His New Jam (10 page)

“Yeah. I worked up an appetite.”

“I'm going to see about a movie.” She left him to make his sandwich. She needed to get some space. She had no idea what had come over her. She'd finally agreed to a date with him because band was over and she couldn't resist jumping his bones as soon as he walked through the door.

Guys like him were her Kryptonite. She knew it. She'd avoided them for the last couple of years. Why she thought she could handle this escaped her. The sex had been great—no, better than great. And it had been so long since she'd had great sex. Maybe the hormones were messing her up.

Hunter came into the living room carrying his sandwich like he didn't have a care in the world. He looked at the TV. “Thought you were looking for a movie.”

She quickly grabbed the remote and clicked the TV on. Sitting in the corner of the couch, she focused on flipping through the channels, but she felt him staring at her. Finally, she handed him the remote. “What?”

“Nothing.” He plopped next to her, close enough to touch, but not actually touching.

“What finals do you have to study for?”

“I have a handle on most of my classes, but biology is killing me.”

“Biology?”

“I needed a science and I've avoided taking it until now. It's so freaking boring. Every time I look at my notes, I realize I fell asleep in class. The professor doesn't help. He speaks in a monotone like he isn't even interested in what he's teaching.” She'd shifted her body to face Hunter as she spoke. She didn't know how he did it, but he made her talk freely. It was rare for her to offer so many details.

“I can't help with science. If it was history, I'd be your guide.”

She believed he'd make one hell of a guide for just about anything. Some stupid commercial for car insurance blabbered behind her. “Are you going to pick a movie or something?”

He shoved the last bit of bread into his mouth. His gaze traveled along her bare legs. “I might be able to pay attention to the TV if you changed. Wearing that, knowing you didn't put on underwear, the TV can't compete.”

Her skin warmed everywhere his eyes wandered. She pushed up and straddled his lap.

“Fuck. What are you trying to do to me?” he growled as his hands came around to hold her ass.

“Having fun. That's what you wanted, right?”

“Hmm-mmm. I want it all.”

His words gave her pause. All what? But since she wasn't sure she wanted the answer, she leaned down and kissed him. He hardened beneath her and she wanted more. She wanted him touching her again, stroking her, pushing into her. She didn't want to be lured into deep conversations that were more real to her than they were to him.

She didn't want him to pretend, and guys didn't pretend at sex. That was always real. She ground her hips against him. He reached under her shirt and pinched a nipple. The pleasure-pain of it shot through her. Pressing her forehead against his shoulder, she lifted up to undo his jeans.

“Condom. Pocket.” He lifted his entire body and pulled a condom out. Then he shoved the top of his jeans low.

She rubbed herself on his hard dick, her body twitching when he bumped her clit. She was already close to coming. As soon as the condom was on, she rose up.

“Wait, let me—”

She didn't know what he planned to say because his words faded as she lowered herself onto him. He stretched her and filled her, but she still wanted more. She began to bounce on him and he pulled her shirt up and sucked on her nipples.

Gripping his hair, she moved faster, the tension coiling and tightening low in her belly. Yanking his hair to force his head back, she kissed him again. This time when her body came down her pelvis rubbed against his at just the right angle to press her clit.

Her breath came in short gasps. With his hands on her hips, he held her in place and moved in some magical way that had her seeing stars. What little oxygen she'd had dissipated.

“Good?” he ground out.

She barely nodded. He thrust up into her, lifting his hips off the couch and turned them so she lay on her back. He pounded into her like a jackrabbit, but she held on, her arms and legs wrapped around him until he shuddered and came.

The oven beeped to let them know the pizza was ready. They both opened their eyes and laughed. He eased out of her and pulled off the condom. “I'll take care of the pizza. You go change into some regular clothes or you won't be eating or studying.”

He had no idea how little the threat meant to her. She mentally slapped herself. She was doing it again. Great sex was just that. It was not a substitute for anything else in life. She winked at him and walked to her bedroom on wobbly legs to change because she really did need to get some studying done.

Chapter 10

A
fter grabbing some comfy clothes from her room, Syd went to the bathroom to clean up and change. And refocus her brain. If she could keep things simple with Hunter, she'd be fine. Sex was simple. It was pleasure, nothing more. But when he started digging into her life, things got complicated.

It wasn't that she had secrets. Sharing the personal stuff muddled any relationship. While she stepped into a pair of sweats, she made a mental list of safe topics for conversation. School worked, mostly because with the exception of getting her degree, school didn't matter all that much to her. Work was safe because no one wanted to hear her stories of her job in the campus bookstore. Music . . . Normally, she could discuss music with anyone because it became a discussion of likes and dislikes. However, with Hunter it evolved into explaining and understanding a shared passion. Could get sticky.

