11. Grayson
Chapter Eleven
GRAYSON
I let my imagination run wild. Not that I was anywhere close to exhausting my ideas. The trick was to balance them with some more down-to-earth occasions, so I wouldn’t scare my man away.
Spencer tapped his foot in the kitchen, but he was typing furiously on his phone just like I was.
How about we rent tuxedos and crash a black-tie event?
Charming.
I can still get that carriage to take us downtown. Fair warning, though, it turns into a pumpkin if we let it wait for too long.
How about you just come over and we have a cozy evening?
Say no more. I’m in.
I slipped my phone into my pocket, stretched my arms high above my head, yawned, and got up. I carried my plate to the sink, washed it, and put it on the rack to dry. “I’m heading out.”
“Who would have guessed?” Spencer said sullenly.
I gritted my teeth and paused at the door, tempted to turn around and confront him.
Not worth it, I thought, then slipped out.
It took me the better part of the following hour to get ready and I refused to think about Spencer’s mood until I was out of the dormitory and on my merry way to see my boyfriend.
Avery actually cared. Avery made things better.
He made me feel like I was a fun, interesting person; he made me happy.
Even walking in the direction of his campus, I felt my heart growing and warmth spilling through my chest.
This damn sulkiness was driving me crazy.
Spencer was supposed to be my friend. He was supposed to be happy for me.
I never would have put myself in the way of his happiness.
And the more I thought about it, the clearer it was that Avery was my happiness.
He was my happy place. He was my comfort person.
Spencer didn’t get it. He didn’t want to get it. It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried bonding. Just this morning, I’d asked him to head out with me and have coffee someplace nice.
“It’s snowing,” he complained. As if a little snow would harm him.
All he wanted was to go to frat parties, flirt with girls, and keep score. Not me, though. I didn’t need a score anymore. I had won. I had scored something so wildly beyond my expectations that I had to hold it close and grip it hard. It was mine. It was good.
And with those thoughts, I reached his team house and decided not to think of it as a nest of vipers.
They were all good guys, but the fact that they were Titans still made me nervous about knocking.
The competitive instinct was slow to die.
Even so, for Avery, I would walk on hot coals.
What could a house full of Arctic Titans do to me?
I rang the doorbell and waited. I was hoping Avery would be the first to the door, but it was the last person I wanted to face who opened the door.
Their captain, Beckett Partridge, of the Partridge hockey royalty did.
“Well, well, well,” he said smugly as he stood in the way.
A little smirk touched the corners of his lips. “Came to distract one of my best guys?”
“You know it,” I said. “I’m this close to recruiting him for the Breakers.” I lifted both my hands and measured a solid eight inches.
Beckett snorted and opened the door wider. “Get in.”
“Thanks,” I said. I didn’t betray the fact that my palms were sweating.
It was one thing to pass them by in a bar or at a party.
It was totally different coming here. They’d never made me feel out of place, exactly, but there was always a reminder that we were natural enemies.
Like lions and antelopes. I didn’t want to think who was who, but being this deep in their den made me feel like a twitchy antelope more than I would admit.
“Are you ready to reveal your strategy for next week’s game?” Beckett Partridge asked, throwing an arm around my shoulders as the door shut behind my back.
I almost asked him if his uncle was ready to retire and give someone else a chance, but that was a touchy subject. I didn’t mean to offend, so I kept my mouth shut and shook my head.
“Oh well. Next time,” Beckett said, winking. To my rescue came his assistant captain and the better part of their relationship.
“I thought we stopped torturing our enemies,” Caden Jones said as he appeared from the ground floor hallway. His tone didn’t allow for any debates and his grin was directed at me. “He’s upstairs.”
“And that’s where I’ll be, too,” I said and clapped my hands as I slipped out from under Beckett’s arm. As I passed Caden, I heard Beckett snicker. I was at the stairs when I overheard a bit of their conversation.
“Stop acting all tough,” Caden was teasing. “Or I’ll show you your place.”
“I’d love to see you try,” Beckett said cockily. It was followed by an audible kiss and I screamed at myself to hurry the fuck up and stop eavesdropping on their blatant foreplay.
