Page 23

TWENTY-THREE

TEDDY

I ’m warm and cramped and my neck hurts but I’m cozy. What is this weirdness?

I shift on my bed, eyes still closed and hoping to fall back asleep, when someone grumbles and a body pushes against me.

Rhys.

I can feel the smile lifting my cheeks and I wrap my arm around whatever part of him is in front of me and pull him closer. Sharing this tiny ass bed was the best and the worst. Having two big ass jocks in it means we were basically stacked on top of each other, but it was Rhys, so it was also perfect.

“You are the worst blanket hog.” Rhys’ sleepy and rough voice bitches from my pillow.

“Your ass takes up more space than it has a right to,” I counter.

“Your ass is bigger than mine. How did mine take up too much space?”

“I don’t know, but it was against my cock all night.” I stroke my hand down his body, finding he’s got his back to me with his perfect hockey butt against my groin. “It’s hard to sleep with a hard-on.”

He chuckles and rolls his hips.

Jerk.

“Since you’re my boyfriend, my dick is your problem.”

“Your dick is your own problem. Learn some self-control.” Rhys turns around and hooks his thigh around my hip. We’re in our underwear because fuck pants, so the thin material is a damn tease. “Kiss me.”

I pull my head back. “I can’t, I have dragon breath.”

“Dragon breath?”

“Yeah, really bad breath like when a dragon wakes up from slumber. Duh. That’s why they can breathe fire, their breath is so bad, it’s flamingo or whatever.”

Rhys squeezes his eyes closed and gets those cute little lines above his nose.

“I am not awake enough to figure out what that means.”

“What is there to figure out?” Silly man. I roll onto my shoulder so I can look behind me at the desk. A Red Bull can is in reach.

Please have something in it. Please have something in it.

By some miracle its got about a quarter of the can left so I lift up onto my elbow, pour some into my mouth and swish it around before swallowing. When I look at Rhys he is staring at me like I’ve transformed into a sewer gremlin.

“What?”

“Did—” He takes a deep breath. “Did you just use that Red Bull from, who knows how long ago, as mouthwash?”

“Is that a problem? It made my mouth taste better. You’re welcome.” I offer him the can which he stares at like it’s going to bite him. “Want some?”

“No, I am one hundred percent sure, I do not.”

I shrug and toss the rest of it back. “Your loss.”

“You’ve been awake all of seven minutes. How are you drinking that already?”

I toss the can into my trash can and fist bump the air when I make it. “Uh, it’s called caffeine and some of us mere mortals need it to make our skull computers do the beep boop beep.”

Rhys tosses his arm over his eyes. I guess he’s going to be dramatic today. But it’s fine since it leaves his chest open for me to ravage. Leaning forward, I suck on his nipple. He groans and uses his leg around my hip to thrust against me.

“Fuck, that’s not fair.” He gasps as I bite and then pull.

I hum with his skin in my mouth and rub my hand along his length.

“You’re getting too good at this.” Rhys arches into me and warmth floods my stomach. Damn, hot fluffies at it again. Being able to turn him on like this is heady. “I’ve created a monster. Promise me you’ll only ever use these powers for good.”

“Awww but I wanna be naughty with them,” I fake whine. I lick my way down his stomach to those sexy as fuck v things. “I want to fill these with my cum.” I run my nose up the indents.

“Who’s stopping you?” Rhys lies back to give me better access and slides his hand into my hair.

“How much time do we have?” We do have classes and I have to get my gym time in and I think Coach said we have tapes to watch today, thankfully practice is tonight instead of at ass-crack o’clock this morning.

He reaches for one of the phones on the window sill.

“Depends on if you want to eat breakfast or not.” Rhys runs his hand through my hair. It turns me into a puddle of goo when he does that.

“I have Oreos and Red Bull, I’m fine.”

The hand in my hair tightens and Rhys pulls my hair up to make me look at him.

“Excuse me?”

“What?”

“Oreos and Red Bull. For breakfast?” Rhys makes a disgusted face.

