Page 75 of Play With Me
I roll my eyes in defiance, but still grab my plate and sink between his thighs, tilting my head back against his chest.
This. Right here. Feels completely right.
“So, tell me about your major?” my mom asks Colton.
I glance up at him, his fingers brushing against my lips as he feeds me a grape.
I know Maya is smirking, but I don’t look at her. Don’t wanna see her smile.
“I’m in school for business, but I plan on going pro for soccer.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yeah, I’ve been scouted. They want me to start next year. I told them my one stipulation was graduation.”
“Well, that’s wonderful,” my mom coos.
“Yeah, I think so. Pretty cool that they think I’m good enough to make it in the big leagues.”
“You are pretty good,” I murmur, and he pinches my side.
“You know I’m better than good. So are you. You could go pro if you wanted to.”
“Nah, I don’t wanna. Just want to get a job and live my life. Play rugby in my free time. Maybe coach it or something.”
“He likes it,” Maya interjects. “But never loved it enough to do it professionally. We all knew this.”
My mom bobs her head, and I close my eyes, just feeling Colton behind me. He feeds me between different conversations, and after a while, Hailey and Paulie wander out and join us, theireyes tired, their hair a mess. I have a sneaking suspicion that they spent the night in the same bed, but no one asks them about it because they’re too busy interrogating me, teasing me.
But I take it like I always do, just happy Colton is here, so solid against my back, his skin warm, his hands gingerly touching my shoulders, my chest, and arms. Like he can’t get enough. When it’s finally time to head back to real life, I loathe that the day is over. That the bubble we’ve created here will disintegrate the closer we get to campus.
I’ve enjoyed existing without having to worry about people’s lingering glances, their whispered words. Because I know that is what will happen if people see us together on campus. Colton Cavanaugh and Myles Witkoff. But even so, it’s time to return to reality, to the place where we belong for the time being.
“Let me know if you find out anything more,” I hear Colton tell Maya, and she salutes him. So I guess that he’s giving her permission to continue digging. Thank fuck. Because if what he told me was true and his stepdad is trying to off him while he’s sleeping, then I want the creep placed somewhere he can’t get to him.
Locked up, no key in sight.
Fuck, it makes me rage, possessiveness flooding through me.
No one gets to make him feel small like this, afraid. No one.
Maya’s hand drops to her side, and then she murmurs, “Fuck it,” and pulls Colton into a hug, whispering something into his ear. He swallows roughly and pulls away. A small smile tilts his lips up.
“Thank you.”
“Anything for my brother’sboyfriend.”
That long-drawn-out word makes me blush. Fuck, why did she have to frame it like that? She knows I’m unsure about what this is. I don’t even know if we are boyfriends. Friends even? Idon’t know anything at this point. But as we all embrace, my mom holding on for a little too long, I find Colton’s eyes on me.
That word sits heavily between us.
Boyfriends.
I need to talk to him about what this is when I have a chance. When there are no prying eyes or ears around us. When it can be just us. No pressure. Just the truth.
“Come back soon,” my mom says, pulling me from my thoughts.
I squeeze her tightly and manage to reply, “You don’t need to keep planting the vine to get me home. I’ll come anytime you want me.”
