Page 24

Chapter 24

Darcy

I give West’s hand another little squeeze as he looks at me. “You stood up for me.”

Of course I stood up for him. What the heck did he think I was going to do? Sit here and let his dad berate him? “I’m sorry if I overstepped.”

West cups my face and pulls me into a kiss. “God, Darcy, I—” His voice cuts off as he shakes his head and kisses me again. He’s shaking, his fingers trembling. I drop his hand and wrap my arms around him, squeezing him to me and slowing our kiss down.

His adrenaline has him frantic, but what he needs is comfort and care. I break the kiss, smiling when he chases my mouth. “Come on. Let’s go cuddle.”

West pulls back, confusion on his face. “Oh, so you mean you can cuddle when you’re awake too and not just when you’re dead to the world?”

It appears West is a uses humor to cope type. I can work with that. As long as he lets me snuggle the absolute crap out of him too. “I think you’ll find I give exceptional cuddles.”

He brushes his thumb along my cheekbone, swallowing hard as he stares at me. “Yeah,” he says, voice softer now, more subdued. “I think I’d really like some cuddles.”

Without a word, I lead him to his bedroom. He gives me a sad smile as I lift his shirt and pull it over his head before unbuttoning his jeans and tugging them down his hips. He steps out of them, climbing into bed when I point at it. After stripping down quickly myself, I climb in after him, adjusting the blankets until they’re covering us. I hold my arms open and he scoots close to me, resting his head on my shoulder.

I brush a kiss over his forehead and pull him in tighter, wrapping him up in my arms and playing idly with the tips of his hair. “For what it’s worth, I had a lot of fun on our second date.”

West sighs. “I’m sorry it got ruined.”

“It didn’t get ruined at all. Sure, I’m sad that you’re sad, but I still had a lot of fun, and being wrapped up in bed with you is hardly a hardship, even if the circumstances leading up to it suck.”

“You are an exceptional cuddler. I’ll give you that.” He’s got a little grin in his voice and I love to hear it. I had big plans for coming home. I wanted to see how many times I could make him come apart, how many moans and whimpers I could draw out of him, but truthfully? This is nice. More than nice. I snuggle deeper, closing my eyes as West lets out another sigh, more content this time.

I’m not sure if it’s the stress of life with midterms and football or the confrontation with his dad—I guess it’s likely both— but it takes practically no time at all for West’s breathing to even out. His weight grows heavier against me, his body going lax, and a smile I couldn’t fight if I tried spreads across my face.

I’ve typed and retyped the same sentence no less than seven times. There’s nothing wrong with it, per se. It’s just… the words aren’t wording the way I need them to. It’s frustrating.

Plus, I’m distracted. If not by the sound of Parker’s frantic brushstrokes and the heavy metal they’re playing, then by my own thoughts. I groan as I backspace again.

“What’s wrong?”

I lift my eyes and find Parker staring at me over the top of the white canvas in front of them. Black paint is streaked through their blonde hair and across their cheek, and there’s an almost wild look in their eyes. Explains the frantic paint strokes, though, and the music. “Nothing’s wrong.”

Park raises an eyebrow. “Okay, so why all the doom and gloom and huffing and whining?”

I huff, proving their point. “I’m not huffing and whining.”

Parker stares at me, clearly unimpressed. We both know I’m full of crap. “Sure, sure.”

Their eyes fall to the canvas, and I watch in fascination as they start painting again. There’s something so satisfying about watching Parker paint. It’s like they get taken over by someone else. Like they’re having an out-of-body experience. The muse, maybe. I wouldn’t know anything about that, since I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.

I sigh heavily and look at my computer. My fingers move over the keys and I huff again, backspacing the sentence I just typed.

The music stops and I dart my eyes to Parker. “Seriously, Darce, what’s the problem? Missing West?”

Ugh. “Don’t say it like that. It makes me sound pathetic.”

Parker laughs. “If it’s the truth…”

“Shut up.”

I do miss him, but I’m also capable of spending an evening alone, right? It’s not like he won’t be back later. I can handle one freaking night without him. I’m not even on my own. I’m at Parker’s, trying to work on this stupid paper while they work on their newest piece. West deserves to celebrate his team’s win without me there.

“I don’t know why you didn’t just go out when they invited us.”

I glare at Parker. “Because I have to get this paper done.” I’ve been putting it off. It’s difficult to be motivated about a term paper when I can spend all my free time with West instead.

Parker hums. “How much have you gotten done?”

I glance down at my measly word count. “Seven words.”

Parker’s cackling laughter has my cheeks heating as I roll my eyes. “We should have just gone with them.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, closing my laptop. “Too late now.”

“Is it?” Parker asks, shrugging. “Ben texted me a bunch of pictures and pinned his location to me. He said we’re free to join at any time.”

