Jockblocked (Gridiron Book 2) Read online

  He snaps his mouth shut. “Sorry, Hammer. No can do.”

  “Man, bros before hoes,” Hammer mutters.

  Later we watch a movie. During a particularly hot love scene, Matty gets up abruptly and hauls me into the bedroom. I might have been rubbing his dick under the blanket.

  “You are going to pay for all that teasing.” He bends me over the bed and kicks my feet apart. Like I imagine it would be like if I got arrested. Suddenly, the image of hot Matty in a police uniform appearing at my apartment door pops into my head. I get a little excited. Okay, a lot excited.

  Matty notices. “What’s got you all turned on?”

  He rubs a hand over my ass.

  “Don’t worry,” I tease. “I’m fantasizing about you.”

  “Yeah? Well, tell me about it so I can make it good for you.”

  And I realize one of the reasons I’m so willing to forgive him is because he does take all of the risk. There’s no shame in telling him what I want, because he wants it, too.

  He is really in tome. Into us.

  “I was thinking how this position makes me imagine Hot Cop Matty. Didn’t you say you wanted to be in the FBI?” He told me that after we went sledding, when we were talking about after the NFL and what else he’d do besides his Instagrammable tea parties.

  He chuckles low and I feel it in my tummy. “What am I investigating?”

  “Um, theft of state secrets.” I pluck something random out of the air.

  “Alright, Miss Watson, I’m going to have to search you now. Don’t move.”

  I wiggle my butt. “Shouldn’t a lady agent be doing this?”

  He smacks me lightly. “You want to go to prison? Or do you want to make this problem go away?”

  “Go away,” I say with a forced tremble in my voice.

  He slides down to his knees. “Then you’re going to do exactly what I say, when I say it, aren’t you?”

  This time when I speak, the quaver is entirely real. “Yes.”

  He pushes my legs even wider apart. “Then you have to stay real still and real quiet while I eat your pussy. Otherwise, my partner’s going to hear you.” He leans forward and rubs his tongue along my entire sex. “And if he hears you, he’s going to come into this room and then I’m going to have to share you. I don’t want that, do you?”

  I gulp. “No.”

  “And if you’re not quiet and you’re not still, I’m going to come in my pants. We both know you want me in your mouth, don’t you?” He licks me again and again and again. I shove my face into the comforter and pant. Yes, God, yes, I want him in my mouth again. The heavy weight of him on my tongue, the way he looks at me like I’m the only light in a dark place, the way he moans and groans and jacks helplessly as I drive him completely and utterly out of his mind.

  “Yes.”

  “Then take your punishment like a good little girl.”

  I’ll do the best that I can, Officer. I swear it.

  * * *

  “I need to go.” Reluctantly, I untangle myself from Matty’s embrace. The clock says the sun will be rising soon and I should get home. I’ve spent too much time with Matty this past week. This is going to be a tough day for Ace. As soon as Remington Barr announces his intentions to come to Western, Ace will be inundated with questions, and even though we haven’t talked much lately, I don’t want to rub any more salt on his wounds.

  Matt’s unhappy I’m leaving. I see it in the straight line of his lips and the tenseness in his large frame. He doesn’t say anything while he throws back the covers and swings out of bed. My breath catches in the back of my throat at the lithe movement of his body. For a large man he’s very graceful.

  He throws on a pair of sweatpants and then digs around in a dresser for socks.

  I pause in zipping my jeans. “You don’t have to walk me home.”

  He looks at me like I’m nuts. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

  “It’s fine. It’s almost dawn.” I peer through the slats of his vertical blinds.

  He bends down to tie his boots. “You could stay but you won’t, right? Because you don’t want Ace to know you’re sleeping with me?”

  I let the blinds fall back into place. “I stayed a few nights,” I point out, but, yes, I can’t deny part of my decision relates to Ace. “He’s hurting right now. I don’t want to twist the knife in any further.”

