band from my hair and pull a higher ponytail on my head to try to get some cool air on my neck. It doesn’t help. Eventually the shower shuts off, and minutes later, he strolls out wearing a pair of jeans, bare feet, and no shirt. He’s not wearing his glasses, and his brown hair looks black, wet and combed away from his face, as he rifles through his drawers and throws on a tee. The second he pulls it on, I roll my eyes. It’s one of his favs, blue, and reads, “That’s what I’m Tolkien about.”
His gaze lands on the bed. “Thank you.”
I think he means for making the bed, but something heavy in his tone has me second-guessing. “You’re welcome.” I hop up to head for the bathroom.
“Ax.”
I stop and turn to him, his eyes heavy with something, regret maybe?
“Never mind.”
“Okay.” I head into the bathroom to get ready to go home and can’t help but wonder if he’s holding back as much as I am.
~*~
Killian
My stomach’s growling again by the time I pull up to Axelle’s to drop her off. Her place is much nicer than mine—a two-bedroom apartment in a gated complex with assigned parking spots. There’s plenty of lighting in the lot as well as surveillance cameras. Blake insisted after she lived her first year in the dorms that she move somewhere safe, and he made it his mission to find the safest complex near the university.
It worked out that Axelle ended up meeting Mindy her first year. They weren’t roommates but lived on the same floor, and both were itching for off-campus living. Money wasn’t a factor seeing as Mindy’s family are heirs to some heating blanket fortune or some shit. So yeah, my girl is living in luxury, albeit college style, but still her place is sick AF.
I throw the Jeep into visitor parking and walk her to her door. Things have been quiet between us since our talk over breakfast. Fuck, seeing her wake up in my bed, her bare leg thrown over the comforter and all that hair tossed around her face, made me imagine things that are far from innocent. At one point in the night, she curled up to me and slid her palm up my stomach to my chest. I’ve never felt anything like it. I tried to convince myself she knew exactly where she was and who she was touching, but the truth is she probably had no fucking clue. Most likely she thought she was sleeping with that dick Clifford, which makes me want to slam the asshole’s face into a brick wall.
I walk her to her door, and because she doesn’t have a key, she has to ring her own doorbell.
A little over a minute later a guy answers. He rubs his hand over his cropped hair and squints into the sun. “Oh, hey…um…” His eyes dip to his waist where he’s sporting nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. “Sorry, I’m…” His bloodshot eyes take in Axelle from head to toe, and I almost pull her back to stand behind me, but luckily his gaze comes to me. “Who are you and where am I?”
Axelle giggles. “You must be the football player?”
“I’m the football player, yeah.”
“I’m Axelle.” She presses a palm against my chest. “This is Killian, and you’re at my apartment with my roommate, Mindy.”
His eyes light with recognition and he grins. “Oh, Mindy. Right. Shit, okay, yeah.” He steps back so we can enter. “My bad. Come on in.” He pats his hips where his pockets should be. “And my pants are…?”
Axelle grabs my hand and leads me through the living room, snagging her purse off the couch on our way to her room. “Don’t mind us. We’ll be in here and won’t bother you.” She closes the door behind us and whirls around to gape at me. “Oh my God, did you see him?”
“Hard not to. He was at the door damn near naked—”
“I know, right?” Her giggles mature into full-blown laughter. “We have to stay in here.”
“So what, now we’re being held hostage in your room until he leaves?”
“Well, duh! Yeah! This is a pivotal moment. How they handle this awkward morning-after will determine what happens from here on out.”
I tilt my head. “You’re serious.”
“Hell yeah, I’m serious. Think about it. This is the final taste, that last bite that makes you either A. want to go back for seconds or B. makes you want to move on to