Wait, no. That’s not true.
Right. He’d been acting strange before. Something must have happened, and he’d kept it from me.
Damn you, Howard.
I didn’t even go to see the afternoon practice because I was in such a bad mood. I walked around the building, looking for other stuff to do, and managed to keep myself occupied for two hours. I wanted to just storm off and forget him, but this really bothered me, so I was waiting for practice to be over before I ambushed him. Then, I went to the parking lot to wait for Howard. He’d parked his car furthest from the entrance, which worked just fine for me.
The guys came out, got into their cars and left, but no Howard. By the time Dad left, Howard hadn’t come out yet. Just as well, there were only a couple cars left in the lot, the whole area almost looked deserted.
When Howard finally came out, I shot a glare at him that he didn’t see because he had his head ducked down. He got all the way to his car door without looking up, and I let out a snort.
“Were you planning on leaving without me?” I asked sarcastically.
His head whipped up, then he looked around in panic, before turning back to me.
“Zoe, what are you doing here?”
I scowled. “What? Do you not want to talk to me anymore? You were perfectly fine over the weekend, so what did I do to make you so mad at me so fast?”
“It’s not you,” he said quickly. “I swear, Zoe, you’ve done nothing, it’s all me.”
“So fucking explain already,” I snapped. “I want to know why you’ve been avoiding me the whole day. Or did I just imagine the whole thing?”
He winced. “Uh, no, you didn’t imagine it. Sorry. Can we sit in the car and talk? I don’t want anyone seeing us.”
I stared at him, feeling hurt. “Are you ashamed of me?”
Come to think of it, he’d asked me something like that, but he was joking at the time.
He looked surprised by my question, but when he answered, his voice was strong and clear. “No.”
Our gazes held for a long moment, and I relaxed, because I could see how serious he was. I wasn’t about to let the whole team and the staff in on what was between us, so it had worried me, why he kept avoiding me, but I figured there had to be some reason. Whether it was a good reason or not... I wasn’t very happy with him. More than that, though, I was a little irritated with myself.
Why did I react so strongly? I’d expected for this thing Howard and I had between us to run its course and stop at some point. It was a bigger surprise that we were still meeting up after six weeks, but now, the thought that we really could stop, made me feel slightly panicky.
I wanted to lie to myself, but I knew it was because Howard had become important to me while I wasn’t paying attention. We weren’t even dating, we hooked up for sex, so to see him start ignoring me out of nowhere, I’d wondered if that wasn’t the end for us.
“Fine,” I murmured. “You’re explaining everything right now, though, or I’ll do the same thing to you.”
“I’ll tell you,” he said, looking relieved.
He unlocked the car and we both got inside. I waited for a while, but the longer he kept quiet, the more agitated I became. Before I could snap at him again, he turned to face me.
“Can you promise me you won’t be mad?” He asked, but not with much hope behind it.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Of course not. Whether or not I’ll be mad depends on what you say. Come out with it already, Howard. What the fuck is going on?”
He sighed, a grim expression on his face as he looked at me closely. “Your dad gave me his answer last Friday. Well, not directly, but my agent got a call that the team was ready to take me on again, but there’s a condition. A condition which probably explains why he didn’t come home all weekend. He knew you’d hear about it eventually.”
“What kind of condition?”
“The deal is that if I sign the contract, I have to stay away from you.”
He was watching me closely, warily, as if he was waiting for me to be angry, but really, I was stumped. I knew the kind of influence Dad had on the team, but I didn’t think he could manage something like this.
Seeing I wasn’t shouting at him, Howard relaxed a bit and continued. “Don’t worry. I just need us to be quiet until I get drafted. I don’t think your dad would actually do anything after everything is signed and it’s official, since this deal isn’t in the actual contract.”
What kind of bullshit was this? Did I make Dad angry without realizing, and that was why he was doing this to me? My interviews got cancelled, and now I had to act like Howard, and I were nothing to each other?
I didn’t even realize I was pouting, until Howard chuckled, and I sent a glare at him.
“So, are you very angry?” He asked.
I puffed out a breath and ran an agitated hand through my hair. “I can’t exactly blame you for this. It’s good that you can be on the team now. Do whatever you have to do, but I’m allowed to be irritated about it.”
How long would we have to wait? Maybe until the season started? If Howard proved to be an asset to the team, I didn’t think even Dad could do a thing about it. Being the coach, he could still make life hard for Howard, though, if he went back against the deal.
I sighed, and was about to open the car door and step out, when Howard caught my arm. When I turned to him, before I could say anything, he’d pressed his mouth to mine in a kiss. I was frozen for a second, but I melted into the kiss with a moan, parting my lips as his tongue nudged for entrance. Our tongues rolled and tangled, and I reached out to grab his shoulder. Then I felt his hands on me, and I gasped as I pulled away.
“You’re not actually planning on doing this here, are you?” I asked in surprise.
Howard just responded by grabbing me by the waist, all but lifting me into his lap as he pulled me into another kiss, his hand going back to my breast. I let out a whimper, not struggling nearly as much as I should, considering just anybody could come out and see us there.
