Incomplete

by Eliza Park

  “Okay,” she breathed, looking up at me with those wide green eyes.

  I felt the heavy presence of the reporter with her cameraman before I saw them and Celeste hurried out of my grasp, worry on her perfect features. “I’ll meet you there, I’m just going to say goodbye,” she called, disappearing into the crowd to find my parents. I watched her go, annoyed, knowing I should be grateful for this opportunity, and turned to the reporter with a fixed smile.

  “So, Maverick Lockwood, nice to see you again,” she said, extending her hand. The cameraman was fiddling with something, and the green recording light wasn’t yet blinking. “Was that your girlfriend?”

  I took her hand, trying to recall her name, “Yeah, she’s a little camera shy.”

  The woman nodded and glanced back at her companion. He gave her a nod, hoisting the giant machine onto his shoulder. The green light started blinking and I took a deep breath. It was always so hard to hear the reporter’s questions, I practically had to shove my ear into her mouth. We managed to get through it with minimal awkwardness and she thanked me before moving on to another teammate.

  My parents were waiting for me on the sidelines. Dad had his hands in his jean pockets, sunglasses gleaming in the sunlight. He looked like your typical suburban dad, standing there in a worn Yale sweatshirt and matching hat. Mom held her arms out to me, wrapping me up in her embrace. “Great job, honey,” she said into my ear.

  Dad clapped me on the back, “You should know, son, we heard some interesting rumors about you in the stands today.”

  I grimaced, praying it wasn’t about Mia.

  Mom’s eyes narrowed, her face pointing into that Supreme Court Justice look she’d perfected, “You were quite the ladies’ man before our girl came back.”

  Our girl. Fuck, it felt good to hear that.

  “Innocent until convicted, your honor,” I smiled, holding my hands up in what I hoped seemed like an innocent gesture. “Was it pretty bad?”

  Dad shrugged, rocking back on his heels, “Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.”

  Mom and I exchanged glances, “What?”

  “It’s my professional opinion that those girls were gossipers in disguise, they were far too loud to be honest.”

  “Dad,” I said, putting my sweaty hand on his sweatshirt shoulder, “I think you need to go back to work.”

  He laughed, a boom that echoed off my shoulder pads. “I wouldn’t worry, son. It’s all rumors.”

  Mom stood on her toes to kiss me on the cheek, “We’ll leave you now. See you next weekend, honey.”

  I raced out of there as quickly as I could, showering in record time and throwing on my regular civilian clothes before hopping into Brody’s sedan and driving home.

  “Some people are coming over,” he said as we pulled into downtown New Haven.

  I shrugged, “People are always coming ov—. Oh fuck, are you kidding me?”

  Fucking Mia.

  I hadn’t seen her in weeks, but just like any other fucked up boomerang, she was back. Of course.

  Brody lifted a shoulder, “Logan said she and Ash saw Celeste at the game.”

  I groaned, running a hand over my face. All Celeste wanted to do was avoid being noticed and here I was, throwing her into a pit of bitchy sharks. “I’ll just keep her in my room.”

  Brody’s mouth twitched out of the corner of my eye, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why?”

  “Listen you know I’ve got sisters, right?”

  I snorted, “I distinctly remember you threatening to murder me if I even looked their way freshman year.”

  “Well, if there’s anything I’ve learned about living with a bunch of women, it’s that men need to be territorial to fight the other ones off.”

  “What the fuck does that mean?”

  He sighed, “Think of it like the Lion King man.”

  “You’re losing me.”

  “You got a pride of lions, right, and they’re all vying for the one lion king’s dick.”

  “Am I the lion king in this scenario? Like…Mufasa?”

  “Just listen.” He said sternly, pulling up in front of our house. Celeste was sitting on the front stoop, her hands in the pockets of her coat. She stood when she saw us. “If you want to keep the other lionesses from fucking around on your territory, you gotta pick your queen lioness, alright? And don’t be shy about it.”

  “I don’t think that’s how prides work, B.” I opened the door, “I didn’t realize I was being shy about it,” I said.

  Brody turned off the engine, “She hasn’t even been here since that first day, man. How is anyone to know you’re dating someone when you’re never around with her?”

  “Fair point,” I offered, my eyes on Celeste. “That’s good advice, I’m happy to piss all over my territory.”

