All eyes look at me, and I freeze mid-spoonful. Thoughts of Ben dance through my mind, and my face heats.
The weight of Pooja’s stare makes me cringe. I finish my spoonful to change the vibe, but nobody’s moving. Pooja asks, “Or is she?”
Waving my spoon around in an attempt to distract them from the blush that I’m sure is creeping up my face, I scowl. “Stop looking at me. Of course I’m single.”
Pooja shakes her head. “You’re not being honest with us. Honesty is the most important thing, Megan.” Pooja is honesty’s biggest promoter.
I toss my spoon, grab the chips, and bark at Pooja. “Turn off your radar, Pooj. You’re off track.” Even I hear my voice crack.
Juliet gasps. “You are lying! Spill, Smith.”
I look around at the girls and think about how to handle this. “Fine. First off, I am single.” I glare at Pooja, who waves a hand at me. “But, last night, I was feeling a little…” How to put it delicately…?
“Horny?” Juliet suggests.
“Lonely,” I correct. Lonely sounds better, although horny works too. “So I kind of hooked up with this guy. Just for one night. That’s it. End of story. It was nothing. Casual.”
Pooja smirks. “I knew it.”
“You know everything, you witch,” I tease. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Of course, they start bombarding me with questions. Who is he? Was he your match? Where does he live? How was it? Do we know him? How’d you even set it up?
My breath catches in my chest. “He wasn’t my match. Yes, it was a lot of fun. No, I don’t want to talk about it. No, it won’t happen again.” Lies. I need them to stop. I can handle them knowing I had casual sex, but I don’t want them to know it was Ben. I’ll never hear the end of it, they’ll ask me a million more questions, and they’ll push me into something with him that I’m not ready for.
Maggie crosses her arms over her chest and leans back against the couch. “No details? Fine.” Her voice quivers, and her shoulders slump. She’s trying hard to be my friend, but I can’t even tell her about this Ben thing. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Juliet scowls like I’d just told her I hated puppies or babies. “What about Ben?”
I tense at the mention of my new lover. Can she read my mind? I’ll strangle him if he told her. “What about him?”
She shrugs and takes another scoop of ice cream. “I guess I hoped you guys would work out. You seemed to like each other, before, you know.”
“Before you claimed him for your own and broke his heart?” I fake smile at her. Evil, gorgeous, ballerina girl.
She cringes. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Water under the bridge.” I stuff my face with chips, hoping the conversation goes away.
“It’s probably better,” Juliet says, shrugging. “He seems set on finding this ninety-five percent match from the ACME thing. I ran an ad in the school paper and put up a notice in the Student Center.”
Oh shit. Juliet’s relentless and has connections. I’ll have to make sure to cover my tracks, or she’ll find out it’s me in no time.
It doesn’t take long before all of our phones start to buzz. “Winston texted me ten times,” Maggie says scrolling through her phone. “I’m going off the grid. I can’t take it. Can someone text him to leave me alone?”
I send Win the Jerk a text.
Juliet shows us her phone screen. “Chase wants to come over.”
We all groan. “No! No boys.”
Pooja reads her text from Rocco. “Winston’s in bad shape. Feels terrible. Can you get Maggie to call him?” Pooja starts to tap and reads her message out loud. “No. She’s not ready, and he should feel terrible.”
Maggie’s face lights up as she scrolls through her texts. “Aw,” she sings, and we all look to her. “Ben texted me. He says, Sorry about Win being a loser. I know this won’t fix things right now, but I think he’s an idiot.”
I can’t help but smile. Juliet glares at me with her big brown eyes.
“What is your problem?” I morph my smile into an annoyed scowl and point to the phone. “He’s sweet.”
“He is sweet, and you could be hooking up with him instead of random dudes—”
I hold up a hand to stop her, and she tsks at me as Pooja reads her phone. “Rocco says they are all back at the dorm. What do we do?”
Juliet grabs the chips and offers the bag to me. “I say we hide here for a while, stuff ourselves with more junk food, and watch a movie. Meg, do you have any slut plans for later?” Her eyes dance as she teases me.
