King of Campus (48 page)

And yeah, we’re both busy and it’s only going to get worse once Roan starts training camp in July.  But it can’t be any more difficult than living in two different cities and not seeing each other at all.

Eyes sparkling, I say, “I missed you, too.”

Right as I whisper those words, his lips crash down upon mine, stroking over them in a way that drives me absolutely crazy.  One single touch- hell, one single look and my panties are instantly flooding with heat. I’m like one of Pavlov’s dogs.  And someone just rang the dinner bell…

Not a moment later, my lips opens under the gentle pressure of his caress right before his tongue sweeps inside my mouth to tangle with mine.  I may be exhausted, but I’m never too exhausted for this.

After a good five minutes, Roan finally pulls away before smiling down at me.  We’re both breathing hard and there’s a heated look filling his eyes that has me wanting to strip down right here in the middle of our living room.

“If the lasagna wasn’t going to be ready in less than fifteen minutes, I would carry you off to the bedroom and have my way with you.”  He nips at my bottom lip before giving me another quick kiss.

Well someone just said the magic word...

I can’t help but perk up.  “You’re making lasagna?”  Cue the salivating dogs again…

Sex, believe it or not, is all but forgotten in the blink of an eye.  Because I absolutely love, love, love Roan’s lasagna.  And by the way he’s grinning down at me, he knows it.

His eyes narrow but I know he’s just playing with me.  “Have I seriously been thrown aside for lasagna?”

Giving him a coy smile, I say, “That depends- is there garlic bread, too?”

He rolls his eyes.  “Duh.  Of course there is.  Could I really serve lasagna without garlic bread?”

“Then yes… you have been thrown over for lasagna.”  My belly growls loudly in agreement.  He chuckles as my brows lower.  “I’m starving.  Today was completely exhausting.”  But a good kind of exhausting...  The kind of exhausting you get from doing something you absolutely love.

“Awww, poor baby.”  Leaning in, he lays another sweet kiss on my lips.  “How about you go and fill the tub and I’ll bring your dinner in when it’s ready.”

My eyes nearly cross with the idea of having a huge piece of lasagna while soaking in our gigantic tub.  Hands down, this guy is the absolute best.  Roan once told me that he wouldn’t ever let me go, well… I feel exactly the same way about him.

Because Roan hasn’t started training camp yet, he’s been spending a lot of time puttering around in our kitchen.  He’s always watching cooking shows and trying out new recipes.  And I’ll tell you what- he’s damn good at it.

I cook out of necessity.  Because, well, I like to eat.  Roan actually enjoys it.  It relaxes him.  And the stuff he’s able to whip up is almost as mouthwatering as he is.

I sigh just a little bit.  “I think I love you, Roan King.”

He smirks.  God, but I love that smirk of his.  Sexy as hell.  Just like the rest of him.  “As long as you love me, I don’t care what the reason for it is.”

I can’t help but giggle.  The list of reasons I love this guy only seems to grow longer as the days go by.  He’s such an intelligent, thoughtful caring man.  And so not the meathead, skirt-chasing-jock I thought he was when I first met him.

Alright… so maybe he was a bit of a skirt chasing player…

What matters is that he’s not anymore.  The only skirt he chases now is mine.

I think Roan was simply waiting for the right girl to come along and look past the gorgeous face, brawny muscles, and amazing athletic ability to see the guy lurking beneath.

Kissing my lips one last time, he swats my butt with his hand.  “Go start your bath and I’ll be in as soon as the lasagna is ready.”

Lowering my lashes, I ask, “Any chance you might join me in there?”

Heat sparks and flashes in his vibrant turquoise colored eyes as they drill into mine.  “Damn right I am.”

Leaning up, I nip at his chin before murmuring huskily, “Good, because I’m dying for a hot sudsy bath, a nice long slow fuck, and some lasagna and garlic bread.”  My eyes hold his.  “In that order, please.”

The heat that had been merely flashing in his gorgeous depths ignites into a veritable inferno.  “God, I love when you talk like that.” He growls the words right before pouncing on me.

Now it’s my turn to smirk.  “I know.”

This is exactly what six months of phone sex will get you…

A dirty mouth and a very,
very
happy man.

~The End~

I hope you enjoyed Ivy and Roan’s story as much as I loved writing it.  If so, please consider leaving a review where you purchased this ebook as well as at Goodreads.  Thank you so much for your support!

Sneak Peek

Confessions of a Heartbreaker

Now Available

Chapter One

"Yo, Parker, where you'd disappear to, dude?"

I hear Max holler at me from outside on the darkened patio.  There's a sly smile plastered across his face because he knows
exactly
what I've been up to.  And who I've been up to it with...

Shaking my head, I flash him a shit eating grin but don't say a word.  Natalie Cosgrove is all snuggled up against the side of me.  My arm is casually slung over her shoulders as we make our way through the thick crowd of juniors and seniors to the keg in the backyard.  Being the gentleman that I am, I top off Natalie's cup before filling my own.

Yeah, that girl has definitely earned it tonight.

Just as we're about to join Max and a few of the other guys from the football team, I pause turning towards Natalie.  Without warning, I lean down before giving her a long deep kiss on her incredibly soft lips.  She stares up at me with a flushed face and satisfied eyes.

Don't ever let it be said that I don't aim to please...

"That was pretty damn awesome," I murmur.  My fingers gently stroke the side of her face.  It's a practiced move.  I'm gearing up to send Natalie on her merry little way.

She blushes, her lips bowing up at the corners.  "It was, Parker."

