Page 13 of The Nice List

“I…” I can’t tell her I want to stay here. She’ll never leave me alone in a bar. “I’ll be ready as soon as

I finish my drink.”

When Alexis looked hesitant to leave me alone to go to the party, I promised her that I wouldn’t leave the dorm. Maddox still had to practically drag her to their waiting Uber at a quarter past eleven. As soon as they were gone, I headed to the shower. I washed my hair, shaved, and dried off in record time to be done before midnight.

Cory and I have talked about primal play and CNC before, but neither of us were sure if it was something we’d enjoy in real life. I just hope the idea excites him as much as me after the way my body responded when he said that he would hunt me down if I wasn’t at Ball Busters at midnight.

I’m staring at my phone, trying to decide if I should text him when it vibrates in my hand.

BB: I know you left with your sister. Are you at the football house?

Me: Are you trying to figure out where to start your hunt? Because I feel like it would give you an unfair advantage if I answered that.

My hands are shaking with excitement as I watch the ellipses appear and disappear a few times without a reply before my phone rings.

I count to five and take a deep breath before I answer it. “Hello?”

“If you want me to hunt you, I’m all for it.” I can hear the smirk in his voice, but there’s also an edge to it. “But there’s something I need before we do this and I didn’t want to do it over text.”

“What’s that?” I ask, trying to hide the shakiness of my voice.

“Your safe word,” he says. “Have you picked one?”

“Y…yes,” I stutter.

“Good girl.” The huskiness of his voice in my ear makes my body light up. “We don’t have to play, but if we do I want to make sure you know you’re in control. I need to know that you know you can stop it at any time with a single word. And just so you know, if you decide you’d rather spend time together without the kink, I’m all for that, too.”

“Okay…” I take a deep breath so my voice doesn’t shake when I tell him, “My safe word is grapefruit. I hate grapefruits. They are too sour.”

Cory laughs. “That’s fucking perfect. Now, do you want to play? Do you want me to hunt you? Do you know what will happen when I find you?”

Do I really want to do this? Is this the right way to possibly lose my virginity? My whole body is thrumming in a way I’ve never experienced at the idea. “Yes, I want to play…if you do. Hunt me and do whatever you want to me. I’ll say ‘grapefruit’ if I want you to stop.”

“I’m going to take that one step further. If I ask you for a color, you tell me green if you like what’s happening, yellow if you’re not sure, or red if you don’t like it. We’ll stop and talk about the yellows and reds. Green means keep going.” When I don’t answer, he asks, “Got it?”

“Green is go, yellow is maybe, red is not doing it for me. I feel like I’m in school,” I whine. “Playing is supposed to be fun.”

“Watch that tone,pretty girl,” he scolds. “I’m officially on the hunt and by the lack of background noise, I’m guessing you’renotat the football house. You answered my original question by answering your phone. I’ll share my location with you so you can track my progress if you want to, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting my taste of hot cherry in about ten minutes.”

I pull my phone away from my ear when the call drops and click on the notification that pops up. I can see the pin moving from Ball Busters toward campus. Even though he knows where I am, he can’t get into the dorms without a key unless someone lets him in.Right?

Chapter 9

Cory

I pull into the parking lot of Livvy’s dorm. I’ve made many connections over the years between my job at Ball Busters and working part-time for Slade’s Automotive. So, I scored a key to this building last year when I thought that I would use it to visit Alexis. Little did I know, I’d be using it to visit her little sister instead.

I throw the kickstand down on my bike and take a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down. I know Livvy said she wanted to play and the idea of her letting me do whatever I want when I find her is making me feel feral. But I don’t want to scare her. Especially when she’s finally using her voice instead of just texts to tell me what she wants.

Giving up on taming my instincts, I climb off my bike. Once I’m inside, I stride down the hall to the right until I get to the room that belongs to my girl.

I tap my knuckles against the door twice. “I found you,pretty girl. Are you going to open the door?”

I put my ear to the door to listen for any sound, but it’s silent inside. Could I have been wrong? Maybe shewasat the football house when I talked to her earlier and she just found a quiet place to talk. No. She wouldn’t have agreed to play if her sister was around. I could hear the excitement in her voice at the thought of me hunting her, finding her,takingher. She wants this as much as I do.

I twist the doorknob and find it unlocked. I step inside and lock the door before letting my eyes drift around the room. Even in the dim light from the lamp on the desk, I can see the rise and fall of Livvy’s rose-covered comforter as she takes shaky breaths, pretending to be asleep.

A kink I didn’t know I had rears its head at the thought of taking her while she sleeps. It’s something I’ve imagined since the first time we were in this room, and she fell asleep in my arms.

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