Player (What Happens on Campus Book 1) (21 page)

Eyes shooting open, he pushed himself up on his elbows, “You in the mood?”

“Down boy,” she laughed, “I meant that you can’t sleep in your suit.”

“Nah-ah.” Sitting up, he reached out and grabbed a handful of her dress, pulling her between his legs. “You woke the beast…”

“Careful of the dress,” she warned around her laughter, as he rolled her onto the bed.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be on long,” he promised in that deep rumble that sent a shiver down her spine and made her melt for him.

Levering himself up over her, he gave her a soft, leisurely kiss which quickly turned into something more until they were both panting, clutching at each other in a desperate bid to get closer. Tongues, teeth and lips battled as her hips bucked uncontrollably against his, grinding their lower bodies together.

His hands roved over her; they slid down her sides then forced themselves between her body and the mattress, grasping at the ties of her dress.

“How the fuck…?” Parker growled against her lips, but before she could even catch her breath, he exclaimed, “Screw this. Can’t wait.”

The next thing she knew her dress was being shoved up and her knickers yanked down. A startled cry escaped her at the first swipe of his tongue and she lurched upwards at the flash of sensation, but his hands kept her pinned for his exploration.

Needing to see, Chloe pushed herself up on her elbows, only to find him still half hidden beneath the folds of her dress. The sight made her wet – she’d never be able to wear a ball gown again without picturing him beneath it getting her off – but it wasn’t what she wanted to see. Gathering the material in shaky fingers, she drew it up to her chest, revealing the top of his head as he lay between her thighs, his wide shoulders spreading her wide, kissing her down there every bit as passionately and ruthlessly as he’d kissed her mouth.

Moaning, she fell back, clenching the silken material in her fists as her body began to spasm, waves of pleasure consuming her, making it impossible to think.

As her orgasm rolled over her, Parker stood. His erection nudged against her opening and then he was pushing in, forcing his way through her orgasm, trusting hard and deep, in an erratic rhythm that told how close he was. The movement of his body inside of hers triggered another wave of pleasure and she cried out, releasing the dress to grip his shoulders, clinging to him for fear that she’d drown. Her second release triggered his and he buried himself deep, before collapsing on top of her.

“There’s a zipper… down the… side…” she panted after a minute, once her brain had switched back on.

His shoulders shook as he laughed against her neck.        

Cuddled up behind Chloe, Parker watched the sunlight picking out the colors in her hair and creating dust motes. He’d forgotten to close the curtains last night and the rising sun had woken him, but Chloe was still fast asleep, her head on his arm and both hands clasped under her chin. Her lips were parted and she snored slightly; a result of her asthma, he guessed. At first it had been fucking annoying, but now he was used to it and found it kind of adorable – not that he’d ever tell her that.  

He thought he could hear people moving around downstairs and guessed the cleaners were already here. Not that he didn’t love having Chloe’s warm body snuggled up tight against him, but he was going to chew his arm off if she didn’t wake up soon. His stomach was starting to think his throat had been cut. Thanksgiving dinner had been amazing, much better than anything he’d get at home, and he’d eaten so much that he’d thought he was going to puke afterwards, but that fancy, midget sized food they’d been serving last night had been fucking awful. Maybe his tastes just weren’t refined enough, but he liked his fish cooked. As if on cue, his stomach snarled, demanding breakfast.

Slowly, he tried to pull his arm free, easing it out from beneath her. Shifting, Chloe’s eyelashes fluttered and he froze, holding his breath until she rolled over. Sliding from the bed, he tucked the sheet around her once he was out, knowing that she liked to be snuggled up, no matter the temperature.

Grabbing some clothes from his bag, he pulled them on and slipped from the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Heading downstairs, he nodded to someone from the army of cleaners as he passed the living room, heading to the kitchen.

Hearing raised voices, he paused outside the kitchen door. Before he could decide whether to just go in, or back away, the door was thrown open and Riley came barreling out, face red with anger. She barely glanced at him as she barged past.

Once he could hear her stomping up the stairs, he glanced into the kitchen to find Terri calmly flipping pancakes. “What was that?” he asked, stepping inside.

“None of your damn business,” she snarled. Okay then, not so calm after all.

Going to sit at the counter, he pulled a plate of pancake towards him. There was no cutlery to hand, so he picked one up with his fingers and took a bite. Fuck it was hot. Fresh out of the pan.

