Convenient Fall (Players of Marycliff University Book 2) (2 page)

She cleared her throat. “What are you talking about?”

One corner of his mouth turned up, but it wasn't a nice smile. “You're staring, Megan. Are you going to start drooling next?”

It was Megan's turn to scowl. She compressed her lips and lowered her brows to match his. Not wanting to explain her real thoughts, she went with a secondary truth. “I was just seeing if I saw anyone I know. You're not the only football players I've ever met, you know.”

Chris didn't say anything, and Megan took a step back to put a little more space between them. Matt angled himself into the space she'd left. “Come on. I'll show you where we're stashing our stuff and give you a tour before we get in the pool. There'll be food later, but we usually start off in the water.” She saw him cast an unreadable look back at Chris as he ushered her inside.

* * *

Chris stood off to one side of the pool deck and watched the crowd mill around and drank a beer. It was a cheap brand, but that was what you got at a big party. No keg today, just a bunch of cans in coolers full of ice. You don't want glass around the pool, after all.

“Watkins!”
 

He lifted his chin in greeting to Sullivan, one of his teammates. “Hey.”
 

Sullivan made his way through the crowd, a couple of bikini-clad girls close behind him. “Have you met Brianna and Sarah?” He wrapped his arm around the blonde named Sarah, while Brianna, the redhead, stood off to one side. Both girls had drinks in their hands and flirted with him with their eyes over the tops of their cups. Brianna's eyes roamed over his naked torso with appreciation, and he couldn't help looking her over in return. Her bright bikini top almost couldn’t contain her large breasts. The bottoms tied on the sides, meaning it was designed for easy removal.
 

He nodded at the girls. “I’m Chris.” Brianna smiled and stepped closer to him. Sullivan started talking about something, but Chris was distracted by the sight of Megan walking out of the house with Matt. Matt had his arm around her shoulders, and they were laughing together. Chris's mouth went dry when she turned in his direction, and he got his first view of her in her bikini.
 

Chris interrupted whatever conversation was going on around him. “I’ll catch you guys later. I gotta go do something.”

He stepped past Sullivan and the girls and headed toward Megan and Matt. He had to suppress the urge to growl at the fact that Matt was touching her. He shouldn't feel jealous. He had no claim to her, but there it was.

The laughter died on Megan's face when she saw him approach. For some reason that pissed him off even more. Matt was eyeing him the same way he had been since they were getting ready to go, and he let his arm slide off Megan's shoulders. “Hey, Chris. What's up?”

“Nothin'. You guys get drinks?”

Megan shook her head. “I wanted to get in the pool before I start drinking.”

Matt smiled down at her. She looked so tiny standing there between the two of them. The top of her head was just about even with his armpit. Matt was a little shorter than him, but not much.

“Cool. I'll go in with you.” Chris drained the rest of his beer, tossed the can toward a nearby trashcan, and let his hand fall to her back to guide her toward the pool. Her bare skin felt soft and smooth under his hand. He had to stop himself from caressing her and turning the gesture into something more intimate. She cast a glance over her shoulder at Matt, but went along with him without protest. Good.

Chris hopped into the shallow end and turned to help Megan in. She sat down on the edge and put her feet in, hesitating for a moment before accepting his help off the edge. His hands bracketed her waist and her hands went to his shoulders as he lowered her into the water. He knew she didn't need the help, but wanted an excuse to touch her again. Once she was in the pool he forced himself to let go, even though he wanted to keep his hands on her, stake a claim on her, let the others know that she was off limits. But he didn't, and they walked toward the deeper water, closer to the rest of the group in the pool. More girls sat ringing the edge with their feet dangling in the water. “Who's up for a chicken fight?” one of them yelled.

Chris turned toward Megan. “Want to do it?” She looked up at him, her lower lip between her teeth. He almost groaned. “C’mon. It'll be fun.” He didn't give her a chance to protest, just grabbed her hand and dragged her over to where the others were already pairing off. Guys disappeared under the water to let their female partners climb on their shoulders.
 

