“Um…yeah…god, that hurt, though,” I replied, wincing as my fingers found the sorest part.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Cade lingering on the field, staring at me, and I was struck by an urge to jump over the little barrier and smack him in the head with the ball—see how he liked it.
I hadn’t exactly been excited about coming to this game in the first place, because football had never really appealed to me very much, but by the end of the fourth quarter, I’d been hooked. The way things had turned around so fast, and then turned back again, had been gripping as hell, and I’d almost jumped up and cheered when Cade scored the winning touchdown.
But now….now all I wanted to do was score a touchdown on his face with my fists. Violent, perhaps, but I’d practically just been concussed with a ball, so I was allowed to be a bit mad.
“I’m going to go splash some water on my face. Might make me feel a bit better,” I mumbled, standing up as I saw Cade jogging over to where we were sitting.
“Charlotte!”
I heard him calling out after me as I walked away, but I hastily slipped into the crowd and made my way to the nearest bathroom in the RMU stadium. The place was impressively large, and it was right next to the main campus, so I’d already taken a walk around here just two days ago to get my bearings and have a look around.
I’d finally started classes again after taking a few days to sort through all my stuff at the house, and while attending a new college and getting used to new professors and students was difficult, I was glad for the distraction. Whenever I’d been at home over the last week, I’d been mentally caught up with Cade and trying to figure out how to talk to him, and I kept chickening out. Whenever I pictured the conversation in my head, it all seemed so petty and lame. Hey, Cade, I was just wondering if we could chat about something that happened when we were thirteen.
Yeah, that sounded ridiculous.
As a result, every time I’d gotten near him this week, I’d opened my mouth to say something and then practically run away from him. He probably thought I was bat-shit insane at this point, and I couldn’t blame him. Then again, he’s the prick who just whacked a ball in your face, I reminded myself.
I splashed my face with some cold water from a basin in the bathroom, and then my phone buzzed in my bag. I unlocked it and frowned as I saw an unfamiliar number flashing across the screen, alerting me to a new text message.
Hey, it’s Cade. Got your number from your Mom. Sorry about the ball. Didn’t mean to hit you with it. I was actually hoping you’d catch it. We have this tradition thingy...I’ll explain later. Anyway, hope you’re feeling okay, and if you want, I’d like to show you around the team rooms and introduce you to everyone.
I sighed and stared at the screen, not knowing what to say in response. He’d apologized, which was decent of him, but my aching skull was putting me in a foul mood, and I really couldn’t be bothered going back and talking to him or meeting any new people when I was in such a state. And what on earth was this tradition he’d mentioned? Was throwing things at unsuspecting girls really an RMU football tradition?
I shut my phone off and walked out of the bathroom and towards the main parking lot, intent on heading home so I could get some Tylenol and rest for a while. I’d driven here separately in my new car, because Mom and Keith were apparently going to some political mixer later, and I suddenly remembered that I’d promised to drive Evan home with me.
Turning around, I walked back the way I’d come so I could go and get him, and I heard a familiar voice coming from a vestibule as I passed what appeared to be a media conference room that wasn’t currently in use.
“So the one we hired…Adams, was it? He’s been briefed on what needs to be done?”
It was Keith, and I remembered that he’d left the bleachers just before the end of the game to take a phone call. I paused for a second as I registered his words, wondering who he’d been talking to for so long.
“Good. Yes, I’m just at RMU Stadium for Cade’s game. Don’t worry, there’s no one around, they’re all still down at the field,” he continued. “Uh-huh. And you’re getting him the burner? Good, good. All right, Greg, talk later.”
I wrinkled my brows. I knew what a burner phone was. It was a prepaid phone that people could use and then easily dispose of without having their name tied to a phone contract. They were common amongst criminals—I knew that from watching reruns of The Wire whenever I was sick—but I also knew from political dramas that journalists could benefit from having a disposable number too, especially those with ties to politics who wanted inside scoops.
