Summer Fling (Players of Marycliff University Book 1) (18 page)

He'd called her around seven, when he realized it was going to be a late night.
 

"What am I going to do?" she'd said. "Watch them drink beer and play video games? What if one of them brings a girl home?"

"It wouldn't be the first time that happened with you there."

He'd sworn he could hear her rolling her eyes at him. "Yeah, but you were there those times. It would be so awkward if I was there just waiting for you. No. I'll just sleep at home tonight."

He sighed, remembering her stubborn refusal to see things his way. He picked up his phone, thinking about texting her on the off chance that she was still awake.
 

But she'd texted him almost an hour ago to say goodnight. There was almost zero chance that she was still awake.
 

He put the phone down and took another swig of his beer and went back out to the living room.

Matt and Chris were laughing at something on
The Late Show
. He plopped down at one end of the couch and Matt handed him a beer from his spot in the recliner. He kept a small cooler of them on the floor on his other side so they wouldn't have to get up and down so much when they were just hanging out and watching TV.
 

Chris took a pull of his own beer, looking at Lance out of the corner of his eye from the other end of the couch. "No Abby tonight?" He said it casually, still watching the TV.

Lance shrugged. "I told her I wouldn't get home until late, but she could hang out here if she wanted. She decided to stay home."

Chris nodded, then laughed at Jimmy Fallon.

"It's probably better that she didn't come over." That was Matt, giving his input from the other side.

Lance flexed his jaw, but managed to keep his voice neutral and his eyes on the TV. "Oh yeah? Why's that? You guys have a problem with her?"

Chris finally looked at him. "C'mon, man. You know it's not like that. We'd've said something weeks ago if we had a problem with her being around."

Lance nodded, taking another drink of his beer. "Okay. What's the problem?"

"Dude, you're leaving in like two weeks." It was Matt again. Lance was starting to feel double teamed.
 

"So?" He couldn't keep the defensiveness out of his voice.

Chris muted the TV. He gave Lance an appraising look. "When was the last time you dated a girl?"

"What are you talking about? I've been dating girls for forever."

Chris shook his head. "I don't mean just taken a girl out on a date. I mean
dated
dated. A relationship. Like what you're doing with Abby."

Lance thought for a moment. "I don't know. High school maybe?"

"Exactly." Matt again.
 

"What does that mean?"

"Fuck, man. You've had her over every night for like a month. You've been fucking her for a month. She's hot and all, but I figured you'd have worked her out of your system by now."

"Fuck you. If you—" Chris lay a hand on his arm, cutting him off and keeping him from getting up and punching Matt. He forced the hand clutching his beer bottle to relax.
 

Chris removed his hand. "Dude. We get it. You like her. But you're leaving. Really soon."

"So what?" Anger still laced Lance's tone. He couldn't bring himself to care. What was their problem? He thought they liked Abby.

Matt spoke up again. "You're leaving, Lance. Abby's staying here. Maybe it's not a bad idea for you guys to have a little space before you go. Cool off. That's all I'm saying."

Lance clenched his teeth, feeling the muscles in his jaw bulge and tense. He was tense all over, the two beers he'd had already not helping him relax at all. "So, what? Have you guys been planning this ambush for a while now?"

Matt and Chris both started laughing at that, which didn't help Lance feel less angry. At all. "We're not a couple chicks trying to stage an intervention or something," Chris managed to get out after his laughter died down. "But we've never seen you like this about a chick. Any chick. Ever. We didn't expect it to last this long."

"Fuck." That was all Lance could say in response to that. They were right. He'd never been like this before. He hadn't expected it to last this long, either. Like Matt, he figured he'd work her out of his system quickly once he got past the challenge she originally presented.

Chris turned the sound back on and they all watched Jimmy interview some celebrity about her latest movie.
 

"So I noticed I'm the only one packing," Lance said at the next commercial. "Does that mean you guys are going to find a new roommate?"

Chris nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to take over as primary on the lease. You can stay as long as you want. Just let us know when you're officially going so we can advertise for someone to take your spot."

