by Elle Thorpe
Until her.
Colt’s lips were unresponsive when I pressed up onto my toes and brushed my mouth over his. Normally, he would have grabbed me around the waist, pulled me tight, and put his lips to my neck. He’d whisper something dirty in my ear and drag me into a bathroom for a quickie before homeroom. All of that was missing this morning. Kissing him had none of the usual spark. It was like kissing a store mannequin.
“How was your night?” he asked, voice cool. Uninterested.
I tried to ignore it. “Fine. I tried to call you.” About a dozen times.
“Yeah, I know. Sorry. I had other things on my mind. I wouldn’t have been good company.”
I brushed off a demand to know what other things he had on his mind. After our argument yesterday, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like the answer. I thought I’d smoothed that all over, but apparently not. Irritation prickled at me. I was his girlfriend. We’d been together for years, and hell, this whole ‘run Lacey out of school’ thing had been his idea. He was the one who kept saying she couldn’t be here, though he refused to tell anyone why. I’d gone along with it because he’d said to.
Because I hated the way he looked at her.
Okay, mostly because of the way he looked at her. Something deep inside me taunted that he’d never focused on me like that. Not even when we’d first began dating.
It didn’t matter. I had plans. And those plans included Colt. Not Lacey fucking Knight. Lacey Knight had the money to go and do whatever the hell she wanted after high school. I didn’t have such luxuries.
“Was that slut the thing on your mind? Why you were too busy to answer your girlfriend’s calls?”
He looked down at me sharply. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Gillian.”
I bristled. “You think it looks good on you either?”
“Who the hell would I be jealous of?”
If he’d asked me that a few weeks ago, I would have said no one. After all, as seniors, we were top of the food chain. But then the princess had showed up. “You were pretty green over Banjo carrying Lacey out of school yesterday.”
Colt’s eyes narrowed. “Perhaps I was green because I was sick over what you did to her.”
Oh, fuck no. He wasn’t going to pin this all on me. “I was just doing what you didn’t have the balls to do,” I hissed.
Colt shook his head. “I don’t have time for your shit this morning. Come see me when you’re not being a bitch.”
“Me?” I screeched.
Colt shot me a look that clearly said I was making a scene. But I suddenly didn’t care. He wasn’t going to blow me off after everything I’d done for him yesterday.
Everything you did for yourself, a voice whispered in my head. I ignored it. Maybe it benefited me, too, but Colt was the one who’d started the war. I was just a soldier in it.
Colt started to walk away.
Both of us stopped as an engine revved, and Lacey’s red sports car pulled into the school lot.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. She is not seriously going to show her face here today?”
A tiny smile pulled at Colt’s lips. “Guess she is.”
Anger boiled in my blood. “She’s going to be a social pariah. Wait until I tell everyone she invited me to her birthday party. What a loser.”
He dragged his eyes away from Lacey climbing out of her car. “I got one, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “How tacky. I don’t know what she’s trying to prove there. Maybe we should throw a party the same night? Completely whitewash her.”
Lacey strode up the path. She’d paired a tiny pair of shorts that showed off her legs, with a long-sleeved T-shirt and big hoop earrings. She held her head high, staring Colt down. There wasn’t a trace of the mess she’d been yesterday. Without even consciously thinking about it, I stepped up to Colt, putting my arm through his possessively.
“Lacey,” he called.
She stopped abruptly, as if he’d surprised her, even though they’d been staring right at each other.
But then her expression hardened. “Not in the mood, Colt. Take your shit elsewhere.”
“I’d love to come to your party,” he called back, as if she hadn’t spoken.
I gaped at him. “Excuse me?”
Lacey’s expression was probably a mirror of my own. She looked just as confused as I was.
“I said, I’d love to go to her birthday party. I’m sure Gillian would, too, wouldn’t you?”
“No,” I said bluntly.
He shrugged. “Your loss.”
Lacey’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t send that invitation. That was my aunt’s misguided attempt at surprising me. Just consider yourselves uninvited.”
“Suits me,” I quipped. “I wouldn’t have come anyway.”
But Colt shook his head. “Nope, I’ve got an invite. I’m going. If you two don’t like it, not my problem.”
He untangled his arm from mine and without a goodbye, headed in the direction of his homeroom, leaving me and Lacey staring after him.
A mixture of hurt, embarrassment, and anger, not to mention the need to save face, had me turning on Lacey. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but it won’t work.”
Lacey rolled her eyes. “I meant it. My aunt invited the entire senior class. It’s not some ploy to steal your boyfriend. Come. Don’t come. I honestly don’t care. I just want to have a good time with my friends. You know what those are, don’t you? People who actually genuinely like you?” She glanced in the direction Colt had walked off in. Then said snidely. “Or perhaps you don’t.”
Her words cut straight through me. They were too close to the truth. I had no real female friends. Sure, I had acquaintances, like Marcie and the other cheerleaders. But could I call them up in the middle of the night if I was stranded somewhere? Would they even answer? I somehow doubted it. And I couldn’t blame them, because would I get out of bed for them?
No.
