A Different Side (University Park #4) (27 page)

Lexi dropped our backpacks to the ground and gathered the edge of her shirt in her hands. “Hey, can I get my breast signed, too?”

I did a double take. Lexi wasn’t afraid to stand up to these bitches. Part of me was proud, but another part didn’t want Lexi to stoop to their level. She was better than that. I also didn’t want her showing her boobs to everyone.

“Hey, now.” I quickly grabbed Lexi’s hands and stopped her from going any further. “This isn’t a topless show.”

Lexi just looked at me and Abby huffed as she pulled down her shirt, covering her huge breasts. “She had to ruin it for us.”

“Calm down, Abby. If you want, I can sign your T-shirt or backpack.” I had to reason with her before she went bat-shit crazy on me.

I wrapped an arm around Lexi and pulled her close to me. I wanted the Triplets to know I was serious about being with Lexi. My days with them were over.

“I guess.” Abby rolled her eyes.

I took the marker from her hand and she gave her boobs one more shake. She was really trying her hardest to tempt me. Too bad it didn’t work. There was only one woman’s breasts I wanted to see, but here in public wasn’t the place. I scribbled my name across the left shoulder of her shirt. Nicole and Paige wiggled their way closer to me and I signed theirs as well — anything to get them to leave in peace.

“Maybe next time you can sign my ass when we’re alone.” Abby eased the marker from my fingers. The girl had balls.

“Um…I don’t think so.” I grabbed Lexi’s hand and started to lead her away from them.

The Silicone Triplets laced their arms around each other. “Oh, come on, Raven. You didn’t fight us last time. In fact, I recall you handling all three of us just fine.” They teased and taunted and I wanted to slap all three of them. But I guess I got what I deserved. I was no saint and even though I hated the fact that Lexi heard what they said, I couldn’t deny the things I’d done. My only fear was that it would turn Lexi away from me. Other girls would’ve been all over that, but not Lexi, and I was glad. That’s what made her different.

I sucked in a deep breath and waved off their comment. “Whatever.”

“Come on, let’s go,” Abby said. “He wants to play with Suzy Homemaker.”

The comment pissed me off. They wanted a reaction from Lexi and the best thing was to ignore them. Thankfully, Lexi did just that.

“Sorry you had to hear that.” I pivoted her to face me. The hurt in her eyes was evident and so was the doubt. The world I had built was making things complicated for us. The question was, could she handle it? Better yet, did she want to? Lexi deserved a perfect guy without a tainted past. I wasn’t that guy and there was nothing I could do to change what I’d done. All I could do was hope she’d give me a chance. I just had to prove I was worthy of her love.

“Look, Raven,” Lexi stared at the ground and then back at me, “I’m no match when it comes to those girls. I’m still…”

“You don’t need to compete with them, I already told you that.” I kissed her softly on the lips. She relaxed in my arms and it felt so good to hold her. “You’re exactly what I want and need.”

She pressed her lips together and then smiled. “And you’re all that I want.” With a quick breath, she placed her mouth on mine. Her kiss was greedy and hungry, and I loved it. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against me, kissing her like she wanted. She grabbed a fistful of my shirt, as if she ready to rip it off. I was more than ready to take her to my apartment. All she had to do was say the words.

“Raven, come on. Are you going to kiss her all day or are we going to finish playing? I got finals to study for,” Josh shouted from across the lawn.

I parted my lips from hers and she nipped at my bottom lip.

Oh shit.

I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a wild girl waiting to be unleashed behind this innocent façade. I couldn’t wait to find out.

“Do me a favor?” I asked with a playful grin.

“What’s that?” She let go of my shirt and then smoothed out the wrinkles.

“Save it for later?” I winked. “Okay?”

She nodded. “You’re damn right I will.”

Hell yeah!

“Come on, play with us.” I cast a quick glance toward the guys and then motioned for Delaney to join us.

“What?” Surprise washed over her face. “I can’t play with you guys, you’ll freaking clobber me. Besides, I have absolutely no coordination when it comes to sports.”

“What’s up?” Delaney rocked on her heels, eager to see what I wanted.

“Play some football with us.” I held up my hand and Josh threw me the ball. I caught it singlehandedly and Lexi looked somewhat impressed.

