Stealing Reese (Wildcat Graduates Book 5), page 10
Dammit, why are people calling me now?
RING. RING.
Pulling the phone from my pocket, I look at the display and see that Delilah’s calling. “Hey, Dee,” I answer, only to have Reese walk away.
“Dee! I’m glad I caught you,” she replies, excited about something.
“Yeah, we just got back to my room. What’s up?” I watch as Reese walks over to my window and stares out at the streetlights that illuminate the parking lot.
“Oh, good,” she continues with conversation, but I’m too focused on the tension that has overtaken Reese’s stance. What’s wrong now?
“Hey, can we talk later? I’ve gotta go. Okay, bye.” Ending the call, I toss the phone on the bed and walk over to her. Holding her hips, I pull her close.
“Talk to me.” I’m not letting her make this into something it isn’t.
“Delilah?” she snaps.
“Yes,” I answer cautiously. She doesn’t speak immediately, and I’m afraid she won’t the longer she remains quiet.
“You talk to her a lot. Did you date her?” Her voice is flat, almost emotionless and it unnerves me.
Stunned at where her mind is, I spin her around to face me, not the window. “We’ve talked about this before. Delilah and I are just friends. Our parents work at the same law firm. There’s nothing more to it than that.” Her eyes roam the room, everywhere but at me. Tilting her head, I hold her chin in place with my fingers.
“You sure about that? We were in the middle of a serious conversation and you didn’t think twice before answering and talking to her.” Well, shit.
“I’m sorry. I messed up, but I’m not exactly used to being in a relationship, especially one like ours. Other than the ex that cheated on me, which was years ago in high school, I haven’t done more than date a girl. We’re figuring this out together.”
“I know you aren’t looking for anything serious. You’ve been clear about that, but being second choice like that, our discussion not being important enough to continue, doesn’t sit well with me.”
“No, I haven’t been looking for a long-term relationship, but I’m with you, babe. Whatever this turns out to be between us, I’m not a multiple woman kinda guy. I’ve been cheated on and I’ll never do that to anyone else. I’m seeing you. No one else.” She searches my face, uncertainty written all over hers. I’ve never seen her this way before. She’s usually very self composed.
“After Ross yanking me around, I promised myself I’d never put up with that bullshit again. That’s why I need you to tell me when you’re out and not string me along. I’m not expecting anything serious between us right now, but I’m sure as hell not into open relationships.”
“Got it,” I answer, speaking into her hair. “Goes both ways. ”
“Got it,” she repeats my words looking up to meet my expression.
Pulling her chest to chest, the stiffness relaxes in her shoulders while I run my thumb along the apple of her cheek. Her smooth skin and fruity tinged lavender scent calls to my need to be with her. Tipping my head down, I brush my lips across hers before nipping at her delicate neck. My hands glide to her ass and squeeze, enjoying the feel of them in my palms.
“I only want you,” I reiterate, lifting behind the knees in order to wrap her legs around my waist.
“I’m yours,” she exhales against my lips, her tongue slipping out to lick across my mouth, coaxing it without much effort to open. Her invasion of my mouth is full of passion and intensity, teeth clashing against one another as we give ourselves over to the other. Our exchange fuels our desire as we press closer together, both of us needing more connection than we have.
“Clothes off,” I command, setting her on the bed and stripping my own off as fast as possible. She matches my speed, tossing garments every which way until we’re both naked. Unable to be away from her, I cover her smooth, creamy skin with my own as she scoots further up the bed. Hands and legs tangle, intertwine, as we give in to our need. Spreading her thighs with my knees, I run a thumb over her drenched opening before shoving my way inside her warmth. “Shit,” I hiss at how tightly her core grips my throbbing shaft.
Nails digging into my back, she raises her hips to meet my every thrust. Tiny moans, growing louder, fill my ears as my tongues works its way down her neck and throat. Being with her is so intense every single time, more than any other experience I may have had. She’s ruined me for anyone else. Of that, I’m sure.
