from Pain to Pleasure (Gainesville Book 1) (8 page)

“I will. Meet me at the locker room after. Please?”

She closed her eyes for a few seconds. “I can’t.”

“Please try.” He hated that she was still afraid.

“OK.”

He held her with his eyes closed. Ever since the party, they had spent at least an hour together every day, not counting history class. His feelings for her continued to grow. He hid them as best he could. She couldn't deal with it, and he wasn't sure how to express how he truly felt about her. No one affected him like she did.

Only once had Diego caught them together. It was just before the class they shared. Alex started a conversation with him to throw him off. Alex didn’t tell her he had threatened most of Brian’s other friends to back off. It was the least he could do to ease her nerves.

Danielle didn’t want to let Alex go. He had been so patient with her those two weeks. She had the space she needed to deal with her discovery about Brian and the memories that it dredged up. He lent a supporting hand or shoulder to cry on at times. Her life up until then had been a lie. She didn’t realize there was something better out there for her.

They talked about Brian only once. She admitted why she was in so much pain the first day of class. She didn’t tell the whole story; only that he spanked and choked her. It upset Alex anyway. He let her lean on him and cry when she got overwhelmed. She never met a man who understood.

“I gotta go.” Alex wished he didn’t have to pull away, but he stepped back anyway.

Danielle let the memory go and looked up. “Wait.” She took the cross off her neck. “This’ll keep you safe.” She put it around his neck as tears fell from her eyes.

Her grandmother gave it to her the first time she witnessed Brian drag her from a room to punish her. Grammie told her it would keep her alive, no matter how badly Brian treated her. She didn’t believe it that day. More pain was not imaginable. Nevertheless, she had survived almost three years of abuse from him.

Alex touched the charm and smiled at her. “Thank you. No one’s ever done anything like that for me.” He put his fingers through her hair. “I’ll be careful.” Then he leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you after the game.”

She watched him walk down the hall. Gary met him halfway to the stairs.

“Why don’t you go out with him?” Marie quietly asked. “I know you want to.”

Danielle closed the door and turned to her. “I’m already taken.”

“You mean that dick, Brian?” She scowled. “He’s a phony. I can see right through him. I bet he never lets you do anything you want to.” When she didn’t get a response, she knew she stumbled upon something. “Is he the one who strangled you?”

Danielle looked down. “You noticed?”

“Your whole damn neck was bruised!” Marie was pissed off at that excuse for a man. “You can’t let him abuse you.” She softened her voice. “Alex really cares about you. Give him a chance. Let him show you what life is like with a
real
man.”

Danielle wanted to but didn’t know how to let the fear go. “I’m scared.”

“I know.” Marie felt guilty. She hugged her. “All you do is look over your shoulder. That’s not living.”

A knock at the door ended the exchange. Marie answered it and let Logan in. He looked her up and down, subtly. Well, at least he thought it was subtle. Danielle caught it. She smiled sure Marie had a slight crush on him as well.

“Are we going to lunch first or what?” The tension obvious, Logan asked, “What’d I miss?” He looked from Marie to Danielle and wondered what happened.

Marie grabbed her purse. “Nothing. We’re ready. Right, Danielle?”

“Yes.” Danielle picked up her bag as well then followed Marie. No one balked when she was with her and Logan.

As Danielle sat in the back, she watched Marie rub Logan’s thigh. It made her feel lonely. Alex made her feel special, but it wasn’t the same. She couldn’t take the chance of Brian’s friends seeing her attraction to him.

When they got to a red light, Marie tousled Logan’s dark brown hair. It was much shorter than Alex’s was, but she loved to play with it. He turned, and she winked at him. She didn’t have a date that weekend and wanted him to substitute.

Logan was perfectly willing just to have sex with her, although he hoped for more. He had heard Marie was a wild one in bed. If that were remotely true, he would hang onto her. Her eyes told him he would most definitely find out soon. He flashed a smile in reply, and then winked.

Marie suppressed a giggle. His blue eyes were almost the color of the sky on a clear day. They really stood out with his olive complexion. It made him real cute, but he was a bit more timid than she went for. He was Alex’s roommate, though.
That might have benefits
. She didn’t know if guys talked about sex, but she had hope. Alex had quite the reputation at school.

