Friend Zoned (Barnett Bulldogs #2) (29 page)

Unable to believe what I’m hearing, I shake my head in protest.  “It doesn’t have to be.  Go see him.  Force him to talk with you.  Get it figured out.”  I hate to see their relationship crumble over something like this.  Over him proposing and her not being ready to take that next step.

How ridiculous is that?

“Yeah, well,” she says with a little more frustration tinging her voice, “it’s a little hard to talk to him right now when he won’t even answer my calls.”  Her brows slam together before she adds, “He’s being really childish about the whole thing.  He needs to get over it and move on.”

“Maybe he’s embarrassed.”

She levels a hard look in my direction.  “He shouldn’t be.  It’s not like I
don’t
want to be with him, it’s more of a matter of bad timing.  I’m just not ready to be engaged right now.”  Her eyes skewer mine.  “I love him more than anything and I want to be with him, but he’s making it really hard right now.”

“I know.  He probably just needs to hear you say that.”

Looking exhausted, she allows her head to fall back against the couch cushions behind her before staring contemplatively up at the ceiling.  “I don’t know… maybe you’re right.  Maybe that’s the only way I’m going to get through to him.  It’s just with finals coming up in a few weeks, I don’t have the time to run off and reassure his damn ass.”

I give her a small smile.  “Love can definitely be a pain.  No question about it.”

At my words, she picks up her head until her eyes are able to lock onto mine.  One eyebrow slowly slinks its way across her forehead before she smirks.  “Oh?  Is that so?  I can’t believe there are already problems in paradise with Golden Delicious.”

“There aren’t any problems with
Sam
.”  I refuse to acknowledge her little pet name.  Now that Sam and I are officially together, I know she uses the endearment just to get a rise out of me.

“I know.  You two are totally sickening.”  Flopping her head back onto the couch cushion again, she sighs rather dramatically, “I remember being that way once upon a time.”

I roll my eyes at that.  “Oh, please.  Why do you think I always have to get the hell out of Dodge whenever Carter rolls into town?”

Those words have her lips curling up at the corners.  “Ah, yes, the good old days.”

Lifting her head, she cocks it to the side.  “It took you long enough but I’m glad you two are finally together.  This is the first time in three years that I’ve seen you with someone you actually want to be with.”

Thrown off by the comment, I can’t help but ask, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.  All of the other guys you’ve been with… you never really seemed that into them.  It’s like you didn’t really give a damn if they were there or not.” 

Hmmm.

I guess she’s right about that.  I didn’t give a damn about any of them.  Not really.  They were just distractions.  Short lived ones, at that.  I was never sad when those relationships stalled or flat lined.  More than half the time, I was the one pulling the plug wanting to move on.

What I have with Sam feels completely different from anything I’ve ever experienced before.  I care about him.  I care what happens between us.  He means everything to me.  The depth of love I have for him is almost frightening.

“I’m glad you’re happy, Vi.  You deserve it.”  She gives me a little wink before adding, “Looks like you finally found your perfect fit, Goldilocks.”

A small chuckle falls from my lips because it’s true, Sam fits me perfectly.  Never in a million years would I have guessed that we could be so happy in a relationship, but we are.  I’m happier than I’ve ever been.  And I think he feels the same.

At least I hope he does.

There’s a knock on our door as eight girls come crashing in with four boxes of pizza, three bags of garlic knots, and a chopped salad before settling around our small living room area.  Finding places to hunker down on the floor and couch, box lids are hastily thrown open.  Not a moment later, the intoxicating aroma of freshly baked pizza fills the air.

I’m just starting on my second huge slice of pepperoni when Maddie says with a smirk aimed in my direction, “So I hear you’re banging Sam Harper. I thought you two were
just
friends.  Not friends
with
benefits.”

Glancing around, I notice that her obnoxious comment has ensnared almost everyone’s attention.  A few of the girls are totally stunned by this development while others tell me they saw it coming from a mile away.  And one, Caroline, asks just how long we’ve been doing the deed.

And is it any good?

Is he hung like a horse?

Is it the best sex I’ve ever had?

Christ…

The nerve of these girls and their questions.

Refusing to answer, I continue stuffing my face with pizza.  At the rate I’m going, I’ll probably end up devouring our whole pie single handedly rather than give them anything more to gossip about.

“God, but you’re lucky.  That boy has one of the best bodies I’ve ever seen.”  Caroline gives me a little wink before adding, “Be sure to send him my way when you’re done.  I would love to get me some of that.”

There’s much giggling as some of them agree rather loudly with the sentiment.

A little too loudly.

Even though I shouldn’t let their chatter bother me, I find myself getting irritated.  They’re discussing Sam and his body as if he’s nothing more than a piece of meat.  Or like it’s not flat out rude to be doing it right in front of my face.

The discussion lasts for another five minutes while they dissect, in detail, every single one of his body parts until I’m practically blushing with embarrassment.  Okay… so maybe in the past I’ve been guilty of rehashing some of the finer details when I’ve been with a guy, but I can’t bear to do that with Sam.

And I certainly don’t want to hear any of them doing it either.

Thankfully it doesn’t take long for the conversation to morph into a hotly contested debate regarding which Barnett football player is the hottest.  After a ridiculous, not to mention lengthy discussion, they’re still not able to come to a general consensus.

Each girl has a fan favorite.

It’s only when the pizzas have been demolished and all of the the football players have thoroughly been dissected, do voices finally settle and peace once again reigns in the land.

Sheesh.

You would seriously think these girls were discussing world politics or global warming by how fiercely debated some of these exchanges had been.

