Summer Fling (Players of Marycliff University Book 1) (16 page)

They made love in the darkness of his room, slow and sweet, until they lay shuddering in each other's arms.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Abby grimaced at the bitter taste of her coffee. She dumped two more spoonfuls of sugar into her mug and moved to the refrigerator, hoping to find some cream but willing to settle for milk.

Moving aside beer bottles and peering behind take out containers that had been in there for God only knew how long, she sighed. No cream. She bent down to the bottom shelf to get the milk. And it was empty. Great.

A wolf whistle from behind had her straightening up to see who it was. Chris leaned against the kitchen counter in shorts and a faded t-shirt, arms crossed so his biceps bulged against the fabric, his short sandy blonde hair sticking up like he'd just gotten out of bed. He stood there eyeing her up and down. She looked up at him and rolled her eyes, giving him a playful smack on the arm. "You're out of milk." She thrust the empty jug into his hands, kicked the refrigerator door closed, and retrieved her coffee mug from the counter next to him.

Lance's roommates had started playfully harassing her when she began staying over a couple weeks ago after her car had broken down. Lance had fixed her car that weekend as promised. Since then she'd started sleeping at his house at night, and he'd take her to work in the mornings. She walked back to her apartment after work, and he'd pick her up there. Sometimes they'd stay and have dinner with Megan. Other times they'd go out, or just go hang out at his place. Going home after work meant she could get a fresh change of clothes to bring over for the next day.

Chris set the jug on the counter and eyed her some more as she brought the coffee mug to her lips. She stopped just before the rim of the mug touched her mouth. "What? Do I have something on my face? Is my hair all crazy? Why are you looking at me like that?

He laughed, hazel eyes squinting with amusement. "No, you look fine. I just don't normally see you drink coffee. And you had this look on your face like you were about to taste something disgusting."

"I was. This coffee. There's no cream or milk in the house, so I'm forced to drink my coffee with only sugar to temper the bitterness."

Chris laughed some more. "Why are you drinking coffee if you don't like it?"

She shrugged. "I'm tired. I need some caffeine to jump start my brain."

He shot her a knowing grin. "Lance keep you up late last night?"

Her face heated, and not just from the steam rising from her mug. She could deal with the wolf whistles and the eyeballing Chris and Matt gave her without blushing. She knew they were just messing around. They didn't mean anything by their harmless flirting and checking her out. They did it to mess with Lance, who got growly and felt the need to touch her any time they did it in front of him. The knowing looks they gave her, especially in the mornings, always made her blush. She just couldn't help it.

Not needing an answer, Chris turned and snagged a mug out of the cabinet by the sink so he could pour himself some coffee.
 

Abby moved out of his way, taking her coffee to the table so she could choke it down. "What are you doing up so early, Chris? I don't usually see you before work."

He swallowed his mouthful of coffee. Abby shuddered on the inside. The man drank it black. She didn't know how he could stand it. Chris gestured to the pile of boxes by the back door that she hadn't noticed until now. "I was getting those. Today was the produce delivery at the grocery store, and you have to get there in the morning to get the boxes before they break them down."

"Why do you need produce boxes?"

Chris sat down at the table across from her. "They're for Lance."

She scrunched her brows together, still not catching on. "Okay. Why does Lance need produce boxes?"

Chris gave her a funny look. "He's moving in a few weeks. Going back to Texas. You knew that, right?"

"Oh. Right. Yeah. I guess I didn't realize it was close enough to need boxes already."

"Our lease is up the beginning of August. His name is the main one on the lease right now, so Matt and I have to decide who's going to take over as the primary and find someone else to take Lance's place."

"But it's still June. August is ages away."

"Abby, it's July second. Remember, we're having the barbecue on Saturday for the Fourth of July? I guess you do need that coffee."
 

Abby blinked at him, but didn't say anything. How had time gotten away from her? And why was she so upset about Chris bringing boxes for Lance? She knew he was leaving in August. She just hadn't known that it was at the beginning of the month instead of the end.

