Page 14 of Project: FU (Longwood U #3)

NOLAN

When a week goes by and I haven’t seen Tavis around on campus, I decide that if I want a repeat of the best-ever sex-a-thon night, then I’m going to need to make that clear.

The challenge is how to see him without making it look suspicious.

I have no business in the athletic department, never mind the arena.

Thankfully, an excuse comes when I find myself in a conversation about a class I share with Conner Langley, a hockey player and my frat brother. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. You can smell hockey from his room, and that’s not a compliment.

In his defense, he washes his clothes and his gear often. I suppose, in some cases, the stench just clings. He doesn’t smell, for which I’m grateful. Not just for us, but for him. You don’t want to be the smelly kid in college any more than you did in grade school.

He’s very engrossed in our discussion about a class assignment that we’re both lamenting over.

It’s a challenging assignment more than something we’re not interested in—creating our own government.

We’ve been tossing ideas at each other for the past twenty minutes, and it’s almost natural when I get up to walk with him to hockey.

“I’m really drawn to the structure of a kingdom. Like old kingdoms,” Conner says for maybe the third time.

“An absolute power,” I say. “Why not a dictatorship, then?”

“Easy. I’m pretty sure kings and queens care about their people far more than a dictator does.

Dictators want what they want, regardless of what their subjects feel about it.

Think about Nazi Germany. Did Hitler actually give a fuck about the German people?

No. He saw a vision that he wanted—and yeah, some idiots agreed with him—and he did whatever he could to make that happen. Including at the cost of his people.”

“It’s cute that you think kings and queens felt differently.”

“I have a romanticized image of kings, most likely. But the point is how I see this government, right? I can build off that.”

As we approach the arena, I try not to stare at it. There are so many damn doors. Which one will take me to Tavis? Is he even in the building yet? Will I be able to find him?

My eyes catch on a guy leaving, and I recognize him right away. He pauses when his eyes meet mine, and I grin. “Hey, Skye,” I say as we get closer.

His cheeks flush as he gives me a timid smile. “Hey,” he answers.

I grip his wrist on the way by, hoping to convey that if I wasn’t in the middle of a conversation, I’d stop to talk. It’s cute that his cheeks get redder.

As soon as we’re past him and stepping into the building, Conner says, “How do you manage to flirt just by saying hi?” He chuckles, shaking his head.

I glance back, but I can’t see Skye anymore. “I wasn’t flirting. I was saying hello.”

“And he blushed like a virgin.”

“He’s shy.” It’s one of the most endearing things about him. It’s not often that you run across a guy like Skye. He’s freaking beautiful, with soulful eyes, adorable curls, and blushing cheeks. Not to mention a trim body that people love. How has the world not ruined him yet?

“Huh.”

We’ve reached the locker room, and Conner stops. “Unless you want to get on the ice today, I think this is where we part ways.”

I look around, realizing that I’d been thinking about Skye while walking and not scouting out the path we were taking, so I’ve missed the entire adventure into the bowels of the arena.

“I’m not sure I could stand, but thanks for the offer.

If I knew it was that easy to get on the team, I might have tried years ago. ”

He snorts and shoves me. “See you later.”

“Bye.”

I turn away and meander down the hall. I peer through doors and around corners, trying not to look suspicious when someone passes me. As luck would have it, three random turns later and I’m stepping into Coach Tavis’ open door.

He looks up. As soon as our eyes meet, he smiles. I stroll in with purpose, as if I’m not paying attention to where I’m going, and accidentally walk across his office. I slide a piece of paper with my cell phone number onto his desk and then turn toward the door.

“Well, this isn’t the way out,” I say. “Damn place is a maze.”

Tavis’ chuckle follows me.

However, the act isn’t all fake. Where the hell am I? I scout the hall until I find an exit sign and decide that’s my best bet. Eventually, I make it outside, though not the door I’d entered through. It’s a damn labyrinth in there. I’ll be lost for all eternity if I get turned around.

I’ve barely taken three steps when my phone buzzes. I grin when I see that it’s an unknown number.

6587

I was beginning to think I’d have to find a reason to stop by the frat house.

I quickly add his name into my phone and then respond.

Me

I took a chance on whether you’d want to see me again.

Tavis

Definitely.

