Second Down (Moving the Chains Book 2) (23 page)

              I hand his phone back. “If you don’t do it for her, then why are you doing it for me?”

              He plants a kiss on my forehead before palming one of the keycards from the desk by the door. “Because you’re mine to take care of. Get comfortable, and I’ll be back soon.”

              The door closes behind him with a soft snick, leaving me to wonder how in the hell I’m supposed to follow his directions. Neither of us planned for this. I don’t have my glasses or contact supplies, no makeup remover. Thank God Rob always keeps a duffel bag of gym clothes in his car, and brought it into the room when we checked in.

              I rifle through the contents, picking out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that at least have a drawstring for me to adjust to my much smaller size.

              By the time I’ve done the best I can scrubbing the layers of makeup off my face and shedding the gown and jewelry Rob picked out for me, my cramps are in full force. It takes every ounce of energy I possess to make it to the bed before crashing face-first onto the comforter.

              I wonder if I’m lying in other people’s love juice?

              The sound of the door unlocking propels me into action. I leap from the bed and huddle down in the corner, my heart beating out of my chest.

              “Evie?” Rob’s voice is accompanied by the rustle of plastic bags.

              I rise from my position and shrug at him. He gets it. I don’t have to explain.

              He frowns, but doesn’t comment further on the topic before dumping his haul onto the mattress. “They didn’t have any of the chocolate that you like, so I didn’t even bother. But, I got the pads you wanted and some…tampons? It seemed like the aisle was divided in half, so I wanted to be sure. There’s some ibuprofen here for your cramps, and…”

              I cut him off by throwing my arms around his solid chest. “Why are you so perfect?”

              “I’m not,” he answers sharply, but throws his arm around me anyway. “
You’re
perfect, so it might be affecting me through osmosis.”

              Even his geeky comebacks are perfection.

              I snatch the pads from the bag. The toilet paper I lined in my underwear has got to go. Sure, it works for emergencies, but comfortable it is not. “I don’t use tampons, but I’ll give them to Jess or Alyssa. They thank you for your contribution to their comfort in advance.”

              “If they’re more comfortable, why don’t you use them?” he calls as I close the bathroom door behind me.

              “Because they make my cramps worse,” I yell back. “I’ve never been able to wear them.”

              Nope. Instead I get stuck with the adult female equivalent of diapers for a week. But, did Rob really need to know all of that? Damn him and his ability to make me feel completely comfortable in his presence.

              He hands me a bottle of water and the ibuprofen the moment I step out. “I also got some stuff so you can take out your contacts. I know you don’t have your glasses, but I thought you might need it. And some toothbrushes and toothpaste, too.”

              A grin threatens to erupt on my face even as I gulp down a few pills. Is there a chance that he was planning for a heavy make-out session with fresh breath in between all this atypical thoughtfulness?

              My question is answered rather swiftly by the time we’re lying in bed together…on opposite side of the mattress.

              Rob sighs and huffs every few seconds, squirming on his back while I watch him from my position on my stomach. I don’t usually sleep like this, but my cramps demand it. The pillow threatens to suffocate me, so I adjust it until giving up and pushing it out of the way.

              “Can’t get comfortable?” Rob rolls his head in my direction.

              “Nope, but I think my reasons are obvious. What’s your problem?”

              He tugs at the collar of his t-shirt. “I don’t…normally sleep with a shirt on. I feel like it’s choking me.”

              “You had a shirt on when we camped last week.”

              “Yeah.”

              “It didn’t seem to bother you then.”

              “Why can’t you get comfortable? Is the ibuprofen not helping your cramps?”

              I let the subject change slide. “It can only do so much. The first few days I normally use a heating pad to help.”

              “That bad, huh?” Even in the dark, I notice his furrowed brow. “I can do that.”

              “Do what?”

              “I can be your heating pad. I’m fucking sweating. Come here.”

              He opens his arms, but remains on his back. Is this an invitation to be on top of him? Part of me gags at the thought since I’m riding the red wave, but…he’s been so patient and understanding, I can give him this. Plus, his idea just might work.

              “On one condition,” I hesitate before mounting. “Take off your shirt.”

              “No. It’s fine. I’ll deal.” His clipped response doesn’t sound remotely confident.

              “You want me to be comfortable, and I want you to be. Besides, I’m going to make you feel much hotter.”

              Was that my voice? Were those my words? I suck at flirting and sexual innuendo.

              Rob groans as if he agrees with my thoughts, but sits up and tugs off his shirt. “All right. You win. I’m comfortable. Your turn.”

              His skin really is hot to the touch as I awkwardly position myself on his chest. I have every intention of heating things up further, but ohhhh. Oh, God. The relief is so good. The perfect pressure and warmth to finish the job the meds couldn’t tackle. I melt into him.

              “I’m sorry things didn’t go very well tonight,” I mumble. There’s no way I can move now.

              His knuckles run their familiar course up and down my spine as his other hand splays over my lower back. The chuckle that rumbles through his chest is the cherry on top. “Are you kidding? Best night of my life.”

              I don’t even care if he’s lying for my benefit. Right now, I feel like the luckiest girl in the whole world.

              “I love you.” I’m too drowsy to censor my internal monologue.