She tried to cover her obvious shock with a smile and forced a laugh. "See? That's why I'm choking down this coffee. I don't even know what day it is."

Chris laughed a little with her, but she could tell by the concerned look on his face that he wasn't buying it. Shit. He set his mug on the table, turning it in his hands a few times before looking at her again. "Abby, Lance—"

She jumped up, cutting him off. "Hey, it was good talking to you. Thanks for reminding me about the barbecue. I guess that means I don't have to go to work tomorrow, huh?" She slammed back the rest of her coffee and rinsed her mug out before setting it in the sink.
 

She didn't look at Chris again, but felt his eyes on her as she walked back to Lance's room to finish getting ready for the day.

* * *

Lance knocked a couple times and let himself into Abby's apartment. "Hey, Megan. How's it going?"

Megan looked up from her seat on the couch where she was watching TV.

"Good. You?"

"Good. Haven't seen you much this week."

"Yeah, I'm temping at a different office this week. It's farther away and doesn't close until five thirty, so you guys are usually gone by the time I get home."

"Cool. You're coming over for the barbecue on Saturday, right?"

"Yup. I'll be there. Is it okay if I bring a friend?"

Lance shrugged. "Sure. The more the merrier. We'll have plenty of food and beer." He pointed toward Abby's door. "She in there?"

Megan nodded. "Yeah. She's in kind of a funny mood, though. Be warned."

"Thanks for the tip." He flashed Megan a grin before heading in to see Abby. He drummed his fingers against the cheap wood as he opened it, not wanting to intrude without warning.
 

Abby sat at her desk, staring at her laptop screen and messing with her lower lip. She turned to look at him when he came in. "Hi." She turned back to her screen.

He walked over and kissed the top of her head. She closed out of an email, so he took advantage of the stopping point and tipped her head up to kiss her mouth. She returned the kiss, sighing into his mouth, and he couldn't help sliding his tongue past her lips, just for a moment.
 

He broke the kiss before it could go too much further and sat on her bed. "So, do you want to do dinner with Megan tonight, or just head out?"
 

Abby started fidgeting and reached a hand to her mouth. She had turned her body in her chair to face him, but was looking at his chest instead of his face. "I was thinking I'd sleep here tonight."
 

Lance was confused. "Why?"

She sighed, meeting his eye finally. "I'm tired. I didn't get very much sleep last night."
 

He cracked a wide grin and she blushed. He laughed when he saw the red creep into her cheeks. "Tomorrow's a day off, though. We can sleep in."
 

Her face only grew more red when he pitched his voice low on the last part. "I need to do laundry."

"Okay, we can come back tomorrow and do laundry after breakfast before we go to the store to get everything for the barbecue." Abby just shook her head, not meeting his eye again. "Are you expecting Megan to have a hangover? You can just bring your laundry to my place if you want to let her sleep it off in peace."

When she just sat staring at the wall over his shoulder, he reached forward and caught her by the hand. "Come here." With gentle but persistent tugging he coaxed Abby out of her chair and onto his lap. He kissed her until she relaxed against him. "So, what's the matter? Laundry is your excuse when you don't want to spend time with me." She buried her head in his shoulder, still not meeting his eye. He ran his hands down her back. "Abby, seriously, what's wrong? I'm starting to get a little worried here."

He felt her sigh against him, and then she sat back, finally meeting his eyes. "I just, I feel like I need to stay in my apartment at least some of the time. I mean, I pay rent here, but I'm barely here. I make a pit stop in the afternoon. Sometimes we hang with Megan for a couple hours, but I'm pretty much always at your house."

"Okay." Lance drew the word out, still feeling like he was missing something. "Are Chris and Matt giving you shit for being at our place so much?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that."

He searched her face, trying to figure out what was going on. "I know they like to check you out and stuff, but they don't mean anything by it. They're just goofing around. I can tell them to knock it off if it's bothering you."

