Page 43 of Out of the Shadows
“You could say that.” She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, twisting the strand between her fingers, tying it into a knot, then releasing it again. “My tastes are … different. Anything but vanilla. And growing up in a small town in the damn Bible Belt, that’s not exactly something that goes over well with the townsfolk. A little locker room talk from one or two guys I’d hooked up with, and I was the local Hester Prynne. I swear, they would have loved to slap the red A on me.”
She snorted disdainfully, tilted her chin up, and regarded me almost defiantly, as though she was bracing herself for my reaction, like she expected me to judge her the same way.
“Different people like different things.” I shrugged. “Pretty sure I’m into degradation and being a little submissive. Guess if things go well, we’ll find out more about that soon.”
She snorted. “So, what’s your plan?”
“Well, right now, I’m kind of winging it. The plan is, I don’t have a plan. I just have to somehow break through his walls and hope that he realizes he’d like me to be his real girlfriend.”
“From what I’ve seen so far, I’d say the odds are more than in your favor. I still can’t believe this is all fake. The sexual tension between you two is unparalleled. Five bucks says you’ll be a real couple before Thanksgiving.”
I giggled. “We’ll see.”
Ella checked her phone and then jumped up. “Oh shit, I have to be on the court in half an hour, gotta go.”
“Fuck, that’s gonna be a close one.” I grimaced.
I scrolled through my feed as she stuffed things into her tennis bag, threw on her workout clothes, and tied her hair into a high ponytail. Before rushing out of the room, she paused at the door.
“Hey, I just wanted to say … thanks for sharing this with me. I appreciate it, and I won’t betray your trust.”
She slipped through the door after I gave her a smile.
A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through my chest and coursedthrough my body. Shit, I was so fucking glad she was my roommate. I was finally getting a glimpse of what I’d always imagined real, genuine friendships would be like.
Seventeen
Hailey
Ella: Do you have any plans tonight after the game?
Me: Nope. Not that I know of.
Ella: You wanna go out and party? I think it’s time for our first roomie outing
Me: I’m in.
Ella: Hell yeah *two dancing girls emoji*
Today was an exhibition game against one of the local colleges, but home games were always an experience, no matter the opponent. A lot of the campus went crazy when we played on our home turf, and the parties afterwardwere legendary — so I’ve been told; I hadn’t been to one yet.
Colt wasn’t the party type, it seemed. I hadn’t heard he’d ever been to one, not even in high school.
We hadn’t seen each other since our impromptu sleepover party, as our schedules were jam-packed, given the start of the season, but we’d texted every day.
He had said nothing about seeing me after the game, so I assumed he wouldn’t mind. I wasn’t even sure if he cared. We were in a weird limbo, an in-between stage where parts of our relationship felt real, but we tiptoed around other parts because we weren’t sure how to handle them.
I briefly considered asking him to come, but I was afraid of rejection.
Colt played like a fucking animal, mowing through the opposing team while simultaneously making sure my fucking panties were a mess. There was just something about watching him take out these other giant dudes like they were nothing more than cardboard cutouts.
He lined up on defense, and the quarterback received the snap. Colt exploded off the line, blitzing like a freight train, easily dodging a block from the left tackle. He plowed straight through the running back trying to chip him, sending the guy flying backward, and then he was on the quarterback, sacking him with bone-crushing force.
The crowd went wild, but I was in awe of him getting up and brushing himself off like it was no big deal. And God, the way he looked at me from across the field after that hit … It was enough to make me forget how to breathe.
I screamed my head off, cheering him on from the sidelines — it felt amazing to be this close to the action again — and catching his eye from time to time. Every time our eyes met,it was as if I was being electrocuted.
His face remained as impassive and emotionless as ever, but his eyes … his eyes were literally smoldering, drilling into me here and there, scorching me with their heat. Even when I wasn’t looking, I could sometimes feel them on me, heavy and intense.