I scoff. That’s ridiculous. I can handle a night without West. I can. I don’t need to be around him constantly. “Okay, let’s go. Do you wanna clean up first?” I ask, gesturing to Park’s paint-covered face.

“Nah. Ben likes it when I’m covered in paint.” They raise a suggestive eyebrow and smirk at me .

“Gross. But alright. You driving or am I?”

“Depends. Are you drinking?”

I might. I hardly ever let loose and have fun. “Maybe?”

“Let’s just get an Uber.”

I toss my laptop to the side and stand. “Sounds good to me.”

Parker’s already pulling their phone out to order a ride, so I go freshen up some in the bathroom. Using some of Parker’s never-ending supply of hair products, I grab a texturizing spray and spritz it into my hair before running my fingers through the strands, making it look purposely messy. I’m not really dressed for a night out, so I may raid Parker’s closet too. “Parker?”

“Yeah?” they ask, poking their head around the corner.

“Do you have anything I can change into?”

“You thinking about joining the dark side, Darce? Want me to pick you out a real pretty skirt?”

“Not sure that I could pull that off, truthfully.”

Parker laughs, disappearing from the door, and comes back a few minutes later. “The jeans might be a little tight, but they’re big on me.”

“Thanks.” I take the offered clothes and shut the door to the bathroom, stripping down quickly and redressing. Park’s right. The jeans are definitely tight. Not so tight I can’t breathe, but tight enough that the bulge of my dick is visible and they look painted on. The black v-neck shirt they handed me is much the same, clinging to my lightly muscled frame and stretched across my chest. Not my usual style, but eh, it’ll do.

When I step into the living room, Parker gives a low whistle. “Damn, Darce. Maybe we should ditch Ben and West and stay here instead. ”

I roll my eyes. “You are an unapologetic horndog, but we both know you and I would never work.”

“Fair,” Parker says, laughing. “But hey, West will definitely be good with it. Our ride’s here.”

I nod, following Parker out the door. My stomach is kind of a mess right now. Not in a bad way. A nervous anticipation type of way. I can’t believe I’m doing this after I said I wouldn’t. After I said that West deserves a night out without me. Hopefully, he’ll be happy to see me.

I slide into the back seat of the Uber after Parker, and a few minutes later, we’re pulling up outside of Tasty’s—a dive bar right off campus. I haven’t been here before, but I know it’s popular. Park and I climb out together and make our way into the bar. My eyes immediately search for West and I smile like an idiot when I find him and a few other guys tucked into a booth in the corner.

Ben sees us first, probably because Parker texted him in the car on the way over and the second his eyes settle on Park, they light up, his lips curving into a love-sick smile. Parker may try to deny all they want, but even if they haven’t caught feelings, Ben certainly has.

Ben nudges West’s side and points in our direction. West’s eyes do the same thing as Ben’s, but unlike Ben, he doesn’t seem content to wait. He jumps up from the booth, meeting me halfway across the floor. He’s smiling. The whole time he’s walking toward me, he’s just… smiling. Like he’s so happy to see me he can’t contain it. I’m so in love with this man. Strong arms wrap around my waist the second I’m in grabbing distance, and West’s laughter washes over me as he picks me up and spins me around. The second my feet touch the ground, he’s dropping his mouth to mine and kissing me like we’re not standing in the middle of a crowded bar .

I can taste the faint hints of alcohol on his tongue as he brushes it along mine and groans into my mouth. “Missed you,” he murmurs, breaking our kiss and cupping my face in his hands.

“Missed you too.”

“Why did you decide to come? Did you get your paper done?”

What a joke. “No,” I say, laughing. “I got a whole seven words typed, but I was miserable and wanted you, so Parker talked me into coming.”

Parker scoffs, scaring me half to death. I forgot they were still standing beside me. “I did not talk you into coming. I suggested it and you said yes a split-second later.”

Ugh. They could at least let me pretend to be cool about this. West doesn’t seem bothered either way, since he just wraps me up again in a huge hug. When he releases me, he takes my hand. “Well, let me introduce you to some of the guys.”

My stomach does a nervous flip, but it doesn’t take long to remind myself that West has consistently stood up for me and himself. There’s no way he’d be hanging out with these guys if they were bigoted jerks. He wasn’t really friends with Marcus to begin with, and even though I haven’t mentioned it to West, I’m just now starting to relax when I’m out alone. I don’t think Marcus would try anything, especially not now, but who really knows.

He leads me to the table and waves a hand in front of him. “These are the guys. Landon, Devon, and Levi. You know Ben, of course. This is Darcy, my boyfriend.” He gives my hand a little squeeze as my heart tries to pound its way out of my chest.

They all wave, talking over each other to say hey to me. Ben smirks, his eyes snagging on Parker. “Hey, Park.” He pats his thigh, and Parker slips past us into the booth and sits down right on Benson’s lap. For someone who claims they aren’t interested, Parker’s not exactly doing a good job of acting like it.

