Dominate (University of Gatica #5) (3 page)

“Alright, I’ll go, but I don’t want to.”

“I know, that’s what makes it worth it.” Aileen jumped into Tyler’s arms and kissed him one last time, rubbing her body against his, letting herself feel his body against hers before dropping to the floor. Kissing his cheek and stepping back, she reached out for his hand and dragged him out of her bedroom.

Leading him to her back door, sliding it open and pushing him out onto the back porch, she smiled cheerfully. “I’m sorry I have to kick you out.”

“Maybe one day soon, I’ll stay over.” That thought made him smile. Yeah, maybe when everything else was done they would have time for a relationship, instead of whatever they had was.

“Sounds like a deal.”

Tyler nodded and headed back around the house to his car, slipping into the driver’s seat and pulling out of the driveway before Jani showed up.

Aileen ran through the house to watch Tyler pull away. She wished she’d agreed to him staying. She just wasn’t sure where they stood. When his car disappeared and she sighed, and slowly returned to her the kitchen and the abandoned dishes, finishing them up just as Jani walked in.

“That smells amazing!” the tall Canadian girl enthused. “Please tell me there’s more of that and you’re going to share!”

She turned wide brown eyes on Aileen, who laughed. “Yeah. There’s more of it. It’s in the crock pot. Help yourself.”

Jani clapped her hands together and them pounced on Aileen, hugging her tight. “You’re amazing,” she said as she stepped back, moving immediately toward the crock pot. “And possibly the best housemate ever. And I will totally make you some kind of food sometime to make up for it.”

Aileen giggled. “You don’t have to make it up to me. Just eat. Enjoy.”

She left her roommate standing over the crock pot and went back to her room. Her books were sitting on her desk, still closed, and she stared at them, trying to motivate herself. She really should do homework. How was she supposed to concentrate on school work with the smell of Tyler and what they just did in the air?

With a sigh, she sat down in the desk chair and pulled her chemistry book over, opening it to the chapter they were working on. Might as well at least make an attempt to be productive.

There was an energy to meets that practice just couldn’t match, no matter how hard Aileen tried to imitate it when she was training. Something about having an audience brought out the best in her. The competitive nature inside of her exploded when she lined up with other athletes in the blocks. Even just the presence of other track events was enough to push her that little bit farther. That little bit harder. But having a full audience sitting in the stands, screaming and cheering for their favorite athletes, made her feet positively fly.

Standing behind the blocks, she pulled her foot up to her glute, stretching out the muscles, and then repeated with the other leg. She bounced a little on the balls of her feet and shook out her hands.

This meet was important. If she ran well, she could qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, and she had every intention of making sure she did so. She was a freshman and, man, she wanted to tear up the track. Make people look twice as she whizzed past them. She looked down the stretch of the track as the announcer made his broadcasts over the loudspeaker, his booming voice echoing in the high spaces of the indoor track. Tyler would run next, in the men’s race, and she was looking forward to watching him run, watching that gorgeous body tear down the track.

Aileen put the images that conjured up out of her mind. She didn’t have time to pine for Tyler. She had her own race to focus on.

The starter called them to their marks, and Aileen took her place in the blocks, crouched low. On either side, her rivals did the same.

She steadied herself, and waited for the sound of the starting gun.

Bang!

Aileen threw herself into the race, her focus on the hurdles ahead.

This was what she had been born to do. To feel the ground falling away under her feet as she chased the specter of victory down the track. Her breath came steady and even as her legs propelled her toward the next obstacle. She pushed off and for an instant she flew, hearing the roar of the crowd in her ears.

They swept into the last section of the race. Out of the corner of her eye, Aileen could see one of the NYU girls right on her heels, and she stretched her legs a little longer. Pushed herself a little harder, every muscle straining.

Across the finish line, and she took two more long strides, gradually slowing to a jog. She could hear several voices shouting her name, and she turned enough to see a small group of the other Gatica track athletes in the infield. Jani and Chrissy were jumping up and down, and Aileen waved back at them. Tyler, who was warming up for his race, looked at her across the distance between them, smiling like he was proud of her, and Aileen felt her knees go weak.

“And there you have it, folks,” the announcer was saying. “Another win and a new meet record for Miss Aileen Nessa from the University of Gatica, last year’s Junior Nationals winner and World Junior Champion. Doesn’t she make it look easy? That finals time means that she’ll be heading to the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, so make sure you look for her there.”

