Players of Marycliff University Box Set, Books 1–3 Read online

  Admitting defeat, Lance nodded. “Okay. If you really want me to, I’ll take you home.”

  She relaxed against him in relief. “I do.”

  Lance leaned in and kissed her, trying not to telegraph too much of his disappointment—okay, maybe some. He wanted her to know that he was serious about wishing she would stay. After a quick stop in the bathroom, he pulled on a T-shirt and grabbed his wallet and keys from his dresser. Abby had already changed back into her own clothes, leaving the boxers he’d lent her on the bed.

  Twining his fingers with hers, he led her through the dark living room and out the front door. The night air chilled his bare skin. Goosebumps dotted Abby’s arm, so he pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her to warm her.

  The drive home passed in a sleepy comfortable silence, Lance’s hand in its now accustomed spot on Abby’s leg. She simply laid her hand on top of his, occasionally rubbing slightly up his wrist and forearm before returning to rest on top of his hand. The simple gesture of affection soothed his worry that she’d run off and try to ignore him again after he took her home.

  He really hoped she wouldn’t, at least.

  When they got to her parking lot, he parked the car and turned it off.

  Abby stopped in the middle of unbuckling her seatbelt. “Lance, you really don’t have to walk me to my door.”

  Lance unbuckled his seatbelt and looked at her. “Abby, I really do. I always see a lady safely to her door.” Even if he hadn’t been raised that way, he’d still walk Abby to her door, if only to put off saying goodbye to her that much longer.

  He grinned when she muttered, “Fine, whatever.”

  “Will you need a ride to work or back?” he asked before she got her door open. If her car wouldn’t start yesterday afternoon, it hadn’t magically fixed itself while she was with him, after all. Which was another thing he needed to sort out. Hopefully it would be a simple fix that he could handle without specialized tools. Knowing his way around a car certainly had its uses.

  She shook her head. “No. I usually walk anyway.”

  He nodded, a little disappointed that he wouldn’t have the excuse to see her in a few hours to take her to work. “Okay, good. What time do you get home?”

  Abby had her hand on the door handle, but stopped before opening it. “I usually leave at five and it takes about fifteen minutes to walk if I’m not in a hurry. Why?” The lights from the parking lot illuminated her pinched brows. And for some reason the suspicion in her gaze made him smile. It was just such an Abby reaction.

  “Text me when you get home.” He reached over and squeezed her knee. “I’ll come over and check out your car, see if I can fix it.”

  The furrow between her brows disappeared, but her lips were still turned down, like she wasn’t quite sure if she should accept his offer. “You don’t have to fix my car, you know. I can just get it towed somewhere.”

  He waved away her objections. “Abby, my dad owns a garage. I grew up taking cars apart and putting them back together. Let me at least look at it. Towing’s expensive. There’s no need to pay for that when I’ll look at it for free.” She still seemed hesitant, and he reminded himself that this girl wasn’t used to anyone helping her out. Her hesitation wasn’t personal, and wasn’t about him. She was used to handling everything herself. And while she may have opened up to him earlier, the particular set of circumstances that allowed for that had passed. She’d slept, and he suspected that at least part of the reason she insisted on going home now was because she needed space to process everything. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to insist on fixing her car, though. “Let me help you, Abby. I want to do it. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t.”

  The reassurance that he wanted to do it seemed to be the thing that tipped her over the edge. “Okay.” Her face relaxed, open and accepting. “I’ll let you know when I get home, and you can come look at my car.” She pointed a finger at him and narrowed her eyes. “I’m paying for any parts, though.”

  He didn’t say anything to that, and instead kissed her. Arguing about details at almost four in the morning wouldn’t get them anywhere. He was just glad that he’d see her again soon and that she’d agreed so easily.

  Abby responded to his kiss, pressing herself closer to him. What he’d meant as a simple touch of his lips to hers turned into something more. He snaked his arms around her, pulling her closer, deepening their kiss, hanging on until she finally broke it off.