West and I sit down beside them, with me squished between Ben and Parker and West. Landon—I think—leans in closer to Ben and Parker, saying something quietly under his breath.

Ben squeezes Parker a little closer to him and Landon’s lips turn up in an indulgent smile, which is… very strange.

Warm lips press to my temple and I startle, turning to face West. “Hi,” he says, giving me a crooked grin. “Do you want a drink?”

I nod. “Yeah, that’d be great. Park?” I ask, turning to Parker.

“Sure.”

“What do you want?” West asks, looking between the two of us.

Would it be bad to say whatever’s on your tongue tastes pretty freaking good? Probably. “I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

“Same,” Parker says.

West gets up and heads to the bar, leaving me alone at the table. It’s totally fine. I can handle a group of football players.

Levi looks at me, his wavy blonde hair falling over crystal blue eyes. “Hey, man. I’m sorry about that shit with Marcus. He’s a real dick. We don’t all act like that.”

I smile at him. “Thanks. I didn’t figure West would hang around with openly bigoted people, but sometimes people can surprise you.”

“It was so cool that you beat the shit out of him, though,” Devon says, leaning over the table, wide eyes trained on me.

“Uh, not sure I really beat the crap out of him, but thanks?”

Landon laughs, finally pulling his attention from Ben and Park to turn to me. “You did, though. It was the talk of the locker room for weeks.”

Ugh. That’s embarrassing. “To be fair, he hit me first. ”

Ben’s studying me, and after a second, he leans closer to me. “He hasn’t shown his face, right? If he gives you shit, and you’re worried about telling West, you can tell me instead. I’ll take care of it.”

I shake my head. “No, I haven’t even seen him around, nor has he tried to contact me, but neither of you need to get into it with him on my behalf.”

Landon reaches across to fist bump me right as West gets back. “At any rate,” he says. “You’re the reason I got my spot on the team.”

“You’re welcome?” This is kind of awkward. Especially knowing these guys probably wouldn’t have given me the time of day three months ago. Not that I’ve ever really cared about that, but still.

West places a drink in front of me and one in front of Parker. I lift my glass, clinking it off theirs before downing half of it in one swallow. Ugh, that’s strong. I blow out a breath, deciding to sip it from now on.

“Where’s West?” I shout at Parker over the sound of the pounding music.

They shrug. So helpful. “Where’s Ben?” they shout back.

I glance around, realizing for the first time that Park’s dancing with Landon, not Ben. Huh, good question. I shrug. They’ll probably be together.

Everything’s good. The air. My body. West. All of it. I’m all tingly and warm and my skin feels good and I’m horny and I want to go home .

Finally, I spot West standing along the wall with Ben and the other two. Names. Names. Names. Ah, Devon and Levi. That’s right. An easy smile spreads across my face as I make my way to them.

“He’s so pretty, right?” West slurs when I get within hearing range. I stop walking, listening as Ben’s gaze finds mine and he smirks. Devon and Levi are looking at West like they’re seeing him with new eyes. “And smart. So smart. His dick,” he starts, holding his hands up like he’s about to measure my dick’s size for them. No. Oh no. I quicken my pace, clamping a hand over his mouth before he can finish the statement.

West turns to me with wide eyes, and I can feel his smile grow against my hand. I uncover his mouth, which turns out to be a mistake. “Hi, baby. Let’s go home, yeah? Want you to fuck me with that big dick.” He turns to the guys. “I’m serious. Does this thing with his fingers that just… ugh.”

My face catches on fire, but my dick also hardens way quicker than it should, given how drunk I am. “Shhh,” I hiss.

Everyone around us laughs, but West is undeterred. “Seriously,” he pouts. “Let’s go home and fuck. We’d make pretty babies, don’t you think? They’d be awesome. Smart and beautiful and good at sports.”

“Stop talking,” I say, covering his mouth again, this time with both hands. He nods, so I let them fall away. “Let’s call an Uber.”

His face shifts from a slight pout to excitement. “Yes. That. Let’s go home. Bend me over the bed and—”

I cut him off with a kiss, almost choking on my embarrassment as everyone around us cackles. It seems to work in shutting him up, so I break the kiss and send up some thoughts and prayers that he’ll be quiet. “West, man. You gotta keep it zipped,” Ben says, and thank God. At least one of his friends has some sense.

“Park’s dancing with Landon,” I say, narrowing my eyes at Benson .

He smirks. “Good. It’ll make for a more fun time for me later.”

Some part of my brain knows I’d normally find that gross, but the whiskey-soaked part has me giving him a grin and a high-five. “Can you let Park know we’re going home?”

“Sure thing, Darce.”

I drop my hand from West’s mouth and order us an Uber, dragging him out of the bar before he can say anything else about my dick or our babies.