The crowd cheered again, and Aileen gave a little victory fist pump she thought they’d appreciate, her mouth stretched wide in a smile. With one last wave for the little group of Gatica athletes, she hurried to them to get a good spot to watch the finals for the men’s hurdles.

***

“Are you sure this was a good idea?” Aileen asked, ducking out of the way of someone’s elbow as they moved past a group of already-drunk students cheering each other on at a beer pong table.

“Absolutely!” Jani answered. “Trust me, Aileen, this is a party you can’t miss. And Tyler’s here, so I know you want to be.”

She did want to be. She’d already congratulated him on his own qualification for the championships. Just like her, he’d finished his race in NCAA qualifying time, leaving the competition thoroughly in the dust.

Aileen’s roommate hooked a hand around her arm and dragged her out of the way of one of the shot- putters, who wasn’t paying any attention to where he was going with a very full cup of something violently orange.

“Besides,” Jani added, “this is our party. We made it! Indoor championships here we come!”

“Okay,” Aileen laughed as her best friend whooped. “You’re right.”

There were other places she would rather have been with Tyler. Like back in her own bed, where she could congratulate him properly. And thoroughly. But Jani was right. She couldn’t exactly miss a party being thrown for the track athletes. Especially not when she was one of the small group who’d just qualified for the NCAA’s Indoors.

“I’ll grab us drinks,” Jani said as they emerged from the tangle of people into the relatively more open space of the living room.

Aileen waved her off and watched her go, then turned to scan the room for Tyler. There was no sign of him, and she wondered if he was there already, hidden behind someone or in another room, or if he was later than they were. She did spot Chrissy, and waved to the blond heptathlete, who didn’t seem to notice.

She did catch the eye of Mindy, the sprint hurdler Chrissy had practically kicked out of the party Aileen and Jani had thrown at their house at the beginning of the school year for ignoring Aileen. The other girl sneered at her and turned away, and Aileen sighed. Apparently they still weren’t going to be friends. Which was fine with her. She didn’t see any need to attempt conversation with someone who treated her own teammates like competition.

Hands slid over her eyes from behind, and Aileen startled, nearly tripping over the person at her back.

“What the heck?” she demanded. “Sean. Stop that.”

The big hands immediately withdrew with an almost guilty air.

“How’d you know it was me?” Sean asked, stepping back enough that he could look down at her with big blue puppy dog eyes.

“Because it’s not all that hard to pick you out of a line-up when you’re a giraffe trapped in a human body,” Jani said, reappearing at Aileen’s side.

Sean clapped a hand to his heart like he'd just been mortally wounded. “I resent that statement. Maybe I’m a giraffe willingly contained in a human body and making the most of my short time with opposable thumbs.”

“You can—” Jani paused as Sean went on. “Willingly contained. Really?”

“Like you’re one to talk, gazelle legs,” Aileen teased, taking the drink that Jani was holding out to her, and scanning the room again for Tyler. Where was he?

“Now that’s just uncalled for.”

“What goes around comes around,” Sean said, still looking aggrieved. “You brought it on yourself.”

Jani protested, shaking her head. “That wasn’t an insult; giraffes are awesome.”

“And gazelles aren’t? You’re being anti-gazelle,” Sean said. “Gazelle-ist. That’s rude.”

Aileen’s roommate opened her mouth to answer, and dissolved into giggles, obviously unable to match Sean’s ridiculousness. “Okay,” she laughed. “Fine. You win. Gazelles are awesome, too.”

“Thank you.” He sounded smug. “And for the record, I never said that giraffes aren’t awesome.”

Shaking her head at her friends, Aileen turned again, and her restless gaze finally caught on Tyler, making his way through the crowd. A smile broke out on her face, and she lifted a hand to catch his attention. Behind her, Sean was listing the potential reasons why a giraffe might fancy being human for a while, and Jani was listening raptly.

“Looking for me?” Tyler asked as he finally managed to break out of the crowd, his name being cried out each time he passed another person. He joined them in their corner. The smile on his handsome face was bright against the brown of his skin.

She couldn’t help smiling back at him. “I was, actually,” she answered, shifting a little closer to the warmth of his body, the scent of his cologne coiling around her.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her in against his side, and Aileen sighed blissfully. It was nice to be acknowledged. Nice to be enough of a couple that they could be open in front of their friends.

“What?” Tyler asked. “Didn’t get enough of me at the track?”