Delaney shook her head. “Um, that’s okay. After last night, I don’t think I could handle running. By the way,” she rested her hand on my arm, “thanks for helping Lexi take care of me. I shouldn’t have drank so much.” Her hand lingered on me longer than I wanted, but I knew she was just showing her appreciation.

“Don’t worry about it.” I threw the ball back to Josh. “We’ve all been there a time or two.” I glanced over my shoulder at Lexi. “Are you ready for some football?”

“Oh, come on, Laney. You can’t leave me out here with these guys,” Lexi pleaded with her friend, trying to drag her to the center of the lawn.

“I’m sorry, Lexi, but I really need to get busy with this life story project or—”

“Oh my God! I have a great idea.” Lexi threw her hands up. “Hey, Raven?”

“Yeah?” I caught the ball again and held on to it for a minute before passing it to Quinton.

“Delaney has to tell someone’s life story through pictures for a project.” Delaney’s eyes widened and she shook her head, telling Lexi to stop. “Do you think you’d want to help her out?” Lexi batted her eyelashes and shot me a flirtatious smile. As if she needed to do that.

“What exactly do I have to do?” I turned to Delaney.

She folded her arms over her body and hesitated for a moment. “I just need to take some photos of you, candid ones, which will tell your life story. And maybe get some of your past pictures as well.”

It didn’t seem like that difficult of a project. I was used to being photographed. “That’s easy. The media’s always taking pictures of me and my mom has a crap load of them from my childhood.”

“Really?” Delaney’s blue eyes brightened. “You’d really let me tell your story?”

I shrugged. “It’s not like it’s a big secret or anything. People know more about me then I probably do.”

“Thanks, Raven. I appreciate it.” She started to walk off and then stopped. “When do you think I can get some of those pictures from your mom? My project is due next Tuesday.”

I pulled out my phone. “I’ll call her now.”

Delaney motioned for me to stop. “Oh, I didn’t mean for you to ask her right now.”

Walking off, I ignored her comment. Delaney did a favor for me, the least I could do was help her. The phone rang a few times before my mom answered.

“Hey, Raven.” She sounded a little tired, but happy to hear my voice.

“Hi, Mom. Are you back from Mimi’s?”

“Yes, we got back late last night. I was just doing some laundry and dozing off in between loads.”

I hesitated to ask if we could come over, but I knew she wouldn’t mind. “A friend of mine wants to do a story on me and needs some pictures. Can we stop by later?”

“Of course.” She yawned. “But only if they come over for dinner.”

“No, Mom. You sound tired.”

“I’m never too tired to cook you a good dinner,” she declared. “Besides, I feel bad that you missed Thanksgiving.”

“You’re too good to me, Mom.” If my aunt hadn’t recently had surgery, everyone would’ve come up here for the holidays. But Mimi refused to leave New Orleans while she was still recovering.

“Just be here around six-thirty, okay?”

“You got it. Love you.”

“Love you too, son.”

I ended the call and walked back toward them. “She said yes, but on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Lexi asked.

“We come over tonight for dinner.” I grinned.

Lexi’s face lit up and I could tell she was excited about meeting my family. “Great.”

“But first, I want to teach you how to catch and throw a ball.” I pulled Lexi into my arms.

“What? No.” She protested as I lifted her off the ground. Her arms flailed and she squirmed, trying to break free.

I laughed, loving how she fought me. Pitching her over my shoulder, I carried her toward the center of the makeshift field.

“Raven! Put me down!” Lexi’s voice lilted.

“Josh, toss us the ball. I want to show her how to catch,” I yelled as I lowered her to the ground.

“Raven, I’m telling you…I can’t catch a ball,” Lexi insisted, but I refused to take no for an answer.

Lexi looked around, as if wanting to ask someone for help. Instead of Delaney coming to her rescue, she started snapping pictures of us. I laughed. This was great. I reached from behind her and positioned her underneath me. “Bend your knees slightly and get ready to catch the ball when Josh throws it to us.”

A slight whimper escaped her lips as she nodded. Her body stayed frozen in place and I could feel her heart beating against my chest. No doubt she was nervous. “Go easy,” I reminded him.

