Players of Marycliff University Box Set, Books 1–3

by Jerica MacMillan

  Abby was getting impatient. And defensive. So what if he wasn’t home yet? “No, but he just texted that he’ll be leaving soon. Do you have a point, Megan?” She fought to keep the irritation out of her voice, but wasn’t sure how well she managed.

  Either way, Megan didn’t seem fazed. She stared at Abby for a moment before responding. “Isn’t he leaving this weekend?”

  “Yeah. Exactly. That’s why I’m going over now, so I can see him as much as possible before he leaves.” What about this situation made that hard to grasp? “Are you getting bored being home by yourself in the evenings? You can come, too, if you want. I’m sure Chris and Matt won’t mind if they’re home. You guys seemed to hit it off well enough at the Fourth of July party.” If that was the issue—Megan getting bored and lonely—Abby wished she’d just say so instead of acting like Abby was doing something wrong by staying the night with her … whatever Lance was. Yeah, he’d called her his girlfriend that one night, but with the temporary nature of their relationship, she couldn’t bring herself to call him her boyfriend. Not even in her head.

  Megan nodded slowly, dropping her arms and straightening up. “Yeah, all right. That sounds better than staying here.”

  Fighting back a sigh, Abby gestured for Megan to move out of the way. “Good. You drive, that way you can come home whenever you want and Lance will take me to work in the morning. You can also help me plan his going-away party.”

  Megan rubbed her hands together and followed Abby into the living room. “You know there’s nothing I like better than a party.”

  Abby grinned. “That’s what I’m counting on.”

  * * *

  “There you are. What are you doing?” Lance finally found Abby in his room, carefully placing the last few books from his bookshelf into a box on the floor. All his friends were in the living room and spilling out into the backyard, so it had taken a bit of time to make his way through everyone, fielding their greetings and well-wishes while he searched for her. Chris and Matt were fighting over who should man the grill while Megan kept a rocking playlist going as the soundtrack for his going-away party. He still couldn’t believe that Abby managed to put all this together. For him. And she didn’t even like parties.

  If he hadn’t already fallen for this girl, this would’ve clinched it. But from the way she reacted when he called her his girlfriend, he couldn’t tell her that. Not when he was leaving the day after tomorrow.

  She straightened up and smiled when she looked at him. “I was just helping you pack a little. I needed a break from the party.”

  He closed the door and crossed the room, kissing her and pulling her against his chest. It wasn’t a big surprise that she’d need a break. But why would she spend her time packing his things? Not that he didn’t appreciate her help, but he’d rather spend time with her than have her pack his books.

  When his arms went around her, she relaxed into him, and he laid his cheek against her hair. “Are you okay?”

  He felt her head move against his chest and pushed her back enough to make sure she was nodding, but her response didn’t do much to alleviate his concern.

  At the look on his face she nodded again and offered another smile that wasn’t quite convincing. “Yeah. I’m fine. It’s just loud out there.”

  It was. The thump of the bass reached them through the walls mixed with the sounds of people having a good time.

  “Do you want me to stay in here with you?” Because he’d abandon his party in a hot minute just to spend time with her. He didn’t care about the party nearly as much as he cared about her. And he’d already seen and talked to everyone here. They could all get out as far as he cared.

  But she shook her head. “No. I’ll be fine in a minute. You should have fun and enjoy your going-away party. It’s your last chance after all.” She gave him another brittle smile that broke a chunk off his heart. A chunk that already belonged to her. With a tug on her hand, he led her to the bed and sat with his back against the wall, settling Abby between his legs to lean back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, wanting to imprint the feel of her in his memory. He was leaving on Saturday. He only had one more night after this to spend with Abby.

  “I can’t believe you found time to plan a going-away party for me without telling me.”

  Abby chuckled. “That wasn’t hard, Lance. You’ve been working late a lot recently. And Megan, Chris, and Matt helped.” She turned her head back to look at him. “They all wanted to give you a proper goodbye.”

  He smiled. “Thank you for putting it all together, though. I doubt the guys would’ve done anything except give me a case of beer if you hadn’t.”

  She chuckled, and the sound of her laughter made him feel a little better. At least she could still laugh. “You’re welcome.”

  “So you’re done with the language lab for the summer?” He didn’t want to talk about him going away anymore. It would happen far too soon.

  “Yeah. The final was today. I finished grading their homework, so I’m all done.” She grew thoughtful. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself next week. You’ll be gone, and I won’t have to go to work.”

