We made out leisurely—as if we had all the time in the world—and I got to see what happened when I used my mouth.
And when she used hers, I teased her that she wasn’t truly a vegetarian.
When the doorbell rang, I told her to stay put. Tossing on a pair of shorts, I grabbed the pizza and brought it back to bed. We ate it straight from the box, laughing and teasing.
Yep, I definitely hadn’t been thinking straight when I got involved with my player, but could anything have stopped me?
Doubtful.
Even as I drove her home, stopping a few houses away from hers to drop her off and then watch her walk back to her childhood home, there was little I could do to convince myself that I didn’t want her.
The next few weeks found me sinking deeper and deeper into this secret relationship with Jules. I rode her like a stallion at practice, kicking and prodding her to be better. And later, I did much the same in bed. My gut pinched every time I heard her make excuses to the team and her mom about where she was going, lying so she could be with me.
On the nights I didn’t see Jules, I worried myself to sleep over how this could continue into the season. Then I would wake up in a cold sweat over it ending.
We had one more late fall tournament before the holidays began, and then after winter break, the season would kick in. The day before we were supposed to travel to Pennsylvania to play an Ivy League squad, I walked into the Union, the weight of the world riding my shoulders. Some people had a debt monkey; I had my own personal guilt monkey.
I needed caffeine and sugar to wake me the fuck up. Jules had come over the night before and slipped off her coat, revealing she was wearing her tennis whites. Except with nothing underneath. Her nipples plucked through her see-through white tank, and when she bent over to place her coat on the couch ...oh fuck, stars flooded my eyes.
There was her ass on full display, smooth and creamy, and a hint of promise between her legs. I slid right down behind her and took advantage of her being bare. My dick harder than it had ever been, I worshipped her, right there in my living room, my bad knee bent on the hardwood floor.
I’d eaten her up, swallowed her release as her screams imprinted on my heart. “Drew, Drew,” was forever marked in my brain. When her breathing slowed, I climbed back up her body and bent her over the sofa and had my way with her ... before having to take her home.
I hadn’t slept at all afterward. My heart was twisted in knots, and my brain was even worse.
So when I swept through the Union and glimpsed Jules in the corner with Hilary and Lulu, surrounded by ten guys, all athletes, all of them with eyes on my woman ... I went nuts. Lamar had his usual perch right next to Jules, and she was laughing, fucking sparkling at something he’d just said.
She didn’t see it, but she was a gem. My gem.
I wanted to roar; I wanted to punch something, someone. I was so caught up in my caveman fantasy, I didn’t realize I’d walked into someone until hot coffee soaked the front of my shirt.
“Shit,” I muttered, suddenly remembering I was a coach and at the university where I worked.
“Dude, you fucking walked straight into me!” some young thing yelled at me.
Hell, they were all young things, except for Jules.
“I’m sorry, I’ll get you another,” I said in a low voice, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention.
But Jules had seen me. Green eyes bore into me from the other side of the Union, and I could feel their heat and disappointment. She needed to keep up appearances, and it was me who wasn’t helping.
Yanking my wallet out of my back pocket, I tossed a ten at the girl and escaped out the back door.
Jules
Oh no, he wasn’t getting away with that bullshit. I excused myself from the table, claiming my mom wanted to see me this afternoon, and ran out the front of the building. Ducking to the left, I made my way around the back and off to the athletic complex.
Fucker. He wasn’t allowed to stalk me like that.
I had to appear normal, even though I was screwing the coach. He needed to put up a normal front too.
Inside the building, I went straight to his office and found him stewing at his desk. His head was buried in his hands with his elbows planted on the desk, putting those sexy forearms on display.
“King?” When I saw him hurting, the irritation and rage fled my body. All I wanted to do was comfort him.
“I’m sorry, Jules,” he said in a hoarse whisper, and his next words were softer, barely audible. “I freaked.”
I walked in and shut the door, then locked it behind me. “None of them mean anything to me.”