  His breath came fast, his pulse even faster as he took in her flushed cheeks, her lips red from his kiss. “Are you sure you don’t want to just grab some clothes and come back home with me?”

  Those sweet lips curved into a smile. This one was different than her other smiles. It was private and knowing, and meant only for him. For a moment he thought she might say yes. But sadly she said, “Tempting. But no. I need to get some more sleep in my own bed.”

  He let out a breath and loosened his hold on her. “Okay. I’ll walk you to your door.”

  “Lance, my door is right there. You don’t need—”

  He missed the rest of her protest because he got out of the car and closed the door. It was a silly argument, and he wasn’t going to engage.

  She scrambled out of her side before he could get there and open the door for her. “Lance, you can’t just leave when I’m in the middle of talking to you.”

  He silenced the rest of that reproach with a kiss, just a simple one this time. It was too early in the morning for scolding. And when he went home, it would be to an empty bed. “I can when you’re talking nonsense, sweetheart. I like walking you to your door, and I’m going to walk you to your door. It has nothing to do with your capability of walking to the door without me, and everything to do with my desire to see you safely inside.” With that he took her hand and walked the short distance from his car to her apartment, turning to face her when they reached her door. “Besides,” he brushed her hair off her shoulder, “if I didn’t walk you to your door, I wouldn’t get my goodnight kiss.” And he kissed her again.

  He felt her lips smiling against his. “Is it really a goodnight kiss when it’s almost four in the morning?”

  Lance kissed her again, enjoying the ability to do that as much as he wanted. “Fine, a good morning kiss then. Either way, that was two kisses I wouldn’t have gotten if I hadn’t walked you to your door.”

  Abby pulled her keys out of her bag and unlocked her door before turning back to him and surprising him with another kiss. “There. That’s another one. I’ll see you after work. Bye.”

  Lance stood there slightly dazed and only managed a weak, “Bye,” before she closed her door. He heard her locks click into place as he turned and walked back to his car.

  She’d kissed him. For the first time she had initiated physical contact. The smile stayed on his face the whole drive home. He was definitely making progress.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Hey, hoochie. Where were you last night?” Megan stood in the doorway to Abby’s bedroom, changing from her work clothes into shorts and a T-shirt.

  Abby looked up from her laptop, blinking at her roommate to get her brain to focus on a conversation instead of the article she’d been reading to distract herself. “What do you mean?”

  Megan gave her a pointed look, not at all diminished by the fact that she was only wearing shorts and a bra, having not quite gotten her T-shirt on yet. “Don’t play dumb, Abby. You’re not any good at it.”

  Abby turned back to her computer, not wanting to rehash last night. “I texted you yesterday. You know I had to help my mom.” She still wasn’t sure if she’d made a good choice agreeing to keep seeing Lance. But she also didn’t like the idea of not seeing him again. Which of course only made her feel more conflicted about seeing him again. Yeah, she’d told herself that if she knew he was leaving, it wouldn’t hurt so bad. But if she already couldn’t stomach the thought of not seeing him again, how would she deal when he left? Of course, since he was still here, it ju
st seemed silly to deny herself.

  Megan pulled her shirt on and climbed onto Abby’s bed. “What did she need? Is she okay?” She settled herself cross-legged and petted Abby’s comforter, looking at it wistfully.

  Grinning at her friend’s obsession with her comforter, she shook her head and turned back to Megan, realizing she would have to have a full conversation before getting back to the article. “She needed groceries and stuff. The usual. She’s fine.”

  “Good. I’m glad it wasn’t anything serious.” Megan had been around long enough to know that usually her mom just needed errands run, but it could be involve trip to the ER. Concern for Abby’s mom successfully allayed, Megan went back into interrogation mode, her lips curving and her gaze sharp. “Mind telling me how you got there to get her groceries and stuff? Because your car stayed here, and I sure as hell didn’t take you.”

  Abby refused to look at Megan, making a show of scrolling to the top of the document she had open. “I told you in my text that Lance was taking me.”

