“Yes, I do,” he said as he turned his smile to her. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Miss Skye.”
“Thank you,” Nicole said. She glanced at me and bit down on her lip. Nicole’s eyes stayed on mine as she leaned against me slightly. I put my arm around her, and as I glanced over her head at my dad, our eyes met, and his narrowed just a little.
Shit.
He didn’t like something.
He knew I was seeing Nicole—we’d talked about her doing my homework and shit for me. This display shouldn’t have shocked him too much, so why the look?
I felt Nicole’s fingers trail up my side.
“How is your side today?” she asked, just a little too loudly.
Oh fuck, no! Rumple—you aren’t going there.
I tightened my arm around her and I held her close to me.
“Nothing wrong with me, baby,” I said. I kept my eyes on Dad, who was looking at Nicole with a small smile. “It’s all good.”
“Thomas,” Dad said, “I’ve got a flight to catch early in the morning, so I’m heading to Seattle now. Walk to the car with me.”
“Sure,” I said as I tried to hold a smile. “I’ll be back in a bit, okay, Nicole?”
She glanced from me to my father and then nodded before releasing my arm.
“You want to explain that?” Dad said softly as we started across the parking lot. The sun had mostly gone down, and the tall security lights cast weird shadows all over the place.
“Explain what?” I asked. I had a pretty good idea but didn’t want to make it that obvious.
“I thought you were just holding out for homework,” Dad said. “You act like you are fucking dating her or something.”
“She’s pretty bright, Dad,” I told him. This was a conversation I figured was going to happen, so I had already worked out most of it in my head. “She wouldn’t fall for the usual shit. It actually works out great because the other girls aren’t bugging me; Nicole’s doing the extra work I have for school, and I still have someone to suck me off. It’s perfect, really. Kind of like one-stop-shopping.”
I laughed and then held my breath, hoping he was going to buy it. He glanced at me sideways for a second, and the long shadow he cast under the bright lamps covered me.
“She looks clingy,” he said. “Fuck her and get rid of her. I want to be able to throw that shit in her father’s face.”
“It’s working out well, though,” I said again, hoping he’d drop it even though I knew he wouldn’t.
“Fuck her and dump her,” he repeated. “Or just dump her if she won’t spread her legs. I don’t want you distracted. The Messini will be here for the next home game. Get her out of the way before then.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod, “but it’s going to be hard finding someone else who can do all the homework.”
“Drop those fucking AP classes, then,” he replied.
“I’ll figure something out,” I said quietly.
I watched him drive off and then turned around and headed back to the field, trying to figure out what the hell I was going to say to Nicole. I probably could have told her the truth—she already knew a little—but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want her to know what Dad had said about her.
I shook my head, sending droplets of rain from my hair to the ground.
One thing was for sure, I wasn’t going to dump her tonight. I had an entire week before Dad returned home. If I had to end things with Rumple before then, I was going to make the most of the next seven days.
My phone meowed, and a message from Jeremy asked where I had gone. I quickly typed a response and jogged the rest of the way back to the stands.
When I got back to Nicole, I wasn’t in the mood for heading out with the rest of the team. She definitely noticed my change in demeanor even though I tried to cover it up as much as I could. Every time I looked at her, my Dad’s words were in my head: Fuck her and dump her.
I couldn’t do that—not to Rumple.
“Is everything all right?” she asked quietly as kids started climbing into cars and heading for a little late night party on the beach.
“I’m okay,” I told her. “It’s just too fucking cold for a beach party tonight.”
She eyed me, obviously not falling for my line of bullshit.
“What do you want to do?”
“I might just head home—I have to train in the morning.”
“You train every morning,” Nicole said.
“Saturdays are more intense,” I said with a shrug. “I train the most on Saturdays and Tuesdays.”
She looked me over again but finally nodded.
“Do you want to come over for lunch when you’re done? Dad’s heading on a fishing trip in the morning, but he’ll be back later in the afternoon.”
“That would be awesome,” I said, and I meant it.
Saturday morning I was up early for my run. I pushed myself harder as thoughts of the Messini brothers coming to watch me crept through my mind. I did my first mile in slightly under five minutes and then did the next two in six.
Too bad Dad wasn’t here to check my times.
After the run, I headed to the basement and hit the free weights. By the time I was done, I was completely wiped out and ready to pass out in bed before I even managed to shower. I couldn’t do that, though, because Nicole was expecting me for lunch, and I wasn’t about to disappoint her.
Not yet, anyway.
As I washed the sweat from my body, I tried to think about what I was going to tell her. Dad’s instructions had been about as clear as they could be—I had two weeks to get rid of my Rumple. If I didn’t…well, I didn’t even want to think about what he might do. Dad was really good at finding shit on people, and I definitely didn’t want to chance his looking into Nicole’s life in Minnesota.
Fuck her and dump her.
As I considered Dad’s “plan,” the first part of it bounced around in my head, and I realized I hadn’t gotten off—not once—since I had Lisa on her knees in the locker room the same day I bumped into Rumple for the first time. I hadn’t done anything with anyone other than Nicole except for a quick make-out session that I hadn’t even been into with Crystal Lloyd on the bus. I’d been in a bed with Nicole, but we hadn’t done anything other than kiss.
