I felt her prop herself up and knew she was staring at me. “Seriously? There’s no perks?”
“I want to play ball professionally. I need to train and get better, and the only way to do that is structured training.”
She lay back down beside me, her arm and head automatically resuming the same spot. “I feel cheated for you.” I could hear the grumpiness, and I chuckled in the dark. “I think you should at least get to binge on whatever you want, whether it’s curly fries or sleeping all day.”
I lost my humor. I knew she wouldn’t know; I completely trusted that Ava wouldn’t tell her, but still, the terminology reminded me of how weak I had been. How weak Iwas.
“Well, I don’t.” Moving away from her, I sat up. “Go back to sleep.”
“But I’m awake now,” she whispered as her hand reached out and stroked my arm.
I hesitated. She felt it, and her hand trailed lazily up and down again. This was a bad idea. “Go to sleep, Red, you’re delirious from lack of sleep.” I got out of bed, snatching my phone up, and made my way to the bathroom. I went through my bathroom routine in record time, and I was back in the bedroom, grabbing my jeans, underwear, and a shirt as she lay quiet in the bed.
It felt too intimate. Fuck the fact that I had been lying next to her a few minutes ago; the fact that she lay there as I got dressed to go start my day felt like something a couple would do. We’d been fuck buddies, nothing else.
Pulling on my boots, I cursed the fact I’d forgotten socks, but I wasn’t going back into the bedroom. She surprised the hell out of me when she suddenly appeared in the low light of the living space.
“I told you to sleep,” I said as I straightened.
Her nose scrunched up as she made a face at me. “I tend to ignore you most of the time,” she quipped as she leaned her shoulder against the wall.
“Is that right?” Reaching for my jacket, I took a moment to appreciate her. Her hair was mussed and wild, her PJ shorts were light gray, and I knew they were soft to touch. The short-sleeved sleep shirt was simple and matched the shorts, but didn’t hide her hard nipples.
“Do I have someone to come chaperone me today, or did I terrify them all yesterday?” Her cheeks flushed as she avoided looking at me.
“You terrified them with your demanding wanton ways,” I mocked as I pulled my jacket on. “But someone will be here at eight for you.”
“Should I argue?”
“You usually do.”
She opened her mouth to give me a smart reply, no doubt, but she changed her mind. “I have practice after class.”
“Okay, practice finishes at six thirty for me today. Ava and Quinn will meet you, that okay?”
“Okay.”
She stretched again as I was looking around to make sure I had everything. She caught her hair up, piling it on top of her head as she stretched on her tiptoes. With a wide yawn, she settled back down, her hair falling once again over her shoulders.
My dick was as hard as a rock.
“You need to go back to bed,” I told her gruffly.
“Meh, I’m up now.”
“Red, go back to bed.”
“Why?” Red laughed. “You won’t be here to wake me up.”
Fuck me, her flirting would be the end of me. I groaned before I crossed the space and scooped her up. Dropping her on the bed, I followed her down.
“Stay here, let me leave.”
Wide hazel eyes stared up at me. “I wasn’t stopping you.”
Cupping her pussy, I grit my teeth when I felt her heat through the shorts. “We both know you were.” My lips skimmed hers. “Now, stay here, let me leave so I can go to practice and try not to think about you lying here, fucking yourself as you think about me.”
Her eyes got wider. “I won’t—”
