20. king
CHAPTER 20
KING
FUN FACTS
Please, guys, be fucking cool about this.
A table separated four of the seats and I nudged Willow into the one at the window while I sat next to her. Which meant my friends openly staring across from us.
"Willow, I’m Piper, " Piper introduced herself with a beaming smile. Which I didn’t understand. She already introduced herself before. "It’s been a super, super busy summer, I don’t know if you remember me, I’m an RA for Roman Hall, a data analyst, I’m Adam’s girlfriend?—"
"I know Lawson put you up to this," Willow interjected, embarrassed.
Piper clamped her mouth shut and looks were exchanged.
Ryan pulled out the deck of cards. "That’s true."
"Oh my god, Ryan," Kassie sighed.
"What? I don’t want to lie to her."
"I promise, you don’t need to babysit me," Willow said. "We can tell him everything went great, and you guys get to hang out."
What did that mean? We had a five-hour bus ride to Riltier's Point, was Willow seriously saying she’d ignore us the whole time?
Ignore me?
When Ryan started to pass out the cards, I took the deck from him, purposely placing one in front of Willow to include her.
"But, Willow, we want to get to know you," Piper said.
"You don’t have to. It’s fine."
I continued to go around the circle, stacking up cards. She glanced at me, confused.
"You’ll be in our section during games," Kassie reminded her. "Once the season starts, we’ll be spending a lot more time together."
"I don’t mean this in the wrong way—but football isn’t really my thing."
Adam’s mouth fell open. "Joyce Lawson’s kid doesn’t like football? "
I’d been shocked to find out that Willow’s stepfather was Coach Lawson but it’d been surprising about her mom too. Joyce Lawson was a great sports journalist and had been nominated for multiple awards for her book on long-standing injuries in the NFL.
But I also knew about Willow’s father.
"My dad and I aren’t big football fans," Willow admitted, confirming my suspicion.
"What are you into?" Kassie asked.
"Um…art?"
Ryan glanced up from his cards. "That works great. Kassie’s an art major, her best friend is gone for the summer, Piper and June have work obligations, and my captain duties are becoming more demanding. Kassie needs someone to spend time with?—"
Kassie jerked over. " Ryan. "
"Do you like old movies?" Ryan pressed. "Overalls? Cartoons?"
"I don’t need you to set up playdates."
"When’s my babysitting shift for the illustrator-in-chief?" Adam grinned. "I’ll drop her off at Chuck E. Cheese. Pick her up before dark. She’ll have a blast."
"Aw, Kass," Piper said. "I’m so sorry, my programming classes have been?—"
"No, I know, Pipes." Kassie shot Ryan a look. "I’m fine ."
"Willow, if you two could become best friends, that would be optimal," Ryan finished.
Willow stared and I did too. My friends didn’t last five minutes before pulling something embarrassing. All I wanted to do was make excuses for them.
Willow pulled her headphones out of her backpack from under the table, covertly bringing them up.
The second she put those on, we’d lose her.
I took them from her and started untangling, a last-ditch effort to keep her talking. "If you don’t like Coach Lawson and you don’t like Marrs, why come at all?"
Kassie chided me. Shocked, the guys tried to soften the question. Piper personally apologized for me, but I needed to know. Because I didn’t understand. As much as she tried to put on a face for Coach Lawson and her mom, I could feel the unhappiness radiating from her every time she stepped foot in the training center. Why subject herself to that?
"Um…" She hesitated. "We used to live in San Antonio. When I got to college, my parents divorced. My mom married Dan— Lawson —pretty quickly and my dad moved to Boston a couple weeks ago. My brothers are coming back here for high school. My grants are only for Texas schools. So…Massachusetts doesn’t make sense."
I listened with rapt attention while she dug down for the answers, embarrassed to show them.
"I mean, I have my own space at Lawson’s place, rent free, and this is where I want to be for—um—I can’t complain."
She stayed for music.
It meant that much to her, but I could see she wrestled with the decision. It weighed on her, to say goodbye to her dad.
"That’s where I met you," Kassie blurted out. "I know you. I just can’t think of how . But I lived in San Antonio with some relatives for a while. Ryan. Use your photographic memory."
Ryan was quick. "I’ve never met Willow in my life."
"But I did . I can’t figure it out!"
"You’re probably thinking of someone else," Willow assured her.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. Couldn’t stop thinking about how big of a change this must’ve been. Couldn’t stop thinking how alone she must’ve felt, after the storage closet.