Lance recognized Chris's peace offering for what it was. Since they were taking over the lease, he could stay past August first, try to spend more time with Abby. Maybe he could put his parents off again, get another week or two before having to leave.
 

* * *

Abby was glad it was Friday. More glad than normal for a Friday.
 

Lance had texted shortly after she'd gotten home from work and told her he'd be by to pick her up in an hour. He had to work a little later than normal, but not nearly as late as yesterday.
 

It had been hard staying home the night before. She hadn't slept well alone in her small twin bed. She'd felt cold, even though the temperature in the apartment was the same as always and she had a nice comforter.
 

She smiled to herself. She'd had to steal her comforter back from Megan.
 

"Abby, it's not fair," Megan had whined. "You're never here. I love your comforter. You don't use it. You should just let me have it."

Abby had pulled it off Megan's bed, giving it a good yank to keep it out of Megan's reach and dragged it back to her own room. "Yes, I know I haven't been spending the night here much lately."

"Ha. Try not at all."

"Fine. I haven't been spending the night here at all lately. But it's still my comforter. You can use it if I'm staying somewhere else, but when I'm here I want it."
Megan had huffed and flung herself on the couch in dramatic fashion. "Alright, fine. It's yours. And, really, Abby? 'Somewhere else?'" She made air quotes with her fingers. "Where else would you be staying except Lance's? Besides, he'll probably come get you in the middle of the night anyway."

Abby had stayed up as late as she dared, half hoping that Megan was right. But by eleven she still hadn't heard from him, so she'd texted him a goodnight and gone to bed. Where she'd lain awake for over an hour, still secretly hoping that he'd text and insist she come over.
 

But he hadn't, and she'd slept like shit.

She'd missed him more than she'd expected to. And she was more excited than she thought she would be when he said he'd come get her so she could spend the weekend at his house again.

Rather than analyze her feelings for Lance and what it would mean for her once he was gone, she chose to keep busy while she waited. She tried reading, but was too fidgety. Looking up cat videos on YouTube didn't hold her interest for long, either. She didn't really need to pack, since most of her clothes were at Lance's house anyway, but she got together the few things that she took back and forth with her every day. Since she knew it would make Megan happy, she dragged her comforter back to Megan's bed and dumped it there.
 

Megan wasn't home yet, either. The temp job she was working lasted until six this week, so she might not get home before Abby left. Abby decided she'd text Megan to let her know about the comforter.

She looked at the clock. Okay, so that had only taken like ten minutes. So much for keeping busy. She plopped down on the couch and flipped channels, fidgeting almost constantly and checking the clock every ten minutes.
 

At last, there was a knock at the door and Lance was letting himself in. Abby hopped up and crossed the room, practically flinging herself at him. He caught her against his chest, taking her mouth in a punishing kiss that she returned just as fiercely. His hands traveled down her back, over her ass, and then hoisted her legs around his waist. She clung to him, not even wanting to stop for air.

Lance carried them to the couch and sat down with her straddling him still, never breaking the kiss.
 

After a minute or two, or maybe an hour, Lance pulled back. "Hi." He punctuated the greeting with another kiss, this one languorous and sweet, his tongue sweeping past her lips, dipping and tasting.
 

Abby smiled against his mouth, and pulled back. "Hi."

Lance's hands were still traveling over her back, under her shirt, kneading her ass, and his smile was taking over his face. "Did you miss me?"

Abby laughed and nodded. "Yeah. Did you miss me?"

As an answer he kissed her again, full of desire and longing. His hands went to her hips and he pushed her down, moving her against the full length of his arousal, grinding his pelvis against hers. When he pulled back, he was trying, and mostly failing, to keep a straight face. "Just a little."

Abby laughed again, and dropped a kiss on his lips. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

Lance thrust his hips against hers again. "Is Megan home?"

"Not yet, but she probably will be soon."

