| |
Love is something you find. Love is something that finds you.
~Loretta Young
Lexi and I decided to meet at the student union. I think we both knew meeting at my apartment would’ve been dangerous, her dorm room too tempting, and the study rooms in her dormitory pointless, especially since they had small sofas. Instead, we sat in the dining area of Chick-Fil-A, even though it was closed.
I handed Lexi a tall cup of coffee. After an hour of us working on my paper, we both needed a little pick me up.
“Thanks.” She took the cup from my hand and blew into the slit on top of the lid.
“You’re welcome.” I slid into the booth.
“Are those any good?” Lexi pointed to my silver can of Red Bull.
“I guess.” I popped the top and took a sip. “They seem to keep me awake and give me a boost of energy.” I knew something else that could give me a burst of energy. At the thought, I licked my lips a few times, keeping my eyes firmly on her.
“Stop.” She kicked me under the table.
“What?” I held up my hands in surrender, even though I knew what she was getting at.
“You’re staring at me again.” She scowled at me and it was so adorable. “I can’t study if you keep looking at me like that.”
A grin slipped from my lips. “And how’s that?”
“Um, like...well—”
“The Raven is in the house!” Josh, Marcel, and Quinton marched in, tossing a football.
I got up and we took turns bumping fists, patting each other on the back, and even ramming our chest into each other. We had played a great game yesterday.
“Hey, Lexi, did you have a good time last night?” Josh spun the ball in his hand.
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “I guess.”
“Your friend Delaney sure had a good time,” he snickered.
“Don’t remind me.” Lexi slumped forward and placed a palm to her cheek, sighing. I guess she was embarrassed by her roommate’s behavior of dancing on top of the table with Matt. Or maybe that we had to practically carry her out of there when she fell.
“How’s Shelby?” I leaned against the booth. “She was pretty wiped out last night, too.”
I hadn’t seen Josh after he left the party last night. He didn’t come to the apartment so I assumed he’d stayed at Shelby’s place.
Josh shook his head. “Hung over and crying for me to go take care of her.”
I rolled my eyes. “These girls, they think they can hang with the big dogs, but they can’t.”
“Tell me about it.” Josh continued tossing the ball.
Marcel and Quinton grabbed the ball from Josh. “We’ll be outside.”
Josh motioned for me to join them. “C’mon, let’s go throw a couple of passes.”
I looked at Lexi, hoping she’d give me her okay. After all, I was the one who asked her to meet.
“Go ahead. I don’t mind.” She adjusted the book in front of her. “I’ll be here studying.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Yes. Go.”
“We’ll be on the lawn.” I unzipped my backpack and gathered my books and papers.
“It’s okay. You can leave your stuff here.”
“Thanks.” I smiled as I stuffed my books in my bag. “I’m just going to play for a while...ya know, get the blood flowing. I’ll study better.”
“That’s fine.” She smiled and it felt good to know that she didn’t mind.
Josh and I followed the guys to the lawn area. “So, what happened last night?” Josh nudged me.
“Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.” By the sly grin on his face, I knew what he was thinking. “I see the way she’s looking at you today.”
I laughed. “I swear, other than a kiss, nothing happened.”
He rolled his eyes. “I still think you’re lying.”
“Believe whatever you want, but we left the party by midnight thanks to her drunk roommate.”
“Oh shit, really?” He scratched the back of his head. “We went back to Shelby’s because I figured you might want some privacy.”
“That would’ve been nice, but Delaney ruined it for us.”
“Shit, that sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
Quinton tossed the ball to me as we passed by them. He and Marcel started to hike up the incline, but I motioned for them to stay. “We’ll go to the top. Ya’ll can stay down here.”
“Alright.”
“You got all the girls crying, that’s for sure.”
I turned and glared at him. “What girls?”
