Offside (Pro-U Book 2) (2 page)

Aubrey

Getting one over on the great Lucas White was a bit more fun than I thought it would be. The confidence on his handsome face as we put up our skates and walked over to DeAngelos was almost comical. He had no clue that Jayce and I had spent most of our summers growing up playing darts in the basement. I could hit a bullseye with my eyes closed.

"How's Geoff with the whole baby thing?" I moved closer to my man and wrapped my arm around the back of his waist as we walked out of the ice hockey rink into the late spring afternoon.

He put his strong arm over my shoulders and leaned down to kiss the side of my head, letting his lips linger for a moment before answering me.

"I think he's gonna be okay. Of all the guys, he's probably the most mature. He and Teri are going to take things slow from what he was telling me last night." Lucas shrugged and slipped his free hand into the pocket of his jeans. "What if it was us? Would you be able to handle that?"

"It won't be us because we're careful." I gave him a stern look.

"Oh, I know we are, but from what I understand, they were careful too. Condoms don't always work. You need to get on the pill."

"I know that." I snuggled in closer to him. "I guess if we got pregnant we would just deal with it, right?"

"Absolutely. You're my number one priority. Period." He rubbed my shoulder softly as we walked the rest of the way to the pizza place in silence. A million thoughts rushed by my mind, all of them having to do with how we were going to get through the next year with him in Washington and me wrapping up my senior year. It was a good thing that neither of us were the type of person that
had
to be physically around other people. I hadn't dated in forever and he hadn't dated at all during college from what I knew.

"I don't want to stay here too long, all right?" He pulled the door open for me and moved back. "I want time with you, not the rest of these monkeys."

"Rest of these monkeys? Does that mean you think I'm a monkey?"

"Hush before I give you a banana to chew on." He wagged his eyebrows and reached for my hand as the crowd in the back of the restaurant exploded with cheers. To say we had a great group of friends would have been an understatement.

I was thrilled to see Teri and Geoff talking closely off to the side. They were laughing over something, which was a good sign. They had a hell of a rode to hoe with Teri only being a junior and Geoff heading out of state after graduation. Much like Lucas and I would have to figure things out, they would too.

"Sis! Did you get him?" Jayce walked up and lifted his eyebrow, laughing as I nodded.

"What the fuck, man?" Lucas popped my twin brother in the chest and shook his head. "Bro's before..." Lucas glanced at me as I put my hand on my hip. "Sisters? I don't know. I'm getting a beer. You want one, ice princess?"

"Queen Bee, and yeah, I'll take one." I leaned out to pop his sexy butt before turning back to my brother. "Where's Layla?"

"No clue." He glanced around. "It's the end of softball season though. Maybe she's wrapping up practice or a game."

"Oh yeah." I moved around him to reach for a piece of pepperoni pizza sitting in the middle of our group table and awarded the group with a cheeky smile. "Hey guys."

Everyone responded and went back to their conversations.

"So you got him good, hm?" Jayce lifted his beer to his lips as he grinned.

"Yeah. He had no clue. It was fun, but we're going to do a best two out of three."

"What's the prize?"

"You don't wanna know." I laughed and shoved the pizza in my mouth as warmth burned my cheeks. My brother and I were close, but not
that
close.

He faked barfing and handed me his beer. "What're the other two contests?"

"One is darts." I snorted and laughed loudly, almost choking on my pizza as Jayce gave me a 'you gotta be fucking kidding me' look.

"You're going to hell. You don't play fair."

"I know, but don't tell him that." I turned as Lucas joined us and reached for me.

"Don't tell who what?" He glanced between me and Jayce.

"I'm not saying a word." Jayce grabbed the extra beer in Lucas' hand, turned and walked toward the door.

"Why do I all of a sudden feel like I'm about to be duped at darts?" He wrapped his free hand around me and lifted his beer bottle. "To my woman, who is smarter than she'll ever let on... until it benefits her... like when trying to whoop my ass."

"Oh yeah, cause I really whooped your ass back on the ice." I huffed and took a long drink from Jayce's beer.

"Whose is that?" Lucas hit the side of it.