              “Mmm.” He squeezes me and plants a kiss on top of my head. “I love you, too, my Evie. Always have and always will.”

              Not only did he not freak out over my girlish brain-vomit, but he reciprocated like it was the most natural thing in the world. Yeah. I really do have the perfect boyfriend.

Chapter 25

A Beautiful Lie

Rob

              “How’s Evie?” Alex pulls a clean shirt over his head, then slams his locker closed before dropping down onto a bench to wait for me to finish packing up.

              The locker room clears out a little faster every night as we make the final push to the State Championships. We won the Regional Finals by a slim margin, so the State Semi Finals this weekend has everyone’s nerves on edge. Coach is riding our asses harder than ever. By the end of brutal after-school practices, everyone just wants to go home and ice their sore muscles.

              I’d like to see my girlfriend other than at school. But, as the captain of the team, my ass is always the last one out the door every night. Thank God for CJ and Margie keeping an eye on her at the diner, because I haven’t had much time to be there lately.

              The most I’ve managed to do in the boyfriend department is make sure there’s a red rose and cupcake on her locker once a week. She still hasn’t been able to gather the courage to run again, so we compromised to curb her sugar intake. And dates? I just haven’t had the energy or free time.

              At least tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so we’ll have the whole day together. And then it’s back to the grind.

              “You talk to her as much as I do. She’s fine.” I make one last pass around the locker room to check that everything’s in order. Trevor left his cell phone behind, so I pick it up and grumble to myself about having to make another stop before I can head home. “She’s a little annoyed about her whole family converging on her house for dinner tomorrow, but at least none of my family could make it in, so she doesn’t have to worry about meeting the rest of the Falls clan.”

              And sadly, there’s no one left on my mom’s side of the family to introduce her to. Pops and Mamaw would have loved Evie.

              “That’s not what I meant, but good deflection,” Alex chuckles.

              I hoist my backpack over my shoulder and face him. “What did you mean? I wasn’t deflecting.”

              Alex falls in step beside me as we make our way through the eerily-quiet corridors of the school’s athletic wing. “I meant…
how
is she? You’ve been in a funk this past month, man. No one else has noticed that I know of, but you’re not lifting as much, your game is still off. So, what’s going on? You got the girl. The only thing that could be messing with your head now is how the girl treats you.”

              I shoot him a confused glare. “She treats me fine. What do you think? She
abuses
me?”

              “You use that word a lot. Fine. In my experience when someone says everything is fine, that’s the last thing they really mean.”

              “Your experience is with rejected girls who you’ve banged and left behind.” I might still be a little bitter about him dumping Rachel, but I’m honestly proud of myself for not ripping him a new asshole over it. Evie was right; Rachel knew what she was getting into, and she seems okay with everything. Mostly “I’m
fine
. Evie’s
fine
. Everything is…
fine
.”

              He sticks his tongue in his cheek, but other than that his expression remains even. “Yeah, and when I have a steady fuck buddy, I’m not tense all the time the way you are. I know you. You’re off, Falls. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else catches on, especially with the Championship coming up.”

              It might be dark in the parking lot, but surely he sees my face turning red with anger. I’ve been busting my ass for this team. And it hasn’t been easy. Trying to look like I’m on top of my game while making sure I don’t add any more bulk to scare my girlfriend requires careful balance. I’ve barely managed to drop fifteen pounds of muscle mass without losing speed on drills.

              “Look,” he huffs. “You’re not me. I get it. And yeah, I know Evie’s your first because I’m your best friend and never believed you were fucking your way through Ironville like the rumors claimed. And I also know her assault was more than it seems to everyone else. So, one of two things is going on here: you’re either afraid to touch her, and it’s frustrating you so much that you can’t concentrate on anything else, or you’re banging so often because neither of you can get enough, and you’re exhausted. Which is it?”

              I stop my forward motion so fast that my backpack slides off my shoulder. The only thing keeping my fist from connecting with his face is utter shock. “What?”

              “I don’t wanna get all girly with you and have a heart to heart, but since I have more experience, I can help you deal before your performance really tanks and screws the whole team over. I just need you to tell me which scenario we’re addressing here.”

              I pull off my best fish impersonation as my mind throws around potential responses, only to delete them again. Honestly, I’ve been so busy and exhausted this past month that I haven’t even consciously thought about anything Alex is saying. The asshole has just reminded me of everything that’s been all too easy to forget.

              “That’s not what’s going on.” I resume walking toward my car. “I’ve barely even had time to see Evie. It’s not an issue.”

              “Who the fuck are you?”

              “What’s that supposed to mean?” I’m barely controlling myself at this point, but if he’s looking for a fight, I’ll give it to him.

              “The Rob Falls I know would not barely see his girlfriend, no matter what else is going on. You wanted her for years. You finally got her. And now you don’t even see her? Come off it, man. You know you can talk to me.”

              The Lady beeps as I press the button on the fob a little too hard. “I thought you didn’t wanna have a girly heart to heart?”

              Alex plants a firm hand on my shoulder and spins me to face him. “You’re like a brother to me, Rob. I know what happened to Evie wrecked you. I just figured it was all in the past now, but I guess I was wrong. What’s going on?”