Colt was all I had, but now even he seemed to be slipping away. I’d felt the gap between us widening, and yet I was powerless to do anything about it. Yesterday should have brought us closer. He’d left those photos in my bag. I’d thought I was doing what he wanted, and yet it had somehow turned into this. Him walking off, and Lacey Knight smirking at me like she’d won.
I spun on my heel. She might have won this battle, but she wouldn’t win the war. If Colt was the prize, I’d fight to the very end.
28
Lacey
The drive to Ridgeview after school took almost two hours, but being in a confined space with Rafe made the time go all too fast. He’d picked me up from the end of my driveway, and I’d jumped in his car before Selina could notice he wasn’t Jagger. We might have made up that morning, and the party might be full steam ahead, but I doubted she would have been happy about me spending the night with Banjo. It was probably too soon to push that button. Plus, I was a mess of nerves about the whole thing, I didn’t need anything else to worry about. I was excited to watch the guys play football. I’d been to a few Edgely games, but since I had no interest in any of the guys there, I’d barely paid attention. Instead, I’d listened to Meredith’s gossip and drank the booze she’d snuck in. But tonight, I was anxiously excited about what was to come after the game. Spending the night alone with Banjo had my palms sweating with anticipation. I’d stopped at a pharmacy and grabbed a packet of condoms on my way home from school, wanting to be prepared. And I was wearing my nicest underwear set.
I jiggled my leg impatiently, finding it difficult to concentrate. Rafe kept shooting little glances at me, and eventually, he reached over and put his hand on my thigh. “Stop. You’re making the whole car shake.”
His fingers were warm on my skin and I liked it. It was somehow grounding, yet at the same time, I wished his hands were a little higher. I’d been thinking about sex all day and was horny as hell. It didn’t help I was now in a confined space with a guy I was super attracted to. Just the memory of what he’d done to me last night mad
e me press my thighs together.
“What are you so worked up about? It’s just a game. You’re like a ball of nervous energy.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
He glanced over at me. “You’re worried about tonight? With Banjo? I’m driving home after the game. You can always come with me.”
“It’s not that. I want to stay with him.”
“You going to give up that V-card?”
It could have so easily sounded like a prying question. Or it could have been laced with jealousy, especially after last night. But from him, it was just a question.
“I want to. I like him. A lot.”
Rafe squeezed my leg. “He likes you, too.”
“He said that?”
“Doesn’t need to. I know him.”
I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Then studied his profile. He wasn’t wearing his glasses today, switching them out for contacts, ready for the game. He looked different but no less handsome.
“I can’t stop thinking about last night,” I admitted out of the blue.
He grinned at me. “Me neither, babe.”
“Is it weird then? That I’m sitting here in a car with you, talking about having sex with someone else?”
Yes, I answered my own question. It was totally weird.
But Rafe just shrugged. “Not weird for me. We aren’t there yet, you and I. We had some fun last night, but if you’ll recall, we stopped because it didn’t feel right to go further. Not for your first time. Not saying I won’t be getting hard tonight, thinking about you and B, getting down and dirty, but I know he’ll take care of you. Our time will come.”
A shiver rolled through me at the promise in his words. I reached over and stroked my fingers down the back of his neck. “You’re kind of amazing, you know that?”
“That’s what you said last night, too.” He wiggled his eyebrows playfully, but then he groaned. “We need to stop talking about last night. I can’t play with a hard-on.”
I glanced down at his lap and, sure enough, his erection strained against the loose material of his shorts. I trailed my finger from the back of his neck, over his shoulder, and then dropped my hand to his thigh. I walked my fingers toward the bulge beneath his shorts.
“Lacey…” he warned.
“What?” I asked, all fake innocence. I rubbed my hand over him. He was hard as a rock. “That looks painful.”
“It is.” He laughed. “And you aren’t helping.”
I glanced around. The highway was two lanes, but it was fairly empty. Just a few cars ahead of us, and a quick glance in the side mirrors told me there was one car, way behind. I moved my fingers to the waistband of his sports shorts and reached inside, pulling the end of the drawstring that held the silky material over his hips. “You’ve got good concentration, right?” I teased. I slid my hand lower. “You can still drive, if I want to do this?”
I snuck my fingers beneath the elastic and ran my palm down the lower part of his abs. Smooth, tight muscle contracted beneath my fingertips.
He fought back a grin. “Whatcha gonna do now, princess? Feeling bold?”
So bold. And so turned on. I circled my fingers around the base of his cock, battling his shorts and underwear with my other hand. “Lift up,” I urged, and he did. I tugged his clothes down his legs, him helping things with one hand, the other on the wheel. His cock jutted out. Thick and hard.
I sucked in a breath.
“Like what you see, princess?”
I nodded. I ran my hand over his erection, stroking the soft velvet of skin over stone. I kept an eye on his driving, but he seemed to be doing okay, keeping his eyes on the road, even while I worked him.
The road was straight. No one was around. And Rafe had done so much more to me last night. I desperately wanted to repay the favor. And to see him unravel. He was so cool and calm. But there was something I could do that would change that.
I leaned over, ducking my head beneath his arm, and wrapped my lips around his erection.