“I just might,” Caden told him in a low voice.
Their footsteps were fast and followed me as I reached the top of the stairs.
I didn’t look back. Instead, I made my way to Avery’s room while Beckett and Caden tumbled up the stairs and went in the opposite direction.
Thankfully. Whatever they were about to do, I did not want to overhear it while doing similar things with my man.
Or not. I didn’t care what we did. I just wanted to gaze at him all night long.
I knocked on Avery’s door and he opened it a moment later. “Finally,” he whispered.
It had been three days since I’d last seen him. College, practice, and an out-of-town game pulled us apart, but I was back and ready to spend all my waking moments with him.
Avery was breathtaking. His cologne filled the dimly lit room and the music playing from the speaker on a shelf lured me in with the old hits.
My boyfriend had a fresh haircut. He wore a button-down shirt, deep green to match the silver earring with a small, tear-shaped emerald stone, and he had tucked it into his light brown pants.
They fit him to holy perfection, emphasizing his curves and cupping his round ass so well that my dick stirred.
Last time, he had done wonders when we reversed the roles; so much so that I still dreamed of it.
It turned me on as soon as it crossed my mind.
I closed the door as soon as I stepped into his room.
My back leaned against the door and Avery stepped close to me.
Slowly, he leaned in, his chest touching mine, and pressed his sexy lips against mine.
He kissed me deeply and with an endless, simmering passion until it awakened something wild inside of me and empowered me to spin us around.
I pinned him against the door, grabbing his wrists and holding him trapped under my weight.
I kissed him, then kissed him harder, until his lips parted and he let my tongue explore his warm, wet mouth.
“Hello,” he said against my mouth as soon as I pulled back an inch.
It drew a smile from me. “Hello, beautiful.”
“So, three days is enough to get you this wild?” he asked. His hips moved and his crotch pressed against mine. His eyebrows rose in amusement. “This wild,” he corrected himself.
I snorted. “One day is enough,” I said. “Two days is too much. And three? It’s a wonder I’m alive.”
“I’m glad you survived it,” he said, freeing his hands with a swift move and twist, then grabbing my hips and asserting dominance.
I loved it when he did that. I loved the power plays almost as much as I loved losing to him.
The dominant Avery was the most fun. Determined, focused, and sexy as hell, he could rock my world and surprise me seemingly without any effort.
Another hard rub of his crotch against mine and I throbbed painfully. “Is this what you imagined when you said cozy?”
He laughed softly. “We have time to be cozy later.”
“I expected fuzzy pajamas,” I said, gasping as he pressed his chest against mine. “Not to get wrecked and unable to walk for three days.” But the twitching corners of my lips betrayed how badly I hoped to get just that.
Avery smirked, licked his lips, and kissed me again.
The wetness of his red lips was enough to send the soul out of my body.
I gasped and kissed him back, letting the tip of my tongue venture out and meet his.
He licked it greedily, turning me on harder than I’d known he could.
In one dirty, heated moment, he licked my tongue and smashed our mouths together.
I threw my arms around his neck, holding onto him, and pressing my front against him to grind us harder.
While kissing me, Avery moved one of his hands to the doorknob, locking us inside.
In the next instant, he pulled the hem of my shirt out of my pants, then swiftly undid all the buttons until I could shrug the shirt off my shoulders.
It fell on the floor as I breathed deeply, my chest rising and falling, and Avery’s pupils dilated.
“I’ve been dreaming about this while you were away,” he said in a low purr.
“No need to dream any longer,” I said, observing him as he took his shirt off.
Each button he popped added to the tingling sensation that climbed up my arms. I had watched him at the gym countless times in the weeks we had been together.
I had watched him sweating, straining, his cheeks aflame with exhaustion, his T-shirt soaked with sweat.
I had seen him showering that sweat off and joined him for heated make-out sessions.
I had watched him sculpt the muscles he revealed, the muscles I kissed and licked now as I fell to my knees and pressed my face hard against his torso.
The tip of my tongue traced the middle of his stomach, his abs knotted with tension. A shudder passed through his sexy body and I felt the trembling against my face. His fingers ran through my rich, blond hair, squeezing fistfuls and holding me close.