Summer Fling (Players of Marycliff University Book 1)

by MacMillan, Jerica

  "That's great! That's so cool that your supervisor's boss was impressed." Abby's face had finally lit up, chasing away the undertone of sadness that had permeated the rest of their conversation. Lance smiled watching her. A real smile.

  "Yeah. It was pretty cool. He actually offered me a job." Abby's face froze, but not before he saw the flicker of hope in her eyes. It was gone almost before he noticed, but not quite.

  "What did you say?"

  Lance looked away. Unable to bear the sight of her neutral expression so quickly after she was genuinely smiling. "I told him thanks, but that I already have a job lined up."

  Abby turned, leaning back against him once more. "Yeah. Of course. That's cool that he offered, though. They must have really liked you there." Her voice was soft and wistful.

  "Yeah." His tone mimicked hers. He couldn't help it. He'd much rather have the job at the Forester Group. But he'd made a deal with his parents. Because of them he hadn't had to take out any loans. In exchange for that, he was to come home and work for his dad, eventually taking over the garage. He'd thought turning down the job had been the hardest thing he'd ever done. He'd almost choked getting the words out over lunch. But telling Abby was even harder. Watching the hope die on her face and hearing the regret lacing her voice almost killed him.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes. Abby sat forward, starting to get up. "We should get back to your party. They'll think we're in here having sex if we stay much longer." Her tone was overly bright with forced cheerfulness.

  But he didn't argue with her. He just smiled. "Yup. You're probably right." He pulled her back down to him before she could climb off the bed and kissed her hard. Then he let her go and followed her into the living room, back to the party.

  * * *

  Lance and Abby decided to spend Friday at the lake in Coeur d'Alene. They left in the morning, leaving Chris and Matt to handle the cleanup from the party the night before. They stepped around a few stragglers sleeping on the floor in the living room on their way out.

  They set up on the beach near the resort downtown where they had dinner after getting groceries for Abby's mom. Abby kept her flip flops on to keep from burning her feet on the hot sand and rocks as she picked her way to her favorite spot, Lance following close behind.

  She plopped down their bag with towels and extra clothes, stripped off her shorts and tank top and ran into the water.

  When she was waist deep she turned to watch Lance splashing in behind her. He stopped when the water was hitting his upper thighs. "Holy shit! This is cold!"

  Abby laughed and aimed a splash at him, but he was just out of range. "The lake's fed by ice melt from the mountains. It's always cold. Be glad it's almost August. It's practically warm by now."

  He narrowed his eyes at her as she stepped closer to him. Cupping her hand, she skimmed it across the surface of the lake, sending a burst of water straight at his chest.

  He jumped when the icy water made contact, then lunged for Abby, catching her around the waist. She laughed as he picked her up and then tossed her into the deeper water. Breaking the surface she splashed him again, and dodged his next attempt to grab her, causing him to go under.

  He stood up, running his hands through his hair and then over his face to get the water out of his eyes. "I'm going to get you for that."

  She splashed again and squealed when he caught her by the ankle as she tried to swim away. Instead of tossing her in the water again like she expected, he pulled her in close and kissed her. The warmth of his mouth on hers was shocking compared to the icy temperature of the lake. When she was completely relaxed in his arms, he pulled back and smiled down into her face. Then placed his hand on her head and pushed her under.

  They spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon playing in the water. Splashing, dunking, swimming, kissing, flirting.

  Abby deliberately avoided any mention of the next day. They hadn't set a specific plan for the day, just taking things as they came. That had been how their relationship had gone from the beginning—no plan, just going with it and seeing where it led. She noticed that Lance didn't say anything, either. But there were moments when the smile would slide off his face and he'd look at her like he was trying to capture the moment in his memory. She felt herself doing the same. Every time she noticed one of them doing it, she'd splash him or try to make a joke to dispel the underlying sadness that pervaded the day.

  Finally, after they'd had enough of the water and were starting to get hungry, they waded out. Abby spread out their towels and they lay in the sun, letting the heat of the summer dry them and warm their skins. She'd put their towels so they were touching, and Lance had pulled her in close to him, one arm under his head, and the other wrapped around Abby with her head pillowed on his shoulder. His hand idly stroked up and down the skin on her side left bare by her bikini.

  They watched a group of children playing in the water. They had inflatable toys, snorkels, and masks and were pretending they were deep sea explorers. Abby smiled. "I used to do that."

  Lance turned his head so he was looking at her. "Do what?"

  She gestured at the kids. "My brother and I had masks and snorkels and we'd swim underwater the whole time when we were kids. We'd have to come up every so often and wave to our mom so she wouldn't worry. But we always tried to find the best rocks underwater. They seemed more special because they weren't up near the beach where anyone could get them. We pretended the rocks were treasure."

