Graphite

by Anne Leigh

  I thought of how easy it would have been to grab Scott by his stupid suit, wrestle him on the ground, and take Kara with me, but how immature would that be?

  We were twenty-three not fifteen.

  And Bridge was there. She’d shame me to death if I did anything stupid.

  So I kept my glances at Kara frequent but undetected.

  I’d adjusted my pants so many times during dinner and every time I could sniff the light perfume she wore.

  It was a tough job, but it would have been tougher to explain the permanent hard-on I was sporting when I took the stage to accept the award.

  I was tired, but my body buzzed with excitement.

  Ian had texted me that there were rumors that the US Rugby Association was on the hunt for new positions, and with the overwhelming popularity that the sport had gained through the last two years, it was time to get serious with the sport and gain international respect.

  I’d looked forward to registering with a private recruiting agency that would give me access to apply and play for international teams, but now the USRA’s plans just opened up a whole new world of possibilities for players like me.

  I exited the freeway and stopped at the Miramar and Genesee intersection, my mind wandering to if I should order pizza or Chinese. A lot of the restaurants by the beach closed way past midnight so I only had a few minutes to spare.

  The dinner was good, but it wasn’t enough for me.

  I should’ve gotten take out before I left Westwood, but I wanted to get on with driving back that I forgot how hungry I was until I was in the vicinity of campus.

  I recognized a pack of gum on the passenger seat, so I tore it open and popped one in my mouth.

  That should sustain my hunger for less than a minute.

  My phone vibrated with an incoming text, but I was already parking on the street so I didn’t look at it right away.

  I turned off the engine and pulled up the text on my phone.

  Scott.

  Why the fuck would he be texting me at this time of night?

  Shit.

  Kara.

  Did something to happen to her?

  It took a second for my brain to compute what was happening.

  The words were jumbled at first before I could comprehend what he was saying.

  “Take care of her.”

  Wait, what?

  What the fuck was going on?

  I was getting whiplashed by the flood of information that I didn’t know what to say at first.

  Then I texted him back the way I would if I had the guts to let the woman I loved go, and if I was brave enough to let her love someone else.

  “Always.”

  I shook my head, still caught in a daze of ‘was this really happening or was someone punking me?’

  I jogged up the stairs to the entrance of the quiet frat house.

  Most of my frat brothers were at the event tonight. They wouldn’t be returning until tomorrow since they’d booked hotel rooms for their hookups.

  I couldn’t blame them.

  Given the choice, I would have stayed there too if Kara was with me and spent the night in Santa Monica, instead of driving back here.

  But Kara wasn’t with me, so here I was.

  I stepped inside, still reeling from the weird text. I’d text Kara soon enough, as soon as I figured out what to eat.

  I needed food to function, and maybe my blood sugar was low enough that I was actually hallucinating Scott’s text.

  I walked to the kitchen and completely missed the lone figure sleeping on the couch.

  I grabbed a frozen Chicken Parm that was going to taste like shit, but I decided that I wasn’t going to go driving around at this hour for fast food, so I put it inside the microwave and nuked it.

  The timer dinged and I was about to take a bite when a soft voice sliced through the stillness.

  “Bishop?”

  Turning my body at a complete 180, I rubbed my eyes and blinked, making sure she wasn’t a mirage or a hologram.

  Then slowly I responded, “Kara?”

  Her glorious hair was a mess around her face. She was still wearing the dress from tonight. Her face was streaked with weird, dark lines.

  She looked like she’d been crying.

  She looked like she’d gone through hell, but her blue eyes were so filled with light.

  And love.

  And God, she was sexy.

  She stepped into my personal bubble and it was all that I allowed her to do before I grabbed her ass, her feet lifted off the floor and her arms were suddenly in my hair, around my shoulders, everywhere.

  I didn’t question why she was here.

  The important thing was that she was here.

  I climbed up the stairs in record time and locked my room as fast as I could.

  She held on to me the whole time.

  As if she was scared that I’d let go of her.

  I pressed her back to the wall between the closet and my computer desk, and since she was hoisted up on my arms, I looked up at her.

  Her eyes were filled with tears, but she was smiling.

  “I missed you.” She said, her voice coming out in spurts, “So much.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed her in, savoring this moment, knowing that if she ever did anything wrong, I’d forgive her.

  “I’m sorry, Bishop…” She was saying but my hands were already busy pushing her thong to the side as I slowly lowered myself to the floor.

  Her feet touched the ground as I circled a finger through her wetness. Wetness that was pooling, growing in volume by the second.

  We’d talk later but right now, I just needed to be inside her.

  “Shhh…” I said, as she opened her legs to accommodate my finger.

  I teased the outside of her pussy before pushing my finger inside of her.

  “This is gonna be fast,” I warned, as I pushed in another finger.

  Her eyes glazed in lust as she pushed her legs further apart.

  I stood up, unbuckled my pants, watching as her dress lowered to the floor, leaving her in an off-white lacy satin bra and a soaked thong.

  I pushed her thong to the side again and without preamble, I lifted her in my arms, her legs wrapping around my ass tightly. Her head created a soft thud against the wall and her eyes lit up in humor, telling me that she was okay.

