She closed her eyes, but she was watching me now. Her eyelids were heavy with desire. I grinned. My body was wound tighter than a nun at a Magic Mike show. It wanted release, and it wanted that in her. I fought against it. I pressed a kiss under her jaw, and feeling her silent intake of breath, I nipped at her collarbone. Feeling another shiver go through her, I exposed her stomach before dropping one last kiss under her belly button. I could live off making her shudder in my arms. That was my job—to make her happy, to make her climax, and to make her experience what so many could never imagine.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to stop. I wanted to keep going again but rested my forehead against her stomach, instead.

She could feel the fight in me and relaxed in my hands. Her hand swept through my hair, running down my neck. Her nails scraped the back of my head, and I grinned. It was my soft spot. That little touch could hold me in place for hours. She had that power, that knowledge over me.

I lifted my head, and the exhaustion from the entire day finally seeped into my bones. I could lay there, on top of her, and sleep until morning. I frowned, trying to remember why that was a bad idea, as her nails kept running up and down my neck.

I sank down on her. She welcomed me, adjusting her body so that she could comfortably hold me. I slipped to the side, my leg and arm over her. My head moved to the crook of her neck and shoulder. She kept scraping over my neck…until I fell asleep.

“Psst. Psst.”

Some chick was bent over me, her finger to her mouth, with her knees together. Her hand dropped to twist with her other one, and she gritted her teeth. “Uh…”

I jumped up, landing on my feet right in front of her. It was Sam’s roommate. I was not prepared to deal with this chick, especially after she woke us up.

“Holy shit,” she squealed, startled by my sudden movement. She scooted back but remained in the room.

I scowled at her. “Get out.”

“Uh…”

A snore sounded from behind me. Sam was curled on the couch, her knees pulled up to her chest. She was almost falling off, and I took a moment to stare at her. How she slept like that, I’d never know, but the girl could fall asleep whenever and wherever.

Wherever…

The couches weren’t familiar.

I scanned the room and remembered we were in her dorm’s basement. “Fuck!”

“What? Huh?” Sam flew alive, jerking upright on the couch. Her hand raked through her hair. She blinked at me and blinked at the chick, and her hand dropped to land with a thud against her side. “Summer?”

“Yeah. Hi.” She moved closer a few steps, glancing nervously at me. “Uh, I got woken up this morning. Ruby came down to grab more coffee from the kitchen. She saw you guys and told me that maybe I should check on you. Here I am.” She gestured between all of us, back to herself, and around to Sam and me again in a wild flying motion. “Checking on you. My job is done.” She began edging to the door, backward, her gaze skirting to me and jerking back to Sam. Right before her back hit the door, she paused, and her hands did another abrupt movement. She looked like she was doing a cheer that was failing miserably. “So…okay. Anyway, in case you needed to be somewhere…”

The last statement was directed to me, but she wasn’t meeting my eyes. Her head hung down, and she kicked at the floor.

I could almost hear Logan laughing in my head. Dude, you broke the model. You scared her fighting spirit right out of her. Damn, you’re good.

I grunted, running a hand over my face, feeling my scruff. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I had to go. I gently touched Sam’s shoulder, leaning over to press a kiss to her, and I whispered against her lips, “I have an early morning run.” My lips moved to her ear, adding, “Love you.”

She nodded, grasping the back of my head, and she moved, so she could kiss me again. “Love you, too. See you.”

“Uh…” The roommate opened one of the doors. Her back moved, holding it open as she waited for our exchange. One arm was crossed over her chest with a firm grip on her other arm hanging down. It looked like she was holding on for dear life.

I had no time for her. I touched Sam’s arm once more, and then I was off. It was seven in the morning. I’d missed my run with Drew by an hour. Fuck.

I called him as soon as I was in my car and on the street, heading home. He didn’t pick up after the first time.

He did after my second call. “Shit, Kade. Where were you?”

“I’m coming now.”

“Fucking hell. We’re done. The guys and I are heading to get breakfast now.”

I gritted my teeth. The urge to yank my steering wheel off and throw it at the nearest car was powerful. I let out an irritated breath instead.

“Dude, don’t get pissed at me. You asked for the run and didn’t show.”

“I know. Something came up.”

“Yeah?” His irritation eased.

Mine didn’t. I took a turn rougher than I needed to, and I forced myself to slow down. I wasn’t mad at Drew. I was mad about Nate. I was mad that I had to leave Sam—no, I was mad that I’d lied to her.

“Sorry. Okay. I’m going for a run by myself.”

“You need someone to time your sprints.”

“I’ll make my brother do it.”

“Okay.” Drew sounded cheery all of a sudden.

I frowned. The asshat sounded too happy to get out of that.

Whatever. I shook my head, turning onto our street.

As I pulled into my driveway, Drew came out of the football house with his phone to his ear. He saw me and waved, heading over.

“Hey.” Drew pointed to the football house. “If you want, we can wait. You could eat with us and do sprints this afternoon? Nick and Rome didn’t join us this morning either.”

The idea had merit, but as I was considering it, the door to my house opened. Logan stood there with a scowl. He waved at me to get inside.

“Or,” Drew noted, “maybe not?”

“I should do my run anyway. I have a nine am class. I can get it done before.”

“Okay. We have practice at three today.”

I nodded. “I got the schedule. I’ll be lifting in the evening with the guys, too.”

“Good.”

Some of the guys from the team were coming out of the football house. They all nodded in hello to me but waited on the sidewalk for Drew.