"It was Jayce's." I finished it and put it down on the table behind me. Lifting the pizza to my mouth, I took another big bite and offered it up to him.

He kept his dark blue eyes on me as he sunk his teeth into it and moaned softly. Every cell in my body woke up.

"Fuck. Don't start that," I whispered and moved the pizza to press myself closer to him. "We could just call it even and go back to your place."

"You scared to lose?" He leaned down and nipped at my lips.

"No. I actually like the idea of crawling up on your counter and-"

"Hey guys!" Jacob Wright moved up beside us and popped Lucas on the back. "Public displays of affection, hm? More my style than yours, White."

"Hey buddy." Lucas released me and snagged the pizza from my hand. "You got some darts we can use? My girl here thinks she's about to school me on how to play a man's game."

"Oh, hell no," I mumbled and walked past him up to the pizza counter. An older man with a great smile and salt and pepper-colored hair moved toward me with a fatherly smile on his face.

"Hi, dear. How can I help you?"

We didn't come to DeAngelos too often, but I was going to work to change that. Pizza was my favorite food by far and burgers were getting old. Besides, the people that worked there were always so polite and friendly.

"I need to see if you have darts for that dart board back there. My boyfriend just challenged me to a dual."

"Oh, I see." He chuckled and bent down to pull out three darts. "The blue one is a little bent, so throw it to the left and you'll hit your target no problem." He winked and gave me a knowing look.

It was my turn to chuckle. "Thank you so much."

"Absolutely. Go teach those boys a few lessons. Especially that one." He pointed, and I followed his finger to Jacob. "He's a rascal."

"Naw... just misunderstood."

Jacob waved and gave us a funny look as if wondering why we were staring at him.

"Agreed. That's my son."

"Jacob?" I turned back to the old man.

"Yeah. He's a great boy, just needs to find the right woman to whoop his butt into shape." He let out a long sigh, and I wanted to ask more, but it wasn't my place.

I extended my hand to the old man. "Well, I'm Aubrey Moore. My boyfriend is Lucas White over there, and I think him and Jacob are pretty good friends. Maybe we can help with finding him a good woman."

"I'd love that, but don't tell him that I told you." The older man chuckled. "I'm Raul DeAngelo."

"What? This is your restaurant?"

"Sure is. You looking for a job?"

"Not right now, but if I ever am..." I picked up the darts and glanced down at them. "Thanks for these. The blue one is magical, right?"

"The blue one." He tapped the counter. "Pizza is on me tonight for your crowd."

"Thanks!" I turned and walked back toward Lucas and Jacob, who were laughing hard about something.

"All right, mister. You ready to take your defeat gracefully?" I handed him the darts. "I'll even let you go first."

"The blue one flies a little to the right. Aim to the left." Jacob slipped his hands into his jeans and winked at me.

"You ass!" I popped him in the chest. "That's no fair."

"You knew?" Lucas turned to face me and shook his head. "Tsk. Tsk. That's two spankings for you."

"Hush." I gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. "The pizza is free for us tonight. Jacob's father owns this place."

"Oh no." Jacob walked past us. "I told him to stop doing that. He's not making any money as it is. Shit."

I watched him go and returned my gaze back to Lucas. "We'll pay for it regardless."

"Agreed. Come over here you black-magic witch and watch how it's done."

"Pride before the fall baby." I popped his butt as he walked past me, and tried not to pay attention to the soft pulse between my thighs. I almost wanted to lose. Being naughty always seemed more fun when it was his idea anyway.

"He's better than you think." Jayce moved up beside me and draped his arm over my shoulders.

"He's good at
everything."

"Really? Fuck. Ugh." He released me as Lucas sank all three darts in the center of the bullseye in quick succession.

"Would the real Lucas White please stand up?" one of the hockey guys yelled and the crowd went wild.

"Unbelievable." I walked toward the board and let out a long sigh as Lucas pressed his mouth to the back of my hair, just behind me ear.

"One more thing. When you're on your knees in a few minutes, I'm gonna need you to meow like a pussy cat for me." He squeezed my ass tightly and growled.

