The Play: Briar U

by Kennedy, Elle

  We go down to the basement, where the guys have a makeshift gym. It’s not much—treadmill, a bench press, a rowing machine, and some free weights and resistance bands. Con heads for the bench and strips out of his T-shirt.

  Groaning, he slaps his rock-hard stomach and says, “Do I have a booze belly? I feel like I’m bloated.”

  “Are you fishing for compliments? Because your abs are tighter than a gymnast’s ass,” I grumble as I help him get the weights. I raise a brow when I see what he’s lifting. “A hundred pounds? Slacker,” I taunt.

  “Hung-over,” he grunts. “I’m starting off slow.”

  I snicker. “Hung-over how? I’m pretty sure I drank all your whiskey.”

  “I cracked open another bottle after you left,” he says with a grin. “Stayed up till three in the morning drinking with a really hot redhead.”

  “Uh-huh, I’m sure all you guys did was drink.”

  “Well, no. I got laid—obvs.”

  I roll my eyes. “Obvs.”

  It doesn’t surprise me that he went from kissing my girl to hooking up with another one. And I doubt he did it to soothe his bruised ego—Con’s ego could sustain a direct missile hit. If he hooked up, it was because he was horny from kissing Demi, not because he needed a confidence boost after Demi went home with me.

  “How about you, captain?” he asks.

  I play dumb. “How about me what?”

  “You never answered how last night was for you. Am I the only one who got laid?” He lies down on the bench and holds up his palms so I can deposit the barbell into them.

  When I don’t answer, Conor barks out a laugh. “Come on, man, it’s not a trick question.”

  “Fine. I got laid,” I admit.

  “Shocking! Never saw that coming!”

  “Fuck off,” I sigh.

  He lifts a brow. “Why so glum? Did you blow your load too fast because of the celibacy thing? Or was it just bad sex in general?” He frowns. “That’s surprising, ’cause she looked like she’d be a lot of fun.” As he lifts and lowers the barbell, all the muscles in his arms bulge and flex.

  “She is fun. And the sex was great,” I say roughly.

  “Then why do you look so pissed?”

  I gaze down at him unhappily. “Because I broke my vow.”

  “Fuck the vow.”

  “I wanted to stick by it,” I say in a tired voice. “You weren’t here last year. My partying is the reason we didn’t beat Harvard.”

  Conor rolls his eyes. “If you truly believe that, then you’re an arrogant prick. One player doesn’t make a team.”

  “It wasn’t one player, it was two. Our captain was out, too. Nate and I were the top two players on the team.”

  “Well, shit happens. Some teams lose their top three, four, five, to injuries. It’s just bad luck.”

  “I guess.” I’m still unconvinced. I release another sigh. “I just wanted to be a good captain this year.”

  “Dude, you are a good captain. I mean, look at the shit you tolerate. Bucky and Jesse wanted a pig, and you made yourself look like a complete idiot in front of Coach to make it happen for them. Cut yourself some slack.”

  “You’re just saying that because you cut everybody slack. You’re a surfer dude—your whole life is slack.”

  He laughs, which trips up his even breathing for a second. He inhales deeply and resumes lifting. When he’s done with his set, I put the bar back in place and give him a second to catch his breath.

  “I’m just worried it’ll fuck us over,” I confess. “I’m worried we’ll go on a losing streak now.”

  “You really need to chill, dude.” Con’s tone grows serious. “Look, Demi’s cool. I like her.”

  I narrow my eyes.

  That gets me another laugh. “I don’t like her like that. I mean, don’t get me wrong, if you weren’t in the picture, I’d be all about her. But—one, you are in the picture. And two, I’m not looking for a relationship.”

  “I was in the picture last night too,” I say darkly.

  Con looks like he’s trying not to roll his eyes again. “Do you honestly think I’d mack on your girl?”

  “You did mack on my girl.”

  “Yeah, to light a fire under your ass, you idiot.”

  I falter. “What do you mean?”

