Chapter Twenty-Five

Darius

I stare at the black screen on my phone for a solid minute, lost for fucking words. This girl is fucking killing me. I’ll admit, my actions tonight aren’t noble. Corvin is worried as fuck about her and after seeing me with her today, he asked me if I could get her to stay at the house. I lied to her, Corvin isn’t going to a party, he’s meeting with Troy to sign the last contract and then everything is done, the merger is complete and we can finally move onto phase two of our plan. I of course agreed to help my best friend out. What he doesn’t know is she only agreed to stay because my dick is on the menu and I think it best if I leave that part of the story out. The front door of the dorm building opens to reveal Leah, grinning at me with a bag swung over her shoulder. I frown when I take in her fucking outfit.

“What the hell is that?” I growl while pointing to her sports bra and tiny as fuck shorts that leave nothing to the imagination. She rolls her eyes.

“This is what I sleep in. You wouldn’t know this because I can’t seem to keep clothes on when you’re around.” I tilt my head side to side not agreeing and not denying her claim either. This is what I love and miss, the banter between us and how easy we can just be ourselves. I need her to open up to me if this is ever going to be more than… what it is.

“Come on, I got Corv’s car,” I say as I grab her bag from her and lead the way to the parking lot where Corvin’s car waits idling. We slip into the car and a light laugh leaves her when she sees Beck in the backseat.

“Why am I not surprised he brought you for backup?” Beck shrugs as he says,

“Had to make sure he didn’t need help breaking in to get you out.” She laughs, but the truth is what he says isn’t far from the truth.

We spend the night hanging out with the guys. It was actually nice to just kick back with them and not think about everything. Leah called it a night about twenty minutes ago and I plan to follow her shortly and spend the night getting lost inside her.

“When are we going to go public with everything?” Saint asks, I turn to him and watch as Crue places a hand on his shoulder offering his silent support. Saint tries to put on a brave face but I know this shit must be fucking hard for him. Out of the five of us, when this thing goes public, it’s me and Saint that will wear the brunt of it all.

“We keep it under wraps for a few months before we move onto phase two.” Saint nods and tries to hide his feelings behind a mask but he forgets we know him too well and can see the anguish in his eyes. “We’ll be here for you every step of the way, brother,” Corv tacks on. “I’ll finalize everything with Troy tomorrow. Beck will finish out the rest of his schooling online and go to Alaska to learn what he needs to help us.” A pang hits me in the chest knowing that Beck is leaving soon. We all have skin in the game but he is the one who has to leave while we stay back.

“Don’t look so fucking sad, you pussies!” Beck says on a light chuckle. The rest of us force a smile for his benefit but since high school we haven’t been apart, so this is going to be hard. “It’s only a couple months and then I’ll be back.” I stay with the guys for another hour before I call it a night. Beck shoots me a knowing look as I leave them but I know he won’t say anything. I make my way upstairs and head for my room. I don’t feel tired, when I should after the practice we had today but fuck it, that just means I need to fuck Leah until I pass out. I find her cuddled up in my bed.

Smart girl.

I lock the door behind me and for good measure, lock the bathroom door just in case. I strip down to my briefs and climb in beside her. She stirs as I pull her into me and spoon her tiny body. I’m rock fucking hard but I also know she must be tired, so instead of waking her with my face between her legs, I just lay here holding her for hours. When her phone keeps pinging with incoming texts, I debate on leaving it but then it rings. It’s two in the fucking morning! I reach over to her side of the bed and grab her phone off the side table and frown at the name.

Piece of shit!

It rings out before I can answer it, and I hold the phone, wondering who the fuck she could hate enough to save their contact info under a name like that. I try to unlock it but of course, there is a fucking passcode! Another message pings through and thank fuck for iPhone’s displaying messages on the lock screen.

Piece of shit

You have until game day to end this!

I stare at the message until the screen turns black again, what the fuck did that mean? What the fuck is she up to and what the hell does our game against the Dolphins have to do with it? I’m too fucking wired to sleep now. I lay here until the sun begins to crest the horizon, only then do I give up on the idea of sleep and slip out from beside her. I grab some clothes and head to the basement, needing to work out my frustrations. I fucking hate not knowing what the hell is going on. I know she is keeping shit hidden and that is fucking with my head! I spend the next hour and a half working out, only stopping when my arms feel like lead. I make my way to the kitchen to make a protein shake before taking it out back.

“You’re up early.” I look over my shoulder to see Crue walking toward me with a coffee in hand. He runs a hand through his bed hair as he drops down into the lounger beside me. The fucker still wears plaid bed pants to bed and no shirt, even though we told him years ago that they went out of fashion.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I answer in a flat tone.

“Hm, one would think having a hot blonde next door to you would help you sleep better.” He wags his brows at me suggestively. “We all know you want to hit that.”

I turn the tables on him, tired of them all knowing my business. “Like we all know you want to hit Saint?” He chokes on his coffee, sitting forward, spluttering. I lean over and pat his back fighting my smile. When he finally stops coughing, he pins me with a filthy look.

“What the fuck?” He tries to sound angry but he isn’t pulling that shit off.

“You know none of us give a fuck, right?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know–”

“Crue, stop,” I cut in. He clamps his mouth closed and lowers his gaze. I swing my legs over the side and rest my hand on the top of his knee. “If you want him, tell him. You know Saint, he lives in the moment and never lets shit get to him so you’re gonna need to spell it out for him, brother.”

“I’ll do it when you tell Corvin about Leah.” I sigh knowing that he’s right but it isn’t the right time.

“My shit is complicated but yours isn’t. If it bothers you seeing him with all these girls then tell him. Don’t watch from afar and live your life wondering what if .” He nods solemnly.

“I can’t tell him.” A smile spreads across my face finally hearing him admit it out loud. “He has too much stress on him with this whole business shit and me telling him that I’m in love with him is only going to complicate shit. He needs me and if that means I have to stand by his side and watch him fuck everyone, then so be it because I would rather have him in my life than not at all.” I know exactly how he feels and that fucking sucks.

“Just don’t wait too long, okay? If he’s what you want, then go for it.”

“What if… what if he doesn’t–”

“Dude, I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Saint may not know it or even want to acknowledge it but he has feelings for you as well. You’re just going to have to give him time to come to terms with the fact that he isn’t as straight as he thinks he is.” A whoosh of air escapes him.

“You are actually really good at giving advice. You should try taking some of your own.” I shove him back and we both laugh.

“I’m the guru, my man. I give advice, not take it.”

I spend the day hanging with the guys and Leah in the pool playing volleyball. Her, Crue and Saint against me, Beck and Corv. She gets her shit talking from her brother. The girl can talk so much shit, she has been laying out insults since we started playing. Her and Corvin are so competitive and it’s fucking funny to watch them battle it out. I have to admit my attention is constantly pulled to her when she jumps out of the water to hit the ball over the net. Her tits bounce up and down in that yellow bra thing she wears that is tied in so many different fucking knots. Beck spikes the ball over the net and her and Crue dive for it but they crash into each other. The three of us scream and shout that we got a point.

“Shit!” I turn away from Beck and Corv to see her holding the front of her top, my eyes widen when I realize it’s come undone. I don’t think as I wade through the water to shield her from Crue and Saint’s eyes. I duck under the net, grip her waist and push her back until we are in the corner of the pool. I keep my back to the others shielding her, she smiles her thanks as she begins to retie her top. I watch shamelessly biting my bottom lip to suppress the groan that wants to break free, my cock is hard as fuck inside my board shorts.

“The fuck are you doing?” Both our eyes widen at the sound of Corvin’s voice, I didn’t even think about him as I covered her.

Fuck!