  Matt’s jaw clenches, but he’s skating on thin ice since I found my dossier, so whatever jealous thoughts he has he keeps to himself. Instead, he steps toward me, halting close enough that I have to tip my head back to look at him. “Want me to talk to him?”

  “No offense, but I don’t think he’d listen to you.” Although, if this situation on the team is going to get resolved, Ace and Matt and the entire team are going to have to talk and listen to each other.

  “You’re probably right.” He pulls me against him and I breathe deep, enjoying the smell of warm, sexy Matt for a moment longer.

  “I can’t stay tonight. Tomorrow—today,” I correct myself. “Today is going to be hard for him, and I need to be there. He’d be there for me.”

  A flicker of unhappiness flits through his eyes at the reminder of my closeness with Ace, but then his easygoing nature breaks through and he gives me a rueful smile. “I can’t believe I’m trying to talk a woman into spending the night with me.”

  It’s my turn to glance down to hide the sting of his comment. He means it as a compliment, but it’s a reminder of how many girls have shuffled in and out of this bedroom.

  “Hey, you.” He tips my chin up. “No one else is spending time in here just because you aren’t around. I hope you know that.”

  I push the doubt away and cling to those words.

  * * *

  Ace sits in front of the television, his bloodless hands gripped between his legs, looking as angry as I’ve ever seen him. I immediately text Sutton and Charity and tell them to take a long time at dinner.

  My thoughts flit to Matty. I never thought to ask him if he was worried. He probably isn’t in any danger of being replaced, but I never asked, either—too caught up in my own drama. I tell Ace I need to use the bathroom and slip away to shoot off a quick text.

  Me: Day going okay for you?

  Matty: It’s all good. Thanks for asking. You?

  I’m doing okay. Worried about, I don’t want to bring up Ace again, so I just type, friends.

  Matty: Got it. Call me if you want to talk or meet up. I’ll be up late.

  Me: I’ll probably be busy.

  Matty: Practice starts tomorrow. We’ll work it out.

  When I get out, Ace is pacing.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

  “I’m the quarterback, Lucy, or did loverboy convince you otherwise?”

  “Ace, I’m behind you. It doesn’t matter who I’m dating.”

  He snorts out an ugly laugh. “Does it feel good to be Ives’s current slam piece?”

  I grind my teeth together to keep from lashing out. “If you’re going to be an asshole, you can leave.”

  Ace runs a hand through his closely cropped hair. “What is that you see in him?”

  “He’s kind.” I think back to how he made me breakfast, his thoughtfulness in taking my glucose measurements.

  “He’s working to turn the team against me. The entire defensive squad follows his lead. If he stood up and supported me, the team would support me. If I don’t have him, I’m as good as gone.”

  I rub my lips together. I don’t like where this is going. I didn’t like it when Matt presented his side of the argument to me and I definitely don’t like Ace trying to leverage our friendship. “I have no influence over him, just like I have no influence over you.”

  Ace’s jaw works furiously as he holds in whatever horrible invective he’d like to spit out at me. Finally, he fixes his attention on the television and we watch the show in silence. For two excruciating hours. I’m so stressed out I end up checking my glucose le
vels five times. I open my mouth to ask him to leave just as the show flips from the studio to the camera at Remington Barr’s home.

  If I thought Ace was angry before, it’s nothing like the rage consuming him now. He squeezes the remote so tight, the plastic cover over the battery cracks in his hands.

  I get up and move to the kitchen because the tension in the living room is suffocating. The phone rings, startling me. I glance at my phone, but I realize it’s not mine ringing. It’s Ace’s. It rings and rings until the voicemail cuts in.

  Then there’s a series of pings that signal an influx of text messages or emails arriving. Ace sits there like a statute. I feel stupid and useless. Should I answer the inquiries for him? Say no comment? Block them? Or hell, just turn the stupid thing off.

  “Ace, honey, can I help you?”

  He doesn’t answer.

  I fumble with my phone and text Matty.

  Ace is frozen and his phone is blowing up. What should I do?

