Page 18

Me

Good Game, 2!

Nate

Thanks BB. That last touchdown was for you.

Me

Well, I won’t tell Jack. I saw them after the game, and they were still so hyped up over you tossing them the ball when you scored. You made it so special for them.

Nate

Their excitement was motivation for me. I loved seeing them all so happy.

Nate

And you too, don’t think I missed you jumping up and down after I scored.

Me

Chill… I ride hard for my Wolves. Don’t flatter yourself.

Nate

Please refrain from using “ride hard” in a text to me. I’m not a strong enough man for that.

Me

Remember, I love to torture you.

Nate

Oh, don’t I know it, baby.

Nate

Speaking of, I was looking for you after the game, but the guys said you and the girls headed back to get ready.

Me

Yeah, we’re going to Alchemy tonight. You going?

Nate

I am now.

“ I feel like I’m going to have to cut someone’s dick off tonight with the way these guys are looking at you two,” Darby says loudly as we walk past a group of men who shamelessly check us out.

“We want to make ’em sweat. Especially a few in particular,” Bellamy says, bumping her hip into mine. We’re both wearing strapless body con dresses. She paired hers with short cowgirl boots that fit her vibe perfectly. Of course, I went for comfort in my Air Force Shadows, adding a little height to my small frame.

Raising my eyebrow at her, I ask, “Something you want to share with the audience? Who are you trying to make sweat?”

She playfully rolls her eyes. “Every single one of them, babe.”

But somehow, I think she has a brown-eyed, hockey-playing cowboy in mind.

“Okay, sis. If that’s the lie we’re telling,” I smirk.

“You really want to go there…” Quirking her eyebrow, she gives me a knowing look.

Darby laughs and shakes her head. “Before I call both your asses out, let's go get a drink.”

“And Berkley, please don’t forget again and hand the bartender your real ID.”

I throw my hands up. “Ugh, I’m never going to live that down. It was spring break, and I was already hammered.”

Only a few more months until I’m legally twenty-one and don’t have to worry about it anymore.

We opt for shots so we can dance without spilling drinks on each other. After downing them, Bellamy notices the guys over in the VIP section. Nate and all his roommates are surrounded by a bunch of football players. I watch on as several groups of girls are let into the section as well.

Darby starts that way, but I grab her arm and nod toward the dance floor. “Let’s dance.”

She looks surprised at first, but then she says, “Oh, that’s right, gotta make them sweat.”

Bellamy and I giggle and head to the dance floor just in time for Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” to come on.

We dance and sway, singing along, but my eyes keep finding their way back to the VIP area. I see a girl I recognize as a Zeta whisper something in Nate’s ear, and hot prickles scatter across my body.

He smiles but shakes his head, slinging his arm around Nola’s neck. Nola gives the brunette his signature playboy smile; then he grabs her hand and heads out to the dance floor. The satisfaction I feel from witnessing what seemed like Nate turning her down floods me with renewed confidence, along with a need I’ve been ignoring.

A few songs later, Nola spots us and ditches his dance partner. The song changes to “Yeah Glo!” by GloRilla when he joins our little circle. Bellamy and Nola get in each other’s faces, having a rap off. Bellamy is always guaranteed to know the lyrics to any popular rap or country song; it's why she makes a fun karaoke partner, since she doesn’t even have to read the screen. Her red hair sways down her back as she bops her head to the beat.

Strong arms wrap around me from behind, catching me off guard. He smells good, but it isn’t the scent I crave or the touch I ache for. Turning around, I smile up at Carter. “Hi.”

He leans in to kiss me, and I turn my head in time for him to kiss my cheek.

The frown on his face brings on the guilt I’ve been feeling so much lately. I need to own my shit and tell him the truth, point blank, instead of gently trying to move him back into the friend-zone. It isn’t fair to him.

“Oh, it’s like that,” he huffs, and I smell the alcohol on his breath.

Part of me wishes I could just snap my fingers, and we could go back to freshmen year, when we were just friends before things got complicated.

