Rebound (Pro-U Book 3) (9 page)

Chapter 16

Natasha

What the hell was I doing? I was in no shape to take Micah back to my dorm room with me. I was too beat up by the shit surrounding my mother. Had he heard her refuse my help? Surely he had.

A sadness that seemed capable of crushing me rested on my shoulders as I took the long way back to campus. Why couldn't I just have basketball and grades to focus on? Why did life keep throwing bombs my way, as if I didn't have enough to overcome?

I parked the car and let out a long sigh before glancing over toward Micah's truck. I yelped and let out a short laugh to find his face almost pressed to my side window.

"Stop thinking and get out of the car. You're going to reason away the night together, and this
nice guy
isn't standing for it." He opened my car door and offered me his hand as he balanced the pizza in the other one. "Come on. I don't bite unless that'll make you feel better."

Don't let me fall in love. Please. Anything but that.

"Keep your teeth to yourself, buddy." I swatted his hand away and smiled at him as I got out of the car. "That pizza is probably ice cold by now."

"We'll just heat it up. You got a microwave in that box you live in?" He moved up beside me and wrapped his strong arm around my shoulder, forcing me to walk closer to him.

I slid my arm around the back of his waist and tried not to enjoy his warmth too much.

"Nope, but we can walk up to the athletic building and heat it up. My microwave hasn't worked since I got here freshman year. I've put in a ticket on it more times than you can imagine." I pulled away from him as we rounded the corner. "Prepare yourself."

"For?" He lifted his eyebrow as I turned and glanced at him over my shoulder. He couldn't have been more attractive.

"It would seem that Em and Jacob can't control their hormones for the short drive out to Omega, so they use my place when the mood hits them." I turned back and unlocked the door, enjoying the sound of his laugh almost too much.

"Are you kidding me? That's the tackiest thing I've heard all day." He moved in behind me and closed the door as I dropped my keys on the table and turned to face him.

"Must be nice, right? Just pop in to any old place and let yourself go because the hormones inside you are running rampant and controlling your brain."

He snorted and set the pizza down. "I think Jacob might like people to think that so he can get away with shit, but I can't fault him for it."

"No? Wish you were more like him?" I moved closer and opened the pizza box.

"Naw. I'm happy being me." He ran his fingers over the small of my back and gripped my side, pulling me a little closer to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. I'm just trying hard not to think about it too much. You wanna walk up to campus and heat this thing up?"

"Naw. I'm good with it cold if you are." He released me and picked up a piece, folded it in half and took a big bite.

"Suits me." I grabbed a piece and closed the box before walking to the small refrigerator by the bed. "I have one Coke left. You weird about germs?"

"Not yours." He chuckled and moved to sit on the small couch I'd wedged into the room.

"I'm sorry about your sister. I never would have guessed in a million years that you had anything in your past but sunshine and roses." I sat down beside him and shifted to face him a little more. He reached down and squeezed my knee as he reclined and took another bite of his pizza.

"It is what it is." He shrugged. "I think about her all the time still. Emily reminds me so much of her. I think that's why we're close. She feels like a little sister to me though she's older."

"Only by a year, right?" I set my pizza down on the couch beside me and popped the top on the Coke, taking a quick sip and handing it to him.

"Yeah. I'm a junior this year. You're graduating in May, right?" He took a few sips and leaned forward to set the drink down.

"That's the plan." I ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm getting my degree in business, but I'd really love to take all I've learned and open a shelter or maybe a pregnancy care center. Something to help people who are in need and have no one."

"And you know how that feels because..." He reached out and brushed my hair behind my ear. "You don't have to answer that."

"I've had a rough life so far." I shrugged and leaned forward to put my half-eaten pizza beside the Coke can on the coffee table. "My mom and I have never gotten along, and my dad just came back into the picture maybe four years ago."

"Wow. I figured something was up with your mom seeing that she's never at the games and shit, but I didn't know you parents were split."

"My dad was a basketball player at Providence back in the day." I paused and smiled at the thought. "He and Mom dated a little, slept together and poof! There I was. I guess he didn't want kids, so he split and left my mom to leave college for a while to have me. It ruined her life and she's been quite bitter ever since."

"Ruined her life?" He shoved the rest of his pizza in his mouth and tried to talk around it. "How?"

