Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
-17-
JAY
I walked into my room, dropped my equipment bag on the floor with a thud, and put my ass in my desk chair. Kayla and I were supposed to chat tonight, and after the game I’d had, I was dying to see her.
Tonight, we’d see each other face-to-face. Our first official video-chat. Not as good as being in-person, but it’d been easier to get her to agree to this, rather than drive three hours north.
The dialog box on my computer screen leapt to life after I clicked on her icon, and the ringing started. I hadn’t texted her if she was ready. I was too impatient to see her.
Holy.
Shit.
The image popped onto the screen, and there she was. I ignored the colors and the logos. All that mattered was she was there, and wearing a goddamn cheerleading uniform. Every guy’s fantasy in the flesh.
Kayla’s hair was pulled back with a large red bow. Her uniform was white sleeves, gray top and skirt, and some red. I tried not to stare at her short skirt for too long and forced myself to look at the rest of the room in her apartment.
Her place wasn’t overly girly, and like mine, it was cramped. Her bed was lofted over a dresser that had a few knobs missing. A large, dry-erase calendar was tacked to a wall, with times scribbled on various days.
“Hi.” Her bright smile froze as she stared at her computer screen.
Shit. I hadn’t exactly de-Michigan-ed my dorm room. Or changed out of my blue warm-ups, decorated with a yellow M and a Nike swoosh. Well, fuck it. She’d need to get used to this aspect of my life.
“Hey,” I said. “How was your game?”
She didn’t blink. Her eyes drifted left and then right, slowly taking in my surroundings. Her door was open and a lanky guy walked by. What the fuck?
“Who’s that?” I demanded.
“My roommate, Chuck.”
“Chuck’s a guy? You live with a guy?”
She peered at me like I was being an idiot. “You didn’t figure that out before? Like, when I said my roommate’s name was Chuck?”
“I thought it was, I dunno, a nickname.”
“Yeah. It’s short for Charles.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “How does that work?”
“Oh, right. He’s a guy and I’m a girl. We can’t be friends. We must be lovers.” She turned to the doorway and raised her voice. “Chuck, get in here! Jay thinks we’re lovers!”
A male voice came from beyond. “I just threw up in my mouth.”
“He wants me so bad,” Kayla deadpanned.
I didn’t know how to feel about it. Kayla was smoking hot, and she was living with another guy? Was he gay?
“We grew up together,” she said. “He’s family to me. And no, he’s not gay. Is that going to be a problem?”
Her conviction was absolute, and I sucked up my unexpected possessiveness. We had a big enough issue with the rivalry, I wasn’t going to add another. “No, no problem,” I said. “I heard you guys won today.”
She went as bright as the sun. “Was there ever any doubt?”
She reached back and pulled the bow out of her hair, letting her blonde locks fall over her shoulders. There was a defined ridge were the ponytail had been. I watched her go to the door and shut it, sealing her bedroom off from her male roommate.
But she never reciprocated my question. “You aren’t even going to ask me, are you?”
“I heard. Way to go.” Her voice was monotone.
“Hmm. Heartfelt.”
She gave a slight shake of her head, like she was annoyed. Was it with me, or herself? She tried again. “Sorry. Congrats! Better?”
“Yeah.” She’d at least made an attempt. My gaze zeroed in on her hands as they went to the side of her cheerleading top. “What, uh, are you doing there?”
“Changing.”
“Oh, yeah?” My voice was eager.
She smiled seductively, and lifted her top off. My pulse jumped when her hands went to the hem of her white long sleeve shirt. It was removed, revealing a plain sports bra beneath. I ignored the bra that covered way too much of her and focused on her toned, flat stomach. Before I could really enjoy it, the shirt sailed toward the camera and my screen went dark.
“Tease,” I joked, and heard her soft laugh.
Someone banged on my door. “Harris.”
“It’s open.”
The door swung open, and Darius stepped inside. The lineman was almost as wide as the doorway. He tossed his equipment bag down and crossed his thick arms over his chest. “You’re real funny, man.”
“Who’s that?” Kayla asked, her voice coming from the laptop’s speakers.
Darius glanced at my dark computer screen. “Aw, shit. Did I interrupt porn time?”
There was fumbling and the picture returned. Kayla had thrown on a t-shirt but hadn’t changed out of the sexy skirt.
“Cheerleader? Hell, yeah. She hot.” Darius moved closer to the computer, coming into view of the camera. “Doesn’t make up for that school she goes to, though.”