Hunter (Campus Kings): A Football Secret Baby Novel (13 page)

Chapter 32

Hunter

I pull off her dress like an animal in heat. I've never felt
such urgency. Four years of frustration have built up to this moment, and I'm
finally touching her again.

I yank the cups of her bra down and then wrap my arms around
her waist and lift her up. She wraps her legs around my waist and I duck my
head down, pulling her left nipple into my mouth. I suck hard on it, then give
it a bite before moving to the other one. Britt's head is tilted back, and
she's struggling to keep her moans quiet.

I deposit her back onto the floor, and then yank down her
underwear to the floor and turn her around. I pull a condom out of my back
pocket, and then unzip my jeans and push them and my boxers to the floor. I
don't have time for any more foreplay. Four years was foreplay enough.

I roll the condom on, then press her down onto the bed. I
stick two fingers into her pussy, and grunt as I feel how wet she is, so ready for
me. I step forward and plunge my cock inside her.

Britt buries her face into the bedspread as she lets out a
scream of pleasure. I thrust inside her again. I move faster and harder. As I
look down at her, taking all of my cock inside her, I feel all the pain and
frustration and anger I felt when she left, and at the same time, how good it
feels to be inside her again. I plunge a finger inside her ass, and she gasps.
She's mine again, and I want her to fucking know it.

I slide my other hand under her and flick her clit back and
forth. Her muscles against my cock begin to twitch and I know she's close.

Suddenly, I pull out of her and step back. She turns over
and stares up at me, hurt and frustrated. Maybe it makes me a sadist, but it
feels good to have turned the tables on her, to have her be the one left
wanting.

"Please, Hunter," she begs me, and kneels on the
side of the bed. I look down at her, and wrap my hand in the back of her hair.

"Am I the best you've ever had?"

"God, yes," she breathes. I slip one finger over
her clit. Her entire body twitches.

"Lie face down on the bed, with your hands over your
head," I tell her. She obeys without hesitation. I stare at her for a
moment, her body naked except for her bra. She looks the exactly the same as
she did in college. My feelings jump back and forth. I'm still so angry at her
for leaving, and part of me just wants to leave her naked here on the bed,
completely sexually frustrated. But I've tried with all the women I've fucked
since her to pretend that it was just as good, and now I know I've been lying
to myself. There's always been something different about sex with Britt.

I crawl onto the bed from the foot, and glide my hand over
her ass. She stays completely still. I slowly press myself down on top of her,
and hold her wrists together above her head with one hand.

"Spread your legs," I order her. She moves them
apart, and I position myself at her opening. I move a little slower this time,
even though she's clearly ready to come at my first thrust. Once I'm inside
her, she closes her legs tightly, and I move my legs out wider and get some
traction on the bed. Now I can really let loose.

I can hear how hard she's struggling to stay quiet as I fuck
her. Her pussy is as tight as it ever was, and I grit my teeth to keep myself
from coming. I want to feel her around my cock for as long as possible while I
fuck her as hard as I can. Finally, though, I can't restrain myself any longer,
and I release myself inside her as I bury my face in her hair.

After a minute, I lean back up, and then let myself collapse
on the bed next to her. She slowly turns over, and wipes the sweat from her
brow. A feeling of guilt overtakes me as I glance over at her profile.

"I hope I wasn't too rough," I tell her.

"No," she tells me, turning over onto her side and
facing me. "I felt like we both needed to work some stuff out," she
adds with a shy smile, then glances nervously at the door. "I should
probably get back to the party before anyone notices I'm gone, but are you free
for lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure," I tell her. We both get up and start
putting our clothes back on.

"It felt the same, didn't it?" she suddenly asks.
"I mean, the same, but different. Or—"

"No, I know what you mean," I tell her. She's just
running her fingers through her hair when the door bursts open.

Adam and Danielle stand giggling in the doorway, but freeze
when they see Britt and me. Adam looks confused, while Danielle glances between
us and puts together what just happened in an instant.

"Um, hey Britt," she says. "I was just
wondering if…ah…if I could get your help with something downstairs?"

"Sure," Britt tells her with a knowing smile, and
follows her out.

Adam frowns at me. "Wait, what's going on?"

"I'll explain later," I tell him, wrapping an arm
around his shoulder and pulling him back toward the party. "So you and
Danielle, huh? She always did have a thing for football players."