“Come on, let’s dance,” I say, turning back around as the song changes again, wanting to keep things light. Seemingly satisfied, his hands rest on my swaying hips. I can officially admit to myself something about having his hands on me in the same room as Nate feels extremely wrong. No matter what my heart may feel, I remind myself I belong to no one. I haven’t made any promises to either of them.

I just need to relax and try to have a good time. Rocking to the beat, I let my body move to the music as I watch all my friends have fun around me.

Carter pulls me into him, and I feel him harden against me. Not wanting to give him the wrong impression tonight, I put some space between our bodies. My eyes flit over to the VIP section, but I don’t see Nate.

My attention must linger over the area for too long, because Carter interrupts me, “You’re looking for him, aren’t you?” he asks, biting my ear. “You know we haven’t fucked in what feels like forever. Hell, you barely even let me kiss you anymore. He’s right, isn’t he?”

With my heart now pounding harder, I ask, “What are you talking about?” I take his hand, dragging him away from the crowd around us.

“Never mind. Let’s get out of here.” He grabs my hips, pulling me into him again. “I miss you.”

I shake my head, feeling uneasy. “No, I’m here with my friends, Carter. I can’t leave right now.” I’m using a cop-out, and it’s obvious. This conversation is evidence enough I need to end things with him officially.

“Can’t, or won’t?”

I flinch at the bite in his question. “Both.”

“I bet if I were him, you wouldn’t be saying that. You think I’m stupid? You think I didn’t see what he was flaunting on his wrist yesterday?”

“Carter…” I swallow, trying to find the right words; the last thing I want to do is hurt him. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to hurt you. But I think…”

“Don’t fucking say it, Berkley.” He jerks his arm out of my grasp. “You know what…fuck this shit.”

His reaction twists my stomach as I call out after him, “This is why I never promised you anything, Carter. I didn’t want it to ruin our friendship.”

He salutes me and walks away.

Ay, ay, captain, but don’t be a fucking dick.

I rejoin the girls, no Nola in sight anymore.

“You okay?” they both ask me.

I nod reassuringly as a sense of relief washes over me. “Yeah, it’s my fault. I should have womaned up a while ago and told him how I was feeling. It was stupid and selfish of me not to.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, babe. You’ve had a confusing couple of weeks and, honestly, if Carter actually thought y’all had a chance at being more than friends with benefits, he was delulu,” Bellamy says, grabbing my arms and moving my body with hers.

“I agree, B. I know your kind heart, but just remember you never promised him anything else. Now have fun and let yourself have whatever or whoever you truly want. No matter how wrong you may think it is or how scared you are. Take it from me, life is too short to worry about all that and not be with who you want to be with.” Darby slings her arm around my shoulders, swaying with Bellamy and me.

I let both their words ease my guilt. After all the revelations over the past few weeks and the way my heart and body still feel, I know there’s no reason to keep denying myself something I want so badly.

Letting the peace of that self-awareness calm me, I give them both a big smile, suddenly feeling more like myself than I have in a long time. “I love y’all! Let’s dance and then cause some chaos in the VIP section.”

“Bet!” Bellamy gives me a shit-eating grin.

Several songs later, Darby nudges me, and I look up, seeing Nola leading the literal pack of wolves over to us.

My belly dips, and my toes tingle when my eyes meet Nate’s. He’s so fucking hot it’s ridiculous. Willow’s words play on repeat as my gaze drifts to the sleeve on his right arm. I have the urge to find out exactly what she meant the other night, and I don’t want to wait any longer.

“Where’s the rest of your dress?” I hear Cash growl under his breath to Bellamy, and I smirk.

Make him sweat, sis.

Bellamy rolls her eyes and keeps dancing with Darby, but I see the smug grin she tries to hide from the way he watches her.

“Is the coast clear?” Whispered words flutter across my neck, and my core clenches at his closeness.

“What coast?”

“The one where your boyfriend, or whatever he is, was hovering around?”

“He isn’t my boyfriend, never was.” I spin around to face him.

His hazel eyes darken as he steps a bit closer. “Does he know that?”

“Yes.” My voice breathier than just moments before.