  “I was never going to go through with it. Neither was she.” Conor is chuckling as he stretches out on the bench and gestures for me to spot him again. “I’m surprised you let it go as far as you did. She and I figured there’d be some flirting and nothing more. Didn’t realize I’d need to stick my tongue down her throat for you to get the memo.”

  “You guys planned it?” I feel outraged, but at the same time, I’m also…touched? Yeah, I think I’m actually touched. But I guess that makes sense after what happened with Summer and Fitzy. I told Fitz I was into Summer and he made a move anyway. It’s kind of a relief to know Conor wouldn’t do that to me.

  “Like I said, Demi’s really cool,” he tells me. “Women like that don’t come along often, so trust me when I say you need to lock it down, ASAP. If you don’t make an effort to keep her, you’ll lose her. She’ll have a boyfriend again in no time, and then you’ll look back on it and realize what a total dumbass you were for letting her go.”

  * * *

  I last about six hours before I cave and shoot a text to Demi.

  ME: Want to hang out tonight?

  To my relief, she answers immediately.

  DEMI: Come over?

  ME: Be there in 20.

  It’s difficult not to break every traffic law on my way to campus. I force myself to stick to the speed limit, which means I’m twitching with impatience by the time I reach the Theta house. The sorority president, Josie, lets me in. She doesn’t look surprised to see me. The Thetas are used to me being around, thanks to mine and Demi’s psych project.

  When I walk into Demi’s room, I find her on the bed, sitting in front of a mountain of schoolwork. The mattress is covered with textbooks, papers, notes, binders, and highlighters.

  “Did you rob a school supplies store?” I ask pleasantly.

  “Studying for my bio exam,” she moans. She peers up at me with big brown eyes. “I hate science, Hunter. I hate it.”

  Sympathy rises inside me. “I’m sorry.” She’s visibly distressed, a drastic contrast from the way her face lights up when we’re working on our psych project.

  “I think I’ll do okay on bio and math. I’m more worried about Organic Chem. The exam is the day before winter break, and I’m nowhere near ready for it. I need like ten thousand more study sessions in order to ace that class.”

  “You’ll ace all of them,” I assure her. “I have faith in you.” And I have faith in her work ethic. This girl works her ass off. I’ve seen how invested she is in psychology, and I know she puts the same amount of effort into all her classes.

  “Are you sure you have time to hang out?” I ask. I’m standing awkwardly at the foot of the bed, because there’s no room for me on there. “Should I even be here right now?”

  Demi glares at me. “I’ll kill you if you leave.”

  I can’t tell if she’s joking. That’s the problem with being into a chick who’s into murderers.

  She gets up and methodically gathers her study materials. She stacks the textbooks on her small desk, then the binders, the pages of notes. All in neat little piles. Her organizational skills are as cute as the rest of her.

  When the bedspread is clear, she glances at it for a moment before turning to me, a blush on her cheeks. “I’ve been thinking about you since the second I opened my eyes this morning,” she admits.

  “Obviously.” I grin, cocky as fuck. “You opened your eyes this morning to my tongue between your legs.”

  “Mmmm yeah.” She shivers happily. “I’ll rephrase—I’ve been thinking about you since I left your house today.” She hesitates. “Have you been thinking about me?”

  “God, yes.” No hesitation on my end.r />
  Her expression brightens. “Really?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “Oh. Okay. That’s good. Because I wasn’t sure if you wanted last night to be a one-time thing.”

  Our eyes lock.

  “I don’t think once will be enough,” I confess.

  “Me neither,” she agrees solemnly, and the next thing I know, our mouths are fused together.

  The kiss makes my head spin. I fucking love kissing her. I love how eager her tongue is, how warm her lips are. I love the way she whimpers when I tug her body close to mine.

  I break the kiss to lick my lips. “Have you been sucking on something cherry? Or is that strawberry?”

  “Cherry gummies,” she confirms. “But…I’d way rather be sucking on something else now…”

  Grinning broadly, she pushes me onto the bed and starts pulling my clothes off. A second later, I’m buck naked and sprawled on my back, while Demi crawls down my body.

