by L. P. Maxa
“How was I supposed to know that? I didn’t grow up with sisters. I was surrounded by dudes.”
Linc raised his hand. “Uh, I didn’t grow up around a lot of females and I still know that rule.”
Dom propped his head in his hands. “What’s done is done. I’ll apologize later. Although I don’t think I have anything to be sorry for.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say that to her.” Keller pursed his lips. “Ever.”
“So Kell filled me in on everything that happened this morning.” Linc turned to Baze. “Also, Corey told me you had a video to show me?”
Baze threw his head back, letting out a loud laugh. “Oh yeah, man, you have got to see the two of them freaking out over a snake. It was epic.”
“That can wait.” Dom used his sternest voice, the one he usually reserved for the team. “What did you think about Corey’s assessment of Jace?”
“I know I always try to brush off his behavior, but I think she hit the nail right on the head. After I left her office I went and Googled sociopath and psychopath, it’s all there, man. It was like every article about sociopaths could have been written about Jace. What’s the game plan?”
Dom cracked his neck. “We keep Corey out of this for as long as we can. We don’t tell anyone that she knows about us being shifters or about her thoughts and beliefs about Jace. We go about our business as if nothing out of the ordinary is going on. I want you three to help me keep an eye on her.”
“I saw her head toward the track. Was I supposed to stop her? To be honest, I don’t want her mad at me. Those cupcakes were amazing. So can we leave the dickhead stuff to you?” Linc gestured out Dom’s office window.
“Damn. She’s been running on the track with them all week. If she didn’t show up the day after she interviewed Jace, he might wonder why.” Dom stood, watching her run with Riley and Jasper. Jace ran a few strides behind them, no doubt listening to every word she said. “It’s all right, I’ll watch her from here. You guys go do whatever it is you do all day. I’ll see you at practice.” His friends left and he sat back down and angled his computer so that when he was looking at the screen his eyes only had to glance above the monitor to see the track. He watched them run, and he couldn’t take his eyes off Corey. Which seemed to be par for the course when it came to his mate.
Corey was laughing, really laughing, the kind of laugh where she tossed her head back and exposed her sexy neck. It turned him on when she laughed like that. He wanted to bury his face where her neck met her shoulder and bite, hear her make that soft gasping sound. He wondered if the boys thought of her that way. He fought the urge to go out there and stake his claim, show them that she was his. Nope. He didn’t need the team seeing him be so possessive. Jace had already made comments about Dom’s safety rules for Corey.
He sighed as he picked up his phone and hit the number that would connect him directly to Keller. “Man, will you go run with her? I can’t stand not knowing what they are saying and watching her with them is making me feel a little on edge.”
“Already lacing up my sneaks, bro, no worries.”
“Thanks, and don’t say sneaks. You sound like a soccer mom.” Dom hung up and kept his eyes on Corey until he saw Keller join them on the track. Her tight black pants showcased her perky ass, her turquoise long-sleeve workout shirt fit tight against her chest. And that long hair of hers looked like polished copper in the sunlight. He was the only bonded male in their group. His friends were all still free. Still themselves.
But as Keller placed himself between Corey and the guys, it became apparent that they all had a bit of a protective streak when it came to his mate.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Corey
Corey giggled again. These kids were cracking her up today. “Y’all are too funny. You heard rap coming from Coach Hardy’s office?”
“Yeah, we were in the locker room changing and we heard this deep bass coming from his end of the hall. It was hitting so hard, I’m surprised the whole building didn’t hear it. So we go down there and it was for sure some pretty hardcore lyrics. We could hear the rest of the coaches in there singing too, it was awesome.” Jasper shook his head, laughing so hard he was almost doubled over.
Corey knew exactly what they had been listening to. She knew as soon as Dom had been alone he would look up Blow Job Betty to see what he was missing. Males were so transparent, even males who turned into wolves apparently. “I wish I had a hidden camera in his office. I would pay good money to see your coaches rapping to Too Short.”
