Win Big: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (11 page)

“Am I late for our session?”

What a question, after a welcome like that. “No…what’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Yes. I’m all right.”

I turned, studying her face. “You don’t look too good. Wait, did that guy hassle you again?”

“Everything’s okay now, really. Let’s get started. Do you need any help getting up on the treatment table?”

“I can manage.” I made my way over, but didn’t get on it right away.

“How is the new medication?” She was getting back into business mode, but something was still off.

“Nice and strong. Must be powerful, too. Doc only prescribed eight pills…two per day for four days.”

“I’m glad it’s helping.”

“It is. It’s been a week since I got hurt. I feel much better these last couple of days. The only drawback is these pills makes me drowsy as hell.”

“You’re following the directions, right?”

“Yeah. No more than two per day. I didn’t take any on Friday evening or Saturday…I think there’s three left.”

“Right. Smart idea to
not
mix them with alcohol when you guys have these wild parties.”

“Yeah, well it’s a frat house. Parties are pretty much standard operating procedure.”

“Have you…kept up… with icing the area?”

I had to stop her right there. She was pale, her voice was weak, she was gasping for air, and she’d been practically propping herself up against the wall for support. I was a great kisser, but it couldn’t have produced that kind of effect on her. “Have a seat, Samantha, before you pass out.”

“I told you I’m fine.”

I pointed at the upholstered button-back armchair one of the guys had brought in from the living room earlier. “Sit. Please.”

Shen resisted for a few seconds, but she finally let out an exhausted breath and took a seat. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And yes, I kept up with the ice packs and the bed rest…most of the time. That’s how I’m able to walk around a bit today.” Wishing I still had crutches under me, I limped toward the door to the living room. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? I’ll get you something to drink.”

“Okay. Bottled water would be good, thanks.”

She was still taking labored breaths when I came back with her water. “Are you asthmatic or something?”

“No. Look, I’m just tired and a bit run down.” She unscrewed the cap of the water bottle and took a few gulps.

“It’s not even the second week of school. What kind of insane schedule do you have?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but don’t expect me to let you work on me when you look like you’ll keel over any minute now. Actually you know what? Pat’s around. His limo’s outside and he has a driver. Leave your car where it is. His driver can take you home.”

“No!” she said a little too quickly, jumping out of her chair. How strange. That’s when I noticed she wasn’t in the branded athletic program gear that staff and student trainers were mandated to wear to training and physical therapy sessions. She was in a blue long-sleeved shirt with the neckline off one shoulder, and a black skirt that stopped halfway up her thighs, with a pair of black matching flat shoes. If she didn’t look so weak and tired, she’d be damned sexy right now. Okay, so she was still sexy as hell. My dick stirred at the thought of her climbing into my lap for some up close and personal comfort. I just had to ignore that for a beat while my gut was telling me to call 9-1-1 and get her seen by a physician.

“You don’t want a ride home…or you don’t want to
go
home?”

She flopped back down on the chair. “Shit. All right. Yes… Austin was waiting for me outside my dorm again.”

“When?”

“Just now.”

“He’s not outside this frat house right now, is he?”

“No no. I left him over at my dorm. My folks took me to brunch this morning. After I got back to campus. I went up to my dorm to get a few things before heading over here. When I came out again, he was standing beside my car.”

“What? Christ.” This piece of shit ex-boyfriend crossed the line. “Did you call the cops?”

“No…I couldn’t…”

“That’s crazy. Why the hell not?” She didn’t answer me. Samantha had gone from outspoken, confident, competent and full of attitude to a frightened shell of herself. I took the fleece blanket from the foot end of my bed and put it over her shoulders.

“Thanks,” she said, looking over at me when I sat on the edge of the bed.

“No problem. What did he tell you when you saw him earlier?”

“His usual…he wants me back, he misses me, he’s not done with me…we had a good thing, so he says. Big deal. I’m supposed to give it up for that?”

