Page 38 of Playing Dirty (Leighton U #4)

Madden

We go for two rounds before both of us are spent enough to call a stalemate, and it’s well after one in the morning by the time we collapse back onto the mattress.

I’m still wired, despite my cock having been wrung dry, and though I know I should clean us both up and go home, I can’t bring myself to move.

Not when Theo’s plastered to my side, our skin still slick with sweat while our orgasm highs slowly fade.

“You weren’t really mad about me cancelling, were you?”

He shifts onto his side to look at me after asking the question, and my brows press together in a frown.

“No, not at all. I understand why you did.” I pause, my lips quivering into a smile. “Not that we both didn’t enjoy me punishing you for it.”

Lots of feelings rose to the surface when I got his text asking for a rain check, but none of them were anger. A little sad and disappointed, yeah. Panic also entered the equation when I realized why, but that actually led to something more like jealousy.

And after catching him the other night, I found myself wishing I could’ve been there as his teammate, not his rival—an enemy playing defense. It took me by complete surprise, feeling that kind of longing when I watched him disappear down the darkened hallway.

His gaze casts downward to where his fingers absently skim over my skin, tracing the ink on my shoulder and bicep the way he’s grown accustomed to.

A habit he’s picked up when he’s deep in thought, which is likely the case right now.

But when his touch falls away, I notice a little line forming between his brows that wasn’t there a minute ago.

“What’s up?”

My fingers slip beneath his chin and tilt it back up, forcing his gaze to mine again. There’s a beat of hesitation while his teeth scrape over his lip, and I gently use the pad of my thumb to pull it free.

“Do you wanna just…stay?”

It’s not like we haven’t slept in the same bed before; I realize that. But there’s something inherently different about this, and the look in his eyes—the vulnerability I see shining back at me—tells me he knows it too.

A python coils itself around my lungs, constricting until it’s impossible to breathe while looking at him, seeing the doubt and insecurity he’s trying to repress.

“If I promise to be gone before six, do I get to use the front door?” I find myself asking.

His lips twitch, and he shakes his head. “It’s the window for you either way, I’m afraid.”

I had a feeling, though I can’t say I’m not the slightest bit disappointed. Just not enough to make a difference in my answer.

“Yeah, I’ll stay.”

He lets out a soft sigh, almost as if he thought I’d say no, and I reach up to smooth away the worry lines creasing his forehead.

He’s become so much easier to read over the passing weeks, and part of me wonders how I ever looked at him and didn’t know exactly what’s happening behind those green eyes. Those thoughts are so easily bared now, and honestly, I don’t think he even realizes it.

There’s so much of himself he’s giving away, allowing me to learn during these small, seemingly meaningless moments together; ones crafted in a pocket of space where the outside world fades away, and he’s not a Timberwolf or my stepbrother anymore.

He’s just Theo.

Just…mine.

I clear my throat, the thought coming from nowhere and spreading through my chest like wildfire. It’s one of the dangers of the unfiltered moments that come with post-orgasm bliss—anything feels like it can be true, no matter how crazy it may sound.

And it is fucking crazy.

Pressing my lips to the side of his head, I shift to climb off the bed, but I don’t make it farther than a step before his fingers wrap around my wrist to stop me.

“Wait, I thought you were staying.”

The indignation in his expression is so adorably innocent, I can’t stop myself from laughing a little.

“And I am. Just wanna clean up a bit,” I say, motioning to the cum streaks on my chest and stomach, some of which have already dried.

His eyes narrow on me. “You don’t like my artwork? ”

“Believe me, I love it. You’re welcome to paint me with your cum whenever you want. But I have to clean it off at some point.” I lean in and press my lips to his before whispering, “And I’d really prefer not to go to bed all sticky.”

“Yet we’re about to sleep in sheets covered in jizz,” he rebuts. He does release me, though, and I steal another quick kiss before he changes his mind.

“Then I’ll help you change them when I get back.” I pause, glancing at the cum covering him too, before adding, “And bring something to clean you up with.”

I shoot him a quick wink before slipping from his bedroom, feeling the warmth in my chest subsiding after sinking back into our easy, teasing banter.

I’m still stark naked as I cross the hall and pop into the bathroom, doing my very best to not let the floorboards creak beneath my weight.

Opting to keep the light off, I quickly turn on the tap and start washing away the evidence left from our sexcapades.

