Page 125 of Cruel Steps

God, I loved her curves.

My feet moved, and I blinked when the water hit me. Emerson did that to me. She called to me without even trying. Reaching out, I placed my hands on her hips.

“Ahh!” she screamed, spinning and throwing her loofah at me. Soap hit me in the eye, and I jerked back away from her.

“Shit.”

“Oh my god, Holden! I’m so sorry. You scared me. I thought you were… Nevermind. Are you okay? No, of course not, because you have soap in your eye. Here.”

She pulled me forward, and water cascaded over my head. The burning eased as the water washed the soap out. I opened my eye a few times, wincing at the shot of water, but the longer I did it, the better it felt.

“You okay?” she asked, cupping my face.

I opened my eyes and stared into hers—the green so familiar and comforting, I knew I’d been an idiot.

“I am now.”

She smiled, and the last chain on my heart broke free, soaring toward her. Nothing was keeping me from her anymore.

“I should be furious at you for crashing my shower, but I can’t find it in myself to be. Bathrooms are kind of our confessionals, huh?”

“Something like that, Wildcat.” I bent down to pick up the loofah she’d thrown. “What’s with you throwing things at me in the shower? Though, not a bad weapon. Stun them with soap.”

“I panicked.” She giggled and lightning raced up my heart.

“Are you done in here? Can I steal your shower?”

“I just need to wash my face.”

I grabbed the shampoo off the shelf and squirted some in my hand while she washed her face. It was torture not to touch her, but I didn’t want to until I confessed, and I didn’t want to be in this small shower when I did. Rinsing out the soap, I quickly washed myself and turned off the shower when Emerson nodded that she was done. We stepped out together, and I grabbed the towel to dry her off.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the pampering, but now that the adrenaline is gone… Why did you steal my shower? This isn’t a one-shower situation like the bed. We’re not really at the naked friends stage.”

I didn’t say anything as I dried her. She huffed at my silence, only making me smile more instead of answering. Once she was dry, I toweled off and picked up her brush. She crossed her arms. I think she wanted to appear intimidating, but all it did was draw my eyes to her breasts.

“Answer me.”

“That’s not doing what you think.” I motioned down to my cock. It stood at attention, very happy with the image of her before us. She grumbled but dropped her arms. I watched as she tried to act unaffected, but her nipples were hard, and her chest flushed from more than just the shower. Her pulse fluttered in her neck, and her breaths came quicker the longer I scanned her. Biting my lip, I motioned for her to turn around. She finally complied but pouted and glared at me through the mirror.

“I wanted to be near you, Wildcat. Let me brush your hair, and I’ll tell you something.”

“Fine.” She grabbed a spray bottle and spritzed something in her hair, then nodded so I could start. I didn’t know why I liked brushing it so much, but I’d become addicted. Running my fingers through her hair was apparently a new kink.

“I told you why my mom left my dad and how I went to live with him.” She nodded. “I did it so it would be easier for my mom, but I never imagined how difficult it would be for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“In a town that revered football, I became the talk of it. Scouts, the media, even the cashier at the Piggly Wiggly talked about how I did every Friday night. It was nice at first, to be seen. But then my dad took a new interest. He saw me as something he could manipulate in his favor. He’d either pump me up before a game or tear me down. I was too young to notice a pattern, but eventually, I did.

When he supported me, I played better, and we’d win by a large margin. The games where he tore me down, we’d lose. His words ripped me up, and I hated how much he affected me. I didn’t like that he had that much control over me. So, I worked on it.

I practiced tuning everything else out and going into my football zone. The only thing that mattered there was running the plays. Of course, he wasn’t happy about this development and doubled down on the emotional abuse. That’s when I realized what he’d been doing all along…manipulating me for bets. When the spread was good, he’d praise me, and when it wasn’t, well…” I trailed off, shrugging.

“That’s awful. I’m so sorry, Holden.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t end there.” I blew out a breath and met her eyes in the mirror. “When he couldn’t manipulate my emotions, he found other ways. He’d slip me money and buy things. I believed his lies about having a new job. Then, he needed me to lose a game, and I told him no. That’s when he revealed he’d been giving me a cut, making me an accomplice, and threatened to report me to the NCAA if I didn’t comply.” I gritted my teeth. I hated this next part. I’d never admitted it aloud to anyone.

“It messed me up so much. I wrestled with what to do. I thought about walking away so he couldn’t control me. But the dream I’d had for so long was hard to give up, so then I’d wondered if giving in would really be that big of a deal. When it came time for the game, I still didn’t know what I would do and my focus slipped. In a split second hesitation, I messed up a play and… and… someone got hurt.”

---