“Harder,” she groans, biting down on my earlobe enough to cause pain and tugging with her teeth. Greedy wench.
“Shit! You like it like that? My Pieces want more?” She nods, and I buck into her harder, faster until we fall over the edge, squeezing each other like a boa constrictor around a wild animal. Each time with her is more intense than the last, and I can’t imagine it being any better.
“Mmm,” she hums as I fall to the bed beside her, exhausted and completely satisfied. Dragging her on top of me, I move the comforter over us.
“You have a spell over me,” I say, running my palm up and down her back under the comforter.
“I’d say the feeling is mutual,” she whispers while gripping my sensitive cock in her silky hand.
“Fuck, woman,” I swear in response when I begin to harden.
“My turn,” she proclaims, pumping me until I’m ready before sliding to straddle me.
Warm heat covers me once again, and I’m lost to everything that is Reese Andrews.
March arrives with a successful baseball season, the Muleriders winning a majority of the games they play. The coach has had the team on a strict training schedule so seeing any of them on a regular basis is spotty at best. Xana and Stace seem to be handling the time away from Cade and Noel in stride, however, I’m not having such an easy time with it. I miss talking to Clutch, and his repeated cancellation of our plans is wearing on me.
ME: Meet you for dinner at the dining hall?
Ten minutes pass before I get a response.
CLUTCH: Gotta pass. Practice.
ME: Wanna come over and hang out later tonight?
Of course, there’s no immediate response, so I give up. Sighing, I return the phone to my purse and throw myself onto my bed. Looks like it’s another night of me, myself, and I. Not quite ready to dive into my homework and study, I go through my dirty laundry and pull together a few loads to wash instead. Throwing my kindle on top the basket with the detergent and softener, I grab my keys on the way out of the room. It’s still early in the afternoon and the dorms are almost empty. The weather is a lot warmer so everyone is out enjoying their time in the sun.
The washer and dryers aren’t in use, so I sort out my clothes and get them started to wash. Leaving my basket on top of the dryer, I settle down on the community couch and begin to read a few articles I need for a science paper I need to write for next week. What else is there to do?
Just as I finish reading the articles, my laundry is ready and I fold it before going back to my room. After putting them away, I decide to go ahead and work on the outline for that paper while it’s still fresh on my mind. It turns out to be a great way to spend my time, keeping me occupied until well after seven o’clock. I have a good portion of the hard part completed, and am satisfied with my progress.
“Ree!” I hear my name called when my door flies open. Xana comes bounding in like she owns the place. I need to lock my door from now on. She bounces on the spare bed and smiles.
“What’s gotten into you?” She’s kinda freaking me out.
“Just wanted to see if you wanted to go to the mall with me?”
“This late?” Is she joking? I’m not one to stay at home like an old person, but it is nearly seven ‘oclock and the mall isn’t open past nine in this town. Not much is, other than restaurants and Wal-Mart, or the Underworld, as I fondly call it.
“Get a grip, Marge. It isn’t bedtime, yet,” she chastises, smiling at how clever she thinks she is. “Suck it up and let’s go,” she demands, refusing to take no for my answer. At least it’ll keep my mind off of Dillon.
ME: Still on for library tonight?
No response. Again. That’s the fourth time this week he’s failed to communicate with me. Things have only gotten worse since he stood me up a few weeks ago and I ended up doing laundry instead. I get that he’s busy with baseball, but Noel, Cade, and Gavin seem to spend time with their girlfriends, so why can’t he? Maybe he’s stopped thinking of me that way.
“Walk to the English building together?” Xana asks when we leave the dining hall after lunch. Her hopeful, smiling face makes me feel bad for wanting to be alone right now. He missed lunch again today, and I’m not really in a good mood. It’s almost the end of February and for the past several weeks, Dillon’s become more and more unreachable. I’ve hardly seen him, breakfast being the only time we actually have set to see one another.
Sighing, I reply, “Sounds good,” then follow her up the steps and down the sidewalk to Birkman Hall.