“Yeah, dude, it’s all over Twitter and Facebook. Haven’t you seen?” He pulled his phone from his back pocket. In a high-pitched voice, he read from his phone, “‘The Raven’s taken — I’m so sad.’ ‘Who was that bitch with Raven last night?’ ‘I’m so caught up in The Raven’s trap, I don’t know what I’m going to do.’” He shook his head. “And I love this one: “#TheRavensTrap is too addicting. I’m already having withdrawals.’”
“What? Let me see that.” I motioned for him to hand me his phone. I hadn’t bothered to check my feeds — maybe because I was too consumed by Lexi to even care what people were saying. He was right. Girls were apparently really torn up about me being with Lexi last night.
“Oh well, too bad.” I handed him back his phone. “You said a status change would be good for me.”
“I’m not the one complaining. Just thought you’d like to know.” He shrugged and then jogged down the makeshift field. I threw the ball and he caught it, running it in for a score.
We played for a while, throwing the ball back and forth and running a few plays. It was good to get the energy flowing and the soreness worked out of my shoulder. Before I met up with Lexi, I went to the rehab center for cryotherapy and it had definitely helped. If needed, I’d go again tomorrow before practice. Even though the regular season was over, we now had to prepare for the bowl game. We were scheduled to play on January fourth in Arlington, Texas at the Lone Star Bowl. I had played at Arlington football stadium before when I was in high school, but playing there while at PHU would be totally different. It put me that much closer to the pros and I couldn’t wait.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of three girls making their way toward me. Ignoring them, I held out my hands and caught the ball Quinton passed to me. Before Lexi, I would’ve stopped just to catch a glimpse of them, but not anymore.
Funny how a woman can change you.
Just as I was about to throw the ball, one of the girls waved at me.
It took me a few seconds, but I recognized her and her two friends. The Silicone Triplets.
Damn.
“Hey, Raven. We missed you last night. Who was that girl you were with?” Abby asked as she twirled her long brown hair around her finger repeatedly.
I kept the ball in my hands, trying to act distracted.
“It can’t be anyone of importance.” Paige checked her fingernails and dragged her talons along my forearm. “I mean, she’s nothing compared to us.” She rolled her eyes and I wanted to slap her. Instead, I drove the ball down the lawn, past the guys, and it bounced off an iron statue of Blaze.
“What the hell, dude?” Quinton threw his hands up in the air.
“Sorry,” I yelled.
Abby strolled behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “If you need attention, all you have to do is call me.”
I rolled my shoulders, trying to shake off her claws.
The Triplets surrounded me, circling me as if I were their prey they were ready to devour. “Yes, we’re available anytime you want.” Nicole stretched her gum along her tongue and then blew a big bubble.
“Whatever,” I sneered. “I doubt I’ll be calling you girls anymore.”
Abby threw her head back in laughter. “Oh, don’t tell me the rumors are true. The Raven couldn’t be settling down with this nobody.”
I glanced over the Silicone Triplets and saw Lexi headed my way. She was speed walking while hauling two backpacks. I prayed she wasn’t pissed. I was actually relieved to see her.
“Look, it’s really no one’s business who I’m with.” I caught the ball and then slammed it against my hand a couple of times, trying to drive my point before I lost it. They were working my last nerve. “So, you girls you can run along and get your lips and asses pumped up, or whatever it is you do.”
They all laughed. “Oh. My. God. You are serious about this girl.” Abby shook her head. “If what you’re saying is true, then I guess I better get your autograph.” She pulled a black Sharpie from her back pocket and removed the cap.
I eyed her. “I think I’ve signed plenty of things for you.”
“Well, you haven’t signed these.” Abby lifted her shirt and shoved her tits in my face.
What the hell?
The guys started whistling and hooting. I waved a low hand for them to stop. Even though I’d seen them before, I couldn’t believe she was exposing herself in public, not to mention in front of Lexi.
“Aw hell, if it isn’t the Silicone Triplets.” Delaney shouldered past the girls. “Why the pouty faces? Did you get too much Botox in your lips?”