  Another car pulled up behind us, but I ignored it, walking over quickly to Celeste.

  She gave me that same wide-eyed look, her mouth curved into a small smile, “What are you peeing on?”

  “You,” I said, cradling her neck in my hand.

  “I’d really rather you didn’t.” Her eyes wandered to the side, observing our surroundings, and several car doors slammed behind us.

  “Metaphorically speaking,” I said quietly and leaned in to brush my lips against hers.

  She pulled away, giving me a warning look, and I sighed, taking her hand, and leading her into the house. I walked her straight back to my room, helped her out of her coat, and tossed it on the bed. “Do you mind if we hang out with everyone for a bit?” I asked.

  Celeste’s eyes widened in surprise and her mouth fell open, “Oh, no I don’t mind.”

  I bent to kiss her on the cheek and started to walk out of the room, glancing back over my shoulder to see her pull off that heavy gray sweatshirt. She was wearing a simple, forest green, long sleeved shirt that hugged her toned stomach and incredible tits. Aside from the dress the night of our second date, the jeans and that shirt combination were the tightest things I’d seen her wear. I swallowed hard, shifting uncomfortably in my pants. She ran her fingers through the hair in her ponytail and tugged on the hem of her shirt, her teeth biting into that bottom lip.

  “Do I look okay?” She asked.

  I raised an eyebrow. Was she serious?

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Ace. You look like a fucking snack.” I grabbed her hand and tugged her forward, wondering how much territory pissing was acceptable before I could get her back into this room and somewhat undressed. We walked hand in hand into the living room and six pairs of eyes floated our way.

  Mia stared.

  Ashley stared.

  Logan stared.

  Brody smiled.

  Everyone was fucking staring at my girl.

  Celeste released my hand and walked into the kitchen, oblivious to the onlookers. The TV was already on, some random game playing loudly on the screen, and I joined her, watching as she plucked at a bowl of popcorn. I stood behind her, my dick at half-mast and pressing clearly into her ass cheeks. She glanced at my friends sitting in the living room, a slow rose creeping up into her cheeks, and dug her elbow into my ribs gently to ward me off. I framed her in with my hands on the counter, “What’s wrong, Ace?” I murmured into her ear.

  She kept her eyes on the popcorn, too embarrassed to look anywhere else. “You’re being rude.”

  I pressed my lips into the spot under her ear, inhaling the scent of her shampoo, “I don’t really give a fuck.”

  “It isn’t fair to Mia,” Celeste frowned.

  Mia didn’t deserve her kindness, not now and not ever. I rested my forehead on her shoulder and instead of shrugging me off, she turned her head and kissed me on the temple. “If we keep standing like this, I’m going to get ideas.”

  I groaned and straightened. I wanted her to have ideas. I wanted her to have lots of really dirty, filthy ideas and I needed to show those assholes in the living room that we were headed towards those filthy
ideas, even if what we would be doing was above the belt. I grabbed the bowl of popcorn from her and walked with her into the living room, pulling her down onto my lap on the brown oversized chair. Her cheeks were red, but she didn’t complain, just shifted that tight ass against my jeans.

  “So how did you two meet?” Ashley said then, and I looked over at her grudgingly, surprised to see her looking at Celeste and me.

  Mia was simpering on the couch next to her, away from us, looking like a demonic shih tzu with a drug problem and wearing an oversized sweatshirt that made her look fourteen times smaller than she was.

  “Well,” I said, smiling, “I was born first, so I guess it would have been when Celeste was brought home from the hospital.”

  Ashley’s mouth fell open in surprise, “Seriously?”

  I couldn’t contain the sarcasm, “Seriously.”

  I felt Logan’s glare and shot him an apologetic look. He and Ashley had been on and off again for as long as I’d been at Yale, and it looks like they were beginning to patch things up again.

  Ashley looked at Mia. Mia looked grumpily at Ashley and I brushed my fingers along Celeste’s shoulder, “We grew up next door to each other, and in high school Celeste was kind enough to take my virginity.”

  Angry green eyes widened in shock, followed by a warning scowl and a swift gentle slap to my knee. I knew I was probably being a little unfair, and maybe a little cruel, but I was taking Brody’s advice. Mia needed to learn her fucking place a long time ago. There was no competition to Celeste. She was the endgame and as long as she agreed to be mine, there would be no one else.