I fake smile. “No, not tonight, bitch.”
“Well, make sure Maggie stays with you, and keep her away from her phone and Winston away from her. We will get her through it. We can do this, girls.” Juliet the Cheerleader.
Maggie sighs and pouts. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”
Later, we waddle back to the dorm, sick from binging and emotionally exhausted. Ben calls me as Maggie and I plop into our beds. I take my phone into the lounge to talk to him. He’s about twenty feet away in his dorm room so it’s ridiculous that we’re on the phone, but it’s kind of cute too.
He asks me about Maggie then says, “I was thinking.”
I smile at the phone and his playful tone. “Uh-oh. I thought I smelled smoke.”
Ben tsks but ignores my comment. “It’s Saturday, right? The way I see it, we have about two hours until midnight.”
“So?” My face heats thinking about the night before, and my hands on his bare chest.
“So,” he mimics, “you still owe me some action before this week ends. I don’t want to waste a chance. You have two hours to deliver.”
Oh my God. His voice gives me goose bumps.
I try to hide my body’s reaction and the quiver in my voice with some snark. “I think the contract says once or twice a week. We did it once. And did we elaborate that the week is the calendar week, or are we going from Friday to Friday, the day we signed? Your dad is a lawyer. Maybe he can look over the terms for us.”
Ben laughs. “He’d probably drop dead on the spot. Speaking of dads, how was breakfast?”
I’d almost forgotten. That’s one way to change the mood of the call. “It sucked. I don’t want to talk about it though.”
“Okay. Let’s talk about something else then.”
“Like what?”
“Like this morning.”
The heat in my cheeks creeps down my neck. “Hmm,” I tease, “I don’t remember this morning.” Here come the hormones again.
“Just for the record. If we weren’t interrupted, would that count as one of our weeklies?”
“Ask your dad.”
“I might,” he sings, “because that’s a whole new ballgame, depending on the answer.”
“Alright, Benjamin. Calm down.”
“I can’t. Come to my room.”
“No. Chase is puttering around. All the girls are hating the guys tonight, and I’m supposed to be consoling Maggie.” I try to think of a solution but come up empty. “I think it’s once this week, my friend. We’ll have to deal.”
“I have two hours to come up with something. I’ll consider it a challenge.”
“You and your challenges.”
“You’re on board?”
“There’s that contract thing.”
“No. Are you on board? You wanna?”
Between my breakfast conversation and my day feeling so angry with Winston and men in general, I need Ben more than ever. I need his arms around me to reaffirm all that I love about men. Instead of telling him that, though, I say, “Hell yeah, Riley.”
“Don’t fall asleep, Sweet Meg.”
I hang up, hoping Ben can come up with something so I can forget the rest of the world.
Ben
Less than an hour after hanging up with Meg, she tells Maggie she’s running to the Student Center to get them coffee and hops into my car instead.
The parking lot of the football stadium
is huge and empty. We bolt out of the front seat and into the back. The best thing about driving my mom’s beat up old Buick is the enormous bench seat we fall onto.
In minutes, Megan’s riding me in the back seat, her legs spread over my hips, her perfect chest moving up and down in front of me. With her on top, my hands are free, and I grope under her sweater to feel her soft skin. As she moves, I grab her ass.
She watches me watch her, which is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. She’s so sure of herself, so… unashamed. I love it. I bury my face in her neck, and she groans sweet little noises as she lifts up and down my length. I’m so incredibly into her. I kiss her as she moves, fiercely, wanting to be inside her as deeply as I can.
This time, I last long enough for her to come on top of me, and she moans my name and shakes. As she falls apart, I let go too, pressing her down over me as my body releases. Finally, we both relax—panting, sweating, smiling.
Megan’s head is on my shoulder, turned to mine, and I smush her nose with my free hand. She groans and tries to move off, but I hold her still. I don’t want to let her off of me yet. I don’t want her to run away.
I can’t help my next words. “Go out with me.”
