#Nerd (Hashtag #1) (12 page)

Romeo

When I went to find Rimmel, she wasn’t anywhere in sight.

But my mother was standing in the driveway near the Hellcat, staring off down the empty driveway.

“Where’s Rimmel?” I asked, palming my keys.

She turned to me. There was a shadow of regret in her eyes.

“Mom?”

She blinked and she was her normal composed self instantly. “She left. Said to say she found her own way back.”

Worry slammed into me. It was the same feeling I got when a running back found an opening and mowed me down on the field. “Where did she go?” I asked harshly.

Mom’s eyes widened. “Down the driveway.”

I rushed toward my car, fumbling with the handle to get inside.

“Just let her go,” Mom called behind me.

I stilled as anger overcame the worry. In seconds, I was towering over her with a hard look in my eyes. “What the hell did you say to her?”

She lifted her chin. “Don’t you talk to me like that.”

“So help me,” I growled, and she drew back. “You let her run off into the dark, in a neighborhood she doesn’t know, by herself?” I spat. “You better pray nothing happens to her.”

“You care about her.”

She was as shocked by her words as I was.

“Yeah,” I said, turning back to the Hellcat. “Maybe I do.”

“She’s not good enough,” Mom called.

My fists clenched and I turned in the open doorway of my car. “You don’t even know her. She’s the only person I’ve met in years that hasn’t wanted one single thing from me.”

“She wants something,” Mom vowed like she knew.

I gave her a sad look because I couldn’t believe she would act this way. “She doesn’t have anyone, Mom. Not one friend. I would think a person like you—a woman with so much—could have at least afforded a small amount of kindness.”

A stricken look paled her face, but I ignored it and turned away. She was still standing there when my headlights bounced over her as I turned and sped down the drive.

I found her on the next street over, heading in the direction away from campus. It might be funny if it didn’t scare me so fucking bad. Yeah, I lived in a nice neighborhood, but that didn’t mean these streets were exempt from crime.

Anyone could have driven by and seen her. Rimmel was no match for anyone. She was too small, too gentle, and too innocent to protect herself.

I was going to have to do it for her.

She didn’t look when my headlights shone directly behind her, but her steps quickened when she realized I wasn’t just going to drive past.

It was freezing outside and all she was wearing was that stupid too big sweater and T-shirt. It hung well past her butt and her thin legs almost looked like twigs sticking out from beneath it. The bag on her shoulder probably weighed more than she did, and I clutched the steering wheel at the sudden bout of anger that lit inside.

She had to know it was me behind her. The Hellcat’s engine was the smoothest purr I’d ever heard. But still, she didn’t turn around.

She was angry.

I guess I couldn’t blame her. My mom was a friggin’ piece of work.

I swerved out around her and hit the gas to shoot forward. Up ahead, I pulled to the side of the road and slammed it in park. I swung open the door and jumped out, but I then leaned back in to rummage in the backseat for something.

When my hand closed over it, I straightened and turned toward Rimmel. She was standing down the street a little ways, just staring at me through the darkness. She made no move to come any closer, and the way she shuffled her feet told me she wasn’t sure what to do.

But I sure as hell was.

I left the car running, the door open, and the headlights on. I stalked toward her down the street, not once taking my eyes off her. I stopped just shy of bumping into her. I was so close she had to tilt her head all the way back to look up at me.

I said not one word when I reached out and relieved her of the bag and dropped it on the road beside me. Even in the darkness, I could see how pale her cheeks were, how her lower lip trembled just slightly from the cold.

I lifted the item in my arms and worked my hands in it. Then I slid it down over her head. “Up,” I murmured, and she lifted to push her arms through the oversized sleeves of my Alpha hoodie.

The soft, thick fabric fell over her, and I felt her sigh against the warmth.

“Don’t ever do that again,” I ordered, but the words came out hoarse and low.

She tilted up to look at me again, her eyes wide beneath those damned glasses.

I wouldn’t wait another second. Not one.

I cupped her jaw, my fingers splaying out against the sides of her head, and then I crushed my mouth to hers.

Rimmel

Oh my God.

He kissed me.

Romeo

If you’d kissed one girl, you’d kissed them all.

Not true.

The second my lips touched hers, everything else melted away. The street, my car, the initiation. Everything.

Her mouth was soft and inviting. I was demanding, almost desperate, but she didn’t seem to mind. She opened for me instantly, and my tongue swept inside, staking its claim. I gripped the sides of her face like she was my lifeline as I slanted my mouth over hers again and again.

Rimmel’s hands came up to wrap around my forearms as if to hold me in place while the kiss went on and on. The fullness of her mouth begged to be nipped at, which I did so hungrily at her bottom lip. Her fingers dug into my skin and she reached up on tiptoes so she could get a little bit closer.

