Chapter Ten

Colter

When school starts the following week, all that time I had to spend with Ava slips through my hands. When we both aren't at school or practice, we've also been juggling having jobs.

We manage to make it work by taking advantage of every free minute we have to spend together. It's just easy with her. She fits into my life like a puzzle piece I've been missing.

It's a bonus that she enjoys going out to all the same places and hanging out with my friends. Before we know it, homecoming is here, and it's one of our most talked-about games of the season.

Our game against the Kolmont Kings last year had a play fake that went wrong, leaving one of Kolmont's players out with a season-ending injury. The media has speculated whether it was a legal play, leaving Hayes facing the wrath of fans painting him as a dirty player.

Factor in the history between these two teams and the fact it's our homecoming game, and there's no doubt this will be one of the most talked-about games of the season.

We may have partied a bit too hard last night after the Bulldog Fest pep rally. If it weren't for the adrenaline from this game, I don't know if I'd be able to pull myself together. Knowing Ava is here on the sidelines pushes me to play my best too.

We jog out of the tunnel, and I see her lining the path the football players take onto the field, along with the cheerleaders. She grins when I catch sight of the number sixty-eight painted on her cheek.

Something about seeing her donning my number has me thinking about her wearing my jersey and fuck. I've never had a hard-on while wearing a nut cup before, but I'd highly advise against it.

Beckham and Zane finish warming up, and Zane jogs off the field toward me. I've been close friends with Reed and Hayes since we've been living together, and I'm growing closer to Beckham now that he's moved in with us, but my friendship with Zane goes way back.

We grew up playing football together. He lived next door to me at the house we stayed in after my parents divorced. Back then, he played the quarterback spot, and I was at center.

When we got to college, our positions changed, and Coach Ferentz moved him to wide receiver. I think that's part of the reason Ava's brother, Alec, moved to Keaton. Between Hayes and Zane at receiver and Reed playing running back, he wasn't getting any of the spotlight on him.

As much as it rubs me wrong that he transferred, I guess I understand at the same time.

"Isn't that Alec's sister?" Zane asks, nodding toward Ava on the sidelines.

When I glance in her direction, our eyes lock, and I nod. "It is," I reply curtly.

"Does he know you've been lifting his sister's skirt when no one's around?" He chuckles, tossing the football in the air and catching it.

I clench my jaw and flick my eyes over to him.

"It's not what you think it is. What the hell are you getting at anyway?"

Zane holds his hand up and grins. "Easy, easy, big guy. I was messing with you. I'm just saying, maybe the whole sneaking around behind his back isn't the way to go. I mean, if that was Wy, what would you think?"

"Shut the fuck up," I grunt, shoving my shoulder into him.

The fact he insinuated I'm messing around with Ava like I've seen him hook up with girls and toss them to the side pisses me off. Add in the fact he brought Wyatt into the mix is like dousing kerosene onto the fire. He didn't need to go there to get his point across.

"It's not like that, and you know it, so drop it."

He holds his hand up and chuckles. "All right, all right. I was just trying to give you some perspective, that's all. Maybe talk to him about it if you two are gonna keep seeing each other behind his back."

"Yeah, thanks, but I think I got it covered."

Alec and I were never friends in the way I'm friends with Zane and my roommates. I guess I didn't feel like I owed him anything to explain myself with Ava, not when he's her brother, and I feel like it's up to her whether we tell him and when.

The first half of the game was neck and neck. I overhear Reed and Beckham whispering about Hayes when we hit the locker room at halftime.

We kick things into high gear when we take the field for the second half. It's like the air in the stadium shifts, and you can feel the tension between the two teams rising.

I'm used to trash talk from players, but something about the way the Kings play today is different. It's like some of their guys are out for blood.

"Get ready, pussy, I'm coming for you. Every play," one of their cornerbacks grunts under his breath to Hayes.

Hayes chuckles, shrugging him off. I know he's putting on a front that he doesn't give a damn, but deep down he cares.

A few plays later, Hayes goes up to catch a pass from Beckham when the defender comes in like a missile and tackles him to the ground.

Hayes howls in agony. Zane helps him up, and Hayes grunts in the process, clutching his side as he jogs off the field.

Hearing them taunt Hayes for most of the game—only to have him end up jogging off the field hurt—flips a switch in the rest of the guys. Not only were they coming for one of my friends, but we're at risk of taking our first loss of the season, and I'll be damned if we let it happen at the hands of the Kings.

It's a hard-fought battle for the rest of the game until their quarterback makes a long pass down the field and their receiver tips the ball, shifting the momentum in our favor when we intercept.

We take the field, and Beckham practically mocks them, running the same play they did, but this time, it puts Zane in the end zone with a perfectly executed pass to him to put us up by fourteen.

As the time runs out, the Kings stalk off the field in defeat, and Braysen fans storm in after them. I'm a man on a mission, jogging in the opposite direction of everyone else in search of my girl.

When the crowd parts, I see her struggling to find me among the sea of people. I lift her in my arms, gripping her chin between my thumb and finger, and kiss her with everything I have in me.

She presses her forehead against mine, both of us struggling to catch our breath.

"I like seeing you wear my number," I growl low.

Ava drags her tongue along her lower lip. She wraps her arms around my neck, her eyes roaming over my face before she crashes her mouth on mine again.

When we break the kiss, I pull away and mutter, "Don't wash it off. Meet me at my house in an hour. I want it on your face while you ride my dick later."

"You want to leave your mark on my face again? Or I can think of a few ways you can claim me next."

I growl at the thought of seeing my cum on her cheek and take off toward the locker room, never stopping to put her down. Now that she's put the idea in my mind, fuck waiting an hour.

I've told her I want her in every way I can have her. I'm a patient man, but not when it comes to getting her alone.

Not anymore.

"Don't worry, baby. I won't stop until I've claimed every inch and made you mine."