Me

Not to sound like I don’t have a life or I’m desperate, but how about tonight?

I can practically hear his deep chuckle.

Tavis

Tonight’s good. I’m here until 7:30 or so.

Me

That’s fine. I’ll be at my friend’s over the bar at 6 in case you get away early.

Tavis

Unlikely, but maybe I’m developing a cough.

I grin and pocket my phone. It’s a lie. I’m not waiting until six to head to Lathan’s. In case he’s there, I may need to beg him to leave.

One of my favorite things about Longwood U is that most everything in town is walkable.

Since the weather is almost always nice, I walk often.

There’s a map on the website that lays out the campus within the town and where the most common and popular businesses are that students use with walking times to each.

A paragraph boasted that studies proved Longwood U students and staff are, on average, in much better shape than most other comparable campuses because we tend to walk everywhere. I believe that. I’ve always been somewhat thin, but I’d never been toned until I began Longwood U two years ago.

Now, I have a little bit of definition. Some shape in my legs.

I think, after a while, students begin seeing the difference in their endurance to walk longer distances without getting tired.

I could walk all day and be happy. It’s strange that after a few months of walking everywhere, your body craves that walk.

All this to say, I love the seventeen-minute walk to Lathan’s house. I shoot him a text on my way to see if he’s home. His response is almost immediate.

Lathan Whitaker

Nope. You’re free to use my apartment. Just clean up your mess.

Me

I always do.

Lathan Whitaker

You do. I know you’ve been there because you’re shit at making beds.

I laugh. That’s fair. As the baby of six kids, I was spoiled as far as chores went. I can wash my laundry, manage cash well enough, and cook a few favorite meals, but making a bed? Quite honestly, I don’t see the point. You’re getting right back in it only hours later!

On the way, I stop at the market and grab a frozen pizza.

There’s a local pizzeria that flash freezes fresh pizzas and sells them locally.

They’re freaking good. I miss the crispy bottom from a pizza oven, but other than that, these are the way to go when you don’t want to take the time to wait for a hot one.

Since I’m not sure where we are with protection, I grab a box of condoms and a couple of new tubes of lube. There’s this new one that promises tingles and heat. I don’t know what that’s about, but why not? It’s only $1 more than the usual one I buy.

I hang around Lathan’s while I wait as the minutes tick by slowly.

My dick knows who’s coming over, though.

It remains frustratingly half hard and twitches at every sound outside.

Since we’re right above the bar, there are a lot of sounds outside.

Especially with the windows open. I love having the windows open because the cross breeze in this apartment is amazing.

I spend the time researching government structures and jotting down notes. I’m not sure if I can take all my favorite things from governments around the world and mash them together, but it’s worth a try, right?

When seven-fifteen rolls around, I take a break and get the pizza in the oven. The television is on. I feel like I can pretend this is a movie-and-chill night as my invite. And not riding his stupendous cock all night.

There’s no concentrating once my phone says it's seven-thirty. I know he won’t be here until probably closer to eight. That’s when Conner usually gets back to the frat house after hockey.

Just as I get the pizza from the oven, the doorbell rings and I nearly jump out of my skin in excitement. I have a feeling that if this becomes a habit, my dick is going to get hard every time it hears a doorbell. Talk about awkward.

I turn off the stove and then race downstairs to let him in. Good fucking god, he’s even hotter than I remember him from a couple hours ago. I’m already licking my lips, and it has nothing to do with the delectable pizza I have sitting on the stove.

“Hey,” I say when I yank the door open.

Tavis smiles as he steps inside, shutting the door behind him.

He throws the deadbolt and then follows me up the stairs, where we shut and lock that door, too.

Lathan says that we’re always to keep both doors locked.

An apartment over a bar with a bunch of drunk people means they’re able to find every empty place by accident.

During the first month he lived here, he woke up to a stranger sprawled across his couch.

Turned out just to be a drunk man who said his ex-girlfriend had lived here for a while, so he must have come here out of habit. Lathan is big on locking doors now.

As soon as we’re inside, I turn and wrap my arms around his neck, bringing my mouth to his.

His big hands land on my hips, holding me to him as we eat each other’s faces.

There’s a joke here about how I have pizza if we’re both so starved, but that means I’d have to stop kissing him, and that’s not happening.