“As I recall,” she returned, “you were kind of left in my dust there.”

Tyler laughed. “You’re so cute when you try to trash-talk.”

Aileen turned to look at him, her eyebrows lifted dangerously.

“Oh man,” Sean laughed. “I think you really stepped in it now, dude.”

“Do you still want me to kill him for you?” Tyler asked, and Sean fell silent with an audible gulp, his eyes wide.

“Don't kill Sean,” Aileen said. She reached up to pat the tall cross-country runner on the shoulder. “Don't worry, sweetie. There are no actual plans to murder you.”

“Well that's a relief, because—”

“Although,” Tyler cut in, his voice just teasing enough to not be mean, but his eyes and his attention focused on Aileen in a way that made her legs abruptly threaten to give out. “You might want to relocate. Somewhere else.”

Aileen felt Sean look at her, and turned to give him a smile. “Go on, then. Find some cute girl to take home.”

“I'll go with you, Sean,” Jani said. “Help you pick someone. Heaven knows you're helpless on your own.” She hooked her arm through Sean's and the two left together, already whispering as their eyes moved over the room.

“So,” Tyler said when they were more or less alone, secluded in an empty corner of the room. “What do you want to do now?”

Aileen looked out at the groups on the dance floor, and she smiled slowly. Her finger linked with Tyler's, and she tugged him in that direction. He went willingly, although he chuckled when he saw where they were going.

“Trying to beat me at something else?”

“You know it.”

They stepped out onto the floor, and the song shifted to something with a low, heavy bass. Tyler's smile was a little dangerous. He wrapped himself around her from behind, hands resting on her hips, and pulled her in close. Aileen went with it easily, sinking back against the strong support of his warm chest.

“How's this?” he asked in her ear, his breath washing over her skin, and Aileen felt heat coil in her belly.

“This is just fine,” she answered, picking up the rhythm of the music and swaying with it. “This is great.”

He rolled his hips against hers, and then his hands and his body were slipping away, and he turned her to face him, body moving to the beat. Aileen watched with a grin.

“So you do know how to dance?”

Tyler gave her a look that said he knew what she was doing. “I happen to be a great dancer.”

And he was. Aileen had taken pretty much every type of dance class there was, and she was sure Tyler hadn't, but a lot of the boys she'd danced with when she was younger would have killed for his obvious talent. He moved like the rhythm was part of him, and Aileen stepped in closer to join him, throwing in a few moves that she remembered from the lessons.

“You're not so bad yourself,” Tyler said, and his voice was pitched a little low on the words, rough in a way that she knew meant he was thinking about them in bed as much as she was.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, body rolling against his in a way that was just short of indecent, and his hands settled on her hips. Outside of sports she wasn't usually this bold, wouldn't have shown herself off the way that she was if Tyler hadn't been there to show off for. But she wanted to impress him, and she got the sense it was working. She smiled against his shoulder.

They split apart again, Aileen dancing away from Tyler and making him follow, which he did more than willingly.

“Congratulations, by the way,” she said, raising her voice a little to be heard over the music as they came back together. “I know I already told you, but I think you deserved to hear it at least one more time. You ran a great race.”

“Not quite as great as yours,” Tyler answered, grinning at her. “I think you wowed a few people pretty well. Those NYU girls didn’t know what hit them.”

“And both of us will be running at the indoor championships,” Aileen added.

“Congratulations, us.” Tyler pulled her a little closer with his hands on her hips, brushing a kiss against the curve of her jaw just under her ear. “What do you say we go home and celebrate a little later?”

“That’s exactly the kind of celebration I was thinking.”

The next song was slower, and Aileen let her weight sink a little closer against Tyler, both of them swaying to the music. She enjoyed the faster songs, and the dancing that came with them, but this was nice, too. Wrapped in Tyler’s arms. Held secure. She laid her head against his shoulder and let her eyes slide shut.

When the song ended, Aileen slipped out of his embrace, giving him an apologetic smile. “Have to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

Tyler nodded, and she made her way through the shifting crowds of students to the bathroom, glancing at herself in the mirror over the sink as she closed the door. Her cheeks were a little red, flushed with having been so close to Tyler. She wrapped up quickly, washing her hands in cool water and then pressing them to her cheeks, taking some of the heat out of them.

When she walked back out into the main room, Tyler was still on the dance floor, and she took a moment to just watch him, admiring the way he moved. On the track or off it, he was all fluid muscle, perfectly in control of his body.