Sure enough, his door was unlocked, and we could hear voices beyond it. He shoved it open and flipped on the overhead light to reveal two people wrapped around each other in the middle of his massive bed. At least they hadn’t turned down the comforter and only her shirt was off.
“What the fuck, man?” the guy said as he threw his hand up to shield his eyes. “We’ll be done soon and you can have your turn.”
“This is my house and my room,” Danny growled. “Have some respect.”
“Oh, shit! You’re Danny Chambers, aren’t you? Fucking awesome touchdown in the game today,” the guy said as he scrambled off the bed. “Look, I’m sorry. The door was unlocked, and she’s hot and...”
“Save it,” Danny said.
During all the conversation, the girl on the bed had righted herself—mostly. I didn’t like her speculative gleam for my boyfriend while she pushed her breasts up to show off her cleavage in her tight lace shirt.
Ignoring the girl entirely, Danny stepped back to the door, opening it wider—a clear invitation for the trespassers to leave.
“Sorry again, man,” the guy—who barely came to Danny’s shoulder—said.
“We could make it a foursome if you want.” The girl’s audacity shocked me.
“No, thanks.” Danny’s tone must have got through to her because she put her nose in the air with a sniff. Yet I noticed the extra swing she gave her hips in her short skirt as she walked out.
“Sorry about that, T,” he said as he closed and locked the door behind them. “At least they only had time to mess up the comforter.”
Poorly suppressing a giggle, I said, “Are you sure you’d be able to tell?”
He snorted. “I’ll have you know I made my bed today.” A slight red tinge colored his high cheekbones. “Sorta.”
Sobering, I said, “Good thing you thought to check your lock.”
“Yeah. People have no boundaries.” With a savageness the linens didn’t deserve, he stripped the comforter off the bed and tossed it over his desk chair. Next came the sheets, which he balled up and threw into his laundry hamper by the closet. Jerking open a bottom drawer in his dresser, he pulled out a clean set of sheets and went to work remaking his bed.
Without a word I walked around to the opposite side and started smoothing and tucking in sheets, snapping on a clean pillowcase and pulling the comforter across after he snapped it over the sheets. In a couple of minutes, we’d erased whatever nasty stuff had gone on in his room without his knowledge or permission.
Clearing his throat, he said, “We can stay here, go down and mingle, or head over to your place. Your call.”
“Maybe we can let you enjoy some glory with your friends downstairs for a while.” The song changed on the stereo system a DJ had set up in the corner of the living room, and a thumping bass vibrated the floor beneath us. “Then go to my place.”
He grinned back at me. “Sounds like a plan.”
?Chapter Twenty-Nine
?Danny
Not gonna lie,scoring that touchdown in my first start had rocketed my attitude into the stratosphere. After Patty found me downfield on the post route, I could have sworn I was invincible. Then I’d looked up into the stands to see Taryn cheering her heart out for me, and I had no doubt I could conquer the world.
She’d handled the ridiculousness of party people invading my space better than I had. The only thing keeping me from clocking the moron who’d helped himself to my bedroom—and my bed—was the beautiful girl who’d haunted my dreams for years standing beside me with a bemused expression on her stunning face.
After cleaning up my bed, I locked my bedroom door, and we went back downstairs. We spent about an hour dancing with me sharing back slaps and fist bumps with teammates and some of the athletes from the other teams who lived on our street and partied with us after home wins. But my short night and cram-packed day caught up with me a bit before midnight. After taking a close look at me when we went into the kitchen for some water, Taryn pulled me outside, past the rowdy cornhole games going on in the back yard, and over to my car.
“Keys, please.” She held her hand out, and I fished them from my pocket, handing them to her without question.
I almost fell asleep on the short drive over to her place. She laughed and wrapped her arm around my waist as she guided my tired-ass self up the stairs to her apartment.
“You want something to eat?” she asked as she flipped on table lamps on her way to the kitchen.
“I could go for a snack.”
A minute later she’d set two generous slices of cold pumpkin pie on her dinette, along with forks and napkins.
“Sorry I don’t have whipped cream for this. Mom forgot to put some in with the rest of the leftovers.”
