For Keeps

3. Prologue

Prologue

Beau

Senior Year

“ Fuck, I needed this. That game was shit.” I groaned, my hands threading through the silk of blonde hair.

Elise hummed with her pouty lips stretched around my dick. A post-loss blowjob hit just right after a disappointing and frankly unacceptable defeat. We played like shit—utter garbage.

We’d be screwed if we repeated that spectacle in the playoffs. We would face Woodburn again in the finals, and while they were decent, today’s win shouldn’t have been theirs.

Nine innings crouched at the plate, thighs burning, knees aching, and teeth cracking with the clenching of my jaw as Jake Lauder gave away hits like he couldn’t remember which team he played for. He brushed off my calls, ignoring me. Like always.

“Teeth, baby,” I mumbled, lightly scratching her scalp with my nails.

A murmured apology, and Elise returned to working me into a much-appreciated release.

She spent the drive to Adam Ellis’s bonfire stroking my cock and easing my temper by encouraging my libido.

“You did good,” she whispered into my ear, licking and biting and riling me up. Elise knew shit about baseball and cared even less.As soon as the truck parked in the empty field beside Adam’s house, she had my dick out—no protests from me.

“He let all those hits go,” I grunted, hips lifting off the seat as she took me deeper. “The pissy motherfucker. God, he’s insufferable.” I held her head steady as I pistoned in and out of her mouth.

“Driving around in that Camaro like he’s hot shit. Such an asshole. Biggest dick… Oh, shit.”

I thickened, my balls going tight before I tapped Elise to give her the warning I was about to explode down her throat.She took it in stride, finishing me off and popping up to check herself in the visor mirror.

Satisfied, she kissed my cheek and bounced out of the truck. “He’s the worst.”

“Hey,” I called. “You want me to…”

“Nope.” She waved from over her shoulder, skipping to meet her friends.

Yeah, okay.

I liked Elise, but I was pretty sure she used me to practice and prepare her sexual talents for college boys. There were worse arrangements, I guess.

I tucked myself away and adjusted my clothes. A few swipes through my unruly hair, still wet from the post-game shower. Hands gripping the steering wheel, I tried to let it go. The anger, the upset.

That asshole lived in my head as I got head. What the hell was wrong with me? I chuckled—nothing like an angry boner for a hard finish.

Tonight, I had a party to attend, high fives to give, and beer to drink.

“Get out there, and have the goddamn time of your life. You don’t care that he’d strangle you with your intestines, given the chance. You’d do the same to him.” A pointed look in the rearview mirror. “You would .” I didn’t need to be friends with Jake.

I sighed, opened my door, and slid out.

“Oh!”

I registered the breathy exhale as my shoes hit the ground, my hand shooting out to catch the poor girl I knocked over with my door.

“Shit, sorry!” I hurried, gripping her elbow before her ass landed in the wet grass. Muddied from foot traffic and tire tracks after a May shower, the field was a mess. She would have hated me for the damage to her jeans.

The flash of red hair, the generous smile, bright amber eyes…

“God, I’m so sorry, Fallon.”

Helping to steady Fallon Campbell, I willed myself not to die of embarrassment. Typically charming and smooth, my suave moves crumbled only in her presence. I felt like a giant fucking idiot.

“Are you okay? I should have checked before opening the door.”

The cut of floodlights above Adam’s garage cast enough light to catch the pink on Fallon’s sweetly freckled face.

“No worries, Beau. I’m okay. I think you saved me.” She pointed to the muddy puddle behind her.

“I kicked mud splatter on your jeans. Christ. I’m sorry, Fal.”

That blush deepened, and her eyes dropped to examine the damage. “Only the ankle. I don’t mind.”

Two years younger than me, Fallon Campbell was one of the coolest chicks ever. In existence. Anywhere.

Laid back, happy, sweet. So goddamn sweet. She loved board games, too, some real nerdy shit that spoke to my heart. I joined the game club on Wednesday afternoons to witness her gentle demeanor shift to all-out bloodthirst when playing Twilight Imperium.

“I saw you with Elise,” she blurted, covering her face. “I’m such a creep.”

Nudging her shoulder, I shot my best smile. “Should have joined us.”

Fallon’s face went crimson, and I wanted to choke on the cringeworthy joke. Why did I have to go stupid around her?

“Teasing, Fal.”

She puffed a breath, rolling her eyes. “I know… Of course. You’re quite a flirt.”

The slight break in her voice brought a dopey grin to my face. Cute to see her all pink like that, her adorable freckles hidden by embarrassment.

“You guys played…” Fallon chewed on her bottom lip and gave a shy smile. “You guys played,” she finished.

I gestured for her to walk with me. Tugging on the drawstrings of my hoodie, I winced. “That bad, huh?”

“No,” she said slowly, stealing a sidelong glance before looking away. “You had some impressive catches, and your hit in the seventh was well-placed.”

Yeah, it was. The only drive of the game to earn us any runs on the board.

“Thanks.”

The mud thinned as we approached Adam’s yard, but slick patches of flattened grass proved hazardous enough that she reached for my forearm. I didn’t stop her, even though all good sense urged me to pull away.

Jake hated me already. He didn’t need to catch his girlfriend clinging to me.

He bragged about Fallon watching him from the bleachers all year. He still couldn’t play well, even when trying to perform for his girl.I would have won the entire game as the only man on that field for her.

