On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,63
her while I kissed her, tormented her. My dick twitched already missing her.
I needed to get out of here.
Adding the photo back to its clip, I let curiosity get the better of me, taking one final glance around her room. I half-expected to see her camera laying around but there was no sign of it.
Strange. Back when I’d lived in Bay View, she’d never left home without it.
Shaking the thoughts from my head, I slipped out of her room. The hall was quiet, so I kept my eyes down and got the hell out of there.
Telling myself it was better this way.
The second I stepped foot in my apartment, my cell phone rang. At the sight of Callum’s name, a groan reverberated in my chest.
“You told them?” he barked. “You had no fucking right.”
“Back up a minute, I didn’t tell them anything.” Technically, that wasn’t true. But Victoria had started it. “Besides, what did you think was going to happen?”
“I... I don’t know. Fuck.” I heard a crash in the background.
“Yeah, man, this is all on you.”
Callum let out a strained breath and I could imagine him, brows knitted, expression hard. We weren’t friends, not by a long shot, but I knew him.
“You didn’t tell anyone about your mom, why?” I asked quietly, hating the way my chest tightened.
“Because it’s no one’s fucking business,” he gritted out.
“Yeah, I get that. But come on, man. This is your team, your family. They would have supported you—”
“Do you know what, Messiah? Fuck you. None of this would even be happening if—” He stopped himself, heaving a deep breath.
“Yeah, that’s right, blame me, Callum. It’s all my fault. None of this could possibly be because you’re a stubborn asshole who can’t grow some fucking balls and own up to his mistakes.” I ended the call and threw my cell down on the table. Anger vibrated beneath my skin, making my teeth grind together.
Pulling my clothes from my body, I left a trail in my wake as I padded into my small bathroom. A cold shower would sort out my head.
But the second I stepped into the cubicle all I could smell was her.
Calli.
Jesus, she was smothered all over my fucking skin, and I grew hard just thinking about the way she’d let me take her last night.
It had been so raw, so damn real. There was something intoxicating about the pain and hatred that existed between us. It made everything... more somehow.
Fuck.
It was supposed to be closure.
One final time.
But as the water sluiced down my body, washing away her scent, the pit in my stomach only grew.
I’d wanted this—I’d wanted to get her out of my fucking head. But it seemed like the harder I tried, the deeper she burrowed.
“Fuck.” I slammed my hand against the tiles, roaring my frustration into the water.
She’d betrayed me. The moment I’d needed her most, Calli had betrayed me... I needed to remember that.
Shutting off the water, I grabbed a towel. The water wasn’t enough. I needed something more. And since running back to her dorm room and sinking deep inside her again wasn’t an option, I was going to have to settle for hitting the gym or the court.
I’d been working out for about an hour when Joel and Brad entered the gym. I’d hoped to avoid him, but I knew it was probably better to get this conversation over sooner rather than later.
I pulled out my earbuds and tipped my chin at them.
“Messiah,” Brad nodded getting himself set up with the free weights.
“Can we talk?” Joel said, hardly able to meet my eyes.
“Uh, sure.” I grabbed my water bottle and took a big swallow, before rubbing my head with a towel. “Listen, I’m sorry about how things went down last night. I shouldn’t have—”
“Save it,” Joel said thinly. “I knew there was something weird between the two of you, but I didn’t ever think...” He trailed off. “Were the two of you… together?”
Fuck. Molineux was intuitive. That or we’d been more obvious than I thought.
“It’s complicated,” I said.
“Isn’t it always?”
“I’d appreciate it if you keep this between us. Things are weird enough for her given Callum didn’t tell the team.”
“You’re protecting her.”
I ignored that and added, “We good?”
“Team before all else, right?” A faint smile tugged at his mouth, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“And Calli?”
“I’m done.” Joel held up his hands. “She’s Callum’s sister. You know the rules.”
Yeah, I did. But it hadn’t stopped me last night. Or the night I’d followed her from