Page 167 of Defend Me

“That must suck,” he said softly.

“That’s how college works. I hate the idea that they have to pay it, though. I want to help them when I graduate and start working.”

“You’re too good.”

With a smile, I came over to him. I brought his hand up to my lips and kissed each of his knuckles.

He got to his feet so quickly that I stumbled back. Putting my hands on his chest, I watched him. His jaw was tight and it looked like he was biting his tongue.

“Would it make you happy if they didn’t have to pay for it?”

I laughed a little awkwardly. “Obviously.”

“What if I take care of it?”

“Stop.”

“My parents give me three grand a month and I hardly touch it. I have, like, fifteen thousand in my bank right now.”

“Jesus, dude. That’s insane.”

“Is that enough?”

“I don’t fucking know, but you’re not paying for anything.” When he opened his mouth, I pushed him down on the bench. “Stop trying to control everything.”

“Stop being unnecessarily stubborn.”

“Stubborn? You’re the one who won’t drop it.”

“Just let me help.”

“Where is this coming from?” I asked. “You do this when something’s going wrong.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do. You can’t fix whatever’s happening, so you try to fix other things. My life doesn’t need fixing, Brooks, whether or not you have the money.”

He got up again and this time, he started walking to the door. I dropped my head back to stare at the ceiling.

Maybe I needed some more cardio, but I’d probably die. I really wasn’t all that fit.

Before he could leave the room, I ran in front of him and blocked the door. I wrapped my arms around his neck and raised up on my toes.

“You want to stop thinking for a while?” I said in his ear.

It only took him a second to relax against me. I tugged on his ear lobe with my teeth, applying enough pressure to make him dig his nails into my side.

“Get on your fucking knees.”

As soon as he released me, my hands flattened against his chest, then trailed down his abdomen. When I reached the hem of his shirt, I lifted it. He allowed me to take it off and touch his stomach.

Lowering slowly, I dragged my tongue down his body. It didn’t matter that he was covered in sweat or that we were in the gym where there were probably cameras. I took my sweet time.

By the time I was on my knees, his dick was straining against his shorts, begging to be touched. I continued to kiss his skin without going where he needed me. When my gaze lifted to meet his, he saw the game clearly.

With a dark chuckle, he shifted his shorts down. I watched him stroke his dick unhurriedly and it made me impatient.

“Back up,” he ordered.

---