  The expression on Lance's face was soft and tender. "What happened to your treasures?"

  Abby smiled a little. "They got left on the shore to be boring rocks for someone else to find. Mom didn't want a bunch of rocks in the house."

  Lance kissed her. It was a soft and tender kiss, matching his expression. It was unlike any kiss he'd given her before.

  When he pulled away he gave her a small smile that didn't disguise the sadness in his eyes. "Hungry?"

  Abby sat up. "Starved. Let's go to Huddy's for burgers."

  She finally got to buy a meal for Lance, since Huddy's only took cash. He narrowed his eyes at her when she pulled her wallet out of her bag and handed over enough to cover their burgers, soda, and slices of pie that made up the whole menu at the tiny hole in the wall restaurant. She just smiled back. It wasn't by accident that she had enough cash on her to cover their meal.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around downtown and walking on the boardwalk. Abby even took him up Tubbs Hill next to the lake, where they jumped off the cliffs a few times each.

  They went for dinner at Dockside again. It was busier this time on a Friday night at the height of tourist season. They weren't seated next to the window, though they still had a view, and their conversation was overshadowed by the sounds of the other diners.

  It seemed somehow appropriate to Abby that their last dinner together was there, where she felt like their relationship really started. That was the day she'd first let herself trust Lance, and the night that she'd agreed to keep seeing him.

  Lance was making a valiant effort to keep the conversation going, keep things light and fun like they'd managed to do all day. But Abby was finding it harder to do as the sun drew closer and closer to the mountains in the west.

  Lance's hand on hers drew her attention back to him and away from the view out the window. "Hey. None of that yet." He laced his fingers with hers.

  She searched his face and nodded, forcing a smile. She could see the sadness in his eyes mirroring her own. But there would be time for that later.

  They drove home in silence into the golden light of the late evening sun. The spell of the day that allowed them to keep things light and carefree had broken. The goodbye that would come the following morning hung like a pall over them, stifling conversation, only allowing communication by touch.

  Lance dropped Abby off at her apartment, walking her to her door one last time. Abby pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. "I'm just going to take a quick show
er and then I'll head over to your house."

  Lance nodded and kissed her before leaving without saying a word.

  That had been the one thing they had planned. That she would drive herself to his house that night so she could take herself home in the morning.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Lance, Matt, and Chris were loading the last few boxes in Lance's car when Abby arrived at their house. She parked and got out just as Lance made a couple adjustments in the trunk, and then closed it.

  She stood on the lawn while Matt and Chris each gave Lance one of their typical man-hugs and said goodbye. She noticed that they held on to each other slightly longer than normal. Chris and Matt nodded at her and left.

  Lance walked over to her and kissed her. He led her by the hand up the front stairs into the house. It seemed strange to her that the living room looked the same as always. But it was only Lance that was moving, not the other guys, so it shouldn't be too surprising. He was leaving all the furniture behind and only taking his things. He'd be living with his parents for a while once he got back to Texas until he found a place of his own.

  "Where did Chris and Matt go?" Abby asked once they were inside.

  Lance continued leading her into his bedroom. "They're going to a party or something. They said they'd stay out tonight and let us have some privacy."

  They stopped once they were in Lance's bedroom. "Oh. That was thoughtful." She looked around. The only thing left in the room was the furniture. The bookshelf and night stand were empty, the closet doors were open but only held hangers. There was a backpack on the floor next to the closet, the only thing of Lance's still inside.

  Lance stripped off his shirt. "I need to take a shower. Come with me."

  Abby looked at him standing there shirtless, his expression giving nothing away. She nodded, uncaring that her hair was still wet from the shower she'd just taken at her house. She set her bag down next to his and began undressing. Lance tossed his clothes on the floor next to their bags and went in the bathroom to turn on the shower.

  She followed him a moment later, letting her eyes slide over the long muscles running down his back, the indent of his spine, the taut muscles of his buttocks. He turned, and her eyes met his. The neutral expression he'd worn only moments earlier was gone, replaced by desire as his eyes roamed her body. She watched his eyes move slowly down and then back up, lingering on her chest. She stepped toward him, and he ran his hands over her skin, following the path his eyes had taken.

  He kissed her deeply, his hands still roaming over her naked skin, then led her into the shower. They took turns standing under the spray, alternately soaping and rinsing each other, fondling and kissing.