While we walk toward our next classes, she rambles on about wedding plans, but I have a hard time concentrating on what she’s saying, lost in my thoughts of Dillon. He’s been absent from meals more often than not, and I’m beginning to wonder if he’s avoiding me. I realize he’s busier now with baseball season underway than when we first started the semester, yet mealtimes haven’t changed and he’s missing them more and more.
“Hey,” she grabs my elbow and leads me over toward the concrete benches in the courtyard at the building’s front. Stopping us out of the way of the crowd going in and out, she says, “You know he’s just really busy with ball right now, right?” Her sympathetic smile just makes me more aggravated with myself.
“Oh, I know,” I smile widely, as best I can without it looking too forced, brushing off her concern. Pretending to be fine, I start to walk away, only to be pulled to a stop once again.
“Ree, don’t do that.”
“What?” I ask, trying like hell to convince her I have no clue what she’s talking about.
“Pretend like you aren’t bothered by Dill being gone so much.” Is it really that obvious?
“Oh, hey, Ty,” I say as a guy from my US History class walks up.
“Hey, Reese,” he smiles at me, then nods toward Xana. “Hi.”
“Ty, this is my friend, Xana,” I hitch a thumb in her direction, more than glad for his interruption. “Xan, this is Tyler. We have US History together.”
She glances between us and smiles, “Hi!”
“Hi,” he smiles in return before turning back to me. “Hey, are you ready for that test tomorrow? I’ve heard it’s gonna have a couple of essay questions on it.”
“Essay questions? Well, hell,” I sigh in irritation. I really hate essay questions.
“Yeah, as if his outline wasn’t long enough,” he laughs.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Tyler,” my closest friend on campus smiles at us both, her eyes moving back and forth between us. “I’m gonna go on in. See you later?” she questions me, her gaze looking back at Ty.
“Yeah, call me,” I reply as she leaves our little group, looking over her shoulder at us with a huge grin on her face.
My attention returns back to the guy in front of me and I smile. “Have you started studying for it?”
“I looked over it a little last night, but I had a Lit paper I needed to work on. Want to study together tonight?”
“Sounds good. Two heads are better than one when studying,” I smile, feeling more at ease about this upcoming test. Besides, it’s not like I’ve heard from Dillon since yesterday, anyway.
“Sure is,” he grins, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder. “Here,” he hands me his phone, “give me your number and I’ll call you about when you want to meet up.”
“Okay,” I take the phone and send a text message to myself so we’ll both have the other’s number. “There. I only have one more class after this, so whenever you want to study is fine with me,” I explain, handing it back to him
“Great. I have early practice before dinner, so I’ll message you once I know when we might be done.” He plays basketball and is pretty good from what I’ve seen.
“Works for me.” My glance at the time on his phone says it’s almost time for class, so I need to say goodbye and head that way. “I’ve gotta head to class, but I’ll see ya later.”
His huge grin makes me smile, lifting my somewhat dreary mood to one of content. It’ll be nice studying with someone and not all alone like I have been with Dillon being MIA. “Later, Reese,” he says, walking away from me and the English building. I find myself staring at his muscular backside as he disappears into the crowd. It’s nice to have someone other than my friends pay attention to me for a change. I can appreciate the human body as much as I like, as long as I’m not touching, right?
Taking my phone from its place in my bag as I walk to my classroom, I check for any messages from Clutch, reading the one I sent from Tyler’s phone so it quits beeping at me. It’s the only message, besides one from Xana that tells me to meet her after class. Why did I even think he might have responded? He hasn’t been good on returning my messages or phone calls, so why start now? Returning it to my bag, I enter the classroom and find my assigned seat, grateful for the upcoming discussion of Homer’s Iliad. Greek Gods and mythical creatures are what I need to forget about everything for the next hour and a half.