Never in a million years would I have guessed the amount of passion her small body could hold. But now I knew. And I was selfish. I wanted it all. I wanted it all for myself.

Our lips met again, crushing against the other, as I released her face and locked my arms around her back. Her body melted against mine, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more.

I palmed the sides of her waist and lifted. She came willingly, wrapping her legs around my waist and flinging her arms around my neck.

The heat of her core pressed against my middle had my cock straining against my jeans as need hammered my bloodstream until I thought I might burst.

I ripped my mouth away and looked at her. Her eyes were heavy and dazed, her lips swollen and pink. My God, she was beautiful. More beautiful than anyone I’d ever seen.

I tightened my arms around her, holding her tight. Possession was like a set of impenetrable handcuffs as it enclosed around me.

She let out a small sigh and wiggled her bottom so she was closer. The action had my gut clenching and the urge to carry her around to the hood of my car and bury myself deep inside her right here on the street took hold of me.

I started walking before I even realized what I was doing.

A car drove by, slowing a little as it went around us. Reality came crashing back and I realized we were on the street. Rimmel wasn’t some lay I could just do on my car out here in the open. She deserved better than that.

“Fuck,” I muttered and then reversed my steps. She started to slide down my body, back to her feet, but I bent to pick her back up. I growled a little deep in my throat and clutched her to me. Her legs came back around me just as snug as before, and I carried her and the bag to the Hellcat.

When she was seated in the passenger side, I reached around her and pulled the seatbelt across. The back of her head was resting against the seat and her hands were lost in my hoodie. Once the belt clicked into place, I pulled back and looked at her, sweeping my eyes over her face.

Before going around to get in the driver’s seat, I dropped a quick kiss to her lips.

Neither one of us said a word on the short drive back to campus. When her dorm came into sight, my stomach tightened a little. I wasn’t ready to let her go.

When I parked, she started to tug her arm out of the hoodie. I reached over and stopped her. “No you don’t.”

She looked at me with a question in her eyes.

“Keep it. Wear it to the game Saturday night.”

“The game?” she asked.

I threaded my fingers through hers and lifted her hand to my lips. “You’re gonna come watch me play, aren’t you?”

“Uhhh,” she stuttered.

I gave her one of my charming smiles. She sighed. “Yeah, maybe.”

I knew she’d be there. Just the thought of knowing she was there watching made me want to play better than ever.

She glanced down at the hoodie. It was the football team’s colors, deep royal blue and golden yellow. It read Property of Alpha Football across the front.

“You’re sure you want me to keep this?” Her voice was wary.

“I’m sure,” I said definitively. “I’m beginning to think you don’t own a coat.”

She giggled. “I do. I just always forget it. We never needed one in Florida.”

I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re from Florida?”

She nodded.

“Your mom probably isn’t a piece of work like mine.” I meant it as a joke, something to make her smile.

Sorrow wrapped around her like a thick blanket. “My mom died.”

“Oh, baby,” I murmured, leaning close to press my forehead against hers. “I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago,” she whispered. “I was eleven.”

“
Shit
,” I swore under my breath. She grew up without a mother. I couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like.

I felt her stare on me so I lifted my gaze to meet hers. Our faces were so close it looked like she had one large eye instead of two.

“I
do not
want your pity.” Her voice was firm.

I couldn’t help but smile. She had a little Hellcat buried beneath her hood. “No pity here.” I drew back and kissed her forehead.

Rimmel sat back and pushed her glasses up on her nose. “Romeo, what happened?” she whispered.

I knew she meant between us. Hell, I was sort of wondering that myself.

All I knew was I couldn’t deny the way she affected me.

“Something,” I murmured.

“Something,” she echoed.

She pulled away and started to get out of the car. I caught the sleeve of the hoodie and tugged. “Tell me you aren’t going to pull away,” I said. A part of me was worried the minute she left this car, the bubble of whatever was between us, she would get scared and run away.

Her teeth sank into her lower lip and she regarded me. I could see the doubt already creeping in around her eyes.

“Tell me, Rimmel,” I demanded. I wouldn’t let her out of this car until I heard it from her lips.

“I promise.”

I barely heard the words, but she said them. Something inside me eased a little. “I’ll wait ‘til you’re inside the building,” I told her.

She looked back on her way inside the dorm. My hoodie totally dwarfed her small frame and I liked it. Just seeing it on her made me feel triumphant.

I wondered how long it would take her to figure out it had my name and number on the back.

I grinned to myself. I hoped she didn’t notice until she wore it somewhere that everyone could see. Then they would know she was mine.

My phone beeped and I looked down at it as she disappeared inside.

I’M HERE. WHERE ARE YOU?

Shit, I forgot I told Braeden to meet me.

BE THERE IN A FEW

I didn’t drive back home. I just went across campus.

I had a burglary to accomplish.