She shivers, and I run my hands over her arms. “You’re violating the contract after one day?”
“The contract says I can’t ask you. I’m not asking. I’m telling.” It’s worth a shot. “Go out with me.”
Megan smiles and kisses my cheek, and then she lifts herself away from me. “It’s late. I have to get back to Maggie.” She picks up her jeans and pulls them over her hips. I roll off the condom—I’m not sure what to do with it, so I put it on the seat—then yank up my boxers and jeans.
Megan surprises me when she takes the condom and opens the back door. She runs it to a garbage can and jogs back to the car. I hop out and block her. With my back against the passenger side door, I sink lower so we’re eye to eye. Then I pull her between my legs and kiss her. A simple, quiet kiss.
She kisses me back and wraps her arms around my neck, which feels damn good. “I have to get back to Maggie.” It’s the second time she’s tried to run with that excuse.
“I know.” I hold her close to my body. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” She nibbles my ear and chills run down my neck.
“I look forward to next week, which starts in…” I pull my phone out of my back pocket, “five minutes.”
She grins, and I brush her hair back. It just about covers her shoulders. I want to tell her how pretty it is but figure that’s a dumb thing to say. She leans her head into my hand, and I hold her cheek. Sweet Meg. “I look forward to it too. You’ve turned a crap day into a really great night.”
“Do you want to talk about what happened with your dad?” I’ll stand there all night with her in the freezing February air if she’ll let me.
“Not tonight. Is that okay?”
“Of course it’s okay.” I kiss her forehead. “You ready to go?”
She nods. I drive her back to Sheridan, parking far so nobody sees us. We start to walk toward the dorm until Megan stops and grabs my arm. “Oh shit, Ben! Coffee. I was supposed to get coffee.” She stares at me with those big blue eyes, biting her lower lip. “What do I tell Maggie?”
“No worries. Easy fix.” I search my pockets for my wallet and sprint across the street to the Student Center. Megan follows, laughing. Inside, I grab her hand and yell, “Excuse me, pardon me, emergency,” and cut the line. People curse as I fly by and order two regular coffees.
“You shouldn’t be drinking coffee this late, people!” I yell. The crowd throws things at us until our coffees are made. After I pay, everyone boos us on our way out. I wave as we leave. “Thank you! Sorry!” I half laugh, half yell.
Megan giggles as we dart back to Sheridan. Her face is red, her eyes wide, her smile giant. The way she’s looking at me now fills my heart the same way her body did in the car a few minutes ago. My mom’s voice echoes in my mind: It’s a blessing I’m alive. Every day I try to believe that, but tonight, running across the snowy grass with Meg, I smile and know it. I’m lucky that she shares her body with me, and I’d be even luckier to have her heart too.
She asks me to race her to the door. Since I’m balancing the paper cup holder with steaming coffees, I know I don’t have a chance. She gets there a few seconds before me and laughs as she swipes the door open, jumps inside, and tries to close the door on me. I jam my foot between the door and the frame to keep it open. Peeking through, I catch sight of her blonde hair bouncing away from me as she hops down the stairs to the basement.
“Cheater!” I yell behind her.
I fling the door open with my foot and maneuver my way inside in time to catch her springing into a victory jump at the bottom of the stairs.
“I win!” She jumps in circles and mimics the hissing of a crowd. I hold up the cup holder and scowl, but she’s so fucking cute I can’t help but smile. My heart breaks a little that she doesn’t want to go out with me.
Chase was right. This contract thing is going to destroy me.
Chapter Six
Megan
I wake up late on Sunday wondering what Ben is doing three doors down, and then I stop myself and remember that it’s none of my business. He was so sweet last night when he asked me to go out. Of course, he was literally inside of me at the time, but still, it was nice to be asked.
