~ 3 ~
FALLON
The guys peeled off after breakfast, and I made good on my promise to clean up. It wasn’t too hard, with paper plates and throwaway plastic utensils that looked suspiciously like the ones from the dining hall. But I had to admit it was nice, being around people who appreciated my company. And being around Dalton… even more.
My campus bestie was the all-American quarterback and captain of the football team, with acres of blond hair and a lean, beautifully sculpted body. His smile was infectiously wide, his skin tan from growing up on the beaches of Fort Lauderdale. He was revered almost as god on campus. A living legend among his groupies of the student body, worshiped by men and women alike.
Yes, Dalton was definitely the star of the show. Coming into his senior year, he was having the time of his life.
And once, a very long time ago — he’d been mine.
It was all the way back in my freshman year, before I’d even finished unpacking into my tiny dorm room. Dalton and I literally bumped into each other, colliding so hard we spilled two boxes of our stuff across the sidewalk in front of Guenther Hall. He was my first friend on campus, my first kiss, my first college crush. Three nights later he became only the second person I’d slept with, sharing a magical night together in the hot tub of the cabin he happened to be house-sitting.
We took each other slowly beneath an umbrella of a million stars, then again in the master bedroom, our bodies still giving off steam from the superheated water. I could still remember the feel of him inside me, stretching me until I was gloriously full. The raw scent of him had been intoxicating… the very same scent that even now lingered on the shirt he’d lent me to sleep in.
That single night together had been a one-off though, and the only time we had. I was fresh off a high school breakup, and had vowed not to get into a long-term relationship anytime soon. Besides, Dalton seemed an unattainable goal; a beautiful gift that you took at face value, but one could never actually keep.
Not wanting to be nailed down or embarrassed by our hookup, I stuck him straight in the friend zone. And for the past three years that’s exactly where he stayed.
The two of us not only remained in touch, we declared ourselves best campus friends forever. Surprisingly, we thrived in that role. Dalton supported me even when I’d broken my own promise by dating Blaine, and I helped him through numerous football crises and girl problems throughout our years on campus, as well as our summers in between. We had lunch together at least once a month, and text-messaged constantly. Often, we stayed on the phone sometimes for hours on end.
But we never, ever hooked up again.
I thought about all these things as I made my way back upstairs, picking up socks and beer cans along the way. Dalton and I were intimate on so many levels. He knew about my problems with Blaine, or most of them anyway. In turn I knew about his love life, which was mostly a sex life, and he entrusted me with details he’d never shared with anyone else. Lately we’d drifted a little bit, but that was mostly my fault. I’d sensed the end of my relationship, and was trying to focus on it. Blaine had been slipping away for a long time, now. Even if I didn’t want to admit it.
I found fresh towels in the bathroom, just as Dalton promised, and started the shower. As the steam settled over me, I began to undress. As strange as it seemed, my past life already felt a thousand miles away. It would feel good to wash away the rest of my stupidity, and start a brand new chapter of my life. One where I could—
“Ah, thanks.”
The towel was snatched from my hand, as Emerson stepped into the bathroom. He peeled off his shirt and bumped my hip as he pushed past me. “You see the soap?”
Numbly I handed him the fresh bar I’d just opened. He took that with a nod, then dropped his shorts and boxers.
“Thanks.”
I was left utterly speechless. Gaping in awe. I stared helplessly at his naked body, as he slid the shower door open and was half-engulfed in steam.
Emerson’s body wasn’t just gorgeous, it was absolutely magnificent. My eyes wandered downward of their own accord, over his striated arms and shoulders. They crawled down along his washboard abs, following the sexy ‘V’ of his lower abdomen.
Holy fuck.
There, just above a dark patch of hair, was the longest cock I’d ever seen. It dangled almost menacingly against his well-muscled thigh, bouncing with every chance movement of his athletic body.
It was at that exact moment I suddenly realized I was standing there topless! Crossing my arms quickly over my chest, I looked into a pair of Irish green eyes that were already staring, shamelessly.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, wallflower,” Emerson smirked.
I tried to swallow, but I just couldn’t.
“Anything you haven’t seen?”
Words failed me. It took every last ounce of my resolve to keep from glancing down again. Instead, I only shook my head.
“Good, because we run out of hot water fast in this shithole. I’ll try to save you some.”
The tight end let out a low groan of pleasure as he stepped beneath the shower spray. Using the soap, he began lathering his body up immediately.
“I’d invite you in here, if I thought you’d come,” he called out. “Hell, I’d even wash your back for you.”
He laughed, and his laughter echoed in the small tiled room.
“But, you know. Prude, and all that.”
My fists clenched and unclenched at the word. I’d known Emerson for as long as I knew Dalton, being his foster brother and all that. He’d run through half the girls on campus, as easily as he’d run through his opponent’s defenses to reach the end zone.
He was brash, cocky, confident. Sometimes arrogant to the point of being a dick.
But I didn’t know him that well.
I watched defiantly for another few moments, observing slivers of muscle and flashes of wet skin through the swirling steam. At one point he turned, either accidentally or on purpose, to give me a full, unadulterated view of the round, muscular ass resting atop the backs of his well-sculpted thighs.
Then I slipped from the room back into the hallway, taking the last of the clean towels with me.