“I have a press conference.”
“Well, after,” she pushes.
“It’s fine, sweetheart. Go do what you need to. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Mom jumps in, cutting Tiffany off. I try to fight a smirk because while she saved me from Tiffany, she used it in her favor to get me to commit to going to her house tomorrow.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I tell my mom as Dad wraps an arm around her. I give Tiffany a nod before I push my way toward the locker room.
I pull out my phone to see if I have any new messages. I don’t, but I decide to send one of my own. The thought of Willow being sad is one I don’t care for. I need to make sure I clear things up.
Me: Where did you go?
It shows that she read the text, but she doesn't respond to me. As irritated as I am not knowing where she is going, my cock starts to harden at her being a brat.
I try to get through the press conference as quickly as possible. I swear I would cancel it if it weren’t important. For some reason I know she’s going to do something to piss me off. I can feel it.
Again, as irritated as I am at the thought of that, I fight a smile. There are not many people in my life that challenge me in the way that she does. I have to admit that I enjoy every second of it.
I send a few more texts and even call as I make my way back toward my place. When she still doesn't respond, I find myself getting off on her floor and making my way to her door.
I knock over and over again, and no one answers. I pull out my phone and call Reid. I have no doubt he’ll know where Willow is.
“Yo.” Reid answers the call.
“You at the party tonight?” I get straight to the point. My irritation is growing by the second. This girl is really fucking with my head.
“About to go down there now to meet my girl,” he responds. I ask a question I’m pretty sure I already know the answer to if Zoey is at the party.
“Is Willow with her?”
“Why?” He knows why. He’s going to take his shot at a little payback about the comments I made about him keeping his head in the game and not on a girl. I’ve made myself a hypocrite, further pissing myself off. I’m losing my damn mind and not acting rational. I’m always rational.
“Answer the damn question.”
“Yeah.” Some of the tension leaves my body. I have a location.
“Keep those frat boys away from her.” I end the call, getting back onto the elevator to head over toward Reid’s frat house. I have no clue what I’m going to do when I get there. If I barge in and pull Willow out of there, rumors will spread like wildfire, I’m sure.
Even though I know this, I still half jog toward the house to get to her. My mind keeps racing with thoughts of some little shits trying to touch her and nothing else. I need to keep my cool and come up with a plan. I can’t barge in there, throw her over my shoulder, and walk out. That’s exactly what my instincts are telling me to do. To say fuck everything else. My phone goes off.
Reid: She’s headed out. You got her?
I glance up, looking around for her. Why did she leave already?
Then I see her headed right toward me. I shoot a text back to Reid that I’ve got her. If I didn’t know he was so in love with Zoey, I might wanna beat his ass because of my jealousy. He’s close to her in a way that I’m not. At least not yet. I pocket my phone.
Willow’s head is down, and she’s looking at her phone as she walks quickly in my direction. I don’t care that the university is lit up like a football field. It’s night, and she should be paying attention to where she’s going. I step right into her path to prove my point.
“Shit.” She yelps when she runs right into me. I grab her shoulders to make sure she doesn’t fall on her ass. The small contact is enough to make me hard. My body is acting like a teenage boy with no control.
“Sorry. I…” Her words trail off when she sees who she’s run into. Her plump lips form a perfect O shape. My mind goes to me pushing my cock past those lips.
“I said no more frat parties.” She rolls her eyes as me. “I see your phone is working fine.” I can see she changed her clothes and is now all dressed up.
“Do I look like I’m at a frat party?”
“Why did you leave?”
“My ex was there, and I didn’t want to deal with him tonight.” In one quick move I lift her, tossing her over my shoulder. She lets out a squeal of surprise. “Put me down.” She gives my ass a smack.
“You have a fascination with my ass, I’m starting to notice.”
“It is nice,” she says with a huff of annoyance that I’m not buying. “Don’t act like you don’t know it’s nice. It’s all over the blogs; girls have been talking about it for years since you were in the NFL.” She lets out another huff, this one louder, and I actually believe it.
“I don’t read blogs.” She smacks my ass again. “Well, that’s not completely true. I’ve read yours.” She immediately stops wiggling.
I’m heading to our building. Once we arrive, I head straight for the elevator. I put her on her feet so I can pull my key out. I need it in order to hit the button to my floor.
“You really read my blog?” Her heart-shaped face goes soft. Her eyes are big and round waiting for me to answer. I can see how much this means to her. I could tell from all the blogs and social media posts she and Zoey made that it means a lot to them. They put a big part of themselves into the things they post.
“Yeah. You’re a great writer.”
She leans into me, pressing herself against me. “Are you saying that to get into my pants?”
“I didn’t have to say that to get into your pants.” She narrows those eyes on me, but from the twitch of her lips I know she’s fighting a smile.
She tries to reach around me and push the button to her floor, but I snag her wrist, bringing it to my mouth. I kiss her palm.
“I read everything you wrote because I enjoyed it.” I did, but more than anything I wanted to get to know her. I am starving when it comes to her. I’m looking for scraps wherever I can get them to try and cool the hunger I have for her. Yet all it seems to be doing is making that hunger grow with each new bit of information I learn about her.
“Bear.” She drops her head. “You can’t be all sweet on me now. I’m already trying not to fall for you.”
“Why?” I don’t want her fighting us.
“You know we shouldn’t be doing this. If people found out—” She doesn't have to finish that sentence because I already know what she’s talking about. “They might already know with the caveman act you just pulled.” I hadn't seen anyone. It was stupid of me to do that, but still I don’t fucking care.
“I’ll do whatever I want to.” The elevator doors slide open, and I pull her into my place. There isn't much to it. I got the place because it’s close to work and I needed something quickly.
I’ve always had plans of building a house, but that will take time. Between football and Willow, there isn't much time. Any free headspace I manage to get right now circles back to her.
“You have the whole floor? What do you do with this place? It’s so big!” I let her wrist go so she can go snoop around. She strolls into the living room. I watch as her eyes take in every little detail.