sitting up on him.
He grabs me by my hips, plops me down next to him, and sits up.
My stomach drops, and my throat dries. This is the other bomb. Something did in fact happen in those two years. I’m keeping a few drunken nights where I might have gotten loose with my body, but he’s holding something deeper, and from his set dark eyes, it’s big.
“What?” I ask again.
He climbs out of bed, shrugging his jeans back on. “You hungry?” He tosses me his shirt.
I throw it over myself so as not to be completely exposed when he breaks my heart.
“No. What is it?”
He starts pacing, his sign indicating he’s processing deep shit.
“Tell me.” I sit on the edge of the bed, my nails in my mouth. I’m panicking about what’s going to come out of his mouth.
“Coach stopped me at practice today.”
“And?”
“There’s a charity game for Coach Weathers in a month.”
My body relaxes.
Crosby didn’t ask me about Coach Weathers, and I didn’t want to hurt Crosby more than he already was. Maybe he had been in contact with him, maybe he hadn’t, but when it came to the past, I’d let Crosby take the lead on what he wanted to talk about.
“Oh. I heard his family has been having some financial problems. How does Coach Lipton know about him?”
“The coach from Bradley wants a charity game with Ridgemont. Charity for the Weathers Family.” His hands thread through his hair. I’m surprised this guy has hair left. “He gave me an out, but I agreed to go.”
“Why?” The word surprises me as much as Crosby.
He looks over at me, his eyebrows raised.
“I mean, Brax will play, but you being there will have consequences.”
He walks over, dropping to his knees. His hands rub along my bare thighs. “You know I have to do this, right? Putting my need to do this for the Weathers aside, let’s consider us. The town hates me. That hatred will only grow if I purposely don’t play.”
He has a point, but I hate the thought of him going through all that shit again. All the pointing fingers, hushed whispers, blatant lies.
“It scares me.”
“Yeah, me, too, but there’s no choice. It’s in one month. I need you there, by my side.”
His eyes plead and beg me, as though I’d ever say no.
“Of course, I’ll be right there with you the entire time.”
I fall to the ground, crawling into his lap. His strong arms hold me, and I pray our love will be enough to get us through this time.
Chapter Twenty
Crosby
The party is in full force after our scrimmage when Ella walks in with Jen. It’s been a week, and having Jen and Ella at The Ballpark hasn’t been that bad. I’m regularly getting laid, Ella cooks most nights, and Saucey isn’t complaining about his bunkmate either. Thankfully, there’s been no drama between the two.
Ella wiggles through the masses, meeting me in the back of the room.
“Hey you.” She rises on her tiptoes to kiss me, and I pull her closer.
“Hey.” I press my lips to hers, and that urge to drag her upstairs hasn’t waned. If anything, it’s stronger now.
“Ollie make an appearance yet?” she asks, raising her eyebrows.
Derek laughs next to me. “He’s probably upstairs, either oiling himself up or shitting his pants. Who can ever figure that guy out?”
“He wants attention. He doesn’t want attention,” I add.
Derek nods.
“Well, I’m glad I didn’t miss it. After he called you out, he deserves a little embarrassment,” Ella says.
I love her more for her protectiveness.
“Remind me how much I love you,” I whisper in her ear.
She rubs against me like a cat to her owner. “You love me so hard that not even a meteor in space could dent it.” Her eyes twinkle, and she bats her eyelashes a few times.
“Yep. That’s about it.”
She laughs, and I place my drink down, grabbing her hand.
“See ya, King,” I say to Derek, who’s already chatting up a blonde.
“We aren’t disappearing upstairs,” she says behind me.
But I ignore her, walking out the front door. We reach the edge of the porch, and I prop her up onto the ledge, moving between her legs. Her arms find their usual place around my neck, and I get as close to her as possible.
“I missed you,” I say, kissing her.
She allows me to set the pace, and I deepen my tongue. The softest moan leaks out of her. I close the kiss, and she looks drowsy and satisfied.
“Well, I need to do a girls’