Convenient Fall (Players of Marycliff University Book 2) (7 page)

“No.”

Lance's eyebrows climbed further up his forehead. “You fucked her? And you still had the balls to ask her to move in with you guys?”

“First of all, it was Matt's brilliant idea to ask her to move in. And no, I didn't fuck her.”

“But you want to.” Lance made it a statement, not a question.

Chris shrugged. “She's hot. I wouldn't mind a piece of that, but Matt keeps warning me off like a jealous boyfriend.”

“I told you, man. She reminds me of my little sister. I just don't want you to fuck up our roommate situation. Do you want to have to find someone mid-semester?” Matt finally jumped in.

Lance was still eyeing Chris. “I think you like her, and you want more than a one-time fuck.”

“What? And get pussy-whipped like you?” Chris snorted again.

Lance just shrugged, unaffected by Chris's derision. “With the right pussy it's not a bad thing at all.” A grin split his face. “Try it sometime. You might like it.”

Matt broke in again. “Don't encourage him, Lance. His hands-off approach has been working so far.”

Lance looked back and forth between them, his expression amused, and didn't say anything. “Alright, let's get to Chris's question. What do you guys want to do tonight? I'm out of the loop, so if there are any parties going on, it's up to you to tell me.”

“Abby doesn't keep you filled in on that kind of thing?” Matt grinned too. Finally. Chris was glad the attention had moved away from him and whatever they thought might be going on with Megan. There was nothing going on. He didn't want anything going on. Yeah, sure, he'd wanted her when he'd met her over the summer, but she hadn't taken the bait like he was used to. He'd come to the conclusion that she wasn't the same type of party girl he normally used. She liked to drink and have fun, but she didn’t go to parties just to hook up. That's why he'd been pissed when that little sophomore had talked about her like that. He knew she wasn't like that, and she was his roommate, so it was his job to look out for her now. Right? Right.

But he hadn't gotten laid in over a month now. With practice and away games, he'd either been too tired or not home for the parties that he'd heard about. He wondered for a moment if Megan had gone to any of those parties. It was probably best that he didn't know and hadn't been around for them. He didn't want to watch her getting groped by random guys again.

At least this time Lance and Matt would both be along with them. And Abby. They could all keep an eye on Megan while he found a jersey chaser to take the edge off.

* * *

Megan could hear the guys talking and laughing with each other as they came around the corner. Their voices trailed off as she and Abby approached and she got the feeling the guys had been talking about her. Or Abby. Maybe both of them.

Abby went straight to Lance and he wrapped his arms around her while they kissed.
 

Chris made coughing noises into his hand and said, “Whipped.”

Without breaking away from Abby, Lance lifted one hand and flipped him off. Megan smirked. Matt came over and bumped her shoulder. “We're heading to a party. Want to ride with me? I'll be the DD, even.”
 

She bumped him back. “I can drive. You and Chris deserve to let loose tonight.”

“You sure?” His eyes searched her face.

Abby's voice broke in. “Or I can drive. We all know that I drink way less than all of you. I don't mind being the DD.”

Chris shook his head. “I don't want to cram into the back seat of your tiny car, Abby. I'll drive myself. I don't feel like getting drunk tonight anyway. Matt and Megan, you guys can ride with whoever you want.”

Megan watched Chris's eyes flick over her body, resting on the point where her arm was still in contact with Matt. He looked back at her face, then turned and headed toward the parking lot without waiting for anyone's answer.

She looked at Matt, who had a bemused expression on his face as he watched Chris walk away. Matt turned back to the group and slung an arm around Megan's shoulders. “I don't mind your tiny car, Abby. We can ride with you.”
 

“Uh, thanks? We came in Lance's car, though.”

Matt laughed. “Even better.”

The parking lot was mostly empty by the time they got out to Lance's beat up GTO. Matt punched Lance in the shoulder. “Are you ever going to paint this old rust bucket? No wonder your dad didn't want you taking over the shop driving around in this thing.”

Lance just leaned over the car and patted it on the roof. “Don't listen to him. You're beautiful.”
 

Megan grinned and went around to the passenger side where Abby held the front seat forward so she could slide in the back, Matt getting in beside her.

The party was well underway by the time they arrived—music blaring and Marycliff students spilling out onto the front lawn. When they walked through the front door, a cheer went up from the guys on the couches at the sight of Lance and Matt. Both guys went straight over to greet their fan club.

Megan hooked her arm through Abby's. “C’mon. Let's go find the drinks.” They made their way through the crowd into the kitchen. There was only beer. Megan filled a cup for each of them and handed one to Abby.

Abby wrinkled her nose in distaste. She took a sip and her expression turned into a grimace.

Megan sipped her own beer. Abby was right. It was crappy beer. She sighed, bummed that they didn't have something better to drink than this.
 

“How long do you think we're going to stay?”

Megan raised her eyes to Abby, who eyed her cup with disgust written on her face. Megan laughed a little. “I don't know. With beer this crappy, I wouldn't plan on staying long. But the guys getting greeted by cheers as soon as they walk through the door? They might want to stay a while.”

Abby took another tentative sip and grimaced again. “Nope. It's too nasty. I can't do it. Lance keeps good beer in the house, and sometimes I'll have one of those, but even that's a stretch. I just don't like beer that much.”

“Well, you're the DD anyway, so it's not like you need to drink.” She took another sip. If she was in the mood to get trashed she'd chug it anyway, but she didn't feel like it tonight. “Come on. The music's good at least. Let's go see where the dancing is happening.”

Megan stood on tiptoe to see over the crowd blocking the doorways and saw moving bodies on the outdoor patio. She grabbed Abby's hand so they wouldn't get separated and slipped into the stream of people moving that direction. The early September evening chilled her bare arms, but it felt good after being inside. Once they started dancing, it would be the perfect temperature.