Her hot pink colored talons trail lightly over the t-shirt stretched across my chest.  They linger for a moment or two as she turns her big baby blue eyes up at me.  She has great eyes.  Actually, Natalie has a great everything.

"Maybe later we can meet up again."  Her eyelashes flutter against the paleness of her cheeks before her eyes lift to mine.

That's one of the things I like about Natalie.  She's subtle, not pushy.  I’m definitely not into pushy chicks.

But still...

I smile even though I'm not totally feeling what she's putting out there.  "Yeah, maybe, we'll see."  I glance over at my teammates suddenly feeling impatient to join them... sans Natalie.  "Listen, babe, I'm going to hang with the guys for a while."  Before she can think of a way to detain me, I smack a quick kiss on her full lips and take off.

As I weave my way through the crowd, I take a great big gulp of beer in relief.  Damn but that feels good going down.

Max turns just as I approach.  His eyes trail behind me before slowly traveling up and down Natalie's hot little body.  His perusal doesn't bother me.  I mean it's not like we're together or anything like that.   Anyway, Max enjoys living vicariously through me.  He just has to do it when Emily's not around because if she ever caught him looking at another girl, she'd more than likely saw off his balls with a rusty blade before ramming them straight down his throat.  And that’s the nice version of what she’d do.

"Damn, that girl is fine."

I glance over Max's shoulder before giving a subtle little cough. "Oh- hi, Emily."

Eyes wide, mouth gaping open like a fish, Max spins around.

Only to find open space.

I can't help but laugh because the look on his face is completely priceless.

"You're such an ass, Montgomery."  Without any warning, he elbows me in the ribs.  Hard.

Which only makes me laugh harder. "Yeah, I know but I'm okay with that."

He glances around covertly, probably trying to locate his disturbed sidekick, before muttering under his breath, "You know Em would kill me if she ever heard me talking about Natalie."

I nod sagely, taking another swallow of beer.  "And that would be the reason your expression was so freaking comical."

Max shakes his head before his eyes once again land on Natalie.  "You really
are
an ass."

Apparently he's not quite done gawking and talking about her finer qualities.  Which is funny because I'm completely done talking about her.  Tipping his beer back, he takes a nice long swig before saying, "Not sure why you aren't tapping that on a regular basis."

"Because regular basis equates to girlfriend and I don't do those."

Max rolls his eyes.  He doesn't understand why I'm so adamantly against having a girlfriend.  I can't decide if it's because he legitimately enjoys being in a committed relationship and therefore wants me to experience the same joy as well.  Or if misery loves company and he's just looking for someone to keep him company.  I'm leaning towards the misery-loves-company explanation because Max and Emily are totally psycho crazy together.  I'm not even kidding right now.  His on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again carousel of a relationship is enough to put anyone off having a girlfriend.

For like ever.

Those two are constantly fighting and making up.  I never know from one day to the next if they're together or not.

Who needs, or better yet,
wants
all that drama?

I sure as hell don't.  I try to keep my life as drama free as possible.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret I've discovered about the girls at this school- they genuinely seem to thrive on all the gossip, he-said-she-said BS, constant backstabbing, and petty arguments.  Oh, and then there's my personal favorite-
defriending
.  Actually, I've met girls from other schools and they're just as bad.  So, yeah, I'm definitely not into having one of those for my very own.

Thanks, but no thanks.

I glance over my shoulder as I take another giant gulp of beer.  Natalie has found her way over to a large group of scantily clad giggling girls.

I’ll be honest, I don't get it.  It's October and it's pretty damn cold.  They can't possibly be warm standing around outside like that.

For just a moment, I study them en masse.  Sometimes it feels like I'm an anthropologist observing the social interactions of some strange primitive culture.  If you watch carefully enough, you'll start to understand the social hierarchy and intricate dynamics of the group.  It doesn't take long to figure out who the highest and lowest ranking members are.  And then they all stand around flipping their hair, rolling their eyes, and laughing obnoxiously.

Through careful observations, I've come to realize that this is an attempt to gain attention from the male species that surround them. The only thing worse than that is when they start drinking, get all sad bastard, and then proceed to bawl their eyes out because the guy they're crushing on this week doesn't return their ardent affection. Ugh. I've been on the receiving end of that one way too many times to count. It sucks major ass.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the ladies. I really do, I just don't have much use for all the crap that comes with them. Outside of the physical, I find them completely exhausting.

Natalie must sense my gaze because she suddenly turns, glancing in our direction. Ignoring Max (as is standard operating procedure for most girls he knows), she meets my eyes before giving me a coy little smile and wave. My lips lift in return before I salute her with my red plastic cup.

See?  No fuss, no muss.  No misplaced expectations or demands.  And that, my friends, is why Natalie pretty much tops my go-to list.

"Yep, she's cool."

Which is exactly why this
relationship
works out so well between us. I have zero interest in being tied down. And Natalie knows better than to bring it up. Once I catch even a whiff of -
"Parker, I want us to be exclusive"
I cut them loose. I have way too much going on with football and lacrosse for that shit. Not to mention school.

Ugh.

The mere thought of school has me draining the rest of my cup in one thirsty gulp. But tonight is Friday night.  And we just pummeled Kennsington, spanking their asses good. And I've just spent a little time with Natalie Cosgrove who has once again proven (with flying colors, I might add) why she's my number one girl.  Life is pretty good and I'm not about to let thoughts of school kill the nice buzz I'm working towards.

I hold up my plastic cup to the group at large. "Going for a refill."

Max joins Adam and Will's conversation as they discuss the football game blow by blow. Actually, it was a pretty sweet game. Coming off a win always feels amazing.