Logan tucked his hand into his pocket so no one could see the swelling.

We held firm. Nate started toward the parking lot, but I shook my head. This was Manipulation 101. We waited, and it wasn’t long before the door flung open.

Sebastian and his three friends flew out, searching for us.

We were right there, standing calmly.

Sebastian frowned, stopping himself, but he couldn’t hold back his friends. The three of them rushed us.

The Big Motherfucker came at me. The other two squared against Logan and Nate.

As the big guy swung, I dodged and scooted back, holding up my hands. “Hey, hey, hey.”

Here was the slimy part. I hated doing this, but it was needed to deal with Sebastian.

I lied through my teeth, “What the hell? Come on.”

The girls outside gasped. Two of them screamed, and I glimpsed a few grabbing for their phones. One girl sprinted into the bookstore.

“Stop,” Sebastian cried out.

He reached for his friends, but they weren’t hearing him.

The big guy swung again. I blocked his punch. I could’ve delivered a good uppercut, but I hadn’t. I shoved him away and held my hands up again. “Come on, man. What’s your problem?”

Logan was doing the same as me, ducking and dodging.

Nate started to throw his fist, but he caught on to us, and his arm fell back to his side. The three of us kept scooting around as Sebastian’s guys continued to throw punches.

“Guys!” Sebastian yelled at them.

They still weren’t listening.

Suddenly, they were grabbed and shoved backward. A wall of guys stepped between them and us, and it took a second before I realized what had happened.

Some of my football teammates were there. Drew, the quarterback, and a few others. Drew was standing in front of me with his back to me. The rest were literally a wall between Sebastian and his guys and us.

“Hey, man,” Sebastian started, moving away. He held his hands up, like I had moments ago. “They started this.”

A girl spoke up, “No, they didn’t. Those guys came out, and then those other guys just started hitting.”

Logan glanced at me. We shared a look. This hadn’t been planned, but it was like Sebastian delivered himself to us on a platter.

“We didn’t,” the Big Motherfucker huffed back at her. “The one guy hit Sebastian, and then they ran. We were just following. They started it.”

Drew turned to me before saying to Sebastian, “Well, it doesn’t matter. They have witnesses. You don’t. I’d suggest you walk and walk fast before campus security gets here.”

It was then when Sebastian figured it out. His anger spiked, and he glowered at me. Drew was studying me, too. I kept my face blank. I felt bad. Drew and the guys weren’t supposed to be there, but this was my fight against Sebastian. A lie to my quarterback was collateral.

Sebastian didn’t want to go. He lingered, but his friends were the smarter ones this time around. They grabbed his arm and pulled him down a sidewalk. He was glaring at me the whole time.

Good.

I wanted him to glare.

I wanted him mad.

I wanted him off balance. He’d mess up, and when he did, I would win.

Drew shook his head. He said under his breath to me, “That took some balls.”

“What are you talking about?”

He murmured so that no one else could hear, “Be careful, Mason. Okay?”

I was going to deny whatever he thought I was doing, but I saw it in his eyes. He knew. They were knowing, a little awed but also cautious. Instead, I nodded. “I will.”

SAMANTHA

Mason trailed kisses down my throat, lingering between my breasts, before groaning and lifting back up to meet my lips.

My god.

He pushed farther inside me, going deep, and I sighed from contentment as his mouth moved over mine.

I loved this man. The harder he went, the more I would unravel for him. The deeper he moved, the more I’d want to match him, thrust for thrust. Harder. Rougher. Deeper. As he moved, so did I. Our hips were glued to each other. I gasped, pleasure coursing through me.

As soon as I’d walked through his bedroom door, he pinned me against it and started kissing me. Not many words were shared. We didn’t need them, but as he readjusted his hold on my hands above me, I knew something was wrong. He was hungrier than normal, like he was starving to be one with me.

His hand swept down my side and gripped under my leg. I had a second to realize what he was doing as he reared back to thrust once more into me. He lifted me from the door and carried me to the bed. He held me up like that, and the sheer force of it rippled through his back. His arms were taut, holding me in place, and a thrill of adrenaline shot through me. This man, as he laid me down and gently fell with me, had so much power and strength.

I reveled in his caresses, loving every inch of him, as he went back inside before moving out and then back in. He was on top of me, but his weight was welcome. My wrists were stretched above me again, and then he lifted his head, watching me. He gazed down through lidded eyes, the stark need for me so bright and obvious in their depths. It was like an extra layer of emotion swimming over the surface. I saw it in his eyes and the way his mouth looked to be in pain from needing to touch mine again. It was even in how he grabbed my hip and moved it to the side, aligning his hips, so he could go even more inside me, reaching for a deeper angle. He was all the way in, sheathed there, as he held still for a second.

I was his.

What he wanted from me, I’d give.

I panted. I wanted to reach for him and pull him back to me, but he kept my wrists in his hand. This was for him.

He groaned, dipping back down to my lips. I felt his yearning once again, and I lifted up, pressing all of my body against his. We were both slick from sweat, so we seamlessly moved together, almost gliding against one another. He pulled out before going back inside me.

“Mason,” I murmured. I wanted his mouth on me, anywhere on me. I wanted him to go faster. I wanted to feel the ride.

The sensations were building. I was going to come.

“Sam,” he whispered, bending over so that his lips grazed my ear. He kept moving.

I felt his body tensing and knew he was right with me.

He cursed, gasping. “I love you.”

We both came together. I pulled at his hold on my wrists, but he held me, still pinned. I looked up to find he was watching me. A lazy smile adorned his face, and his free hand went to rub between my legs, right at my opening.