48. It’s You
IT’S YOU
Lorelei
Ugh, gawd, not her. So much for an hour away to get my mind off things. Namely, my fake boyfriend turned real love of my life spending the afternoon with his ex to discover how he really felt.
Fantastic idea, Lore.
I tipped my visor down, pretending to focus on the little white ball a few inches from the tips of my last-season golf shoes while I strangled the club in my hands.
“Lorelei is that you?” A sugary sweet voice reached across the putting green.
Shit. Busted.
Forcing on that plastic smile, I straightened and faced my best frenemy. “Oh, hi, Tate. I didn’t see you there.”
She strutted closer swinging her hips so her cute tennis skirt swished high up across her perfectly waxed thighs. “I haven’t seen you around the country club lately.”
“Yeah, I’ve been super busy.” I waved a nonchalant hand.
The truth was that Dad’s membership had been revoked due to failure of payment.
I was currently attending Copper Cove’s most elite golf club on Axel’s family membership.
He’d dropped me off earlier so I could spend the day and relax.
But there was no way in hell I’d ever spill that little tidbit of embarrassing information.
“Oh really? Like what? I haven’t seen you at any of the fundraisers lately. In fact, I haven’t even seen you around the sorority.”
“I have been at the house. I’ve just been a little preoccupied in my bedroom. With Axel.” I shot her a shit-eating grin.
Axel had told me that Jacob, the second-string quarterback she’d been dating fucked a freshman in the bathroom of the Copper Cove gala a few days ago.
Tate had caught them in the act and gone completely feral on the girl.
If I really wanted to go toe-to-toe with her, I’d bring it up, but I liked to think that was something the old Lorelei would do.
I’d come a long way since then.
“Nice.” The fakest giggle I’d ever heard pealed out. “Have you heard I’m seeing someone new? Vaughn Radcliffe actually… You know him, don’t you?”
A chill skittered up my spine at the name. That creep from Axel’s frat was a total asshole. They were the perfect match actually.
“Yeah, I’ve heard of him.”
“I had no idea he was so close with Brock Haversham.” She inched closer, her smile growing more brazen. “You know, Vaughn told me that according to Brock you’re still engaged.”
I huffed out a breath, leaning casually against the club, even though my insides were in a tangle at the mere mention of his name. “Well, what can I say? Brock couldn’t take no for an answer. I guess I’m just that desirable.”
Tate snorted on a laugh. “I don’t see a new ring on your finger… in fact, I never saw one at all, even when you claimed to be with Haversham.”
“We were pre-engaged,” I muttered through clenched teeth.
“And what about you and Axel? Is he going to put a ring on it soon?”
Judging by the fact that I hadn’t heard from him all day, he was likely balls deep inside Cordelia which meant we were closer to a break up than an engagement.
My chest deflated at the horribly colorful picture I’d drawn in my mind. If Axel picked Cordi, I’d be devastated. The terrible truth sucked all the air from my lungs, and heat pricked at the corners of my eyes.
“I don’t know,” I finally barked before spinning away so the little bitch couldn’t run back to Vaughn telling him she’d seen me cry.
The last thing I needed was it getting back to Brock. If he discovered this thing between Axel and me was nothing more than a desperate arrangement, he’d be knocking down Daddy’s door threatening to claim what he believed was his.
“Where are you running off to, Lore?” Tate called out from behind me, an irritating twang to her tone, but I refused to turn around.
No way I’d let her see the ugly tears running down my face.
I stared at the text message I’d been waiting for all day, my heart a war drum beating at my ribs. With one hand clutching my bedsheets, I read over the words for the fifth time.
Axel: Practice is running late, blondie. Meet me at the field after, around 8?
He was breaking up with me, there was no other explanation. Why else would he want to meet me at the stadium, a public place filled with all his football friends? So that I wouldn’t make a scene… or no, maybe he wanted one. We were supposed to have a public break up according to my stupid rules.
Axel: Okay?
I stared at the screen, hot tears threatening to spill over once again. Get a grip, Lorelei, you knew it wouldn’t last. Axel Vanderhart was too damned good for you. Gulping in a deep breath, I forced my fingers to type out a message.
