Shit.
I can see how they might have that impression of us. Just the idea of everyone slut-shaming the only girl I ever gave a crap about fuels my anger to no end, and right now, I’m not sure who I’m truly angry with—the kids in this school who talk shit about her behind her back, or my two best friends who love her just as fiercely as I do.
I turn off the faucet, knowing a cold shower won’t be the solution to my problems or keep my blood from boiling. I wrap a towel around my waist and lay down on a bench, trying to get my shit together. I must stay like that for a long time, because before I know it, practice is over and my teammates rush into the room, most of them looking pissed that they were the ones Coach punished for my hot headedness. Not wanting to stick around, I get dressed and leave before any one of them says something that might spur my rage again. Not that it would take much coaxing on their part. This fury that resides inside me might be new, but it’s damn well overpowering, and all it would take is a wrong look my way to set it off.
It’s ironic when I think about it. Carter is the one who is usually angry at the world—not me. I try to hide my frustrations with a joke or a smile, while he alienates himself, preferring to feel life’s cruel jokes safely through a lens. However right now, I understand him perfectly, especially considering the urgent need to seek out the only person who has ever been able to lessen our pain, as well as cause it in the same breath.
With our refuge in mind, my determined feet take me back onto the football field, searching for her—the girl who offers us solace and peace as well as steals our very sanity. As I approach, I watch Val drinking from her water bottle, a smile on her lips as she talks with a few of the girls after cheerleading practice.
“Excuse me, ladies, I’m going to steal Val away from you.”
Her brows furrow as I latch onto her hand and pull her away from her giggling teammates.
“Quaid? What’s wrong?” she asks, concerned, instantly feeling that I’m not in my right frame of mind. “Quaid?” she insists again, confused, pulling at my hand, but I don’t answer her.
Instead, I take her under the bleachers where we can have some privacy, without so much as a word. My mind is a mess as it is, and if I start rambling now, I’ll just scare her and not get the answers I want—the answer I fucking need right now to settle my heart.
When I finally find a secluded spot that ensures we won’t be seen, I press her against one of the beams, my whole body looming over hers.
“What am I to you?”
“W-What?” she stammers.
“You heard me, Val. What am I to you?”
Her golden eyes look deep into mine, cracking my heart right down the middle with the vulnerability I see in them.
“You’re my best friend, Quaid.”
“I-Is that all?” I stutter, unable to hide my disappointment and hurt.
She presses her open palm against my cheek, her lashes batting a mile a minute.
“You know it’s not,” she whispers on a heavy breath.
“Then prove it,” I growl, invading her personal space.
“And how can I do that?”
“Kiss me, Val. I want you to kiss me.”
She leans in and presses a faint chaste kiss on my cheek. When she pulls back, her eyes gleam with an unnamed emotion I wish I could pinpoint, a feeling that feels similar to the one burning inside me, threatening to explode if unnamed.
“No, Val. That isn’t going to cut it,” I reply, and wrap my hand on the back of her head, pulling her to me.
When my lips finally meet hers, I don’t hold back. I throw my whole aching heart at her feet, praying she won’t stomp on it. As she accepts my ardent kiss willingly and anxiously, it’s better than any fantasy I could have ever conducted in my head. Valentina tastes like the sweetest summer fruit, decadent and exhilarating, and I for one, can’t get enough of her. I bring her closer to me, her hands on my chest, crawling up to my neck, until she’s pulling at my short ends, becoming breathless and intoxicated by our feverish kiss. While she succumbs and gives in to the feeling, I lose myself in this one heart-filled moment. Time as I know it stops, as I try to memorize how it feels to have Valentina lose all control and just love me like I want to love her.
“Quaid,” she gushes as her lips keep coming for mine.
I rasp her name in pain, and my tongue invades its way inside her warm mouth, my cock hardening against her little skirt.
“Jesus, Val. You drive me crazy,” I rasp as my teeth pull at her lower lip.
We grind up against each other, her hands slowly going down my chest, seeking their way inside my T-shirt to feel my heated skin underneath. I feel her tender touch start to grow more ravenous, and without delay, I pull my T-shirt over my head to give her what she wants. Her gaze scorches my skin, while her touch burns me from inside. I hiss out when she starts kissing my chest.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
All she’s done is kiss me, and I almost come in my sweatpants.
She cranes her head back to gaze at my face, her eyes turning to molten gold at the hooded look I’m giving her. I lick my lips and catch her hand in mine, pressing a tender kiss on her wrist before I place it back on my chest. She doesn’t pull away as I use her hand to explore my body. When I slowly take it below my navel, to where my ache has become excruciating to cope with, Val doesn’t stop me either, and a bloom of hope spurs my next action. I pull her hand over my sweat pants, just low enough for her to feel the state I’m in.
“This is what you do to me, Val. I’m a constant hard-on whenever I’m near you, whenever I even think of you.”
“Does it hurt?” she whispers, her eyes locking on the bulge she delicately has her hand on.
“Yes,” I groan, closing my eyes when she lightly caresses it.
“How can I help?”
Fuck!
“Jesus, Val, just touch me. All I want is for you to touch me,” I beg on a raspy breath.
Her trembling hand grips over my cock more forcefully, and I groan out in both pleasure and pain.
“Can I see it?”
“What?” I stutter, my eyes opening wide to make sure I heard her correctly, and it’s not my wishful thinking playing games with me.
“I’ve never seen one before. Can I?” she asks meekly, her curiosity and nervousness weakening me further. All I can do is I nod since words fail me. It’s not like I could ever deny Val anything, much less reject her touch.
With eager hands, she pulls down my sweats, my thrilled cock bobbing freely in the cool breeze. Her curious light fingers race up and down at it, only adding to my pain.
“Is it supposed to look that angry?” she asks, honestly intrigued.
I let out a soft chuckle and pull the errant locks that have sprung free from her ponytail away from her face, tucking them behind her ear.
“Trust me, it’s not angry. It’s fucking ecstatic you’re touching it.”
“I didn’t think it would be this big though.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” I tease, my shaft hardening at her innocent remark.
“Are you making fun of me?” She lifts a brow, her luscious plump lip curling at the side.
“Right now, I wouldn’t dream of pissing you off,” I hush. “It’s strenuous enough not to think about your hands on me, much less make a joke.”