I can’t though. What would it say about me? That I’m okay with coming in second place? Not to mention, he doesn’t really want me. He’s on a quest for his ninety-fiver. As far as he knows, I’m the one he didn’t choose in September, didn’t match with on Valentine’s Day, and who pathetically agreed to contract sex to pass the time. If I go out with Ben, we’ll get even closer. He’ll find out about my dad, and he’ll dump me like all the others. Or worse, he’ll stay with me because of my dad. Or he’ll find out about my newly-discovered birth mother and stay because of her. Ben the Protector.
I debate whether to go back to sleep or start the day. Sundays blow between February and September. I miss football, and Dad travels a lot. During the season, he hangs around the city, working out of the New York studio analyzing the games. During the off-season, he travels to different events, visits friends, makes speeches, anything to keep himself busy.
Come to think of it, it’s odd he’s still in New York. I wonder if it has to do with what we talked about in the diner. I think about calling him but decide not to. I need another day to stew.
I sigh and roll over to check on Maggie and find her bed empty. She volunteers at the animal shelter on the weekends, so I’m hoping she’s there, not with Winston the Jerkoff. Guys can really suck sometimes. When you find a good one, you better hold on to him, Aunt Annie used to say. Aunt Annie would not be pleased with my recent activities.
I don’t want to sleep, I don’t want to get up, and I don’t want to talk to my father. Still, I need to do something, so I call Uncle Pisser.
He picks up on the first ring. “Hey, baby girl.” Uncle Pisser has some sort of role in the Mustangs’ front office, and during the season, he’s constantly at the stadium. Off-season though, he stays in the city. He’s way more of a homebody than Dad. For best friends, they are like night and day.
Hearing his voice makes me miss him and Annie even more, giving me the urge to go home, to the place she raised me. “Uncle! How would you like to spend the day with your favorite girl?”
He gasps. “You’re kidding. A whole day? With my college girl?”
I smile and tell him I can’t wait to see him and that I’m hopping on the next train. He insists on sending a car, for which I’m grateful, and babbles about what we should do. All I really want to do is be around him. I let him have his excitement though before hanging up to get ready.
On my way into the city, Ben texts me.
Hey. In case you’re looking for me, I have to do team stuff today.
I text back.
Okay. Going to my
uncle’s.
He texts back right away.
By the way, it’s a new week.
That it is.
I smile at Ben’s one-track mind. Well, two tracks. Food and sex. Three tracks if you add in football. No wonder we matched.
Later?
I tease him:
Maybe.
He answers:
Definitely.
I’m going to have to explore Ben’s bossiness with me. I think of a million different things we can do together in bed with it then stop myself. It’s just a contract. He’s using me. I’m using him. Nothing more.
“Yeah, right.” I say out loud, wondering if I’ll ever believe it.
***
The driver brings me to Uncle Pisser’s townhouse, on the Upper East Side where I lived with Aunt Annie during all the football seasons of my childhood. It’s one of my favorite places in the world. I love how the sun shines into the kitchen in the morning and into the bedrooms in the afternoon. I love the smell of the fireplace. Sunday night, Aunt Annie and I always had a fire while we watched the late game. I’d fall asleep on the couch by halftime.
After I kiss Uncle, I walk through the hallway up the stairs to my bedroom, which is still intact. I take the picture of me, Dad, Uncle, and Aunt Annie off the dresser and stuff it into my bag. Looking around, she’s all around me. I hug myself and smile, not sad that she’s gone, but happy that she was here with me.
When Dad decided to buy in the city and refused to be lower than Central Park, I insisted he buy on the Upper West Side. The East is my childhood, and I wanted the West to be my adulthood. The Upper East Side will always be a memorial to Aunt Annie.
Back downstairs, Uncle spreads out a massive football player-sized lunch for me. All of my favorites, including cake. My mouth waters at the sight as I sit at the table.
“This looks delicious! I love you, Uncle.” He sits next to me, and I ask him about his life.
As I stuff myself, he tells me about his job recruiting and how he’s helping out with a local charity. He finally brings up the elephant in the room. The large, balding, blue-eyed monster. “Your dad says you were upset with him yesterday. He told you what’s going on, huh?”
She Runs Away (The Sheridan Hall Series Book 2) Page 7