Danielle’s phone rang. She looked at it, then tapped Logan’s shoulder. They all knew that meant to be quiet. “Hello.”

“Hey, Dani.” Brian smiled widely. He missed her voice. “What are you doing?”

Her hand shook. “Nothing.”

He had called just the day before and grilled her about her activities. She thought he had multiple friends that watched her. His calm voice confused her. Since he had been gone, on most calls his tone was laced with anger.

“Everyone says you’ve been just studying and keeping to yourself.” Brian was glad she hadn’t stepped outside her boundaries. “How do you like school?”

She calmed herself with a few deep breaths, terrified he would know she wasn’t alone. “It’s good. The teachers are great.”

Logan suddenly stopped short and cringed. He looked at Marie and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” There was no way to avoid it. The car in front of them had done the same.

“Are you in a car?” Brian tried to hold his temper back.

Danielle closed her eyes. “Marie’s taking me to get groceries.”

“Oh, OK.” He had to allow her to go to the store but wished she had a different friend. Although, it could be worse. “Make sure you use the Visa. The American Express was turned off.”

Marie looked back and saw the expression on Danielle’s face. That meant he didn’t buy the story. She wished she could convince her to ignore his calls. Sometimes she cried for hours afterward.

“I will,” Danielle replied. “I have to put the phone down, so I can grab my bag and stuff.”

Brian looked at the clock. It was midnight.
No wonder I’m tired
. “It’s fine. I need to get some sleep anyway. I love you, Dani.”

“Love you, too.” She dared not forget to say that.

Marie waited several minutes after Danielle had put away her phone before she asked, “What did he say?”

“He told me what credit card to use.” She sniffled. He tracked her that way as well. She was as trapped as ever, like he wanted.

Logan quickly turned right. “That means we have to stop at a store and buy some stuff. That way he believes your story.”

Danielle sighed. “Yeah, I guess.” She hated that they were in the middle of the insanity.

“Hey.” Marie reached back and patted her knee. “We understand. Don’t worry.”

The trip to the store didn’t make them late for the game, but the traffic around the stadium almost did. There had been two accidents close to the stadium entrance, so everything had bottlenecked.

* * *

“When will Alex play?” Danielle asked when the game was in the second quarter. She didn’t understand football.

Logan leaned down to her. He sat between the two girls at the home stadium. “He might not. Third-string means there are two other guys who play more than he does.”

“But you said Will had the flu,” Marie reminded him.

His eyebrows rose. “Oh yeah, so he’s kinda second-string today. We should see him.”

Suddenly the crowd cheered. Danielle did too, along with her friends but had no idea why. “What happened?”

“We got first down.” Marie understood a lot more than she did. “We keep the ball,” she explained.

“Oh, OK.”

Danielle sat down and tried to read the players shirts. She knew a few by their numbers. Alex’s was 69, which always made her giggle. The thought of that sexual position made her recall his penis. She hadn’t seen it again, but she had felt it a few times when he held her.

By the third quarter, Danielle was bored. The school’s team was losing, and she was unsure what were good or bad plays. Then everyone around them stood up and made sounds that told her someone got hurt. She was sure it wasn’t Alex because she had not seen him yet.

Logan watched closely. Their halfback had been tackled, and several opposing players jumped on the pile. As the referees helped break up the melee, one was left sprawled on his back. The halfback still held the ball. When they tried to help him up, he grabbed his ankle.

Marie smiled when they carried him off the field. She quietly cheered. That was sort of good news.

“How can you be happy?” Danielle asked, angry. “That’s one of our guys.”

Logan looked at her and shouted, “That was the halfback! Alex gets to play!”

As soon as the game got underway again, Alex ran on the field. He was nervous as hell, but the cheers helped somewhat. Just before the play started, he looked up to where he thought Danielle was and smiled.

Danielle held her breath when she realized Alex had the ball. She was terrified he would get hurt. She grabbed Logan’s jacket as someone on the opposing team moved toward him. Then she screamed and covered her eyes when he hit the ground.