  “Yes, that’s right.” Her smile grew, like the cat who got the canary. “Lance took you. You and I both know it only takes a couple hours to get your mom’s groceries, plus another hour and a half for driving time. You left at like five? So that means you should’ve been home by eight thirty or nine at the latest.”

  Abby shook her head. “We didn’t get done at my mom’s until after eight.”

  “Okay. You got done a little after eight. That still gets you home by nine. I’d even go with nine thirty if you stopped to grab a quick bite to eat.” With her elbows on her knees, Megan folded her hands under her chin, tilted her head, and batted her eyes. “What time did you get home?” she asked with all the faux innocence of the snake tempting Eve.

  Heat climbed Abby’s cheeks going all the way to the tips of her ears, and she muttered the answer so Megan couldn’t understand her. She really didn’t want to do this right now. She didn’t want to face her feelings or deal with her shit or hash it all out with Megan. But she knew it was futile. Megan was a dog with a bone. She wouldn’t leave it alone until she’d dragged everything out of Abby.

  Megan leaned toward her, cupping a hand around her ear. “What was that?” She batted her eyes again, maintaining her innocent expression.

  With a sigh, Abby gave in and answered loudly, enunciating each word. “I said, around four this morning.”

  Megan’s eyebrows rose. “Four this morning,” she repeated slowly. “And that brings us back to my first question: where were you last night, hoochie?”

  “With Lance.” Abby spit out the words and immediately clamped her mouth shut. She knew Megan wouldn’t let her get away with only telling her that, even if she still hoped Megan might leave it at that.

  Megan snorted, finally dropping the innocent act and defaulting to her usual sarcastic tone. “Well, yeah, I figured that much. That’s why I keep calling you a hoochie. What happened? Did you do it? You have to give me all the details.” She leaned forward with each question, avid and excited to know more.

  Abby covered her face with her hands. “Seriously, Megan? This is why I don’t tell you things.”

  Megan made a sound like a buzzer. “Wrong. This is why you do tell me things. I have to hound you until you do, or I’d never know anything about what’s going on with you. So answer the questions. You know I won’t leave you alone until you do.”

  Abby sighed, wishing she were strong enough to ignore Megan, but also deep down needing to talk about what happened. Even if she didn’t want to. She needed to before Lance came over later. “Fine. No, we didn’t do it.”

  “What were you doing until four in the morning, then?”

  “We had dinner, then we went back to his place. We talked for a while and then we slept.” Abby stared resolutely at her computer screen, not even paying attention to what she was looking at, just scrolling through Facebook, clicking on any random link so she could avoid Megan’s eyes. If she looked at Megan, she’d blush, and then Megan would know she wasn’t telling the whole truth.

  “You slept,” Megan confirmed in a flat voice.

  “Yup.”

  “That’s it?” Abby blushed again, and Megan let out a little squeal, clapping her hands in delight. “Ha! I knew it! What else did you do?”

  “We kissed.” Even knowing that Megan would ask more questions if she just gave the barest answers possible, she couldn’t make herself volunteer the information.

  “Where?”

  “In the car. And in his bed.”

  “Did you do more than just kiss?” This was asked with a sly note, like Megan knew the answer already, or at least strongly suspected.

  “Yes.” It came out as a whisper.

  “You did more than just kiss, but you didn’t have sex. Did you keep your pants on?” The questions were asked rapid fire, void of emotion, an information-seeking missile.

  “Pretty much.”

  “Pretty much?” Megan’s gaze sharpened. “What does that mean?”

  Squirming in her seat, Abby flushed again. “They stayed on, but he … touched me.”

  “Oooh.” Megan gave another little clap, betraying her excitement. “Over the clothes or under them?”

  “Under.”

  “Under which ones?” Megan wiggled her eyebrows.

  Laughing, Abby relaxed enough to volunteer another bit of information. “All of them. Both of our shirts ended up off, but he slid his hand in my shorts and … touched me.”

