Chapter Twenty-Nine

Finn

" W hat the fuck time did you roll in last night?" Bax asked as I strolled into the kitchen to grab breakfast the morning after my reunion with Chessly. I rarely overslept, but after going a couple of rounds with Chess and trying not to break her bed while doing it, I'd come home and slept like a stone. When my alarm went off, I didn't.

That meant I'd barely had a chance to gather up my books and shit in time to catch Bax for a ride to the facility.

"Late. Thanks for waiting for me."

I snagged the hot breakfast burrito he handed me as we hustled out the front door.

"What's your story? You're usually the one who bangs on my door in the morning, not the other way round."

I didn't even try to stop the grin that spread over my face. "Chess and I are back on speaking terms."

Sliding me a sly side-eye, he asked, "Do you mean speaking, or do you mean speaking ?"

"Yes." I bit into my breakfast to stop myself from saying more. My roommates had a way of getting things out of me that were none of their business.

Instead of pressing me for details, he lifted a fist for me to bump and left it at that. I guess he'd figured out Chess was too special to discuss—kinda like the agreement we'd come to about his girl.

He might have broken a few laws on our way to the facility, but at least we were on time to lift. We'd all learned from Bax being late to weight training once that it was way better to show up drunk than to show up late. Coach Larkin's punishment for tardiness—an extra half hour of burpees and laps on the track—wasn't worth oversleeping.

Being on time did fuck all for Larkin's attitude toward me though. He started in on me the second I walked into the weight room.

"Good morning, McCabe. If you're planning to mail it in here the way you've been doing out on the field this week, you might want to skip ahead and go on out to the track."

Clearing my throat, I said, "Don't worry, Coach. I've pulled my head out of my ass."

"We'll see," he growled.

I stepped over to the hand weights, picking up fifty pounds in each hand, and started warming up. Coach stood behind me, watching my form and counting my reps as though I were a rookie or something. He nudged Bax out of the way when it came time to spot my bench presses. When I asked for two additional forties above my usual weight to be added to the bar, he made a harrumph sound and started counting. By the time I'd finished the circuit though, with him bird-dogging every exercise and every rep, I think he'd figured out I was serious. My focus hadn't wavered once.

"The question is, can you manage the same concentration on the field this afternoon?" was all Larkin said as I walked out of the weight room, second to last ahead of Callahan.

I deserved that. For the past couple of weeks, I hadn't given anyone my best. In a sport that was all about "what have you done for me lately?" my production merited Larkin's disapproval and Ainsworth's pissed-off attitude. I'd dug a hole for myself, and it was going to take time and a whole bunch of effort to climb out of it. At least I'd stopped digging.

A picture of Chessly, gloriously naked and riding me hard, flashed through my head, reminding me why all was right in my world again. Now that I had her back in my life, I could count on football taking care of itself.

"What are you smiling about, Finnegan?" Callahan asked as he fell into step beside me on our way to the locker room. "From what I saw today, you were one step away from burpees till you puked up that fine breakfast burrito I spent all of last Sunday afternoon cooking up for you."

"Yeah, Ainsworth might have told Larkin I needed some motivation. Yesterday, he was right. Today, not so much." I stepped over to the bench in front of my locker and started stripping off my sweaty T-shirt and shorts.

The perplexed look on his face cracked me up. "What? Did you decide to move on?"

"Move on?" I knitted my eyebrows. "Move on from what?"

"Not what. Who. Are you over Chessly?" He grabbed a towel from the end of the bench.

Snagging a towel for myself, I followed him to the showers. "Not even a little bit. I doubt I'll ever be over her." I turned the water over to hot and stepped under the spray.

"What gives?"

"Your girl is a genius, you know that?" I ducked my head and let the hot water wash away an hour and a half of sweat and exertion.

"What does Jamaica have to do with your cheesy smiles?"

I detected a whiff of hostility in his tone, and I laughed. "Calm your ass down. Jamaica fixed it so Chessly couldn't ignore me." I lathered up and stepped back beneath the spray. "She's tricky, your girl. No wonder she runs your ass in circles."

