Drake’s eyes flared as he cocked his head at me. He took several steps in my direction before pulling the knot loose and letting the towel fall. I fought hard to keep my eyes locked with his instead of looking down. If I did, I knew I’d be a goner and we wouldn’t make it out the door for breakfast. I truly was starving, and I could use a little bit of distance this morning. Things were moving so quickly, and the feelings he evoked in me were too powerful.
“You afraid to look, baby?” he taunted me.
I slapped my hands over my face, covering my eyes to help resist the temptation he presented. “Nope. Not gonna work, Drake.”
“Nerves of steel, huh? Fine, I’ll throw my clothes on and we’ll head out to breakfast. Party pooper!”
I threw my stuff back into my purse, barely getting it to all fit. By the time Drake was dressed, I’d checked the room to make sure we weren’t leaving anything behind. As we left the room, I turned to look back. I had a feeling Drake had just made the Hyatt Place my favorite hotel with the memory of our first sexual encounter etched in my mind. He’d left me wanting more, too, damn him!
Drake took me to a local hole-in-the-wall diner that served amazing breakfasts. As we walked in, I recognized several people at tables enjoying their Saturday morning. They were all friends of my dad, so I was sure that I’d be hearing from him later today when word got back that I’d been spotted here with Drake this early. And this is why looking presentable had been so important this morning. If I had combined my outfit from yesterday with bed head and no mascara, I’d have a hard time explaining to my dad what was going on. Now I could just say we’d met for breakfast without worrying that Dad would know I’d been doing the walk of shame. Yet another thing for which Aubrey deserved my thanks.
“How is it that you seem to know someone everywhere we go?” Drake asked as the waitress placed the food on the table.
“When you grow up in a college town this size, you get to know just about everybody. Plus, Aubrey’s family owns the local bank so they literally know everyone. We’ve been best friends forever, so I pretty much know anyone she does, too. A lot of people know me through her.”
“I like how you and Aubrey are so tight. You seem so different from each other, but you fit together as friends.”
“She’s awesome! I really lucked out in the best friend department. How about you? It had to have been hard transferring here as a junior and leaving your friends behind.”
Drake shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, but I can hang out with the guys on the team or from the frat. Most of them seem cool enough. I’ve hung out with the team captain, Zach, a few times after practice. He wanted to make sure I was fitting in okay, I guess.”
“And Jackson? How are things between you guys at the house? You’ve been getting along when I’m around you both.”
He reached out and grabbed my hand that was playing around with my silverware. “Alexa, don’t worry about Jackson and me. We’re getting along fine. He gets where I’m going with you, and I know where he stands with you.”
“I just need you guys to be okay, that’s all. He’s the closest thing I have to a brother, and you’re becoming important to me.”
“Baby, the last thing I want to do is mess up your friendship with Jackson. I know what he means to you. Won’t say that it isn’t a little hard for me to swallow knowing how close you are to him, but I get it. I’ll try to tone down my caveman tendencies when it comes to him, but not with any other guy.”
I giggled in response. “You don’t have to worry. There is no other guy, and Jackson really isn’t a guy. He’s just Jackson.”
“You keep thinking about him like that, and I won’t have any problems with Jackson. Okay?”
“Deal! I can totally agree to that,” I smiled across at him. “So, how’s your breakfast? Mine is yummy!” I gestured to his plate, wanting to change the subject and break some of the tension.
“Great omelet. Don’t know how you can get by without any protein in the morning.” He shook his head as he looked at my plate of pancakes.
“Hey, there are eggs in here, too!”
“Barely. Want some of mine?” he asked as he scooped up a forkful of omelet.
“Um, no thanks. See how hidden the egg is in my pancakes? So that you don’t really know they’re in there? That’s how I like my eggs. Yuck!”
He took a big bite and moaned in appreciation. “No eggs for you then. I guess that means I’ll have to learn how to make pancakes.”
I clapped my hands together in excitement. “Now that’s more like it! I can even teach you how to make them, too.”
“Works for me. We’ll do that sometime. I like the thought of you in the kitchen showing me how to make something you love to eat.”
I practically melted into a puddle at his sweet words and the hot look he sent my way. “Me too.”
“Anything you need to do today?”
“Nope, I’m all yours for the day.”
“Baby, you’re not just mine for the day. You’re mine period. I’ve had a taste of you now. Not letting you get away.”
