“Damn! I ain’t been on one of these twin-longs since… Freshman year, maybe?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I sighed, fingering through the pages of his typed-up outline.
Forty-five minutes later, I was more than halfway done with my rough draft. My eyes were swollen, too. A deep yawn escaped me, and my arms lifted in the air to stretch. When I felt the flash of pain I dropped my arms.
“What’s that about?” Ashton’s voice was even deeper than it was when he kissed me earlier. He had to be tired.
“The price I’m paying for not staying focused in the ring yesterday.” Slowly, I stood from the desk, closing the laptop shut. “That’s enough for me. I’m about to pop a Motrin for it.”
“Yeah. You let Rodriguez think she was on your level.” His tone was so casual flowing from across the room.
After a long pause, I turned to him. Ashton looked way too comfy on my bed. “Did you?”
He laughed. “Nah. I watched the tape.”
“Tape?”
“The athletic program records most of the games or competitions. Coaches and A.D.s watch it for better instruction…improvements. I snuck in this afternoon, after my practice and watched.”
“You can do that?”
His eyes fell. “I’m Ashton Spencer. I can do whatever I want on this campus, according to some people.” He yawned, turning on his side. I watched him shape my pillow to his liking. “Turn the light down, please.”
Confused, I blinked. Was he…? I mean… I’d stayed in Ashton’s dorm, but he’d never stayed here.
“Samantha’s coming back after her shift,” I warned.
Ashton yawned, snuggling into my pillows. “I’ll be outta here before then.”
Chapter Nine
-THEN-
My eyes swung open when, subconsciously, I realized I’d fallen asleep. The light was dimmed and Tori was no longer at her desk near the foot of the bed. My nostrils contracted and my eyes rolled up to the left of me where I saw long, crossed nude legs leading up to cherry top hills. Next was her tight, but hella beautiful face. Her hand was at my scalp, fingering in a massage. While her touch was soft, those eyes narrowed in thought. Tori was pensive.
“You got hit pretty bad in that game the other night.” Her voice was soft. Girly as I’d ever heard outside of her moaning while coming against my tongue. “I heard the assistant coaches talking about it earlier when I went to meet with my team. They were in their TV room screaming about it when I walked past.”
I snorted. It was my team against the coaches, but I wouldn’t ruin a moment of Tori seeming to care about me. The shit excited the fuck out of me.
“You got hurt, too.” I lifted her long t-shirt above her hips to just beneath her ample rotund breasts. Tori pulled in a deep breath from her nose and her body shivered. “Here.” I pointed to the magenta spots on the sides of her abdomen. She was markedly bruised.
Our eyes danced against each other’s, and I saw when she swallowed nervously.
“They said your line didn’t protect you.”
“We weren’t focused.”
“What does that mean?”
I had to think of a way to simplify it for someone unfamiliar with football.
“Meaning, for a couple of the plays, I ran the ball instead of throwing it, because I thought it would get us farther down the field. Then there were other plays when they assumed I’d run the ball myself, and I was simply waiting for a receiver—the running back—to open up for me. When my guys aren’t able to keep containment and protect me from the other team, clamming for the ball, I get hit—and possibly by several people.”
Her forehead dimpled in confusion and…worry. Tori McNabb was concerned about me! Fuck. My dick twitched. I swear, I said I’d only kiss her ass to take what she should have made up for leaving me hanging since returning from Thanksgiving.
“Don’t say it,” she murmured.
“Say what?”
“You ain’t gonna kiss me.” Her pupils swung on each syllable.
My face widened when I realized she was mocking me from Thanksgiving night. “Is that what you want? For me to kiss you?”
“It’s what you want. I can tell by how you’re…looking at me.”
She knew.
“Is that a problem?”
Her face relaxed and lashes batted. “What we did was wrong, Spence.”
Slowly, I shook my head. “What we did was right. We were wrong for doing it.”
I saw her eyes twitter in their sockets as she processed that. Tori eventually nodded softly in agreement.