The Beginning of Us (281 page)

I crinkle up the note and throw it on the floor. Even though my body is telling me to do what he says and lay back down in bed, my mind is telling me to get my butt in the shower and get my ass down to the lobby to eat breakfast.

I go to the bathroom to find my purse, and pull out my phone to text Courtney.

Me:
be ready in fifteen minutes.

I close the bathroom door and lock it, then turn on the shower until it is almost scalding, and get in.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Slade

“Are you sure she’s going to be okay?” Josh asks as he picks up some eggs.

“Yeah. I don’t know how she got that drunk.” I shake my head. “I mean, yeah, she had a few shots and a Long Island, but she had more than that on her birthday and she didn’t get sick then.” I put some pancakes on my plate.

“She got sick?” he asks, surprised.

“Yeah. I walked in to our room to find her on our bed passed out. I went to undress her and she woke up. Told me she didn’t feel well, so I carried her to the bathroom. I didn’t think she was going to stop.” It was awful. I hated seeing her like that. She was so out of it, I don’t even think she knew what was going on.

“Maybe that bartender slipped something in her drink.”

I set my plate down and look over at him.

“What? It could happen.”

My jaw clenches. “Why would he do that?” I will hunt him down and kick his ass if that is what happened. “He knew she was with me. I was right there with her. I wasn’t gone to the bathroom three minutes but when I came back, she’d already left.” And as soon as I came back to the bar and found out she had left, I went right to our room to be with her.

“I don’t know. I could be wrong. Maybe she just didn’t eat much yesterday.” He walks off to go find a seat. I pick up my plate and follow after him.

That’s probably the case. “So what’s up with you and Courtney?” I take a drink of my orange juice.

“I like her. Not only is she hot, but she’s funny.” I’m glad he likes her, but I’m afraid he will go back to his old self when she leaves for Tulsa.

“That’s’ good. Glad you two are getting along.” I take a bite of hash browns.

“Oh shit! You are in trouble.”

“What are you talking about?” I put my head back down to pick through my food.

“Sam and Courtney are behind you walking this way, and Sam looks pissed.” He laughs.

I spin around to see her and my heart stops as my dick start to grow. She always looks gorgeous all dressed up and in heels with her hair down and curled, but right now she looks so fucking hot that it should be illegal.

She has her hair pulled up in a high ponytail, and her pink Rams shirt hugs her body tightly, showing off her full chest. She is wearing a faded pair of blue jeans that have tears in them, sitting extremely low on her hips, letting me see a hint of her tanned stomach with a bright pink belt on.

Fuck.

She makes my mouth water. I can literally feel her eyes burning holes in my body through her sunglasses, and it’s turning me on. I smile to myself. Today is going to be so much fun. She comes and sits down next to me, taking my fork out of my hand without saying a word to me.

“Hello, Angel.” I push my plate over to her and place my elbows on the table, putting my chin in my hands.

I hear Courtney laugh. I’m glad I’m not the only one to find this funny. Her annoyance makes me want to pounce on her. I don’t even think she knows that it drives me wild. If she had the slightest clue, she would never get mad at me.

“How do you feel?” I ask as sweetly as I can.

She cuts a piece of pancake with her fork then sticks it in her mouth. She still has her sunglasses on, and I can’t get over how cute she is. “You look like you feel good.” I take an elbow off the table and place a hand on her thigh. She stiffens as I glide my hand up her leg, finding the hole that sets just below her pockets. I stick a finger in it and let it travel upwards until I feel her lace panties.

I snatch my hand back. “Ow!” I screech.
She stabbed me with her plastic fork!
“You stabbed me,” I laugh. It didn’t hurt; I just wasn’t expecting it.

Josh and Courtney are laughing so hard they can’t breathe. Angel is biting her bottom lip, and I can tell she’s trying not to smile. I reach up and remove her sunglasses. Those gorgeous green eyes lock on mine, and I can see she’s trying very hard to stay mad at me but it’s not working.

I lean my face into hers and give her a kiss. I stop right as my lips brush hers. She won’t be able to resist, I know she will push her lips out to kiss me. That’s just how Angel is.

I feel her lips smile against mine. “I’m sorry. Did that hurt?” she whispers.

“Yes.” I smile.

“What if I kiss it? Will that help?”

I shake my head lightly. “It will help if you kiss my lips.”

She pushes her lips to mine and gives me a tender kiss, opening her mouth just a bit for me. She pulls back and sits up in her seat as I lean back in mine, staring at her.
God, she is so amazing and all mine
. I love everything about this woman.

“I’m not giving your plate back. You will have to get another one.” She smiles smugly as she shoves more pancakes in her mouth.

I laugh and nod my head. “Sounds fair.”

“Would you like my plate, or do you want me to get you something else?” Josh asks Courtney.

“Do they have biscuits?”

“Yes.”

“I would like some biscuits and gravy, please.” She bats her eyelashes at him. She’s already got him wrapped around her finger.

“Come on, Josh. Let’s get back in line.” We stand and start to walk away as Angel stops me.

