While the rest of the guys woke up hungover, I awoke ready for battle. I’d nursed one beer the entire night and instead had imaginary conversations in my head about how the talk with Lorelei would go.
She might not be down for changing our deal because she said she’d never date an athlete, but this wasn’t dating. I’d convince her or I’d do whatever I could to get her to agree to be exclusive friends with benefits. Sunday had changed the makeup of my DNA, and it was silly to credit that night for playing the best game of my entire life, but for a guy obsessed with stats, it was hard to disprove it. Letting myself go, having a little fun, made me more relaxed, which made my muscles less tense and made it easier to move.
So technically, sleeping with Lorelei was best for my future.
Okay, sure.
It was how I rationalized it and let go of all the red lights flashing in my head as to why it was a terrible idea. It’d betray my QB, go against my own promise to myself, potentially hurt my grandma’s future, and threaten to ruin my entire plan, but hey, it made me play better, so yeah, it was worth it.
Now she just had to agree. Plus, keeping it casual meant no one would get hurt. Not Lorelei, not me, nor my grandma who kept asking about her.
My knee bounced up and down on the bus ride back to campus, the nervous energy at seeing her overtaking my senses. God, the selfie she sent wearing my teammate’s jersey with other guys around her… did the woman not know what that unleashed in me?
It made me want to bite her thighs so she knew I was there every time she took a step. Suck her neck so when she put her ponytail up, she’d see me there. Fuck her again, so any man in the future would have to work twice as hard to replace the memory of me.
Lorelei Romano had a hold on me, and I wasn’t ready to let go.
I’d proudly avoided social media for years because it messed with my mental health too much, but I stared at my new account with zero followers and a placeholder profile picture. No one needed to know sportsguy09809 was me, not even Lorelei—the one account I followed.
I scrolled through her posts, like an obsessed teenager. She went out last night looking gorgeous, in someone else’s jersey. Photos of her and baseball players, beer, and is that fucking Eric?
My left cheek twitched. Had she hung out with her ex last night while I was out of town? My stomach hollowed at the thought. I closed the app, chewing my lip in annoyance. This was why I didn’t get online. It pissed me off.
Sixty minutes until arrival. One hour until I could see her, ask about Eric, and beg her to renegotiate our deal. See, my plan was simple. I’d give myself two nights off a week, around both our sports schedules. It wasn’t dating—that’d be a hell no. But friends with benefits. Secret ones. Exclusive ones—this one was important. It’d just be us, and no one would ever find out. Definitely not Dean. That was the first rule.
My phone buzzed with my grandma’s name, and I answered instantly. “Is everything okay? Are you alright?”
“Luca, you cannot assume the worst every time I call you. I could be asking you a question about fireworks or thongs or that pretty girl you brought.”
A strangled sound escaped my throat. “No thongs.”
“You’re no fun.” She laughed. “I wanted to congratulate you. You played a hell of a game, honey. We were all hooting and hollering until Pete fell asleep. Then we pranked him, but I caught most of the game.”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Thank you. Hopefully Pete is okay?”
“It was just a little thing, don’t you worry. Now, are you coming up again with Lorelei soon? The manager told me today that we’ve had a few thousand dollars in donations come in already from some viral thing? I want to ask her questions about it.”
Thousand dollars. I blinked. “Wait, really?”
“Don’t you live with the girl? Luca, get your head out of your football helmet and smell the roses. I thought you’d be doing more fun stuff with her around.”
“I am.” I blushed. “I mean, I’m having fun.”
“Okay, dear. Are you two coming up tonight?”
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I’ll have to ask her if she can.”
“If not tonight, have her call me. Give her my number, would you?”
Something weird and painful wedged itself in my chest. Lorelei had left a mark on my grandma, and for some reason, I worried my grandma would get hurt. That was unacceptable in any capacity. Frowning, I said, “Sure, but I can ask her anything you did.”
I didn’t plan on giving Lorelei my grandma’s number.
