Page 17

Chapter 17

Weston

A s Darcy’s head grows heavier in my lap, I try to relax with him. It’s an almost impossible task. I’m fucking fuming. Furious. Raging. I was serious when I said I didn’t want him hurt. And now he is. The bruise forming on his jaw and the jagged split in his swollen bottom lip are proof of that.

I can’t fucking believe Marcus hit him. He doesn’t know it yet, but that was a fucking mistake. Rage simmers in my blood as I work to keep my voice calm and steady. Darcy’s checked out on me. I’m almost positive he’s half-asleep, but I’m worried if I stop reading, I’ll lose it.

The only thing keeping me from flying off the handle is his soothing weight and the feel of his hair under my fingers. And even that’s barely doing it. My jaw is aching from how hard I was clenching it .

When he lets out a little sigh, I pause, leaning over to kiss his forehead. He hums under his breath, and I sit up, breathing deeply a couple of times before I go back to rubbing his hair.

By the time I’m done with the third chapter, he’s gone to the world, so I set the book down and study him for a second. He’s safe. I know that. He’s curled up in my lap, his face pressing into my thigh, in my hoodie, wrapped up in my blanket, but it’s not helping.

Nothing is helping.

I’m not sure anything will help until I can get my hands on Marcus and make him fucking regret what he did.

My fingers tighten in Darcy’s hair for a second, but I force myself to relax, to go back to my gentle stroking. I need him wrapped up with me. That might be the only thing that keeps me from flying off in a fit of rage and beating the dog shit out of Marcus.

I wonder if it was a coincidence or if he sought Darcy out deliberately just so he could hurt him. Professor Sinclair called about him before the game, but we haven’t exactly been subtle. We hang out all the time. Hell, we get coffee and tea together most mornings before class. I almost kissed him in the coffee shop. And God knows I wasn’t focused on a single thing outside of the way he was looking up at me. It’s not a stretch to think that Marcus could have seen us.

My chest starts burning, so I blow out a deep breath while I try to calm my racing thoughts. I need Darcy in my bed. I need to feel his body wrapped up around mine, but I’m also hesitant to wake him up. I know his face has to be hurting. And now I’m thinking about him hurting again. Goddammit.

I carefully move, cradling Darcy’s head in my hand so I can work my way out from underneath him and stand before laying his head gently on the couch .

His lips turn down in a frown, a furrow forming between his brows, but he doesn’t wake up. Untying his shoes, I take them off one by one and set them on the floor next to the couch before going through and shutting all the lights off. It’s good. Needed. It allows me a second to calm the fuck down. When I make my way back to the couch, I slide my hands under Darcy’s body and lift him, holding him to my chest, and carry him to my room.

His head lolls to the side, falling against my shoulder, and I stop for a second, worried I’ve woken him up. And maybe I have a little, but he doesn’t open his eyes. He just snuggles in a little deeper, breathing out a sigh that has my heart pounding furiously against my ribs.

I finish walking into my room and lay him down on the bed, pulling his phone from his pocket. I’m not sure how he’ll feel about me undressing him in his sleep, but it won’t be comfortable to sleep in jeans, and I can’t handle the thought of making him try. With trembling fingers, I unbutton and unzip them, working them down his thighs and off his legs.

Sleeping in a sweatshirt and briefs is probably not the move, but I’m not going to sit him up to take his shirt off, so I strip down and climb into bed beside him, pulling the blankets up around us. There’s not a chance in hell I’m waiting for him to find his way to me in his sleep.

I need him now .

I’m slightly worried if I don’t have him wrapped around me, I’m going to get up and go find Marcus, so I move him until he’s sprawled across me. He mumbles a bit in his sleep, his eyes fluttering open as he looks at me in confusion. “Shh, it’s okay,” I whisper.

He gives me a sleepy grin, eyes falling shut as he presses in closer, humming a bit as he gets comfortable. For the first time since he walked in the door bleeding, I feel like I can breathe .

I close my eyes as I let his body against mine ground me. I’m almost asleep when his phone rings and startles the shit out of me. My heart jumps into my throat and I reach over, blindly grabbing for it, squinting at the screen to see that it’s Parker calling. Darcy hasn’t moved or even stirred, so I answer the call.

I don’t have a chance to say hello before their voice is coming through the speaker. “I’m telling you, Darce. Big, macho football players give the best head. Sorry you had to hear it.”

I blink. Then blink again. I’m not sure my brain is even fully aware of what’s happening. Am I dreaming? I pull the phone away from my ear to look at the screen. No. Definitely not dreaming. “I’m sorry,” I murmur. “ What ?”

There’s a beat of silence. “Oh. You’re not Darcy.”

“I am indeed not Darcy. Holy shit. Are you talking about Ben? Actually, no. Don’t answer that. I truly do not want to know.”

The silence that follows is awkward and I’m half-tempted to hang up. “Okay. So where’s Darcy? He called me earlier and I said I’d call him back when I was, uh… done.”

Oh for the love of God. “He’s asleep. He had a rough night.”

“What happened?” Parker’s voice is instantly serious, and I love that, although I’m not sure if I should say. “Weston.”

“Don’t Weston me. I’m trying to figure out if he’d be okay with me telling you.”

“We tell each other everything. He heard me getting my dick sucked earlier. Besides, you’re worrying me.”

Jesus fucking Christ. “I’m begging, Parker. Please stop. But… fuck. Marcus, the asshole from my football game, hit him. I’m not fully sure of the circumstances because I was honestly too fucking enraged to ask, but yeah. I got him cleaned up and now he’s asleep.”

“You’re fucking kidding. ”

“I wish I was.”

For a long while, Parker doesn’t say anything, but then they let out a frustrated sigh. “Fuck. He probably provoked him, didn’t he?”