“Who’s Too Short?” Riley asked.
“What? He isn’t cool anymore? Guess that’s not y’all’s generation. You should YouTube him.” That probably wasn’t the most responsible teacher thing to encourage.
“They should YouTube what?” Keller jogged up beside them.
“Oh Ms. Cooper was telling us about—”
“This old video of a British kid who bites his brother. It’s hilarious.” She shot Jasper and Riley looks that said not another word. “Don’t you usually get your running in during practice? Why are you down here in the middle of the day?” She was sure it had something to do with her, and she was even surer that Dom had made him do it.
“Oh uh, you know, we are going out later for Linc’s birthday so I thought I would burn off all those extra calories I’ll be, uh, consuming.” Keller kept up with their pace easily, too easily. No doubt she was holding everybody back. “What? Am I not allowed to join your little middle-of-the-day track meet?”
Corey playfully backhanded his arm. “Of course you can run with us, but we don’t want the other coaches singing without you.” She wiggled her eyebrows and grinned in his direction. Jasper and Riley started laughing again.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Keller looked down at the ground, then up in the air, avoiding her eyes.
“Uh-huh.” She looked at her watch. “Okay, Riley, head back and get changed. It’s time for your eval, kiddo.”
“Awww. Come on, miss, do I have to?”
“Yes you have to, you whiny little butt, this is your free period and you are on my list for today. Time’s up.” She pushed at his shoulder. “I’ll meet you in my office in fifteen minutes.” He headed off, a scowl on his freckled baby face.
“Jasper, Jace, you two need to pick up the pace.” Keller waited until they both took off, getting pretty far ahead before he spoke again. “Shifters have a lot of supernatural abilities. One of them? Advanced hearing. Just because someone isn’t right next to you doesn’t mean they can’t hear you, okay? Be aware of that.”
She nodded. “I figured as much. I didn’t say anything to Jasper or Riley about Jace. Or anything about the evals at all.” She glanced over at him. “Dom send you out here?”
“The bonded male in him couldn’t handle seeing you laugh and run with the kids. It was too much, especially with everything that’s going on in regards to Jace.”
“Am I going to have to give up my runs?” She didn’t want to, but she also didn’t want to cause Dom any unnecessary stress either.
“Nah, I’ll talk to him. I could feel the energy from Riley and Jasper, they’re harmless. They like being out here with you. No sexual tension, no anger. Nothing but pure happiness. You make them feel comfortable, you make them feel…at home.”
She smiled at his odd words. “You can tell that from being near them? Can all shifters do that?”
“Yeah, I can, if I quiet my mind and focus all my energy on that. It’s not something all shifters can do. It’s kind of my thing, I guess you could say.” He watched Jasper and Jace run around the curved end of the track. “Jace, on the other hand…”
She followed his gaze, watching the two boys. They looked the same, but they were nothing alike. “I don’t make him feel at home?”
“No. You make him feel irritated and edgy.” Keller stopped and turned his back to the athletic building where she bet Dom was watching them through his office window. “I won’t say a
nything to Dom about what I picked up off Jace. But you have to promise me that you won’t come out here and run if he’s the only one on the track. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Corey
Corey settled behind her desk with Riley sitting in front of her. After talking with Keller down at the track, she hadn’t had time to change out of her workout gear. She wondered briefly if she smelled bad to Riley’s sensitive nose. She instinctively liked Riley, as she did Jasper. Riley was calm to Jasper’s crazy, but not in the cold way that Jace was, more in a sweet, soulful way.
“Okay, Riley, this shouldn’t take too long. A few questions then you can head to class.”
He grinned. “Take your time. I wouldn’t mind missing calculus.”
“I don’t blame you, math was never my strong suit either.” She relaxed back into her chair. “How long have you been playing baseball?”
“Ever since I was a kid, I started T-ball when I was four. It was me and my mom back then. She signed me up at the YMCA. I guess she figured I’d get to spend time with some dudes.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what happened to your dad?”
