I knowthe feeling of being eager to get back home after an away game; I feel it every time. Wanting to be back on campus, where everyone knows my name, where every student wants to either buy me a drink or suck my dick, where there’s an endless number of people happy to break down my plays and celebrate bringing home a win. And on the rare occasion we lose, I can’t wait to get back home, work my ass off all week, and make damn sure we bring home a win the next time.
But today? I can’t wait to get back home and see Jade.
Other than during warm-ups and the game itself, she’s all I’ve thought of the entire trip to Michigan. Wanting to hold her, smell her soft skin and the shampoo scent of her hair, tell her all the things that are safe only with her. Thinking about her red earring that I’ve pinned to the compression shirt I wear under my pads and jersey every game I’ve played since I swiped it from her. Is this love? Years ago, one of my mom’s boyfriends told me when you’re in love, you know it, that if there’s any doubt, it’s not love. But how do you recognize love if you’ve never felt it before?
I text her before our plane takes off, and we make a plan to get a drink as soon as I’m back so we can catch up before I go home and get cleaned up and take her to dinner.
She makes me high. She makes me feel everything. Jade may turn to putty under my hands when we’re in bed, but she’s got that indomitable fiery spirit that makes me want to tattoo her name on my forehead for everyone to see, and then fall at her knees. Some moments she looks at me with such devotion in her eyes that I think,Finally, she’s under my thumb. And then she walks out the door and I remember when I told her “you own me,” and I know it’s the most honest thing I’ve ever said to a girl.
Lorenzo nudges me from the next seat as our plane lifts off the runway. “What time do you want to go to the Phantom?”
“Late,” I say. “Probably too late for your grandpa ass.”
“Really? You mean to tell me the big man on campus can survive a few more hours without his adoring fans kissing his ass?” He grins. “Guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you’ve got it bad for Jade. Anyone can see that.”
I almost argue, just out of habit. To be told I’ve got it bad for any girl has always been an insult. But not anymore. I’m used to winning with girls, going from one chick to the next to keep that steady high, being in total control of what I gave them, which was never much. I’ve had the hottest girls on campus, but not a single one made me feel like I’d hit the jackpot like Jade does. “When you’re right, you’re right.”
I’m afraid of how much I need her. Needing people has only ever come back to bite me in the ass, but with Jade it feels so good I can’t wish it away.
As soon as the plane lands, I text her, anticipation filling me with energy despite the exhaustion of traveland a game.
Reeve:Come meet me outside our locker room in half an hour.
Jade:Just pick me up after you’re done in the locker room.
Reeve:Too long. I want to see you sooner.
Jade:It’s five extra min.
Reeve:Too long.
Jade does as told—butshe makes me wait. The five extra minutes turn into ten, and soon it’s twenty. My teammates emptied out of the locker room quickly, everyone eager to get home or go party. Now the building is quiet, the halls silent except for a few lingering voices spilling from the trainer’s room.
Then I hear footsteps from the adjacent hallway, feminine and quietly confident. I stand up straight. Wild how I can recognize Jade just by that sound. She turns the corner, smiling as she comes into view, clad in a red miniskirt and tight sweater.
“Jade.” I love saying her name. I open my arms, knowing she’s going to make me stand there like that while she takes her time covering the thirty feet separating us, not caring if I have to stand here all night with my arms open and waiting. But instead she breaks into a run, grinning as she rushes to me and jumps into my arms.
I grip her thighs and squeeze as her arms wrap tight around my neck, the silky softness of her sweater as comforting as the heat of her body.
“I missed you,” I say into her neck. “Two days is too much. I fucking missed you.” I’m fully aware this is exactly how I swore I’d never behave around any woman, aware of the number of times I’ve felt sorry for the dudes I’d overhear saying this shit to girls, and I couldn’t care less. I was wrong. I had no idea what I was missing.
Jade pulls back to look at me but doesn’t loosen her hold on my neck. “Road trips make you sweet, don’t they?”
“Yeah.” I brush my lips against hers. “Sweet. Sappy. Horny as fuck.” I catch her lip between my teeth and kiss her, and she exhales like she’s been holding on to that breath all day.
Voices sound from somewhere nearby, and I duck into the locker room, Jade still in my arms.
She looks around, wide-eyed. “Holy shit.Thisis your locker room? It looks like a five-star hotel in here! Where’s the smell of sweaty gym socks?”
“Come back after practice.” I press her against the wall next to the door. “Now give me your mouth again.”
Her soft body is all I can feel. And as soon as I kiss her and her spicy scent rolls over me, I know there’s no way I can leave here without having her first. The sensation of her is like a spell, and the only way to break it is to come inside her.
“Mmm,” she murmurs against my mouth, and even just the throaty sound of her voice gets me harder. “Should we skip that drink and go home?”