She’s been my girlfriend for about twenty-four hours.
Should we have fucked by now?
Shit —I had no clue. I’d always skipped the girlfriend part and gone straight to fucking, or at least a blowjob. I had no idea what was normal or not. I knew with Jeremy and Rachel it wasn’t like that, since he had told me a little bit. They were going out for a while before he started sticking his dick in her. I didn’t know how long, though.
How long they had been dating—not how long his dick was.
Perverts.
The combination of thinking about whether or not I should have fucked Nicole by now, how long it had been since I had gotten off at all, and my hands full of suds, well…sometimes things just start happening before you even realize it.
Dad always said jerking off was for losers who couldn’t get a girl to do it for them. I hadn’t jacked off in…damn…a long time. Maybe since I was fifteen. If I thought about it, I would have been able to come up with an exact date, but I was more interested in my growing erection and thoughts of my Rumple.
Maybe making a few “drain babies” wasn’t a bad idea.
I closed my eyes and wrapped my hand around my dick.
In my mind, she sneaks into the bathroom and opens up the shower door. Her hand reaches around my waist, and her fingers wrap around my cock. She strokes me slowly at first—running the soap from my body around my shaft and getting it nice and slick. Her fingers grip me a little harder, slide down my cock, and then back up. Her other hand runs over my balls, playing with them gently as she presses her body against my back. I can feel her tits against my skin.
I placed my open palm against the shower wall and leaned against it, pressing m
y weight against the cool tiles with one hand as the other began to work a little faster. My thoughts raced.
Nicole moves in front of me so I can see her naked breasts and pussy. She backs up against the shower wall and wraps one of her muscular legs around my waist. I slide into her easily with my cock covered in soap, and she feels so, so good…
I heard my breath start coming in gasps as I worked my hand up and down my shaft, sliding my thumb over the moistened tip on the down stroke. Images of Rumple with her head thrown back against the wall as I impale her repeatedly cascaded around in my mind as I thrust into my hand.
“Oh, fuck…fuck…Rumple…”
My balls tightened and my knees buckled a little as I shot come onto the shower floor. I moaned out my nickname for her along with another string of curse words as my orgasm subsided.
Fuck, that felt good.
Stepping carefully onto the bathmat, I dried off and started going through my normal bathroom routine. Shave first, then brush teeth, then deodorant, and then fuck around with my hair for twenty minutes even though it doesn’t look any different than it would have after two minutes of just running my fingers through it. I pulled my jeans up over slightly damp legs, tossed on a plain white T-shirt, and pulled a green polo on over it.
I was pretty sure jacking off hadn’t felt quite that good before. If just thinking about getting in Nicole felt like that…holy shit. Fucking her was going to be good.
I wondered if we would do it today.
Strangely enough, I was looking forward to her cooking more than anything. I didn’t mind waiting for the other stuff if she wanted to wait.
Getting into my car hadn’t been too painful, but once I got to the Skye residence, I had apparently overdone the workout a bit, and sitting still for a few minutes was just enough for my muscles to stiffen up. I groaned as I pulled my legs out from under the steering wheel and placed them on the ground next to the Jeep. Then I had to use both aching arms to pull myself out of the car. I shuffled across the driveway and up to the front porch and managed to smile when Nicole opened the door.
She was too damn beautiful not to smile.
And she was mine.
My Rumple.
For now, at least.
Rumple had opted for a picnic and had apparently decided to go all out with lunch. She had a bunch of different fruits—I didn’t even know what half of them were—and cheeses, and crackers, and breads. She had hoped we could eat on a blanket in the back yard picnic-style, but the rain started right after I got there, so we picnicked in the living room instead.
With my post-workout appetite, I devoured everything she put in front of me as she told me the names of the different fruits and cheeses. Apparently, her mother had a few wine and cheese parties, and she had learned a lot about cheese. It was awesome.
Well, except the brie. That shit was nasty. It kind of reminded me of feet.
We ate and I asked her a thousand questions about her mom and about living in Minneapolis. She missed her former home, and I was torn about how to feel about it. I still wanted to rip the dicks off the two guys who had done that shit to her, but I was also glad she was here with me now.
Now.
For now.
Shit.
I knew I needed to tell her about what Dad had said the night before, but my muscles were still really sore, and I felt like shit. I didn’t want to make it worse by talking about that crap on top of everything else, so I didn’t say anything about it.
We finished up the last of the picnic, and I helped her carry everything back to the kitchen to clean up and put everything away. I was covering up pretty well until she had me put a server tray away on a top shelf, and she heard me hiss as I reached up high.
“Are you okay?” Nicole asked.
“Um…sure!” I said. I gave her a half-smile and hoped she was going to buy it.
No such luck.
“Bullshit.” She put her hands on her hips.” What’s wrong with you?”
“Sore muscles,” I admitted. “No biggie.”
Nicole’s eyes darkened and her voice lowered.
