: Chapter 8

I wake to Cammie draped across my body. Her leg is thrown over mine, small hand resting on my chest, pillow tucked into the crook of my arm where her head rests. Her long lashes fan across her cheek, her full lips are parted, and every so often she makes a little humming sound. She’s so fucking beautiful. I seriously can’t believe she didn’t enter my orbit albeit fleetingly until last night. I’ve been so caught up in my own shit.

My phone buzzes on the nightstand. I reach for it, unsure of the time. The clock flashes four thirteen, but there’s light peeking through the narrow gap in the curtains.

I have messages from the guys and new ones from the university app. Apparently classes and practice are canceled today on account of the storm. Several buildings are without power. While I was getting a bathroom handy, we had a near tornado rip through campus, followed by torrential rain and a hailstorm. Currently, conditions are windy and icy, and the message is to avoid going out for any reason other than emergencies.

Which means I have a whole day with Cammie. Maybe we’ll get each other off again. More than once. Corresponding body parts perk up at the prospect. I wish I could reach my backpack so I could pop a mint.

Cammie stretches and her hand slides over my chest, fingers brushing my nipple. As she toys with it, her lips pucker, and her brows furrow. Eventually one lid cracks, then the other. Her eyes dart around and lift to my face. Assessing. Processing.

When she starts to lift her hand, I cover it with mine. She frowns and uses her other hand to pinch herself. “Ow.” Her tongue drags across her full bottom lip. “Did I have a fever dream last night, or did you put your fingers in my pussy?”

“I absolutely did that. And you came on them.” I would do it a thousand times over just to watch her unravel for me.

She pokes her cheek with her tongue. “And I gave you a handy?”

“Yeah. It was fucking amazing. I would love to do it again. The putting my fingers in your precious and you touching my…me.”

“Cool.” Her lips push out in a semi-pensive pout. “I need to pee.” She throws the covers off and rolls out of bed. She hikes the shirt she’s wearing up as she pads across the floor, giving me a peek of cheek as she scratches the back of her thigh.

I quickly roll out of bed and chew two mints to get rid of my morning breath. My eyes water, so I chug from the bottle on the nightstand, but it only makes the burning worse. I hop back into bed and try to cop a casual pose. Should I be on my side or like just propped up on my back? But when she returns from the bathroom she’s fully dressed in her clothes from yesterday.

“I should probably get ready for class. What time is it even?”

I check my phone. “It’s eight thirty. But classes are canceled because of the storm.” I motion to the window, which I haven’t checked since I’ve been awake. The school news feed makes it sound bad.

She crosses the room in her black jeans and a T-shirt. I know what she’s hiding under there, and I’m a fan. She parts the curtains and retracts the blackout blinds.

“Holy shit. You should check this out.”

I tuck my half hard-on into the waistband of my boxer briefs and reluctantly get out of bed. “Holy shit is right.” Tree branches litter the parking lot and the boulevard, and a small tree has toppled over completely. Most of the cars in the lot have dents in the hoods and roofs. There must be an inch of half-melted hail littering the ground. It’s a mess out there.

“I guess we’re stuck here for the time being,” Cammie muses.

Would it be weird if I wrapped my arms around her? Probably. “Looks that way.” My stomach makes an awful gurgling sound.

She arches her brow. “I bet you need to feed that beast frequently.”

I pat my abs. “Yeah. I usually don’t go more than a few hours without a meal.”

My phone buzzes from the nightstand several times.

“Looks like someone really needs you,” Cammie observes.

“It’s probably the guys.” I grab it. I’m right. They’re talking about food. It’s a common occurrence. “You wanna grab breakfast with me and a few of my teammates? I can introduce you. There’s a buffet in the hotel restaurant.”

“Oh, uh.” Cammie fingers the end of her ponytail. It’s kinky from the braid she had it in last night. “I’m good. I’ve got a few granola bars in my bag, and there’s a coffee maker in the room.”

“We get to eat free. And it’s a buffet.” I love buffets. Endless food options and no limits.

“You go ahead. I have some work I need to do.” She smiles and pats my stomach when it rumbles again. “Seriously. You should eat.”

“We’ll hang out after?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.” She busies herself with setting up the coffee maker while I throw on my clothes.

“You want me to bring you anything back?”

“If they have any nice fruit, I’d take something for later, thanks.” She pulls books and her laptop out of her bag.

“No problem.” I pull on the pajama pants and T-shirt, grab the keycard, shove my feet into my shoes, and head up to Gage and Brody’s room.

They’ve already flipped the security latch so I can let myself in.

Brody is sitting on his bed with his phone in his hand, drinking coffee and eating cookies. Gage is styling his hair.

“How was last night with the weird girl?” Gage asks.