“Good. I don’t give a flying fuck, but I don’t want you to feel bad.”

“Feel bad about what?”

He licks his thumb, rubbing it across his bottom lip, and all I can think about is how good that mouth would feel between my legs. I’m so turned on, I almost miss when he says, “When I kiss you later.”

Wetness floods between my legs, but I tilt my head, playing it cool. “Very presumptuous of you, don’t ya think.”

He closes whatever space was left between us. “You telling me you don’t want it as bad as I do?”

It’s hard to breathe; all the air has been sucked out of this club.

“Come on,” he says, putting his hand on the small of my back and nodding toward the group. “We came out here to get y’all.” His touch burns through my dress, and I feel like I’m going crazy with need.

Nate’s hand never leaves its place on my back as we enter the VIP section, and I’m ridiculously close to begging him to put his hands somewhere else.

Nate

Dancing with Berkley feels like old times. The feeling of her body against mine consumes me. Every slide of her ass, every laugh, every gentle touch drives me fucking wild.

I’m harder than I’ve ever been, and I keep having to think of the time a dirty jock strap was being thrown around the locker room and hit me right in the face to stop myself from coming in my pants.

Not sure how much longer that’s going to work with the way her ass keeps rutting into me.

“BB, you’re going to have to stop that,” I growl through Berkley’s blonde hair into her ear. “You forget I know what your ass looks like when I’m hitting it from this angle, and right now, I’m trying my best not to think about that.”

She bites her lip, looking over my shoulder, purposefully grinding into my cock. I don’t miss the way her eyes roll back before she closes them.

“I know you remember, too,” I whisper.

Giving me a break, she turns around and dances in front of me against Bellamy, but never takes her blue eyes off mine. Then she leans closer, her lips just barely touching my ear, “I remember everything .”

My hands find her hips, and I smile. Her admittance has my insides flip-flopping, especially when she was denying that just a few weeks ago.

God, this feels good; it feels like us .

She bounces between Bellamy and Darby, each time making her way back to me. I love seeing her have fun like this. When we were younger, I would literally sit and watch her do anything. As long as she had a smile on her face, I was content.

“I can’t take my eyes off you,” I whisper the next time she steps in front of me, swaying her hips.

She surprises me, turning and slinging her arms around my neck. The smirk on her pretty face makes my knees weak.

“That was the goal, Outlaw.”

“Oh yeah?”

Biting that damn lip again, she nods toward the small alcove in the back of the VIP section. “I want to see something.”

She moves her hand down, slipping it into mine, where it fits so effortlessly. My heart races like she’s asking me to jump off a cliff with her.

I’d dive headfirst if she asked me to.

Once we’ve made our way over, I purposefully sit first so I can pull her onto my lap. Her hands fall to my chest as she looks down at me. “What did you want to see, BB?”

“A truth for a truth?” she asks, trailing her finger down my tattooed arm.

I swallow, not sure where this is going, but I nod anyway. I’m ready to give anything to her.

“Why did Willow say I needed to take a closer look at the locket on your tattoo?”

Dammit, Will.

Without hesitation, I twist my arm so my forearm is facing up. Berkley trails her fingertip over the inked skin there.

She gasps, pushing to stand between my legs and picking up my arm like she’s trying to make sure she’s seeing it correctly.

Her eyes blink rapidly, and I see the emotion pouring into them. “When did you get this?”

“Spring semester of freshmen year over several sessions.”

She closes her eyes, head shaking. “I just don’t understand.”

I pull her back onto my lap and kiss the lone tear that slips onto her cheek. “You were burned into my very core, and when I wasn’t with you, I felt you here.” I press her hand into my chest, right over my heart. “So, it only made sense to have a piece of you where I could see it any time.”

“In my journal that day, I wrote: In another life, I’d come back as an octopus, and you’d be the treasure I’d find and keep forever.” Berkley clenches my shirt like she’s not only holding on to me, but to every word I’m speaking.

“Maybe it’s cheesy, but I meant it, and in some weird, alternative universe, it gave me peace.”