I smiled, unable to help myself. "I guess she couldn't follow her dreams of being on Broadway. Kinda hard to do as a single mom with a small income and no help."

"And are you and your dad close now?"

"Not really. We talk more than my mother and I do, but it's still tense." I stood up and walked back to the kitchen to pick up the movies. "Enough about my bullshit drama. Let's put on a movie and go live in another world for a while."

"I'm down." He sat up and leaned over to pick up the soda. "I'm going to finish this if you don't come take it from me."

"Finish it." I winked at him before bending down to put the movie in. "You sure you want to watch
The Notebook
? It's supposed to be insanely sad."

"I'm good, but if you need something a little more uplifting get the other one. It's supposed to be funny."

"I've seen
Bridesmaids
about ten times." I chuckled at the memory of it and put the disk in the DVD player. Nervousness raced through me as I stood and turned to face him. The way his eyes moved across me left me feeling bare - exposed. It wasn't going to take long and he would have me spilling all of my secrets. That would be the end of it. The end of the friendship that was growing between us.

"Come here, pretty girl." He sat up and pulled his t-shirt over his head. "Mind if I get comfortable?"

The thick muscles of his chest and tanned skin stretched across his tight abs left my body tingling in all the right places.

"No, kick your shoes off." I cleared my throat and tried to play off how incredibly attracted to him I was. "I'm going to put on pjs."

"Good. Bring a blanket with you when you come back if you have one."

"Yeah, sure." I walked toward my dresser and pulled out a tank top and pj pants before disappearing into the bathroom. I was lucky to find it empty seeing that I shared it with the party animals that lived beside me. After locking the door, I slipped off my shorts and put on my pj pants and stopped. Indecision raced through me. I wanted to take my bra off and wear only the tank top for comfort, and to be a little sexy if I was being completely honest, but would it be too much?

I pulled off my shirt and bra and put on the tank top. My nipples were more than obvious through the material, but we would be wrapped up in a blanket. Would it really be that big of a deal? I didn't wanna give him the wrong impression, and yet I did in some ways too.

A growl left me as I picked up my clothes and held them in front of my chest. I was overthinking it and being stupid. He was sitting in the other room without his shirt on. What the hell was I worried about?

"Do you always pick up chick-flicks to watch with your girl friends?" I grabbed a blanket and walked toward him.

"Are you my girlfriend now? I didn't realize." He smiled and reached for the blanket, pulling it from me and leaving me standing in front of him. Where my breasts were too large, they were big enough to draw attention.

"I meant girls that you're friends with." I crossed my arms over my chest and dropped down on the couch beside him.

He covered us up with the blanket and wrapped his arm around the back of my shoulder, urging me to move closer to him. "I know what you meant. I just have to take every opportunity to tease you. Forgive me?"

"Nope." I laid my head against his chest and let out a soft sigh. "I hate sappy movies."

"Then don't focus on the movie." He glanced down as I turned my face up toward him. My breath caught in my chest as he moved down slowly, taking his time to draw out the anticipation of having his soft lips pressed against mine.

"What are you doing, Micah?" I whispered softly before he brushed his lips by mine.

"Kissing you. It's all I thought about all weekend. I know my boundaries. No hormones eating my brain cells, thank you very much." He touched the side of my face and kissed me a few more times. The softness of his touch unraveled me.

"Just friends, right?" I slid my hand over his chest under the covers and forced myself not to let my fingers travel any lower. I couldn't be like everyone else and jump in bed with him the first night he was over. It wasn't me. Now, the second night was fair game, but not tonight.

"Yeah. All great relationships are built on friendships." He ran his fingers through my hair and gripped it softly. "God, you're beautiful."

I smirked. "That's what you tell all the girls you wanna be friends with?"

"Not sure who all these girls are. I haven't dated since my junior year in high school." He leaned down and brushed his nose by mine.

"Why?" I whispered and lifted up to kiss him again. Passion tore at me, pushing me to move into his lap and lay waste to whatever was starting between us. It was sweet and soft, it was everything I needed at that point in my life, but desire played along my nerve endings, making it hard to catch my breath.

"Because I'm not interested in just sex, Tasha." He kissed the tip of my nose. "Come on, let's watch the movie and then I'll snuggle you up if you want. If not, I'll get out of here before Jacob's disease lays waste to my control."