Lance unbuttoned Abby's shorts and started pulling down the zipper. "We'll have to make this time quick then." Before she could object, Lance's mouth was on hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth to dance with hers, and his hand was in her pants, making her forget why she'd been about to say this wasn't a good idea.
 

Lance broke off the kiss to stand Abby up and pull off her shorts and panties, push his own shorts and boxers to his knees and roll on a condom before pulling Abby back onto his lap. She moaned into his mouth, feeling his erection rubbing against her clit, his hands sliding under her shirt to pluck at her nipples.
 

"God, Abby. I need to be inside you. Now." Lance's voice was raw and husky. Abby rose up slightly, positioned him at her entrance and slid down. He let his head drop back with a groan, eyes closed. Abby started grinding down against him, enjoying the feeling of riding him on the couch. Lance pushed her shirt up out of his way and tugged down the cups of her bra, exposing her breasts to his hands and mouth.
 

A muffled squeak and the sound of a door slamming made them both freeze. Abby immediately crossed her arms over her chest. Megan rushed past, one hand shielding her eyes. "Don't mind me! I'll just go straight to my room."

Abby's face was so hot she thought she could probably fry eggs on her cheeks. The shocked look on Lance's face fell away and he started chuckling. The chuckles gave way to full blown laughter. Still feeling mortified, Abby couldn't help but start laughing, too. She collapsed against his chest, and his arms came around her, laughing together. When one of them would start to quiet down, laughter would bubble out of the other and they'd both start again. More than once it was Megan's laughter through the walls that started another round.
 

They eventually settled, wiping eyes with only occasional small bursts of laughter coming out. Abby was lying sideways on the couch, having fallen out of Lance's lap at some point.

He leaned over and gave her a kiss. "We'll have to finish this later." He pitched his voice low so it wouldn't carry to Megan, where she was still hiding in her room. He got rid of the mostly unused condom and tugged his boxers and shorts back up over his now fading erection before handing Abby the clothes he'd stripped off her.

"We're decent!" Abby called to Megan after she'd put her shorts back on.
 

Megan's door creaked open, and then Megan emerged with her hands on her face, her eyes peeking between her fingers. When she was all the way in the living room she finally dropped her hands. "I didn't know you guys were going to give me a show when I got home." She fanned herself. "Now I'm all hot and bothered. Why didn't you bring me a playmate?"

Lance laughed and Abby felt her face heating up again. Megan turned her attention to her. "Abby, the look on your face was priceless."

Abby forced out a laugh, hoping they could move on. Megan looked at her for a moment and didn't say anything more about walking in on them. For now. Abby knew she'd hear more about Megan's opinion the next time Lance wasn't around.

"So what are you two crazy kids up to for the rest of the evening?"

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"There's a party tonight that a bunch of the football team is going to be at. You guys should come."

Abby immediately shook her head. "Thanks anyway, Megan."

"Give us a minute." Lance ushered Abby into her room.

He closed the door behind him, then swiveled them around so he was pinning her against it. He kissed her, knowing that was the quickest and easiest way to lower her defenses. When the stiffness had melted out of her body and she was relaxing into his chest, he pulled back and broke the kiss. He rested his forehead against hers, his favorite way of talking to her between kisses. "Let's go to the party."

He felt her stiffen immediately, and he kissed her again. Soft and sensual, his hands roaming her curves. She relaxed at first, but then started resisting, pushing against his chest. He stopped kissing her but kept his forehead resting on hers.
 

She was eyeing him suspiciously. "Why do you want to go?"

He raised his brows. "Uh, parties are fun? Why else would I want to go?"

"But we haven't seen each other in like two days." He couldn't help but grin. Abby was practically whining. He didn't see this side of her very often.
 

He flexed his hand where it rested on her hip. "I promise we'll see plenty of each other all weekend. Let's hang at the party for a little while before heading back to my place." He dipped his head for another kiss, but she turned and he only got her cheek. Deciding to just go with it, he kissed a trail along her cheekbone to her ear, kissing once on the sensitive spot just behind it, and then taking the lobe gently between his teeth.