Chris looked at Megan. “Ready?” She nodded. Without letting go of her hand, he squatted down with his back to her and helped guide her onto his shoulders. Her legs came around the back of his neck, over his shoulders, and she hooked her ankles behind his back. She got on like a pro. She'd obviously done this before. He held onto her hands while he slowly stood, helping her keep her balance. He could feel the muscles in her thighs working to help her steady herself. He stood still for a moment until they both felt stable, then let go to rest his hands on her legs just above her knees. Again he had to stop himself from running his hands over her thighs, managing to content himself with a short stroke of his thumbs. After that he managed to keep his hands still, trying to be matter-of-fact in the way he touched her.
 

Tompkins was the one in charge of this. They waited while Sullivan and his blonde, whose name Chris had already forgotten, hopped into the pool to join in. Tompkins yelled, “Go!” and they were all at each other.
 

Chris waded into the fray. Megan grabbed at the shoulder of a brunette on top of one of the linebackers. She caught her by surprise when the other girl wasn't looking and easily pulled her off. Chris smiled at Megan's cry of triumph before he moved on to find their next opponent. Megan grappled with three other girls, winning each time, before she got taken out by Sullivan's blonde.

Sullivan waited until his girl got a good grip on Megan's arms and stepped backward as fast as he could in the water. It was enough that Megan lost her balance and Chris couldn't keep her upright with the other chick dragging Megan down by her arms.

She came up laughing, pushing her hair out of her face and wiping the water out of her eyes. She splashed water at his chest. “You let me fall off!”

He grinned down at her. “I couldn't help it! You got taken out.”

She poked out her lower lip in a fake pout that only lasted a second before she smiled again. “We're supposed to be a team. That means we go down together. Aren't football players supposed to understand the importance of teamwork?”

“Are you questioning my loyalty?” She laughed at him, and he grinned back, his eyes on her mouth. Her lips were plump and red, begging to be kissed. He loved the way she looked, her hair wet and slicked back, her face lit up with a smile.

“It looks like they're going again. Do you want to keep playing?”

Megan's voice pulled his attention back from his wandering thoughts. Giving in to his lust with her was probably a bad idea. Unless maybe she was interested too …
 

“Chris?”

“Hmm?”

She gestured at the others. “Are we going to play again?”

Man, she was distracting. He nodded once and grinned. “Let's go.”

He dropped down again and she climbed back on. He suppressed a sigh as he realized this was the closest he was going to get to feeling her thighs around his head, and it wasn't from the direction he wanted. But she was his roommate. He needed to remember that.

They played two more rounds of chicken fight. They lost the next round early but won the one after that. Megan sat on his shoulders with her arms raised. “Whoo! We won!”

He laughed, then maneuvered her so she turned and slid down his front. They were pressed together for a moment, her breasts squished against his torso, the bare skin of her belly against his lower abdomen. Megan looked up into his face, and he saw her brown eyes get darker. He dropped his eyes to her lips. They were parted on an indrawn breath and he wanted to kiss them so bad.
 

She broke the spell of the moment, stepping back, breaking the contact between them, and he immediately missed the feel of her body pressed against his. “Thanks. I had fun.” She glanced over her shoulder toward the shallow end, then looked back at him. “I’m, um. I'm going to go get a drink.”

She made her way to the edge and hopped out. Chris waited for her to get out before he followed behind her to get a drink, too.

When he got out of the pool Matt casually approached, a beer in one hand. He walked next to Chris for a few steps before he turned and stepped in front of him. His move forced Chris to stop and looked for all the world like it wasn't intentional, but Chris knew him well enough to know Matt was trying to handle him. Matt's eyes were amused, but he wasn't smiling. He leaned against the low wall that separated the main patio from the pool area, taking a drink of his beer. “What are you doing?”

Chris gestured toward the open door into the house. “Getting a drink.”