I’m finished with my last two classes of the day, the late February weather unusually warm, as I walk back to my dorm to drop off my books. Checking my phone as I walk, I find two messages from Tyler, one from Xana, three from Audrey, and none from Dillon. Not even a cancellation ‘not tonight’ was waiting for me. Coming to the Student Union, located on top of the dining hall, I decide to stop in and check my mail then hang out in the common area to pass some time before dinner.
Carrying my mail to the snack bar, I buy something to drink and two candy bars, then find a nice spot to sit for awhile. Candy bars are my vice when stressed out, so why not indulge while reading my messages, and send Clutch one more text about our study plans for tonight.
ME: Library study session at 7:30?
Audrey’s texts all say the same thing, HG911 - aka Hot Guy Alert so call me now - so, having nothing better to do at the moment, I return her page, getting the complete scoop on her newest crush.
“I’m serious, Ree! He is the hottest guy I’ve ever seen in my life,” she swears, her voice getting more high-pitched as she talks. It’s quite annoying. “Like, hotter than a celebrity, hot.”
“Hotter than Nick Bateman or Scott Eastwood?” I ask, knowing that those are her top hot guys of all time.
“Hands down,” she promises, the tone of her voice calm and serious. That’s quite a statement seeing as how no one has ever come close to knocking those two off her Hot Guy Top Five list. Ever.
“OH, SWEET MERCY,” I near shout into the phone, just loud enough to not make a scene in the student union.
“What?” she yells back, “What’s wrong?”
“The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” I laugh at her exasperated reply that also includes a few choice words for where I can go and how to get there.
“Shut up! It’s not that funny!”
“It is a little, and you know it. I thought you said nothing could ever knock them off the throne, so I figured the world must be ending,” I smile, imagining the look on her face right about now.
“Yeah, yeah. Good one,” she says, sarcasm dripping from her words. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Dillon? You’re always together after your Tuesday-Thursday classes.” Nice way to deflect, Aud.
“He’s in practice,” I lie, knowing she understands about athletes and won’t really think twice about it not being true.
“Well, tell him I said hi when you see him. I’d better go get ready for Biology lab. Why they have labs so late in the afternoon I’ll never understand,” she groans before ending the call.
Relaxing back into my seat, I look around and observe all of the students coming in and out of the SU as they meet friends or significant others, hanging out and having a good time. I’m more than a little confused about when I let myself become so wrapped up with Dillon Montgomery that I forgot to have fun. My cell rings, snapping me out of my self-reflection.
“Hello,” I answer seeing that Tyler’s the one calling me.
“Hey, Reese. Sorry to call after I’ve already texted, but I’m about to head in to practice and wanted to talk to you before we got started.”
“That’s fine, I just hung up with a friend who called. What’s up?”
“I just needed to know if 6:30 sounds okay to meet and study.”
“Oh, yeah that’s totally good. I can meet you there say, back over by the audio visual rooms? That should give us plenty of time to study before I meet Dillon. If he’s running late we’ll just have that much more time to study.”
“Perfect. I’ll see ya then.”
“Okay, bye.”
“Later,” he says, hanging up abruptly. Practice must be about to start because I hear a bunch of guys joking around in the background.
Shaking my head in determination, I make a promise to myself to quit wasting all my time on worrying over Dillon, and focus more on being me.
“Hey, Dee,” I answer my ringing cell after coming back to my room from the shower. I’d stayed at the ballfield until I couldn’t swing the bat any longer. Coach worked us hard at practice, but I talked a few of the guys into staying and practicing with me. We have a big series against one of our biggest rivals this weekend, and we all want to continue our winning streak.
“Long time, no speak, Dillon,” Delilah laughs, her voice bringing a smile to my face. “It’s been awhile since we’ve talked.”
“Yeah, I guess it has. You know how baseball season goes,” I reply, throwing my dirty clothes in the laundry basket and hanging my towel up. I’ll have to wash them before my basket overflows.
“Yeah, yeah. Excuses,” she giggles. “What’s been going on with you?” she asks, her usual first question when she calls.
