Sliding her hand beneath my chin, she forces me to look up at her. A wicked grin crosses her lips. “If you want to do this again, no one can know about us. Okay?”
I hate that my past is now affecting my future. If I’d have known all those dick pics would lead me here, I would have taken more than a second to consider what I was doing. The only girl I want can’t even tell anyone she’s with me. This fucking sucks balls.
I nod. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you want, babe.”
She smiles, though it seems forced. “I wish it didn’t have to be like this, Drake. But what choice have you left me? With that crazy blogger bitch, The Queen, on the loose, I don’t want to get caught up in whatever drama she’s cooking up for you and your teammates.”
I let out a sigh. “That fucking bitch will get all of us in trouble.”
“That’s why we need to be careful.” She releases my chin, moving her hands to her hips. “I will be a doctor someday. I don’t want The Queen talking shit about me online. That stuff could come back to haunt me.”
I can’t argue with her logic. Preston has been up all of our asses about keeping our noses clean until Jamie can figure out who’s running Dethroned, the blog run by the mysterious girl who calls herself The Queen. So far, she’s already attacked Tucker over the pot brownies he ate at the Delta Sigma Phi house. It doesn’t help that Tucker’s got Trent, and himself suspended for two games of our last season, all because he had to cheat to pass his exam.
“I won’t say anything,” I promise. “To anyone.”
“We have to act like we’re just friends or…” she chews the inside of her cheek as she mulls it over, “… maybe even enemies. That might work better.”
“Okay, bossy lady,” I quip.
“I know this sucks, Drake, but it’s necessary. I’m sorry.”
No, I’m the one who’s sorry.
“It’s my fault,” I admit. “But you realize if I’m supposed to pretend like everything’s normal, I’ll still have a reputation to uphold.”
She nods. “Yeah, I get it. I’ll try not to get jealous when I see you talking to other girls.”
I thread my fingers through hers and pull her to me until she’s sitting on my lap. “You’re the only girl I want, okay? No one else.”
“You know my rule, Drake.”
“Yeah. But I like a challenge.”
She chuckles. “I will not fall in love with you.”
I press my lips to hers. “We’ll see about that.”
And I mean every single word.
Chapter 8
Taylor
Bex dribbles the ball down the court, looking for the open man. I hold up my hand, and she passes it to me. Palming the ball, I pivot my left foot, keeping my stance low as I lean into the girl behind me to create some space. Twisting my body in an awkward position, I bounce the ball on the turn, and then sweep past my opponent to make the layup.
My basket wins the game for our three-man team. Bex and Jackie rush over to me, their hands raised for me to slap. It’s hard to look at Jackie after what I did with Drake now, knowing he was sending dick pics to her.
I feel protective of him. He’s not the asshole player I once thought he was. And weirdly enough, I’m thinking of him as mine. I don’t want anyone to have him. But I also don’t see a future.
Coach Vaughn blows the whistle. “Okay, ladies, huddle up.”
We gather around him and await his next instruction. Sweat slides down my face and runs into my eyes. Using my jersey, I wipe my forehead and cheeks. The gym feels about a hundred degrees with how hard we’ve played today. Luckily, I didn’t drink enough last night to get wasted. But Bex looks like shit, the hangover kicking her ass.
Coach Vaughn exchanges a few words with Bex about being a ball hog. She has a habit of keeping the ball for herself, often making it difficult to play on the same team.
His eyes snap from Bex to the rest of my teammates huddled around him at center court. “Okay, ladies, I want to see the last two teams on the court right now.”
The six of us, who were on the court, walk over to the bench, exhausted beyond belief. It doesn’t help that most of us were out partying last night. As much as I love basketball, I have no intention to make this my career. For me, this is not that serious, though I love playing the game.
