11. Griffin
The Sports Pavilion, where the Bobcat’s volleyball team is about to take the court, is packed. The band is playing, amping up the crowd of spectators, and Carson and I are seated in the front row of the student section, behind Abbott’s service line. The crowd roars when the home team comes jogging out of the locker room and onto the court. Tonight is Katie and Kenna’s first home game. They’ve both been working their asses off in practice and training camp for the past two weeks. After warmups are over, the Bobcats stand beside their bench as the lights dim and a spotlight is directed at the human tunnel they’ve made.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Sports Pavilion, home of your Abbott Bobcats as they take on the Michigan Lakers!” I hear the announcer boom before he begins listing Michigan”s starting lineup.
“And now, starting for your Abbott Bobcats . . . Starting at setter, a freshman, standing at five foot eleven inches from Edina, Minnesota, number twenty, Katieeee Turnerrrr,” the announcer roars through the speakers.
“Holy shit, did you know she was starting tonight?” Carse smacks my chest when he asks.
“I had no clue,” I confess.
“Staring at outside hitter, a freshman standing at six feet tall from Edina, Minnesota, number twenty-one, McKennaaaa Wilderrrr,” the announcer says as the crowd cheers.
“That’s my sister,” Carson shouts so loud, I see Kenna’s shoulders shake from laughter. “Please tell me you had no idea she was starting either.” Carson looks at me accusingly.
“You know how it goes, Carse. Coaches sometimes make game-day decisions with lineups. I’m just as pleasantly surprised as you are to see that our freshmen sisters are in the starting lineup. Thankfully my old man and your parents were able to make it.”
The announcer has finished listing off the rest of the starting lineup and Katie and Kenna stand beside one another at the service line during the National Anthem before running to the net to do the pre-match handshake. I can’t imagine having to shake the opponent’s hands before an intense game.
The Bobcats lost the coin toss, so they’re on serve receive. Katie and Kenna did some elaborate handshake with each other before taking their positions on the court.
From where we’re seated, Kenna is only a few dozen feet ahead of me, bent over in a ready position. I’m drawn to the way her black spandex shorts cling to her ass. Apparently, so are a few other guys standing behind us in the student section. And apparently, they have a death wish.
“Bro, look at number twenty-one’s ass. If that’s what the incoming girls look like, I’m going to have to reconsider my no-freshmen hookup rule,” one of them declares.
Before I can say a word, Carson stands up, turns around and says, “Hey, asshole. That’s my sister, so why don’t you shut your damn mouth before me and her hockey-playing boyfriend rearrange your face.”
The guy’s face pales when he looks between the two of us, sizing us up and realizing he and his buddies are no match for us.
“Sorry, man. Just a bit of harmless hackling with my bros. No disrespect.”
“Well, keep my sister out of it, or we’ll have a problem. Got it?” Carson doesn’t wait for a response. He turns back to face the court just as the first set starts off with a serve aimed right at Kenna.
She receives the ball with a damn near perfect pass to Katie. Katie sets the ball high and outside to Kenna. The opponent attempts to put up a double block against Kenna, but it does nothing to stop the punishing hit Kenna smashes right on the line.
The whistle blows, calling the play dead as the announcer says, “Point AU! That’s Wilder’s first career kill with the Bobcats.”
Fuck yes. That’s my girl.
The Bobcats dominated the first and second sets of the match. The third set is currently underway, and they’re quickly on their way to sweeping Michigan. Watching Kenna and Katie live out their dream right before me fills my chest with pride.
A timeout is called by Michigan’s head coach and Carson and I just took a seat when he says, “They’re killing it, man. I honestly didn’t think they’d get much playing time tonight, let alone start.”
“I know. They don’t even look phased that it’s their first college game. I was so scared my first game that I threw up before it started. Then proceeded to puke between each period.”
“No way. The cool and confident Griffin Turner had the anxious pukes?” he asks in disbelief.
When they take the court again, Kenna is up to serve. She tosses the ball up and slams a hard jump serve just over the tape of the net.
The announcer cuts in, “Point AU!”
“Fuck yeah! That’s her third ace of the night!” Carson smacks my chest as if I could take my eyes off her.
I know what it takes to get where she’s at—the chances of playing at the college level are slim, but dominating the game the way she is as a freshman—it’s the next level.
A few points later, Katie ends up getting an ace of her own to end the match.
When Kenna emerges from the locker room, she spots me across the court and runs up to me, jumping into my arms, wrapping her legs around me, and crashing her lips against mine. Fuck, I’m going to miss not being able to do this after every single one of her games.
As I remove my mouth from hers, my entire body rebels, wanting—needing more of her.
Not here in front of everyone. Get her back to her dorm first.
When we get back to Kenna’s dorm, it’s just the two of us. With Katie’s help, I set up a surprise for Kenna in her room earlier.
Kenna opens the door, inhaling a sharp breath when she looks inside. Above her bed are nineteen balloons stringing from the ceiling, with pictures attached to each one, and a balloon banner above her bed reads “Happy Birthday,” with the gifts that I got her wrapped on her bed.