“This is too much, Nathan.” She sniffs as her delicate finger finds her initials etched into the locket the octopus has tangled in his tentacle. “This whole time, I’d convinced myself you were living your best life with no second thought about me, but that wasn’t the case at all, was it?”

Shaking my head, I assure her, “Not for one second.” I push her hair to the side, exposing her neck.

“Now, can I get my truth?”

She nods, her clear blue eyes shining brightly from emotion.

I kiss the corner of her mouth and whisper, “Who do you see when you close your eyes? Not right now, but at the end of a long day before you fall asleep?”

She encases my face in her hands and answers without a second of hesitation. “You, always you.”

And then her mouth is searing into mine, taking my breath away. Her glossy lips linger, and it takes everything in me not to deepen the kiss, but I let her lead. Unlike the other week in my room, this kiss isn’t rushed.

Her lips trail down my jaw, and when she gets to my neck, her tongue licks along my rapidly beating pulse.

“Fuck, BB.”

“I’d like that too,” she smiles against me, throwing her leg over my lap and straddling me. My hands find either side of her thighs, loving the skin-to-skin connection of my palms on her bare legs.

“Baby, be careful. I can make that happen right now,” I growl, grinding up into her. Her lips find their way back to my mouth, and her hand cups my hard cock through my pants. We both swallow each other’s moans at the contact.

God, this woman is my weakness. Emotion clogs my throat at the fact she’s in my arms, kissing me like this again.

Berkley runs her hands through my hair, tugging my head back. As she drags her lips back to my throat, my hands roam her body. She moans and nips at my ear, and I dip my head down, trailing my tongue across the top of her cleavage, unable to get enough of her.

“Touch me,” she whimpers. My hands are all over her body, but I know what she’s asking. I briefly glance over her shoulder; all our friends are just a few yards away but in their own world.

My hand slides across the soft skin of her inner thigh until it disappears under her dress, finding her silk panties are damp. “Fuck, you are so wet, BB,” I groan into her mouth, tangling my tongue with hers as she palms my cock again. I swallow her moan, sliding one finger into her soaked pussy. “Words can’t even describe how much I’ve missed this.”

“I wish I could see your cock right now. Just the feel of you…” She squeezes me, and we both whimper, “Fuck, I forgot how thick you are.”

Her praise has my dick throbbing even harder, and I can’t control the way I’m rutting up into her; I’m so consumed with lust, I block everything else out.

She watches me as I reach into my own pants, adjusting my cock; I’m so hard, the top of it sticks out of the waistband, resting heavily against my stomach. Berkley bites her lip at the sight and swipes her thumb across its head, making me shiver. Her pussy clenches around my fingers as she touches me.

“I’ve missed this needy pussy.”

“Nate...” She pulls my head to hers, eyes locking onto mine. “Tell me you’ve thought of this as much as I have over the last few weeks.”

“Baby, I have thought about this every day since the last time I touched you.”

Her eyes roll back in her head, and she rides my hand harder. The thought of us being in public is apparently the last thing on either of our minds.

She braces my shoulders, legs shuddering and tightening around my hips. “Nate, oh fuck. I’m coming. I’m coming.” Her head falls forward, and I know there’s no stopping my own orgasm as it rips through me. As her pussy spasms around my finger, my body turns molten hot. Our moans mix together, and I buck up into her uncontrollably until ropes of cum are spilling between us.

When her breathing regulates, she immediately looks down. My finger’s still inside her, and my cum is sticky on my stomach and shirt.

“Holy shit, did you come?” she moans again at the realization, rolling her hips.

I nod, and she clenches on my fingers. “That’s so fucking hot, Nate.”

“You make me lose my fucking mind.”

Then she’s swiping her two fingers through my cum and bringing it to her lips. My dick twitches back to life at the sight.“I didn’t think you could be any sexier, BB,” I groan, languidly moving my finger in and out of her pussy.

“I’m not lying when I say I would sit on your cock right here and now,” she whispers in my ear, still riding my hand.

But unfortunately, I see a wide-eyed Graham walking up to us. “Incoming,” I whisper to her, grabbing her hip to slow her motions.