I laughed and turned back toward the TV as my heart hammered inside my chest. "Snuggling sounds good."

"Yeah it does." His fingers played along my back, and before I knew it, I was out like a light. The high of the emotion of the day won out over my plans to casually rub up against him during our innocent 'snuggling'.

Chapter 17

Micah

My phone buzzing woke me the next morning. Tasha was on her back, her arm thrown over her head, breasts jutted out and nipples tight and beautiful. I stifled a groan and rolled out of the bed as quietly as I could. Had she really let me spend the night with her?

The phone buzzed again, and I jogged toward the living room to pick it up. My parents.

"Fuck," I mumbled and looked for my t-shirt and a shoe. I propped the shoe up in the door to make sure I could get back in and slipped out into the hall as I pulled my shirt over my head. My dick was so hard it hurt, but what else was new. I repositioned myself as best I could and hoped like hell that my t-shirt would cover up the evidence of my attraction to the beautiful woman I'd spent the night trying to not rub all over. Taking advantage of her in any way was out. If she wanted me to worship her long into the night, she'd let me know. The minute she did... I was all in.

"Why didn't you answer on the first ring?" My mother's voice was sharp, strict, unkind.

"I was asleep, Mom. I live in a house with a bunch of guys and I was in the living room. Waking them up this early on a Friday morning would get me stoned. Forgive me." I ran my fingers through my hair and cursed myself. I should have let her go to voice mail and not thought about it until later in the day. Starting out the day talking to either of my folks was a sure way to fuck me up for the rest of it.

"Well, you need to think about moving into your own place. You're a grown man. You don't need to be shacking up with a bunch of boys like you’re ten years old." She cleared her throat.

"Mom, did you need something? If I wanted to feel like shit, I could just watch a sad movie or read my journal from childhood." I hated how quickly she could turn me into a bastard. I couldn't stand myself around them. Like the worst parts of my personality waited in anticipation of my mom or dad turning the key and unleashing the darkness they created deep inside of me.

"Right. Thank you for that." The sound of shuffling filled the phone. She was passing it to my father no doubt.

"What did you say this time?" he barked into the phone.

"I'm hanging up. Great talk. See you at Christmas." I moved the phone from my face as my heart ached with the loss of what could have been.

"Micah. Just a second, son. We're coming into town today. Come have lunch with us."

"No. Thanks for the offer." I dropped the call and slipped the phone into my back pocket as anger burned up the center of my chest. Two more years and I'd never have to look back again. I could recreate a part of myself and say goodbye to my parents forever. As much as it pained me to do it, it hurt far more to have to endure their disappointment and disgust over an accident that happened ten years ago. They should have been at the fucking house with us. I was twelve with a video game addiction. I didn't even know Lyndsay had gone out back. Why wasn't there locks on the doors? On the pool?

"Hey. I thought you left."

I turned at the sound of Tasha's voice and forced a tight smile.

"No, my dad called. I figured it would be better to have our monthly screaming match out here instead of in the middle of your bedroom." I walked toward her and stifled a sigh of relief as she wrapped her arms around me and pressed herself against my chest. The soft press of her breasts had my body hardening again, my anger dissipating.

Love. I just wanted to be loved by one person. Could it be her or was I delusional to even think that two broken people had anything to offer each other?

"I'm sorry. Let's not talk about them if it upsets you." She moved back and tugged at my t-shirt. "You wanna come back inside and we can get dressed and get breakfast together?"

"I wish I could. There's nothing I'd rather do than spend the day with you, but I have a few things I need to take care of out at the Omega House. We all have responsibilities on Fridays, and I drew the short straw. I'm in charge of cleaning up." I gave her a cheeky grin and followed her back into the dorm hall.

"Are you guys having another party tonight?" She glanced over her shoulder at me, catching me as I coveted how cute her butt looked in her pj pants.

"Hm?" I glanced up as warmth burned my cheeks and throat. "Oh yeah. It's the Omega House. Part of our MO is to have parties every Friday night. Gets old after awhile, but whatever."

She pushed the door to her room open and disappeared into the darkness. Indecision raced through me. I could tell Jacob to suck a dick and just stay with her all day. He'd probably be thrilled at the fact that I was actually talking to a woman instead of protecting and caring for all of them with nothing in return.

"Maybe I'll stop by tonight if that would be okay?" She sat down on the edge of her bed and slid her hands back, leaving her to look a little too sexy.