"You and Chess are back together? Thank fuck." He turned off his shower and toweled off. "About fuckin' time." Grinning, he snapped his towel at my ass when I snagged mine from the hook on the wall outside the showers. "We were about to stage an intervention."

"What-the-fuck-ever." I wrapped my towel around my waist and returned to my locker to dress for the day.

"Now maybe you can remember you're a senior and a starter and start playing that way."

"Did Ainsworth put you up to that speech?" I didn't bother to hide my irritation.

"Nope. I want to win a national championship. With my best friend. But I can't do that if my best friend isn't giving everything he's got every time he steps on the field." He shrugged. "Just sayin'."

Bax stepped into the conversation. "What are you just sayin', 'Han?"

"The three of us came in together with one goal. We have one last chance to meet that goal, which means Finn needs to pull his head out and play like the pro prospect he is. That's all." 'Han pulled a hoodie over his head and sat on the bench beside me to lace up his shoes.

"Now that he's back with Chessly, he'll be all right," Bax said. "At least he only fucked up in practice rather than in a conference game." He coughed into his hand. "Just sayin'."

A grin lifted the corner of my mouth. "Good point, Bax."

"Fuck you." Apparently, Callahan had a sore spot when it came to us reminding him how he fucked up last fall when things with Jamaica went south.

"You catching a ride to campus with me?" Bax asked.

"Yeah. If you don't mind." I shoved my duffel bag into my locker, snagged my backpack off the floor in front of it, and followed Bax to his truck.

I had a full slate of classes and labs on Fridays. Not the best schedule. Certainly not a schedule someone with three years of college under his belt should have arranged. But I'd missed the window on setting up my chemistry labs in the two-hour Tuesday/Thursday slots, which meant I was stuck with them on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. After reconnecting with Chess, all I wanted to do was meet up with her somewhere on campus, but our classes fell at successive times, so we couldn't find even ten minutes for a quick hello. Or a kiss or several.

The day had dragged on to at least double its length by the time practice started. She'd texted that she'd be there, but when I glanced up at the stands, only her friends were seated in their usual spot. My heart sank, but then I remembered she had a late lab. Though she'd said she'd get out of it, with her medical school goals, she couldn't afford to skip classes. I relaxed.

We ran a few drills, practicing our footwork and breaking down to tackle. Coach Ellis was a stickler for proper footwork and form tackling. Over time, the drills had become so repetitive, I probably could have done them in my sleep, except for the fact the coaching staff scrutinized every single one of us on every single repetition. The work was a kind of meditation, and during drills, I forgot everything except for the mechanics of what I was doing.

When we moved on to plays, true to his word, Ainsworth stuck me with the second string again. Bax shot me a sour look as he trotted off the field after running the series with the rest of the defensive starters. But I didn't panic. As Ainsworth chewed my ass—before I'd run even one play—I glanced up into the stands again and saw my lady sitting with her friends. She smiled and offered me a little wave, and my whole world lit up like the sun bursting through a cloud.

Four plays later, I'd "sacked" the backup QB twice and hurried him once. And I'd managed those impressive stats without jumping offsides. At. All.

"So you've decided you want to play football after all, huh, McCabe?" Ainsworth asked as he marked something on his clipboard.

"Yes, sir."

"Uh-huh. Just for today, or is this a permanent choice?" He didn't look up from his notes as he let loose with his sarcasm.

"I told you I'd pull my head out. Told Larkin the same thing this morning too."

"We'll see. Get back out there."

I joined the starters and ran four more plays. My late night had started catching up with me, but this wasn't the time to give in to fatigue. Sneaking a peek up into the stands, I caught Chess's eye and the grin on her face—the one that said she was thinking about last night. When Coach sent me out yet again with the second string, I blew up the tackle and guard double-teaming me and accidentally put the QB on his ass. Or. rather, I twisted mid-air and let the poor kid land on me.