“Shut up,” Nicole snarled at Delaney. Delaney’s arm tightened and her eyes narrowed. A catfight was definitely about to break out. I shook my head at Delaney, warning her not to start anything and she took a step back.
Lexi dropped our backpacks to the ground and gathered the edge of her shirt in her hands. “Hey, can I get my breast signed, too?”
I did a double take. Lexi wasn’t afraid to stand up to these bitches. Part of me was proud, but another part didn’t want Lexi to stoop to their level. She was better than that. I also didn’t want her showing her boobs to everyone.
“Hey, now.” I quickly grabbed Lexi’s hands and stopped her from going any further. “This isn’t a topless show.”
Lexi just looked at me and Abby huffed as she pulled down her shirt, covering her huge breasts. “She had to ruin it for us.”
“Calm down, Abby. If you want, I can sign your T-shirt or backpack.” I had to reason with her before she went bat-shit crazy on me.
I wrapped an arm around Lexi and pulled her close to me. I wanted the Triplets to know I was serious about being with Lexi. My days with them were over.
“I guess.” Abby rolled her eyes.
I took the marker from her hand and she gave her boobs one more shake. She was really trying her hardest to tempt me. Too bad it didn’t work. There was only one woman’s breasts I wanted to see, but here in public wasn’t the place. I scribbled my name across the left shoulder of her shirt. Nicole and Paige wiggled their way closer to me and I signed theirs as well — anything to get them to leave in peace.
“Maybe next time you can sign my ass when we’re alone.” Abby eased the marker from my fingers. The girl had balls.
“Um...I don’t think so.” I grabbed Lexi’s hand and started to lead her away from them.
The Silicone Triplets laced their arms around each other. “Oh, come on, Raven. You didn’t fight us last time. In fact, I recall you handling all three of us just fine.” They teased and taunted and I wanted to slap all three of them. But I guess I got what I deserved. I was no saint and even though I hated the fact that Lexi heard what they said, I couldn’t deny the things I’d done. My only fear was that it would turn Lexi away from me. Other girls would’ve been all over that, but not Lexi, and I was glad. That’s what made her different.
I sucked in a deep breath and waved off their comment. “Whatever.”
“Come on, let’s go,” Abby said. “He wants to play with Suzy Homemaker.”
The comment pissed me off. They wanted a reaction from Lexi and the best thing was to ignore them. Thankfully, Lexi did just that.
“Sorry you had to hear that.” I pivoted her to face me. The hurt in her eyes was evident and so was the doubt. The world I had built was making things complicated for us. The question was, could she handle it? Better yet, did she want to? Lexi deserved a perfect guy without a tainted past. I wasn’t that guy and there was nothing I could do to change what I’d done. All I could do was hope she’d give me a chance. I just had to prove I was worthy of her love.
“Look, Raven,” Lexi stared at the ground and then back at me, “I’m no match when it comes to those girls. I’m still...”
“You don’t need to compete with them, I already told you that.” I kissed her softly on the lips. She relaxed in my arms and it felt so good to hold her. “You’re exactly what I want and need.”
She pressed her lips together and then smiled. “And you’re all that I want.” With a quick breath, she placed her mouth on mine. Her kiss was greedy and hungry, and I loved it. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against me, kissing her like she wanted. She grabbed a fistful of my shirt, as if she was ready to rip it off. I was more than ready to take her to my apartment. All she had to do was say the words.
“Raven, come on. Are you going to kiss her all day or are we going to finish playing? I got finals to study for,” Josh shouted from across the lawn.
I parted my lips from hers and she nipped at my bottom lip.
Oh shit.
I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a wild girl waiting to be unleashed behind this innocent façade. I couldn’t wait to find out.
“Do me a favor?” I asked with a playful grin.
“What’s that?” She let go of my shirt and then smoothed out the wrinkles.
“Save it for later?” I winked. “Okay?”
She nodded. “You’re damn right I will.”
Hell yeah!
“Come on, play with us.” I cast a quick glance toward the guys and then motioned for Delaney to join us.