  The phone rings immediately. Ace’s head tips slightly to the side, as if registering it’s at least not his phone.

  “Hello?”

  My heart leaps and my stomach drops at the same time.

  “You okay?” Matty asks.

  “Hey,” I answer vaguely not wanting to pour fuel on Ace’s already triggered temper.

  “He’s sitting next to you?”

  “Close.”

  “Fuck.”

  The animosity between the two is growing, and I can’t help but feel like it’s my fault. I turn away from Ace and whisper into the phone. “He’s in a bad place right now.”

  Matty sighs. “Do you want me to come over?”

  I clench the phone in my hand. “No. It’d make it worse.”

  There’s a long pause at the other end of the line. I know he doesn’t like this, but Ace is my friend and I can’t abandon him now, no matter how rotten he’s been to me lately. Matty finally sighs, “Call me if you need anything. Anytime, okay?”

  “Okay,” I say with relief.

  He starts to say something but decides against it, and after we exchange goodbyes, we hang up.

  “Was that him on the phone?” Ace asks immediately. Apparently, he’s not dead on my sofa.

  I almost lie, but then I decide Ace deserves the truth about as much as I deserve to see Matty if I want.

  “Yes.”

  Ace breathes through his nose. “Are you dating him?”

  The disbelief in his voice grates hard. I snap out, “Yes.”

  “What makes you think you’re relationship material to him?”

  “I…I…” The question is so surprising, so insulting, I barely know how to answer. “Am I not? Do you know something about me that prevents me from being, um, relationship material?”

  “Yeah, because you’re too fucking nice. College is a cesspool of people who are fucked up, Lucy. You think you know them one minute, but you don’t. I don’t know what Masters was thinking marrying some chick he knew for the span of a semester, but we all know he’s going to be divorced before he gets his signing bonus.” Ace pauses. “No, after, because the chick will take his money and run off with it, after she’s fucked all of his teammates.”

  “Ace, what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the fact that you’re making a huge fucking mistake. You want to survive with your soft little heart intact, then smarten up. I’ve told you time and again that guys here only want one thing. You think somehow your pussy is the golden one that suddenly turns Ives away from all the free pussy he has access to?”

  I flinch.

  “No, you’re a novelty. He thinks the chase is great, but once you stop running, he’ll be bored and move on to the next tasty treat on the menu. How long did your dad spend staring at the bottom of the bottle waiting for your mom to stop fucking my dad?”

  I jerk back, feeling his words like a physical blow.

  He swipes a shaky hand across his face. “Guys like us. Like my old man. Like Matty. Women are just a convenience. There for the taking. There all of the time. The only thing we can do to minimize the damage we inflict is to pair up with women who want the same thing we want. They don’t want love or romance. They don’t require devotion. They give their bodies. They take from you, and you’re both fine. But that’s not how you’re built, Lucy.”

  I hardly know what to say in response because he’s right. I tried the hookup route after my high school boyfriend dumped me. Those weren’t satisfying, so I tried dating my safe, solid boyfriends. Those weren’t successful either. I tried one night with Matty but couldn’t stick with it because he was too charming, too fun, too wonderful in bed and out of it. But I do require loyalty, faithfulness, and a certain amount of devotion. Matty’s already admitted he’s been a shitty boyfriend to one girl.

  “Maybe I’ve changed,” I manage to choke out. The lie tastes bitter on my tongue.

  “When did you start fucking him? Have you known all along? Have you been laughing about this shit behind my back?” The veins in Ace’s neck are bulging against his skin. He’s red-faced, and some of his words are wet, laced with spittle and venom.

  I can feel a spike of stress messing with my system. “I slept at Matthew Iverson’s place the night my apartment was fumigated,” I say as evenly as possible.

  “You slept with Iverson four weeks ago?” Ace yells like some outraged virgin.

  My own temper fires up. He’s not the injured party in this scenario. I slam my spoon down again. “Yeah, because you were fucking some jersey chaser on the sofa, and I didn’t want to watch the porn show, okay? Matt offered me a place to stay.”