Once the conversation turns to the men’s lacrosse team, I quickly excuse myself to use the bathroom.  I have zero interest in listening to them break down the lax players in the same fashion they did the football team.

And I certainly don’t want them asking anymore in depth questions about Sam.  For the time being, I just want to keep our relationship all to myself.  What we do is private and the last thing I need is a bunch of girls wanting to know how he is in bed. 

When I finally make it back from the bathroom, Caroline, who had been sitting next to me, has my phone cradled in the palm of her hand.  About four girls are leaning towards her, looking at something on the screen.  As I move further into the room, they simultaneously glance up, spearing me with looks.  A weird feeling creeps its way across my spine as they continue staring.

With a sly smile marring her face, Caroline holds the phone out to me.  “Sam just called.”  She clears her throat as two girls glance at each other, not even bothering to hide their grins.  “I didn’t think you would mind if I answered it.”

A few giggles erupt as I quickly pluck the phone from her outstretched hand.  I really shouldn’t have left it sitting on the table when I left the room.  I wasn’t even thinking about it.

When I have the phone safely back in my possession, Caroline quickly jumps up before dumping her plate into the garbage can.  Within a few minutes, the place empties and Mia and I are left with just our box of half eaten pizza.

Even though I don’t know why, I can’t shake the weird feeling that’s suddenly fallen over me.  Like something just happened but I have absolutely no idea what it is.

Glancing at Mia, I wonder if she feels the strange energy as well.  Testing the waters, I say, “Kind of weird how everyone cleared out so fast.”

For just a moment, Mia holds my eyes before hers skitter away.  Then she shrugs.  “I think everyone’s just bogged down with studying.”  Swiping her Kindle from the end table near the couch, she tosses the words over her shoulder before heading into her room, “I’ve got some books to hit as well.”

With that, she leaves me standing alone in our small living room.

Even though her words only confirm what I was thinking, I still feel like something is off.  But I have no idea what it could be.  Deciding to let it go, I head back to my room.  I have to finish proofreading that paper for soc and then get through a few chapters for Rickets’ class.

But first things first.

Needing to hear Sam’s deep voice, I give him a quick call.  He picks up almost immediately.  God, but I love this feeling of anticipation that skates through me whenever I’m about to talk with him.

Which is kind of hilarious considering that I’ve talked to Sam on the phone for years and have never felt this kind of eagerness zip its way through me.

“Hey, babe.”

Yep… Love that, too.

The little endearments that fall so easily from his lips...

They strum something deep within me.

“Hi.”

“Heard you ordered some pizza.  Save a few slices for me?”

I snort.  “Sorry, you’ll have to fight Mia for the leftovers.”  And she’s like a freaking barracuda when it comes to sharing Peppino’s Pizza.  So good luck with that.

With a long exaggerated sigh, he says, “Nah, not worth it.  She’ll just end up winning in the end.”

Damn right she will.  Mia loves her Peppino’s pizza.  There’s no way in hell she’ll part with a slice.  Not even Golden Delicious has that kind of power.  Thank goodness she didn’t divulge that little pet name to the girls earlier this evening.  I would have seriously killed her.

Changing gears on me, he cajoles in a voice that arrows straight down to my core.  “Any chance I can talk you into spending the night?”

By the low dip of his voice, I know
exactly
what he has in mind too.  And it doesn’t involve sleeping either…

The sudden ache between my legs has me instantly going over all the reading I still need to get through.  It’s at least a couple of hours worth.  As much as I would love to see Sam, I can’t.  But after listening to almost half the girls on my floor talk about him in one manner or another, I have the strange impulse to mark my territory.

Which would be Sam.

I really should feel kind of embarrassed by such a ridiculous, not to mention primitive, jealousy-driven urge, except… well… I don’t.

Like at all.

Sam is mine and I freaking want everyone to know it.  Especially some of these girls who think they’ll be partaking in my leftovers.

Not going to happen, bitches.

Not.

Going.

To.

Happen.

Flopping onto my bed, I stare up at the ceiling, cradling the slim phone to my ear.  “I wish I could, but I still have way too much studying.  I’ll probably be working until one or so.”

“You could study over here,” he tries wheedling, “I promise to make it worth your while…”

“And
exactly
how will you do that?”  Even though I know damn well how he’ll do it, I still love hearing him talk dirty to me.

Chuckling, his deep voice bottoms out, turning all low and gravelly.  “Baby, you know
exactly
what I’m going to do to that sweet little pussy of yours.”

My thighs automatically clench.  And I can’t help the tiny little moan that falls from my lips.  Because, yes, I can just imagine all the delicious things he’ll do.

“I need to taste you, Vi.  I haven’t had you on my tongue in at least forty-eight hours.  Come on baby, come study over here.  I’ll leave you alone… for a while.”

I groan.  My clit is all but throbbing a steady insistent tempo in my panties.  “Yeah, we’ve tried that before.  Remember?  All you do is distract me from the work I need to get done.”

He snorts in response.  “If kissing you and running my fingers over that gorgeous body of your is now considered
distracting
, then I’m guilty as charged.”

“Of course you are,” I quip, humor lacing my voice, “which is exactly why I’m staying put.  I’ll spend tomorrow night over there, promise.”

“Oh, fine… killjoy.”  He sounds like a petulant two year old who hasn’t gotten his way.

“Killjoy, my ass!”

Those words have him suddenly growling, “You don’t even want to know what I’d like to do to that gorgeous ass of yours.”

I shoot up on my bed before fairly screeching into the phone, “
Sam
!”