“Griff, are you kidding me? This is the sweetest thing ever! Thank you so much.” She jumps in my arms, and I grab her ass as she wraps her legs around my waist.
After breaking from a tease of a kiss, I say, “Of course. I have to make sure my girl has the best birthday. Now that you’ve not only won your first game, but started and dominated, it’s time to celebrate.”
“How long did it take you to do this? When did you do this?” she asks as she wiggles out of my arms.
“Katie gave me her keycard to get in after the two of you left for your game. It didn’t take long to place them in here. Katie is better at wrapping presents, so she came home yesterday to help me do that.”
“This looks too pretty and heartfelt to touch.” She brushes her fingers along the black wrapping paper and bows covering the gifts.
Kenna reaches for the balloons to look at the pictures. She gasps when she sees what’s written on the back of each photo. Each photo has a number written on the back, one through nineteen, that describes nineteen things I love about her. I watch as she carefully peels the photos from the balloon strings and places them in order.
The first photo is a picture of Katie, Carson, Kenna, and me at the bus stop on their first day of kindergarten.
Kenna reads aloud, “One: I love that you still gave me a chance even though I used to pull your pigtails.” Her answering giggle lets me know she’s picturing the many times I used to chase her and then tug on her hair.
“See, I’ve tried subtly telling you my feelings since we’ve been kids,” I playfully tell her.
Kenna shuffles to the next photo; it’s the two of us cuddled with Ranger. “Two: I love that you’re a package deal.” Her eyes water when she looks up. “I miss having him snuggle me every night.”
I exaggeratingly grab my chest, feigning hurt. “And here I thought it was me you missed snuggling up to each night.”
Rolling her eyes at my theatrics, she shuffles to a photo of us making breakfast together at the cabin. “How did you get this one?” she asks.
“Katie took it one morning and sent it to me. I’ve been gatekeeping it for this surprise.”
She shoulders me and continues, “Three: I love waking up beside you and making memories like this with you.”
Kenna continues to shuffle through the photos, reading off things I love about her on the back of each one. “Seventeen: I love that when I look into your beautiful eyes, I feel at home.” Shuffling to the next one she reads, “Eighteen: I love your passion and drive. You can do anything you set your mind to because of your determination.”
As she gets to the last photo, a throwback to after one of my high school hockey games when she came to watch Carson, she reads, “Nineteen: I love that we’re each other’s biggest cheerleaders. I can’t wait to be by your side as our dreams continue to come true.”
As she finishes reading, she looks up at me, eyes full of unshed tears. “You’re seriously the best, baby.” She’s looking at me with such awe that it makes me want to give her little surprises every day for the rest of our lives.
I’m hopelessly in love with her.
It’s not like I was surprised at this revelation. I’ve been hooked on McKenna Wilder since we were kids. But seeing her face light up when she sees me, getting to see her first thing in the morning, convincing her to kiss me with morning breath, watching her come undone beneath me, getting to hear her hopes and dreams, and picturing myself beside her, cheering her on, all of it has made me realize I’m absolutely gone for this girl.
I’d do anything to make her happy, to keep this look of bliss and contentment on her face.
I think I may have always loved her. I just didn’t know what to call it then.
“McKenna,” I start but have to clear my throat. “I not only love all of those things about you, but I love you. So fucking much it hurts. It’s always been you, Sunshine.”
The unshed tears she was holding back fall down her cheeks, and I quickly move to wipe them away with the pad of my thumbs.
“I love you too, Griffin. God, do I love you. You’ve quickly become my best friend. I used to think my crush on you was one-sided. But after seeing all of this”—she points to the balloons and pictures now splayed across her desk—“I believe it’s always been us.”
I wrap her up in my arms, breathing her deep in my lungs. “I’m going to wait to break it to Katie that she’s no longer your best friend.”
Kenna’s answering laughs help stop her tears, and when she tries to playfully swat my chest, I grab her hand and place quick kisses along each of her fingers before trailing them up her wrist, elbow, arm, collarbone, neck, and cheek before finally claiming her mouth in a deep kiss.
It doesn’t take long for the kiss to deepen. I back Kenna up to her bed, stopping when I realize her gifts still litter it.
Breaking the kiss, I grab the gifts and set them on her desk. “Do you mind if we wait to open your presents?” I ask Kenna, giving her a devilish smirk.
“How do you know Katie won’t be barging in here soon?” Kenna questions.
“Well, for starters, she doesn’t have her key. Then there’s the fact that I asked her not to come back here until after I give her an ‘all clear’ text.”
With that settled, Kenna helps me move the presents to the desk. Once she sets down the last one, I turn her around and begin stripping her out of her T-shirt and sweats.
My cock strains painfully behind my zipper at the sight of Kenna completely naked.
“Get on the bed and spread your legs, Sunshine,” I command. “I have one present I think you should open now.”
