Above Ellie’s head, I glare. Get out or the next time I see you, I’ll shove that bag of Doritos down your throat and you’ll be shitting Mylar for a week.

Matty’s self-preservation instincts kick in and he hops up. “Gotta go. Have a honey coming over tonight. Any recommendations on what I should wear, Ellie?”

He smooths his hand over his unruly black hair.

Ellie stares at him.

Awkwardly, he drops his hand. “Okay, I’m going now.”

What’s wrong? He mouths as he passes by.

I give a half shrug. I don’t know.

“Good luck,” he mutters under his breath as he closes the door.

“Tired, baby?” I ask when we’re alone. She lets me tug off her jacket and somehow remembers to toe off her own boots before collapsing on the sofa.

She shakes her head. “No, I’m fine.”

Right. You look about as fine as a beach after a hurricane.

“How about a shower? You’re shivering.”

She shrugs again. I could have said, Let’s eat babies; they’re full of protein, and she would respond with a nonchalant lift of her shoulders.

I tug her into the bathroom. It’s plain—white tub, white tiles, small cabinet with a sink. I suck at cleaning, but fortunately for us, the Playground houses get cleaned once a week. It’s a perk of living here. I’m not even sure who does it. Supposedly it’s part of the rent, room, and board that we’re allotted, since this is technically student housing, but only athletes get to live here, primarily the starters on the football team.

I ripped the shower curtain down a long time ago because I got tired of rubbing up against that plastic piece of shit. I throw a towel on the floor, which soaks up most of the excess water, and call it a day. Tonight I flip the knobs on and wait for the old heaters to kick in and send the hot water up three floors. In the meantime, I start undressing Ellie.

It’s not as fun when she’s standing still as a ghost. Most of the time we’re undressing each other like it’s one big race to see who can rip the other person’s clothes off faster. Sometimes it does result in an actual rip. But I’d sacrifice any number of buttons or shirts or clothes if she would stop acting and looking like a wax museum figure.

My body and my head aren’t on the same page. When I get Ellie down to her undies, I start thinking about comforting her in other ways. My dick tells me he can make her feel better, and since I’m not sure, maybe I should test it out. For science. It doesn’t get better when I pull her panties down her long lean legs and unhook her bra strap.

I bite down on the inside of my cheek, but the exploding pain doesn’t make my erection lessen even a little. Still, I ignore it because that seems like the right thing to do. My dick apparently hates doing the right thing and stubbornly points at her.

“Knox.” Ellie places her slender fingers on my forearm as I lift her into the tub.

“Yeah, baby?”

“I don’t want to be alone.” She looks down and crosses one bare foot over the other.

“Oh, sweetheart, you aren’t.” It takes me no time to strip off my clothes. I hop into the shower and nudge her under the heated stream of water. I squeeze some shampoo into my hand and then go to work on her hair. She leans into me, resting her forehead on my chest while I massage the soap into her skull. She moans, a soft, pleasurable sound that races down my spine and settles somewhere in the vicinity of my dick.

Her hands come up and press against the sides of my waist. I swallow a groan but my dick bobs happily between us. Who knew that part of my body was erogenous? I try to ignore how turned on I’m getting as she kneads my sides.

It gets impossible when she runs her fingers down my obliques.

“This might be the sexiest part of your body,” she mumbles against my chest.

“Might be?” I slather shampoo down her back, mapping her with my hands. I feel the bony edges of her shoulder blades, the strength in her rib cage. Lower sit the gentle curves of her ass and the hidden crease between them.

“I’m a fan of your happy trail.” Her hand dips between us. “And where the trail ends.”

I don’t respond immediately because I’m busy savoring the feel of her hand on my dick. I pump helplessly against her palm. Her tongue darts out to lick the water off my pec. I flex it for her and she giggles.

“You’re making it hard for me to stand upright, baby.”

“Hmm?” She licks me again. And then again.

“Shit, baby, that feels so good.” With a growl, I delve between her legs. I run my fingers along the outer edges of her sex, squeezing and rubbing as I go. Her body strains against my hand.

I know what she wants because I want the same thing. I want my dick inside of her, driving into her hard. But I’ve also learned that the longer we hold out, the longer we tease each other, the better the feeling.

Like I told her a long time ago on Hammer’s back porch, I’m a pro at delayed gratification.

She’s gotten to know me. That night in the bathroom, she watched me with fevered intent. It was so hard not to grab her, throw her against the cabinets, and fuck her right there. She learned something that night and she’s applying all her knowledge right now. She slides her palm up and down. I jerk out of her grasp because I’m too close to blowing my lid.

“Not yet,” I order.

I drop to my knees and push her legs open even wider until she’s completely exposed to my gaze. Her clit practically screams for me to suck her. I flick it with my tongue and feel my chest swell with pride when she cries out my name.

“Knox, please.”

I cover her with my mouth, sucking in that sweet pearl, lashing it with my tongue until her fingernails dig into my skull. This is our first time in the shower, and it’ll be memorable. All of our first times will get burned into her brain, like she’s burned into my heart.

I spread her legs wide apart and pin her to the tiles of the shower wall. As promised, I’ll do all of the work. Although this isn’t work. This is…hell, it’s more than play or fun. I feast on her because I can’t get enough. I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough of her.

There isn’t a moment of the day that I don’t want my face buried between her legs or to be balls deep in her pussy. I want my name to be the last words on her lips when she falls asleep and the first thought in her mind when she wakes.

Right now, she’s chanting my name and whatever caused her to feel upset earlier doesn’t bother her now. Her head presses against the wall and her back arches as she grinds against my mouth and face.

The blood in my dick pounds like a beast clawing its way out. I can’t wait another minute. I surge to my feet and line up my cock at her entrance. Her heat scorches me and I’m not even inside her yet. She wraps her arms and legs around me as I surge forward.

We share a groan when I’m fully seated. She starts squeezing immediately with those goddamn muscles of hers.

I gasp. “Give me a minute, baby. I need to catch my breath.”

Her body quakes against mine as she laughs. “I thought you were this big strong athlete with loads of stamina and discipline.”

“I practice football, not sexual Olympics,” I retort. She squeezes me again.

This girl. I shake my head. She’s challenged me from the moment I laid eyes on her.

“I guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson.” I swing her around, cupping her ass tightly in my hands and carefully step out of the tub. “Squeeze me again and we’re both going down.”

She yelps and clings tighter to me. The situation gets worse because her slippery tits rub against my chest, and her hot little cunt slides up and down my shaft as I hobble my way to the bedroom and onto the bed.

I throw her down and climb on top of her. Caging her between my arms, I bend down and nip her lip. “You’re asking for it. Hope you don’t have too much going on tomorrow because you’ll feel really sore.”