Page 10

Ten

Hailey

PRESENT – 19 years old

Fuck, fuck, fuck. What the hell was I thinking? Oh. My. God.

The plan had been to be more on the offensive — not this! I had zero idea what had gotten into me, but for some goddamn reason, I hadn’t been able to keep my fat fucking mouth shut.

Colt hadn’t said a word, and I’d been put off by the look on Knox’s face when he realized Colt was with me. Fuck him and his preconceptions. At least he’d managed to control himself after I explained and thus narrowly escaped landing on my shit list — barely.

Now I had only to figure out what I would say to Colt, whose expression was unreadable about these disastrous last ten minutes. We arrived at my SUV, which was packed with boxes and bags, and I busied myself opening the trunk and shuffling the boxes around .

Even without looking, I felt Colt’s looming presence right behind me. Whenever his body was near, it was like electric sparks ran over my skin.

He cleared his throat, and I slowly turned to face him. His massive chest was so close that my nose almost touched it, and I sucked in a sharp breath. He obviously took this as a sign of discomfort because he immediately backed away a little. The last thing I wanted was for him to get the impression I was afraid or uncomfortable in his presence.

“No, wait.” Without thinking, I grabbed his forearm and pulled him over to the side of my car, where we were somewhat protected from prying eyes. Although, Colt’s head was still sticking out over the car roof.

“Look, I, um …” I scrambled for an explanation, something believable — anything. Being sandwiched between two cars with his intoxicating scent swirling around me didn’t help either. Come on, Hailey, focus.

“Girlfriend?” he asked, his voice gruff and deep.

“Well … yeah, about that.” Struck by a flash of inspiration, I blurted out, “I don’t date. I just don’t. And honestly, being a cheerleader, I know I’m going to attract a lot of attention from the wrong kind of guys — jerks who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. I thought, maybe … if you didn’t mind … you could pretend to be my boyfriend, just to keep them off my back?”

He stared at me with a blank expression. Shit.

“Just for a little while,” I rushed to clarify, “until I’m not the new girl anymore.”

Under normal circumstances, I’m sure he’d never have considered going along with it, but since I’d already fed this story to one of his teammates, I hoped he’d be swayed. “I know it wasn’t cool of me not to ask you before and … oh fuck, please tell me you don’t already have an actual girlfriend?”

“I don’t.” The blank mask on his face fell a little as I gazed up at him with big eyes, and for a second, I thought I recognized something like disbelief.

“Colt, I am so sorry for putting you in this situation. Of course, it was an absolutely dumb idea, I’ll tell Knox the truth next time I see him—”

“Why did you do it?”

“Why did I do what?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Why did you decide to tell Knox that you’re my girlfriend?”

“I …” I swallowed hard and leaned back against my car. “I don’t like prejudice. I could tell just by looking at him that he thought I couldn’t be yours, and it pissed me off, so I wanted to prove him wrong.”

He tilted his head, and his lips twitched. “Interesting.”

“Yeah, like I said, it was a stupid idea to just assume—”

“I’ll do it.”

“You’ll do it?”

“Yup.” He nodded.

Speechless, I gaped at him in undisguised disbelief, sure that my eyebrows must have shot up to my hairline. I hadn’t expected this. Huh.

He crossed his arms over his chest, and I realized I was still staring at him like an idiot, mouth slightly open.

“So … shall we bring your stuff inside?”

I nodded, but when he turned toward the trunk, I grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Wait. Why are you doing it? I mean, what’s in it for you?”

He snorted, shook his head, and muttered something under his breath. Then he said, “College is a different animal than high school. Talk about me getting drafted is even worse than it was back then, and I wouldn’t mind getting rid of the jersey chasers.”

“Okay …” I drawled. I decided not to reveal that I’m a complete lunatic who’s about to go insane at the thought of random girls hitting on him for the wrong reasons. It was a miracle he had agreed to this crazy idea at all. At least I didn’t have to worry about seeing him with other girls. Assuming that …

“Wait a minute. If we do this, that means no other girls. And, of course, no boys for me. If people think we’re dating, there’s no way I’m going to be cool with them thinking I’m being cheated on — or that I’m a cheater.”

Colt turned the rest of the way toward me and blinked slowly. Oh, God. There wasn’t much room between the cars here, and being so close to him, close enough to touch him, made me squirm. Moisture began to pool in my panties, and I took a deep breath to try to control myself. He stepped closer, his hands in his pockets.

“Hailey, what the fuck are you talking about?” he said with such indignation that my lips twitched, and I couldn’t help but smile. I knew exactly why I wanted Colt.

“I’m just saying.” I shrugged. “I don’t want to cramp your style, but that’s a hard limit for me.”

“Cramp my style?” He made a strangled sound and tilted his head skyward. “Jesus Christ. You say the funniest things, Princess.”