Chapter 33

Britt

My stomach is a ball of anxiety as I sit waiting for Hunter.
He chose a restaurant called Tin Roof, because he knows the owners and they
never tell the paparazzi he's there. He was always well-known in college, but
it must be crazy for him to have to deal with this level of fame.

I park in the lot behind the restaurant, and inside, the
hostess shows me to a table in a dark corner where Hunter can sit without
drawing too much attention to himself. I question again whether I've done the
right thing by asking him to a public place, but my dad is home, and I would
have felt odd inviting myself over to his place. Which is probably some huge
mansion, now that I think about it.

When he arrives a few minutes after I sat down, I've ripped
up my napkin into a hundred pieces and left it in a pile on the table. I watch
him as he walks toward me, and feel the familiar but exciting butterflies in my
stomach, coupled with a fear over how he'll take the news I'm about to deliver.
He sits down, and I realize how futile it was for me to ever try to move on
from him. He'll always be the sexiest, most magnetic man I've ever met.

He reaches across the table and takes my hand, gently
rubbing his thumb across my palm. "It's good to see you," he says.
"I enjoyed yesterday," he adds with a twinkle in his eye.

"Me, too," I whisper. There's nothing more I'd
rather do than sit here with him holding my hand, but I have to get to why I
asked him here. "Hunter, I—"

A waitress walks over and hands us our menus. "Welcome
back, Mr. Phillips," she says with a blush. No one is immune to Hunter's
charms. "I'll come back in a few minutes for your orders."

"Everything here is good," Hunter tells me,
picking up the menu, but I press it back down on the table. He looks up at me
questioningly.

"Wait. If I don't tell you something now, I never
will," I say. My heartbeat spikes, and I feel a trickle of sweat run down
my forehead.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just nervous." I take a deep breath, but it
does nothing. "I want to tell you the real reason I left." Hunter
shifts slightly in the booth, and his face grows serious. "I told you I
needed to see more of the world, but that was I lie. It was because...it was
because I was pregnant."

"Oh my god," he murmurs. "You were
pregnant...you were pregnant and it was…it was mine?" Pain, anger, and
confusion flash over his face.

"Yes," I reply. I wait for him to put the pieces
together, but he looks too stunned. "Hunter...it's Max."

"Max…"

"Max is your son."

"Max is my son? I don't understand. I don't understand
what you're telling me," he says, his voice rising a little.

"I left because I was pregnant, and I knew that if my
dad found out, he'd ruin your chances of being in the NFL. I didn't want to be
the reason you didn't get to fulfill your dream."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"I knew that if I did, you would stick by me, but then
I was worried that you'd end up resenting me, and Max. We'd become the thing
that had stopped you. And then when I got back into town and you were engaged,
I didn't want to ruin what you had." My voice breaks, but I fight to keep
going. "I'm not saying that what I did was right, but I thought at the
time it was. I was so emotional, and my hormones were going crazy, and I was
only eighteen. I'm so sorry, Hunter. I understand if you never want to speak to
me again. But I thought you should know that Max is your son."

"My son…" he repeats.

"And you can have whatever kind of relationship with
him that you want. No pressure. I'm not here to ask you for anything. You can
see him as much or as little as you want to."

"Can I see him now?"

"Now?"

"Yeah," he replies, nodding.

"Sure." The waitress is already walking back over,
so I grab my purse. "Sorry, it turns out we aren't staying," I tell
her. Hunter follows me silently to the parking lot. "He's at his
babysitter's, so why don't you follow me over there and we can pick him
up?"

He nods, and I try to read his expression, but he's
stone-faced. I'm not sure exactly why he wants to see Max so immediately, but I
figure I owe it to him to do what he wants. I get in my car, and Hunter follows
me in his black SUV over to my babysitter's modest house. I park and hop out,
then walk over to Hunter's window.

"I'll go get him, okay? And, you know, don't say
anything to him yet. We would need to tell my dad before we tell Max, because
Max doesn't know how to keep secrets."

Hunter nods, and I head to the babysitter's door. As she
opens it, Max runs to the door and flings himself into my arms. Between last
night's party and today, he's spent a little more time at the babysitter's than
he's used to, so he's definitely missing me. I hug him tightly against me as I
head back toward the car.

Hunter steps out of his car, and walks around the front. I
put Max on the ground, and he turns and sees Hunter.

"Hunter!" he yells, and takes off toward him. Hunter
kneels down and accepts Max's hug, then stands and lifts him up with him.