“Did your dad…?”
“No, no,” I said, shaking my head. “Dad’s out of town for the next week. Really, I’m just a little sore from my workout.”
“A little sore?”
“Well, quite a bit, really.”
“Thomas,” Nicole sighed, exasperated. “Why didn’t you just call? We didn’t have to hang out today.”
“I didn’t want to skip it,” I said. I narrowed my eyes and looked toward the window. “I…I wanted to see you.”
She took a step closer, and I looked back at her as we both reached for each other’s hips. I leaned down and kissed her, totally not caring that she kind of tasted like brie and figs. I placed my forehead against hers and kept my eyes closed. My knees wobbled a little.
“You are falling asleep on your feet,” Nicole said. I couldn’t really argue, so I let her lead me over to the couch in the living room. “Lie down before you fall over.”
I couldn’t disagree with her as I dropped down onto the couch and dropped my head to the little pillow sitting up on the corner by the arm. I groaned. Something about lying down made the aches in my muscles more apparent. The backs of my legs were burning, and the pressure of the couch cushions under my shoulder was enough to make me cringe. I squeezed my eyes shut for a second and tried to force my muscles to do what I wanted them to do.
“I think you might have overdone it,” Nicole said as she watched me shift around and try to get into a comfortable position. “Do you need anything?”
“Just you,” I said. I stopped wiggling around and patted the cushion next to me. Nicole smiled and sat down on the edge of the couch. I put my arm around her waist, and she placed her hand on my shoulder.
“World Cup semifinals start soon,” she said as she pulled the remote off the coffee table in front of her and flipped on the television. “US Women’s team is playing today if you want to watch.”
“Okay,” I said with a yawn, “but you have to lie down with me.”
Nicole raised her eyebrows at me, but lay down with her back against my chest so I could slide my fingers over her belly and pull her close to me.
“So, do you have a thing for Heather Mitts like every other soccer guy does?” she asked.
“Nope,” I replied. “Hope Solo.”
She smacked my arm, but I just smirked, not really giving a fuck because I had Rumple’s warm little body spooned up against mine on a little bitty couch, so she had to be extra close. My arm was wrapped around her middle as I closed my eyes.
“Figures,” she mumbled. “Mitts is on the bench anyway.”
“Mmm…” I only barely heard her. “US and Brazil, right?”
“Yep.” Nicole said something else, but I missed it.
My head felt warm and fuzzy, and when she asked me something about the first goal of the game, I just grunted and nuzzled her hair. She smelled so fucking good.
I could hear the sounds from the television, but they weren’t really penetrating my conscious mind. At one point, Nicole was griping about the referee being insane and possibly smoking crack, but I didn’t hear or see the call. The only thing in my head was the feeling of her warm body pressed against mine. Despite the ache in my muscles, I was comfortable here with her.
I dozed.
My mind conjured up a new view of our picnic with the rain holding off until we were already set up in the back yard. We were munching on the bread and the cheese when the rain started pouring down on us, and we had to grab everything quickly to get it back inside. Nicole got soaked, and we both laughed as the rain covered us, and I covered her in kisses.
I heard her father’s voice, but my head was still full of fog.
“Did you wear him out?”
I felt Nicole’s body shake a little as she giggled softly. In my head, the three of us were sitting on the picnic blanket in the rain. I kissed the side of Nicole’s neck
while she and her father conversed.
“No, he came this way. I think he did a bit too much during his workout this morning.”
“So, no more pretending?”
“You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?” Nicole snickered.
“I thought it was obvious from the first time I saw him over here, and you were yelling at him.” Greg laughed quietly through his nose.
“Whatever.”
“You kids are pretty oblivious sometimes,” he said. “I guess I could let you borrow one of the police detective handbooks to help you figure it out.”
“Very funny!”
“How was the game last night?”
“It was good,” Nicole said softly. “Thomas played really well—shutout.”
“Do you miss it?”
“I was there,” she said. “How could I miss it?”
“You know that’s not what I mean.” Greg’s voice darkened a little.
“Sometimes,” I heard Nicole mumble. “Not enough to play right now. It’s okay just having someone to cheer for, you know?”
“I guess so,” he said.
“He needs someone on his side,” she said so quietly, I thought I had probably dropped back into my dream. She shifted in my arms, and I felt her nose against my jaw.
“I have to admit,” Greg said, “he seems pretty different when he’s here compared to what I’ve seen of him in the past.”
“I wish I knew which one to believe,” Nicole said.
The warmth of her breath against my neck kept me comfortable and soothed as I continued to drift in this strange dream about Nicole and her Dad’s conversation—so different from the way my father and I talked. I suppose that’s what made it the most dream-like, since it didn’t really make any sense to me at all.
Maybe Shakespeare would have said I only wanted “to sleep: perchance to dream.” Somehow, their conversation was completely surreal to me.
Now how long could I just sleep here with her?
CHAPTER 16
HALF-TIME
Lying on the Skyes’ couch, wrapped up in warmth, my dream continued.
“What do you mean which one to believe?” Greg asked.