I shrug. “Yeah. It’s delicious.”

“How does your body survive on that? How are you building or sustaining muscle mass? How do you not vomit from all the sugar?!”

I shrug again. “I don’t know, science stuff I guess.”

“I am not eating that for breakfast. You’re going to feed me actual food. That grew in nature. With protein and fiber and nutrients.”

A dirty smile turns up my lips. “I’ve got plenty of protein and nutrients for you.”

Rhys pulls me up his body by my hair, grabs my jaw and barely stops my lips from touching his. “I would love nothing more than to suck your cock and drink your cum but if I’m going to make it through until lunch, I need food to fill my stomach and we don’t have time for both.” He ravages my mouth, fucking his tongue between my lips like it’s the last chance he’ll get to taste me.

My hips are forced against his by his legs, and he uses the leverage he has to thrust. I’m lost to sensation. Lost to him. And hungry for more.

But he stops way too soon and shoves me back. He’s red faced and his lips swollen like I’ve been fucking his face. God I’m so fucking hard I could use my dick as a hockey stick.

“Get dressed and find a restaurant.”

I sit up and point to my crotch, making an are you kidding me sound.

“I can’t go out like this! It’s indecent!” Rhys smirks at me and climbs off the bed, searching for his clothes. “I’ll scare small children and the elderly! Be arrested!”

“I’ll come visit you in prison. Even apply for conjugal visits.”

“What the fuck is a conjugal?” Disgruntled, I find some Summerset Olympian sweats and hoodie to pull on then hand Rhys another hoodie.

“Conjugal basically refers to marriage or the state of a marriage.” He looks at the hoodie then up at me. “What is that for?”

“You gotta wear this one. It’ll camouflage you so no one looks too close. We can’t have anyone recognize you as a Gods player.”

“I’m not wearing that.” Rhys shakes his head and crosses his arms.

“Why not?”

“Besides the fact that it’s my rivals school? Because I’m not wearing Gods clothes so why would anyone care enough to look close?”

Is he really this slow?

“Because. I’m. The. Starting. Goalie.”

“So?”

“People know who I am! If I show up someplace with some stranger, people will ask questions. Who is this guy with our amazingly talented, super-hot goalie?”

His eyebrows raise until they get hidden in the longer part of his hair. “You don’t think much of yourself at all do you?”

“I’m a damn hero! You need to recognize.” I cross my arms and wait for the worshiping.

“That’s big talk from someone who hasn’t beaten the Gods this season.”

I gasp and shove my finger into his chest. “You take that back!”

“What? The facts?”

I glare at him but don’t have a response. He’s right but I don’t have to admit it out loud. I’ve stopped some of his shots on goal…I force the thought out of my brain jello because the more I think about it the worse I feel, and I don’t want to have a bad day when the Red Bull Gods have blessed me.

“Does this mean you aren’t going to wear the hat and sunglasses either?” I hold them up.

“Are you trying to get more attention or less?”

“We gotta be in-cock-uous! Hide our identities.”

“I can’t tell if you mean inconspicuous or incognito.”

“Same thing.”

“But which one?” I ask.

“Doesn’t matter, sugar-cup!”

“I shouldn’t like when you call me that. And that would make us more conspicuous. Going out dressed normally is our best bet to blend in. Plus, its fine if people see you.” He throws his hands up in the air and lets them drop back down with an audible slap.

“Why do I like you again? You’re real rude.”

“Because I touch your cock.”

“Oh yeah. That’s true.” I grab the back of his neck and give him a kiss. “Fine, come on so I can feed you. You’re so hangry.”

We find a diner a few blocks from campus that will hopefully not be full of college students.

We’ve missed the breakfast rush, so we don’t have to wait too long for a table. Rhys gets a black tea, and I get orange juice.

“Black tea? Why do you hate yourself?”

“I don’t, that’s why I got the tea.”

“It’s bitter. There’s no sugar or anything in it. Not even cream to make it nice-ish.”