  Logan hollered out a laugh, “Oh shit, now it all makes sense,” he said, taking a drink of his beer. He shook his head, “Man, all those girls drooling over your freshman ass, and you waited a whole goddamn year.”

  “He didn’t wait a year,” Mia said then, a gross smile on her face, “I fucked him in the first month of class.”

  I felt Celeste grimace.

  Brody ignored Mia, “I think we can all see why he was reluctant to move on.” He winked at Celeste.

  I pointed at him, my eyebrows raised, “That sounded a little too close to you hitting on my girl, Rollins.”

  Logan had a wide grin on his face, “Yeah, man watch it, or he’ll shatter your kneecaps too.”

  I stiffened, feeling my bones turn to ice.

  Celeste shifted to look back at me, “Whose kneecaps did you shatter?”

  I couldn’t lie to her, not with all the other things I was keeping hidden, but I couldn’t answer the question directly either, not in front of all of these people. I’d be revealing a secret I was certain Celeste didn’t want shared.

  Brody interrupted before I could open my mouth, “Freshman year this douchebag attacked a teammate…” he said, meeting Celeste’s gaze. “Mav here, he uh,” he scrubbed a hand down his face, “He took care of him.”

  It wasn’t particularly untrue, but to say I specifically shattered his kneecaps would have been a stretch.

  “That’s barbaric,” Ashley said, a disgusted look on her face.

  Brody shrugged, popping a kernel of corn into his mouth, “What that guy did was way worse.”

  He didn’t bother explaining any further. None of us would. Some secrets weren’t ours to share.

  Celeste was looking down at her hands, chewing on her lip.

  “Anyway,” I said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that followed. “Celeste and I grew up together, so you could say I’ve been obsessed for a long, long time.” Her head was turned away from me, and I stroked the strands of her long ponytail and brought my hand forward to trace the line of her jaw. I could see the faintest hint of skin peeking out from above where her jeans met her shirt and the outline of the sports bra she wore along her back.

  I needed her like I needed air in my lungs and blood in my veins.

  Ashley spoke again, breaking me from my much-needed surveying of the beautiful girl on my lap, “So you guys both grew up wealthy? I mean if you lived in the same neighborhood and everything.”

  Celeste laughed then, “Yeah, same neighborhood.”

  “So, Maverick’s dad is a lawyer, and his mom is a justice, right? So, what does your dad do?”

  I felt her body tense as she answered, the sentence too monotonous and factual to hold any pride, “He’s runs a finance business.”

  Ashley looked teasingly at Mia, giggling, “So vague.”

  “He’s the CEO of Hanson Financial,” Celeste said.

  I watched as a collective number of jaws fell to the floor. Mia looked completely horrified, Brody beyond impressed.

  “No shit,” Logan said, “Jack Hanson, the billionaire?”

  Celeste didn’t answer, her eyes on the television screen for the first time that night.

  Ashley was dumbstruck, “I wrote a paper about him for my freshman year Econ class.” She said quietly.

  Celeste snorted and my friends stared at her.

  “Why are you at NYU?” Mia asked, sounding incredulous.

  “What do you mean?” Celeste responded, her tone icy.

  “Why go to NYU when you could be at Yale or any other school of your choice?”

  “NYU was my choice.”

  Mia scoffed and straightened, “But you could be at an Ivy League school. You could literally be attending Yale with Maverick.”

  “Oh,” Celeste straightened, an edge to her voice, “I see. You're wondering why I would choose to go to a normal, everyday university when my dad could have bought me into any school in the country?”

  Mia shifted, and lifted her hands in the air, “Um, yeah.”

  Celeste sharp jaw ground together, I could almost feel the heat coming off of her gaze, “I don’t need my dad to pay my way into success.”

  “You literally went to a private school in Switzerland.” Mia countered.

  “Not my choice.”

  Mia fell back against the couch, crossing her arms over her tiny chest, “I’m sure. Just like wearing designer clothes and being taken care of your entire life wasn’t your choice.”

  “Mia,” I warned.

  Celeste laughed, “Newsflash, Mia, no one gets to choose the family they’re born into.”