There had been enough moments between us, interested glances, shy smiles, and accidental brushes to feel purposeful—enough stutters of my heartbeat.

I kissed her first. I knew how soft her lips were, how quietly she moaned when tongues touched. I remembered it as vividly as I remembered him making his move after—the dick. Of course he did. He couldn’t handle losing to me in anything.

Ignoring calls for attention, I headed straight to the keg. Laughter and chattering conversations cracked the air, friends well on their way to drunk.I planned to join them, even those assholes from Woodburn who showed up like they hadn’t humbled our team tonight.

“Here.” I handed Fallon a cup, but she gave it back.

“Designated driver.” She glanced around. “I assume. Whenever Jake gets here.”

May he get lost. I toasted her empty hands and chugged my drink, wiping my mouth before refilling.

“He’s going on his first tug run in June,” she said, distracted as she searched the yard for the imposing shadow of her boyfriend.

Tugboat freight runs were notoriously rough and long. Leaving the docks in Seattle, hauling barges to Alaska and back. Weeks away from home with only days to rest in between.

Jake’s dad captained a tug with Boymer Towing and recruited townies with no other options to sign on as deckhands. The pay was solid, but the work was shit.

I snickered. “Gonna wait for him?”

Fallon didn’t even give a courtesy pause. “Of course.”

“Shouldn’t,” I said, taking my beer and looking for some company that wanted me.

The knock on the back of my head sent me stumbling forward, offset only by the same hand catching me before falling into the bonfire.

“Hey, don’t let him get to you.” Jason Clovely, my best friend, adored beating me down while hyping me up.His eyes followed the path of my glare.

“Jerk.” I rubbed the back of my head, shifting my gaze away from the ominous storm front moving through the party.

Jake arrived ten minutes ago with his friends, laughing and clapping them on the back like he hadn’t single-handedly lost our game.

“We’re almost out of here. Don’t waste the last of your time on old rivalries.” Jason grinned, waving to my sister, who stood by the fire and flipped him off. “Make new rivalries instead.”

“Easy for you to say.” I sipped my beer, enjoying the steady buzz thrumming through my head. “You know what you want.”

Jason and his girlfriend were moving to Michigan after graduation. He had his shit planned, prepared, and mapped out. Me? I had optimism, tonight aside, and an application awaiting a final decision.

“You’ll get into stunt school, you crazy fool. It’ll happen.” Jason squeezed my biceps. “Look at these guns, huh? Tell me you’re not ready.”

I wasn’t, but I pretended to slug him in the gut and laughed anyway.Beau Dalton was a goof. Joking. Teasing. Unaffected. I couldn’t be the life of the party if I siphoned all the fun from it.

Excusing myself, I headed to the keg for more beer. My buzz dulled with Jake’s arrival. Scowling over my cup, I watched him sweep Fallon off her feet—literally—when he lifted her to spin around. She dropped her head back and squealed.

God, her laugh was dreamy. Her red hair floated behind her, windswept, messy, and stuck in her shiny lip gloss. It didn’t embarrass her. She would rather laugh at herself than shrink into self-consciousness.

A year ago, her older sister Riley shaved off one of Fallon’s eyebrows in a petty dispute. Fallon didn’t hide. She just shrugged and pointed out the band-aid covering Riley’s bruised nose after she enacted her violent revenge.

Phenomenal, that girl .

“You played like shit,”drawled Trevor Parker, Woodburn’s star pitcher and another all-star athlete to compete with. Sort of. Wealthy, handsome, and heading for Stanford in the fall, he held a leg up in life.

“Yeah, well.” I eyed Jake, now mauling Fallon like a prick. Nobody needed that much tongue.

Trevor hummed, sipping his beer and glancing around. “It’s impolite to stare. Parents never taught you manners?”

The grip on my cup tightened as he leaned closer, his cologne crisp and light. Smelled good, at least. His eyes followed the path of my heated glare.

“Which one are you watching?”

I hated the shiver that accompanied his observation. It didn’t shame me to admit or acknowledge the fact men turned me on, but my best friend aside, I hadn’t shared that information with anyone in Windmere. Well aware of small-town life, I kept my hands to myself and my eyes down in the locker room.

“Watching nothing.” My ears registered the lie, but I ignored the smirk on Trevor’s lips.

He pulled away, his shoulder brushing mine as he surveyed the party. The horse fields beyond the bonfire were dark, with nobody venturing past the fences.

“He’s hot,” Trevor said. “I’ve jerked off to him plenty over the years. Must make locker room showers a bit interesting—”

“Shut the fuck up,” I growled.

His voice softened, absent of the smarmy teasing from moments ago. “Care to shut me up?”

The subtle brush of his finger against my knuckle indicated I understood the implication.

Clean cut. Blonde. Tall and lanky. Not my type, but objectively handsome. Smug and wealthy with his perfect haircut and fancy private school. His full mouth might look good sucking dick. I could go again.

Despite my obvious attraction to dudes, I’d never been with a guy. In Windmere, exploration came with a risk. Making the first move proved ballsy.

I nodded, shifting my weight from one foot to another. “Yeah, maybe.”

Finishing my beer in one toss, I stared at Jake and Fallon. I dropped my gaze when Jake’s dark eyes lifted to mine. Turning my back to the happy couple, I followed Trevor toward the woods.