“Okay, well, Beta is here with an onery look so I gotta go. Love you, Luca. Congrats again.”
“You too.”
I hung up, even more confused about the pressure and feelings growing in my chest. My body felt like a water hose with a kink in it, where these feelings were going to make me burst. I tended to repress them or avoid them, and I wasn’t equipped to do much else.
I wanted to talk to Lorelei, and I put on a playlist to distract myself the rest of the drive.
Oliver, Callum, Dean, and I rode to the bus together, so we got in Callum’s car to head back to the house. Oliver might’ve still been drunk with how he smelled, and Callum kept yawning.
Dean frowned at his phone, and if I wasn’t so caught up in guilt about wanting his sister, I’d ask what was wrong. Asking meant opening up the door to more than football talk, and football talk was my comfort zone. Anything else was more difficult, and god why was Callum not driving yet?
“Want to get some food? Soak up last night’s regrets?”
Dean shrugged. “I’m game.”
“Ah, mate, no can do.” Oliver leaned against the window, his eyes closed and his skin paled. “I have a routine that involves not eating and essential oils. Can you drop me off at the house?”
“Sure. Bro, you were insane last night.” Callum finally started the fucking car, his amused eyes meeting mine in the mirror. “What about you, Luca? You joining hungover Ollie?”
“Drop me off, please.”
Was I hungry? Yes. But for food? No.
The ride took less than ten minutes but seemed twice as long. Callum parked on the street with the front door, and I hopped out, got my bags from the trunk, and didn’t wait for Oliver’s slow ass to follow. My hyperfocus had pros and cons, determination being one of them. Opening the door, I immediately smelled Lorelei’s lotion. Thank god she’s home.
I bolted up the stairs two at a time, my pulse radiating throughout my body. Music came from her room, and the absolute joy I had at knowing she was here should’ve bothered me. No one should have this much of a hold on me, but she did, and that was the truth.
Her door remained opened as she danced in her room, her eyes closed and a half smile on her face. She swayed her hips, only wearing tight running shorts and a baggy long-sleeved shirt with a football logo on the corner.
A picture of her in Oliver’s jersey flashed in my mind. I detoured from my plan for one second, dropping my bags off in my room and rummaging through my bottom drawer for one of my old football shirts. If she wanted to support our team, she’d be wearing mine.
With the navy shirt in hand, I gulped, suddenly numb with nerves. I’d already tasted her, yet this was more terrifying. More at risk to get distracted. I stood at my doorframe, watching her and thinking up what to say first. I want to fuck you again seemed too aggressive, where I missed you was too emotional.
She spun in a circle, a piece of paper in her hands when she opened her eyes and gasped. “Luca! You’re back!”
A blush spread slowly from her face to her neck, and her wide brown eyes softened as I marched toward her. Oliver would be passed out, feeling like shit. Callum and Dean were gone. This was my moment.
“You wear this if you want to support our team.” I handed her my shirt, letting our fingers brush as she took it.
She held it up, rubbing her lips together as her eyes sparkled. “And what is this?”
“Mine,” I growled.
“Ah.” She pursed her lips before smirking, her face lighting up with amusement. “You feeling jealous, Monroe?”
“I don’t do jealous,” I said, closing the distance between us until the back of her knees hit her bed. Her smell engulfed me, making my thoughts irrational, like how much I loved her hair and face and freckles. “So don’t get ideas.”
“Right. No ideas when you just growled mine like a dog.”
God, the mouth on her. I held her lower back, pressing her so her chest crushed mine, and I used my other hand to cup her hair. Her lids fluttered when I massaged her head, and I sucked in a breath at how good she felt against me.
If this was more than friends with benefits, I’d say she was made for me.
I stared down at her, my heart in my throat with all the things I wanted to say.
I didn’t get a chance. She grinned and ran a hand over my jaw. “You played so well last night, Monroe. I’ve always enjoyed watching you on the field, but now that I know a little about what’s in here—” she paused, tapping my chest right above my heart. “You’re amazing.”