  Another sharp pang struck his chest at her words. He kissed her, because he needed the distraction and so did she. And he wanted to feel her lips. To claim as many kisses as he could while he still had the chance. To push away thoughts about leaving and Texas and just enjoy this, here, now, with Abby.

  She broke the kiss. “What about you? Did you get your project finished?”

  “Yeah.” Talking about that subject didn’t help, either. “The client was really happy and so was my supervisor. In fact, he even showed his boss. They took me out to lunch today to congratulate me on how well I did.” It had been awesome, but also depressing as hell. Because no matter how much they loved him and wanted him to stay, he couldn’t.

  “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. And now he felt like a jackass for even offering her that false hope. He should’ve kept that to himself. But he was so used to telling her everything, he didn’t even think to keep it to himself until it was too late.

  “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.” Her tone turned flat as she agreed with him, and he gritted his teeth, hating it. Hating that he had to leave. That their time together would be tainted by it, no matter how much he tried to pretend otherwise. “That’s cool that he offered, though,” she continued. “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 agreed 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 overly bright and cheerful voice didn’t fool him.

  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 th
e bed and kissed her hard. Then he let her go and followed her into the living room, back to the party.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Lance and Abby spent their last full day together at the lake in Coeur d’Alene. She wanted to show him one of the few fun things she used to do as a kid, going to the lake with her friends. They left in the morning, leaving Chris and Matt to handle the cleanup from the party the night before, stepping around a few stragglers sleeping on the floor in the living room on their way out.

  They laughed and joked on the forty-five minute drive, Lance’s hand firmly on Abby’s thigh the entire way, an unspoken agreement between them to not discuss the fact that this was it. The end. After today, he would leave, and that would be that.

  Abby put out of her mind the fact that they hadn’t discussed at all what would happen after he left. Would they text? Call? Snapchat? Anything?

  Or was this really it?

  Neither option appealed to her, so when they got to the beach, she embraced her wild and carefree side—wouldn’t Megan be astonished she had one—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, enjoying the way his muscles moved under his tan skin. Goosebumps crawled up his chest, and he stopped when the water reached 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.”

  His eyes narrowed as she stepped closer to him, an irrepressible grin stretching across her face. 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, making her laugh with glee until he lunged for her, catching her around the waist. She couldn’t stop laughing even as he picked her up over her protests of “No! No!” and tossed her into the deeper water. After she resurfaced, she splashed him again, managing to dodge his next attempt to grab her, which made him fall and 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.” His voice was laughter and menace rolled together.

  Undeterred, she splashed him again, squealing 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 a shock 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.

  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. Anytime thoughts of the next day and what lay beyond it popped into Abby’s head, she firmly pushed them aside. She noticed that Lance didn’t bring up tomorrow, 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 knew she was doing the same thing. And every time she caught either 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 getting hungry, they made their way onto the sand, where Abby spread out their towels. They lay in the sun, Lance with one arm behind his head and the other around Abby, pulling her close so she could rest her head 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 kiss unlike any he’d given her before—more gentle, more everything—and she didn’t know how to contain the feelings it provoked.

  When he pulled away, he gave her a small smile that didn’t disguise the sadness in his eyes. “Hungry?”

  Abby sat up, happy he’d offered something else to focus on besides the tears stinging the backs of her eyes. “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. And she knew that Lance rarely carried any, which was one of the reasons she insisted on lunch here. The other was that they were the best burgers in town.

  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 than before, since it was 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 here, 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 keep up the pretense as the sun sank 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 shower, and then I’ll head over to your house.”

  Lance nodded and kissed her before leaving without 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 THIRTY

  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, admiring Lance’s ass as he adjusted a few things in the trunk before closing it.

  She stood on the lawn while Matt and Chris each gave Lance one of their typical man-hugs and said goodbye. They held onto each other slightly longer than normal, though. With nods in her direct
ion, Chris and Matt climbed in their cars and left.

  Once they were out of sight, Lance walked over to her and kissed her, then 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 who 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 while he looked for 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 nightstand 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.”

  His expression gave nothing away, no hint of what he might be feeling, but if he was asking her to get into his tiny closet of a shower with him, she knew he must be wanting to spend every last second they had left together. She nodded, uncaring that her hair was still wet from the shower she’d just taken at her house, and began to undress. 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. When he turned, the neutral expression he’d worn only moments earlier was gone, replaced by desire as his eyes roamed her body, slowly moving 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.