She turned around to face him. “Where would I go?”
“Dunno. I was worried last night was a dream,” he said with a cocky smile, “and I’d wake up to find I’d imagined you here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“It would have been one hell of a vivid dream.”
“How vivid?” she purred in his ear.
“Let me show you.”
Eric gripped her hips and pulled her effortlessly on top of him. She realized he was already hard for her. They had slept in the buff, which made this really easy. He eased back inside her. She was tender from all their activity last night, but the pain soon disappeared as pleasure took over.
When she finished, she fell against him, panting.
He kissed her forehead. “I could get used to this,” he whispered.
“Me, too.”
After they both cleaned up, they crawled back into bed and lay in each other’s arms.
Bryna was struck with how completely normal it was. There was no awkwardness. There was no wondering whether they would go out for breakfast or if she should just hurry out. There hadn’t even been a question of whether or not they would make love again in the morning. It had just happened. Just like them.
“So, where do we go from here?” she asked him, her head resting against his shoulder.
He ran his hands through her hair contentedly. “Let’s take it one day at a time. I don’t want us to rush out and tell everyone what’s going on yet. I’m going to keep you all to myself for a little bit longer.”
“You want to hide me?” She was mostly joking, but the fear pricked at her regardless.
Eric laughed, reading her question for what it really was. “No. But I want us to get to know each other again as a couple without the public scrutiny of the entire football team and cheer squad.”
Bryna nodded. “That’s true.”
“As long as you’re mine and there’s no more running away, then it honestly doesn’t matter to me what we do.”
“No more running away,” she agreed.
“Good. Then, we’ll figure it out.”
“Unfortunately, I still have to get to class today,” she told him.
“Skip it.” He held her in place against him.
She giggled and kissed him. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“Okay. Then, come over right after class before practice.”
“I will,” she promised.
She reluctantly disentangled herself from Eric’s arms, put her clothes back on, and headed home to change before she had to be on campus. Stacia and Trihn were both in the living room when she arrived.
Both of their eyes widened in surprise.
Trihn arched an eyebrow. “That must have been one hell of a study session with Cam last night.”
Stacia giggled. “I want to hear all the details.”
“We broke up,” Bryna told them.
It felt great saying it out loud. That felt like a lifetime ago compared to what had happened with Eric last night.
Stacia gasped.
But Trihn smiled. “About time.”
“Yeah, it was,” Bryna agreed. She walked over to the couch and plopped down. “Cam found out that I used to sleep around or dig or whatever, and he tried to take advantage of me.”
“What? Did you knock him out?” Trihn asked.
“What a douche bag!” Stacia cried.
“I know. I couldn’t believe it, honestly. He seemed like such a nice guy, and he didn’t know my reputation. But then as soon as he did, all went down the drain. So, I dumped him.”
“Good. He deserved much worse than that,” Trihn said.
“Yeah, like a swift kick to the nuts,” Stacia agreed.
Bryna laughed and nodded.
“Where were you all night then?” Trihn asked.
“So…afterward, I went over to Eric’s.”
“Yes!” Stacia cried.
They both looked at Stacia questioningly.
“What? A football player or an artsy guy? It’s not even a choice.”
Trihn narrowed her eyes. “Thanks!”
“Hey! I’m just saying.”
“Tell us about Eric,” Trihn encouraged, ignoring Stacia’s barb.
A smile came to Bryna’s face, unbidden. Eric had that effect on her.
“We’re kind of keeping it on the down-low right now, so you can’t say anything to anyone, but I think we’re together. We got into a big argument about everything that had happened between us. After I explained that I wanted to be with him, he came around to the idea. I told him I loved him,” she confessed.
“Aw,” Stacia crooned.
Trihn smiled brightly. “Finally! It’s about time.”
Bryna giggled. “You’re so right. It’s about damn time.”
WHEN BRYNA WAS WITH ERIC, time seemed to fly. All the best things in the world were tucked into the hours she spent at his house, lost in his arms. And just as good was the fact that she had her friend back. When they weren’t lying around in bed in a state of ecstasy, they would hang out by the pool, have margaritas, grill burgers, and generally enjoy each other’s company. There were still some lingering problems from their separation, but they were working through it one day at a time.
Without even realizing it, the away game against Colorado was upon them, and the entire team would be flying into Denver. Since the team still didn’t know about their relationship, she and Eric had agreed to drive to the airport separately. She was sure some people had suspected by the way they acted around each other, but their relationship was in its infancy, and they didn’t want the scrutiny.
Stacia and Bryna arrived at the airport in Stacia’s SUV. They grabbed their bags out of the trunk, and then Stacia locked up. As they walked inside, Stacia had a bounce to her step.
“I cannot wait to fuck Pace in the hotel room,” she said.
Bryna cringed. “That’s disgusting. I can’t hear you talk about him like that.”
“Come on, B. He’s not your real brother! And you’re going to do the same with Eric anyway.”
“Shh!” she chided. “People don’t know yet.”
“Sorry. Sorry. But you are, right?”
“I don’t know. We’ll see.”
“That’s a yes,” Stacia said.
They checked in with the cheer coach, and then they were ushered on the plane, which had already been open for seating. Stacia walked on first, eager to get to her seat next to Pace. Bryna didn’t know where her seat was, nor did she care. She had every intention of sitting next to Eric. This was their first away game together since last year, and there was no way she was going to sit next to anyone else even if it made people more curious.
As she walked down the aisle, she noticed someone was seated next to Eric. It was Bethany, the freshman girl who had been talking to him after practice that one day. Whatever she had said, he seemed to find funny because he laughed at her, and she giggled. Bryna’s temper went from zero to sixty faster than a Bugatti.
She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Eric loved her and that she had no reason to be pissed off. But she was. It was just the fact that this girl thought she could flirt with him. Bryna had never felt such intense jealousy. Even though they weren’t out as a couple, he was hers now.
“Ahem,” Bryna said. She crossed her arms and stared down at Bethany with the best bitchy Queen Bee look she could muster.
Bethany’s eyes widened. Clearly, she knew to be afraid. “Hey, B,” she said.
“You’re in my seat,” Bryna pointed out.
“Oh.” Bethany looked down at her ticket. “It says I sit here.”
Bryna took the ticket out of her hand and then passed the one she had been holding back to Bethany. “Now, it doesn’t. Scoot along.”
“Um…” Bethany looked at Eric, hoping he would say something so that she could stay sitting next to him, but his eyes were locked on Bryna. He looked amused. “Eric?”
He turned his attention back to her and shrugged. “Bryna normally sits here.”