"Did you have fun at the babysitter's?" Hunter
asks.

"Yeah, Macy was there," Max says.

"Macy is her dog," I explain.

"So you like animals?" Hunter asks.

"Yeah!" Max yells excitedly.

"Me, too," Hunter says. "I better go, okay
Max? I have to go practice so I can play well."

"Okay," Max says. "You want to play
catch?" he asks, not quite understanding.

"Not right now," Hunter says, putting him back on
the ground. "But later." He starts to walk back to his car, then
turns back to me. "I just need some time," he says.

I watch him start his car and drive off as Max hugs my leg.
I think we're both feeling confused by his abrupt appearance. Will he ever be
able to forgive me for keeping his son a secret?

Chapter 34

Hunter

I scan down field for an open receiver, but the coverage is
tight. I'm not known as a running quarterback, but I see an opening between two
giant Patriot linemen and dart through it. One of them dives after my foot and
almost trips me up, but I shake him off.

In my peripheral vision, I can see another dark blue uniform
headed toward me, and I fake left and spin right. The end zone is ten yards
away, but just as I reach the five yard-line, I feel a hit on my back, like
someone tossed a sack of wet flour on me. I reach out my arms as far as they'll
go on my way down, and hear the whistle. As the defender gets off me, I glance
up and hear the roar of the crowd and the referee signaling with his hands in
the air. I just made it in.

I jump up, feeling energy course through me despite the
rough hit I just took. As my teammates rush toward me, I jump up and pump my
fist. It's not even close to breaking the celebration rules, but for me, it's a
lot.

Back in the locker room after the game, as my teammates
celebrate the win around me, I realize I haven't felt this kind of joy in a
long time. I smile, and grab a bottle of champagne being handed around. My
teammates cheer. Usually I just shower, grab a girl, and head home. They've
never really seen me let loose.

I hang with my teammates for a while, enjoying the
camaraderie, and then we finally make our way out of the locker room. There are
a ton of girls waiting for us. Security always lets in the hottest of our
female fans. I scan their eager faces, knowing I could take any one of them
home, but I keep walking.

As I drive home, I wonder about the change I'm feeling, and
I know there could only be one explanation.

After Britt left, I could feel my heart ice over. I started
playing with precision, as always, but no passion. With Coach McKay's guidance,
I still reached out to younger players, still gave the inspiring speeches and
help when they needed it, but I was at a remove. I heard someone say once that
you can't block out one emotion without others being blocked, too. Maybe that's
sort of what happened to me. But now that I know why she left, that our
relationship wasn't just something that she casually threw away, it's like I
can finally open back up again.

I haven't talked to her in two weeks. I wanted to see Max,
and see if I'd be able to just accept a kid I've never known as my own. And as
soon as I picked him up, I knew I could. I feel a connection to him.

But there are so many other concerns. For one, my
relationship with his mom. Being with her the other week felt like a
homecoming, but won't it be different now that we have a kid? I mean, what are
the logistics here? Are we talking about just dating each other? We have a kid
together already, so that just seems fucking weird.

I've zoned out in my thoughts, and as I look around, I
realize that I've already changed direction and am now headed over to Britt's
house. I shake my head at myself. I guess my intuition is already making up my
mind for me. I pull up outside her house, Coach's house, and take out my phone.
I know it's late, but I text her.

Can you meet me?
I hold my phone in my hand, waiting.

Where?
She texts back a minute later.

In my car. I'm outside
.

I see a lamp go on in the corner guest room, and soon the front
door opens quietly and Britt comes tiptoeing out. She's wearing a thin, white
robe, and she almost glows in the light of the full moon. As she nears the car,
I reach over and push open the passenger side door. She climbs up and in and
quietly shuts the door behind her.

I smile at her in the grey light, and watch her tentatively
smile back. I reach my hand over and open it on the console. She places her
small hand in mine and I grip it reassuringly.

"I missed you," I tell her. "Not just these last
couple weeks."

"I know," she whispers back. "Me too. Almost
more than I could bear."

"It was special, what we had."

"And I hope it still can be."

"I've been worrying about what this would look
like," I tell her. "I mean, there's no model for how to date the
mother of the kid you never knew you had. But maybe if we decide, right now,
that whatever happens, we'll get through it, then we actually will. Maybe
that's a choice we can make. Does that sound naïve?"

"No. It's funny, I was always the planner between us,
but having a kid forced me to let go of that. I choose you, Hunter. And I
choose Max."