Chapter Eight

Finn

O ne day into finals week and I was already getting my ass kicked. Not only did I have exams in every class—exams I had to take early since we'd missed home-field advantage with our midseason loss to the Lumberjacks—but also Coach dropped a new playbook on us during film yesterday. As if I needed another thing to study with molecular biology eating my lunch.

A sigh gusted out of me as I sat on the couch and stared at the game controllers resting on the coffee table. They reminded me of the COD rematch I wanted with Enriquè Simms. The guy was too damn cocky, even if he was the biggest asset on the basketball team this season. Didn't look like the rematch would happen until after we returned from Christmas break, what with us traveling to North Dakota for Saturday's semifinal and the basketball team playing a tournament in California over break.

Throwing myself against the cushions, I stared at the ceiling and admitted to myself what was truly bugging me. I hadn't seen, heard from, or heard about Chessly Clarke since that fiasco with Tory Miller following our last house party. Everything had been going well. I even had the idea she might let me warm her up on my lap if we stayed on the porch for a few minutes longer. Then Tory showed up and Chessly disappeared like a phantom in a puff of sweet-smelling smoke.

It made no sense why that girl had me twisted in knots. I hadn't even touched her, for fuck's sake. But something in the way her eyes danced as if she had a delicious secret she'd only share with someone special drew me in. Her snark made me laugh. Then I thought about her hot little compact body, and I squirmed to find a more comfortable position on the cushions. Chessly had it all going for her.

The way she'd sneaked glances my way at the bonfire gave me hope. When she'd given me a second chance at our post-game party a couple of weeks ago and sat with me on the front porch, I'd sensed I was making progress with her. I ground my back teeth together as I remembered how Tory had come along both times and cockblocked the shit out of me. 'Han and Bax were right: that particular jersey chaser was bad news with a capital "B." I'd just been slow to catch on.

Once again, instead of studying something—biology or football—I was thinking about a certain gorgeous physics major when the echoing chime of the doorbell nearly glued me to the ceiling. Scrambling to the foyer, I couldn't imagine who was dropping by at eight o'clock on the Monday night of finals week. I hadn't ordered any food, and none of my roommates were home. Without checking through the small window high up in the door, I jerked it open and blinked.

Did I conjure her with my thoughts?

"Chessly?"

"Hello, Finn." She shifted from foot to foot. "Um, I didn't mean to keep this so long." Clearing her throat, she amended, "I didn't mean to keep this at all. But—"

A gust of wind swirled snow across my stocking feet, and I stepped back, opening the door wider. "It's freezing out there. Come in."

"I can't stay." She glanced over her shoulder at a car waiting at the curb. "The Uber driver is adding to my fare even now."

"I got it." I slid my feet into a pair of Hey Dudes sitting beside the door. Then in response to the question on her face, I reached for her hand and tugged her inside.

"Finn, I can't stay."

"You have something for me, so the least I can do is offer you some hot chocolate." Without giving her a chance to refute me, I bounded down the steps and out to the curb. When the driver lowered his window, I tugged my wallet from my pocket and handed him my debit card. He ran it through his machine, and I said, "Thanks, man," before tapping the roof of his car twice and jogging back up the walk to the house.

"Did you just send my ride away?" She blinked at me with a mixture of surprise and maybe annoyance.

"He doesn't need to wait out here while you tell me over hot chocolate what of mine you kept but didn't mean to." Gifting her my winningest smile I added, "Here—let me take your coat."

Instead, she handed me the plastic grocery bag containing the mystery item she said she'd kept from me. I dropped it on the floor at my feet and waited for her to unzip her coat.

"You're kind of pushy," she grumbled.

"I'm trying to be a good host by offering you a chance to warm up after coming all this way from the dorms." I let the corner of my mouth tip up and relaxed a fraction when she answered my half-grin with one of her own.

At last she pushed the hood off her head, revealing the cap of silky, honey-colored hair I was itching to run my fingers through. After she unzipped her coat, I stepped behind her and tugged it back while she pulled her arms out of the sleeves. When I slipped past her to hang it in the foyer closet, I might have accidentally brushed my chest over her side. I mean, the foyer wasn't all that wide for a two people, especially when one of them was my size. The hitch in her breath told me she felt the same spark I did with that brief contact of our bodies.

"How do you like your hot chocolate? Plain or with marshmallows or with a shot of peppermint schnapps?" I asked as I led the way to the kitchen.

"With marshmallows."

I could almost feel her heat as she followed me in.

"But Finn, I don't need anything. Honestly. I only came by to return this because I thought you might need it when you travel to North Dakota this weekend."

When I reached up into the cupboard to grab a couple of mugs, out of the corner of my eye I caught her extending the plastic bag to me again. I set the mugs on the counter and took the bag from her. Pulling out one of my hoodies, I smiled. "You've had this since the Bulldogs after-party."

As Chessly stared at a spot on the counter behind me, her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. "Like I said. I didn't mean to keep it."