"I'd love that. You can come save me from the drama, though you should know, I'm the designated driver in the house. I only have a few beers because if anything goes wrong, I take care of it." I sat down on the couch and got my shoes on.

"Is that why you were carrying that girl over your shoulder at the last party?"

"Yep. And why I got in a fight with a dumb-ass sophomore. Those guys get drunk and high and have no concept of right and wrong. I'm going to talk to Jacob about limiting the parties or at least banning weed."

"You guys need a three-strike rule. Like if someone fucks up three times, they're out. No questions asked."

"I like that." I got up and brushed my hands down my shirt as my stomach growled. "I wish I had time for breakfast with you. Rain check?"

She got up and walked toward me, stopping just in front of me and glancing up. Innocence sat on her like a well-worn coat and damn if the bastard inside of me didn't want to take it from her slowly over a long morning session of hearing her cry out my name.

I swallowed hard and covered her hand with mine as she rested hers on my chest.

"Thanks for staying last night. I needed your warmth." She smiled and glanced down.

"Absolutely." I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Don't forget you promised to come tonight."

"I won't." Her cheeks turned pink and I couldn't help but chuckle. It would seem I wasn't the only one with a dirty mind in the room.

*

"You guys really don't think anyone is going to ask about all these extra light fixtures in the house?" Jacob stood below me as I climbed up on the ladder to install another camera in the living room.

"I don't give a fuck what they ask. We'll come up with something. I'm tired of watching you blow a fuse at everything. The only thing dicking with your life right now is this asshole at Omega breaking us down. I'm going to figure this out." I lifted up on my toes and finished putting together the light.

"These things are brilliant." Dillon stood beside Jacob, looking up at me. They were both afraid of heights. Go figure.

"Yeah, you did good getting these, man. I really appreciate your help." Jacob clamped his hand on Dillon's shoulder as they both turned their attention back up to me. "You guys know that it's highly unlikely that this guy is Darren, right? The loud ones are never the devious ones. He's too stupid to do anything but wag his dick around here and cause fights. That's not the kind of guy we're looking for."

"I think you're underestimating the bastard." I crawled down the stairs and brushed my hands on my pants. "The last party we had, some pretty Hispanic girl was on the floor, drunk out of her mind with her ass showing. I put her in my bed-"

"Good man. Was she sexy?" Dillon lifted his eyebrow.

I popped him in the chest. "Shut the fuck up. Anyway, I put her in my bed and locked the fucking door. I go up there thirty minutes later and Darren has my door unlocked and is dry-humping her."

"I’d still like to know how the fuck he got your door unlocked?" Jacob put his hands on his hips as his smile faded.

"How the fuck did he know there was a woman in your bed in the first place?" Dillon tilted his head to the side, his comical nature all but tucked away as well.

"Exactly. I'm telling you guys that he's playing us. He's using that loud, asshole persona to keep us from looking harder at him. It's him. I have no doubt." I glanced up at the small camera tucked into the new recessed light and smiled. "And tonight, we're going to get proof."

"Hell yeah." Jacob popped my back. "What's next?"

"You get the party stuff together and call the guys back. We're good now." I glanced over at Dillon and smiled. "You and I are on cleaning duty."

"What? Aw, come on, man. Is this because I got a C on my Economics test?"

"Yep. You'd have failed that fucker otherwise. Get the cleaning supplies from under the kitchen sink and meet me upstairs. You got the bathrooms today."

"Awww... shit." Jacob pressed his fist to his lips and chuckled. "I would require Micah to help you get an A or B on your tests if you're going to be forced to clean the toilets."

"You wanna do it." I turned a hard stare onto our fraternity president.

Jacob lifted his hands and backed up. "Hell no. It's all you, brother. I'll get busy on our party planning."

"That's what I thought." I picked up the ladder and tried hard to ignore the pinched feeling in my wrist. It was getting better. I just needed to keep pushing it and stretching it out. Our first real game was in two weeks. I would be playing point guard come hell or high water.

"This bucket?" Dillon walked out with a scowl on his face.

"Yep. Stop looking so excited. The other guys might want the job if you keep that shit up." I chuckled as he gave me a goofy grin and started to skip down the hall like he had the best job in the whole world. The guy was an idiot, but we all were. He fit in perfectly.