“Uh. She’s actually not that weird. I just shocked her when I came barging into the room.” I rub the back of my neck, thinking about the way she flipped me over her shoulder like a ninja.

Brody’s eyes flare. “Dude. What the fuck happened last night?”

“Huh?”

“You have the face,” Brody says.

“The face?” I run a hand down mine.

“Yeah. The I-got-lucky face,” Brody clarifies.

“Did you fuck her?” Gage asks.

“No, man. I didn’t… We didn’t have sex.” But I would definitely have sex with her if she wanted to. Hands fucking down.

“But something happened,” Brody presses.

“Yeah. We uh…we made out. But uh…this isn’t like a party hookup.”

“Because you were sober?” Gage asks.

“No. I mean, yeah, I was sober, and she was sober, but I think…I think I actually like her. Like yes, I want to get naked with her and just—” I stop before I admit more than I want, but based on their expressions, I’m already over the line. “Like I want to hang out with her while also fully clothed…and get to know her better.” I prop my fists on my hips. “I’d rather be in the room with her right now than here with you guys.”

“Because you want to fuck her,” Gage says. His mind has one well-worn track.

“Yes, but even if she doesn’t want to fuck, I would still want to hang out with her.” I’d actually be sad if she didn’t want to at least make out again, though. Those lips will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.

“So you like her,” Brody states.

“Yes.” I rub the back of my neck. “I do. Fuck. Shit. How do I handle this?”

Gage shrugs and Brody rolls his eyes.

“Seriously. I’m used to girls throwing themselves at me because I play hockey and they want a piece of me. And most of the time I’m just happy to have someone’s much softer body parts wrapped around my cock.”

“Fuck yeah, man.” Gage holds out his hand for a fist bump.

I tap his fist, but only because he won’t let up unless I do.

“But this is different. Yes, I want her prec—soft parts wrapped around my cock. One hundred percent. But I actually wanted her to come down for breakfast so you could meet her.”

“So why isn’t she here?”

“She had some work to do.”

“So why don’t you bring her breakfast so you can hang out and eat together and you can get to know each other,” Brody suggests like the genius he is. With two older brothers, he’s well versed in the whole witnessing relationships thing. And Tristan is engaged, which is more than I can say for my older sister who hasn’t dated anyone since middle school.

“Is it Human Physiology homework? Because if it is you could make it totally hands on,” Gage suggests. “Just like I wish I could with my tutor but can’t if I don’t want to end up failing the course.”

“Remember you said that the next time you’re plotting to seduce her,” Brody says, then turns to me. “If you actually like her, I suggest holding off on sex, but totally up to you.”

“Yeah, good call. I’m going to grab some food and bring it back to the room.”

Brody shoves the last cookie into his face and hops off the bed. “We’ll come down with you. I’m starving.”

We pile into the elevator. I end up sitting at a table for a bit with a bunch of my teammates and load up on food so I’m not shoveling it into my face when I get back up to the room. The girl who keeps inviting me and my teammates to keg parties shows up looking like she had a rough night.

“Hey, Chase! Hey, Brodes and Gage!”

I push my chair back and stand. “You want a seat?”

She hugs me. “That is so sweet! You’re just so sweet, Chase!”

Literally everything she says ends with an exclamation point.

Brody shoots me a death glare, but Gage doesn’t seem put off by her overly enthusiastic personality.

“I’m gonna grab some stuff.” I point to the buffet. I load up two plates with a little of everything since I’m not sure what she likes. I also nab a few granola bars since they have plenty of those. Once I’m stocked, I head for the elevators.

Keg Party girl is busy hanging off Gage’s arm, so she doesn’t notice me leaving. On the way up to the room, I give myself a pep talk. “You got this, man. You can just hang out, feed her, talk. And then maybe if things go well, you’ll get to touch her again.” I exhale a long breath and try to push away the image of my fingers buried in all that soft wetness. But the way she looked, and the sound of my name tumbling from her lips when she came is tough to shove back in a box. “One step at a time. Food and conversation. You know how to eat and talk. You get eighties in all your courses. You’re not an intellectual slouch. You’re more than just a hockey player with a nice face.” The elevator doors slide open.

Two girls I vaguely recognize say hi. I mutter hi back and head down the hall to my room. My phone goes off with a text from Gage.

I swipe the key over the sensor and throw open the door a little too hard. “Hey, Cammie! I brought you breakfast in bed!”

I round the corner as she slams her laptop closed. Her eyes are wide, and her face is red. “Hey. Hi. Uh, I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.”

“What’s this about?” I make a circle motion around my face.

“What’s what about?” She runs her hands up and down her thighs.

“You’re all shifty.” I set the tray down on the bed. “Were you watching porn or something?” I mean it as a joke, and for the words not to come out all low and gravelly.