How could she avoid it, though? They were both on the marching band, she was filling in on the weekends, and she was teaching him to play drums. She supposed if she kept it surface-level stuff, it would be okay.

A knock on the bathroom door startled her.

“You okay?”

“I'll be right out.”

“Better hurry or there won't be any pizza left.”

She swung the door open. “You just ate two sandwiches.”

“Sex makes me hungry. Especially when I haven't had dinner. Gotta keep my energy up.” A smile bloomed across his face that melted her.

She pushed past him to ignore what his smiles did to her. In the kitchen, she grabbed a plate and put two slices of slightly overdone pizza onto it. Hunter came up behind her and snagged a piece. His warm body crowded her, and she tried to muster the energy to be bothered, but in fact, she wanted to lean back into him.

“Mmm. Smells good.” His nose pressed against the side of her neck, sending shivers through her.

She bumped her hips back to create space. “Did you find a movie to watch?”

“
Captain America
.”

“Really?”

“I live with a comic book artist. He makes me see all the Marvel movies. I like this one.”

“Whatever.”

She carried her plate back to the living room and settled on the couch, pushing all thoughts of what they'd just done there out of her mind. Hunter sat next to her, shoving the last bit of crust into his mouth. The guy ate like a machine.

He put an arm around her shoulder so their bodies touched from torso to calf. He was warm and solid and comfy enough to snuggle against, and she almost fell asleep.

Except he kept a running commentary going through the movie. It should've annoyed her, but he was funny. Near the end of the movie, Trish came home. She looked at them on the couch. One eyebrow shot up and she offered a stiff, “Hi.”

After taking off her coat, she turned back to Sydney. “Can I see you a minute?”

Using Hunter's thigh to push up—she loved the muscle beneath her palm—she followed her sister into the kitchen.

In a harsh whisper, Trish said, “What are you doing?”

“Watching a movie. What's your problem?”

“I see what's going on.” She pointed at the empty pan from the pizza and then back over Syd's face and body. “You stayed in.” She lowered her voice even more. “And had sex.”

“God. You're the one who told me to go out and have fun. I'm having fun.”

“I wanted you to go on some dates, not fall into bed the first time you were alone with a guy.”

“This isn't the first time we've been alone. It's no big deal.”

Trish crossed her arms and stared.

“Don't worry. I have a couple of finals to take this week and then we're on break. Even I can't screw this up.”

Trish huffed. “I worry about you.”

“This isn't like Tony. Hunter's a senior. He'll probably get bored with me by the time break is over. I'm not giving him any power over me. I learned my lesson.” At least she wanted to believe that.

“Be careful.”

“Always.”

“I'm going to bed.”

Sydney got back to the living room just as the credits started to roll.

“You want me to rewind it? I didn't want to pause the movie because then it would seem like I was trying to listen.”

“No. The movie was okay, but I don't need to see the end.”

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah.” She took her seat beside him, but he stood.

“I'm gonna go home.”

Crap. He'd heard Trish. “You don't have to.”

He smiled a goofy grin. “Yeah, I do. You said you had to study. I don't want you to be up all night because of me.” He paused. “Well, yeah, I do, but not because you have to study. I want to keep you up doing other things.”

She stood and grabbed his hand. “Other things sound good.”

He bent and kissed her cheek. “Next week. After finals.”

“Huh?”

“I'm leaving so you can study.”

“Seriously?”

“Of course. I want you to do well. Maybe we can meet up for lunch or something tomorrow when you're ready for a study break.”

She felt all warm and gooey inside. She'd given him an opening to have more sex, to spend the night, and he'd turned her down so she'd have time to study.

“What's that look?”

She didn't know what he saw on her face, but she smiled. “Nothing.”

“You know I want to, right? I'm going to sleep tonight thinking about all the other things we can do, but I don't want to get in the way of your finals.”

Double crap. Her throat tightened. He was not supposed to care about any of this. He was supposed to be a good-time guy.

“Call me if you need a break.” He pulled away from her and went to the bedroom to get his shoes.

When he came back and put on his jacket, her throat was clear enough that she could speak. Instead, she chose to grab a handful of worn black leather and haul him in for a kiss. His arms came around her and her whole body hummed with pleasure. She swiped her tongue along his in a long slow glide.

She couldn't tell him how important it was to her that he wanted her to study, but she could show him how much she wanted him.

He suddenly gripped her hips, fingers squeezing a bit, and pushed her away. “I really need to go now.”

His pupils were dilated so big that she could barely see the blue of his irises. He leaned in and pressed one more quick kiss to her lips. “Next weekend, you're all mine.”