“Oh, is that all?” Matt's eyebrows went up and he took another sip of his beer. “You sure about that?”

“What's your point, Matt?” Chris wasn't in the mood for this.

Matt shrugged. “Just looks like you're trying to put the moves on our roomie.”

“So?”

Matt shook his head. “Bad idea, man.” His eyes scanned the party spread out over the yard and in the pool. “There's a whole group of chicks to fuck here, most of them happy to have an hour with you. Leave Megan alone.” The amusement had bled out of his eyes as he took another drink of his beer, his stance still casual, but his face and his tone serious.

Chris took a breath, puffing out his chest, unconsciously clenching his fists and flexing his arms. “What if she doesn't want to be left alone?”

Matt just shook his head again. “She's living with us. Use your big head for once instead of your little one.”
 

Chris bristled. Having been classed as a dumb jock all his life, he was sensitive to having his intelligence questioned. “I’m not a fucking idiot.”

“I know, man. Didn't say you were. But think about what'll happen if you fuck her. You think she's going to stick around and watch you fuck your way through all these jersey chasers for the rest of the year?” He shook his head again. “Nope. Not that one. She'd hate you and move out at the first opportunity. It was pure dumb luck that she agreed to take Lance's place so we weren't left in the lurch. You really want to fuck that up already?”

Chris clenched his jaw, not wanting to admit that Matt was right, but knowing he was. “You just cockblocking so you can have a shot?”

Matt laughed at that. “Nah. She reminds me too much of my sister. But I like her. She's fun to hang around with and I don't want to pick up her share of the rent until we find another roommate if you fuck her over. You get me?”

Chris deflated a little, relaxing. “Yeah, man. I get you.”

Matt nodded once, straightening up. “Good.” Chris watched him wander off, still drinking his beer.
 

Fuck. After feeling her against him, staying away from Megan was going to be harder than he thought. But Matt was right. Fucking her would be a bad idea.

CHAPTER TWO

Megan glanced behind her when she got to the door. Matt and Chris were talking by the edge of the patio. Matt looked relaxed and unconcerned, but Chris was all flexing muscles and narrowed eyes. She couldn't hear them from this distance over the noise of the party, so she wasn't sure what that was about. She wasn't sure if she wanted to find out either.
 

Instead of getting a drink, she decided to change into dry clothes first. She grabbed her bag from the corner behind the armchair where Matt had stashed their stuff, trying to be quick so she didn't drip all over everything.
 

She found an empty bathroom where she dried off and changed into her favorite party top and cutoff shorts. It had spaghetti straps and a v-neck that showed off the perfect amount of cleavage. It skimmed over her curves without clinging, just hinting at what was beneath, so that the look was effortless and sexy. She slipped on her favorite wedge sandals and stuffed her flip flops back in her bag along with her swimsuit rolled in her towel.

When she came out of the bathroom, the music had been turned on and people were starting to dance in the clear space on the patio. Megan loved to dance, especially after she'd had a few drinks. She stashed her bag behind the chair again and made her way to the kitchen.
 

The guy behind the bar lifted his chin at her and smiled when she made her way into his line of sight. “Can I get you something?”

She smiled back, the artist part of her brain noticing the contrast of his white teeth against his dark skin and wondering how she would render that on a canvas. Growing up in a predominately white town meant that she didn't have that much experience painting other skin colors, and her fingers itched for a brush. She pushed those thoughts aside to answer his question. “Whaddaya got?”

He leaned onto the counter on his forearms. “Oh, a little of this, a little of that. Beer, soda, liquor. Want me to mix you something?”

“A Jack and Coke, thanks.”
 

He nodded and snagged a red Solo cup from the stack off to the side, filling it with ice and pouring the soda and whisky into it. When he started to straighten the bottle up after a couple glugs of whisky, she reached out and tipped the bottom back up, letting more liquor pour into her cup. He looked at her and smiled.