There it was again. Princess . The nickname sent a shiver down my spine. “So we’re on the same page?” I pressed.

“Of course we’re on the same fucking page. ”

Once again, realizing how close we were, I looked up at him. If I took the slightest step forward, my nipples would brush against his rib cage. Colt nodded firmly and began turning away from me again.

“Wait. There’s one more thing.”

He stopped in his tracks and looked at me with raised brows. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. Ella thinks we’re together too, and, well, I know this might be a bit much to ask, but couples do kiss and touch, don’t they?”

He froze. Oh shit, now you’ve ruined it, Hailey. Well done.

“I mean, not all the time, of course, and if you don’t want to, I’m sure we can work around that somehow. I just thought maybe we should … practice ?” I looked at him with a contrite expression and wanted to hide my face in my hands.

Damn, this was tragic. It was a miracle he couldn’t smell the desperation radiating off me.

Colt scrubbed a hand down his face. “It’s not like we haven’t kissed before.”

My cheeks burned red with embarrassment. I probably couldn’t have made a bigger fool of me by throwing myself at him yet again. So much for playing it cool and trying to appear more mature. Of course he didn’t want to kiss me again unless he had to. What was I thinking? I closed my eyes for a moment, then fixed my gaze on our shoes.

“Yeah, stupid idea, I know,” I said quietly.

With an almost animalistic growl, he pinned me against the car, caging me in with his massive arms. “Tell me to stop.”

My eyes shot up to his face, wide with surprise.

“Tell me to stop, or I won’t be able to.”

I didn’t dare move. Where would I go? I was right where I wanted to be. Colt sucked in a sharp breath and lowered his head, his brown hair falling into his eyes. I rose up on my toes, eagerly stretching toward him. Warm lips met mine, and the world came to a standstill.

It started as a chaste kiss, neither of us moving, then I let the tip of my tongue flick forward and all control went out the window. With a deep, rumbling groan that shot straight to my pussy, he pressed the front of his body against me, effectively pinning me against the car.

I was trapped, and I couldn’t have been happier. My tongue flicked out again as one hand clawed at his shirt and the other slid to his neck. My body was on fire, blood coursing through my veins like molten lava, and I moaned softly as he tilted his head.

The kiss grew increasingly desperate, our tongues meeting in long, slow strokes.

This was so much better than having to relive the memory of our first kiss, and all I wanted to do was rub up against him like a bitch in heat. Maybe he could read my mind, because his hips started grinding against mine, and his big dick dug into my stomach. Fuck, yes.

Emboldened by this, I bit down on his lower lip, which caused him to pull away with a deep “Shit” and attack my neck instead. His stubble scratched my skin in the most delicious way, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I found traces of him there later on.

My head fell to the side, allowing him better access to maul my neck. He wasn’t gentle, tender, or even careful. No, he devoured me with an intensity that made even my fantasies of him look tame. He was completely feral for me, and I loved it .

I arched my back, pressing my breasts against him. Everything around us was forgotten, and I honestly wasn’t sure what I would’ve done if some idiot hadn’t whistled our way and yelled, “Get a room” as he walked by. Colt’s head shot up, and he glared so murderously at the group of freshmen, they left in a hurry.

Out of breath, we gazed at each other, our eyes locked. Fearing that he might pull away, I let slid my hands to the back of his neck, intertwining them there. He’d have a hard time getting away from me if I was attached to him like a fucking koala.

“What the fuck just happened?” His eyebrows drew together, and he looked genuinely bewildered.

A blush crept up my cheeks. “The hottest reunion kiss in history, if you ask me.”

His eyebrows shot up, and I tilted my head and smiled as I gently played with the hair at the nape of his neck. He was silent for a long moment, then leaned back in and grumbled, “Just for the record, definitely not a bad idea. Not at all.”

I giggled and slowly released my hold, which he took as a sign to step back. Colt was so much taller than me that the small distance between us was enough for my hands to slide down from his neck to his chest. “Just think of what I could do if I had a little more time on my hands.”

He shook his head slowly, a growl escaping his lips.

“I’d better not think about that if you want to get your shit in there today. It’s going to take a few minutes for my … excitement to be less obvious,” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

Inside, I was screaming and doing a happy dance at the same time. I had broken through Colt’s impervious control. And if I could do it once, I could do it again. This was just the beginning.

As Colt carried the first boxes up the steps, I knew I had miscalculated. Big time . Why had I thought it would be a good idea to watch Colt lug heavy boxes around?

I wouldn’t be surprised if I simply exploded with need by the end of the day. The ache spreading through my core had been throbbing ever since our little practice session . My battery-powered friends would definitely be put to good use later on. Colt’s arms, all big and brawny, looked way too good carrying my boxes around.