She liked the sound of that.

After he left, Sydney cleaned up a little and turned off the TV. She was tired and relaxed, but she needed to study. If she left it until the last minute, she'd bomb the test. Her brain needed the slow build of information to retain it. It would help if it weren't so damn boring.

She opened up her notebook and the binder of handouts she'd received over the semester. Thirty minutes in, she was dozing.

Her phone buzzed on the table. Who the hell would call her this late?

A text from Hunter.
How's the studying?

Too much information. Too many terms. Brain too tired.
Then she snapped a photo of the papers spread all over the table and attached it.

She stared at the word. The guy was crazy. What man ever used an exclamation point, especially in a text?

Before she could figure out how to respond, he sent another.
Seriously. By making the flashcards, you're reviewing the information. Then you can drill yourself for more practice. I know what I'm talking about. I'm a teacher.Almost.

She laughed out loud with a snort.
What, am I in third grade?

Her stomach knotted. She already trusted him more than she had anyone in a long time. Part of her felt good, but mostly she was afraid of that trust. Trish was right to be worried. She had asked Hunter to stay even though she was supposed to be studying.

And now, she was ignoring her notes to read texts from him. If he kept it up, she'd get nothing done. Lucky for her, he kept walking away. That back-and-forth was the biggest problem. She didn't know what to do with it.

He came on hot and heavy and left so she could study. Then he interrupted studying for what purpose? To make sure she was thinking about him? That had been Tony's signature move.

Of course Hunter had been all over her brain. He'd been all over her body and it was an experience she'd very much like to repeat. Lust often clouded her brain and her judgment.

Yet Hunter backed off without her having to remind him she had work to do.
He
reminded her. Was it possible that he was a good guy who cared?

She'd heard of such a species of man, although she'd never encountered one in the real world.

She had no idea what to do with him.

The following morning, Hunter got out of bed with a smile on his face. He went to the kitchen wearing only his boxers. Adam was already there finishing a bowl of cereal.

“What are you doing up so early?” his roommate asked.

Hunter smiled.

“Are you sneaking out because you have a woman in your room? I am not playing go-between. There's nothing more awkward than having to explain to a stranger that her bed buddy took off.”

“That only happened once. And there's no one in my bed.” At least not yet. He'd love to get Sydney in his bed for an entire night.

“You're too happy
not
to have gotten laid.”

“I never said I didn't get laid. I just said there wasn't a woman in my bed.” He let Adam process that while he looked for coffee. The container was empty. “Fuck.”

“You finished it.”

He remembered now. He'd finished it off yesterday before going to the game. He'd meant to stop on the way home but forgot. “I'll grab some later.”

“Get more cereal, too. We're running low.”

That was one of the great things about living with his best friend. They didn't argue about stupid shit like groceries. If there was beer in the fridge and cereal in the cabinet, they were fine.

He really wanted coffee right now, though. Then inspiration hit. Since he'd have to go out for a cup of coffee anyway, he could bring one to Sydney. She'd been up late studying.

Adam stood and rinsed his bowl in the sink. “What the hell was that?”

“Huh?”

“You had this look like you were plotting to take over the world.”

“No world domination for me.” He patted Adam's shoulder on his way out of the room. He had a different plan in mind.

Less than an hour later, he was buzzing Sydney's door and hoped he wasn't waking up Trish. Although the woman had seemed to like him fine when he arrived, her attitude had definitely shifted when she'd come home.

The outer door buzzed and he went through. When he got to the top of the stairs this time, though, Sydney wasn't waiting for him with an open door. Balancing both coffees and the bag of donuts in one hand, he knocked. He heard shuffling inside, waited a beat, and then put on his best smile for her to see through the peephole.

The door swung open and Sydney stared at him. She wore the same clothes he'd left her in last night and she looked sleep rumpled. “What are you doing here?”

“I ran out of coffee at home, so I had to go out to get some. Since I was out, I figured you might be ready for a study break.” He held out a cup for her.

The look she offered was filled with suspicion, but she stepped aside to allow him to come in. Inside, he took in the mess of papers and books all over the table and floor. The picture she'd sent last night didn't do the disaster justice.

“I'm kind of afraid to ask how it's going.”

“Still horrible. I tried to study, but just like in class, I kept falling asleep.” She walked around him and sat on the couch, pulling her legs up in front of her. She sipped the coffee. “Thanks for this.”

“I also brought donuts. Maybe not the breakfast of champions, but definitely the sustenance of crammers everywhere.”

“I'm not cramming. At least I'm trying not to.”

He shook off his coat and sat beside her. “How are you with your other classes?”

“Fine. It's just this one that's killing me.”