“I’m not sure. I never got the full story because Matty and he stopped being friends.”

“Really?” My heart is thudding in my throat. “Why?”

“No clue. Laurence told me once they got into a fistfight about something—not me, believe me. I asked since I hoped my brother would fight for my honor, but he hadn’t. It was about something else. No one knows why, but Caleb disappeared after that.”

“Wow,” I say, finding my voice. “So your dad didn’t ruin his career?” She shoots me a look of annoyance, and I shrug, a forgiving smile on my lips. “Come on, Avery. Dude was good, and for him to just quit… That’s odd, you know?”

“No, I do know. But no, the way I hear it is he quit himself. Stories fly all over the Princeton Hockey Club, and from what I heard, he wasn’t getting the position he wanted. Matty and Laurence were getting everything, so he quit. He was crazy stuck-up and entitled, so maybe that had something to do with it. I don’t know, but last I heard, he’s touring Africa.”

“Africa? Over hockey? That’s blasphemy,” I add with a grin, and she smiles as she shrugs.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I try not to think about him much. Everything about him is a bad memory.”

I nod slowly as she laces our fingers together. “How old were you?”

“Fifteen, almost sixteen.”

“Wow, so it had to suck.”

“Yeah, it blew badly. I didn’t think I would recover.” Her statement sounds loaded and I want to ask more, but she shrugs, looking up at me. “But I did. It’s a struggle, and sometimes I get overwhelmed, but I’m trying to do what makes me happy.”

“That’s all I want,” I say, kissing the back of her hand.

Smiling shyly at me, she says, “It’s ’cause of you, Jace.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, I’m happy because of you.”

Bringing her flat against my chest, I kiss her nose. “Same here, baby.”

Pressing my lips to hers, I close my eyes as our lips dance together in perfect unison. This girl and kissing are my two favorite things lately. As her hands thread through my hair, I hold her face, my body going taut and my cock coming to life. I roll on top of her, and she grins as I press myself into her hot center. Kissing down her throat, I go to her chest, but then she taps me.

“Markus isn’t here, is he?” she whispers, her eyes wide, and I shake my head.

“Nope.”

“Oh, didn’t he go out with Mekena last night?”

Kissing her throat, I nod. “He did.”

“Guess it went well.”

“Yup, he got lucky. Now hush and let me get lucky.”

Her airy giggles intoxicate me as I kiss down her body, dipping my tongue in her belly button. Moving her thighs apart, I kiss each one, moving my nose along each of the cuts. There is no possible way I can explain how much I hate them. Or him. I hate Caleb. How he could do this to her, or better yet, how her family could allow her to maul herself without notice just breaks me. Hurts me soul deep. I wish I would have known her. I wish I had been her first love, her first kiss, and her first lover. Because I wouldn’t have done that.

I would have loved her.

And she would have never harmed herself. Never.

When I dip my tongue between her lips, she arches off the bed into my mouth. I swear, I love how responsive she is. She screams like no other, and boy, does it wind me tight. Pushing her legs back, I take her wet center into my mouth, devouring her as she squirms beneath me. She tastes like heaven, and I could stay between these thighs for the rest of my life and not give two shits. Life is great when I’m between these thighs.

When she comes, she comes hard against my mouth, my name yelping from her lips as she twitches beneath me. Kissing each little lip, I sit up, crawling over her to reach my dresser. Pulling a condom out, I sheath myself before going between her legs and entering her with one thrust. She cries out and her hands come to my shoulders as I push my body into hers. Pressing my forehead to hers, I look into her eyes as I drive into her ever so slowly. Her body is still squeezing mine, and fuck, it feels good.

Squeezing her thigh and hip, I move in and out of her tight body, her fingers biting into my shoulders as she whimpers my name. Her eyes are locked on mine, her whole body flushed with lust. I swear, I’ve never seen beauty like this. Not even scoring the winning goal in the championship amounts to being between Avery’s thighs.

Fuck.

I’m a goner.

I’m hers.

And I’m completely okay with that.

Moving my nose along hers, I whisper, “Could you love me?”

Her eyes widen at that as she meets my gaze. “What?” she gasps as I move in and out of her.

“Could you love me?” I ask, still moving into her, my rhythm picking up because I’m almost there. She arches her back and I take her nipple into my mouth, making her scream as I bite down. “Answer me,” I demand and she nods.

“Yes.”

I almost ask if she does love me, but soon I can’t take it, and I’m coming just as hard as she did with a harsh groan. Gasping, I tuck my face against her neck as I fight for breath, my body still trembling, as is hers. Holding on to me, she trails kisses up my shoulders and my neck before stopping at my ear.

“Could you love me?”

I nod, pulling back to look at her. “Yeah, I could, I—”

Her phone interrupts me and she looks toward it, confused. Looking back at me, she says, “Who would be calling at seven in the morning?”

“I don’t know.” I roll off her and she gets her phone, frantic. Looking at the display, she shrugs.

“I don’t know who it is.”

“Answer.” I pull off the condom and throw it in the trash. “It could be family.”

She gives me a deadpan look, but she answers anyway. “Hello?”

She nods at whatever is being said on the other end. “Oh no, it’s okay. I’m up.” I watch as her face changes from confusion to an almost ecstatic look. “Really? Yes, that is no problem at all.”

I don’t know why she is so happy, but I smile anyway. She looks beautiful, her face is flushed, red splotches are all over her body, and she looks very much like a woman who was just loved right.

“No, that’s sounds awesome. I can’t wait to meet you. Yeah, for sure,” she says, bouncing on the bed. “I’m sorry if this is rude, but how did you hear of me? YouTube?”