“He’s alright. Relax,” Logan assured her.

Eyes lifted, Danielle saw he was right. Alex was up. “Oh thank God!”

Alex brushed himself off and jumped up and down a few times to shake off the mistake. He had found a blind spot with the helmet on. Something he wouldn’t do again. He was used to playing without equipment.

“I’m good,” he told one of his teammates and got back into position. Absently, he touched Danielle’s necklace. “This is for you, babe.” Even though she wasn’t his girlfriend, he knew one day she would be.

Logan jumped up again as Alex ran for the end zone with the ball. “Go!” he screamed. Then he grabbed Danielle and stood her up. “Look!”

She followed his finger and saw Alex run across the field. She could barely see his jersey, but it had to be him. She cringed as someone almost knocked him over, but he spun around and avoided them. In seconds, he had scored his first touchdown of his college career and pushed their team ahead by three.

From that moment on, Danielle got into the game. She mostly followed what Logan and Marie did. Occasionally, she realized what was going on by herself. Every time he had the ball, she screamed his name.

It was fourth and goal in the bottom of the fourth quarter. Their team was down by four. Alex itched to make the play, but the plan was to fake it to him, then give it to the tight end to score. It all went to hell when linebackers knocked him and a few others down. The quarterback quickly tossed Alex the ball, and he dove over the pile of bodies. He landed in the end zone.

“Holy shit!” Logan cried out, shocked. “He did it!”

Danielle watched as Alex stood up and lifted the ball over his head. He had scored the winning touchdown. She was proud of him, more so that she thought she should be. Her feelings for him confused her. The physical reaction began to be familiar, but the emotional one was too much to handle.

* * *

Alex was still full of adrenaline as he showered off. Everyone added to that by congratulating him. He couldn’t believe he played in the game, let alone helped his team win. It was like a dream come true.

Even with all the excitement, he still thought of Danielle. He hoped she hugged him again. That was the closest he could physically get to her. She didn’t seem to realize it meant more than a friendly gesture to him. He loved when she moved her body just a bit closer if he had an erection. She unconsciously rubbed against it, which made him want to grab her ass. He didn’t dare, though. She freaked out if he did anything more than hug her back. Her eyes held fear daily, no matter how much he assured her she was safe.

Anxious, Danielle waited outside the home team’s locker room. Her hands shook, and her breathing was erratic. She had not planned to be there, but after Alex had scored, she felt he deserved a big hug. It was the way she expressed her attraction, without realizing it. He meant something to her, although she didn’t know what. Since she had not had a male friend before, she was unsure what was normal. A hug seemed innocent. Her body wanted much more, though. That fact terrified her. Brian still had an iron hold on her, from thousands of miles away.

As soon as Danielle set eyes on Alex, her heart beat faster. She was oblivious as his teammates walked around her. There was nothing but him. When he was almost in front of her, she jumped into his arms and kissed his lips. Gone was the fear of Brian’s wrath, or someone seeing them. Alex eased her anxiety with a simple touch. She let instinct guide her for once.

He grabbed her thighs so she wouldn’t fall and kissed her back, hungrily. It was something he thought about night and day. He wanted to devour her. Quickly, he slid his tongue into her open mouth. One hand moved to her ass, and the other held the back of her neck. His cock grew quickly. He ground it against her a bit and hoped that enticed her. She had never reacted that way. He took advantage of it, kissing her deeply and unleashed his passion for her.

Danielle quickly pushed him away when she felt her body react to his arousal. “I don’t know why I did that.” Her panties were wet with her own need.
How does he do that to me?
Her hands shook with fear that someone saw them.
What if Brian finds out what I did?

He put her down but held her close. “Because you wanted to. That’s why.” He kissed the top of her head. “It was the best greeting I ever got from you.” He closed his eyes and thought about her pussy against his dick. He silently groaned, frustrated.
Why can’t she just break up with that loser?

“I shouldn’t have, though,” she replied, trying to push him away. His erection against her body brought on guilt. She wanted him badly. “I’m still with Brian.” Frantically, she scanned their surroundings. No one paid them any mind.