“Hey, get your own.” Terri made a grab for the plate, but he moved it out of reach, taking another defiant bite, despite the fact it was burning his tongue. “Fine,” she muttered after a moment, still trying to glare him down, “it’s not like Riley’s going to eat them now. She’s probably pissed I didn’t add some Coke for flavor.”

Turning to get something from a cupboard, she turned back around suddenly, jabbing an accusing finger at him. “Did you know my sister was on drugs?”

“Riley always acts like she’s on drugs, so how can you tell?”

She slammed the bottle of syrup down on the counter. A second later, she all but threw a fork his way and stormed out.

He could already tell the car ride back tonight was going to be fun.     

The rest of the day was tense, to say the least. The twins spent the remainder of the Thanksgiving weekend snapping at each other and their mom spent it snapping at them for snapping at each other. Their dad didn’t really seem to care, which resulted in Lorraine saying that he was more interested in watching the re-runs of yesterday’s game than in his daughters.

He, Chloe and Jet just tried to stay out of the way. It was nice, in a weird, twisted kind way, to see that other families fought as much as his, though no one in the Murphy family had yet to land a punch.

It was a fucking relief to finally climb into the car that evening. Parker was taking the first shift, so he climbed in the front, all but pushing Chloe into the passenger seat before anyone else could get there.

Chucking the last of the stuff into the trunk, Jet slammed it shut and slid into the back seat. “Really,” he hissed, “you’re putting me in the back with them?”

“Just don’t sit in the middle,” Parker advised.

“If you don’t sit in the middle, they’ll kill each other before we hit the motorway,” Chloe argued.

“Highway,” both Parker and Jet corrected immediately.

“Whatever,” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Either way, if they sit together there’s going to be bloodshed.”

They all watched through the windscreen as the twins said goodbye to their parents, before heading towards the car. Unfortunately for the Jet, the decision of where to sit was made for him, as Terri and Riley both headed for opposite sides, without even glancing at each other.

Watching Riley closely as she walked towards the car, he decided she probably hadn’t had a hit today. Thank fuck. He wasn’t sure he could stand being in an enclosed space with her while she was high as a kite.

As the door opened and the girls got inside, he heard Lorraine yell, “See you at Christmas!”

Terri’s door slamming shut made the whole car rock. “A whole week trapped on a boat,” she muttered sarcastically, “great fun.”

For a moment, there was an awkward silence as Parker put the car into gear and began down the driveway, then Jet spoke up, leaning forward between the seats, “I’m going home to New York for Christmas, what are you guys doing?”

“Home,” Parker grunted. He didn’t want to go, he never did, but every year he went back anyway, even though he hated it. It was like he was a fish caught on a hook, they let him get so far, before reeling him back in.

“What about you, Chloe?” Jet asked, “You flying home?”

“Oh, no. I can’t afford to, not for only a week anyway. I thought I’d just hang out on campus,” she answered brightly. Too brightly. He knew her well enough by now to know when something was wrong.

Glancing over at her, he realized what a fucking idiot he was. Of course she was upset; her family was across the Atlantic and everyone she knew here was abandoning her over Christmas. He hadn’t even considered what she might be doing over the holidays. It had never occurred to him that she might be
upset
about not getting to see her parents.

It was weird for him to think that not everyone wanted to avoid their families.

“You can’t spend Christmas on your own,” Jet protested, jabbing him in the ribs when Chloe glanced the other way.

Shoving back an elbow, which almost nailed his friend in the nose, Parker shot him a scowl over his shoulder.

He didn’t want Chloe to be alone over Christmas, damn it, but he didn’t want to take her home with him either.

His mom had told him his old job at the pizza place had an opening over the holidays and he was hoping to get some hours in whilst he was back. He couldn’t pass up money; he might have a full scholarship, but that didn’t pay for clothes, books, gas money or anything else.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. If he could bang his head against the steering wheel without making a complete jackass out of himself, he would.

“You can come with me,” the words erupted out of his mouth all at once, in a harsh kind of bark that made him wince.

Turning to look at him, Chloe studied his face for a moment, before turning back to the window. “Let’s talk about this later.”

Not the answer he’d been expecting.

“Err, okay?” he frowned, turning his eyes back to the road. Jet leant forward between the seats and put the CD player on – Parker was too distracted to take advantage of his driving privileges and choose the music, so they got stuck with the whiny sound of the blues again.

They drove for just over an hour before someone tapped his shoulder and he turned his head to find Riley’s face uncomfortably close to his. “We need to stop at the next gas-station; I need to pee.”

“Me, too,” Chloe put in, shifting in her seat.

“And me,” Terri added.

“We’ve only just left,” Parker protested.

