CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

NIP SLIPS

RHODES

Now

“Are you kidding me? Who moved my towel and clothes? I am the one who should be pranking all you rookies. I’ve done my fucking time,” I yell.

I hear the guys trying to control their laughter, but one of them is laughing so hard it makes me snort. Shaking my head, I walk out of the showers and into the locker room, holding my arms out wide, naked as the day I was born.

There are only a few guys here, and they’re all trying not to laugh. Weston doesn’t bother to hide his laugh, the fucking traitor.

“Who’d you piss off, Archer?” he asks.

“No one. I played my ass off this weekend and again at practice today.” I slap my ass to prove my point. “All right, ‘fess up, assholes, where are my clothes?”

They’re all in on it because not one of them gives me a towel or my clothes. In fact, the cabinet where we usually have extra towels is completely empty. Fucking mutiny.

“Come on !” I whirl around, my dick whipping heavily against my leg. “I didn’t know you wanted to see all this so bad.” I hold my hands out and have to press my mouth firm to keep from laughing.

Jon Carlos, the shyest rookie I’ve met yet, points out the door. His hand shakes. “I-I think I saw your pants out there.”

I give him an assessing look and the poor guy looks like he’s going to hurl. “Thank you, Jon Carlos. I’ll remember that you helped me out.”

I turn and glare at everyone else, and the snickers quieten. Roscoe shifts on his feet and looks away first. Yep, I thought this was his doing. He is cocky as shit and pure trouble, but I like the kid. He reminds me of how I was my first year with the Dolphins. Hell…I can still be that way when I want to be.

I walk out the door, going into the main hallway of our athletic center. I glance around and don’t see anyone, but my clothes and towel are in the doorway across from me.

I mutter a string of curses and walk over, bending down to pick them up .

And then turn around to see Elle walking out of the bathroom one door down. We freeze. Her eyes widen and journey downstairs, while I remember to cover my dick with my folded pants just a little too late. Fuck me.

“Roscoe,” I yell, still staring at Elle. “Your ass is mine.”

I hear Elle cracking up as I run into the locker room, and Roscoe hides behind Weston when I come after him.

“He won’t save you,” I tell him, pulling out my scary voice as I grab him and force him toward the showers, turning the water on as cold as it’ll go.

He shudders at the frigid temperature, but he takes it.

When I turn the water off, I bop him on the shoulder. “That was a good one, kid. But do it again and I’ll shave off every strand of hair on your body.”

“Respect, man,” he says through his teeth chattering. “I’ve got nothin’ but respect for you.”

I grin at him and go dry off. When I’m dressed and heading out, I look for Elle, but don’t find her. I call her on my way home and her voice is quiet through my speakers until I turn her up.

“Taking a break from streaking through the halls?” she asks, hardly able to get the words out from laughing so hard.

“Are you wheezing, love? Is that why I can’t turn you up loud enough?” I crack up myself.

When we finally stop laughing, I clear my throat and she coughs before doing the same.

“I noticed you didn’t look away,” I say smugly.

“Um, yes, I did…after you ran away.” She starts laughing again. “Do you blame me? I haven’t seen your ass since 2014, when you and the team streaked through the campus on our last night. And I…I’ve never quite managed to see what else you’re packing, which is ironic since it’s not like you’re modest or anything. ”

The unspoken is ringing out between us. She hasn’t seen me, but she sure as hell has felt me. I get hard just thinking about it.

“I didn’t know you were so curious, Elle baby. I would’ve shown you a long time ago if I’d known you wanted to see so bad.” My voice has gotten all hoarse and I’d give anything to see what color her cheeks might be turning right now.

“You’re ridiculous,” she says, but she sounds breathy too.

I can’t help but grin. “I’m curious too, believe me,” I tell her. “ But—” I drag the word out. “How do I tell you this? There’s something I’ve never told you.”

“What?”

When I’m quiet, she groans.

“Rhodes, what? You’re making me nervous.”

“I saw your nipple once,” rushes out of me. “On your right side. Senior year. Must’ve been the year we lost all inhibitions.” When she doesn’t laugh, I hurry to say, “I’m kidding. It was…we fell asleep in your dorm while watching a movie and you had on a baggy shirt that slid to the side and…I covered you up as soon as I woke up and saw.”