Kenna readily complies, and I don’t try to hide my groan of approval. I grab a small wrapped present off her desk and hand it to her.
Quickly tossing my shirt in the corner, I push my pants and boxers off in one go. I kneel on her bed and nudge my shoulders between her thighs.
“Fuck, Kenna. Your pussy is glistening for me.” Leaning down, I give her clit a long, languid stroke. She answers by grinding down on my face.
She’s fumbling to open the present, but I can tell the moment she realizes what it is.
“Griff, what is this?”
“It’s a g-spot vibrator. I thought after the other night you might like to use this one when I’m in Boston and we FaceTime each other. Or just, you know, whenever you’re missing me.” I give her a wink before grabbing the vibrator from her hands.
“I charged and cleaned it before I wrapped it,” I tell her, running the silicone through her slit, getting it nice and wet for her.
“Ready, Sunshine?”
Kenna bites down on her bottom lip and nods her head.
I turn it on, clicking through some of the different vibrating modes until I find one I think she’ll like.
Circling her entrance first, I guide it up. The moment it touches her clit, her hips buck off the bed, and she moans loud enough to echo the halls.
I sit up and pull back my hand, leaving Kenna wanting and full of lust. “I’m going to need you to be a little quieter if you don’t want your RA to interrupt us for a noise complaint. Do you think you can do that for me?”
She hastily nods in response.
“Good girl.” I punctuate my statement by grinding my hips into her, sliding my cock along her pussy.
I place the vibrator between us, right against her clit. The combination of the vibrating and the noises she’s making is sending me barreling toward an orgasm right along with her.
I’m so wrapped up in this moment that I don’t even realize until I’ve thrust in and out for a few slow, torturous strokes that I’m not wearing a condom.
Quickly pulling out, I say, “Shit. I didn’t put on a condom.”
Kenna grabs my face, halting my movements to reach for my wallet. “You don’t need to—I mean, I’m on birth control. I-if you’ve been safe before like I’ve been, we could—”
I look down at her, cutting her off. “I’ve never gone without a condom before. I’m negative. I got checked at my physical and haven’t been with anyone but you since.”
“I’m negative, too. I want to feel you with nothing between us,” she says breathlessly.
“Are we really doing this?” I ask, hovering over her.
“We can be each other’s firsts for something,” she says sheepishly, pulling me down for a kiss.
I break the kiss so I can look into her eyes. “I don’t care about being your first for anything, Sunshine. I want to be all of your lasts,” I insist before lining myself up between her legs. I run my length up and down again, before slowly inching my way back inside her.
Nothing has ever brought me so much pleasure as the way her bare pussy suffocates my cock.
I want to drag this moment out as long as possible, so I slowly thrust in and out of her. Each time my hips meet hers, I grind my pelvis against her clit, driving her to the brink of climax.
We kiss with lazy, passionate strokes of our tongues, and the vibrator is long forgotten at this point.
This doesn’t just feel different because I’m taking her bare. But because we’re not just fucking. For the first time in my life, I’m making love, and, fuck, if that doesn’t make my chest both swell and tighten . . .
Kenna has quickly become my everything. When you have almost a lifetime of history the way we do, it doesn’t seem so crazy to free-fall, leaving all inhibitions in the wind.
It only takes a few more grinding thrusts for Kenna’s pussy to clench violently around my cock. I ring out every last quake of her orgasm, finding my own release alongside hers. I come deep inside of her, my cum filling her. The sensation is so intense I almost pass out, and my vision blackens.
Trying to avoid slamming my full body weight on Kenna, I roll us over onto our sides without pulling out of her. I need to hold onto this feeling with nothing between us for as long as I can.
“That was the best birthday present ever,” Kenna pants, looking blissed out.
“That was the best sex ever. Period. And it’s not just because I fucked you raw, either, so don’t even start with that.”
She stares into my eyes. “I could feel everything so much more. It felt like I’d never come down from my climax once you came inside me,” she admits.
“The feeling of your pussy clenching me without a barrier was incomparable to anything I’ve ever felt.”
When I feel my dick softening, I pull out of her, but I can’t stop myself from scooping up my cum that was spilling out of her and deeply fingering it back inside her pussy.
“I want to mark every inch of your skin. Does that make me sickly possessive?” The question slips from my lips against my will.
“It’s probably a red flag, but I must be fucked up because it turns me on,” is Kenna’s shy reply.
“Let me get you cleaned up, Sunshine. We’ve got a reservation to make. And before you ask, no, I won’t tell you where—it’s a secret. But thanks for letting me have dessert before dinner.”
She claps her hands together and whines, “Oh, come on. Tell me where we’re going, baby. It’s my birthday!”
“Nope. I’m taking the woman I love to dinner, and it’s remaining a surprise.”
“Say it again. Tell me you love me.”
“I love you, Sunshine. So fucking much it’s not even funny.”
“I love you too, G. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I am at this moment.”
Her happiness is all that matters to me. I want to make each day the happiest of her life. Forever.