Page 28 of Smut Lovers

Chapter Five

Finch

W hen Rafe left, my room felt oddly empty without his larger-than-life presence filling the space.

All I had was the lingering scent of him on the pillows and our dried cum on the sheets.

And while it was definitely disgusting to lay on that bed and try to sleep, I couldn’t bring myself to sleep on the clean one.

I should hate Rafe. He’d been a douchebag for the entire game, doing everything he could to get under my skin and try to make me fuck up.

Hell, we literally attended schools that were rivals with each other.

But he had a way of breaking down my defenses and leaving me wanting . And fuck , did I want him.

Being with him was inevitable. There was no way I could walk away. Not now.

My phone vibrated on the bedside table. Sighing, I rolled over and grabbed it. Pressing my thumb to the screen, I unlocked the phone, and my stomach swooped at the sight of Rafe’s message.

Rafe: Made it back to the hotel. Sleep tight, baby. I’ll text you in the morning. Goodnight.

Finch: Goodnight .

I hadn’t slept worth a damn the night before.

Rafe’s scent had bombarded me the entire night, and I usually slept on my back, but with my ass so sore, that hadn’t been very comfortable, so I’d had to sleep on my stomach and my sides, which had been damn near impossible.

When my alarm had gone off, I’d already been up, dressed, and had all my things packed.

After finding coffee in the lobby, I’d downed two pain pills, then made my way to the bus, which was already parked in front of the hotel and running.

I eased down into the seat at the very back of the bus and shoved my bag under the seat. After pulling my hood up, I put my headset in my ears and turned on Sleep Token, hoping it would lull me to sleep. I was so fucking tired .

My phone vibrated in my hand, and I glanced down at it, my chest tightening at his name.

Rafe: Morning, baby. Hope you slept well.

Finch: I slept okay.

Rafe: Feels like you’re lying to me. No one just sleeps okay, Ackley.

I huffed a laugh, keeping my head down as my teammates began to groggily make their way onto the bus. Didn’t matter that we were all used to having to get up early due to games and practices. None of us were morning people. Hell, even our head coach, Hayes, wasn’t a morning person.

Finch: I slept like shit.

Locking my phone back, I shoved it into my pocket and leaned my head on the window, letting my eyes slide closed again as Sleep Token’s newest song, “Caramel” began playing in my ears. And just like that, I was out, not even feeling my phone going off in my hoodie pocket.

I jerked awake in surprise when someone began shaking me, almost knocking my head into Damien’s as I lurched upright. He arched a brow at me and yanked his hand away. “You good, dude?” he asked.

I roughly cleared my throat, trying to blink the sleep from my eyes.

“Uh, yeah,” I croaked. Truthfully, I’d been dreaming about Rafe pinning me to that hotel bed and fucking me stupid, and my dick was hard, though my hoodie thankfully hid that.

It would be embarrassing as fuck if my teammates saw me walking around with a boner.

“We’re back at the school,” Damien told me. “Come on. Hayes is giving us the day off from practice so we can rest up.”

Nodding, I stood, making sure my hoodie still covered my hard cock, and grabbed my bag from beneath the seat.

“Good game yesterday,” Coach Hayes said once we were all off the bus.

“Rest today. Hydrate. Get your protein in. Practice resumes tomorrow. We have two days before the championship game.” And with that, he turned and walked away, raising his to-go mug of coffee to his lips.

Yawning, I headed for the parking lot we were parked near so I could get my car and head to the frat house.

I was ready to crash back into my bed that didn’t smell like Rafe so I could hopefully get some good rest. I was going to need it in preparation for the championship game.

I had to be on my A-game. It was my final game as a basketball player, and I wanted that championship as desperately as my teammates did.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out as I tossed my bag into the backseat. My eyes widened in alarm at the number of texts and calls I had from Rafe.

Rafe: Why didn’t you sleep well?

Rafe: Finch?

Rafe: Are you ignoring me?

Rafe: I’m not a fan of being ignored.

Rafe: Scared your teammates will know we fucked?

Rafe: Ackley.

Rafe: Alright, baby. Wanna play this game? Fucking bet.

Rafe: Where the fuck are you?

Christ, it was a little early in this… relationship, if we could call it that, for him to be going crazy about me not texting him back immediately, wasn’t it?

Sighing and deciding I would text him back once I was back at the frat house, I stuffed my phone back into my pocket and slid into the driver’s seat of my car.

The drive home was only about three minutes, and when I pulled up, I frowned at the sight of my teammates who’d made it back before me crowding the porch steps. Quickly, I got out and rushed up the walkway, wondering what was wrong.

And then, the crowd parted just the tiniest bit, and Rafe’s eyes met mine from where he was standing on the porch.

Oh, fuck .

I halted, my heart jackhammering against my chest bone as I stared at him.

My gut cramped, and my hands grew clammy.

I was beginning to panic, but I couldn’t stop it.

My teammates couldn’t know about us yet.

They would alienate me, and we were at a crucial point in the season.

We literally had the fucking championship game in two days .

A rift in our team could ruin our chances of scoring that win.

“Why is he here?” Wesley, one of my teammates, asked, looking at me with a frown.

“I—” I couldn’t make my throat or my lips work enough to form more words.

“We’re together,” Rafe bluntly stated as he made his way down the steps to me, his eyes locked on mine. “And he was fucking ignoring me, and I’m not a fan of my man ignoring me.”

Wesley’s frown deepened as Rafe grabbed my hand and linked our fingers together.

Despite being irate, he comfortingly squeezed my fingers and pulled me closer, pressing our sides together.

My heart rate slowed some, and I felt like I could breathe a little easier.

He was handling this situation so I wouldn’t have to.

“You okay with him being here?” Wesley asked me. “Because we’ll send him on his damn way if you don’t.”

“I’d like to fucking—” Rafe growled, his eyes narrowed at Wesley, but I cut him off, thankful I could find my words again.

“He’s okay,” I rasped. Looking at Rafe, I said, “I was asleep. I wasn’t ignoring you. I was going to text you back once I got here.”

He hummed, narrowing his eyes at me. “You opened my texts.”

I sighed, too tired for this. “I did, yeah,” I agreed. “But I just wanted to get home, Rafe. I’m fucking exhausted .” And it was all his fault, though I didn’t dare say that out loud with so many of my teammates standing around.

I grunted in surprise when Rafe suddenly began tugging me through my teammates and into the house. “Then we’ll get you to bed. And later when you’ve had some sleep, we’ll do something about you ignoring me.”

One of the guys laughed from behind me, and my cheeks colored red.

But I still allowed Rafe to tug me into the house, and once I told him where my room was, he led me down the hall and pushed open my door.

As soon as the door was shut behind us, he tugged my hoodie over my head with my shirt, then shoved my shorts and boxers down, leaving me naked as I toed my shoes and socks off.

“Bed,” he rumbled, jerking his chin in the direction of my twin-sized bed.

“We won’t fit,” I muttered but made my way to the bed, nonetheless.

“We will,” he said, his voice filled with confidence as he shucked his own clothes, leaving them in a pile on the floor. Usually, that would irritate me, but I was too tired to care. I just wanted sleep… and skin-to-skin contact with Rafe.

Once I was on my back on the bed, Rafe squeezed in next to me on his side and tugged the blankets over us. With one leg tossed over mine and his arm over my torso, he rested his head on my chest. Instinctively, I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, holding him close.

“Go to sleep,” he said quietly when I yawned. “I’m not going anywhere, baby.”

I couldn’t stop the stupid, dopey smile from tilting my lips even if I tried.

“Good,” I whispered.