“When you gotta go, you gotta go,” Chloe shrugged.

“Yeah, I kind have to go to,” Jet said, “I was just waiting for one of the girls to say it first.” That got him a punch on the arm from Terri and a glare from the other two.

“Fine,” he grumbled.

Pulling into the gas-station twenty minutes later, he decided he may as well top up the tank while the others made a mad dash to the toilets around back. Making sure the keys were in his pocket, he headed inside to pay. There were a couple of people ahead of him, so he walked through the food isles, grabbing several large pack of chips, beef jerky and a handful of chocolate bars for the journey. He was sure they’d have to make another bathroom break in a few hours, so there would be plenty more opportunities to stock up.

At the counter, he set everything down and pulled his wallet out of his jeans pocket, wondering if he had enough to pay with cash. The bell over the door rang and he glanced around automatically to find Chloe coming inside.

She smiled at him as she came over, but there was an edge to it. Scanning the junk food on the counter, she said, “I’ll just grab some water.”

“Sugar, if you stopped toppin’ off the tank maybe you girls wouldn’t need to piss every five minutes.”

“We can’t not drink all the way back to campus,” she snapped, “it’s bad for you.”

He watched her walk over to the fridges at the back of the store, her flip-flops slapping against the floor. Now she really was pissed; why couldn’t he just keep his big mouth shut?

When she came back, juggling five bottle of water, he helped her unload them onto the counter so that the guy could scan them and she grabbed her purse out of the handbag she wore slung over one shoulder.

“I got this,” he said.

“We’ll go halves,” she argued, “the others can pay at the next stop.”

“Chlo, it’s fine…”

Without another word, she handed the money directly to the man behind the counter. The guy glanced at him, then shrugged and held out his hand for the rest, which Parker slapped into his palm with a scowl.

She always did this. Whenever they went for dinner, or the cinema, she insisted on paying halves. He was the guy; he was supposed to pay.

Gritting his teeth, he gathered the bags of food and went to dump them in the car, Chloe following behind him. Leaning against the hood, she waited for him to join her, arms crossed under her breasts, which did nothing but push them up so that he got a nice eyeful.

Grabbing his cap off the dash, he jammed it onto his head and went to stand beside her, crossing his own arms as he asked, “What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, yeah? What was the brush of earlier for?”

Sighing, she leant her head back, closing her eyes as the sun lit up her face. For a minute or two, she was quiet, just standing there, and he thought she wouldn’t answer, but then she turned her head and squinted up at him. Pulling off his cap, he fitted it onto her head.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to take me home for Christmas. I’ll be fine staying on campus, it’ll give me some time to study.”

He scowled, “I don’t want you to be lonely.”

Smiling softly, she shook her head. “I know, but you don’t want me to come with you either, I can tell.”

“It’s not that.” Stepping back, he lifted a hand to drag through his hair, pulling at it in frustration. “My family are a fucking nightmare and I just don’t wanna drag you into it.”

“What, you don’t think I could hold my own?”

Surprised, he glanced down at her, realized she was joking and grinned. “I’m sure you could kick their asses, sugar,” he assured her, “but you shouldn’t have to.”

“I know we haven’t really been dating that long, but if you think we have a future together, then I’m going to meet your family eventually.”

Panic shot through him and he grabbed her arm, giving her a little shake. “We have a future, Chloe. I’m not giving you up.”

“Good, ‘cos I’m not giving you up either.” Pressing in close, she kissed his lips, quick and sweet, and his pounding heart began to calm. “Anyway, you’ve met my parents.”

“Your parents aren’t fuckin’ nuts,” he muttered, grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her back when she tried to move away.

He’d spoken to her parents a couple of times over Skype and they seemed cool. They were both quiet, without a lot to say, and sad wrinkles lining their faces. It must be hard having their only remaining child living halfway across the world, too far away for them to protect her. He wondered if they were happy that she had him, or if it made them worry more. If it were his daughter, he’d probably have been on a plane the moment he found out they were dating.

“Guess I better tell my mom there’ll be one extra for Christmas dinner.”

“Yep,” she squeezed his arm, “you better.”

They got back to campus late afternoon the next day, amid a rush of other students all returning after the long weekend.

Once back in his room, having left Chloe alone to unpack, Parker collapsed onto his bed with his arms beneath his head. It felt good to be home. He’d been living on campus for three years now and this place felt more like home than the trailer he’d grown up in.

Damn, but he was not looking forward to going back, especially now that Chloe was coming too, but it was done and he couldn’t take it back.