Chapter 14

K ing propped himself up on his pillows as he watched Lila braid her hair. It wasn't the worst way to wake up, with a beautiful woman standing in front of him in the lacy matching underwear sets she'd started sporting more and more of since they'd started sleeping together. The blow job she'd given him a few minutes ago hadn't hurt either. She'd kept her golden eyes on him the whole time, the intensity of it practically knocking the wind out of him.

He felt settled for the first time in his life. Though it had only been a couple of weeks since they'd taken things back up, they'd spent almost every night together. Much to King's delight, Lila had become somewhat of a sex fiend, and he was more than happy to indulge her whenever the mood struck. Hell, he was actually relieved to discover that her drive seemed to match his. Because he wanted her all the damn time.

"Working on Saturdays is so boring," King whined as Lila started to get dressed.

She smiled at him through the mirror that hung on his closet door. "But working during the day means I get to come to your game tonight, so…"

"I guess that's an okay trade." King stretched and then reluctantly got out of bed. He was naked and already half hard again, and he sauntered up to stand behind Lila. She took in his nakedness as he approached and made a frustrated sound.

"Tease," she groaned, turning to face him. He kissed her and pressed his body against hers. "Ugh, I really don't have time," she sighed, reaching out to stroke his length as she kissed him back. Then, much to his dismay, she let him go and stepped out of his arms, moving around the room to gather her discarded clothes from the night before and grab her bag.

"If I had my way, we'd be fucking all day," King growled, only slightly grumpy that they couldn't have a quickie.

"As lovely as that sounds, I've gotta pay for books. And rent. And you need your energy for your game tonight." Lila stood on her tiptoes to peck King on the lips. "I'll see you then, okay? Give 'em hell out on the field." She paused at his door. "I'm still waiting for my invitation to get banged inside the locker room, so…" She blew him a little kiss and exited the room quickly before he could chase her down and throw her back on the bed. Or mercilessly tease her for using the word "bang."

King threw on some boxer briefs and a pair of sweatpants and headed downstairs to grab breakfast. Will and James were already in the process of making their game day smoothies, and Jason shot a look at King from where he was perched on the sectional.

"Should we have Lila start paying rent, King?" Jason teased as Will and James laughed.

"I mean, the earplugs she brought over were nice, though," Will conceded. He'd made a comment about how loud they were one night when they were all watching a movie, and Lila had shown up the next day with cookies and a bunch of packs of disposable earplugs. King was pretty sure his roommates liked her more than they liked him, which meant they were excellent judges of character.

"Yeah, your girlfriend is kind of the best," James agreed.

King grunted, "She's not my girlfriend." For some reason, every time he heard the word, his heart sped up and his stomach bottomed out. Still.

"Tomato, tomahto," James retorted as he held out a glass to King. "Shake?"

"Thanks, man."

They spent the rest of the day prepping for the game, watching some film of the other team, and doing a little lifting.

Right as the game was about to begin, King felt a sense of intense relief when he spotted Lila in the crowd. He'd just had a run-in with his father, who'd surprisingly shown up at the game with a woman who was not only not his mother, but was probably around King's age.

"King, this is my secretary, Daphne," his father had said with a cruel sparkle to his eye. "She's a big soccer fan, so I told her she could be my plus one for the game."

"Whatever explanation helps you feel better, Sol," King had grunted. He'd been calling his father by his first name more and more, partially because he knew it drove Solomon batshit crazy.

"Watch it, boy," his father had sneered before heading off to his seat. It was too bad for Sol that his son now had him by a few inches and about 30 pounds of muscle. Otherwise he probably would have popped King right there in front of everyone.

King pushed the dark thoughts out of his head as his team won the coin toss and set up for kickoff. They were playing a team who had a really dirty defender. Stone Maddox was known to go for the knee and/or the Achilles, and so King needed to be on his guard.

It appeared that Solomon's presence was turning out to be a bad omen.

The entire first half, Maddox kept trying to trip King up, coming dangerously close with an illegal slide tackle that the referees chose inexplicably not to card him for. After Bradley U went up 1-0 at the beginning of the second half, Maddox got even more aggressive. Normally, King would exchange some good-natured banter with his opponents, but not today.

After another near miss, where Maddox went for King's knee, this time earning him a yellow card, King exploded. He shoved Maddox and punched him in the face. Maddox threw King to the ground, but one of the refs got between them before Maddox could retaliate further. But the damage was done: King's outburst earned him a red card, which meant he was out of the game, his team had to play a man down, and he was automatically benched for the next game. Luckily for him, Maddox earned another yellow card, and because he'd already gotten one, that meant he was also ejected from the game with the same consequences.

King didn't make eye contact with his coach or his teammates as he left the field and headed for the locker room. He angrily tore off his jersey and threw it against the lockers, raking his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth.

He let out a frustrated yell as he tore his boots off and threw them too. They ricocheted off the wall and landed with an angry thud.

"King?" The soft, tentative voice made him stop in his tracks, and he turned toward it.

"Lila?" For a minute, he thought he was hallucinating. It wasn't exactly easy to get into the locker room. But she was definitely standing there, looking gorgeous, her eyes filled with emotion. King shook his head in disbelief. "What are you doing here? How did you even get back here? You're not supposed to be back here." His voice sounded overly harsh, and he saw Lila flinch just a little bit.

She inched toward him, her movements cautious, like he was an injured animal or something. "I have my ways" was all she said as she approached. When she was standing right in front of him, her soft exclamation of his name just about did King in.

The adrenaline and testosterone from the game was still coursing through his veins as he advanced on her, attacking her with his mouth, his hand wrapping her braid around his fist. "I need you," he growled as he ran a hand up her thick tights and then underneath her skirt. Thank fuck she was wearing a skirt. "Right now." Then he ripped her tights right down the center seam.

"I'm yours," she said as she pushed him down so he was sitting on the bench that ran the length of the row of lockers. He quickly slid his shorts down so his dick swung free, and before he could say anything else, Lila had sheathed his cock and impaled herself on it. He thrusted upward in brutal strokes that bottomed out every time, and she took everything he gave her and gave it right back. Too soon, he was covering her mouth to muffle her cries as she came, and he followed right after her.

She pressed her forehead against his and then went to move off of him. "Stay," he grunted, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"As long as you want me to," she whispered, her breaths still labored from what they'd just done. The silence stretched as their breaths slowed and their bodies stayed connected.

"My father's here tonight," King finally murmured against her neck. "With someone who isn't my mom."

Lila cupped his face with her hands and gently stroked his cheekbones. "What an asshole," she said disgustedly.

"Yeah, that's Solomon for you. A lying, cheating, abusive asshole."

Lila ran her hands through his hair, her nails scratching the buzzed sides just how he liked. "So it wasn't just the bastard on the field. It was your dad being here too."

"Yeah."

Lila leaned in to kiss him gently then reached back and undid the clasp of her necklace. She fastened it around King's neck. "To remind you that you are not your father. You're a king."

His eyes felt suspiciously glassy. "La, I—" But then the sounds of the game ending pulled them out of the moment, and Lila jumped off of him quickly as he pulled off the condom and tucked himself back into his shorts.

"There's a side door over there," King whispered, kissing her quickly. "It'll put you on the east side of the field."

"I guess we can check locker room sex off the list," she said softly with a mischievous smile. "And you owe me a new pair of tights, Spencer. See you at your place." Lila happily skipped out the door, taking his obliterated heart with her as she went.