“Howard, we’re out in public! If you’re trying to hide our relationship, you have to know we’ll get caught here!”
That came out a bit more bitter than intended, but Howard didn’t seem to hear it.
“Then let’s go to the back,” he said, roughly kissing my neck. “The windows are tinted. No one will notice.”
“Wha–!”
With his mind decided, Howard moved. If he could, I thought he’d bodily carry me into the back. I crawled between the seats, and he followed right after me, grabbing me and lowering me into the seat, as if I would try to run away. With an arm around my waist holding my body to his, he kissed me desperately.
Even if no one sees us in the car, if we keep doing this, someone would notice the car shaking!
Howard wouldn’t separate from me long enough for me to say anything, and the longer he kissed me, the more my mind turned to mush. Suddenly, I wondered where the problem was. Well, besides the cramped space.
Even as our mouths didn’t separate, we had to keep shifting to find a comfortable position, especially with Howard holding me so closely. I even knocked the back of my head on the window, but it wasn’t too hard, and I barely felt the sting. We finally settled with me lying along the back seat, legs wrapped around Howard’s hips. Since I was in a skirt, this position pushed it up my thighs, and when Howard rocked his hips, his erection pressed against my sex through my panties.
“Howard!” I gasped, breaking from the kiss. He ground his hips against me again, and I groaned, turning my head away so he couldn’t kiss my mouth again. I needed to breathe. “If y-you keep doing that...”
I didn’t know if he was listening, but he wasn’t stopping. With a growl, he turned to my neck, leaving rough kisses and bites that would likely leave marks. Dammit, I’d have to wear a scarf even with the damn heat. His hand snuck under my top and cupped my breast. I cried out, jolting against him, the feeling of him stimulating my nipple and my clit at
the same time sending tingles of pleasure through me.
“If you do that, I’ll come!”
“You can come as many times as you want,” he murmured.
He didn’t stop. He actually picked up his pace, circling his hips as he ground against me. His movements were a little rough, and the inside of my thighs burned a bit from the friction with his jeans. His fingers tugged the top of my bra, releasing my breast, and I let out a whine. My hips started rocking of their own accord.
With one particularly hard thrust, I came, my body shuddering as I cried out and tightened my limbs around him. He pressed his mouth to mine, muffling my cries. When my body relaxed in his hold, slumping into the seat, he finally released me. He wasn’t done yet, though. He reached his hands between us to undo his fly, shoving his jeans down to his thighs. His cock was hard, the head a dark pink, clear precum leaking from the slit.
“We’re... really doing this?” I asked.
Howard looked down at me, but his usual teasing smirk was absent from his face. He was panting hard, eyes wild, expression the most serious I’d seen since I first met him. It was enough to catch my breath in my throat.
He tried to tug off my panties, but he paused and frowned, probably realizing how I’d have to bend my body so he could take them off. Instead, he nudged the crotch of my panties to the side. The fabric stretched uncomfortably. Even though I’d just come, I gasped and my body trembled when he fingered my clit, and then my entrance. He replaced his fingers with his cock, rubbing my clit a little and making me shudder some more, then slid inside me.
“Howard!”
His name left my mouth in a strangled sound, head tilting back as my walls clenched around him. He started moving, slow at first, getting me used to the feeling. I started to moan, squirming beneath him as my body started to burn with desire once more.
I moaned, digging my nails into his back, moving my hips to try and meet his thrusts as much as I could. He was being so rough, I’d be feeling this until tomorrow. My heels pressed against his ass, nudging him to fuck me faster, harder. His mouth against mine muffled the moans coming from my throat. I let out a cry, walls starting to convulse around his cock as I hit orgasm.
“Zoe!” he whispered my name harshly in my ear as he gave a couple harsh thrusts before going still, and I felt his come spurt inside me.
Our bodies rocked gently as we rode our orgasms, then went still. I groaned, feeling the trembling in my thighs. I probably wouldn’t move for a while.
Howard left one last kiss on my lips, then pulled back to smile down at me, tucking away strands of hair that were stuck to my face with sweat.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to be so rough with you.”
I sighed. “Apologizing now doesn’t really help, though.”
My breathing was still a little fast, my heart practically skipping in my chest. Howard pulled himself back, letting out a hiss as I moaned when his soft cock pulled out of me. He remained kneeling between my knees without moving for a while.
After we’d both caught our breaths, we shifted. I fixed my clothes, though I didn’t feel like I could stand yet, my legs felt so weak. I fixed my bra and panties, and lowered my skirt, and Howard fixed his pants. We sat side by side in the back seat, and I glanced around outside, wondering if someone would have caught that something happened.
“There’s still another car in the lot. I’m not sure who it belongs to, but they’ll be coming out at some point.”
“Yeah,” Howard sighed. “Do you want to come to my place? We can continue there.”
I shot a glare his way. “You have to be kidding. You’ve gotten what you wanted, right? We fucked in the damn parking lot! You can just put up with that until you feel it’s safe to talk to me again.”
He looked at me, expression pained. “Zoe, don’t be like that.”