Except that it does. “You smell like pizza,” he says, amused.

I laugh. “No, the apartment does. I just pulled a pizza from the oven.”

“Sounds good. I’m starving.”

With a dramatic sigh, I release him, and we gather the pizza and drinks from the fridge and head to the living room to watch television. I don’t plan to put on anything interesting, though. I don’t actually want to watch it.

“You set your alarm?” I ask as I take a bite.

Tavis smiles, nodding. “Yes. Thanks for making sure, though. I felt like shit for several days.”

“I saw him on the way into the arena today, but I was walking with Conner, so I didn’t stop to talk beyond a hello.”

“He was grabbing the keys for the truck.”

“I still think it’s really cool that you ride together every morning.”

“I do too. I keep dreading the day he’s going to want to get to and from school on his own. I hate that my kids are grown up, even though I’m so proud of the people they’re becoming.” He pauses to take a bite as I nod. “Mostly,” he adds.

I smile, wondering if he’s referring to Kelsey. “Just so you know, I didn’t realize I was complaining to you the other night at the bar. I wouldn’t have badmouthed her if I had looked up and realized who I was bitching to.”

Tavis shakes his head. “You didn’t badmouth her, though I have a feeling you’ve got a reason to do so.”

“She really did cheat on me,” I say. “Not that there’s ever a ‘ good way ’ but when I say ‘ not in a good way ’ I mean that in like…

” My words trail off. “Epically fucked up. And for the record, it’s not hearsay.

I have video proof. Thirty-eight minutes of it.

It’s not something you’re going to want to see, though. ”

He shakes his head again. “I believe you, which really sucks to say. You always want to believe the best about your kids and give them the benefit of the doubt.”

“You want to feel the same about your girlfriend,” I mutter, and take another bite of pizza.

Silence fills the room for a minute as we munch on pizza.

“I suppose I should tell you that while I am still legally married, we haven’t been together in years.”

I glance at him. “No?”

Tavis sighs. It looks tired. Not the kind of tired you expect to see from a hockey coach at the end of the night, but the kind of tired that lingers and lives deep inside you.

“We were childhood best friends, and… we kind of fucked up. Got pregnant. This isn’t the part where I say we did ‘ the right thing ’ and got married.

We had plans to co-parent, and the confidence to know we could make that happen because we were best friends.

But… this really is kind of all on me. I continued to just…

fuck up. I don’t know why we continued to fall into bed together or why we thought accidental pregnancies only happened once but the next thing we knew, we had our fourth baby on the way and at that point, I think we both thought we’d made our bed and now, single parenting wasn’t going to give our kids the best lives they deserved. ”

“So you got married.”

“We did. And it was fine for a while. Again, because we were best friends. We’d always laughed and played house and imagined being husband and wife, but it was kid play, you know?

Doing it for real?” He shakes his head. “I actually think my managing to get into coaching was the best thing that happened to us. It gave us separation, but also gave us the means to support our growing family. Somewhere along the way, I think it became obvious to both of us that it wasn’t working.

It’s not what we wanted. It’s easy enough to put on a happy face when people are around.

When we had our kids, all our attention and focus were always on them, which meant we didn’t have to face this growing chasm between us.

But then our kids grew up, the house emptied, and… ”

I can almost feel his sadness. See it hanging around him like a gray cloud. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”

Tavis sighs. “It does, and yet, I don’t know. Now we’re stuck in this strange limbo because neither of us wants to talk about it. Which is stupid since we both checked out, what, seven, maybe eight years ago?”

“Ouch.”

He snorts, nodding. “Anyway.” He looks me in the eye. “I want you to know that I’m technically, legally, having an affair, but only in the eyes of the law and church. Not with my wife.”

“She knows you’re here?”

“Here, no. But out with someone, yes. With you, no.”

I laugh. “That seems like a good topic to avoid, huh?”

Tavis takes both of our empty plates and puts them on the table with the half-eaten pizza. His big hands pull me onto his lap, so I’m straddling him. “There’s no reason to say anything right now. Is there?”

I shake my head. “No. Secrets are kinda hot anyway.”

His grin is wicked. His hands move around my thighs to grip my ass as he pulls my crotch to grind against his. “So hot.”