Mom had told me that Keith was considering a bid for presidency in the next election, so I guess it would make sense if he was lining up journalists to have in his pocket. Feeding reporters information about opponents via burner phones was an easy way to smear the opposition without making it look like the information came from their campaign, and I guess it didn’t surprise me that Keith was just like almost every other politician out there, doing anything to win even if it was a little shady and unethical.
I shrugged and quietly walked on, figuring I needed to mind my own business. Right now, my only real pressing business was this damn splitting headache, and if I didn’t get home and get some painkillers as soon as possible, I was sure my head would explode right off my shoulders.
That stupid damn ball.
As I recalled the pain and subsequent embarrassment of having the football hit me, I remembered the look on Cade’s face just seconds before he threw it, when I’d still been looking at him. He’d flashed a heart-melting grin right at me in those few seconds, and my heart had fluttered like mad until I remembered who he was and abruptly turned away to distract myself in conversation with Evan.
No more. Cade could look at me however he wanted and say whatever he wanted from now on, and I wasn’t going to respond at all. I wouldn’t let myself be affected by him. I couldn’t.
Not now, not ever again.
Chapter Nine
Cade
“Dude, you actually hit her right in the head?”
I nodded at my friend Nicki, and she snorted with laughter. “Jesus, no wonder she hates you!”
“It’s not funny,” I protested. “She hasn’t spoken to me since it happened yesterday.”
“Probably because she has a concussion and forgot how to form a coherent sentence.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, fine, laugh away, but seriously, I have to do something about this. She already can’t stand me from when we were kids, and now she probably thinks I’m trying to kill her.”
Nicki arched an eyebrow. “You knew each other when you were kids?”
“Yeah. We went to school together until the seventh grade.”
“And she hated you?”
“Apparently. Claims I made her life hell,” I replied.
“Did you?”
I sighed and told her everything I knew—how I’d given Charlotte a bit of crap by playing pranks on her, but nothing life-ruining as far as I knew.
Nicki was one of my best female friends. She was close with all my guy friends too, and was pretty much known as ‘one of the guys’ even though she could be quite feminine in some regards. She was always around to give us girl advice whenever any of us admitted we needed it—which was rare—and after the ball debacle yesterday, I definitely needed it. I’d tried to explain things to Charlotte via text after she’d run away from the bleachers before I could say anything, but she hadn’t replied, and when I returned home last night, she’d already been locked away in her room. She’d also left the house first thing this morning, before I was even awake, so I hadn’t had a chance to speak to her and apologize properly.
Nicki glanced over at Blake, who was sitting with us in the quad at RMU, and then looked back at me when I finished speaking. “So you wanna hear a female opinion on this, right?”
“Always.”
“Girls can be way more sensitive than guys at that age. Tru
st me, I remember being a kid, and boys are pretty much socially conditioned to be all tough and insensitive. It’s the opposite for girls; they’re shown and told that they should be sensitive and nurturing. So both the sexes internalize those things, and bam….a lot of boys end up being tough little shits, and girls often end up being more emotional and sensitive.”
“Thanks for the sociology lecture, Professor,” Blake interjected, grinning.
She whacked him with a file. “I’m serious! I’m not saying it’s a good thing. It’s crap,” she said, still looking at me. “But what I’m saying is, maybe Charlotte is just way more sensitive than you think. Or at least she was, all those years ago. Maybe you actually really upset her by….what was it…putting spiders in her desk?”
“Toy spiders. And toy rats.”
“Whatever. Maybe she saw that as serious bullying back then, I don’t know.”
I sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. I just don’t know how the hell to ask her about it so I can apologize properly.”
She rolled her eyes. “Jeez, for guys who are meant to be tough, you football players are a bunch of pussies. Just talk to her! Don’t worry about finding the perfect words or whatever. Just go up to her and say, ‘Hey, Charlotte, sorry for being a prick in junior school. Can you please outline every single thing that upset you, so I can apologize for each individual incident and clear the air?’ See? Easy.”