I must have heard wrong, because I thought she just said something about giving it up. I gave it some thought. Giving it up. No way could she mean her virginity. She was a senior, for Christ’s sake—being stalked by some rich snot who she’d dated. I was probably reading way too much into it.

“And you dated how long ago?”

“We were in our junior year. I only went on a few dates with him, then I told him I wasn’t ready to get serious. He was a jerk for a while after that, but after he started seeing another student, he left me alone.”

“That’s seriously fucked up. What does this guy want now all of a sudden? It’s been over two years.”

“What do all rich, arrogant, conceited college pro athletes want?”

“Whoa there. Hold up a minute. Don’t lump us all together. We’re not all like your ex, even if…yeah sure, I’m a cocky bastard when I want to be, but you’ll never see me turning into some obsessed stalker creep…or putting a hand on a woman the way he did. Let’s just get that straight.”

“Okay…sorry, you’re right. You’re not all the same.”

She took off her shoes and tucked her legs beside her on the chair, covering them with the blanket.

“You have to do something about that guy, though.”

“I can’t…not right now.”

“Why? Trust me, you don’t want to wait for him to corner you when you’re alone and out of options. He needs to know he won’t get away with that behavior.”

“But he already has…so I’ve heard, anyway, with that girl he dated for two years. It got pretty serious…and Austin has a tough time letting go. Eventually she called the cops and made a formal complaint with campus security too. It didn’t do much. Austin’s family got the charges dropped. They may have paid off the girl’s family too, I don’t know. By then, she had already fallen behind with a lot of her coursework. Rumor has it she took a semester off just to get away from him.”

“Well that’s not happening to you.”

As much as I wanted to help Samantha and keep her out of harm’s way, she should not have made that comment about giving it up. I could barely concentrate. At the moment, that phrase was the one thing circling around in my mind, expanding and take over, to the point where all I could do was fantasize about being balls deep inside of her, fucking her hard as she
gave it up
to me. Yes, I was a dirty pig for thinking that way, but no one ever accused me of being nice in the sex department.

That information from Samantha was sure to get me in trouble if she didn’t leave soon, especially since she could have been anywhere but here right now. Surely she had friends and classmates who could rally around her and stop this douchebag in his tracks. Instead, she was sitting in a chair inches from my bed.

In a mini skirt.

With her sad face.

Her pouty mouth that I wanted to taste again.

Breasts all perky and probably begging to be touched and devoured.

Tiny hands that could wrap around my dick if she wanted to.

Sexy long legs to wrap around my waist while I took her hard.

It had also been over a week since I scored some sex, on account of this fucking groin injury. Good thing that debilitating pain was mostly gone, except my improved condition was not going to help Samantha right now. I decided the only way around this problem was through it. All I had to do today was say something stupid or arrogant, or both. Samantha would be angry enough to get far away from me, and I’d get Pat or one of his
‘boys in black’
bodyguards to keep an eye on her. She’d be safe from both her ex-boyfriend and from me. I’d have my room back—to get laid sooner rather than later instead of salivating over her pristine, innocent body.

I went for it. “Want to play one round of truth or dare? I hear chicks dig that game. You can pick truth and tell me you’re a virgin, and I can dare you to join team Evan and let me be your first. Either that or we can get you star trekked, as our frat house Sci-Fi junkies like to call it…you relax here in my space, and I’ll boldly go where no man has gone before. How about it?”

Holy fuck. If looks could kill.

M
y palms were hot
. I was itching to slap him right now for saying that, hard enough to leave a permanent imprint on each side of his face so he could remember what it felt like every time he saw it in the mirror. At the same time, I could die from embarrassment. I didn’t know which one to do first, so I sat there with my mouth dropped open and my eyebrows knitted together.

I also desperately wanted to ignore the fact that every square inch of my body was also probably hot to the touch right now, coming alive from the hungry look in his eyes, like he had a film roll of one impure thought after the other on what he wanted to do to me. Kind of like the way his TV was defaulted to turn on to a porn channel. I could easily have tumbled into his arms and his bed right now, if he hadn’t been such a prick by suggesting I was a virgin—which I was, although that wasn’t the point.

