The Same Side (University Park #2) (6 page)

Raven’s jaw protruded and his nostril’s flared. He sucked in a deep breath. “Whatever.”

“Come on, let’s go,” Abby said. “He wants to play with Suzy Homemaker.”

The comment irked me. Maybe because I knew that was what my parents were grooming me for — at least when I was engaged to Collin. I had to remind myself that that description no longer fit me. I might have looked homely and innocent, but deep down, my alter ego was dying to be unleashed.

“Sorry you had to hear that.” Raven pivoted me so we faced each other. I watched over his shoulder as the Silicone Triplets trotted off. I hated that Raven had slept with so many girls. It definitely complicated things between us. Was I even good enough for him? Was I that stupid to think he wanted to be with me?

I stared at the ground. “Look, Raven. I’m no match when it comes to those girls. I’m still—” I stalled. I hadn’t told him I was a virgin, but I was willing to bet he already figured that out from last night.

“You don’t need to compete with them, I already told you that.” He kissed me softly on the lips and my anger and frustration evaporated. “You’re exactly what I want and need.”

Oh God, you’re killing me.

Pressing my lips together, I savored his kiss that lingered on me. “And you’re all that I want.” I breathed out a quick breath and pressed my lips to his. Raven’s arms encapsulated me and I grabbed a fistful of his shirt in my hands. Now I was the one ready to pounce on him.

“Raven, come on. Are you going to kiss her all day or are we going to finish playing? I got finals to study for,” Josh yelled from across the lawn.

Raven’s lips parted from mine and I nipped at his bottom lip. “Do me a favor?” he asked, with a playful grin.

“What’s that?” I released my grip from his shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles.

“Save it for later?” He winked at me and I froze. “Okay?”

I nodded. “You’re damn right I will.”

“Come on, play with us.” He looked at me and then motioned to Delaney who sat on the sidewalk, messing with her camera.

“What?” I shook my head. “I can’t play with you guys, you’ll freaking clobber me. Besides, I have absolutely no coordination when it comes to sports.”

“What’s up?” Delaney rocked on the back of her heels, showing a little too much excitement.

“Play some football with us.” Raven held up his hand and Josh threw it to him. A whoosh sound flew by me and I blinked as Raven caught the ball effortlessly.

Delaney shook her head. “Um, that’s okay. After last night, I don’t think I could handle running. By the way,” she rested her hand on his arm, “thanks for helping Lexi take of me. I shouldn’t have drank so much.” Her hand lingered on his arm, but I knew she flirted with everyone, so I tried not to think anything of it.

“Don’t worry about it.” Raven lifted his arm to throw the ball and Delaney’s hand dropped. “We’ve all been there a time or two.” Raven looked over his shoulder at me. “Are you ready for some football?”

“Oh, come on Laney. You can’t leave me out here with these guys,” I pleaded with her, clutching on to both of her arms.

“I’m sorry, Lexi, but I really need to get busy with this life story project or—”

“Oh my God! I have a great idea.”

I let go of her arms. “Hey, Raven?”

“Yeah?” He caught the ball again and then held it in his hand.

“Delaney has to tell someone’s life story through pictures for a project.” Delaney shook her head and her eyes widened. “Do you think you’d want to help her out?” I smiled at him and batted my eyelashes repeatedly.

“What exactly do I have to do?” He turned in her direction.

She crossed her arms over her body in a coy manner. “I just need to take some photos of you, candid ones, which will tell your life story. And maybe get some of your past pictures as well.”

“That’s easy. The media’s always taking pictures of me and my mom has a crap load of them since my childhood.”

“Really?” Delaney’s blue eyes brightened. “You’d really let me tell your story?”

Raven shrugged. “It’s not like it’s a big secret or anything. People know more about me then I probably do.”

“Thanks, Raven. I appreciate it.” She started to walk off and then stopped. “When do you think I can get some of those pictures from your mom? My project is due next Tuesday.”

