85

Kassie

It's What It Sounds Like

The mocap suits did tug at the crotch because they were supposed to be for sizes extra large, not extra large football players.

Zariah jumped in front of the setup that we'd put together. A green blanket was draped behind us. Sitting at my laptop, my fingers flew over the keyboard before I glanced back. Sexy, delicious Ryan, in basically a black wetsuit.

He caught my eye and grunted. "The things you do for a pretty woman."

"You look wonderful ." I winked.

Adam stepped up behind him. "These costumes grab at your dick like a divorced mom."

"And you wouldn't know anything about that." Zariah snickered and stood in front of the camera, in another mocap suit. "How do we do this? I've never done this before. What're we supposed to do?"

"I need as many dramatic motions as you can give." I set my laptop aside to demonstrate. "I need muscle movements, I need football poses from the guys, Zariah give me your best cheerleader, I need everything I can work with."

"How's this?" Adam flexed in front of the camera.

"Don't be afraid to show the big guns." I stood hip to hip with him. "I want your arms out like this."

"What about this?" King asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Perfect, perfect, perfect."

The guys stood in front of the camera when a knock echoed from the door. Perfect timing for pizza. I strode over and pulled it open, grinning ear from ear.

The pizza delivery guy stared at me for a moment. His eyes flickered back to the room.

"Hey…" he trailed off.

"Thanks so much for delivering." I held out my arms.

"Can…uh…someone else…?" His eyes flicked behind me and I glanced back, to see Ryan standing there. Turning back to the pizza delivery guy, I couldn't understand his hesitation.

I frowned. "I can just take it."

"Yeah, I don't want to mess with your off-limits tag."

"The what?" I blinked.

Suddenly, the guys were up close with me and grabbing for the pizza while I was corralled off to the side, confused. There was that expression again. I'd heard it a couple of times but I never had someone outright say that it was something I had.

I pushed between the guys. "What's an off-limits tag?"

The delivery guy made a noise at the back of his throat and when Ryan passed him off the tip, he shoved it in his pockets, and took his exit down the hallway.

With narrowed eyes, I glanced back at my boyfriend.

Suspiciously quiet.

"Ryan?" I pressed.

He placed the pizzas on the counter, silent. More silent than usual.

"I've heard it too," Zariah said. "Some of the hockey players were talking about it."

"Ryan. What is an off-limits tag?" I put my hands on my hips. When he didn't say anything, I turned my attention to his teammates, who were looking so guilty, they might as well have held up signs stating it. " Ryan . What is an off-limits tag?"

He finally shifted back. "It's what it sounds like."

I stared at him for a moment, thinking about it. Off-limits as in—what?

"Like…no one can…sleep with me?" I asked, mildly irritated that I needed a chastity belt around campus.

"No."

"Well, that's what it sounds like."

"No one can touch you."

I blinked. "Touch me like what? Like at all? " The second I said it—those ridiculous, over the top words—the less I believed it at all. "Ryan, there's forty-thousand students at MU. You couldn't possibly enforce that."

He raised his eyebrow. "Has anyone touched you this semester?"

"Holy shit…" Zariah gasped. "Girl, that's why the lines at Gianna's are so fast when you're around."

"That's how we get quick drinks at the bars," Adam instantly agreed.

King chuckled. "It's why Tyler Michelsen doesn't use the main gym anymore."

"Tyler who?" I frowned. "I don't even know who that is."

"You don't need to." Ryan shrugged. "He's a basketball player that kept leaving those little faces with hearts under your pictures. I had to have a talk with him about it."

"What's that supposed to mean? You put an off-limits tag because you don't trust me?"

"I put that tag on you from the first practice, " Ryan informed me and my blood heated from the intensity of his stare. "And it's not you I don't trust. It's them. I don't need some guy to shoot his shot in public and force me to do something stupid."

I gazed at him for a long moment. Ryan was a hundred percent serious. He'd been imposing the rule right behind my back and I never caught on. That was…so needlessly reckless. And…a little hot. I shifted on my back leg, trying to seriously think it over instead of thinking about the fact that Mr. Intense didn't even hesitate to show his claim on me.

Okay. A lot hot.

"No wonder people at the design department used to be scared shitless of me," I realized, staring right at him. "Everybody thought you were going to shove them into a locker."

And the more I thought about it, and saw the real life effects of the off-limits tag, the more I bounced back and forth between them. I kept up the staring contest with him.

"And…" I chewed the inside of my cheek. "Nobody's grabbed my ass at the bar for literally the entire semester. I've walked around late on campus, nobody bothers me. And the only people that touch me are the people I like …hm…"

"Kass," Zariah chided me. "You can't be serious."

I hummed under my breath, considering the pros and cons while Ryan raised his eyebrows at me. Waiting.

My roommate's mouth fell open. " Girl. "

"I'm thinking."

"What is there to think about?"

"The fans at the beginning were annoying…but none of them even got close to touching me…" I said slowly, mulling it over. "And nobody asks to use my supplies anymore. It's the first semester that I haven't bought replacement pencil sharpeners…"

" Kass. "

"Alright." I nodded to myself and walked over to Ryan, jabbing him in the chest. "That was fucking uncool of you to put the tag on me."

His eyes trailed down my face and a smirk tugged up on his lips. He reached down and took my wrist before he pressed his hand against mine, spreading out my fingers. Slowly, he placed my hand on his chest. He was warm. I could feel his heartbeat.

"Do you want the tag suspended?" he asked, no doubt already knowing the answer.

"Get back in front of the camera."

The smirk widened. "Yes, ma'am."

I could feel Zariah's shocked expression on me and his teammates weren't that much better in concealing their own. But Adam and Zariah were social butterflies, they were constantly engaging new people and tying more people into their schedule. I just wasn't like that. I liked my own and then I liked my bubble .

Without even looking at him, I could feel his dark honey eyes on me.

I walked off to the pizza and slipped out a slice from the box when Ryan came up behind me. Under the guise of grabbing one too, he pressed up against me at the counter and I could practically feel every line of his cock, jutting against my leggings. My breath caught in my throat. I wrapped my fingers around the counter, pretending to inspect the boxes.

"Art girl," he murmured.

"We're working," I told him, like a flush wasn't spreading across my neck. "Put your boner away."

"Spread your legs. I'll find somewhere to put it."

"Your friends are right there."

"Say the word," he dipped down close, reaching for a glass. "I'll kick them out right now."

Oh my god .

The temptation was strong but the knowledge that these mocap suits needed to be in their original packaging, in their original conditioning, was even stronger. And knowing that Ryan only had a little amount of time to spend on this was the biggest push of all.

"Nope. I'm putting you to work first." I tried grabbing his arm to drag him off but he slipped his hand in mine instead. "Come on. You have to make up for the tag."