The sad reality was I had convinced myself that showing up at Evan’s place for our scheduled appointment was the right thing to do. Sure, there was a job to be done. Not only did I fail at doing it, but I’d also kissed him, and crumbled at his doorstep like a frightened little girl, just for the sake of laying low somewhere on campus while Kristy was still at her parents’ for dinner. Getting in touch with Nick was out of the question. The last thing I wanted to do was lead Nick on.

In hindsight, I should have cancelled Evan’s session. After Austin showed up unannounced at my dorm for a second time, I should have sent Evan a text message to reschedule, then I should have driven like the wind back to the safety of my parents’ house in suburbia. Cops and campus security should have been contacted at some point too. I just didn’t want to become another casualty of Austin Grant’s obvious untouchable status. Fighting him and trying to graduate were like oil and water—the two didn’t mix. Now I was here in a virtual stranger’s room. I’d been in his arms and practically making out with him while hiding out at his place, simply because Evan and his friend had done their good deed for the semester by standing up to Austin. I needed to get it through my thick skull that their one moment of bravery didn’t make them heroes, or my appointed protectors. That truth was crystal clear after Evan’s off-the-wall comments. They were downright uncalled for and totally prick-worthy. I can’t believe I’d kissed him—twice.

I scrambled out of the chair and stuck my feet back into my shoes. “It was a mistake coming here, and unprofessional of me to stay while I’m in this…situation. I apologize for letting my personal affairs interfere with doing my job at the standard that’s expected of me. It’s best if I leave now. I’ll make up for the lost time by adding ten to fifteen minutes to the daily sessions this week at the athletic training center.”

Those words may have been appropriate things to say, but I sounded like a robot, and although I meant every word, the message didn’t feel authentic, not even to me.

Evan stood up. “Hey…look, you don’t have to go. I was a dick. I was just messing around.”

“About what part?” I huffed out. “Wanting to know whether I’m a virgin, or wanting to get into my pants because I am?” Crap. I just pretty much admitted I was a virgin. Talking about this a second longer would only make it worse. “Don’t answer.”

I brushed past him and he shifted to the side and stopped me in my tracks. “If you don’t want to go back to your dorm right away, just stay here. I’ll use the sofa bed up in my regular bedroom. I’m good to use stairs now, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“One of the boys can get you something to eat too. Stay. Please. You’re safe here. Relax a bit. I’ll give you some space.”

He picked up his phone from where it was charging beside the TV, and he left.

Maybe I should have just told him and gotten it over with. It was clear to me something was already brewing between us. I thought I could fight it the last couple of times that I was over here, but the truth was I was fighting a losing battle.

I wanted him.

That was the kicker.

It wasn’t that I had some kind of epiphany that I wanted Evan to be my first.

It was that Evan happened to be the first guy I found myself wanting.

I wished I hadn’t been the case, but it was. There was no point telling myself I didn’t. Everything about this situation was impossible. Not just because Evan had such a bad reputation—which I realized now was well founded in gospel truth. It also wasn’t on account of my still being a virgin at twenty-one. A big part of my hesitation had to do with one glaring fact. Evan was my patient. Dr. Jeffries would likely kick me out of this program without batting an eyelash if he found out.

Did I really want to go all the way with Evan?

My traitorous body said yes.

Was he worth it?

My head said no, but my heart did a weird flip inside my chest the same time.

I could almost kiss Kristy just then. She sent me a quick text to let me know she was back at the dorm. I replied that I was on my way. Grabbing my bag, I left. Before starting my car, I sent Evan a text to thank him, and told him I’d see him tomorrow. I drove off before he replied, and didn’t dare look at my phone when I got in. I also didn’t say a word of what had happened to Kristy. I stuck my head in my coursework for the rest of the evening, then I went to bed.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

I was petrified.