  Megan leaned forward and lowered her voice. “And? Did he touch a little or a lot?”

  “A lot. He made me … you know …” She widened her eyes and nodded her head for Megan to fill in the blank.

  Megan laughed at Abby’s obvious discomfort. “Have an orgasm? You can just say it, Abby. It’s not a dirty word.”

  Abby covered her face with her hands. “God, I hate talking about this. Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  Megan pulled her hands down, her face equal parts happy and cajoling. “You never have anything good to dish about. It’s all been one-sided until now. I tell you everything, so you have to tell me now that you have something to tell. And it’s delicious. I’m happy for you.” Megan let out another squeal. “Anyway, what happened after he finger banged you?”

  “Finger bang? Really? Vulgar much?”

  Laughing again, Megan waved away her objection. “Don’t be such a prude, Abby. We’ve lived together for years, and have been friends even longer. You already know I’m vulgar. Tell me what happened next.”

  Abby shrugged, having already told Megan the rest. “Nothing, really. We talked and made out until we fell asleep. I woke up at like three thirty and made him bring me home.”

  Jerking her head back, Megan wrinkled her nose, clearly flummoxed. “Why did you make him bring you home then?”

  Abby leveled a look at Megan. “So I wouldn’t have to answer awkward questions from his roommates or mine.”

  Laughing again, Megan shook her head. “You had to know there was no way to avoid this discussion. I stay up late. You know I’m going to ask for details when you don’t get home at a normal time. So, what’s next?” More eyebrow wiggling. “Are you going to see him again?”

  “Yeah. He’ll be here soon to look at my car. He’s insisting on fixing it for me. He had to work late today since he left early yesterday to take me to see my mom.”

  “He left work early for you?” Megan let out a low whistle. “That boy’s got it bad.”

  Abby shook her head, reflexively denying her friend’s statement. “He can’t have it bad. We barely know each other, and he’s leaving in a month or two. At best it’s a short-term fling that’ll fizzle out soon.” That’s what she was telling herself. That’s what she needed to keep firmly in mind. He was leaving. He didn’t date. He’d get bored with her soon, tired of her not acting like all the other girls he obviously had experience with, and this would all be over.

  Megan didn’t answer for a long moment, studying Abby. �
��Sure.” Her words agreed with Abby, but her face still registered doubt. Abby chose to ignore that. It didn’t matter what Megan thought. She knew what was between her and Lance couldn’t last. She couldn’t afford to let her heart get involved.

  * * *

  Crossing the room to answer the door, Abby pointed at Megan where she sat on the couch. “Behave.”

  Megan put on a fake innocent look, spreading one hand across her chest. “Moi? I’m always well behaved.”

  “Uh huh. Sure.” Abby pulled open the door so Lance could come in with the pizza he’d promised to bring. Holding the pizza off to the side, he paused to brush a kiss across her lips as he passed her. She barely had time to react, to kiss him back, before he’d continued into the room. Apparently one night together—and not even the full night at that—meant they were now in the habit of casual kissing. Huh. But Megan was watching, and Abby didn’t want to betray her surprise. Or her inability to correct her expectations where Lance was concerned. She supposed that she had agreed to date him last night, right? They’d been out several times. Kissed several times and … more than kissed last night. But each of those occasions still felt momentous to her. Extraordinary. For so many reasons. And the familiar way he greeted her seemed … well, like their relationship was more established than she thought it was.

  But why shouldn’t she think so? He was over here, bringing dinner, offering to fix her car. That seemed fairly relationship-y, after all. Even if she fully expected to pay for the pizza. It was the least she could do if he were sacrificing his evening to work on her car.

  She reached for her bag at the end of the couch. “How much do I owe you for the pizza?”

  Lance stood in the middle of the living room looking around. “Coffee table or kitchen table?”

  Megan hopped off the couch and took the pizza out of his hands. “We’ll just put it on the counter, and I’ll grab plates.”