Rebellious and Reckless: College Sports Romance Stand-Alone (Campus Hotshots Book 1): Campus Hotshots

by Michelle A. Valentine

  I nod. “You’re right. I just feel bad asking him to leave.”

  Miley reaches over and places her hand on mine. “The relationship between you and Baker has run its course. He kept his end of your deal and helped you meet Luke, and you’ve kept yours by allowing him to stay with you over the last month. It’s time to go your separate ways.” She leans back in her chair. “Besides, if your dad finds out Baker’s living with you, there will be hell to pay.”

  My lips pull down into a frown. “Hopefully, he’ll never find out.”

  “Then you know what you have to do, and I think the sooner you do, the better you’ll start feeling about dating Luke.”

  “Next time I see him, I’ll have a talk with him.”

  After parting ways with Miley, I head home worried about the next time I see Baker and how the conversation will go.

  Baker doesn’t show himself at the apartment for two more days. It’s early in the morning, and he has dark circles under his eyes, and his complexion appears paler. He looks awful, like he hasn’t slept in days.

  I fully expect him to greet me, but he takes one look at me and heads toward his room without saying one damn word, and that pisses me off. “You’re ignoring me now? I thought we were friends, Baker. If this is how it’s going to be, you should pack your stuff and leave since you can’t stand to be around me anymore.”

  He stops in his tracks and takes a visibly deep breath before he turns to face me. “You want me gone? Fine. Consider me history.”

  The realization smacks me in the face he’s really leaving when he storms off and starts packing. After everything we’ve been through, this is how our friendship ends? No. I’m not going to accept it.

  I follow him and stand in his doorway while he throws all of his clothes haphazardly in a duffel bag. “That’s it? You have nothing to say to me?”

  “What do you want me to say, Sky?” he growls.

  I fold my arms over my chest, angry he’s willing to toss aside our friendship like it meant nothing to him—like I meant nothing to him. “You’re an asshole.”

  “Asshole?” His head snaps up, and he levels his brown eyes on me. “What gives you the right to be mad at me and call me an asshole when all I’m doing is trying to get over you—to stop myself from wanting you? You made your choice.”

  My head snaps back. “Yes, after you told me there would be nothing more between us other than sex. I want more than that. I want love, and if you are incapable of giving that to me, then there can never be anything between us. Ever.”

  A frown mars his beautiful face. “I don’t want that.”

  “Well, you can’t have it both ways, Baker.”

  “What if I tell you I made a mistake?”

  “You’re only saying that now because you’re jealous.”

  “Damn right, I’m jealous! He doesn’t deserve you.”

  “And you do? After how you treated me and led me on to think…” I can’t finish the words. Tears blur my vision. “I thought we had something.”

  “We do have something,” he whispers as he takes a few steps to close the distance between us. He lifts a tentative hand to wipe my tears away. “I was wrong before. I was a jerk, and I’m sorry for that. I just don’t think I am capable of giving the love you deserve.”

  “How do you know if you won’t even try?” The quiver in my voice is unmistakable.

  “I’m scared,” he whispers, staring deep in my eyes.

  “I am, too, but all I’m asking is you try.”

  He cradles my face in his hands. “What about Luke?”

  “He’s not you,” I tell him honestly. “What about the girl from the other night? You went home with her…” I can’t stop the tears from flowing down my face.

  He furrows his brow. “What girl?”

  “Saturday night—the one you kissed right in front of me at the party.”

  He shakes his head. “I did leave with her, but nothing happened. As much as I wanted to use her to forget you, I couldn’t. You’re unforgettable, Sky. You’re the one I want—the only one I want.”

  My heart squeezes in my chest.

  “Baker,” I sob. “What are you saying?”

  He licks his lips slowly. “My head is telling me to walk away, but I can’t shut down how I feel about you in my heart. I want you, Sky. God, help me, I want you so damn bad.”