It doesn’t take more than a minute or two before I’m grabbing the hand towel to dry my skin, which is exactly the moment the door creaks open and the lights flick on.

I’m momentarily blinded, raising my arm to shield my eyes so they can adjust to the onslaught of light Theo just doused me in.

“Jesus. You didn’t need to— Fuck!” I whisper-shout and slam my hand over my chest when I realize the reflection in the mirror is not, in fact, Theo, but some random dude.

My arm drops to my crotch, using the hand towel in an abysmal attempt to regain a layer of decency. “Who the hell are you?”

The guy cocks his head and blinks a couple times. “Um…I live here, so I think I should be the one asking that.”

Ah, shit. He makes a good point.

“Right. Um,” I stumble, feeling the skin on my cheeks heat. “Well, I was just…going.”

He stays silent as I shoulder past him into the hall, keeping the towel over my junk, and I can feel his eyes on me as I creep toward Theo’s door.

For a split second, I debate going downstairs instead, if only to remove Theo as a suspect for who’s guest I am. But doing so would risk someone else seeing me—someone who could know who I am—and that would be much, much worse.

I can only pray it’s the right choice when I slip back into Theo’s room and silently close the door behind me.

Theo’s redressed in a pair of sweats and is in the middle of stripping the sheets from his bed when he notices me standing there, back plastered to the door, with a hand towel over my dick.

He frowns, clearly attempting to work out the details for himself, but I decide to rip the Band-Aid off instead.

“So, one of your roommates got an eyeful of my ass just now,” I tell him before letting the towel fall to the floor. “And probably my dick too.”

His eyes widen. “What? Which one?”

Shooting him an incredulous look, I mutter, “Asking for his name wasn’t really the first thing on my mind when he walked in the bathroom while I was naked.”

“ Shit. ”

He’s abandoned his task in favor of pacing across the floor in a tizzy, and if it didn’t set an edge of irritation beneath my skin, I’d almost find it funny.

Almost.

Because…fuck, what does it matter? I mean, honestly? Miles and Torin caught him doing the walk of shame out of my room the first time we hooked up, but at least he was fully clothed when it happened. I was butt-ass naked just now.

I slip into my underwear and sigh. “Will you just sit down? It’s not a big deal. He didn’t even know who I was.”

But Theo being Theo, he completely ignores me and continues to wear down the laminate beneath his feet like he’s trying to start a fire.

“What did he look like?” he asks after a few moments.

Seriously?

Crossing my arms over my chest, I pin him with an annoyed glare and bite out, “Well, after he blinded me by turning on the light, I think he had brown hair.”

“Logan,” he concludes, his pacing coming to a halt. I visibly watch as all the tension leaves his body when he turns to face me. “It has to be Logan. He’s the only one who wouldn’t know what you look like. And if it were anyone else, there would be an intervention happening right about now.”

“Because heaven forbid you get some with a guy from your rival school,” I surmise bitterly.

There’s a beat—a single breath—before his face falls. Regret forms instantly, swirling in his eyes while he shakes his head and crosses the room to me.

“I know you think it’s silly—”

“Try ridiculous.”

“—but it’s just part of being a Timberwolf.”

A tight smile tugs at my lips. “And Timberwolves can’t be caught consorting with Falcons. Got it.”

He reaches for my arm, but I pull away before he can make contact and head over to finish changing his sheets.

I shouldn’t care, I know I shouldn’t. If he wants to let some stupid rivalry be his end-all be-all, then who am I to tell him otherwise? But I do care, and I think that’s the most irritating part.

Theo’s gaze bores into the space between my shoulder blades for a few seconds before he crosses the room to the other side of the bed. Together, we wordlessly finish the task he’d abandoned during his freak out, neither of us mentioning the drastic mood shift or my roommate run-in.

“You’re telling me this shit isn’t just as serious over at Blackmore?” he finally asks, breaking through the silence. “That they wouldn’t be outraged to hear their captain is screwing around with a guy on the rival team?”

I drop down onto the end of the freshly made bed and stare helplessly at him.

“Of course it is. There’s a reason it’s tradition. Some of the guys over there get so riled up when it’s a rivalry match up, no matter the sport. But as for this?” I ask, motioning between us, “Well, that really isn’t their business.”

“So you’re the one who doesn’t buy into it?”