He winces, telling me all I need to know but I ask anyway. “Did anyone…die?”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, two people on the floor below your place died. There were some other injuries but I don’t know all the details. You were really lucky to not be there, Sav.”
I pull my hand away and battle more tears for those poor people when Ash barks out a curse.
My eyes fly to him and then the TV he’s glaring at as a pile of football players untangle themselves to reveal Jude at the bottom of the pile. The camera pans in and even though he is wearing a helmet I can see the crazed anger in his eyes.
“He’s worried about you, Peaches. His head’s not in the game,” Beck explains.
I drop my eyes to the score in the corner of the screen and wince at how badly our team is losing. I might not be able to help the poor victims from my building but I might be able to help Jude a little. The clock runs down to halftime and I see him throw his helmet, earning him a roar from the coaching staff.
“You said he’s been texting you? During the game?”
Beck shakes his head with a grimace. “Yeah, that’s going to earn him a suspension if they catch him.”
I drop my head back against the couch as weariness washes over me. “Can I use your phone, please?”
A small grin tugs at his lips as he swipes it open and hands it over. I open his messaging app and hold the phone up to take a selfie. I force my droopy eyes wider and raise one eyebrow in a bit of a stern look even though I look a disaster and then caption it.
Hey weirdo
I’m watching your game on tv
If you’re going to play for the other team
shouldn’t you change your jersey?
I hit send and hand Beck back his phone and turn my eyes to the TV. One of the trainers snags Jude’s jersey and pulls him from the line of players heading to the dressing room. He makes him huddle over something and then Jude’s swinging around with his familiar grin and searching across the field until he finds a camera pointed his way. He makes a shooting gun motion with his hand, dramatically clutches his heart, and then winks. A warm glow fills me as I watch him jog off the field.
Except for my dad, no one has ever cared enough about me to have it affect them like that. I snuggle deeper into the blanket and end up sliding against the leather until I’m braced against Beck. I try and pull back but he lifts his arm and tucks me against him.
“I’m sorry for what I said that day, Savy. It was a shit thing to say and honestly, I didn’t mean it. Sometimes, it’s easier to be a dick than admit to something that makes you feel…vulnerable. Something that can open you up to being hurt.”
The way I’m leaning against him has me facing away, facing Asher where he’s sitting in the armchair. His gaze slides from the commercial on TV to meet mine. I understand what Beck’s saying on my own level. It’s easier to toss my hair and hide behind my mask. Refusing to show Asher the real me because I’m also afraid of opening up and being hurt. It’s sort of the same thing.
Ash’s gaze is still locked on mine so I see the small incline of his head and take it to mean he agrees with what Beck just said and maybe, possibly, might feel the same.
My brain is still too tired and fuzzy to process it all right now so I just give a nod and rest my head against his chest. He tucks a chunk of my dangling hair that I missed behind my ear and then just sits with me, holding my hand until the game starts again.
The second half is better than the first half and our team squeaks out the win by three points. I’m ready to go back to bed and I would love a shower but that reminds me that I have…nothing. No toiletries, no clothing, no nothing. Beck lends me his phone again because I have no idea where mine might be and I hit Amazon next-day shipping for the basics to get me through the next few days. I’ll have it delivered here but I need to look for a hotel close to campus to move into until I can find another apartment.
I know Stella would insist that I stay with her but it is too far away from school with the traffic. Besides, the hotel will only be for a few days. A week at most. Beck looks down and sees me searching for hotels near campus and snags the phone from my fingers. He brushes a soft kiss on top of my hair and murmurs,
“Don’t worry about that right now. We’ll get it all sorted tomorrow.
JUDE
I’ve never felt this…itch…before. An itch to be with someone, a woman. Somehow, my baby doll has gotten under my skin and set it on fire, flooding my mind until thoughts of her are consuming me. It’s fucking weird. Girls are fun, I like playing with them and fucking them but once that’s done, I’m happy to have them go on their way.
There’s just something about Savy that’s latched onto me. She’s self-contained. Like, there’s a whole room of people but she stands alone in the middle of it and lets it all flow around her. She doesn’t try and cling to the crowd or insert herself in it. Savy has this shield around her that she stands behind while she watches and observes and she seems to be totally okay with being alone. She’s like an island unto herself. It kind of calls to me. I want to be an island with her.
I’ve been surrounded my whole life by people. Coming from such a large family with seven siblings, countless aunts, uncles, and cousins, I’ve always felt like I had to fight for any crumb of attention or affection that someone would toss my way. Then here’s this girl who looks at me, focuses on me, and actually sees me. I think she sees past the front I put on for so many, the fight I live, for attention and affection and sees beneath it. I don’t know why but I want her to keep looking, to see deeper into me.
I’m grateful that the trip home was a short one and it wasn’t an overnighter like some of our away games are. I hated to leave her so soon after she got out of the hospital. Knowing that she’ll be waiting for me in my bed, all warm and soft has had my dick hard for the whole flight and the drive home. I know she’s not ready for that, even if she wasn’t sick, but that doesn’t change how much I want to peel her out of those frumpy clothes to get to the juicy curves I know she hides under them.
I barely acknowledge Tate’s goodnight as I race up the stairs to get to her. I pause just inside my bedroom door and listen to her soft breathing with a grin and then strip my clothes off. My thumbs hook into my boxers but I stop and leave them on. No sense scaring my doll…yet. That drinking game that went off the rails let me know just what an innocent she is and there’ll be plenty of time to get my girl dirty when she’s back on her feet and more comfortable with me.
I slide into the cool sheets and move right up against her warm back, twine my legs with hers, and nuzzle my nose into her thick hair that faintly smells like peaches. Savy wiggles against me as my cool skin meets her warmth and her murmur is thick with sleep.