As we made our way back up the stairs to my room, me carrying a bag and Colt with two large boxes in his arms, I took in the people around us. Aside from a cursory double-take, probably due to his stature and size, no one really paid him much attention.

A few guys smiled at me as we climbed the steps, but once they saw Colt, they hurried away. I returned their smiles in a noncommittal way.

At this very moment, I couldn’t be less interested in other men. As I walked in front of Colt, I couldn’t help but wonder if he might be checking me out. God, I hoped so.

He had worked up a sweat by the time all my things had finally reached their destination. His shirt stuck to his shoulder blades, and the odd drop of sweat ran down his face from his temples.

Sweat should be disgusting, but — probably just because it was Colt — it turned me on to see him like that. It was the way he looked after his games and that day at the pool.

He snapped me out of my silent admiration when he nudged one of my boxes labeled ‘GEAR’ with his toe and asked, “So, you’ll be cheering for me again?”

I blushed and quickly looked away, hoping he couldn’t read my mind. I didn’t know if I would ever tell him he was the reason I pushed to cheer in college. Cheering was fun, and I was good at it, but I could have lived without it. Give up the chance to be around Colt more often, though? No fucking way.

“Yeah, looks like it. Does it bother you?”

He snorted. “Oh yeah, it’s going to be awful having a cheerleader for a girlfriend.”

“Well, we’ll be around each other a lot. Do you think it’ll be too much for you? You know, with the girlfriend thing.”

“I hadn’t thought about it, but I don’t think so. I said yes, and I’ll stand by it. Why, did you change your mind?”

I chuckled as I turned to face him. “Nope. I just wanted to make sure you knew how often we’d be together.”

“How thoughtful of you. If anything, it makes it all the more appealing.”

“Oh yeah?” I raised an eyebrow, inwardly freaking out. His arms crossed over his chest, legs slightly apart, as he leaned against my desk.

“Hailey, you do realize that you could probably get every other guy on campus to help you with this, right?” His jaw twitched.

“Maybe. Doesn’t matter to me, though. I asked you .”

“You did. Just wanted you to be aware of your options. Look, if this is going to work, we need two things.”

“Which are?”

“One, we need to commit to a story — when did we start dating, how did it happen, that sort of thing.”

“Easy. You and I met four years ago through our parents but haven’t gotten together because you moved away for college. Now that we’re both at the same school, there was no reason not to, and we started dating over the summer when we saw each other again at one of our parents’ get-togethers. And the second?”

I mimicked him and crossed my arms over my chest. When I tilted my head, my ponytail swayed, loose hairs tickling my skin. His eyes followed the movement as if hypnotized. I grinned mischievously as he shook his head, trying to clear his mind.

“Sounds good. I don’t know the best way to put this, but we need to have a talk about … limits.”

“Limits?” I repeated questioningly.

“Yeah, I mean, where’s the line for you with all the touching and stuff?”

“I don’t have one.”

He jerked back, a look of disbelief on his face. “Come on, be serious.”

“I am. I’m perfectly fine with you touching me. To everyone outside this room, you’re my boyfriend, and that comes with physical contact. Whatever you did with your previous girlfriends, you can do with me.”

“Hailey—” He sighed, averting his gaze to the floor. “I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but there were no previous girlfriends.”

I recoiled, shocked. “Okay, what about hookups?”

He cleared his throat, a blush rising to his cheeks. “Nope. Not my thing.”

I wasn’t blind or deaf, most girls didn’t notice him the way I did — but I was so sure Colt would jump at the chance to sow a few wild oats in college.

Guess not. Their loss, my gain. Now I was even more thrilled.

I bridged the short distance and stood between his parted legs, placing my hands on his shoulders. With flushed cheeks, he looked at me through his lashes.

“All right, then, let’s just say that anything you’re comfortable with is cool with me.”

“Anything?”

I slowly uncrossed his arms and carefully brought them to my waist to place his hands there. They were so big that he encircled my torso and his fingers could actually touch each other on my back. I fucking loved it. Nodding, I took another tiny step closer, my stomach almost touching the still considerable bulge in his jeans. “Anything I should know about your limits?”

He barked out a laugh. “Nope, you can do whatever you want.”

I smiled wickedly. He was playing right into my hands, and my insides were twisting with giddiness at all the possibilities. Maybe I’d start testing how far I could push him. After all, Ella wasn’t here.

Then his phone started buzzing in his pocket. With a furrowed brow, he pulled it out and muttered, “He never calls,” then answered the call.

“Hunter? What’s up?”

Hunter’s emotionless, deep voice sounded from the other end, just as I remembered it. “You weren’t checking your phone.”

“Um, no, I wasn’t. So what?”

“So they started bugging me. Fix it.”

“Who?”

“Dude, just check your phone, will you?”

Then he hung up.