I glanced down at the lined paper in front of me and my stomach dropped. Scrambling, I turned it until it faced right side up.
“Sometimes when I’m quizzing myself in my head, I’ll do that, so I can’t read the answers.”
“Okay, that’s weird, but whatever. Can I talk to you about something? It’s about Alexis.” He dragged his fingers through his hair.
The relief was sharp and sweet. Berk didn’t even seem phased by my excuse, too preoccupied with whatever was going on inside his head. Unfortunately, that thing was Alexis. His sister.
I groaned and slumped back in my seat. “Dude, after she tried to steal my wallet I know the answer will be the opposite of whatever she wants you to do. I’m not going back on the ban. She can be here, if you’re here, but no leaving her here on her own.”
“Come on, she’s not that bad.” He dropped his arms to his side.
She was the absolute worst. A former foster sister, he was overprotective of her even though she seemed to get into nothing but trouble. But I’d cut him some slack.
After the way my evening had gone, I didn’t feel the need to go over every terrible thing she’d done in the three-and-a-half years I’d known him. I wanted to hold onto the fuzzy feelings nestled in my chest as long as possible.
“What’s the issue?”
Berk rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Are you worried about the draft? About making it?”
Every day. “Sometimes, but all we can do is give it our all this season.”
His fingers drummed along the side of his leg. “It’s hard to think that in seven months we’re either done with football forever and trying to find a regular job, or we’re playing in stadiums with more cash than we know what to do with.”
My gut clenched at the first possibility. “It’s not going to happen. We’re kicking ass this season. Other than the first game against STFU we’ve kept it together. Reece was a first round draft pick. He’s set with his signing bonus.”
“Yeah.” The least convincing sentence ever. Why was he worrying about this now? He’d always seemed the most laid back of any of us when it came to his future. Secure in his place.
“How are things with your agent?”
“They’re fine. He’s a little slimy, but I figure most are.” A sad flash flickered through his eyes. “It’s a lot of pressure once this season finishes. A lot of opportunities for people to come looking for things from us. For people to start treating us differently.”
“What exactly are you worried about?”
“Honestly? That after the draft I’ll never know anyone who wants to know me for anything other than what I can give them.”
“That’s a cynical as shit way to look at things.” A realization hit me that I’d never thought of for him, an only child who’d been in the system. “And another reason you’re always swooping in to save Alexis. She’s the closest thing you have to family.” And he had the hots for Jules, but liked to pretend he didn’t.
“Alexis is my sister. There’s no other way about it. And it’s not only about her.”
“All we can do is try to surround ourselves with people who care about us.”
“You’re right.” He squeezed the back of his neck. “Sorry to go all softie on you.”
“It’s what friends are for, right?”
He nodded. “True. It’s great you’ve got Marisa, who’ll always have your back. Friends like that don’t come around too often. You guys are lucky.”
“Damn lucky.”
17
Marisa
LJ’s hands palmed my ass. The windows were fogged up, and I ground myself against his straining erection, teasing us both.
My lips were swollen and throbbed, but it wouldn’t make me stop. “We’re going to be late.”
He didn’t break lip contact. “I know, but it’s okay. I’ll tell them there was traffic.” His fingers sunk into my hair. Even with the driver’s seat pushed back as far as it could go, I was wedged between his chest and the steering wheel, which dug into my back. I couldn’t stop smiling.
His fingers slid under my shirt, teasing and tickling.
A dead end, five blocks from his childhood home wouldn’t have been my first choice for a make out spot, but holy crap had the last two weeks been infuriating. I’d had meetings with Venice late into the night, going over a lot of the plans for my fellowship and finding out what I’d need to enroll in the master’s program.
I rocked on his lap, about to lose my mind with wanting him inside me again. The dreams had almost been cruel with the way the fourteen days had gone. There had never been long enough to give us the level of satisfaction we’d been craving.
LJ had practices and weight training sessions every day. He’d strained a hamstring after a strenuous work out and had been on the couch alternating ice packs and Ace bandages for a couple days. It came with the football territory. What he’d put his body through season after season was brutal, but he’d been lucky. He’d had no surgeries or serious injuries so far, unlike some guys who’d had their ACLs, shoulders, or worse operated on.
Not playing as much this season had gotten to him some, but it also saved him for the games coming up. Which would mean more travel. I tried not to let it get to me. It was what it was, but I wanted more alone time with him.
My bed was so freaking loud there was no way to fool around while anyone else was home. LJ’s room was at the first door at the top of the steps and his bed wasn’t much quieter. And we’d almost always had our doors open, so we could shout to one another about something. Suddenly switching to two closed doors wasn’t the best way to keep what we were doing quiet.
Even the freaking floors were noisy. We’d learned that the hard way when Berk came upstairs asking if we were moving furniture.
There had also been two games since then with more travel time, which meant he’d been gone from Thursday to Tuesday both weeks. At least I hadn’t had to worry about dinner with Ron, but talking to LJ and going through a play-by-play of what we were going to do to one another when we finally had a minute alone was driving me crazy.
Midterms had been rough. The chemistry classes would come in handy for the museum curation work, but man, did they suck.
Between his schedule and mine, other than right now, it felt like it would be three months before we had a chance to have sex.
It was making me mildly cranky.
His phone buzzed in the cup holder.
We broke apart and I picked up his phone. Chest heaving, I pushed my hair back and checked the message.
My lips twitched, embarrassment radiating though me. “It’s from your mom, she wants to know how much longer until we get there.” Perfect timing. At least she wasn’t knocking on the window asking what was taking us so long.
LJ banged his head against the headrest. “I told you we should’ve left a half hour earlier.”
The responsible guy. My responsible guy. “I’m not the one who decided since we didn’t have any toilet paper at the house, we should stop and buy some instead of just using napkins.”