Megan turned to face Abby and started moving to the music. It had a strong bass beat, so it was easy to dance to. Abby stood across from her, moving a little, mostly stiff. Megan laughed. “Loosen up! We're supposed to be dancing and having fun!”

Abby blushed and smiled. “I don't dance much! I feel like a complete idiot! And this is weird. Why haven't you ditched me already?”

“I don't want to get drunk bad enough to drink nasty beer. I always took you to parties with good drinks. It's not my fault you didn't want to keep up before!”

Abby laughed back at her, their shouted conversation starting to loosen her up without her realizing it. Megan smiled to herself, happy that Abby seemed to be loosening up more in general. The Abby she used to live with would never have followed her out and even tried dancing at a party. She never meant to ditch her, but Abby used to always get to a party and freeze up, hugging the wall, trying to stay out of everyone's way. Since Lance came into her life Abby followed along to get a drink, tried the beer (more than once!), and came out to the dance floor. The music was too loud to explain all that to her, though. So Megan just smiled and kept dancing, enjoying hanging out with her friend again. Enjoying being out and young and feeling the music pulsing through her body.
 

A hand on her hip let her know there was someone behind her, moving with her. She turned her head to see a pair of sapphire blue eyes looking down at her, fringed by dark lashes. His short dark hair was artfully mussed. He smiled and leaned close to her ear. “Mind if I join you?”

She shook her head.
 

He put his other hand on her hip to bracket her body. Megan turned to see Abby freezing up with another guy behind her. He was tall and good looking with medium brown hair and brown eyes. She could see Abby shaking her head at the guy, but couldn't hear her over the music.
 

Abby stepped closer to Megan to speak into her ear. “I’m going to go find Lance. Have fun dancing!”

As she walked away, the guy behind her leaned close to her ear again. “Your friend doesn't like to dance?”
 

She looked at him over her shoulder. “Not with strange guys. Her boyfriend probably wouldn't like it either.”

His eyes widened a little. “What about your boyfriend?”

She grinned. “I don't have one.”

He grinned back and pulled her closer to him.
 

CHAPTER SEVEN

“I am not drunk enough to deal with this,” Chris muttered to himself. He stood near the edge of the patio and watched Megan dance with some random guy. He turned away and took another swig of his beer. His mouth twisted in distaste. Whoever got the keg did a bad job and got the cheapest thing available. They didn't even spring for liquor to make mixed drinks. Shitty party.

He'd scored the touchdown that allowed their team to win. Him, the cornerback. He'd seen the CCC quarterback about to lob a short pass, and ran full out to snatch it out of the air. He still couldn't believed they'd run a passing play of any sort so close to the end of the game with a small lead. Their stupidity was his gain. Teammates and other students passed by him and slapped him on the shoulder, offering their congratulations. He should be having fun. Celebrating. Finding a chick and taking the edge off.

Instead he was brooding in the corner watching his roommate get groped under the guise of dancing. And she didn't seem to mind. The song ended, and the sound of her laughter in the relative quiet between songs pulled Chris's attention back to her. He saw the guy in front of her now, crowding into her space, backing her toward the door to the house. Her hands went to his chest and she shook her head. Chris stood up straighter, fists clenched at his sides. No one was going to force Megan into something she didn't want. Not while he was watching. He already wanted to rip the dickhead's arms off for touching her anyway. Not that he had any right to feel that way. He had no claim on Megan. Seeing some other guy with his hands all over her pissed him off for reasons he couldn't explain, not even to himself.

The music started again, and Megan started dancing, moving away from the asshole who'd been trying to get her inside the house. Chris watched while the guy stared after her for a moment and then joined her again. He continued watching while they danced. He raised his cup to his lips again, but the bitter smell of the beer stopped him before he took another drink. He dumped out his cup in the dirt near where he stood, and leaned back to watch some more. He felt like a stalker, but he couldn't help himself. People came and went, occasionally blocking his view, but he could keep tabs on Megan and her dance partner pretty easily.

After watching that guy run his hands over Megan's ass for what had to be the hundredth time, Chris had had enough. He pushed his way past some people who picked that moment to step in front of him. The guy was behind her now, grinding his dick against Megan's ass. Chris let his hand land heavily on the guy's shoulder and pulled him away. Not too hard, but with enough strength to let the guy know he was serious and not to be fucked with.
 

The guy stumbled back, eyes blazing. “What the fuck, man? Find your own chick. We're dancing.”

Megan had stopped dancing and turned to watch them. Chris bared his teeth in what might have passed for a smile. “Not anymore, dude. She's here with me.” He reached for Megan and pulled her against his side. He didn't look down at her, keeping his eyes on his rival, but he could feel her pushing against him, trying to get out from under his arm. He waited until the guy moved away, muttering to himself and shaking his head.

Megan landed a surprisingly hard punch to his back, just missing his kidney. He let her go, looking down at her. Her brown eyes were murderous. “What the fuck, Chris? What is your problem?”

“That asshole's my problem!” They were both yelling, as much from anger and frustration as the need to be heard. People around them stopped and moved away, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of a budding fight.

Megan narrowed her eyes at him and tried to punch him again. He caught her wrist before she could make contact. “Watch it. I don't like being hit.”

She twisted her arm in his grip, catching him off guard and going against his thumb so that he was forced to release her. “And I don't like assholes interrupting me when I'm trying to have a good time!” She turned and stormed back inside.
 

Chris didn't let her get far before he was after her. With the press of people going in and out of the door, it wasn't hard to catch up. He followed close behind her until his front almost touched her back. She cast a glare over her shoulder, but didn't say anything. She pushed through the crowd, headed for the living room.