Raven reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’ll call her now.”

Delaney extended a hand. “Oh, I didn’t mean for you to ask her right now.”

Walking off, Raven ignored her comment. He began speaking with his mom, so I turned away, not wanting to seem nosey.

“Can you believe he’s going to let me tell his story?” Delaney whispered in my ear.

“I know. But you better be on your best behavior.” I eyed her.

“What?” Her head jolted back. “That’s your guy, not mine. Besides, I just plan on hanging out with you two and taking some pics, if that’s okay?”

Rave stepped between us. “She said yes, but on one condition.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

Raven smiled at me. “We come over tonight for dinner.”

I tried to conceal the smile, but it was useless. “Great.”

“But first, I want to teach you how to catch and throw a ball.” Raven reached over and gathered me in his arms.

“What? No,” I protested as he lifted me off the ground. My arms flailed about, trying to break free from his grip.

He pitched me over his shoulder and carried me toward the center of the commons area. “Raven! Put me down!”

“Josh. Toss us the ball. I want to show her how to catch,” he yelled as he placed me on my feet.

“Raven, I’m telling you… I can’t catch a ball,” I begged but his smile only deepened.

I looked around for Delaney, finding her walking toward us, taking pictures. I held my arm out, desperate for her to help me. She raised her head from behind the camera and shot me a thumbs up.

Raven laced his hand around my arm and drew it in. His big, strong arms surrounded me and his face rested against mine. “Bend your knees slightly and get ready to catch the ball when Josh throws it to us.” His intoxicating scent made it difficult to concentrate. I sucked in a deep breath, trying to clear my airway.

About thirty yards away, Josh prepared to throw the ball. “Go easy,” Raven reminded him.

Josh extended his arm back and released the ball. In slow motion, the brown leather spun in the air directly toward me. Raven held on to my hands, drawing my arms in as the ball flew straight toward me. In the blink of an eye, the ball hit me square in the chest. I coughed as it took the little air I had left in my lungs. I looked down to see to the ball, clutched between my hands.

“I did it!” I held the ball up in the air for everyone to see. “I caught the ball.” A few passers-by had stopped to watch the guys play and clapped when I bragged about my victory.

Raven straightened. “See, you can do it.” He patted me on the back and my body lunged forward. “Sorry.”

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. “Remember, I’m not one of the boys.” I raised the sleeves of my fleece shirt, ready to try again.

“Alright, now I want you to throw the ball to Josh.”

Over the next thirty or so minutes, Raven showed me some of the basics of football. There was something about him that made me want to try my very best. He didn’t treat me like I was an idiotic girl that had no clue when it came to sports or a loser without coordination, but rather someone who had never been shown or taught how to catch or throw a ball. Instead of making fun of me or tearing me down, he built me up. Just like I did when I taught him how to become a better writer.

With every throw and catch, I continued to gain more confidence. By the end, I was running alongside him, trying to catch a ball that Josh had thrown.

“Come on, Lexi! Reach for it!” Raven yelled as I held my hands up high above my head.

With one quick movement, Raven jumped behind me and caught the ball with one hand, tackling me in the process. We tumbled to the ground. The cold ground seeped through the back of my clothes while the front of me felt like an oven simmering on high.

My lungs heaved for air as Raven lay partially on top of me. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“No, just having fun with you.” He propped himself up on his forearms, allowing me to take a breath. “I told you that I wanted to have fun with you, remember?” His brows raised and my heart fluttered.

If this was having fun, then I wanted more of it.

“Yeah, I remember.” I stared deep into his eyes.

“So, do you want to have some wild, wild fun with me?”

“More than you’ll ever know.”

“Good, because I’m just getting started on that list of yours.”

“But I haven’t even made it.” My hands rose to his face and I drew my lips closer to his.

“That’s okay, we’ll make it together.” His warm breath spread across my face and my eyes struggled to stay open.

“That sounds like a great idea. I guess I can check this off.”