I shrugged. “I dunno, that seems kinda awkward.”
“Of course it’s fucking awkward, you’re talking about stuff that happened in grade school. But if it helps the situation and makes her feel better about being your stepsister soon, then you’ve gotta do it.”
“True.”
Her face brightened. “Hey, I have an idea!”
“What?”
She turned to Blake. “Your Dad still owns that ski resort up in the mountains near Silverton Falls right?”
He nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“And it’s already snowing up there, right?”
Blake grinned. “Yeah, dummy, it’s pretty much always snowing up there on the mountain. Ski season all year round up in Silverton Falls, that’s the resort’s slogan.”
Nicki turned back to me. “So why don’t a bunch of us go up there this weekend? Me, you, some of my girls, and some of the guys from the team.”
“Erm….what’s that got to do with Charlotte?”
“Invite her along. That way she’ll get to make some new friends, go skiing, and have some drinks. I bet that’s half the reason she’s so grumpy; she doesn’t know anyone here yet. At least not properly.”
“Hm, maybe. I dunno if she’d really be interested in that, though.”
“One way to find out,” Blake said, jerking his thumb over to the right. “She’s right over there.”
I turned to see Charlotte heading out of the main campus library, and Nicki let out a wolf-whistle and waved. “Hey! Charlotte, right?”
Charlotte looked confused for a second, and then she spotted me. I expected her to turn and walk away, but instead a faint smile crossed her face, and she trudged over to us. She was wearing black boots, black jeans and a faded purple knit sweater with a camel-colored coat over the top to shield her from the freezing air. Despite all the layers, I could still make out the curves of her hips, ass and tits underneath. Christ, I wanted to tear all those clothes right off…
“Hey,” she said. Her sweet voice sent a sugary trickle of desire down my spine.
“Hey, I’m Nicki. I’m a friend of Cade’s,” Nicki said, standing up and taking her hand before I could say anything. “And this is Blake. We kinda just found him on the side of the road.”
“Hey!” Blake said with a grin, elbowing Nicki. “I’m actually on the football team with Cade,” he added, holding his hand out to Charlotte as well.
“Nice to meet you guys,” she replied as she shook hands, giving me a vaguely suspicious glance.
“I’m really sorry about your head,” I said. “Again, it was an accident.”
“Yeah, I know. Evan explained your whole end-of-game tradition to me when we drove home last night,” she said. “It’s okay. I should’ve paid more attention, then maybe I would’ve noticed the ball flying at my head.”
“Oh. Glad he explained it. But sorry anyway.”
“Well, now that that’s all settled, why don’t you ask her?” Nicki said, waving her hand at me.
“Ask me what?” Charlotte asked.
Nicki continued before I could even get another word in. “We’re thinking of going up to Blake’s Dad’s ski resort this weekend for some partying; a whole bunch of us. We thought you might wanna come too.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened, and she looked down at the ground. “Um…I don’t want to get in anyone’s way…” she said softly, fidgeting with the buttons on her coat.
Nicki grinned. “Don’t be silly! I want you to come. You won’t be getting in anyone’s way. Cade’s kinda like a brother to me, and you’re going to be his stepsister soon, so I totally need to get to know my new sis, right?”
Charlotte gave me a nervous glance, as if she were expecting this invitation to be some sort of joke that would blow up in her face if she agreed to it.
“Come,” I said with a nod. “I promise there’ll be no balls being thrown at you.”
“At least not by Cade,” Blake said. “But keep an eye out for Ben…you’re just his type, and he’d probably love to throw his balls in your—”
“Blake!” Nicki said, elbowing him. “Sorry, Charlotte, Blake’s sense of humor is even more immature than your stepbrother’s. But seriously, please come. It’ll be so much fun. I’ll even make mulled wine!”
Finally, Charlotte smiled and nodded shyly. “Okay. That’d be nice. I haven’t really met many new people here yet, aside from some in my classes.”