  She kisses her way south, her lips leaving shivers in their wake. My cock rises in full salute, pleading for her attention, and when she curls her fingers around the base, a bead of moisture pools at the tip.

  With a devilish smile, Demi laps at the pearly drop with the tip of her tongue.

  The tortured groan she draws from my throat is so loud I half expect an army of Thetas to bang on the door asking if everything is okay.

  Demi lifts her head. “You make the hottest sounds in bed.”

  “That’s because you do the hottest things in bed.” Then I watch from under heavy eyelids as she sucks on the tip of my cock before lavishing wet kisses on my shaft.

  Eventually my eyes flutter closed and I lose myself to sensation. The sweet scrape of her tongue, the hot suction of her lips. The blowjob is slow, tentative, as she determines what I like.

  I guide her with husky commands. “I like it rougher than that,” I whisper, and I reach for her fist, wrap my hand around it, and tighten her grip.

  “Really? Like that?” she says in surprise. “I feel like that would hurt!”

  “It doesn’t hurt,” I assure her.

  She tests her grip again, squeezing hard, and I shudder in pleasure. “What if I break your penis?”

  A choked laugh flies out. “You’re not going to break my penis, I promise.”

  Demi gives a hard stroke, then sucks on my tip again and it’s the best feeling ever. I thread one hand through her hair and start thrusting upward. This is way too good. My balls draw up tight and my vision wavers. Way too good.

  “I need to be inside you,” I grind out.

  She gets up and crawls toward the nightstand, and the sight of her on her hands and knees is too tempting to ignore. I rise up on my knees behind her and slip a hand between her legs. She’s so wet. When I slip a finger inside, her pussy clamps tightly around it.

  Moaning, Demi bucks back against my touch. I add another finger, and now there’s two moving inside her, summoning breathy noises from her lips. “Oh my God. Feels so good.”

  I finger her with lazy, teasing thrusts until my body can no longer take it. “Condom,” I mutter, and Demi slaps one into my palm.

  My dick throbs as I roll the latex onto it. I stop for a second to admire Demi’s perfect ass. It’s jutting in the air, practically begging for me to—

  “Eek!” she exclaims when my palm connects with her smooth flesh.

  “Sorry,” I say, quickly soothing the sting with a soft caress. “Your ass is so smackable, you don’t even know, babe.”

  “Do it again.”

  A grin lifts one corner of my mouth. “You like to be spanked?”

  “Maybe?” She wiggles that sexy ass and my palm once again lands in a sharp smack.

  “Oh my goodness,” Demi mumbles. “Do it again—but this time when you’re inside me.”

  This girl is incredible.

  I’m harder than steel as I position my dick at her opening. I slide inside her and spank her ass at the same time, and Demi moans loud enough to wake the dead.

  My heart pounds an erratic beat as I start fucking her. One hand grips her right ass cheek, the other curves over her left one, squeezing, kneading, spanking each time she begs for it. My hips piston, pushing my dick inside her. Deeper, faster, until we’re both groaning in desperation as we hurtle toward the finish line.

  She’s still on all fours when the orgasm hits her, but by the time she’s finished shuddering, she’s flat on her stomach, moaning happily. I curve my body over her sweat-soaked back and angle my hips, driving into her with shallow thrusts. Fast, desperate strokes, while my heart threatens to give out and my balls tingle wildly.

  “Coming,” I grunt.

  The pleasure slams into me, stealing the breath from my lungs. I collapse on top of her, only rolling over when she informs me she can’t breathe.

  I have no words as I yank her closer. She snuggles beside me, her chin on my shoulder. She doesn’t speak either. There’s nothing to say.

  We both know how good that was.

  We both know it’s going to happen again.

  And we’re both perfectly okay with that.

  30

  Demi

  My parents betrayed me.

  I’m talking Benedict-Arnold-screwing-over-America level of betrayal.

  No—even worse. Brad Pitt cheating on Jennifer Aniston.

  That’s how deep the well of betrayal runs.