  Mia rolled her eyes, “He probably only likes you because you’re rich anyway.”

  Celeste pushed from my lap, walking over to where Mia sat leaning into the couch. “Is that how it was for you, Mia? Poor little rich girl had to have her daddy buy her way into Yale?” Mia paled under her towering figure. “I want you to listen to me very carefully, Mia,” She said quietly, bending to get into her face. “I was going to try to be nice to you. I felt guilty for stealing your fuck buddy and I know how hard it is to be in love with someone you can’t have. But you’ve pissed me off twice now, so here’s the deal.” The tension in the room rose several degrees and I could swear Mia was shaking with terror. Celeste held out a finger to her face, “I’m back now and Maverick is mine. He’s been mine for a very long time.”

  I couldn’t keep from grinning.

  “If I hear a single word about you bothering him again, I’m going to come after you. And not to break your kneecaps, but to do much, much worse. I know your secret, don’t think I haven’t seen it before. And yes, that is a threat. Now fuck off.” Celeste stood to the side of the couch, arms crossed over her body, glaring down at Mia.

  Mia stared at her, fear written on every feature.

  “Move your ass, Mia. Get the fuck out of this house.” Celeste said, louder.

  Mia froze, looking over at me and Ashley, “You-you don’t live here, you can’t tell me to leave.”

  Celeste’s jaw clenched and I could have sworn her eye twitched. She leaned in again, “I just fucking did.”

  Mia stood, backing away from Celeste awkwardly around the table and towards the front door. “Ashley?” She said quietly, “Are you coming?”

  Ashley shook her head, her eyes wide, “Sorry, Mia, but I think I’m gonna stay.”

 
; Mia turned and stormed out the door without looking back.

  I had never seen Celeste so fired up, and to say that it turned me on was an understatement.

  “Praise the high heavens, she’s gone,” Brody said then, lifting his hands to the ceiling. “A new queen has arrived.”

  “That was kind of scary,” Logan chuckled into his beer, “For a minute I thought we were going to have to dispose of a body.”

  “Mav,” Celeste said then, her voice still brimming with fury.

  I was still grinning, shocked and awed and way too horny for my own good.

  “Bedroom.” She started to walk to my room, and I scrambled to my feet, rounding the chair in record time. Brody held up his hand for me to high five as I walked by. I closed the door behind us quietly and turned to face my incredibly pissed off, incredibly sexy girlfriend.

  She was fuming, her faced red with rage, and she tore off that tight shirt in a hurry, throwing it to the ground in anger. She took off her bra next and I swallowed, watching those beautiful tits sway with the violence of the action. “Are you alright?” I asked, clearing my throat.

  “Take off your clothes,” she growled.

  I obliged, watching with hungry eyes as she undid the button of her jeans and pushed them to the ground. I removed everything but my boxers, sticking to the rules, but swallowed hard as her slender fingers hooked into the waistband of her lacy underwear, sliding them all the way to the floor. She kicked them away with a delicate flick of her foot. I kept my eyes on hers, fighting every instinct in my body that told me to look, to just fucking look. She pulled the hairband from her ponytail, releasing the waterfall of blonde around her shoulders, then took off her glasses and set them on the nightstand. She stepped towards me, reaching out to touch the lines of my abdomen and tracing her fingers down to my boxers.

  “You know what my favorite part of your body is?” She said quietly.

  I let out a shallow laugh, “Is it the one poking you in the belly?”

  She smiled, “Your hands, Mav. I love your hands. And your forearms, biceps, your shoulders. You’re so strong.”

  My brain was having a hard time thinking about anything but the lack of fabric covering her pussy, so I stayed quiet as her hands roamed the parts of my body she mentioned, coming to rest on my chest. The she stood on her toes and kissed me hungrily on the mouth. I could still feel the anger in her body as she pushed me backwards onto the bed, straddling my abdomen and running her mouth along my jaw and neck. I groaned when she bit my ear gently and put my hands on her waist, worried that if I went any lower or higher I’d end up rolling her over and taking advantage. The urge to touch her, to grab her by the hair and cup that sweet pussy was nearly unconquerable. Her tits pressed into my chest, long hair brushing along my arm as her angry kisses turned into stronger bites along my shoulder.