“My real dad? He left right after I was born. Never really knew him. My mom married my stepdad when I was ten though. He isn’t real athletic, but he’s supportive of me playing ball. He was at every game in junior high and high school.”
“Well that’s good, that he supports you.” She studied Riley. He seemed comfortable but kind of dejected. “It must be hard, being away from your mom for such long stretches of time. Especially if it used to be only the two of you. You must be close.”
“Yeah, it’s hard. But this is a really great school. Guys dream of being able to play here. I’m lucky. My stepdad went to St. Leasing too. I guess it’s kind of a tradition in his family and they are the ones footing the bill.”
“What do you enjoy most about playing?”
“I don’t know, no one’s ever asked me that before.” He paused. “I like to play, but never really thought about why. It’s what I do.”
“What you do, not who you are.”
He shook his head. “Nah, I don’t need baseball to tell me who I am. I like to play ball, but I’m not delusional. I’ll graduate, maybe play some in college, but then I’ll get a nine-to-five like everyone else.”
“What about your teammates? How do you feel about them?”
“They’re all pretty good guys, I guess. Jasper is probably my best friend on the team. We’ve been friends since our freshman year.”
“Jace too?” She wanted some answers about twin number two. Wanted to know the rest of the team’s opinion of him. But she was treading a fine line because she couldn’t push too hard. She couldn’t make it obvious.
“I’m not that close to Jace, no one is really. He kind of keeps to himself. I’m sure he talks to Jasper, but he doesn’t go out of his way to hang out with the team.”
“I met with Jasper the other day and he said that Henderson grilled him for hours during his evaluation. Asked really personal questions. Did he do that with you?”
“Yeah, not as bad as he did with Jasper though.” Riley cracked his knuckles and folded his hands behind his head.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean, he asked me personal questions and everything. But I wasn’t in with him as long as Jasper was. I was waiting for Jasper, we had plans after his eval. I swear he had been with Henderson for over two hours. When they were done, Jasper was pissed. He got crazy wast…uh, he went and blew off some steam.”
Even though he had stopped himself from telling her, she got the picture. Henderson had grilled Jasper until he was livid, and then he went and took out his frustrations on a bottle. She shook her head, sharing probably more than Dom would condone. “I have no idea what Henderson was up to with you guys. I wish I could get a hold of him and ask. It makes me mad, to be honest.” She trailed off, her thoughts running wild again.
“So no one has talked to Henderson?” Riley went from relaxed to leaning forward in his chair, brows drawn together.
“Nope. He didn’t leave any notes or explanation or forwarding address. No one has heard from him. Did he ever say anything to y’all during your interviews that would make you think he was leaving?” Riley looked at her, his head slightly tilted to one side. Like he was internally debating something.
“He didn’t ever say anything to me about leaving. I never even talked to the guy outside of my eval appointment.” He took a deep breath. “Jace seemed really ticked that Henderson questioned Jasper for so long, which for Jace is saying something. That guy never shows emotion. He had his interview the day after Jasper’s. When he was done, he walked into the locker room and told us that Henderson would no longer be a problem for us. And then three days later, Henderson was gone. We never saw him again.”
Had Jace alluded to the team that he’d killed Henderson? Was he sticking up for his brother? Why? And what did he do? “What do you think Jace meant by that? That Henderson wouldn’t be a problem anymore?” Would he say what she was thinking? So many damn questions and no answers.
“I have no idea.” Riley stood up. “Everything I say in here, to you, it doesn’t leave this room, right?”
“That’s right.” She gestured to the notepad in front of her. “I sign off on you to play, but it’s a pass/fail type thing, they don’t ask for a lot of details.” She stood up as well, and walked around her desk until she was standing by Riley.