He’s holding up his phone as he says, “Yo, your sister said she tried you and Berk and couldn’t get y’all, but she’s just leaving her friend’s place, heading here.” He pauses as he looks us over briefly, then glances down and clears his throat. “I see now that y’all are…umm, a little busy. But anyway, I told her where to find us.”

Berkley buries her head into my neck, and I can feel her laughing.

“Thanks, man,” I call out as he heads back toward the group. I realize we’ve now attracted the attention of a smirking Bellamy, too.

“He’s gone,” I say, and even though it’s the last thing I want to do, I pull my finger from inside her.

“Now it’s my turn.” Slipping my finger between my lips, I savor the taste. “Sweet as I remember,” I hum, and she watches me with a look of lust.

“Come home with me after?” I ask.

A smile takes over her face, and she nods.

Fuck yes.

Berkley

“You little slut,” Bellamy whispers playfully in my ear.

I smile proudly, because I’m pretty sure I just had the hottest orgasm of my life, and he didn’t even put his dick in me.

“I’m going home with him, just so you know.”

“Good for you, babe. I wish I had a hot stalker to fuck me good at the end of the night.” She pauses, grabbing my arm. “He is good, right?”

I smirk, giggling. “The best.”

“What are you two conspiring about over here?” Nola asks. “Ways to kill Nate and Cash?”

“What makes you think I care about what Cash does?”

“You reallyyy wanna go there?”

“Whatevs, playboy. What are you doing anyway?” she pretends to look at her imaginary watch. “By this time, you’ve normally picked your flavor of the night and ditched all of us.”

Nola chuckles. “You’re right. It’s about that time.” He shakes his head. “Man, I met this girl last night who has me all kinds of twisted up today.”

Bellamy smacks his arm. “Oh fuck, do tell?”

“Not much to tell. She doesn’t go here. I didn’t even get her number, but I find myself comparing everyone tonight to her, and they are all falling short.”

“Shit… Nola finally got knocked on his ass,” I tease.

“Nah, I’m sure I’ll be over it by tomorrow,” he laughs, but it’s not his normal confident one.

“Graham, on the other hand, looks like he’s really into that chick.” I nod in his direction.

“Leblanc ain’t letting nobody lock his ass down with the draft coming up… Not all of us are like loverboy over there.” He nudges his shoulder toward Nate, who’s watching me from the VIP railing, where he stands beside Maverick, who can’t seem to stop texting tonight.

My eyes trail to the bottom of his shirt, which was thankfully white, so it just looks like he spilled some of his drink on himself. Nate bites his lip, trying to hold in the smile, most likely knowing exactly what I’m thinking about.

Focusing back on Nola’s statement, I ask, “Oh yeah, what’s up with loverboy?” I can’t help but want to know everyone’s take on it.

“Completely obsessed with this little blonde cutie… You know her?” he teases.

I feel myself blushing. “Touché.”

“So y’all were pretty in love once upon a time, huh?”

Bellamy chuckles.

“Yeah, you could say that,” I smile, looking at Nate.

I’m starting to think neither one of us ever stopped.

“There’s Willow.” Bellamy waves to the much smaller but equally gorgeous Outlaw walking into the VIP.

She immediately hugs her brother, and I smile at their exchange.

“Nola, close your mouth,” Bellamy teases. “I know she’s hot as sin, but Nate will not approve of your playboy ways when it comes to his baby sis.”

Nola looks from Bellamy to me, confusion all over his face.

“Wait, that’s Nate’s little sister? The one still in high school?”

I nod. “Yep. She’s most likely coming here next year.”

He watches closely as Nate introduces her to Maverick and drags his hand down his face like he’s awestruck over Willow. It’s cute seeing him like this.

My focus drifts from them to Nate. The smile on his face and the look of promise in his eyes have my stomach dipping and clenching all at once.

Knowing Willow will be in good hands, and we’ll see her again in the morning, I mouth to Nate, “Can we go?”

He nods without pause.

I’ve missed this man more than I let myself admit until tonight, and now I want him to consume every part of me again.