“What?” Surprise washed over her face. “I can’t play with you guys, you’ll freaking clobber me. Besides, I have absolutely no coordination when it comes to sports.”
“What’s up?” Delaney rocked on her heels, eager to see what I wanted.
“Play some football with us.” I held up my hand and Josh threw me the ball. I caught it singlehandedly and Lexi looked somewhat impressed.
Delaney shook her head. “Um, that’s okay. After last night, I don’t think I could handle running. By the way,” she rested her hand on my arm, “thanks for helping Lexi take care of me. I shouldn’t have drank so much.” Her hand lingered on me longer than I wanted, but I knew she was just showing her appreciation.
“Don’t worry about it.” I threw the ball back to Josh. “We’ve all been there a time or two.” I glanced over my shoulder at Lexi. “Are you ready for some football?”
“Oh, come on, Laney. You can’t leave me out here with these guys,” Lexi pleaded with her friend, trying to drag her to the center of the lawn.
“I’m sorry, Lexi, but I really need to get busy with this life story project or—”
“Oh my God! I have a great idea.” Lexi threw her hands up. “Hey, Raven?”
“Yeah?” I caught the ball again and held on to it for a minute before passing it to Quinton.
“Delaney has to tell someone’s life story through pictures for a project.” Delaney’s eyes widened and she shook her head, telling Lexi to stop. “Do you think you’d want to help her out?” Lexi batted her eyelashes and shot me a flirtatious smile. As if she needed to do that.
“What exactly do I have to do?” I turned to Delaney.
She folded her arms over her body and hesitated for a moment. “I just need to take some photos of you, candid ones, which will tell your life story. And maybe get some of your past pictures as well.”
It didn’t seem like that difficult of a project. I was used to being photographed. “That’s easy. The media’s always taking pictures of me and my mom has a crap load of them from my childhood.”
“Really?” Delaney’s blue eyes brightened. “You’d really let me tell your story?”
I shrugged. “It’s not like it’s a big secret or anything. People know more about me then I probably do.”
“Thanks, Raven. I appreciate it.” She started to walk off and then stopped. “When do you think I can get some of those pictures from your mom? My project is due next Tuesday.”
I pulled out my phone. “I’ll call her now.”
Delaney motioned for me to stop. “Oh, I didn’t mean for you to ask her right now.”
Walking off, I ignored her comment. Delaney did a favor for me, the least I could do was help her. The phone rang a few times before my mom answered.
“Hey, Raven.” She sounded a little tired, but happy to hear my voice.
“Hi, Mom. Are you back from Mimi’s?”
“Yes, we got back late last night. I was just doing some laundry and dozing off in between loads.”
I hesitated to ask if we could come over, but I knew she wouldn’t mind. “A friend of mine wants to do a story on me and needs some pictures. Can we stop by later?”
“Of course.” She yawned. “But only if they come over for dinner.”
“No, Mom. You sound tired.”
“I’m never too tired to cook you a good dinner,” she declared. “Besides, I feel bad that you missed Thanksgiving.”
“You’re too good to me, Mom.” If my aunt hadn’t recently had surgery, everyone would’ve come up here for the holidays. But Mimi refused to leave New Orleans while she was still recovering.
“Just be here around six-thirty, okay?”
“You got it. Love you.”
“Love you too, son.”
I ended the call and walked back toward them. “She said yes, but on one condition.”
“What’s that?” Lexi asked.
“We come over tonight for dinner.” I grinned.
Lexi’s face lit up and I could tell she was excited about meeting my family. “Great.”
“But first, I want to teach you how to catch and throw a ball.” I pulled Lexi into my arms.
“What? No.” She protested as I lifted her off the ground. Her arms flailed and she squirmed, trying to break free.
I laughed, loving how she fought me. Pitching her over my shoulder, I carried her toward the center of the makeshift field.
“Raven! Put me down!” Lexi’s voice lilted.
“Josh, toss us the ball. I want to show her how to catch,” I yelled as I lowered her to the ground.