Shivers went up my spine at his possessive tone. I looked down at my plate and sighed. I didn’t want to encourage his pushiness, but I knew he could tell it got to me. I never thought I’d be the type of girl to get all mushy inside when a guy turned all alpha on me, but I guess I was wrong. Drake was quickly working his way past all my defenses. In an odd sort of way, I felt safe with him because he was so upfront with his bossiness and he let me know that he felt jealous when other guys were around. How could I not be affected when he made me feel so wanted?
chapter 10
Drake must have been serious when he’d said our night together made me his because he certainly acted like it after. He wasn’t shy of PDA, kissing me all the time and touching me whenever and wherever he pleased. I knew I should probably be offended by his behavior, but I found myself turned on even more. After Brad had cheated on me in such a public way, I’d felt like it had to have been my fault. He’d been my first and only lover, so I figured that I just wasn’t desirable enough to keep his attention. Drake blew that negativity out of my head by showing me daily that he wanted me. Heck, he made it pretty damn clear to everyone that he wanted me. Everyone but that girl from the frat party, at least.
She didn’t live in my dorm, but you’d think she did with how often we saw her in the mornings when Drake stopped by to pick me up for our walk across campus. I never saw him treat her any differently than any of the other girls who still tried to gain his attention, but she seemed to think she was special. I would usually find her standing closer to him than anyone else, talking with her hands, and using that as an excuse to touch him. It drove me crazy, not knowing what had happened between them. I understood that he had a past, but I would have preferred it to be dead and buried instead of in my face every day.
A couple months into our relationship, I finally discovered what their relationship had been before I met Drake. As I walked up to them leaving the dorm, I glanced at her hand patting his arm as she tried to keep his attention. Drake wasn’t even watching her. His eyes were on me, devouring me as I neared. “Morning, baby,” he greeted me with a small smile on his face that pissed me off even more.
I didn’t find anything funny about this situation, and his smug grin was about to buy him a load of trouble he wasn’t expecting this morning. I’d taken about as much as I was going to from this girl, regardless of their past relationship. If our roles were reversed, he wouldn’t put up with this shit. He’d just beat the crap out of the guy and pull me away.
I pointedly looked at her hand and then back to his face as I stood next to them with my arms crossed, not saying a word. Drake swatted her hand away and looked back at me with an amused expression on his face, shrugging his shoulders as if to ask what he could do about it. Arrogant bastard.
The blond girl barely registered the fact that he’d rebuffed her as she gazed up at him adoringly. “Ugh! I think I just threw up i
n my mouth a little,” I muttered under my breath. At Drake’s chuckle, I realized I hadn’t said that as quietly as I’d thought. His laughter earned him a death stare from me.
“Sasha, you’ve met my girlfriend before,” he said as he pulled me closer. “Alexa, I think you know Sasha. Our families are close since our moms are best friends.”
“Really? How nice for you both,” I said sarcastically as he began to unravel the mystery of how they knew each other.
Sasha looked down at our entwined fingers and then back up at Drake’s face with an irritated expression. Her eyes trailed over his chest hungrily on the way up. Yay, what a good morning for me. I got to watch as a close family friend ogled my boyfriend. Yippee. She finally acknowledged my presence by looking at me like I was a bug she’d like to squash under her foot.
“Yes, it’s great to have so much in common with such a great guy. I can’t wait to see your family over the holidays, Drake,” she said as she sent a triumphant smile my way.
Drake ran his hand up and down my back in a comforting gesture and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Mom’s excited about her annual open house. I may not be around much. Depends on what plans Alexa has. Wouldn’t want to spend our first holiday apart.”
Sasha’s jaw dropped at his words. Our expressions of shock probably mirrored each other since Drake and I hadn’t talked about plans for the holiday breaks yet. Thanksgiving was just around the corner, and it was my favorite day of the year. We usually had dinner with Aubrey’s family, and I spent the night before at her house so I could help her mom start cooking early in the morning. Turkey with all the trimmings, the Macy’s parade on TV, and football filled my memories of Thanksgiving each year.
Jumping on the chance to drive Sasha crazy, I leaned up to kiss Drake and whispered to him, “Childhood friends? You are so going to pay for this later.” I turned my head and raised my voice so she could hear me. “I’d hate to be apart too, sweetie,” I cooed.
“But, Drake, your mom would be crushed if you didn’t come home for the holidays,” Sasha protested.
Drake moved behind me and wrapped both arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head. “Didn’t say I wasn’t going to be there. Just that my plans depend on what Alexa wants to do.”
I chuckled in response and pulled his arms even tighter around my body. “That shouldn’t be such a surprise, Sasha. Isn’t that what good boyfriends do? And Drake really is the best.”
Her nose scrunched up in distaste as she heaved a big sigh. “Whatever,” she huffed as she stomped away.
Drake turned me so that we were now facing each other. “Damn, you’re so fucking hot when you’re jealous.”
I slapped his arm. “Jealous! What the hell, Drake? She practically stalks you around campus, and the first time I saw you, you were having an argument with her. I figured she was an ex-girlfriend and couldn’t figure out why you let her hang around so much.”
He rubbed his arm where I hit him, acting like it had actually hurt and pouting down at me. “You should’ve just asked me about her, babe.”