Abby laughed a little at that and Lance relaxed slightly, hoping that meant she'd either tell him what the real problem was or just let it go and come home with him. "No. I know they're just joking around. They do it to get a reaction out of you."

He smiled. "So if it's not them, what's the problem? Tomorrow's a holiday, we have a three day weekend. I could maybe get it if you had to go to work tomorrow or something, even though that hasn't stopped you so far. I thought we were having fun."
 

She sighed, sounding defeated, and looked at the ceiling. He waited while she gathered her thoughts. "You're leaving in a month, Lance." She said it so quietly, he almost didn't hear her.

He tightened his arms around her. "I know."

She looked at him, her eyes roving over his face. "I didn't."

"What?"

She pushed at his chest and he released her, letting her stand and put distance between them. "I didn't know you were leaving that soon. Chris told me this morning after he brought in boxes for you."

He ran a hand over his face. "Is that why you were so quiet this morning after you had your coffee?" She nodded. "I told you when we met that I was going back to Texas in August."

"I thought it was later. I thought we had—" She waved a hand, cutting herself off. "I just didn't realize it was so soon. You didn't tell me when in August. It caught me by surprise."

"Okay. I get that. But why does that make you not want to stay at my place tonight? How does it change anything?"

"Why didn't you tell me when you were leaving?" She stood in front of him with her arms crossed, her posture defensive and challenging at the same time.

Lance pressed his lips together and rubbed his hand over his mouth. "I didn't not tell you on purpose. I told you I'd be leaving in August. At the time I didn't think the date was important. I try not to think about it if I don't have to. I don't want to go back home and work in my dad's shop. It's what he wants, not me."

She dropped her arms, coming back to stand in front of him. She hugged him to her chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm sorry. You never told me you didn't want to go."
 

He shrugged, arms still around her. He pulled back to look into her face. "Like I said, I don't like to talk about it or think about it if I don't have to. My mom's weekly phone calls are reminder enough."

Abby ran her hands through his hair and kissed him. "Okay."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Okay, what?"

She smiled. "Okay, I'll bring my laundry to your place. I'm assuming I won't be back here anyway, so that way I'll at least have clothes to wear all weekend."

Relief more powerful than he'd expected washed over him. He stood up and kissed her, but she broke away before he could take it very far.

She opened her bedroom door and poked her head out. "Hey, Megs!"

"Yeah!" The response was a little muffled, meaning that Megan must be in her bedroom across the hall with her door closed.
 

"You want to do dinner with Lance and me tonight?"

Her door opened and her head full of brown curls popped out. "Nah. I'm going to a party with Isaac in a little while. You kids go have fun."

"Still hanging out with Isaac? Interesting." Lance could hear the undisguised speculation in Abby's voice.

Megan made a derisive noise. "We're just friends, Abs. Just because you have some hot guy banging your brains out doesn't mean everyone does."
 

Lance snorted, trying hard to muffle his laughter. Abby pulled her head back in and glared at him before turning back to Megan once more. "If Isaac's an example of how your guy friends treat you, I wonder what he'd have to do to be your boyfriend."

Lance watched Abby duck as a flip flop sailed into her room. "That was
one time
, Abby. Just one time."
 

Abby just laughed. "If you say so. Have fun, tonight. I'll see you on Saturday if I don't see you sooner."

"You staying with Lance all weekend, hoochie?"

Lance was more successful smothering his laughter this time. Abby still narrowed her eyes at him, though.

"My sources say yes."
 

Lance grinned, glad he'd convinced her, but unwilling to examine why it mattered so much.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Despite all the time Abby had been spending at Lance's house, she hadn't spent much time in the back yard before the Fourth of July party. There was a covered concrete patio just big enough to hold the grill and a couple chairs.
 

Abby brought out bowls of chips to set next to the cut fruit and burger fixings that were on a folding table in the grass. There were two coolers filled with water and ice, one holding a variety of beers, and the other with sodas.
 

Lance reached around her, setting down a stack of paper plates and napkins. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.