“A game of football?” He stalled a few inches over my lips.

I shrugged. “Not just a football game, but a football game with The Raven.”

He lips spread into a full grin. “I’ll play with you anytime, Lexi.”

I started laughing. “I’m going to be so sore tomorrow, I won’t be able to walk.”

Raven snickered. “Damn, baby. And I haven’t done half of the stuff I’m dying to do to you.”

A whimper escaped my throat. He was making me lose my heart and mind all at the same time. He was driving me insane and quickly becoming part of my every thought. I was pretty sure I was going to fail all of my classes. His mouth met mine and my eyes fluttered to a close. I heard Delaney snap a picture of us and I knew I was right where I wanted to be, in The Raven’s trap.
 

∑

Chapter 5

I grabbed my purse and then stuck my head in the doorway to Delaney’s room. “Raven is downstairs. Are you ready?”

She slipped on her shoes. “Yep, let’s go.” Hooking her backpack over her shoulder, she followed me out the door. I was a little excited to meet Raven’s mom and brothers. I couldn’t help but wonder what he had told them about me, if anything at all.

I locked the door behind us. “Hey, did you tell Luke where you were going?”

“No.” She adjusted her backpack. “I haven’t talked with him since earlier. He was studying. Why?”

“I was just wondering if he knew anything about me and Raven.”

She gave me one of her looks, but I didn’t elaborate. “I haven’t mentioned anything to him. But if he saw the pics of me with Matt on Facebook, then I’m sure he saw you two together.”

“Hmm, I didn’t think about that.” Had Luke saw them but just avoided the situation since he didn’t want to get in the middle of my recent split with Collin? “He didn’t ask me or comment that he saw them when we talked earlier this morning.”

“Are you afraid he’ll tell Collin?”

The doors to the elevator opened and we stepped in. Resting my head against the wall, I sighed. “I don’t know.” I looked at her and she raised a brow. “I just don’t want Collin to find out… I mean, I’m sure he will eventually.”

“What if he already knows?”

My head jolted. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“No.” She raised her hands in surrender. “I swear I don’t.”

The elevator opened and we exited. “You’d tell me if you did, right?”

“I swear. I…” she hesitated for a moment before continuing. “I’ve only seen him a few times since you broke up with him.”

I blocked the door leading outside as I waited for her to finish. “And?”

“He just seemed kind of sad, that’s all.”

“Oh.” A little piece of my heart stirred. I hated not knowing how he truly felt, if the end of our relationship had a significant bearing on him or if he was glad I had called things off. But I refused to call him. If he couldn’t speak up when he had the chance, then it was clear to me that he didn’t love me enough to get married. If he did, he would have already called me by now.

I sighed heavily and pushed the door open. Leaving him was for the best. At least, I hoped it was the right decision.

We walked down the steps to Raven’s car and got in.

“I love your Challenger,” Delaney said as she got in the back.

“Thanks.” Raven smiled at me as I sat in the front seat and goose bumps formed from my head to my toes. I wondered how he afforded such a nice car, but I refrained from asking. When he shared some of his dreams with me at the stadium suite, he insinuated that his mother struggled financially. My curiosity peeked, but I withheld my questions.

Raven revved the engine and raced down the narrow drive and onto the main street. A chill set in as the sun disappeared behind the skyline and I shivered. Winter was quickly approaching, but in Texas it could be icing one day and sunny and warm the next.

“Cold?”

“Yeah, a little.”

Raven turned up the heat, but instead of returning his hand to the steering wheel, he reached for mine. I interlaced my fingers with his and the warmth from his palm thawed mine instantly. It felt good to feel his affection for me and I relished every tender moment of it.

“Hey, did your mom want us to bring anything?” I asked as we passed a grocery store.

Raven shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t think to ask.”

“We should probably bring a dessert or something.” I pointed behind me, indicating for him to turn the car around.

“Yeah, I think we should.” Delaney leaned between the two front seats.