“That is so embarrassing.”

“Trust me, Elle, you have nothing to be embarrassed about when it comes to your body. That nipple was…” I let out a rough exhale. “Stunning.”

That nipple sighting played a role in my fantasies that whole next year when I moved to Miami. Hell, who am I kidding, I still picture it when I’m jerking off…although I do also manage to envision the other side that I never actually saw. I feel like I know Elle’s body as well as I possibly can, having seen her in bikinis and skimpy cheer outfits, but seeing her rosy pink nipple was the highlight of my life.

The level of regret I have that I did not strip her bare the night I touched her…well, I have a lot of regrets about that night, but that one’s up there.

I can’t help it if I’m pathetic. Everything about this girl has always done it for me.

“I’ve made it awkward, haven’t I?” I finally say.

She giggles. “No. Yes . I just can’t believe you’ve never told me this until now.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t exactly sure how to bring that up. Nip slips happen. It’s actually surprising it hasn’t happened more often. We really need to work on that.”

She laughs again and I’m relieved.

“It seemed only right to tell you after you admitted to being curious,” I say softly.

“What other secrets are you keeping from me?” she asks.

Girl, if you only knew.

“I’m pretty much an open book when it comes to you,” I say.

“Pretty much,” she echoes. “Yeah, same.”

We talk about our practices that day and about the week ahead before hanging up. When I pull into my garage, I wish she was pulling in next to me. The house is always especially lonely on the weekends I’ve had an away game because I have less time with Levi. When I have a Sunday game out of town, Carrie has Levi from Saturday until Monday or Tuesday, depending on my unpredictable travel schedule. This week, she’s got him until Wednesday while she has family in town and it’s another away week coming up, so I’ll only see him in the evenings after practice, Wednesday through Saturday.

The house looks beautiful after my parents, Elle, and I decorated, and when I walk past the tree, I realize Elle still hasn’t said when we’ll get together to exchange our gifts. In the past, we spent every Christmas Eve together, and the first year I moved to Silver Hills, we hung out on Christmas night too, after celebrating with our families. It got complicated when she was dating Bernard, but we still stole away on Christmas Eve to spend an hour together, just the three of us…Elle, Levi, and me.

Bernard hated that, and I don’t blame him.

I’ve dropped my keys in the dish I keep in the kitchen when my phone buzzes. I grin when I see that it’s Elle.

Before I can say anything, I hear, “Rhodes,” and the crack in her voice makes me break out into a cold sweat.

“What’s wrong?” I demand.

“Can you come? I’m—scared.”

I already have the keys and am sprinting to the garage.

“What’s going on, Elle? Talk to me, love.”

“I’m okay. I’m just trying not to freak out. I was…pulling into the driveway and something caught my eye. There was a…one of those…” She pauses and the suspense is killing me, but I try not to rush her. “A blow-up doll, like one of those,” her voice lowers into the phone, “sex dolls? It was leaning against Brock’s truck. Rhodes, it looks like me!” She talks faster. “And that was just starting to register when Brock walked over to it and just stood there next to it, staring at me!”

“Fucking creeper,” I mutter. “I’m on my way. Are you inside, doors locked?”

“Yes.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “I didn’t react until I got inside and now I can’t stop shaking.”

“I’m two minutes away, baby. I’ll knock, but make sure it’s me before you open the door. Are you able to get some things together? If not, just wait until I’m there and I’ll help you. I’m bringing you back home with me, okay? ”

“I can get some things really quick. I’m going to my bathroom right now to get my overnight bag.”

“Stay on the phone with me, okay? And as soon as we get back to my place, we can make a few calls about how to handle this.”

“Okay.”

“Breathe,” I tell her, and it calms me when I hear her taking deep breaths, each one sounding less shaky than the last. “That’s it.”

“Thank you,” she says and I can tell she’s put me on speakerphone. “It’s helping.”

“I guess I’m getting my wish today after all,” I say.

“What wish?”

“You’re moving in with me tonight.”

She laughs. It’s light, but the sound calms me even more.

“This will probably be the craziest thing we’ve ever done,” she says.

“I think it will be the best thing we’ve ever done,” I say. “And it’s been a long time coming.”