  Slowly, I pushed my cock inside of her.

  Goddamn.

  She was tight, so fucking tight.

  “Fuck,” I whispered as I slowly set the pace. “You feel so good.”

  Her hands were wild in my hair and I felt her fingers dig into my skull as I thrust inside of her.

  I sucked a nipple through her thin bra and her hips urged me to go deeper.

  “Not gonna last long,” I said, even if I wanted to, it had been too long. I took her right hand from massaging my scalp and guided it towards her center. “Play with yourself, babe. Touch yourself for me.”

  Then putting both of my hands on her ass again, I plunged deeper inside of her.

  In, out, in, out, my cock was throbbing from the ache.

  “Ahh…” She moaned and I knew she was close.

  Kara liked to hear me say dirty words, and I wanted her to take the plunge so I urged her on, “You feel so good, babe. Your pussy feels so fucking good. Keep rubbing it. Rub it like I would.”

  Her back formed an arc against the wall, and I felt the vibrations against the walls of her pussy. “Bishop!”

  My back was extremely hot and thank fuck I took off my suit earlier or I’d be burning up. My dress shirt was covered in sweat, but I could care less.

  I kept thrusting, plunging, feeling her wetness coat my cock as she tightened and stretched around me. My muscles tightened, my body eager for release and I watched as her eyes watched me with so much emotion.

  Her lips were stained pink from her lip gloss, and she must have sensed what I wanted because she lowered her head and kissed me.

  She kissed
my mouth as if she were fucking me.

  My hips undulated in a wild rhythm, my body was a slave to the desire I felt for her.

  No one.

  No woman made me burn for her the way Kara had.

  No one matched my passion the way she had.

  Her mouth let up for air and just as fast had come back for more.

  Her mouth left mine and I felt her lips biting the top of my left ear.

  I couldn’t take it anymore.

  I pushed in one, two, three. My balls tightened and my come came out in spurts.

  My woman took it all in.

  I stroked her hair, watching her cheeks stain with a blush.

  I pushed in one last time and slowly I rubbed the soft skin between her breasts, still covered by a bra.

  I hadn’t shaved so her tender skin had been scraped.

  Nuzzling my head on her exposed chest, I felt my cock soften and slowly I pulled out of her.

  “I love you,” she said, her voice so sure, unwavering. “I’m so sorry for everything I put you through, but I love you.”

  I took a deep breath, inhaling her unique scent, and responded, “I missed you so much.”

  The aftermath of sex could be tricky.

  Endorphins blurred judgment and communication about the elephant in the room became last.

  Now that we were in the living room, munching on chips and a newly-opened salsa bottle, we could talk.

  We were both riding high on the adrenaline of being together again, so even if it was close to three o’ clock in the morning, now was as great as time as any.

  She changed into one of my light blue thin cotton shirts and my black workout shorts were loose on her, but I didn’t want her walking around in her thong. You never knew when any of my housemates might walk in, so her get-up was more of a shield for my sanity than hers.

  “What changed?” I asked, while her head was leaning against my chest. I’d also grabbed a random shirt and shorts from my dresser before stepping out of my room. Normally I’d go without a shirt, but I was still too amped up that the touch of her skin on mine would make me lose track of what needed to be discussed, so the clothes were staying on, for now.

  Her voice was mellow when she spoke, “I couldn’t go on pretending to be with Scott anymore. I missed you so much.”

  My hands skimmed her arms and I felt the rise of goosebumps on her skin.

  “I don’t know how things are going to play out. I can only hope for the best.” Her head lowered and I gently reached for her chin, motioning for her to look at me. She obliged and revealed that she’d taken a fall for her best friend, Hanna. She relayed the whole story about Lashon, ending with what happened between Scott’s father and her at her parents’ Thanksgiving party.

  Her shoulders shook and the tears in her blue eyes kept flowing as I thumbed her face to soothe her, but the words kept coming, “I’m so sorry, Bishop. I didn’t want to hurt you. The last thing I wanted was to hurt you. But I can’t put Hanna’s degree at risk either… Now that I’ve spilled the beans, I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”

  I pressed on her chin and said, “It’s going to be okay, babe. Hanna and I have been talking and we’re trying to figure out the best way to go about your dilemma. I’ve actually contacted our lawyer, Danilo, to advise us on the best course of action to take.”

  Her lips went agape and a puzzled expression stretched across her beautiful face. “You talked to Hanna?”

  I nodded and gave her a gentle smile. “She called me. I guess she couldn’t stand any more of your sucky, wallowing Facetime calls, so she told me what really happened. I was planning to tell you, but you beat me to it.”

  “How long have you known?” Her gaze was still dazed, as if she couldn’t believe me.

  I lowered my lips to her hair and said, “A few days. I was just waiting on the right time to tell you.”

  She scanned my face, “I’ll take the consequences of my actions, Bishop. Whatever they may be. But I’m no longer willing to sacrifice my relationship with you. I can handle anything, but these past weeks of being without you, I’ve learned that I can’t handle being without you.”