"Fuck, McCabe." Ainsworth shook his head. "You've made your point. Go grab some water." Turning his attention to the rest of the defense standing on the edge of line of scrimmage, he yelled, "Jones! Get in there!"

"Well, well, well, looks like you're back," Bax said as I joined him on the sideline while the second string practiced the series.

"Look, I know I've been AWOL these past couple of weeks, but it's all good now." I shot back some water. "Tomorrow's scrimmage is going to be awesome."

He laughed and bumped my fist.

When my roommates and I arrived at Stromboli's after practice, we found our girls seated together in our usual booth with two pitchers of beer and enough glasses to go around. We rearranged the seating so each of us could sit beside our ladies. It was a tight squeeze, which I liked since it meant I was touching Chess from her shoulders to her knees along my right side.

With a playful wrinkling of her nose, she allowed me to squish her into the corner of the booth. For her ears only, I said, "Thanks for showing up today. It meant a lot." I enjoyed her little shiver when I ghosted a kiss over the shell of her ear.

Troubled eyes met mine. "Um, are you back in the starting lineup?"

"Yeah, I think so." I slipped my arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "I'll find out for sure during our scrimmage tomorrow."

"I'm truly sorry for my part in your demotion."

Setting my lips next to her ear, I whispered, "Not your fault," and followed up with another kiss because damn, she smelled so good, like flowers and spice, and she was next to me and everything was right in the world.

"Nice to have you back in the gang," Bax said to Chess. "We don't have a clue what to do with a quiet Finn."

Piper elbowed him in the ribs, and he squawked.

"What was that for? I was only stating facts."

She gifted him a massive eye roll.

"Agreed." This from Jamaica, who'd stopped exchanging googly eyes with Callahan long enough to toss in her two cents.

"I'm looking forward to burning you for a teeder, Bax," Callahan said with a grin.

"Be prepared to get your ass kicked," Bax said.

"You're not actually going to play each other like you play real opponents, are you?" Jamaica sounded aghast.

It seemed Callahan still had some football lessons to teach his girl.

"Oh, hell yes, we are," I said, grinning. "Except for the QB. He's safe. This guy?" I indicated 'Han. "Not so much." Bax and I fist-bumped over the top of the table.

"If you hurt Callahan, I'm going to—" Jamaica pursed her lips.

"Short-sheet his bed?" Chessly supplied.

"Yes. And probably worse." Her emphatic tone cracked me up. "I'll make sure it's on a night when you're on call, Chess."

"Even when I'm cheering hard for Finn and Bax to stop this guy?" Chess asked, her voice saccharine-sweet.

Jamaica leaned around me to stick her tongue out at my girl. "How are we friends, again?"

Callahan laughed. "That's it, Island Girl. You're already in the game, and we haven't even stepped onto the field yet." He kissed her temple and tugged her closer to his side.

"The whole lot of you are pathetic. If any more hormones start flying around this table, I may have to relocate." Saylor shook her head and took a long pull from her beer. "Personally, I'm going to cheer for sunshine and some frat boys to show up in the stands with beverages." Her eyes danced as she drank deeply again and licked the foam from her lip with a smack.

Pizzas arrived before anyone had a chance to call her out for her BS. The girls had ordered three extra-large pies and a basket of wings, with about half a gallon of ranch dressing for dipping. Saylor passed plates around, and conversation dropped right off as we dug into dinner. In only a few minutes, all that was left of the food was what we were licking from our fingers.

As if by magic two more pitchers of beer appeared, and we lingered over them for a bit before Callahan said, "Since we have to be at the field early in the morning, it's prolly a good idea we grab some shut-eye." He slid to the edge of the booth. On some silent signal, his girlfriend followed him.

Bax stretched and dropped his arm back over Piper's shoulders. "Yeah, we should head out. Rest up for kicking the offense's asses tomorrow." The devilish gleam in his eyes dared 'Han.