“Argh! You are so frustrating! What was I supposed to say? ‘Drake, you know that blond chick that likes to trail after you all the time and flirt? Did you just fuck her or was she your girlfriend before me?’ No, wait. That wouldn’t even have been specific enough ‘cause there are just so many damn blondes on campus that flirt with you all the time.”
Clearly not fearing the laser-beam glare I was now sending his way, Drake started to chuckle deeply. “Alexa, I’d only been on campus a few days before I noticed you. Couldn’t get you out of my head, and there wasn’t enough time for me to have a girlfriend and dump her for you.”
I stomped my foot in frustration, not sure exactly why I was getting so angry. The Sasha mystery had been solved, and I didn’t have to think about them in bed together anymore which had been driving me a little crazy with how much we bumped into her all the time. This had been building up inside all this time.
“You could have just shared with me that you knew her because your parents are friends, Drake.”
“Baby, you could have asked me if it was bothering you. I figured you knew you don’t have anything to worry about with Sasha. She’s just a pest that I put up with ‘cause our moms are friends. It didn’t even cross my mind that I had anything to explain about her. Thought it was pretty clear that I’m not into her with how I act around her.”
Arms crossed, I started to tap my foot. “I didn’t think you liked her now, Drake. But it wasn’t clear to me why you tolerated her so much. Now I get it, okay?”
He pulled my arms away from my body and wrapped them around his instead. “You gotta talk to me if something’s bothering you. I’m not a mind reader. Didn’t realize she got to you that much. I’ll make sure she backs off from now on.”
I snuggled into him, relieved that he understood why I was so upset. “You’re right. I should have asked you about her before. I just didn’t know what to say, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to hear the answer.”
“You’ve got nothing to fear with me, Alexa. If this is going to work, you have to talk to me when something bothers you this much. No keeping shit inside like this anymore, got it?”
I nodded my head. “I’ll try.”
“Hate to tell you this, but you’re late for class now.”
“Crap. How late?” I asked as I jumped away from him.
“No way you’re gonna make it there in time. Class already started,” he said, pulling me close again. “Wanna ditch with me? Making it through our first argument calls for something special. Not a day full of boring classes.”
“I can’t skip all day, but I could miss my first class since I’m already late.”
“Come back to the house with me?” he asked.
I gulped in response to the heat in his smoldering gaze. “Yes,” I whispered.
He flashed me a triumphant grin before we headed off in the direction of his fraternity. It was strange to walk into the house early in the morning. Some of the guys were downstairs eating breakfast when we walked in. Drake nodded at them and pulled me towards the stairs. I could hear their laughter as we headed up and felt a little embarrassed that they all assumed we were going to his room for sex.
Drake’s room was fairly neat for a guy, but the covers were pulled down on his bed. The sheets were rumpled, and I could see the indent his head had left on his pillow. I could picture him sprawled in his bed last night as he’d slept. Naked. Oh, God. Now I had sex on the brain.
Moving towards the bed, Drake gently nudged me so that I was sitting down. He pulled my shoes off, and I watched him kneel at my feet as I ran my fingers through his hair. He reached up to take my coat off and tossed it on his chair. He stared at me as he yanked his own shoes and coat off and dumped them on the floor. He yanked his sweater off, leaving the t-shirt he wore under it on.
“Lie back,” he commanded.
I fell backwards, my back resting on the bed while my feet were still on the floor. I felt his fingers pull the snap of my jeans open and slide the zipper down before he tugged them down my legs. He pulled my socks off with them and lightly ran his fingertips upwards, starting at the bottom of my feet. He trailed them up the inside of my legs, pausing as he placed wet, open-mouthed kisses on the underside of my knees. My legs parted, giving him more room. I could feel his hot breath as he slowly moved up my inner thighs. His fingertips had been replaced by his tongue as he moved farther up, his hands holding my legs open for him in a strong grasp.
“I owe you an apology for leaving you to worry so long about Sasha, baby. Think I’m gonna make a new rule for us. Any time one of us needs to make something up to the other, we do it from our knees,” he murmured before he ran his tongue around the seam of my panties.
I gasped in response to the rush of moisture his words caused. My panties were drenched and his nostrils flared in response.
“Damn. Think I’m gonna mess up more often if it means I get to taste you ea
ch fucking time,” he said before yanking my panties down my legs, practically ripping them from my body. “Take your shirt off for me.”
I reached down and pulled my shirt over my head. Before I had it all the way off, I felt his lips press against my clit. I couldn’t see anything with the shirt covering my eyes, and my other senses felt heightened. I groaned deeply in response to the new feeling.
“You like it when you can’t see what I’m about to do. Don’t you, baby?”
I looked down at him as I tossed the shirt away. The sight of his wet lips tilted into a smirk drove me crazy. My eyes met his as I nodded my head in response, words failing me as his thumbs rubbed the top of my thighs while he waited for me to respond.
“Don’t move. Stay right there,” he said as he got up to rummage in his closet.
He came back with a dark red tie in his hand that he placed next to me on the bed.
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