Me: Okay.
Tossing my phone across the bed, I flopped down on the mattress and buried my head in the pillow. Love sucked. If this was what I’d been missing out on all these years, I wasn’t sure I wanted it anymore.
No daughter of mine is that weak. Get up, Lorelei and take care of business. My father’s words echoed across my skull in a maddening tempo. Which was laughable since it was his fault I was in this mess in the first place. But he wasn’t wrong…
Pushing myself out of bed, I glanced at the clock on the nightstand.
I had an hour before I had to meet Axel, and I would use that time to my advantage.
If he was going to break up with me, I would make it pure torture.
Then when I was in private, I could come home and crumble, drown in a pool of tears and a shattered heart.
An hour later, I strutted out of the Zeta house with my hair in perfect waves cascading down my bare shoulders, wearing the most scandalous dress I owned.
It was a bright pink, curve-hugging Herve Leger with cutouts on both sides, dipping just below my breasts and showing off my hip bones.
The only thing missing were stilettos, but since I was meeting Axel at the stadium, I couldn’t exactly traipse across the field in those.
So instead, I’d settled on cute pink and white Adidas.
Every member of ATO stared, whistled, and catcalled as I marched past the fraternity house toward the stadium.
Luckily, it was a short walk to the campus bus and then a quick ride to the training field.
The old Lorelei would’ve never been caught dead on the bus, but since my car had been repossessed, I’d discovered the magic of public transportation.
I used the five-minute ride to compose myself and center my thoughts.
Was I truly in love with Axel?
Yes.
Would I be heartbroken and completely devastated if he broke up with me?
Also, yes.
But would I survive somehow?
Yes, again.
A tiny flicker of a smile curled the corners of my lips as the bus pulled up in front of the stadium. I wouldn’t let powerful men govern my life anymore. At least I’d learned something this summer, and if it was all I got out of this experience, it was worth it.
As I marched up the sidewalk toward the enormous stadium, a flicker of nerves lashed at my insides, but I swallowed them down and kept my head held high. My footsteps echoed across the dark tunnel, the eerie quiet only escalating my nerves. When I finally reached the field, it was empty.
Or so I thought.
Squinting, I found one familiar, broad form standing on the fifty-yard line.
Axel had already showered, his dirty-blond locks still damp on his forehead. His eyes grew wide as they took me in, that bright blue gaze raking over every inch of me. That’s right, eat your heart out.
“Hot damn, blondie, are you trying to give me a heart attack so soon after practice? I just got my pulse to settle down.”
I shrugged, slowing as I approached, my own heart climbing up my throat at the sight of him in a tight collared shirt and dark jeans. “I wasn’t sure what I was walking into, so I had to be prepared.”
“To seduce the entire football team?” He closed the space between us, enveloping me in his familiar, musky scent. He held a small pink bag in one hand, a wry grin on his lips.
“What’s that?”
“Just a little something I picked up from Copper Cove Confections…” His smile turned downright wicked as he ran his hand up my arm.
“A consolation prize for choosing Cordelia?” The damned words slipped out before I could stop them.
His smile fell, darkness blanketing his features. “Is that really what you think I did?” His entire body tensed, his hand sliding off my shoulder. He dropped the pink bag on the ground, and his fingers clenched into fists.
“I don’t know…”
“Damn it, Lore, it’s you.” He erased the space between us, framing my face with his strong hands. “You’re the one I want. You’re the one I fucking can’t stop thinking about.”
My heart kicked out a manic beat as all the air swept from my lungs. “For real?”
“Yes, for real.” His lips crashed into mine, hand sliding down from my cheek to wrap around the back of my neck. His fingers dug into my hair, the desperation in his touch igniting a fire in my core.
“I want you Axel,” I murmured against his lips. “No, worse than that, I need you. I’ve never needed anyone more.” For one suspended heartbeat, I couldn’t kiss him back.
I could only stare at him, at the fierce blue of his eyes, at the way his hands held my face like I was something precious instead of something broken. Something chosen.
