Chapter Seven

Colter

"My bad, man, I forgot about your friend staying over." Beckham holds his hand out between us, and I shake it, clapping him on the shoulder.

I wasn't about to clarify to him that I hardly knew Ava and she was only here because she needed a place to stay.

While this was very new between us, our immediate chemistry and the attraction I felt from the moment we first met were evident. Even though it's only been a couple of days.

I didn't want her to feel like I was pushing things, especially when she didn't have anywhere else to go until her apartment was available.

"It's all good. She's getting cleaned up, and then we're gonna grab a pizza at The End Zone."

They're all huddled around the TV. Hayes is back, and he's playing C.O.D. with Reed while Beckham sits in the chair across from me as we watch on.

I didn't know how long it would take for Ava to get cleaned up, so when thirty minutes pass and she saunters out of my room, I'm surprised to see her hair curled and some light makeup on.

"You ready?" I ask her, pushing myself to stand, and she nods.

Hayes pauses the game, and Reed swears, not realizing what's happening until they collectively turn toward us.

"Guys, this is Ava. She's a friend of mine who will be staying here until the end of the week when her apartment is available. Ava, this is Hayes, Reed, and that one is Beckham." I point at each of the guys.

Her eyes light up, and she smiles, waving to them. "It's nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me crash here."

Reed flashes his eyes over to me with a look of both surprise and pride. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was wondering how the hell I managed to get her attention.

You don't have to ask me. I'm questioning the same damn thing.

"We'll see you guys later," I mutter.

Ava is dressed in a pair of denim shorts and an off-the-shoulder top, and I'm back to wishing I could kiss every freckle on her skin. On the drive over to The End Zone, I'm having difficulty not letting my eyes roam over to her.

Her legs are crossed, one over the other. She's wearing a pair of white and tan sandals. From the way her muscles flex when she bounces her leg to how her hair whirls around her from the breeze flowing through the cab, she's hard not to admire.

The radio is on, and she rocks in time to the beat of the music, singing along to Lainey Wilson's tune about watermelon moonshine. We hit the lone stoplight in town. My eyes widen and my lips part at the sound of her voice. She glances over at me and stops singing, her brows furrowing.

"What's that look about?" she asks.

"I was just listening to you. I didn't know you could sing."

Her face warms a rosy shade of pink, and she shrugs. "It's not something I normally do in front of people."

"Am I not people?"

"You are…" Her voice trails off. "I guess I hadn't realized you could hear me. Or maybe I just feel comfortable around you."

"Comfortable is good," I reply, my voice coming out sharp. I've heard something along those lines before, right before I was friend-zoned.

The light changes and I hit the turning signal before pulling into the parking lot of The End Zone.

It's not as busy as I expected, which I guess is a good thing. It will start picking up later this week as people return to town before classes start.

When I put it in park and turn off the engine, the music goes along with it. Ava reaches her hand out and grabs my arm to stop me.

"When I said comfortable, what I meant was safe." My chest seizes, and her voice drops low. "And Colter?"

"Hmm?"

She leans closer to me, resting her elbow on the center console between us. "By the end of the night, I'm hoping we can finish what we started in your room earlier."

We both knew what she was saying. She was giving me the green light to kiss her, expecting I'd be a gentleman and wait until after we finished our dinner date, if that's what I could even call this.

That doesn't matter, though. What matters is a beautiful girl stares at me like I've hung the fuckin' moon, and I won't hold back from kissing all the oxygen right out of her.

"Maybe I don't want to wait until later. Maybe I want you right now."

I fold my hand along the side of her face, and she lifts her chin toward me. I smile briefly just before our lips brush.

It's soft and slow at first, but her hold on my arm tightens. When her mouth opens and her tongue swipes along my lips, a groan echoes from deep in my chest.

I'm tempted to pull her across my seat and into my lap. She must be thinking the same thing too when she breaks the kiss and presses her forehead against mine.

"Did your roommate say they were going out to Whiskey Sinner's tonight?"

I lean away far enough to meet her gaze and nod. "You wanna go there instead?"

She shakes her head. "I was thinking, if you want, maybe we could just grab a pizza and take it back to your place. I wouldn't mind having a relaxing night in. Maybe we could watch a movie instead."

"You look too beautiful right now just to go back to my place and watch a movie."

"I don't care if I look beautiful for everyone else. I'll be with you, won't I?"

My nostrils flare, and she realizes she's got me there when she grins and pulls me in for another kiss.

We head inside and order our pizza to go, sitting at the bar for a drink while we wait. The entire time, we're all intense stares and subtle touches. I'm realizing the past couple days have been like a long, drawn-out form of foreplay, and I'm not sure how long either of us will last.

