Page 56 of Save the Game

“How much time do I have? I wasn’t kidding about the jacking off during your game. I need to take a cold shower before we go.”

I snort, unlocking my car and climbing in. “Take your shower, I’ll be there in a few minutes. I can wait in the car and you can just come out when you’re done.”

“Maxy, Jesus, you aren’t going to wait in the car. Let yourself in and just come down to my room.” I can hear the soft background noises of clothes hitting the bathroom floor and the water turning on. “Wait in the car…honestly.”

He disconnects the call, muttering under his breath. I smile the entire way to his house, feeling like maybe it’s time for life to start looking up. Things were hard for the last year and a half, but maybe now I can start enjoying myself again; maybe if I spend enough time around Luke, I’ll be able to borrow some of his joy and easy confidence.

Not quite bold enough to just walk in, I knock on the front door and wait, hoping that one of his roommates is within hearing range. I don’t wait long before Bryce opens the door, smiling when I raise a hand in an awkward little wave.

“Hey, man, come on in,” he says, swinging the door wide. “You want a beer?”

He holds up his own bottle as a visual but I wave him off. “No, thanks. I’m just here to pick up Luke.”

Bryce leans against the wall, bottle hanging from loose fingers, clearly in no hurry to go back to what he was doing. I’ve not had much interaction with Luke’s roommates, but I know that Bryce is the one he spends time with the most. I make a conscious effort to drop my shoulders away from my ears and relax my stance. Stop being so defensive, he’s Luke’s friend which means he’s your friend.

“You guys going to a party? Good game, by the way, we were watching.” He tips his head back toward the living room.

“No, just going to meet up with some friends for a bit before coming back here.”

“Cool, have fun.” He rises from his lazy sprawl against the wall and smirks at me, indicating the stairwell with his beer. “That one only watched the first period with us, before he bailed to his room. Enjoying watching you a little too much, I think.”

I laugh at the knowing look on his face, blushing slightly. Bryce grips my shoulder for a second, before turning and heading back toward the living room and calling out a goodbye. When I get to the door to Luke’s room, I knock again, unable to just let myself in without announcing my presence first. Pushing the door open, I listen for the sound of the shower, smiling when I hear Luke whistling from the bathroom. I sit down on his bed to wait.

Luke steps out of the bathroom, towel slung low on his hips and steam escaping from the bathroom around him, and eyes lighting up when they meet mine across the room. He crosses over to me, grabs my face between his hands, and kisses me as though his life depends on it. I put my hands on his hips, his skin warm with heat from the shower and dappled with moisture. I’ve already forgotten all the reasons I wanted to go to Carter’s house.

“Hello, you,” Luke murmurs against my mouth, flicking his tongue against my top lip.

“Hi.”

“Good game,” he says, before kissing me breathless again.

I pull him toward me, fingers splayed on his hips. Eventually, there’s nowhere else for him to go so he puts a knee up on the bed beside me, half in my lap and half standing. I give him another tug backward and we fall onto the mattress, Luke barely managing to catch himself with a hand on my shoulder. The movement broke our mouths apart so I lift my face toward his, meaning to pick right back up where we left off.

“Wait a second,” he says breathlessly, “aren’t we supposed to be meeting your friend? Carter?”

“Who’s Carter?” I ask, running my hands down his sides and tucking my fingers into the towel. He huffs an exasperated laugh.

“Hey, stop it,” he leans down and nips gently at my jaw, “going out was your idea, I’ll remind you. I was the one who wanted to stay here and give you a spit bath.”

He climbs off of me and pulls me back into a seated position, trying to look serious but unable to disguise the amusement in his eyes. I scrunch up my nose.

“Spit bath?”

He holds up his hands and closes his eyes. “Seriously, Maxy, all I could think about tonight was licking you clean. I swear, the sight of that sweaty neck did things to me, and I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.”

“You are a strange, strange, man,” I observe, and laugh as he flips me off on his way over to his closet. “But hey, just because I’m showered doesn’t mean we can’t pretend I’m not.”

“Later,” he says seriously, pointing at me as he drops the towel and starts pulling on his clothes. I watch him, marveling at how comfortable he is standing there naked in front of me. Not an ounce of self-consciousness—incredible.

I’m grateful when he gets some clothes on, if only because thinking chaste thoughts wasn’t helping to get rid of the hard on I’d developed the moment he’d kissed me. He uses his hands to fluff his hair in a way that looks purposely styled on him and would look unkempt on me; holding his arms wide, he spins in a slow circle, showing me the plain white shirt and dark jeans he’s wearing.

“Good?”

“Good,” I tell him, embarrassed as my voice cracks on the word. He grins and holds a hand out to me.

“All right, let’s do this.”

When we get to Carter’s house, I’ve barely parked before the door is flung wide with enough force that we can hear it hit the wall from the driveway. Luke raises his eyebrows at me and I bite back a smile; I probably should have warned him about Carter. This, I reason, will be much more fun, though.

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