Page 66 of Challenge
He tsks and leans back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Indie, I know you’re incredibly smart, but please allow me to educate you about my sport.”
His dress shirt pulls at the biceps and I suddenly picture him shirtless—ink on display, abs rippled just how I know they do. His slacks are bulging, revealing what I know to be plenty of—
“Up here, Specs.” My eyes shoot up to find him watching me with an amused expression on his face.
“I’m listening,” I state defensively.
His eyes crinkle, clearly pleased by my objectification. “Our pitch is huge. Over one hundred yards. And there is only one ref and two linesmen to keep up with twenty-two players over all of that space. You absolutely have to call attention to something that happens. Not dramatising a tackle could cost you the foul call you deserve. And drawing a foul is a vital part of strategy.”
“But some get penalised for over-dramatising,” I state, revealing I may know more about football than I care to admit.
He slants his eyes and approaches me, tucking himself between my legs. My wine glass presses between us again, just like that other time in my kitchen.
“In my world…” He brushes his lips along my jaw, pushing my loose strands of hair with his nose before whispering in my ear, “…that’s called passion.”
I turn my face to kiss him, but he pulls back before our lips can connect. “Come now, Specs. I’m here to pamper you tonight. Not tell you all the reasons why football is the best game in the world.”
By the time he plates our salads and refills my wine, I feel warm and fuzzy all over. Having him here makes me that way.
We’re sitting across from each other at my table when I blurt out, “So do you want to talk about what happened to you earlier today?”
He shakes me off. “I’d rather talk about you. I feel like we do a lot of talking about me.” I half smile and he continues, “The Penis List. We didn’t really discuss it in full detail. It’s very…peculiar.”
I give him a rueful smile. “Yeah, I am a bit of a head case. I thought you’d have sussed that out by now.”
“I’m aware. But lucky for you, the crazy ones are usually the most fun.” He winks and then adds, “So tell me how it came about. Why would you think you need a list? You’re smart, gorgeous, fun. You could have hundreds of blokes if you wanted. Why the need for a guideline?”
I try to conceal my grin. “Well,” I begin, “I told you how I skipped a few years of school, right?”
“Yes,” he replies.
“Being three years younger than all my classmates at an all-girl boarding school was pretty awful. All the girls were getting their periods and wearing C-cup bras. I didn’t even need a training bra until I was fourteen.”
“Your tits came in just fine.” He shoots me a creepy smirk that has me shaking my head. “I would have liked to have been your classmate in school, though. All that hair, those glasses, and boobs…You would have had trouble getting rid of me.”
“Anyway, perv, remember how you wanted me to tell you dirty stories about things that went on at my school?”
His mouth falls open. “God, yes. There are stories, aren’t there? You were holding back on me.”
I wince. “I don’t think they’re very interesting myself. But having been all girls with limited supervision in the dorms created some interesting use of free time. The older girls were so hyper-sexualised and curious, they experimented with each other—”
“Stop,” Camden says, silencing my words. “How old were you at this time?”
I shrug. “They were probably fifteen, so I would have been twelve.”
“God, this would be so much better if it happened in University.”
“Sorry to pummel your fantasy. Anyway, I wasn’t in the same place they were in…both in maturity and in puberty. I think they kind of targeted me for that.”
He frowns. “What happened?”
“Well, a few of the older girls convinced me to sneak out of the dorms one night. They said there was an abandoned school bus in the woods that other girls were star-gazing from at night through the busted roof. I was going through an astrology phase and I guess it felt nice that they noticed. So I went with them.
“I crawled up the bus steps all excited for stars, but walked in on a bunch of kids all having sex instead. Like, right next to each other and everything.”
“Good grief.” Cam’s disgusted face is comforting. It took me a long time to realise what those kids were doing wasn’t the normal way to go about having intercourse. I thought I was alone in my repulsion at the time. “So what did you do?”
“I was only twelve and still so underdeveloped and naïve that I just started bawling. I ran out of there and never spoke to those girls the rest of my years at that school.”