I sneered. “And how exactly do you want me to be? Happy that you’re finally going to be on the team? Good for you. But I’m not something for you to use and throw aside when you feel like it.”
“I really don’t think of you that way.”
He almost looked hurt. I knew he didn’t think that way, and maybe it was a low blow, but I was pissed. Who wouldn’t be, in this situation?
“Whatever,” I muttered. “Get your shit in order. When you feel like talking to me again, let me know.”
Without waiting to hear another word, I opened the door and got out of the car.
Chapter Nine
Howard
The game was winding down. We were all running around the field, and some of the guys were shouting. I could barely hear them, since I was mostly moving by instinct now. The wind whistled past my ears, almost drowning out the loud sound of my breathing. My heart pumped fast and sweat slid down my temples.
When the game was called to an end, I almost dropped to my knees in exhaustion. I winced, pulling off my helmet and wiping my forearm over my face to wipe away the sweat.
“Hey, Howard! You okay over there?”
The closest guy to me was standing still, looking toward me, while the rest of them were heading off the field. I waved a hand at him, catching my breath for a few seconds before I started walking back myself.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, passing by him with a pat to his back. “Just a bit of a workout.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you could say that, huh?”
Other guys were jogging off, but it was all I could do to get my legs to keep moving. I stopped to have some of the water set out for us before heading inside. I wasn’t the only guy who’d paused to drink, so I had to wait for a minute. The water was so cool on my heated skin, I had to remind myself not to drink too quickly and choke myself.
My first week of practicing with the team was over with this. I was glad this was the afternoon practice or I’d have to wait around before I could relax.
I was calmer as I followed everyone else inside.
“Man, I’m exhausted,” Calvin, walking up beside me said with a groan. “My muscles haven’t ached like this in a long time. We really went out today.”
I chuckled. “Well, we did, but you’re probably that tired because we had to do most of the work today. Honestly, if it was just running I’d be good, but this was tough. Still, it was a good practice.”
“Definitely.” Brad had come up behind me and I felt him slap my shoulder. “It hasn’t been that long yet, but I think we’re already starting to improve. We got kicked out early last year, but with you, I think we can last a bit longer this season. Isn’t that right, captain?”
“Having a good running back is really important,” Grady said. “Especially one that’s as fast as you. I think you could give us an edge, but let’s not start dreaming just yet. If the game was that easy, every team would win just by having a bunch of good players.”
No game was that simple. If that was all it took, then there would be no losing teams. This was just the first week, after all. We had plenty of time to keep practicing and making the team stronger, better. We’d see how far the team got when we started the season, but until then, I was going to give the team my all. As far as I knew, Ben had started coming up with strategies, but we hadn’t used any in practice yet.
Everyone had just come off the field, but they were livelier than expected. They were talking loudly, voices bouncing against the walls in the narrow wall. My former team wasn’t much different, and I had kind of missed being around a team. It felt nice. I just couldn’t be happy about it right then.
I just want to go home for now.
More than physically, I felt mentally exhausted.
We were all piling into the locker room to get showered and changed. We’d started the afternoon practice a bit late, so it was starting to get cold and it would be going dark soon. After today’s workout, and the meager lunch I managed to swallow down, I was so hungry I could feel my stomach rumbling in protest.
Some of the other guys usually hung out after practice, not every day, bu
t they’d been asking since the first practice and I’d said no every time. The first time, I was lucky I’d said no because I got to see Zoe in the parking lot, but ever since, I just went home alone. In a normal situation, I wouldn’t have minded hanging out with the guys, but my mood was just terrible.
Though it hadn’t been that long, I was already close with most of the members of the team. We were a bunch of guys that enjoyed the same sport, there was no reason for animosity within the team, so we got along really well, but I knew if they dragged me away to hang out together after practice, I’d just bring down the excitement with the way I was.
After getting out of the showers and getting dressed, I was prepared to leave when Grady spoke up.
“We should go out and celebrate, after finishing our first week of practice. Hey, we can have this be the welcome celebration for the newbie, too. We were going to do it before, but we didn’t get to.”
Yeah, because Ben kicked me out before I properly met the guys on the team. But, like Zoe, they looked up my reputation and tried to get me to keep trying to join the team anyway because I could fill the one position they needed filled. Of course, by that point, I didn’t need them trying to talk me into it, I did so gladly.
I wasn’t really feeling up for celebrating, though. I wouldn’t mind if we waited until we started playing official games. Everything else was going pretty well, but I was missing Zoe like crazy, and celebrating was the last thing in my mind. Everyone looked really excited about it, though, and since as the new guy this was technically for me, I had to go.
“You’re coming, aren’t you?” Calvin said, slinging an arm over my shoulder.
I smiled and tried to make it convincing. “Sure. Like I’d miss it.”
Of course, by celebrate, they meant drinking, so we headed out to a club. Since I got back, I hadn’t gone to any club or bars, since I could drink just fine at home, and I’d been limiting myself not to drink at all so I wouldn’t fall back on my bad habits while I didn’t have anything to do.
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