'Han returned his dare. "I'll remind you of that when I burn you for a touchdown—or two."

"Seriously, you guys aren't going to go after each other for real, are you?" Jamaica's concern manifested in her wrapping her arms around Callahan.

It was cute how she thought she could protect him.

"The point of the scrimmage, Jamaica, is for the defense to show up the offense," I said, fist-bumping Bax across the table.

Callahan gazed down at his girlfriend. "Trust me, babe, the point of the scrimmage is for the offense to make fools of the defense."

Saylor chimed in. "This is going to be so much more fun to watch than usual."

"Why is that?" Piper asked.

"Because you three"—she waved her half-full glass to indicate Piper, Jamaica, and Chessly—"will have to try to remain friends, while this bunch"—she pointed to my roommates and me—"will be actively trying to cream each other on the field." She slugged back her beer and thunked the glass on the table. "Highly entertaining."

"On that note it's time to go." Callahan fished some bills from his pocket to cover his part of the tip.

With my arm still draped over Chessly's shoulders, I tugged her with me as I scooted to the edge of the booth. "Ready, babe?"

She shot me a side-eye. Guess it wasn't lost on her that we were already on our way out.

Standing, I pulled my wallet from the back pocket of my jeans and added some bills to the pile 'Han had started.

"Saylor—" Piper began.

Saylor waved her hand. "Don't worry, Piper. I already texted an Uber."

Piper smiled and followed Bax out of the booth. At the door we split up to drive home in our respective outfits. I'd parked a short way down the street from the bar, so we didn't have to walk far.

"Your chariot, milady," I said as I unlocked the passenger side and held the door for her.

"Um, if you need to rest or whatever for the game tomorrow—"

I cut her off. "What I need is private time with you." Cupping her cheek, I leaned in close. "Do you know how long it's been since my mouth has been on yours?" Brushing my lips over hers, I whispered, "Way more hours than acceptable."

I meant for the kiss to be slow, gentle. Easy. But Chess fisted her hands in the front of my hoodie, opened her pretty mouth to me, and sent all my good intentions right out the cab of my truck. In the space of two heartbeats, the kiss raced from ten to molten. The only reason she wasn't in the middle of my lap, dry-humping me right there on the street in full view of anyone walking down the sidewalk, was because the gearshift was in the way.

At last we let each other up for air. Panting, I said, "We're going to my place." When she blinked at me, I clarified. "My bed is bigger." Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, I added, "And in spite of our house being old with thin walls, it's still way more private than the dorm."

"Okay."

"Really? That easy?"

"Are you implying I'm easy?" Her tone matched the arch of her brow.

As I turned the key in the ignition, I cracked up. "There she is."

Chess sent me a narrow glare out of the corner of her eye as she buckled herself in.

"But we should probably stop at your place on the way." I put the truck in gear and eased out of the tight parking space some moron had created when he'd nosed his ride up to my back bumper.

"For...?"

"Your toothbrush unless you don't mind using mine in the morning." I shot her a grin. "I don't mind if you don't mind."

"You were serious about me spending the night? We haven't even had our second date."

Her observation unsettled me until I caught the grin teasing the corner of her mouth.

"We just triple-dated with an extra in Stromboli's. You don't think that counts?" I wheeled my old truck through the roundabout near her dorm. "And you can't forget all our study dates. I recall some serious flirting with you in Hillman."

A quiet chuckle escaped her, and then she sobered. "Spending the night is a big step for me, Finn."

I extended my hand palm-up in the middle of the bench seat. After a beat, she set her hand in mine, and I gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"It's a big step for me too, Chess. It's been more than three years since I last woke up with someone in my bed." Rubbing my thumb over the soft skin of her hand, I left myself wide-open. "But more than anything, I want to wake up with you beside me in the morning."

The hitch of her breath did more for my peace of mind than any words could ever do. Then she squeezed my hand back. In that moment, our entire relationship shifted. The number of official dates we'd been on didn't matter. Chess and I were a couple. We were together, and that was it.