  With his admission, I crush my lips into his and throw my arms around his neck. His strong arms encircle me and draw me tight against his body.

  “We can’t keep doing this, Sky,” Baker whispers, his breath warm on my lips. “I can’t keep pretending I’m not into you.”

  “Then stop pretending,” I command him.

  He growls and deepens our kiss. He’s kissing me like I’m the air he needs to breathe. These kisses are not polite. They’re filled with need. His hand snakes into my hair as he spins me around and lays me down on his bed. He crawls on top of me, his erection pressing against me through his jeans, and I can feel him with ease through the yoga pants I’m wearing. His large hand slides under my shirt to cup my breast through my bra.

  “Oh, God, Sky,” he rasps between hot kisses. “Are you sure? If we do this, you’re mine. Only mine. I won’t share you with Luke. You get me?”

  The mention of Luke’s name is like a glass of cold water being thrown in my face. In good conscience, I can’t open this next chapter with Baker until I close the one with Luke. He deserves an explanation. I owe him that much.

  Baker gauges the reaction on my face and pauses. “You’re not sure.” The corners of his mouth turn down—disappointment is clear on his face as he pushes himself up to sit on the bed and put space between us. “I don’t want you to feel pressure to do anything you’re not ready for.”

  I push myself up and place my hand gently on his arm. “It’s not like that. I’m very into this—into you, but I can’t do this to Luke. We’ve been out a couple of times now, and even though we aren’t serious yet, we need to tell him we want to be together. We owe him an explanation before we start something between us.”

  One corner of his mouth pulls up, and his lips roll in tight. “You’re right. It will hurt him a whole lot more if he finds out some other way. Trust me on that.”

  I place my chin on Baker’s shoulder. “I’m going to call him—invite him over so we can talk to him in person.”

  He sighs and then scrubs his hand down his face. “Fuck. All right. Let me hop in the shower while you do that.” He leans over and gives me a quick peck. “Waiting will be a good thing for us. You want the fairy tale, and I’m going to do my best to give it to you because that’s what you deserve.”

  Flutters erupt in my belly as though a million butterflies are trying to escape. Comparing how I feel now to how I do when I’m with Luke, I know Baker is the one I was always supposed to be with. It’s just taken us both this long to figure it out.

  I smile at him, and he cups one side of my face in his large hand before he gives me one final kiss before he heads for the shower.

  I take a deep breath and then head back into the living room to get my phone.

  Luke answers on the second ring. “Hey? What’s up?”

  I release a long slow breath. “Can you come over? We need to talk.”

  24

  Baker

  I take the fasted shower of my life, and every nerve in my body jitters. Hurting Luke was something I never set out to do when I agreed to this deal with Sky. In all honesty, I didn’t think Luke would actually like Sky at first, but the minute she changed up her wardrobe and showed off that smokin’ body of hers, I knew it wouldn’t take him long to lust after her just as much as I did.

  I don’t even know what I’m going to say when he gets here. Hell, he may even want to beat my ass, and I wouldn’t blame him, nor will I try to stop him. I deserve it for swooping in on Sky after he’s been dating her.

  Sky is amazing, and I want Luke to know what she means to me. Maybe then he’ll understand I can’t h
elp how I feel about her.

  Three quick raps on the front door alerts me he’s here.

  I head in that direction, but Sky steps between me and the front door. “Let me talk to him first.”

  I mull it over and think maybe it’s best she starts the conversation since Luke and I are not on great terms already. I nod, and then she swings the door open.

  Luke’s standing there in a pair of shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt, his typical workout clothes. Whatever Sky said to him made him rush right over here. Luke doesn’t run around looking so causal. It isn’t his style.

  “Come in.” Sky pushes the door wider and ushers him inside.

  Lukes curious eyes bounce from Sky to me and then back to her. “What’s going on? Does he need to be here for whatever you wanted to talk to me about?”

  She bites her lower lip—something I’ve noticed she does when she’s nervous. “He does, actually. We have something we want to tell you.”

