More Than Enough (Enough #2) (9 page)

             
“Bray, I know what I did really hurt you, and I’m sorry. I do love her, and I’m resentful that you think that’ll just be able to change since you guys are together. But I did disrespect you when I tried to kiss her, and for that, I crossed the line. I’m going to try to not just focus all my attention on Carter. I’ve asked Athena to the party on Saturday, and I’m going to see how all that goes. Okay?”

             
Brayden seemed to relax a little once I mentioned Athena, but I could tell that he was still seriously pissed at me. I couldn’t blame him, but I also still felt that he hadn’t come close to the pain that I’ve been through watching him and Carter. The phone rang and he answered in a completely different voice than he’d talked to me with. “Hey, baby, you done your last class. Alright, no, I miss you; I’ll walk you to practice, just stay where you are at.”

             
He gave me a nod and headed out the door to wherever Carter was waiting. I watched him head into a run to get to her, and I had to push away Carter’s face popping into my head for the second time in an hour.

Chapter 8

                                          
Athena

He asked me to a party. I walk to my last class and can’t get his
gorgeous face and his sexy eyes out of my head. Every time I’m around him, I have to hold myself back from touching him. Keller is just almost disturbing to be around with how sexy and intense he is, but I could tell he was dealing with a lot of pain that he was holding back this week. That’s why I didn’t even really try to flirt, but just made the effort to try to be there for him. He didn’t talk about it, but I felt I helped him out just running with him so he didn’t feel alone.

I haven’t seen him, Carter, and Brayden together at all. I wonder if
they had a big fight. My heart hurts for Keller who’s been left all alone if his brother and stepsister weren’t talking to him. I’d seen Carter and Brayden at breakfast on Monday morning, and they seemed great with each other. Carter sat on Brayden’s lap for the entire meal, but there was no real mention of Keller. When I asked about him, Carter just seemed uncomfortable and explained that they’d stayed at the condo for the last week to have some alone time. I was curious about what all had happened but decided to let it go and be happy that he’d decided to pursue me.

Florida State won the football game against Oklahoma State easily the next night. Brayden seemed to have gained the confidence he needed to play college football and led the team to a decisive 36-12 victory. Keller made some huge tackles and got just as many cheers as Brayden did from the crowd. The brothers had become extremely popular with all the Florida State fans.

Carter and I had done our routines with the dance team and were just waiting for Keller and Brayden to wrap up their after game stuff so we could head to the party. We’d slipped into our locker room and changed into party clothes together. I’d decided to wear sparkly black shorts with black heels and a purple strapless top. Carter looked as beautiful as usual in a white and pink strapless dress with white heels. I looked at her and still couldn’t believe that I didn’t hate her with how gorgeous she always looked.

Just as I thought that, she looked up at me and said, “I’m so happy they played such a great game, Athena.” She looked to be almost overflowing with positive energy and could hardly stand still. I was about to tell her I was happy to when big arms wrapped around her and lifted her up high in the air. She giggled and started trying to playfully struggle against Brayden as he kept her in his grasp.

Just then, I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and turned, Keller was looking at me with what I think was a shy expression. He didn’t seem to know what to say so I spoke to him first. “That was an unbelievable game, Keller. It was like you knew what the offense was going to do before they did. Every tackle you made was a crucial one. It was an amazing game to watch.” He smiled and leaned in and gave me a crushing hug.

He whispered quietly in my ear, “It’s really sexy to me to hear a beautiful woman talk about football.” I burst into a startled giggle and pulled away just far enough to look up at him. His eyes were happy and relaxed as he looked down at
me. I’d never seen him like this before, and I wondered if it was just an after game high or if more was at work here. Brayden finally pulled himself off of Carter enough to yell, “Let’s go fucking party!” And Keller followed Brayden and Carter out towards the player’s parking lot. I realized that there was almost the whole football team following behind us. Keller and Brayden were even bigger than I thought if the football team was waiting on them to get us before they even went to the party.

Brayden and Carter got into his Range Rover, and I headed over to Keller’s truck. He shook his head at me and gestured to Brayden’s SUV. I walked over
to it but felt my stomach drop. He didn’t even want to leave Carter to ride with me. Was I hoping for something that was never going to happen? Keller must have sensed my disappointment. He said quietly in my ear after we both got in, “Hey, we’re all planning on drinking tonight and taking our car service back to the condo. I just didn’t want to leave two of our cars at the party tonight, okay, Red?”

I nodded and felt lig
hter again with his explanation, and that he’d given me a nickname. It felt more intimate than him just using my name, and I liked the way he said it. After he spoke, he pulled me into his side and rubbed his hand softly up and down my arm making my skin feel unbelievably good. Just then, Carter started talking, and Keller looked up. I sighed and gave myself a tough truth. I wanted Keller enough to deal with his obsession with Carter so I needed to just deal with it and get over myself. I started listening to what Carter was saying. “The party is supposed to be unreal, with stripper polls,” she winks at Brayden as she says that, “Hot tubs, and foam too. I think it’s going to be a hell of a night.” Brayden growls and says gruffly, “Just as long as nobody touches you, and you stick by me it’ll be a hell of a lot of fun. You get messed with by anybody, and we are out of there. You already get crazy when you drink, and I can hardly handle what some of the guys on the team will do with the memory of you on a poll.”

Curiosity gets the best of me, and I ask, “Carter, would you really get on a poll?” She laughs and says, “Hell, yeah, I would. You only live once, Athena, and I didn’t spend years in gymnastics to not be able to show Brayden what I can do.” Brayden chimes in, “If you want to show me what you can do on a poll, let me get one for the condo. You don’t have to give all the guys at the party spank bank material.” Carter just laughs but agrees to nothing.