“Raven, I’m telling you...I can’t catch a ball,” Lexi insisted, but I refused to take no for an answer.
Lexi looked around, as if wanting to ask someone for help. Instead of Delaney coming to her rescue, she started snapping pictures of us. I laughed. This was great. I reached from behind her and positioned her underneath me. “Bend your knees slightly and get ready to catch the ball when Josh throws it to us.”
A slight whimper escaped her lips as she nodded. Her body stayed frozen in place and I could feel her heart beating against my chest. No doubt she was nervous. “Go easy,” I reminded him.
Josh retracted his arm and released the ball. The brown leather spun in the air directly toward us and I held on to her hands, preparing to catch it. It was a perfect throw, but I closed Lexi’s arms a little too late and it hit her square in the chest. She coughed as it stole some air from her lungs and I felt bad. But she didn’t complain. In fact, she responded quite differently.
“I did it!” Lexi sprang from my arms and held the ball up in the air for everyone to see. “I caught the ball.” There were a few people watching and they clapped at Lexi’s victorious catch. I was so proud of her.
“See, you can do it.” I patted her on the back and her body lunged forward. “Sorry.” I had to remember to take it easy with her.
She pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Remember, I’m not one of the boys.” She raised the sleeves of her fleece shirt, ready to do it again.
Man, I love this woman!
“Alright, now I want you to throw the ball to Josh.”
I got behind her and put her into position, instructing her on the correct way to toss a ball. To my surprise, she threw the ball about twenty-five yards and Josh caught it. Although it wasn’t a perfect pass, it didn’t matter. I just loved the fact that she was trying.
For the next thirty minutes, I showed her some basics of football and the guys played along. She said no one had ever taken the time to show her how to throw a ball and it made me wonder why Collin never did. Lexi was a great person and just like she helped me with my grammar, I wanted to help her with sports.
With every throw and catch, she continued to gain confidence. In the end, she was running alongside me, trying to catch the balls Josh passed to me.
“Come on, Lexi! Reach for it!” I encouraged as she held her hands above her head. The pass was too high for her to catch, so I jumped up, caught the ball with one hand, and grabbed her with my other arm. I held on to her tightly as we tumbled to the ground. Lexi lay on the ground, wrapped in my arms as I hovered over her. Having her underneath me sent shocks through my veins, increasing the blood flow in all the right places.
“Are you trying to kill me?” Lexi heaved for air.
“No, just having fun with you.” I propped up on my forearms, allowing her to take a breath. She looked so beautiful and I wanted to kiss her until I left her breathless. “I told you that I wanted to have fun with you, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.” She connected her gaze with mine and I felt myself falling deeper into her trap.
“So, do you want to have some wild, wild fun with me?” I eyed her, fighting every urge to show her what The Raven was really made of.
She cocked a brow, and in a seductive tone, said, “More than you’ll ever know.”
Shit. Just say the words, baby.
“Good, because I’m just getting started on that list of yours.”
She giggled. “But I haven’t even made it.” She placed her hands on my jaw and then drew her lips to mine.
“That’s okay, we’ll make it together.” I spoke across her lips, eager to taste her sweetness once again.
“That sounds like a great idea. I guess I can check this off.”
“A game of football?” I stalled a few inches over her lips, inhaling her scent with every breath I took.
She shrugged. “Not just a football game, but a football game with The Raven.”
I loved it when she said things like that. “I’ll play with you anytime, Lexi.” I grinned and shot her a wink.
She started laughing. “I’m going to be so sore tomorrow, I won’t be able to walk.”
Oh hell, if she only knew.
“Damn, baby,” I snickered. “And I haven’t done half of the stuff I’m dying to do to you.”
A whimper escaped her and she relaxed in my arms. Lexi was making me lose my heart and mind all at the same time. She was driving me insane. I lowered my mouth to hers and filled her with my wild love. I heard Delaney snap a picture of us and I knew I had her right where I wanted her.
In The Raven’s trap.
∑