Page 51 of Beautiful Beginning

“But” her words were soft, “your parents. Your brother. Taylor.”

I shook my head. “I don’t care.” And I didn’t. “But I’ll do my best to not make you scream.”

She grabbed a pillow and pulled it to her face. I wriggled down to her feet and pulled her boots off one at a time. Then tugged her out of her jeans until I saw the lace of her panties. The bright red reminded me off all the red bows decorating the house. “Christmas panties, huh?”

I flicked them to the side and swiped my tongue against her folds. “This is the best gift I could unwrap.” I honored my promise, keeping my licks and sucks at a minimum, taking my time to build the intensity. And when I felt her body squirm, I eased away.

Except, that led to her begging, “Please, Chaz,” until I gave her what she needed. She pulled the pillow further over her face as moans rippled through her body.

When she settled, I found a condom in my wallet. Stripped out of my clothes and hovered over her body. I moved the pillow enough to stare into Journey’s eyes. “I love you too, Journey.” It could have been like the whispered invite Carter gave to Taylor. Something I’d regret the next day, but in that moment, it was everything I wanted to say to her. I wanted her to know she wasn’t the only one catching strong feelings. Despite the unknown, I did know that.

She tugged on the back of my neck until our lips greeted each other. Her tongue eased into my mouth as I eased into her. And for as long as I was inside of her, our tongues tangled.

By the time my body released, I was breathless. I laid beside her and rested my hand over my eyes.

“I’m glad I came.”

My eyes popped open, and I winked, “I’m glad you came too.”

ChapterTwenty-Three

Journey

The ball bouncing back and forth down the court reminded me of my relationship with Chaz. Before Christmas we were down. During Christmas we made our way back up. And after, it felt like a slow decline.

Chaz was busy with SGA, and everything else occupied my time. I didn’t realize the last semester of classes would be brutal. Studying took on a new perspective, and I couldn’t wait until the end was near.

Except, the end of the semester could mean… I didn’t want to finish the thought. It pained me to think about our relationship ending.

“Go, Bobcats.” Nia yelled beside me. I should have yelled along with her as the team scored another two points. But I couldn’t focus. Not with only two hours of sleep the night before, and with a night of studying ahead of me. Coach would be in my ass for not beingpresent.But did it matter? The cheer season was almost over. My cheering days would be behind me.

I clapped my hands along with the team. The crowd behind us in a roar after more points posted on the board. I scanned the crowd looking for Chaz. He planned to be at the game. Like me though, he had a lot on his plate. I didn’t doubt he found a quiet corner of the bleachers and sat with a textbook wide open.

The scoreboard had a few minutes remaining, and I couldn’t wait for them to dwindle down so I could get out of there. Escape the gym and get back to my books. The quicker I could get into them, the faster I could steal a couple hours of sleep.

“Let’s go, Bobcats.” Feet stomped beside me, and I joined in. I caught the beat and clapped my hands without paying attention to much else.

Across the gym, I saw a guy shuffling down the bleachers. Before the doors swung open, I caught a glimpse of Chaz’s face.Where is he going?Around me phones started vibrating. Voices started whispering. Loud gasps all around us.

“What happened?” I looked at Nia. “Why is everyone on their phone?” I looked up at the scoreboard to see how much longer we had in the game.

“I don’t know.” Nia nudged her chin toward coach. “But we need to stay in the game, or she’ll have a field day with us at practice tomorrow.”

I yelled, “Two points, give us some more,” for good measure and smiled in coach’s direction. Then under my breath I mumbled, “Game’s almost over. She shouldn’t worry about us.”

“Except,” Nia mumbled in response, “you know she is.” Then she leaned back. “What happened?” she whispered to the girl sitting behind us on the bleachers. “Why is everyone checking their phones?”

“State announced budget cuts for the school?” Then she added, “And they are big.”

“What?” That was a little louder than I intended. Caught coach’s side gaze and a finger point. A subtle warning that let me know tomorrow would be worse than today. Little sleep and running drills.Great.

“We are about to graduate.” Nia shrugged. “That’s somebody else’s problem.”

My eyes widened and the girl behind us smacked her lips so hard it echoed louder than the game buzzer.

“Nia, girl. Insensitive much?” I looked between her and the girl who made her way down the bleachers. “Besides what if they impact this semester.”

Her smirk turned into a scowl. “You think that’s possible?”

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