Keller has been quiet on the ride but still seems happy when I look up and into his eyes. He’s still holding me to him, and I just feel so secure in his arms. We pull up at the club where this party is being held. Sawyer Barns, one of the football players, has a dad that rented out the club for a party for the team. A valet is there waiting to park the car for Brayden, and we walk inside.

The party is already absolutely insane. There are a ton of people packed in and dancing. Sawyer spots the guys and waves them to a separated section that is blocked off from the main crush of people. The guys guide us over while keeping people from bumping into us as best they can. Sawyer greets us enthusiastically, “Brayden and Keller, it was a hell of a game, wasn’t it? I’m so fucking pumped for this season.” Sawyer already looks like he’s had too much to drink and is already turning to Carter.

He tries to lean in for a hug but Brayden pushes his way between them. Sawyer still tries to talk to her, “Carter, you’re looking hella hot tonight. Your dancing was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” Carter tries to give him a tight but polite smile and move away, but Sawyer reaches out to grab her arm. Brayden grabs his hand and twists it before it ever touches her skin. “Don’t ever fucking think you can touch her. She’s mine, and I don’t ever want you putting your filthy drunk hands on her.” With that, they walk away, and I can tell that Carter is already trying to drag Brayden out on the dance floor.

Sawyer turns to Keller and says, “Sorry, man, your brother is really overprotective of her, huh?” Keller turns to Sawyer and coldly says, “That’s because we’ve both had to protect her from guys like you for a long time. Keep your fucking hands to yourself, and you’ll be fine.”

Keller grabs my hand after that and drags me away to the other side of the roped off section where Rachel and Brant are. Rachel screams and comes over. She hugs me and says in my ear, “Look at you with Keller. My, my, aren’t your dreams coming true. You get him in a relationship, and you’re future will be made.” I want to tell her it’s not like that with him. That I really already care and might even be in love with him, but I don’t. We’re at a party, and it’s not the time for long drawn out explanation when other people might over hear. So I just hug her back and tell her, “Good to see you, Rach! This is quite some party.”

She leads me over to the corner where
she and Brant have seats saved and says, “I know. I heard later there’s going to be foam; Brant told me that there are a dozen hot tubs and a pool on the second floor.” Just then Keller comes back with a beer and a wine cooler in his hand. I raise an eyebrow at him after looking at the wine cooler, and he chuckles and slowly hands it to me. “That’s for you; I don’t drink girly shit like that.” I laugh and tease him, “I wondered if I was going to have to take your man card for drinking raspberry flavored alcohol.”

He leans in closer so we are almost lip to lip. Then he tells me, “I’ll tell you a secret.” “Okay,” I say.
And he confesses, “I do like flavored alcohol, but I won’t ever drink it in front of the guys. I’m known as a hard ass on the team because I’m so serious and quiet all the time. I can’t let the guys think I’ve got a feminine side.” I decide to use his little secret to get something I want.

“So now I have something to hold over your head, Keller. And I do have something that I want.” He smiles lazily at me and mouths, “What?” I smile back at him and try to not tremble. “Just a kiss,” I say softly and bite my lip. “Just one little kiss.” He stops smiling then and give me a look that sends vibrations from
my core. “Oh, Red, if a kiss is what will keep you quiet then you’re getting one hell of a kiss.”

With that he takes my mouth as his.
His lips on mine have me almost euphoric, and I can’t even think. He bites and nibbles on my lips lightly. Then he licks them until I open my mouth. He flirts with the inside of it with his tongue until he finally puts it a little bit inside, and immediately, I start to suck on it hard. Wanting to just let him know how much I want this. He pulls away, and I groan in disappointment. But not for long, because he starts licking and sucking on my neck as he pulls me into him, and I wrap my legs around his body to get as close as I possibly can. I want to just rub myself against him when I look up and see Rachel just staring at us with a malicious look in her eyes.

I comprehend through my arousal that this is not the
time or the place to further any physical relationship with Keller. I ease back slowly from his hold, and Keller groans with the separation. “What’s wrong, Red?” The look on his face tells me that he is desperate to get back to what we were doing. “Keller, we aren’t really in a private enough place for where this was heading so I pulled back before both of us couldn’t.”

He shook himself out of his stupor and looked around himself. Some other guys were making out or distracted with the girls they were here with, but there was also a number of
football guys and a few girls that were staring at us with interest. Keller had never shown a marked attention in any girl this year or last that I know of, and just now we had put on quite a show for everyone here. I didn’t get embarrassed easily, and even I was stunned that we’d carried on like that in front of a crowd.

He sat down beside me and pulled me into his lap. Taking a few swigs of his beer, he told me softly, “That was incredible. I didn’t want to ever stop.
Athena, you turn me on so much, that was fucking stupid of me to start something like that where anybody could see us.” Everything he said I agreed with, and I thought it was incredible too. But I was also a little concerned that he might really enjoy me physically, but would always love Carter. I think that would really hurt me if he couldn’t get over her because I think I really was in love with Keller. I didn’t want any other guy’s attention, and I thought about him constantly. I didn’t want to just be a physical release for him and nothing more, but I was also so desperate for him that I’d take what I could get.

I told him, “I know.” I was about to tell him more when Rachel strolled over to us
again. She smirked at us both, and I didn’t like the way she was looking at Keller with interest. She says, “Well, that was something to see. Keller, we don’t see you with a girl very often. What does Athena have that has sparked your interest?”