“Slade,” she says in that wonderful sweet voice.

I stop walking and turn around, giving her a look that says I know exactly what she’s doing and she’s going to pay for it later. “Yes, Angel?”

She lifts up my glass of orange juice. “You’ll want to get yourself a new drink as well.” She smiles as she takes a sip of what used to be my orange juice.

I nod my head with a huge smile on my face. “Okay.”

“Thanks, baby,” she winks, saying it like she gave me a choice to get myself a new drink.

I turn my body away from the girls and see Josh standing in front of me with a bright red face. He’s trying hard not to laugh.

“Just let it out.”

He shakes his head laughing.

We grab new plates and go back to join the girls.

*****

“What time is checkout?” Courtney asks Josh.

“One. The game starts at three, so I figure we could go do some tailgating.”

“I’m not drinking.” Angel gives me a serious look.

I place my hand over hers on the table. “Okay. How do you feel? You look like you feel good.”

She squeezes my hand. “I’m okay.”

“Well, if you want to tailgate, we should leave the hotel before one.” I take my hand from Angel’s, “I know it’s less than a mile away, but we should still try to get there early so that we can park the truck as close as possible.” I lace my hands together on the table. “We can lay the tailgate down and just hang out. Plus, the closer we get, the easier it will be to get out after it’s over.”

I look over and watch Angel as she picks through what was my plate. I smile as I put a hand on her face. “Have I told you you’re perfect?”

She tilts he head in thought. “Nope.” She pops a piece of toast in her mouth.

“Well you are.”

She smiles as she stands.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to run to the restroom. I’ll be right back.” She turns and walks away from the table, giving me an image of her round ass in those low cut jeans.

“I’ve never seen her this happy.” I look to Courtney. “Really.”

She nods her head. “Even when she was pissed off at you this morning, I could tell she was happy.”

“She seems to be mad at me often.”
That can’t be a good thing.

She shrugs. “That’s how relationships are. No one knows how to piss you of more than the one you love.”

I’ve never thought of it like that. I do push her buttons. I like that she gets mad at me, though. It shows me that she doesn’t back down or bow down to me. She has a backbone and uses it.

And I love that.

Nothing is sexier than a woman who stands up for herself.

Samantha

“Are you guys drunk?”

Slade has had at least six beers. Josh has had five. I counted. I’m actually really impressed with him. He didn’t drink much last night, either. I think he’d rather stay sober and talk to Courtney than get trashed and not remember what they talked about.

“No,” Slade answers as he pulls me tighter to him.

We are walking to the stadium from the parking lot. The last three hours we have done nothing but walk around and tailgate with the fans. It’s been a blast.

“Well, then why are we walking crooked?” I laugh as I shove him to the left.

“Because it’s hard to walk like this.” He pulls his arm out from under me and stops walking.

“What are you doing?” I eye him as he stands on the sidewalk.

“Come here.” He reaches his arm out as he bends down. I give him a look of confusion. He shakes his hand that he’s holding out to me. I walk up to him and he puts me behind him. “Jump on” He bends down even farther. I smile as I jump up on his back. “Hang on.” He wraps his arms under my legs as he gives me a piggy back ride. He starts running to catch up with Josh and Courtney who are a bit ahead of us. I giggle as my body bounces up and down.

“Stop running.”

We come up behind them and scare Courtney as Slade screams, “Boo!” to her back. “You two are crazy.” She turns her back to us and starts laughing. “Oh wait. I brought my camera.” She pulls her camera out of her purse. “Smile!”

We smile as Slade still holds me on his back.

We come up to a long line to get into the stadium. I could have some fun with this.

I lean down so my mouth is near his ear. “Slade,” I sigh. I feel his body stiffen. I have to bite down on my lip to keep from laughing in his ear. I know what saying his name like that does. I still want him to pay for getting me so drunk last night.

And I know just how to do it.

He clears his throat. “Yes, Angel?” he rasps out.

I start second guessing what I’m doing. I want him, but making him want me is probably not a good idea. We are about to sit through a football game. It’s not like we are heading home from lunch or something.

I decide to go along with my plan. I stick my tongue out, licking along his ear as I nibble on the lobe, sucking it into my mouth. I feel a shiver run through his body and I smile. “Baby, I—”

I squeal as he lets go of my legs and pulls me around to the front to cradle me to his body. I’m hanging on to his Rams t-shirt for dear life while trying to catch my breath.

“Yes, Angel?” He smiles smugly down at me. “You what?” He cocks an eyebrow.

I narrow my eyes at him and squirm until he puts me down. I turn around so my back is to him, and cross my arms over my chest as I huff. I just wanted to play with him, and he ended up playing with me.

He wraps his arms around my chest and sets his chin on top of my head. “You know. I’m probably going to regret saying this...”

Is he talking to me? Because I’m ignoring him!

He removes his chin from my head and moves so he can whisper in my ear. “You drive me wild when you get mad, making me want to fuck you, hard. It’s like a challenge, Angel. It’s like you’re challenging me to wipe that pissed off look off your face. And you know I don’t back down from a challenge.”