The word cracked through me, terrifying and beautiful all at once. Axel Vanderhart, with his easy smile and golden-boy charm and heart too big for the darkness he carried, wanted me. Not Cordelia, not the girl he’d spent months chasing. Me.
The girl with the ugly family secrets, who’d been promised to a monster. The girl who had spent her whole life pretending she didn’t care whether anyone stayed.
But he was staying.
He was looking at me like I mattered. Like I was worth the trouble, the danger, the fallout.
My chest ached so sharply I almost couldn’t breathe. No one had ever chosen me like this. Not because of what I could give them or how pretty I looked standing beside them.
Just because of me.
A shaky breath slipped past my lips, and something inside me softened, then broke wide open. “I need you inside me, Axel.”
His bright eyes met mine, sparks of deep blue within the tranquil sea, and a devious grin curled his lips.
“Your wish is my command, blondie.” He ran his hands down my ass, then gripped my thighs, lifting them to wrap around his narrow waist as he continued to devour me.
“I’ve always wanted to fuck you on the fifty-yard line… ”
A thrill raced up my spine as he lowered me to the soft turf and hovered over me.
“All the guys are gone,” he whispered, “and the likelihood of someone showing up at this hour is pretty low…”
Inhibitions weren’t really my thing. And the idea of Axel claiming me in the middle of the football field had liquid lightning surging through my veins.
“Fuck yes,” I blurted as I reached for his belt buckle.
“That’s my good girl.” He shoved my skintight dress up my hips and slid my panties down my legs.
I had his cock out before he could untangle my thong from my sneakers. “Just leave it,” I panted as I reached for him, reveling in his rock-hard erection. For me. This time there were no doubts, there was nothing fake about this moment.
Axel chose me.
We were really doing this.
I positioned his cock at my entrance, sliding his head across my soaked center, and every nerve lit up.
“Mmm, baby, that’s exactly how I love your pussy, dripping wet and ready for me.”
Love? My brain short-circuited at the word. Sure, he was talking about my vagina, but could he possibly feel an ounce of what I felt for him?
He thrust inside me, and all coherent thoughts vanished as raw pleasure streaked across my lower half. As he pounded into me, my hands curled around his ass driving him harder, faster. His thick head rubbed against my clit, over and over again.
This would be a quick one, I could already feel the orgasm building with each powerful thrust.
My head fell back on a moan and that little pink bag raced across my peripheral vision. What the hell did he have in there? I tucked the question into the back of my mind, saving it for later and wrapped my legs around Axel’s hips, driving his cock deeper.
“Fuck, blondie, you feel so good. Can you feel how your pussy clenches around my dick? She’s so hungry for me.”
“Yes, don’t stop.” My hips picked up the tempo, meeting each of his frenzied thrusts. “I’m going to come…”
“That’s right, Lore, come all over my cock like a good girl. I’m going to fill you up with my cum. I want it dripping down your legs when we walk out of here, so everyone knows you’re mine. All mine.”
I could almost hear his unspoken words. And not Brock Haversham’s.
He slid his hand between us, his deft fingers finding my clit. “Come for me, baby.”
With one final thrust, I plunged over the edge as the orgasm slammed into me like a tidal wave of raw pleasure.
“Oh, Axel,” I cried out as my inner walls constricted around his cock, coaxing out his own climax.
His head fell back, and our moans filled the thick air between us. For an incredible moment, everything else fell away, all the fear, all the anxiety about the future. It was just Axel and me on this immense field, entwined as one.
“Fuck, Lorelei, that was amazing.” Tiny beads of perspiration glistened across Axel’s brow as he dropped a gentle kiss on my forehead still buried deep inside me. “You’re a dream come true.”
A silly laugh slipped out, and my head fell back on the soft lawn. That pink bag edged along the corner of my vision once again. Curiosity got the best of me, and I blurted, “What’s in the bag?”
That sinful grin returned. “Melted chocolate. So I can slather it all over your beautiful pussy and really feast. This is only the beginning, Lore…”