  Now it’s Luke who looks nervous. “Is this about Dad? Is he okay?”

  “He’s fine,” I tell him, to calm his panic of something being wrong with our only surviving parent.

  The muscle in Luke’s jaw flexes. “Then what is there that the two of you together possibly need to tell me?”

  Sky steps toward him. “Baker and I—”

  “Don’t,” Luke snaps. “If you’re going to tell me the two of you fucked, then I don’t want to fucking hear it.”

  “No.” She shakes her head and places her hand on his forearm. “We haven’t done that, but something did happen…”

  “What?” His nostrils flare and he jerks his arm away from her grasp. “Jesus. I’ve asked you a million times if anything was going on between the two of you, and you reassured me over and fucking over you were just friends. If you liked him, why didn’t you just tell me? Instead, you fucking strung me along.”

  “I did like you. You’re the reason Baker and I became friends. I went to him, asking for his help to get to know you.”

  Pain flashes in Luke’s eyes before they lock on to me. “And let me guess, you went along just to screw with me because you hate me so much.”

  “It’s not like that. I had no intentions of—”

  “Fucking me over like Dad did you?” Luke takes a step back toward the door. “You know what? Fuck you both.”

  “Luke, wait!” I call after my brother, hating the idea he believes I did this to be cruel to him. I follow him outside in the breezeway of the apartment building not wanting him to hate me the way I hate Dad over Megan. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  Luke stops and pivots on his heel to face me. “Then why would you put the moves on her, knowing we had something going on between us?”

  My head spins, and the one rational reason I can give him is the truth. “Because I love her.”

  Sky gasps behind me, and she raises her delicate hand to her full, pouty lips.

  This isn’t exactly how I planned to tell her, but it’s out now, and there’s no taking it back. So I repeat what I just said, only this time staring only at her while my heart thuds against my ribs. “I love her, and I can’t imagine my life without her.”

  Tears slip down her cheek. “Baker…”

  “You don’t have to say it back, but you deserve to know how I feel about you. It’s been hell pretending I didn’t.” I turn back to Luke, and I swallow down the lump in my throat. “I tried to fight my feelings. God, help me, I tried. When Sky came to me and told me she wanted to date you, I should’ve said no when she asked for my help. I’ve been crushing on her since I spotted her last year in the library, and I knew spending time with her would be dangerous, but I thought I could keep my feelings in check. I took an oath to myself, promising to never fall for another woman after what Megan did to me—that love was bullshit, and I would never be made a fool of again. I thought if I couldn’t love her, the next best thing was for you to, but I fucking failed you, Luke. The more time I spent with her, the more she etched herself onto my heart.

  “I’m sorry, Luke. I’m so fucking sorry I hurt you, but I’m not sorry I love her,” I confess. “What happened to me when I caught Megan with Dad…I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone else, so I want to be straight up with you on how I feel about Sky.”

  Luke’s lips pull into a tight line, and he appears to be on the verge of tears, but he holds them back. He takes a deep breath and then scrubs his hand down his face. “I understand. I don’t fucking like it, but I understand.”

  Relief floods through me and my entire body relaxes a bit. “Thank you.”

  He stares right at me. “But if you hurt her, I’m coming for your ass.”

  I give him a small smile, knowing he means the threat, but it’s unwarranted. “You won’t have to worry about that. I’ll never do her wrong.”

  He gives me a stiff nod and then turns to head back to his truck. While I’m sorry he’s hurt, I’m glad everything is out in the open now.

  When Luke’s out of sight, I turn back around to face Sky.

  She bites her lip, her blue eyes fixated on me. “You love me?”

  “With every inch of my soul,” I tell her and then take her hand in mine. “I’m not perfect by any means, and make a horrible Prince Charming, but I’m going to do my damnedest to make our love story the one you’ve always dreamed about.”

  She grins. “It’s well on its way for that.”