“Great! This’ll be the perfect chance to get to know more people,” Nicki said, smiling brightly. “Give me your number, and I’ll text you all the details. I would get Cade to tell you, but you can’t really trust guys to do anything properly, right?”
Nicki stuck her tongue out at me, and Charlotte’s smile grew wider. “Right.”
She pulled her phone out as Nicki gabbed away at her about the ski resort and how much fun our weekend trip was going to be, and I grinned at Blake as he nudged me.
“You know, I just realized, Charlotte looks a lot like that chick you hooked up with at the hotel that night.”
My smile faded, and I grunted out a noncommittal answer. Shit. I’d forgotten that a few of my buddies were there that night and had seen me with her, drinking and playing pool before disappearing upstairs together. Luckily, Blake didn’t seem to have realized that ‘hotel girl’ and Charlotte were one and the same, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he changed the subject to something else.
My little secret was safe….for now.
Chapter Ten
Charlotte
A small branch banged against my window from the wind, waking me up, and I sat up in bed, trying to get my bearings. I wiped the grogginess from my eyes and yawned, looking around the room, and upon glancing at my clock, I saw that it was midnight—I’d only been asleep for two hours.
Goose bumps peppered my skin, so I peeled off my blankets and stepped out of bed before padding over to the window, which I’d forgotten to close earlier. Before I shut it all the way, I felt just how cold it was outside; a biting chill, and I realized that it had just begun to snow. I watched the small white flakes falling down, transfixed. It’d never snowed this early in the year back in Philly, and I smiled and put my hand out, waiting for a snowflake to flutter down and settle on my hand.
As I did so, I saw Cade’s car pull up the driveway and into the garage. I had no idea where he’d been so late, but I assumed he’d been out drinking with the friends I’d met earlier at college. They’d seemed really nice, and they’d invited me on a trip to a ski resort this weekend, which I was simultaneously excited and nervous abo
ut.
I’d never been on any sort of getaway like that, and while I knew it might be awkward spending so much time in such close proximity with Cade, given our recent history, I also knew it was a great opportunity to put myself out there and make some new friends. So far in my classes, I’d met a few people, but I hadn’t made any close connections with anyone yet. Nicki seemed very interested in getting to know me, though, so I was looking forward to hanging out with her—even if I only ended up making one new friend in her, then that was good enough for me.
I watched Cade get out of his car and trudge up to the front door, and I quickly slipped away from my window and closed it, not wanting him to see me in my silly pink and white sheep-patterned pajamas. I flicked the heater on and climbed back into bed, but as I settled under the blankets, I didn’t even need any external objects to keep me warm. The mere thought of Cade was doing the job for me; just the memory of the way he’d looked at me today was making all kinds of nervous tingles shoot up my spine, and a distinct wet heat was spreading between my legs.
Damn….I couldn’t sleep now.
I reached under the blankets and slid my pajama pants down, and then I tentatively stroked the area between my legs, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to relax again until my urges were satisfied. My thighs were cold, but the rest of me was on fire, and I bit my lower lip and moved my hand directly to my core. Heat spilled from every pore as I began to rub the pad of my index finger over and around my clit, and dizziness fogged my head as I pictured Cade between my legs instead, licking and sucking like he had on that night at the hotel.
I imagined that we didn’t stop this time, and I pictured him thrusting inside me, burying himself deep in the place I’d secretly wanted him for weeks. In my fantasy, he grunted as his hips slapped into mine, and my legs quivered as I whispered his name.
“Oh, yes….Cade…keep going…”
My fingers sped up on my clit, and another rush of wet heat between my legs made me feel distinctly empty. I slid one finger just past my entrance, feeling my warm walls close around it, and then I sighed with bliss as I began to curl it inside myself in a rhythm with the finger that was still deftly working my clit. Pure pleasure exploded inside of me just seconds later, and my body clenched as the orgasm rushed over me, making me want to scream out loud.
Tease - A Stepbrother Sports Romance Page 7