  I was under the impression that we would not be spending the holidays with Nico’s family. My father never outright stated it, but the subject hadn’t been brought up again after the night I told them in no uncertain words that having Nico around for Christmas would, and I’m quoting myself here, hurt me.

  But I guess my feelings don’t matter, because as we’re driving away from the airport in our rental car, Dad informs me that the Delgados will be joining us tonight.

  Yep, my parents waited until we arrived in Miami to drop this bomb, probably because they knew I’d never board the plane at Logan Airport otherwise.

  With a family as large as mine, the holidays are always a huge production. Christmas Day is spent with my mom’s enormous brood, but Christmas Eve is a quieter affair—just us, and Nico’s family. It’s been a tradition since I was eight years old.

  This year, however, it’ll be like the plot line of some awkward holiday comedy. Christmas with the Delgados, starring my cheating ex-boyfriend and my disloyal parents.

  As I fume in the backseat, Dad explains that breaking our annual tradition is something he thinks I’d regret in the future. Awesome. Now even my life’s regrets are being decided for me, and they haven’t even fucking happened yet.

  I find this absolutely egregious. I don’t care that they’re family friends. My parents could have compromised. They could’ve gone out for dinner with Nico’s parents on their own, sparing me from having to spend any time with Nico. But noooooo, God forbid we break tradition. The world will end!

  We arrive at Aunt Paula’s house in the early afternoon. She’s the only one of Mom’s sisters who isn’t married yet, and she owns a gorgeous beachfront property. Some people think there needs to be snow on the ground in order for it to be a real Christmas, but having grown up in Florida, for me the holiday season is sunshine and palm trees and the salty spray of the ocean on my face.

  I’m still fuming by the time it’s time to leave for Nico’s house. As Dad searches for where he left the car keys, Mom notices my face and pulls me aside. “Mami, I know you don’t like this—”

  “You’re right, I hate it,” I growl.

  “But your father made his decision, and you need to make the best of it. Dora and Joaquín are going to be in our lives regardless of whether you and Nico are dating. Dora is like a sister to me, and Papa views Joaquín as a brother.” Mom’s tone softens. “It’s not easy for you, I know. But this is what happens when families are woven so tightly together. So, please, let this be your first test—a test to see if the two of you can be around each other without hostility. Nico is
willing to try. He told Dora he was fine with this.”

  Of course he’s fine with it. He probably thinks we’re getting back together. That’s what he’s been saying to Darius since the second we broke up.

  But Mom is right. The Delgados are their closest friends. They’re family. I have no choice but to suck it up.

  I’d debated looking extra hot tonight, but I didn’t want Nico getting any ideas. So I did the opposite—I dressed down. A plain white dress, knee-length and with a modest neckline, paired with flat brown sandals, not even a hint of a heel. My hair is tied in a low ponytail with a red bow. I look like a child who’s going to perform some cringe-worthy song for the adults after dinner.

  Perfect.

  Fifteen minutes later, we’re entering the familiar house where I’d spent so much of my time. I honestly never envisioned Nico and me not being together for the holidays.

  Or that I’d be sleeping with another guy.

  On the regular.

  My rebound with Hunter didn’t stop after Conor’s party. We slept together again the next day. And the day after that, and then the day after that. Yesterday we stayed up all night having sex, even though I had to get up early to meet my parents at the airport.

  My body is already craving him again. I’m addicted to it. I never thought I’d be sleeping with a jock, but I kind of understand now why so many women love athletes. God. All those rock-hard muscles. The sheer strength of their bodies. Yesterday Hunter lifted me onto his dick and fucked me standing up against my bedroom wall. Apparently everyone in the house heard the wall banging, and my sorority sisters teased me mercilessly about it this morning. But they’re happy for me. Hell, I’m happy for me. I deserve good sex with a man who isn’t sexing up everybody else too. Every woman deserves that.

  Nico’s family greets me warmly. His little sister Alicia flings her arms around my neck and shrieks, “Oh my God, it’s been forever!” She’s thirteen and has always viewed me as a role model of sorts. I’m the one she called when she got her first period last year.