  I press my lips to hers, and I lead her back inside.

  25

  Sky

  Baker takes my hand in his as we walk across campus. I glance down at our interlocked fingers, and he catches my gaze and grins. After everything that went on with Luke two days ago, Baker and I have been inseparable. Baker’s kept to his word, and we’re taking things slow. We still haven’t had sex yet, although we’ve graduated to sleeping together in my bed the past two nights.

  He gives my hand a small squeeze. “Anything in particular you want to do tonight? It is Friday.”

  I shrug. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “Well, I have. I was thinking it was time we have our first official date. I have everything planned to take you out tonight, and tomorrow, I was thinking of something more casual. The frat is having a party.”

  “You really think going to the Delta house is a good idea?”

  His brow furrows. “Because of Luke?”

  I nod. “Yeah. I mean, I hate that we hurt his feelings.”

  He sighs. “Me too, but I think Luke gets it. This thing between us isn’t just some fling and isn’t going away any time soon. Besides, the two of you only went out a couple of times, and that doesn’t really constitute a relationship.”

  “Technically, we haven’t been on any dates at all, and we’re…” I pause, unsure of what to call us since neither of us has officially given one another a title even though Baker has professed his love to me.

  I, on the other hand, haven’t said it back in return. I definitely feel it, but he’s never told me again since he said it in front of Luke, so I don’t want to randomly blurt it out. I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell him I love him too.

  Baker stops me, gently pulling me to a halt next to him. He turns and takes both of my hands in his. “You’re right. We haven’t made this official, but I want to change that right now. I want to be exclusive. The thought of any other guy getting to touch you drives me insane, so please put me out of my misery and say you’ll be my girlfriend.”

  A smile tugs at my lips. “Of course I will.”

  His eyes light up while he scoops me up in his strong arms and lifts me off the ground. His soft lips meet mine, and I’m sure a million eyes are taking in the scene we’re making, but I don’t care. This is a huge moment for us, and I want everyone to know I belong to this man.

  He sets me back down on my feet gently and then cradles my face in his hands. “I love you, Sky.”

  Tears brim on my lower eyelid, threatening to spill over, revealing how happy I am to hear him say
it again. “I love you, too.”

  He presses his lips against mine. “I’ll be a good man to you, Sky. I swear it.”

  “I know you will. Now, stop talking and kiss me,” I command.

  He laughs. “Yes, ma’am,” he says before kissing me again.

  Baker holds the door open for me as we enter the cafeteria, and a lot of curious stares are pointed in our direction when he takes my hand again. There’s a bit of swagger in his step as he holds his head high—the pride he feels being with me is evident and causes my heart to squeeze in my chest.

  We get our lunch and then head to our usual table where Miley’s waiting for us. Her eyes widen as they zero in on our hands. “Well, well, well. I knew the two of you were holding out on me.”

  “Let’s not make a big deal out of this,” I say as Baker pulls out my chair and then takes the seat beside me.

  “Why the hell not? All along, I’ve been saying I thought you two had chemistry, and I was right. I’m happy the two of you finally figured your crap out and got together.” She points at me with her fork. “I’m just disappointed you didn’t call me and dish all the juicy gossip before now to your best friend.”

  I smile sheepishly. “To be honest, Miley, I didn’t tell you because we were figuring things out and just made it official before we walked in here.”

  She leans back and shifts her gaze from me to Baker, expecting confirmation. He raises his shoulders and his hands in surrender. “Hey, don’t put me in the middle of this thing. I’m just the boyfriend.”

  The use of the term boyfriend causes me to blush and grin bigger than a Cheshire cat, and Miley’s eyebrows shoot up so far I’m sure they almost hit her hairline. I’m proud he’s mine, and I’m his. Completely.

  “Ugh,” Miley growls from across the table. “You two are sickeningly sweet.”

  I laugh but can’t stop smiling. “I’m sorry. We’ll tone it down.”