and I might even have the answer!” We were both walking, making our way slowly towards the dining hall from the opposite end of the campus, and in spite of my firm resolution to never even think about him again, I felt myself smiling, reacting to Johnny, blushing, my heart beating faster at the fact that he seemed to have wanted to talk to me specifically.

  He stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop as he did, and tilted his head slightly to the side. “I have an important question for you: do you like hockey?” I hesitated for just a second; I knew absolutely nothing about hockey other than the fact that there were a lot of fights and it apparently took place on an ice rink.

  “I love it!” I lied. I felt my cheeks burning again—I thought to myself that if he asked me what my favorite tea
m was, I was going to be totally screwed. I had better think of something. Hockey teams… what kind of mascots did they have? What cities even had teams? And if I said the wrong team, it would be just as bad as if I admitted I didn’t know anything at all about hockey, but just wanted to say yes so that we could keep talking.

  “Great!” Johnny’s face lit up, and he was beaming down at me, looking as excited as I could imagine him ever looking. “That’s really awesome, you don’t even know. There’s a game tonight; do you want to come watch?” I felt my heart leap up into my throat—he was asking me to come to a game with him! I took a deep breath as surreptitiously as I possibly could.

  “Yeah, that sounds great—when did you want to pick me up?” Johnny frowned slightly for an instant before he laughed.

  “Oh, I’m playing—but I could have a ticket put aside for you so you could come and watch me play.” I felt a little disappointed; I thought of all of the games I’d gone to for my friend in high school. At least, I had known something about football. Johnny put one hand on my shoulder and I felt as if I would vibrate out of my skin at any moment. “I would love for you to come and watch me.” My heart skipped a beat in my chest at the word “love.” I told myself I was being ridiculous, but it sent a little quiver through my body even so.

  “Can I bring my roommate? She—she likes hockey, too.” Johnny nodded.

  “I’ll have them put two tickets aside for you at the box office.” He beamed down at me and gave my hair a quick tousle. “Can’t wait to see you there,” he said.

  “Thanks—I’m really excited. First game at my new school!” Johnny’s hand left me and he told me to make sure to be there with plenty of time; I watched as he started to head back the way he had come, and felt my skin tingling all over, my heart beating faster. I glanced over my shoulder, not wanting to give up the moment I’d just had, and caught sight of Johnny looking back at me, a little smile still curving his lips as he went on his way to another class. When I turned back around, I saw a group of girls who had come to a stop, looking from Johnny to me. When they saw me looking at them, I watched their expressions go from shock to envy, and then anger. It was petty of me, and probably pretty stupid, considering how keyed up I had been before, but I had to admit that it felt really good to see them all looking so jealous that Johnny had paid some attention to me.