"How about this?" Piper held up her cards. "When everyone gets their turn, we give a fun fact. I do it with my residents. It’s super fun."
Willow hesitated.
"It’ll be something for us to give to Coach?" Kassie said.
"I…okay." She took the headphones from me, tied in a circle, and slipped them into her backpack. I had to hold back the sigh of relief.
Piper smiled. "I love turtles. That's my fun fact!"
"I have a turtle tattoo." Adam threw his card down. "It’s because she likes turtles."
Willow blinked. "You have a tattoo for her?"
"Yep."
"How long have you two…?"
"Dating? Officially? A couple of weeks."
The dumbfounded expression on Willow’s face made the two of them laugh. Piper and Adam had been glued to each other’s side all spring semester but for the official record, they’d only been together since the end of the term.
It took me a moment to realize it was my turn, but I had no idea what to say. I’d been so focused on Willow, I forgot to come up with something.
"King has four letters," I said finally.
"That’s not a fun fact." Ryan grunted.
"Don’t be lame." Kassie flicked my cards. "Come up with something."
I shook my head, I didn’t have anything.
"Do the neck tattoo story," Willow said.
She remembers that?
I forgot I told her. That wasn’t the kind of thing my friends knew about. Not even June.
The pain intensified the memory like a brand. I could remember sitting on the porch, gazing up at the rotting balcony, while the north Houston heat beat down. Flies buzzed around iced teas. There was a burning sensation, even when the tattoo gun wasn’t puncturing me.
"I earned three grand for my neck tattoo," I said, handing off my card.
The others stared before bursting into the kind of questions Willow already knew the answers to.
"Last one to cry, won," I explained. Seven and a half hours on that chair and the rest of the guys pussied out. But I kept my hands relaxed and I focused on the money, rolled up on a crystal ashtray.
Piper gaped at me. "How much did the tattoo cost?"
"I didn’t pay for it. I didn’t pay for most of them when I first got them."
"That’s a hard tattoo, dude," Adam complimented me.
"You didn’t cry once? " Kassie demanded. "I would’ve been bawling fat tears."
"It wasn’t my first."
Ryan leveled his gaze with mine. "How old were you?"
I struggled to remember. My high school years weren’t defined like that. There was a clear ‘before’ and ‘after.’ The ‘after’ was all mixed up and hard to narrow down.
"High school. I don’t know."
The girls looked shocked, but Adam nodded. I knew he’d been through the mill with his own situation, and while I didn’t come from money like he did, he wasn’t surprised I’d gotten into some shit in high school.
"You know what it looks like?" Willow nodded thoughtfully. "A dog collar."
What?
My neck tattoo was a collection of flames licking up my neck, not a dog collar. It took almost eight hours to complete, and I still remembered the blood on the washcloth. Dog collar?
"It’s not a dog collar."
"Anyway, my fun fact is I can play six instruments."
I frowned at Willow while she smiled pleasantly back. Was she…fucking with me? I didn’t know how I felt about that.
"You’re not bothered." She raised her eyebrows. "Not King ."
I grunted.
"What part bothers you? The fact that it looks like a dog collar or the fact that I pointed it out?"
The others chuckled but it didn’t break the tension between us. Nothing could’ve cut through that. Because I didn’t get the biting Willow when I first talked to her.
I had the one who whispered at three in the morning while we stayed up all night together. The one who broke down my taste in music and sent me the kind of stuff I’d enjoy and the kind of stuff I never thought I would’ve liked. The girl who showed me how she flipped her drumsticks and made me practice with a ballpoint pen until it burst on my table, and she laughed so hard she got these adorable hiccups.
Kassie tapped the table. "King, it’s your turn again."
Shit, I missed the fun facts from everyone else. I picked up my next card, still gazing at the coach’s stepdaughter.
Say something.
"Here’s a fun fact," I said with a shrug. "If the tattoos aren’t about you, I don’t care what you think about them."
Willow tossed her card to the table. " Down, boy."
That got my friends. They burst into laughter, but my cock hardened instantly.
I shifted in my seat, trying everything in me not to adjust my sweats. My breathing slowed. I wanted nothing more than to keep her on the bus while everyone filed off.
Fuck.
Watch her squirm on my lap.
Calm down.
Fuck her on the floor until her thighs were covered in my cum and hers.
King, calm the fuck down.
That raw energy kept me rigid in the chair, like a buried instinct that only activated with her. I thought I could relax in front of everybody.
I couldn't.