“Oh fuck.” He dropped one hand to the back of my head. The other gripped the wheel so tight his knuckles cracked. I ran my tongue up his length, popping him out of my mouth at the top.
“You okay?” I asked.
“So okay,” he groaned. “Don’t stop. I won’t kill us. Swear.”
I laughed, but my head was still in his lap, and I wanted to get him back in my mouth. I pressed down over him again, taking him as far as I could before sliding back up. Rafe kept the pressure on the back of my head light, but the longer I sucked him, the more his hips shifted. Each time, I took him a little deeper.
“Hell, Lacey. You’re killing me.”
“Concentrate,” I murmured between slides of my tongue.
I gripped his dick and used my mouth and hand in tandem, picking up the pace. A throb started up at my core. This was all sorts of wrong, and yet I loved it. I almost wanted another car to drive past us and see what we were doing. Hell, I almost wanted to tell him to pull over so I could ride him on the side of the road. Anything to get a bit of relief for the ache between my legs. But I didn’t. Despite the arousal curling through every cell of my body, I wanted this to be about him. The way it had been about me last night.
Rafe’s fingers twisted in my hair and pulled ever so slightly. Just enough to feel good rather than painful, and I moaned around his cock.
“Fuck, baby. I need to come.”
Moisture beaded at the top of his dick, and I rolled my tongue over it, taking him deep again. His thighs clenched.
“Lacey!” he yelled.
His cock kicked, spurting hot liquid down the back of my throat. It took me by surprise, but I swallowed hard, wanting to finish what I’d started. And wanting to hear him call my name like that, over and over, because it was the sexiest thing ever. I kept licking and sucking, swallowing him down, while he ran his fingers through my hair, called me baby, and told me how amazing I was.
Eventually, I moved away, and our gazes clashed for the briefest of moments. “Was it okay?” I asked, though I had a good idea it was.
Rafe laughed, then twisted his head to me. “Are you kidding? You sucked me off while I was driving to a football game. This is the best day ever. Best blow job ever. You’re fucking amazing. Kiss me. Quick.”
I grinned and leaned in, planting my lips on his before he pulled away to concentrate on the road. “Glad you liked it.”
“I liked it a lot,” he said, tugging his shorts back up. “And you finished, or rather, I finished, just in time, because we’re here.”
I hadn’t been through Ridgeback often. It looked like a similar sort of place to Saint View. Perhaps a tiny bit on the more affluent side, if the cars around us in the parking lot were anything to go by. It was already filling up, mostly with Ridgeback supporters, wearing maroon and gold. Groups of teens and families were lining up early to get the best seats. Rafe grabbed his gear from the trunk and locked up before coming around to my side. He dropped his bag at my feet. We faced each other, secretive little smiles playing across our lips. He stepped in, pinning me against the car. Too close to be just friendly.
“I heard your coach on the intercom today. He said he’d sideline anyone who was late,” I whispered, glancing over at the line of people, wondering if any of them were from Saint View.
He shrugged. “Coach also said we couldn’t have sex before a game… I apparently don’t follow rules well.”
I laughed. “We didn’t have sex.”
“Only barely.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over mine.
I pushed him away. “Go, or you’ll get sidelined. I came to watch you play.”
“You came to have sex with Banjo,” he drawled, but he did it with a grin.
I slapped him on the arm, then he trotted off toward the players entrance. He blew me a kiss from the entranceway, then disappeared inside.
I bit my lip, unable to wipe the grin from my face. I waited until he was out of sight, then
headed for the spectators’ line. My phone buzzed, and I got it out, skimming the text from Jagger that let me know where to meet her.
The door on the nearest car swung open, and I dug my heels into the gravel to stop myself from running smack into it. “Hey! Watch—”
Gillian stepped out of the car, fully dressed in her cheerleader’s uniform, hair brushed into a high ponytail. The rest of the doors opened, other cheerleaders spilling out. Shit. I hadn’t realized we had an audience. Maybe she hadn’t noticed.
“Slumming it with Rafe Simmons, huh, princess? Guess you aren’t better than the rest of us after all.”
She shut the car door, the slam making me jump. She clucked her tongue and walked away, her minions following her.
Great. Whether we wanted to or not, Rafe and I had just outed ourselves.
29
Lacey
At halftime, Jagger made her way back through the crowd, plonked down beside me, and passed me my popcorn and drink. She took a long swallow of her soda before she spoke. “Sorry I was so long. The line was epic.”
“No problem. I’m not that hungry, anyway.” I was too nervous to eat. I’d played it cool during the game, cheering for our team as a whole, but not Banjo or Rafe individually. It wasn’t as if I was anyone’s girlfriend. Calling out their names would only draw attention to myself. We were winning by a mile, so cheering was really just a distraction from the fact the game was half done, and I was mere hours away from being alone in a hotel room with a very delicious boy.
“I heard something interesting in the line,” Jagger said, her voice full of fake nonchalance.
Even still, I played dumb. “Oh?” I shoved a bunch of popcorn in my mouth and watched the cheerleaders prancing around on the football field.
“Mmm,” Jagger said.