  Moving her around so she could scoot up on her legs and straddle me, my forehead touched hers and I vowed, “We’ll figure it out together, babe. We’ll get through this.”

  “I’m not sure how my academic career’s gonna get out of this situation unscathed if Scott’s dad makes true on his threat of exposing my past at Texas U. It could get me expelled from SDU and I just don’t know what I’d do…” Her voice broke and her shoulders shook. “But if there’s one thing that I’m sure of, it’s that I’m not compromising on you anymore. I can take anything, everything as long as you’re with me.”

  I found her lips once again and in between the soft kisses I was giving her, I whispered a promise that whatever tomorrow held, I would face it with her.

  That we were stronger if we were with each other than when we were apart and deep in my heart, I knew that it was true.

  Kara

  It had been a week since the night of the sports awards.

  A week of going to classes, hanging out with Bishop, talking to Hanna, cooking at the dorm with Anissa, who had taken to experimenting with El Salvadorean dishes, and basically doing everything that I could to distract myself from my impending fate.

  Scott had texted me last night, letting me know that he’d let his Dad know how furious he was with him for using my quandary to gain the upper hand in my situation with Scott.

  I received three missed calls from a Texas phone number, but I didn’t answer them.

  Bishop said that if Scott’s dad wanted to contact me, he had to go through the lawyer. He was done with me dealing with Scott’s dad behind the curtains, and as for me, I was stuck in limbo.

  A limbo of waiting for the final verdict.

  “You want a drink, Kiki?” Rikko was on my side, his knees bouncing in excitement.

  “No, thank you.” I showed him my cup, still half full with Sierra Mist, “I’m good.”

  “Alright.” He lifted his right hand and waved the dark blonde guy standing on the side of the field. I was assuming that my brother was ordering the Tau neophyte on what foods to bring him. I shook my head because my brother could’ve easily flagged down the people who were walking up and down the bleachers, offering popcorn, candy, or hotdogs, but Rikko just had to make another frat member serve him.

  “Grab me a giant Pepsi, the largest bag of popcorn, and the biggest bag of Reese’s you could find,” Rikko said to the frat member.

  “Yes sir.” The guy responded without so much of a blink.

  Oh freshmen. What great tunnel vision they had.

  I was still shaking my head, feeling my ponytail swing on my shoulders when Rikko said, “What? That’s what they’re there for. You should have seen what our senior members made us do. This is nothing, Kiki. Nothing.”

  Waving his hand at the girls a few bleachers up, he asked, “So, who are you rooting for?”

  I rolled my eyes, “The team my boyfriend plays for, dummy.”

  “Just making sure, Sissy. Who knows? You could be praying for UConn and Bishop would never know.” He waggled his eyebrows and I couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculousness.

  “Your brother’s so weird,” Anissa muttered at my side. She was more of a sports fanatic than I was. She loved football and was only just getting into soccer and rugby. When I asked her if she wanted to go with me to watch Bishop play in one of his last college games, she didn’t hesitate.

  Rikko was now busy talking to Scott, who was standing to his right.

  Yep, you heard that right.

  Scott was here. On the sidelines. To root for his frat brother.

  His relationship with Bishop wouldn’t be that of a BFF kind, but at least now they were talking. And when he’d arrived with my brother twenty minutes ago, I had to keep my jaw from dropping on the field.

  Scott merely hugged me and said, “Gott
a keep up with my frat duties.”

  I said, “Thank you,” and Scott had lifted his shoulders and said, “It’s time for me to man up.”

  I had no idea what that meant, but I guessed that he was trying to make amends.

  To me, to Bishop, and to the relationship that we now had.

  The players were now on the field and when the referee signaled that the game started, I saw my face flashed on the jumbotron.

  The TayTay hashtag was still trending on SDU’s twitter page with my image attached to it. Ian had cheekily given me the news and he said he was proud of me for being the Queen Mary of SDU. Being in the middle of a love triangle between the King of France and King Consort of Scotland wasn’t part of my life goals, but I understood what Ian was saying.

  Tonight I was declaring to everyone in the Twitterverse that I was here for one man. And one man only.

  And that man was the one who was currently running on the field with so much power and skill that the UConn players were having a hard time catching him.

  I wasn’t overly familiar with rugby, but I was learning.

  Bishop’s heart was in it and he wanted to pursue a rugby career after college and I was going to support him, any way that I could.

  I watched as Bishop ran and kicked the ball inside the goal to which the whole SDU stadium roared with cheers.

  He tipped his hands up in the air and gestured to where I was sitting, now standing, in excitement.

  I screamed at the top of my lungs, “Great kick, babe!”

  I could care less if my face was all over the jumbotron’s screen, all I knew was that my man was such a great athlete that he was leading his team on their way to winning.

  It was only the beginning of the game, but I had a feeling that tonight, SDU’s Rugby Team, The Predators, would be topping the scoreboard.

  I was still trying to contain my enthusiasm when my brother elbowed me. “Damn Kiki. How come you don’t cheer like that for us?”

  Scott sniggered and I gave both of them a shy smile.

  It was true.

  I’d watched my brother and Scott play on the field, but I’d never been revved up as much as I was now.

  I couldn’t explain it.