The waitress brings our drinks and takes our order. Rhys of course orders some healthy omelet thing with vegetables in it and whole grain toast or something. I get pancakes with a smiley face made with whipped cream, chocolate chips, and a maraschino cherry.

“You might as well have just eaten the Oreos,” he chuckles and shakes his head. He leans both elbows on the table, bringing himself closer to me. I want to lean across the table and kiss him but there’s a lot of people in here and we’re supposed to be on the down low.

Instead of the kiss I want to take, I slide my foot under the table so my ankle is against his.

“My pancakes also have butter and a fruit.”

“Fruit? There’s fruit on your smiley face pancakes?”

“Yes. There’s a cherry,” I tell him smugly.

“A maraschino cherry? That doesn’t count. It’s not really a fruit anymore. It’s basically candy.”

“Chocolate is good for you. Doctors say so.”

“Dark chocolate in small amounts has antioxidants. Milk chocolate does not.”

I glare at him. “You know, if you ate more pancakes, maybe you would be nicer and beefier like I am.”

“I honestly don’t know how you can possibly perform at the level you do when you don’t eat anywhere near a balanced diet. Don’t you have a nutrition plan?”

I shrug. “Probably in the stack of papers I shoved in my desk and forgot exists.”

He opens his mouth to respond but stops and watches something over my shoulder. After a few seconds, he sits back in the booth, putting space between us. Turning, I try not to groan when I see a group of my teammates in their hockey hoodies. Shit.

Blondie sees me and gives me a chin nod while elbowing Porter.

Shit.

Porter glances up and then Lancelot who waves.

Craaaaaaaaap on a cracker.

I’m sure one of them will recognize Rhys, especially if they find out his name which would be super awkward if they came over here and I didn’t introduce him. How am I going to explain this to them? He’s literally the enemy. And I just had my hand on his dick like ten minutes ago. Okay maybe it was twenty. That’s not the point.

I wave back and give them a half-smile before turning back around. Rhys has his hockey face on. The one that’s hard to read and yet he looks confident. It’s kinda weird.

“What’s that face for?”

“What face?”

“The face that’s on your face, face.” I point to it.

He picks up his tea and sips it as the boys stop at the end of our table. If we weren’t gigantic athletes, five of us could fit in this booth but if we tried, one side would be butt to butt and very uncomfortable.

“Hey guys,” I greet my teammates as the waitress brings our food out. They move out of the way and she sets the plates down. Lancelot is looking at Rhys weird and I don’t like it. “What’s up?”

Porter looks at my pancakes and snorts. “Goalies are so weird.”

“Hey!” Lance says.

“I rest my case,” Porter says before turning to Rhys. “You look familiar.”

Rhys smirks, taking a drink of his tea. “Do I?”

Bumble bees do a dance in my stomach. What will they think if they find out he’s from the Gods? Will they assume I’m giving him insight to fuck us over? That I’m trying to switch teams or poach him from them?

I don’t know how to play this. Fuck.

“Yeah…do you play hockey?”

Fizzle sticks. He’s thinking about this way too hard.

Rhys looks at me then back up at my captain.

“I do.”

“Who do you play for?”

Come on skull computer, do the thing.

“He plays for the Gods,” I finally open my fucking mouth.

Everyone’s attention locks on me, shocked, angry, confused.

Oh no.

“He’s my brother’s best friend. We’re planning a surprise party for him.” That’s solid right? None of them know that Tobi’s birthday is in August. Fucking Virgos. Picky, judgy, know-it-alls.

“Ahh,” they all say in unison and relax.

“Blondie throws a mean party if you need any help.” Shredder drops his arm around his best friend.

“Good to know, thanks.” I grab the maple syrup and pour some on my food.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Rhys asks.

“What part of cookies and energy drinks for breakfast are you not remembering? Seriously, might be time to talk to your trainer about that short-term memory problem.” I cut into my fluffy as fuck pancakes and shove a huge bite into my mouth.

The boys snicker and find their own table. Luckily they’re on the other side of the room from us but it’s still too damn close.