Anger boils up inside me. Sharp and hot and unrelenting. I’m not sure that I’ve ever been this mad in my life. My fingers grip the phone too tightly before I take a slow, measured breath to calm myself back down. “Even if he did, Marcus had no fucking right to put his hands on him.”

“No. Of course he didn’t. But Darcy has a mouth, and he’s not one to stand down. It’s gotten him in trouble before. He doesn’t know how to be chill.”

And he shouldn’t be. He shouldn’t let anyone treat him badly. I glance down, happy to find he’s still sleeping, his face relaxed and peaceful. It allows me the smallest bit of breathing room, just enough that I can shove the stifling rage back down. I’m a fucking mess. “Is Ben still with you?”

Parker lets out a startled laugh. “I thought you didn’t want to know about him.”

I roll my eyes “I don’t. Not about his dick-sucking abilities. But I guess I need to talk to him. Come up with a plan. I can’t let Marcus get away with this shit.”

“No,” Parker says with a sigh. “It’s not like that. We’re not all… domestic, or whatever the hell you and Darcy are. But hey, don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

I’m not sure I could ever regret standing up for and defending Darcy. Not even a little. But Parker’s right in some ways. I have to be smart. I can’t just let Marcus derail my life and fuck everything up for me. “Yeah, I know. I won’t.”

“Hmm. That’s good. Well, I’ll let you go, yeah? Keep an eye on Darcy and let him know I’ll call tomorrow. ”

My eyes fall to Darcy again. “I will. Thanks, Parker.”

“Night.”

They end the call, and I toss Darcy’s phone to the side before wrapping my arm around him again. It’s not until he wiggles in his sleep and nuzzles into my throat with a soft exhalation that I finally let the rage seep from my body. It’ll be there tomorrow, I’m sure. But for tonight, I’m just going to hold him and soak in his warmth.

I wake up to a soft touch on the side of my throat. I lean into it, a smile spreading across my lips. This is the first morning I’ve woken up to Darcy already awake and not the other way around.

I open my eyes to Darcy’s gorgeous face and my smile widens for all of two seconds. Just long enough for me to take stock of the bruising and for the memories of last night to hit me again.

The barely suppressed anger washes over me, and Darcy must see it on my face because he huffs a little laugh, his lips twitching. “I’m fine. Calm down.”

I’m not sure I know how to calm down, but I force a deep breath into my lungs anyway. “Alright. I’ll try.” He smiles. It’s a little smug and I know he knows I’d do just about anything he asked of me. Ridiculous. “You better get back down here, though.”

He rolls his eyes playfully, but settles against me, resting his head on my chest. Deft fingers walk up my stomach and over my chest, stopping long enough to pinch my nipple. I jolt, thrown off a bit by the movement. “Ow. What did you do that for? ”

Darcy laughs brightly, making me smile. “Safe to say nipple play is out.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Are you testing my reactions to sexual stimuli?”

“Possibly.”

“Hmm. So, I am curious about something.”

Darcy shifts a little. I feel like he’s hiding his face from me on purpose. For now, I’ll allow it. “Yes?”

“Blowjobs.”

There’s a deep breath and then a choking sound, followed by coughing. “Jesus, Darce. I didn’t mean to almost kill you.” He sits up, covering his mouth as he coughs and chokes. “It’s just… Parker said—”

“Parker said?” Darcy practically yells, cutting me off. “What do you mean Parker said?”

He turns beautiful hazel eyes on me, shock and disbelief written all over his expression. The look makes me chuckle. “Yeah. They called last night, talking about how good big, macho football players are at giving head, and it kind of—”

Darcy cuts me off again with a frustrated groan. “They are a hot mess.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better.” I pause, winking at him. “They seemed positively scandalized that I answered your phone and not you. But anyway, now I’m thinking about blowjobs.” Darcy’s jaw drops open, so I push on. “Which, okay. Maybe not in that context because I do not need to know that much information about Ben, but it’s got me curious.”

Darcy watches me for a second, then he moves his mouth a little, working his jaw back and forth, a contemplative look in his eyes. “I mean… my jaw kind of hurts, but maybe in a couple of days I can show you. ”

Now it’s my turn to choke. “Jesus, Darcy. No. I meant I was curious about blowing you. ”

Darcy blinks at me, and I’m half-convinced his mind is doing a hard reset. “Oh.”

“Oh,” I echo, leaning in and cupping his jaw to give him a sweet kiss. When I pull back, I smirk. “Why is this so shocking to you?”

“I’m not sure, actually. You’ve surprised me at every turn, so I guess that’s going to be our normal operating settings at this point.”

He shifts, moving closer, and presses his lips back to mine. His fingers tangle in my hair and he groans as he pushes his tongue past my lips, deepening the kiss.

I’m pretty damn content to let him take what he wants, but when he winces, I pull back. “Sorry. Jaw hurts a little.”

“Yeah, not surprising.” I’m still so fucking mad about the whole thing, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now. Right now? I’m pretty sure I want to make Darcy forget about his jaw pain, or at least try to. “Lie back.” He raises an eyebrow at me, but does what I said. “Actually, wait. Take your hoodie off first.”

With a chuckle, he sits up, whipping the sweater over his head and tossing it to the side before he rests back against my pillows.

He looks like a fucking dream, all lean muscles and long limbs. He’s fucking perfection. He lets out a startled sound, his hand coming up to grip my hair when I settle over him and lick a stripe up the side of his throat. He tastes a little salty, like clean sweat, and it makes my eyes roll back.

Closing my lips over his fluttering pulse, I suck lightly. Not enough to leave a mark, but enough that it has him flexing his fingers in my hair and arching up.

I’m going to make it my personal mission to drive this man absolutely fucking crazy.