I let go of her head and tilted her chin, dragging my thumb over her smooth skin. “Let’s talk about our deal.”
“So you’ve said.”
“I want more.”
A wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows for a second, the concern on her face like a bucket of ice water.
“I’ll be good to you,” I said, desperate for that wrinkle to disappear. “I’ll make you feel good.”
She breathed harder. “I know you will, but what does more mean to you?”
“Two nights a week, you’re mine. Only mine,” I added. That part was important.
“So, the other five nights I can do whatever I want?” She arched a brow, a challenge on her face. “Whoever I want?”
“No.” My eye twitched. “Exclusive friends with benefits. We’re not dating, that would never happen,” I added, to reassure her that she wouldn’t be breaking her own rules.
A shadow crossed her face but only for a second before she licked her lips. That little gesture sent a flash of heat through my body.
It’d only been a few days since tasting her, and my control was slipping.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, your mouth and body,” I said, my voice shaking with need. I ran my fingers from her chin to her neck, over her collarbone and over her chest. “I played the best game of my entire fucking life, so it’d be foolish not to continue this.”
She nodded, her eyes closing as I massaged her neck. I loved touching her. Any part of her, really. Contact with her calmed me down while also lighting me up. It was a lethal combination. She moaned when I found a knot, and I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Please say yes. I need you to say yes.”
She sighed, pushing me gently enough for me to worry. The indecision on her face felt like I was falling through ice, slippery and terrified I’d get hurt.
“I’m a rational person, so I need to recap this, okay? You want us to be friends with benefits, exclusive ones, where we fool around twice a week. We will never date. And you want this so you can play better at your games?”
I nodded. “Yes, all of that.” I gulped, my throat throbbing with pain.
“I’ll think about it.” She clicked her tongue and moved away from me, the loss of her body heat sending a chill through me.
Think about it? Panic clawed up my throat, gripping my voice box. “Tell me what’s holding you back,” I practically shouted at her.
“I have a lot to think about, Monroe, because all your reasons sound great to you. Besides making me feel good, and trust me, the sex was incredible, what’s in this for me? If my brother finds out, he’ll be furious, and I need to live here until the holidays. You’ve gone hot and cold on me before, so what if I get feelings and you cut me off? It’ll hurt, and I just now got over the last guy. I know football will always come first for you because of your grandma, and I love that so much, but I need to think about me here.”
“I’ll do whatever you want, whatever you need. Please…”
She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her soft, perfect lips against mine way too quickly. The touch of her mouth on mine was a lightning bolt through my body, causing a current of electricity under my skin. I gripped her hips, holding her tight before she broke apart.
She gave me a sad, tiny smile. “How do we make sure we don’t get feelings?”
“We just don’t. We agree to the terms, and that’s that. Neither one of us can afford feelings, and we’re rational adults.” Even as I said the words, an uncomfortable amount of pressure grew in my chest, causing my heart to beat twice as fast. I was so afraid she’d say no that an idea hit. More time together.
“My grandma wants us to visit her tonight. Are you free? Can I drive you up there and convince you to get dinner with us?”
She narrowed her eyes for a beat before she grinned, wide. “Are you using your sweet, wonderful grandma as bait for me to agree to this?”
“Sure am.”
Laughing, she rested her forehead on my chest, her arms coming around my waist. “Playing dirty, I see.”
“I can’t express to you how desperate I am to have you again. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do, to be honest.” The words were true, regardless of if it made me sound unhinged. “So, what do you say? We go visit my grandma, so you can work on your project, and I can spend the entire time convincing you to agree?”
“Fine. Fine.” She licked her lips, ran her hand through my hair and brought her mouth close to mine.
I tensed, waiting for her to close the distance and kiss me again, but instead, she took one hand and shoved my chest. She pushed so hard I backtracked out of her room and into the hallway. “Hey!”
“I’ll be ready in an hour, Monroe. Behave.”
Then, she shut the door on me, and for some, dumb reason, that made me smile.