Yep. Fuck it. I was totally going to throw the game.

Any girl in her right mind would...

Offside, Pro-U 2

Chapter 1

Emily

"I really should have taken the summer off. This last semester almost killed me." I glanced over at my roommate as we hoofed it another time around the outdoor track at Providence University.

"At least we still have a few more weeks until summer classes start." Natasha shrugged and reached up to tuck a strand of her short white-blond hair behind her ear. Why she dyed it almost platinum was beyond me, but if I had to guess? It was to piss her mother off.

"How many classes are you taking?" I wiped the sweat from my brow and pushed harder, though my legs were sore as hell from cheer practice going an hour longer than it should have the day before.

"Two, but it could be worse, you know."

"Oh yeah? You could be taking three?" I gave her a cheeky grin and moved as she playfully swatted at me.

"No, you could be pregnant."

White-hot fear raced down my spine. "No, I couldn't be. Not only would Brody flip his shit, but I wouldn't have any way to support a kid."

"Brody..." She rolled her eyes.

"Why would you bring something like pregnancy up? You pregnant?" I reached out and poked at her. Anything was better than the two of us getting on the subject of my boyfriend. Tasha hated him, as most people with sense did, but he wasn't nearly as bad as some of the guys I'd dated in the past. It could have been worse.

"I ran into Geoff last night at Mersky's." She shrugged and glanced my way. "You know he got Teri pregnant and they found out during spring break, right?"

"What? The guy from the hockey team?"

"Yeah, and one of the ice hookers or whatever they call them. I swear, your friend Aubrey is the only clean one in the bunch."

"Because she's a dancer." I slowed my jog to a fast walk and focused on the track in front of me. I had no doubt that Tasha was giving me the death stare over my comment. We both knew what I meant. Professor McCraven was the head of the dance department, and she didn't let
anything
slide. I'd seen it firsthand for the last three years. She was Tasha's mother.

"Now here I was trying to bring up a neutral subject that we could talk about and you're going to bring my mom into it. Fantastic." She moved behind me and reached up to grip my shoulders, squeezing softly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, but while we're on the subject... have you talked to her since your last big blow up?"

"No. Thank God for my dad putting money in my account, or I wouldn’t have a pot to piss in."

"You can piss in my pot." I smiled and patted her hands.

"I do piss in your pot, silly." She squeezed one more time and released me.

"In the same vein as having to see my mother, why are you still seeing Brody? He's the biggest cockhead in this whole damn school." She pulled the back of my t-shirt and forced me to stop.

I turned and lifted my hands to the air, stretching and enjoying the soft breeze that blew by. I didn't answer for a few seconds because the conversation was one we'd had a million times over the last year.

Brody Jackson was quarterback of the Friars football team, and by far the best looking guy on campus, but that's where the good stuff stopped.

"He's not as bad as you guys think." I reached up to let my hair down so I could put it back up tighter.

"Yeah, he is." She rolled her eyes. "You're the nicest person I know, Emily. Why would you settle for dating a total dick?"

"You know why." I kept my tone even, which wasn't too hard. Getting emotional and blowing a gasket because Tasha was speaking the truth about Brody was stupid. Where I'd once defended him, now I just tried to defend myself.

"So get a job. Just because he has money doesn't give him the right to be an asshole to everyone around him." Her voice rose, and I knew we were headed toward another useless fight. I wasn't going to defend him, but I wasn't breaking up with him anytime soon either. He wasn't abusive and hadn't cheated on me. Dealing with him being a dick was just part of him being a guy.

"Tasha. I'm not having this conversation again. I'm in love with Brody. Just because he has a few issues doesn't give me the right to hang up a year of my life and walk away."

"Sure it does. You're being a doormat."

I stopped and turned on my heel to face her. Her hazel-colored eyes were filled with far too much emotion, and I tried hard to remember that she cared about me. She was getting in my face because she cared.

"No, I'm not. I'm trying to be the good guy here and give him a chance."

"How many chances?"