  Abby smiled to herself when she remembered their one abortive attempt at shower sex. They didn't normally shower together because the shower stall was tiny, and didn't allow for much room. But one morning Lance had tugged her in with him. He'd tried lifting her and pinning her against the wall, but there wasn't even enough room for that to work well. He'd ended up carrying her to the bed and dropping her there, still dripping from the shower, and taking her in a frenzy. In his haste he'd left the shower running and the stall door open, so there was a giant puddle on the bathroom floor when they were finished. He'd just grinned at her and thrown down a couple towels, saying, "I'll deal with it after work."

  So there was no attempt at shower sex. Just closeness and touching. There was no other choice than to touch in the tight confines of the shower, and they didn't want to be apart anyway.

  Once they were cleaned and panting with arousal, Lance reached behind Abby and turned off the shower. He wrapped her in a towel and carefully dried her off, kissing each part of her after drying it, before drying himself.

  He led her back to his bedroom and made love to her. It was slow and sweet and sensual. He drew it out for both of them, making her come twice and bringing her close a third time before entering her, sliding home in one stroke. He moved inside her slowly, kissing her deeply, reaching for her hands and lacing their fingers together, holding them next to her head on the pillow.

  He let go to run his hand down her side, down her leg, hooking her knee to pull her leg up, giving him more leverage, going deeper, and hitting her over and over in just the right spot. His thrusts came harder, still stopping and grinding against her with each one. He kissed her jaw and then below her ear. He bit gently on her earlobe and she felt her sex convulse once. He held on there as he thrust again and again, and then he whispered, "Come for me."

  And she did. She arched against him, meeting each thrust, her body growing tighter, until she came apart at his command. Her mouth open in a silent scream as he continued to thrust, drawing out her orgasm and picking up his pace. Then he thrust twice hard, and stilled, his eyes shut tightly as he came.

  He collapsed against her, slightly off to the side so as not to crush her, and kissed her deeply again.

  Abby clung to him, kissing him back, tears prickling behind her closed eyelids. She fought them back, knowing there would be time for tears later.

  They made love again that night. Still tender and slow and sweet. Tasting each other, stroking, caressing, committing the feel of naked skin to memory. They finally lay down to sleep afterward. Lance pulled Abby in close, his arms wrapped around her.

  When his breathing grew slow and even, Abby drew one of his arms to her mouth and gave it a soft kiss. "I love you," she whispered before closing her eyes to drift off to sleep as well.

  * * *

  Lance slid out of bed the next morning, Abby's whispered declaration of love the night before echoing in his head. He had been almost asleep, but the movement of Abby lifting his arm to brush her lips across it had brought him back to consciousness. He hadn't reacted, but kept his breathing steady so she wouldn't know he heard. She obviously hadn't intended him to. He wasn't going to say it back because it wouldn't be fair to either of them. He was leaving.

  He hadn't planned to take her again before he left. But when he leaned over her after his shower to kiss her awake he couldn't help himself. She was all warm and sleep rumpled in his bed, naked and still smelling of sex from the night before. He gave in to his hunger and his need to mark her, to make her his one last time. Because as much as he'd hoped to work her out of his system in the last month and a half, he'd only succeeded in embedding her firmly under his skin.

  Abby responded to his kiss, and her eyes flew open when he yanked the sheets back after dropping his towel on the floor and grabbing a condom. He wanted to claim her, taste her, and feel her once more so that he'd leave with her taste in his mouth and her scent on his skin. He moved his mouth over her body, rougher than normal, nipping and sucking hard enough to leave marks.

  She met his roughness with her own, digging her nails into his shoulders when he sank his teeth into her flesh and raking them down his back when he entered her hard and fast. She bit his shoulder, her teeth sinking in hard enough to give him an edge of pain to mix with his pleasure.

  Their climax was explosive when it happened. She screamed into his shoulder and he collapsed on top of her, almost blacking out from the intensity. He moved off to the side when he came to himself again, and pulled her into his chest once more.

  Eventually he couldn't ignore the fact that he had to let her go, had to leave. They got up and dressed slowly, without saying anything. A couple times he caught Abby looking at him, taking a breath like she was about to speak, but then she'd just let it out without saying anything.

  Lance stripped the bed and tossed the sheets in the washer. He was leaving them here along with the bed for whoever took over his room. He gathered his towel, his clothes from the day before, and the few remaining things in the bathroom, stuffing them in his backpack and taking them out to the car.

  When he came back in the house Abby was filling his cooler with drinks and snacks for the road. He helped her finish in silence, then set his house key on the kitchen counter for Chris and Matt to find when they got home.


  He closed the cooler and picked it up, leading Abby outside by the hand for the last time. He locked the door handle behind him, and placed the cooler in the passenger seat of his car.