I tossed the hoodie over the back of a chair at the dinette in the corner of the kitchen and stuffed the plastic bag into the cupboard under the sink. "Don't worry. I have others." Busying myself with filling the reservoir on the coffee maker full of water, I said, "I kind of liked how you looked in it that night."

"Finn." She dragged my name out on a sigh.

"Facts is facts." I shot her a grin as I stepped around her to grab the tin of chocolate powder from the cupboard above the stove. I set it beside the mugs and spooned some into each. "Do you like your hot chocolate more or less sweet?"

It didn't surprise me when she said, "Less."

With a nod I added half a teaspoon of baking chocolate powder to each of our mugs. Showing off, I slipped the coffee pot from beneath the still brewing hot water and slid in a mug without making a mess. When the cup was full enough, I slid it back out and returned the pot to the warmer while I stirred the mix and added a handful of marshmallows to it.

Waggling my eyebrows, I smiled as I handed her the chocolate. "For you, milady."

She answered with an eye roll, but I caught the subtle upturn of her lips as she lifted the cup to them.

In short order, I fixed my own mug of chocolate and gestured for her to go ahead of me into the living room. It didn't escape me how she created more distance by tucking a foot under her ass and sitting so her knee jutted across the cushion between us. An awkward silence descended as we sat on opposite ends of the couch and sipped our drinks.

Chessly broke it. "This is really good. How did you learn to add straight cocoa powder to hot chocolate mix?"

I shrugged. "It's how my dad likes it."

Eyeing me over the rim of her mug, she asked, "What about your mom?"

"Two scoops of chocolate powder and a shot of peppermint schnapps." I shuddered at the thought. "I don't have a clue how she can drink it that sweet."

I liked the way her eyes warmed as she listened to my descriptions.

"What about your parents? Sweet or chocolatey?" I licked some marshmallowy foam from my lip.

All the playfulness that had replaced the awkwardness ran from the room. In trepidation, I watched her pull her shoulders in, protecting herself. For a long second, I thought she wouldn't answer.

"Dad only drinks black coffee." She held her mug in both hands in her lap, adding another layer of protection. "I remember Mom drinking hot chocolate with me when we'd have little winter parties on snowy days, just the two of us, but I don't remember how she liked it."

The waves of sorrow rolling off her pulled me to the middle of the couch where my thigh almost brushed her knee. "Chess?"

"I lost my mom when I was eight," came out on a whisper. Sad eyes found mine. "A car accident on an icy road."

"Jesus, Chessly. I'm so sorry."

Clearing her throat, she said, "It was a long time ago. I don't know why sometimes little things trip me up—like not remembering how she liked her hot chocolate."

A picture of my mom swatting my hand away from the cookie dough when I'd try to sneak some to go with my hot chocolate flashed through my head. "I can't imagine how hard it was growing up without your mom."

A wan smile crossed her mouth. "It was." Her smile warmed. "But Dad's done a good job at being both parents. He's pretty great, actually."

"It's just you and your dad? No sisters or brothers?"

"Just me and my dad." Her eyes dropped to where I was still running my palm over her knee and along the outside of her thigh. I pulled away as though I'd touched a hot stove.

"Sorry." I bumped my knuckles on the bottom of my mug, and chocolate dripped onto my jeans.

A touch of mischief quirked her smile as I brushed at my clothes.

"What about you? Brothers and sisters?"

"One sister. Nikki. She's a senior in high school and a royal pain in my ass whenever I go home."

"Why is she a pain? Did she take over your room or something?" Chessly's eyes danced.

"No. She's smarter than that. But she's totally clueless when it comes to guys." My fingers flexed around my mug. "She dates the dweebs who have no game whatsoever, guys who are going absolutely nowhere. It pisses me off that I have to run one of them off every time I go home."

Her brow shot up. "Overprotective much?"

"My sister's too good for any of the guys in her school—or in any of the schools in our area. She's so damn smart, and she has big ideas for how to run the farm—ideas my dad gives serious thought to."

Chessly's face lit up. "Your sister wants to run your family's farm?"

"Good thing too since I don't want to run it."

"A farm kid, huh?"

I nodded.

"But you didn't like it."

"I didn't say that." I set my empty mug on the coffee table. "The farm was a great place to grow up. And raising food for people is a noble thing to do."

"There's a ‘but' in there."

"I feel like I can help more people as a cancer researcher." I shrugged. "After I play myself out in the pros." I draped my arm across the back of the cushions. "What about your dad? Is he a physics guy too?"

Her eyes rounded when I mentioned her major. Why she thought I wouldn't remember everything about our previous conversations was a mystery.

She chuckled. "In a manner of speaking. He owns a hardware store." Lifting her mug to her lips, she sipped more chocolate, and I had an overwhelming urge to learn how hot chocolate tasted on her mouth.