"How many chances did you give Lewis? Right. None. You kicked him out at the first sign of trouble." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Look, my dad didn't put up with shit either. Every time my mom even showed a hint of being real or human or made a mistake, he slapped her halfway across the kitchen. I'm not willing to give up just yet. He hasn't done anything that you don't do on a shitty day."

"All right. I'm sorry for bringing it up." She lifted her hands and took a step back. "He just pulled up. I'm going to take a few more laps and head to the court. I'll see you later."

"Tasha." I put my hands on my hips as she turned and jogged off. Her petite frame and sweet face had most people thinking she was docile and sweet. It was a lie at best.

"Emily. Hey, baby. Come on." Brody's voice carried across the field, and filled me with mixed emotions. I did like him, but maybe not as much as I should for some of the shit I put up with.

"Coming," I mumbled and turned, walking quickly toward him.

"Pick it up to a jog please. I want to get back to the apartment and get cleaned up so we can head out to the Omega House. Jacob Wright is throwing one of his blowouts tonight."

I groaned and jogged toward my handsome boyfriend as sickness swam in my stomach. Going out to the Omega House meant that Brody was going to get tanked. Seeing that I didn't drink, I'd be toting his ass all over the large frat house and most likely pulling him away from making a mistake all night long.

"I'm not going." I straightened my shoulders as I reached him and looking him square in the face. "And you're not either."

His brown eyes searched my face as if trying to discern if I were serious. He cracked a smile and reached out, grabbing the side of my neck and pulling me flush against him.

"You're so cute. Stop trying to be tough. It isn't you at all." He leaned down and pressed his lips firmly to mine, brushing his tongue into my mouth and pulling me closer.

I opened up and gripped his sides as he took his time exploring my mouth. The kiss was hot and deep, leaving me to want something more, which was never a good place to be with him. He always wanted to push the line and take a little more than I wanted to offer.

"I love the way you taste after you run." He licked at my mouth and smiled. "Come on. Back to my place for a shower and then I can show you off at the party tonight. Wear a dress for me. And no panties."

"Hush." I pushed at his chest playfully as he tightened his grip on me and locked his jaw.

"I'm serious. I wanna fuck in public. No one but us will have to know. Just do what I said and I'll take care of the rest."

"No. Stop being a pig and come on." I jerked from him and walked toward the car, trying hard not to get upset over something so stupid. He was a guy. Of course he wanted to fuck in public. It didn't mean I had to go with the flow.

"I'm not being a pig, Emily. I just want to have an experience." He moved in behind me and slid his hands onto my shoulders, pulling me to a stop.

"I'm not fucking you in public." I glanced over my shoulder but didn't turn.

He pressed himself against my back and slid his hands down my sides and around to cup my breasts as he ground against me.

"You're no fun. You know that?" He kissed the side of my neck and I gripped his hands and pulled them off my chest.

"Brody. We're in the middle of an open field."

"And? I don't see a sign that says I can’t touch my girlfriend wherever the hell I wanna."

"I'm that sign. Stop being rowdy."

"I'm just needy. You left this morning before I woke up." He kissed me a few more times and slid one of his hands down my stomach. "I had to masturbate, and you know how much I hate that shit."

I moved out of his hold and walked to the car, trying to think through how to respond to him without starting a fight and explaining that sex three times a day was too much for anyone. It had been the ongoing battle in our relationship, and where I loved rolling around in the sheets with him, he was insatiable in the worst of ways.

"Come on. Stop messing around and let's go back to your place. Maybe there's enough time to mess around before we go to this party you're wanting to go to." I stopped beside his cherry-red mustang and glanced down at my reflection in the window.

My dark brown hair was wet from sweating so much and my skin looked good. It was the exercise and a new diet Brody had shown me a week or two before.

He walked around to the other side of the car and smiled wickedly at me over the hood. "You know the console shifts in the car. You could stop talking so much and put that pretty mouth of yours to far better use."

"Remind me why I'm with you?" I opened the car door as he unlocked it and got in.

"Because I'm pretty, rich and my cock is something you like to worship."

I shook my head and leaned back. "I hate you sometimes."

"No you don't, but you wish you did." He started the car and slipped his hand up my thigh and over my mound. "No panties tonight. That's the rule."