Josh retracted his arm and released the ball. The brown leather spun in the air directly toward us and I held on to her hands, preparing to catch it. It was a perfect throw, but I closed Lexi’s arms a little too late and it hit her square in the chest. She coughed as it stole some air from her lungs and I felt bad. But she didn’t complain. In fact, she responded quite differently.

“I did it!” Lexi sprang from my arms and held the ball up in the air for everyone to see. “I caught the ball.” There were a few people watching and they clapped at Lexi’s victorious catch. I was so proud of her.

“See, you can do it.” I patted her on the back and her body lunged forward. “Sorry.” I had to remember to take it easy with her.

She pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Remember, I’m not one of the boys.” She raised the sleeves of her fleece shirt, ready to do it again.

Man, I love this woman!

“Alright, now I want you to throw the ball to Josh.”

I got behind her and put her into position, instructing her on the correct way to toss a ball. To my surprise, she threw the ball about twenty-five yards and Josh caught it. Although it wasn’t a perfect pass, it didn’t matter. I just loved the fact that she was trying. For the next thirty minutes, I showed her some basics of football and the guys played along. She said no one had ever taken the time to show her how to throw a ball and it made me wonder why Collin never did. Lexi was a great person and just like she helped me with my grammar, I wanted to help her with sports.

With every throw and catch, she continued to gain confidence. In the end, she was running alongside me, trying to catch the balls Josh passed to me.

“Come on, Lexi! Reach for it!” I encouraged as she held her hands above her head. The pass was too high for her to catch, so I jumped up, caught the ball with one hand, and grabbed her with my other arm. I held on to her tightly as we tumbled to the ground. Lexi lay on the ground, wrapped in my arms as I hovered over her. Having her underneath me sent shocks through my veins, increasing the blood flow in all the right places.

“Are you trying to kill me?” Lexi heaved for air.

“No, just having fun with you.” I propped up on my forearms, allowing her to take a breath. She looked so beautiful and I wanted to kiss her until I left her breathless. “I told you that I wanted to have fun with you, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” She connected her gaze with mine and I felt myself falling deeper into her trap.

“So, do you want to have some wild, wild fun with me?” I eyed her, fighting every urge to show her what The Raven was really made of.

She cocked a brow, and in a seductive tone, said, “More than you’ll ever know.”

Shit. Just say the words, baby.

“Good, because I’m just getting started on that list of yours.”

She giggled. “But I haven’t even made it.” She placed her hands on my jaw and then drew her lips to mine.

“That’s okay, we’ll make it together.” I spoke across her lips, eager to taste her sweetness once again.

“That sounds like a great idea. I guess I can check this off.”

“A game of football?” I stalled a few inches over her lips, inhaling her scent with every breath I took.

She shrugged. “Not just a football game, but a football game with
The Raven
.”

I loved it when she said things like that. “I’ll play with you anytime, Lexi.” I grinned and shot her a wink.

She started laughing. “I’m going to be so sore tomorrow, I won’t be able to walk.”

Oh hell, if she only knew.

“Damn, baby,” I snickered. “And I haven’t done half of the stuff I’m dying to do to you.”

A whimper escaped her and she relaxed in my arms. Lexi was making me lose my heart and mind all at the same time. She was driving me insane. I lowered my mouth to hers and filled her with my wild love. I heard Delaney snap a picture of us and I knew I had her right where I wanted her, in
The Raven’s
trap.

∑

Chapter 18

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

~John Wooden

I pulled up to Lexi’s dorm and parked in the loading zone. I sent her a text to let her know I was waiting for her and Delaney. I was a little worried about Lexi meeting my family. I had never been ashamed of where I came from, but for someone reason, I had a feeling Lexi’s parents lived on the upside of town with a Lexus parked in the driveway.

But the reality was I couldn’t change that part of my life either. I loved my mother and brothers and I was proud to say my mom had worked very hard to raise us. If Lexi was driven by money and fame, then she wasn’t the girl for me. But something told me that wouldn’t matter to her.

The back door to Charter Hall opened and Lexi and Delaney walked out. With each step Lexi took, the world seemed to pause for a moment, allowing me to notice everything about her. Her long, slender legs and small waist accented her every curve. I loved the way her waves wavered in the breeze and her sweet smile warmed every part of me. Damn, she was beautiful.