The way girls could make a drink last for days stymied me. The only reason mine had lasted for more than a minute was because we'd left the kitchen to sit in the living room.

"You don't want to run a hardware store?" I grinned. "Who's he going to pass it on to?"

"Probably Piper." An eye roll emphasized her dry tone.

I wrinkled my brow. "Your friend with the purple hair? The one Bax has a major hard-on for?" No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see that girl within a hundred yards of a hardware store.

"She's job-shadowing my dad over break. It's going to be fun teaching her all about power tools."

"Did not expect that."

Her eyes took on a wicked twinkle. "What, that Piper wants to learn about power tools?"

I might have choked over the vision that suddenly popped into my head of Chessly in nothing but a shop apron brandishing a drill with that same look in her eyes.

She patted my hand where it rested on the cushion. "Are you all right?"

Her impish grin made me think she'd seen directly into my thoughts. My face heated, and I leaned forward to double-check for any last drops of hot chocolate in my mug resting on the coffee table.

"Out of chocolate." I managed to push past the frog in my throat.

Dialing up the naughtiness, she asked, "Talking about power tools really chokes you up, huh?" Her eyes strayed to my mouth, and it was my turn to grin.

"You have no idea."

For a long minute our gazes locked as electric heat sparked between us. I swear, if the lights were dimmed, it probably would have looked like fireworks shooting up from the couch.

Taking a chance, I reached for her mug, which she let go without a fight. Still holding her eyes, I set the mug aside on the table with one hand while I let my other hand drop off the back cushion to land lightly on the top of her shoulder. Slowly tracing the pad of my thumb over her collarbone, I said, "Seeing you on my doorstep made my night." Damn, her skin was so soft beneath my touch. "Thanks for coming over."

The hitch of her breath as I lightly stroked over her skin echoed in my groin.

"Sorry I kept your hoodie for so long," she whispered.

"No worries." My eyes snagged on her plump pink lips. "I liked seeing you in it."

I moved closer, and she let me.

"Chess?"

"Mmm?"

"I'd really like to kiss you right now."

"Okay."

"Yeah?"

A grin ghosted over her lips. Was she teasing me for trying to be a gentleman?

Sliding my hand up the side of her neck, I fingered the silky strands of her hair I'd longed to touch and leaned forward even as I pulled her toward me. We met in the middle, the scent of chocolate on our breaths wafting between us as I stared at her pretty mouth. The slight parting of her lips told me she wasn't teasing me at all. She wanted this kiss too.

Damn. I'd wanted to kiss her for so long, it was all I could do to slow my ass down, keep from doing my usual and jumping offsides. The last thing I needed was to move too fast and have Chess throw the penalty flag.

I brushed my mouth over hers. Electricity crackled between us at the barely-there touch that set my boxers on fire. Pulling back slightly, I caught her blink of surprise, which echoed my own. Again, I brushed my mouth over hers, adding more pressure, and she leaned into the kiss, pressing her lips to mine. The little hum coming from the back of her throat teased a smile from me, but then she fisted her hands in my shirt, hauling me closer, and in a nanosecond, things raced from teasing to serious.

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her front flush to mine. Taking a chance, I silently asked for another invitation. Running my tongue over the seam of her mouth, I tasted chocolate and sweet woman. When she opened for me, it was my turn to groan as our tongues tangled in a slide-and-glide, chase-and-retreat, nip-and-suck dance that tripped my heart into game speed. It pounded in my chest so hard she had to feel it. Her plush pink lips had been enticing me since the moment I set eyes on her. Having them under mine was as close to heaven as I'd ever come.

Blood roared in my ears as the world telescoped down to this moment with my mouth fused to Chessly's, her hands roaming over my shoulders and up to tug my hair, pebbling my skin. Without breaking the kiss, I slid my palms under her perfectly rounded ass and dragged her across the cushion to slide her beneath me. She flattened her generous breasts against my chest, and I tore my mouth from hers to lick and kiss the lovely column of her neck. She rewarded me with soft moans as she arched up and rubbed those full, round breasts over my pecs. Concentrating on her pleasure kept me from surging into her and giving my rock-hard dick some relief with dry-humping her soft center. Instead, I slid my thigh between hers, putting my weight on it so I didn't squish her into the couch, and nearly lost my shit when she started rubbing her jeans-covered pussy along it. From the feel of things, we were playing from the same playbook.

Her cultured alto voice drew me to her whenever she had something to say. When she moaned her pleasure at my kisses, her pretty tones resonated into me, revving my motor like no other woman had before. Forgetting myself, I gave her more of my weight, pushing her farther down into the cushions. She pushed back against me even as she tightened her arms around me. If we'd been skin to skin, we might have fused together.

I groaned with the ache in my balls and the wild pulse of blood surging through me as both of us deepened the kiss together. One glorious kiss from Chessly Clarke had turned me into a desperate man—one who needed to exert some control over himself to keep from ruining the moment.

Too bad I had no control over the chiming of the doorbell.