  “Oh, I bet he did.”

  I stare at him in confusion. “Yes, he did. And he was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t try anything. He made me breakfast and sent me on my way. We got together later and had sex.”

  He screws up his face. “You know what? Take your little walk in the gutter with Iverson. But don’t come to my house weeping that he’s broken your heart and given you an STD.”

  I rear back as if he’s slapped me. “That’s not fair.”

  “Welcome to life, Lucy. Nothing is fuckin’ fair,” he spits out.

  “Ace.” I try to soften my tone, but it’s difficult. His hurtful words are branded in my mind, making my hands tremble. “This has nothing to do with you. I promise you. I’m on your side. What position you want to play, what Matty wants, it doesn’t matter.”

  Nothing I say penetrates Ace’s rage. He snatches his sunglasses off the table and is at the door in four long strides. Hand on the doorknob, he turns back. “You’re going to regret this. When he moves on, and he will, and you end up being humiliated after dozens of pictures are plastered on the web with him and some jersey chaser, you’re really going to feel good, aren’t you?”

  “Please go.” My throat is tight. I can’t believe he’s saying these things to me.

  “I’m telling you this because you’re too soft for Matty Iverson. If you have any doubts about what I’m saying, Google his fucking name. There are a helluva lot more pictures out there than what I showed you.”

  I try swallowing, but there’s a huge lump in my throat. “What Matty did before me makes no difference.”

  Ace looks at me like I’m the dumbest fucking girl on the planet.

  “Have fun fucking him tonight.” And with that, he’s gone.

  At the computer, I hesitate. I slam the laptop lid shut and then pace. I pace back to my desk and open it again.

  I type in his name. Most of the pictures are of him in uniform, him on the field. There’s one link on the second page of him bending over, his broad shoulders between another girl’s legs. She’s wearing jeans but her shirt is off. His shirt is off. I don’t know what he’s doing there.

  There are other pictures of him and another girl. Him and Hammer and two girls. They were all taken the same night.

  My heart twists as I look them over. The dates of the pictures inform me that they were taken the ni
ght after the championship game. Just a few weeks before he came to the Brew House. Just a few weeks before I had my own personal, up-close picture of Matty between my legs.

  I knew exactly how it felt for him to be there, licking and sucking and fingering me in ways that made my sex clench just to think about it. It kills me to know there are other women out there who have experienced that same pleasure.

  Not a rational feeling, but it’s there and I can’t make it go away.

  Can he change? Ace says no.

  But then Ace has his own issues, his own demons that Matty doesn’t struggle with. I shut my laptop firmly and push it away.

  So Matty had sex in the past. Big whooping deal. I repeat that to myself a hundred times, but Ace has stirred up the fear I thought I’d put behind me.

  28

  Matty

  I tuck my phone away and try to curb my impatience. Wishing Ace and Luce weren’t friends is a fruitless exercise. They are, and I’m going to have to deal with it. I still think Ace is the snake in my garden because there’s no way he hangs Luce’s picture in his locker without having stronger feelings than friendship for her. But…there’s no point in bringing that up with Luce.

  She thinks they’re friends, treats him like a friend. They’ve had plenty of time to knock boots in the past and haven’t done it. So I just have to trust that whatever feelings are involved, they aren’t on Lucy’s end.

  “Where’s everyone else?” I ask Hammer as I wander into the living room. Earlier in the day we had half the defense in here watching ESPN’s Signing Day special, and now it’s just Hammer.

  “Most of the guys went to the Gas Station. A few went to work out.”

  Probably the guys who play the same positions as the blue chip recruits announcing today.

  “You think about the guys you were replacing on Signing Day?” I ask. I know I hadn’t. I was too jacked up to get here and show everyone I was the man.

  “Fuck no. I was thinking how I couldn’t wait until the fall was here and how I could strut my stuff on national television. I was practicing my hammer move.” He brings his arm down in an abrupt chop.