“We are a team, we stick together and stand up for our own. Jace isn’t, uh, well, he isn’t like Jasper. If Jace were to stick up for anyone? I think it would be for himself. Does that make sense?” Riley grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“It makes perfect sense, Riley, thank you. I really appreciate you coming in today. And thanks for running with me, I’ve really come to look forward to hanging with you guys.”
Riley put his hand on the door handle to leave but then paused. “You’re Coach Hardy’s, aren’t you?”
“Coach Hardy’s what?”
“His forever.” His smile faded slightly when he said the word forever.
“Uh, Riley, uh, it’s…” She stopped trying to get out the right words and took a deep breath.
“It’s okay. I won’t say anything to anyone. I can tell, you know? That you belong to him now. You smell different, almost like I can sense him in you.” He turned red, like he was embarrassed of the words he’d let slip.
“Can the other players sense it too?” She placed her hand on her throat, remembering that Jace and Jasper had both been on that track with them earlier.
“Nah. You have to be still and quiet to notice things like that. The other guys are always either talking or moving.” He reached for the handle again.
“Riley, no one can know.”
“Hey, don’t worry, miss. I’m assuming you know I can turn into a wolf. I know you’re mated to one. We’ll keep each other’s secrets.” He shut the door quietly behind him.
Wow. Okay, she needed to meet with all the coaches ASAP. She looked down at her watch. She still had two interviews to get through today. They were both underclassmen and should go pretty easy. She grabbed her cell and sent a text to Dominic.
Corey: Hey, I need you to have the guys meet us at the house before we go out for Linc’s bday.
Dominic: No.
Corey: Yes, I need to tell y’all about my talk with Riley.
Dominic: I wanted to do dirty things to you before we went out.
She was mated to a horny teenager. Was that part of it? Maybe they aged slower and therefore were immature longer.
Corey: Sorry, babe, it’ll have to wait ’til after.
Dominic: No.
Corey: Dom, I’ve had a long day and it’s only 11:30. Please text your friends.
Good god, could it really only be 11:30? It felt like it should be tomorrow already.
Dominic: Whatevs.
She wa
s going to have to keep her phone on vibrate if they were going to keep texting. The ding was starting to give her a slight headache.
Dominic: Baby, I am so sorry about the PMS comment. You have every right in the world to be stressed right now. Please forgive me.
That was nice. Maybe she should reward him for apologizing and realizing the error of his ways. Also, she was bored and had another few minutes before her next eval showed up.
Corey: Out of curiosity, what kind of dirty things did you have in mind?
Dominic: You bad girl. You want to sext me? Let’s see…I’ve been daydreaming of your pretty little mouth around my cock. I’ve been hard all morning thinking about how warm and wet your mouth would feel. These basketball shorts are keeping me behind a desk.
So these “dirty things” he had in mind weren’t actually things he would be doing to her. Rather they were things he wanted her to do to him. Typical. And a blowjob, also typical. Obviously he had been listening to Too Short.
Corey: Mmmmm….I’m licking my lips thinking about it. I would love to wrap my mouth around your long hard cock.
Corey laughed. This was fun, not necessarily turning her on, but fun. Dummy was going to have to stop wearing those loose shorts to school every day. He tented basketball shorts so easily, she had seen it happen more than once over the last couple of days.
Dominic: Oh god, Corey. I’m so fucking hard right now. It hurts. I need you so bad. Baby, please come down to my office.
Corey: Sorry, no can do, my next eval is on his way…but maybe I could help you out from here?
It shouldn’t be too hard to help him out through texting, should it? He’s a dude. It couldn’t take more than a few minutes. Highly inappropriate though.
Dominic: Yes, baby, please. Help me. I’m as hard as a rock.
Corey: Oh Dom, the thought of you sitting there aching for me, only a few feet away…. It’s making me so hot, babe. Stroke yourself for me. Think of me sitting in my office doing the same thing.
Ha, like she would ever do that in the middle of the day in her office. But nothing seemed to get a guy going quite like the thought of a woman pleasuring herself.