Page 23 of The Puck Player

Jake and Evie are barely coming up for air in my back seat once we start the drive, and when I spy the tense set of Aubree’s shoulders, I tap the brakes to pull them apart. “Come on you two, surely you can wait the five minute drive back to your apartment, you’re making Aubree uncomfortable,” I snap, and the girl in question whips her head towards me.

“What? No, I’m fine, ignore him, he’s being an asshole,” she seethes, glaring at me, and my cock jumps to attention at her sweet cruelty. Fuck. I love it when she is mean to me.

“Oh please, like you won’t be all over Ben the second you see him tomorrow,” Evie laughs in response, and my heart slams against my ribcage at the mention of her boyfriend.

“Your boyfriend’s coming to town?” I ask, hearing the outrage in my tone, but I’m not able to control it, not when I feel like my heart is now in a vice. Fuck.What is that?

Aubree moves her gaze back to her lap as she quietly admits, “Yes, he’s coming for a short weekend break.” She smiles as she says it, but for some reason it appears forced, and my knuckles whiten as they tighten around the steering wheel at the thought of the two of them together.

“I can’t wait to meet him,” Evie cuts back in, and I’m guessing as Aubree’s roommate she has heard all about him. “They’ve been together as long as us,” she tells Jake, and fury begins to burn beneath my skin, and when I slam the brakes this time, all three of them jolt.

“Fucking hell, Reign,” Jake snaps, throwing out a protective arm in front of Evie. “I don’t know how they drive on the other side of the road in England, brother, but here we brake slower,” he adds, leaning forward and smacking me on the shoulder, and I grit my teeth.

“Home sweet home,” I say, louder than necessary, and the two of them instantly start to climb out, but when Aubree lingers, I turn to meet her gaze. She doesn’t say anything, not until Evie and Jake are both out of the car with their doors shut.

“Are you okay?” she asks gently, and it takes everything in me to not grab her and kiss her. It’s all I’ve thought about since the moment I laid eyes on her weeks ago, and I have to fight against that urge every second I am in her presence. So no, I am not okay.

“Yep, all good,” I reply in a clipped tone, nodding towards her building. “Come on, I’ll walk you in,” I start to move, but she reaches out and grabs my arm, my brain short circuiting at her touch.

“Actually, if you’re not busy, is it okay if we just sit here for a while? I’m hoping to wait them out,” she laughs, blushing slightly, and when I meet her stare in confusion she adds, “Jake is spending the night, so you know…” she trails off, and it’s only then I understand what she means.

Jake and Evie will be fucking inside and she doesn’t want to intrude.

It takes a few swallows for me to clear my throat and force a smirk. “What’s the matter, is it too rated R for you and your pesky little sky daddy?”

She shakes her head, shoving my arm. “No, you asshole, I just don’t want to hear my roommate orgasming through the wall again, thank you very much,” she snaps, and then blinks back in surprise as if she can’t believe she just said that.

“Oh no, you said the word orgasm, quick let me call the church,” I tease, reaching for my phone and she shoves me again. “And Jake must be doing a great job if you can hear Evie through the wall, want me to join you upstairs and we can make it a competition?” I ask, cocking a brow with a smirk, and the slight hesitation before she responds has my cock thickening even more.

“You’re impossible,” she laughs, shaking her head at me, as I will my heart rate to slow down.

“So, you and Ben never,” I start, and she instantly groans.

“You’re the last person I should have admitted that to,” she huffs, giving me yet another glare, but when she meets my stare she lets out a long exhale. “It’s really not that deep,” she begins slowly, spinning the ring on her middle finger again. “I grew up going to church with my grandma, she was always big on the whole God thing and well, I liked spending time with her. I knew that me going made her happy, so I kept it up. Did the masses and church youth group, and when we turned fourteen, a few of us decided we were going to abstain until marriage.” She pairs her words with the wave of her hand, showcasing the ring, and I cringe inwardly.

When I was fourteen I lost my virginity, and here she is saying that’s when she chose to not fuck anyone until she found a damn husband.

“The longer I wore it the more faith I had in it I guess, and then,” she cuts herself off, but I don’t let her drop it.

“And then?”

“Then my mom and grandma died, and my faith in everything felt just a little…” she trails off again, only this time it’s because she can’t seem to find the right word.

“Pointless?” I offer, but she shakes her head.

“Broken,” she corrects with a shrug, before taking a deep breath. “Anyway, Ben and I have been friends since we were kids, I was already wearing my ring when we started dating, so he understands most of the time.”

“Most of the time?” I question, a bead of anger fluttering beneath my skin at the thought of him pressuring her.

“Well, he’s still a red-blooded male, so he struggles more than I do,” she laughs, as if something as important as her faith in her purity is laughable.

“Well I think it’s brave,” I tell her truthfully, there have been many conquests I’ve regretted because I’ve been too drunk or high to care about the aftermath. Hell, I let Cap’s girl suck my dick in a game of Truth or Dare, and I didn’t need the black eye to make me feel bad about it.

“Even if I’m not sure if I’m wearing it for me, or to remain close to my grandma?” she asks quietly, and at this moment I wish I could understand her faith and her grief, but all I can do is shrug.

“A ring is just a ring, Aubree, it means nothing, it’s what's inside that counts,” I reply softly, and the answering smile she gives me threatens to take all the air from my lungs. “Anyway, I think we’ve given those horny assholes long enough, shall we?” I ask, but I already have my door open and I am rounding the car before she can protest, because I need to get away from her before I do something stupid, like kiss her.

I open her car door and usher her across the road in silence, letting my eyes trail over the building I now own. Aside from the fact that it’s a good investment, I’m glad that in the next couple of weeks she will be at home in a building that is nicer andsafer. Once we reach the door, I guide her through it and let it close behind me. After tonight there will be a guard on the door between the hours of 7 PM and 7 AM, which gives me a little peace of mind about her coming and going alone. It’s not like I can find an excuse to walk her home every night, I’m not her boyfriend.

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