She's standing in my kitchen with her hair pulled out of her face, leaning over the counter while finishing the last bite of her pizza when she glances up at me, waiting until I'm watching her intently as she licks her fingers.

"I've been thinking…"

"Okay?"

"I don't want you to stay on the pull-out anymore. You already told me that you were thinking about me in your bed. There's no reason you can't share it with me for the rest of the week."

"You're sure?" It's all I can get out, my chest tightening from the weight of how badly I want to have her body pressed against me.

"Without a doubt."

After we finish eating and cleaning up our mess, we settle on watching 10 Things I Hate About You. Halfway into the movie, I shift my arm to rest along the back of the couch, and Ava moves to lean into my side.

She grabbed one of the blankets from my room. Beneath the blanket, the subtle touches are back, and she's driving me out of my damn mind. I'm brushing my hand along her thigh, massaging her skin there, when her leg falls open.

I clench my jaw, fighting the internal war with myself on whether I should give in or not, but it's a losing battle when her leg trembles, and I realize she wants this just as much as I do.

When my fingers continue their journey up her thigh to find she's not wearing anything underneath her cotton shorts, I make the decision to take a cold shower before we crawl into bed. There will be no way in hell I'll get through the night having her next to me without it.

She tilts her head back to glance up at me, and when she opens her legs more, there's no confusion about what she's silently asking me. Ava wants me to touch her, to pleasure her, and I'm not sure which one of us wants this more.

"Finish what you started earlier, Colter. This time, don't hold back."

A low growl emanates from deep in my chest when I brush my finger over her pussy, finding her even more wet than I imagined. She grips my forearm, her nails digging into my skin, and the pain manages to anchor me to this moment.

When I slide my finger over her pussy, moving lower until I'm positioned right at her entrance, I notice her eyes roll closed and her hips thrust toward me. She's like me, unable to control her body and how badly we want this.

There's no going back now as I slip my finger inside her, and she bites her lip to stifle her moan.

"Jesus, baby, you're so fuckin' wet."

"Your finger," she mutters, "Oh my God, it feels so good. Keep going."

When I tease her, pulling out of her and pushing the tip back in, she moves her grip lower on my wrist and uses it to set the tempo she wants. Each time, she takes more until I add a second, and her body vibrates against me.

"Does that feel good, baby?"

"So, so good." The words come out choppy, and her chest heaves with the force of her heavy pants.

I can tell when she's close, her movements becoming more and more frantic, her quiet words begging me not to stop until she's falling over the edge. Her nails dig into me, moving my hand until I'm thrust deep inside her pussy, covering me with her orgasm.

She collapses against my side, and I smile. Never in my life have I felt more satisfied from pleasuring someone else than I do right now. She doesn't even bat an eye when I reach for the remote and turn the movie off or when I lift her into my arms, carrying her into my room and setting her on my bed.

She perks back up when she watches me pull my shirt off and change into a pair of shorts, turning off the light and crawling in next to her. I skip the cold shower entirely, not wanting to be away from her, even for a second.

Ava's palm brushes over the front of my shorts. "What about you?"

I lift her chin and press my lips to hers. It's hard to see her in the darkness, but it's like our bodies are so in tune that we find each other like two magnets unable to resist the pull.

She opens her mouth for me, her tongue brushing along the seam of my lips. I'm unable to resist her, rolling her onto her back, gripping her wrists, and pinning her to the bed.

When I thrust my hips against her, rocking my hard length along her center, she opens her legs wider for me and quietly begs for more.

I bury my face into her neck, inhaling her fruity scent mixed with the subtle smell of coconut. She's intoxicating, exhilarating, and I have to remind myself to savor every moment because the voice in the back of my mind wants it to be rough and fast. She deserves better than that, though. I plan to give it to her, just not tonight.

"Let me hold you," I whisper, pressing my lips against her temple.

She loops her legs around my waist, attempting to hold me against her. I lean away, brushing her hair off her forehead.

The lights from the front porch filter in through the blinds, highlighting enough of her face to capture the look in her eyes.

"You don't have to keep holding back with me. I'm not made of glass. You're not gonna hurt me."

"It's not that I'm afraid of hurting you physically. I'd never do anything to hurt you. I just know when the week is over, and you move into your own place, I don't want you to feel like you owe me anything. To continue to see me."

She shakes her head, linking her arm around my neck and pulling me into her.

"Maybe it'll be me who ends up hurt. Maybe I'll be the one who doesn't want to let you go. We can't live our life waiting for all the what-ifs. All we have is the here and now."

Gripping her chin between my fingers, I kiss her hard once more and pull away, enough for her to hear me when I say, "There's nowhere else I want to be."