“He’s passionate,” I said.
The ref snorted. “So’s every other parent. Makes my job difficult. Just...maybe tell him to calm down?”
“Yeah, I’ll try. No promises. He’s a big kid.”
I received an exhausted smile in response.
Usually, Pa and Barber waited around for me, but I’d texted Pa earlier to tell him I was spending the night at a “friend’s house.” Even though I knew he wanted to slam me with a million questions, he didn’t. I was an adult, and we’d come to a compromise. He needed to trust me. His job—being an assassin for a secret organization—put him on nonstop high alert. I understood his concern, but I’d also learned a lot from him about protecting myself. He’d agreed to let me live my life without being overbearing.
Sometimes he was even able to manage it.
Once I’d showered and changed back into my suit and tie in the locker room, I exited the small stadium. Oli and Ren were waiting for me outside, and I wasn’t surprised to see they weren’t talking. Ren had a cigarette cradled between his lips as he inhaled, then plucked the stick away to exhale a stream of smoke that billowed in the air in front of him. He had a cap pulled low over his eyes and wore a leather jacket. The shirt he had on was a V-neck, though, so it did little to conceal the art across his chest and up his neck.
Oli glared at him, arms crossed as he huffed. What had they been fighting about?
“Hey!” I called.
They turned to me, and Oli lit up, the bitter expression morphing into a wide grin.
“Hey. We were waiting for you,” Oli said.
Ren snorted. “He knows, Kitten.”
“Stopcalling me that.” Oli shot him a dark look over his shoulder. “Asshole.”
“That’s starting to sound like a compliment,Kitten. Are you flirting with me?” Ren hit back, and I was beginning to think he wasn’t wrong. Every time Oli insulted him, his gaze softened a little.
Oli flinched. “Hell no. I’d rather chop off my own dick than flirt with you.”
All three of us grimaced at the imagery. Ignoring Ren, Oli sidled up to me and wrapped his fingers around my tie, thumb stroking the material gently. His gaze snapped up to find mine and he smiled, his entire face relaxing. It was funny how I’d forced myself not to think about him sexually until recently. He was beautiful, with long lashes and pillowy lips. His curls hung loosely over his forehead, haloing soulful eyes.
“Hi,” I whispered.
“Hello.” He tilted his chin, and I pressed my mouth against his, cupping his cheeks with my palms. I swiped my tongue over the seam of his lips, and he opened them, allowing me entrance. He tasted like Cherry Coke, and my heart beat a little faster. I couldn’t remember anyone kissing me this way, with candor that made it seem as though he’d cracked open his ribs and was showing his soul. He was all sugar.
“Where’s mine?” Ren grumbled, shifting closer to us and knocking the brim of his cap up with his knuckle.
I broke away from Oli to lean toward Ren, and he seized my chin in a tight hold. He dragged me forward, slamming his mouth against mine in a rough kiss that had my lips aching with a mixture of pleasure and pain. He was relentless, a force of nature that wouldn’t yield. He didn’t ask for my kiss, he stole it. He dominated me, etching himself into my DNA, becoming part of me.
While Oli was sweet, Ren was sour, but only in the best way. He was hard muscle and an even harder attitude, and I fucking loved that, too. What was wrong with me? How could I want both of them when they had entirely opposite personalities?
Any other time, I might’ve worried about being seen kissing not one, but two men. The thing was, if they attempted to kick me off my scholarship for my relationships, Pa would give them hell. He had money and means, and the school knew by now not to mess with him. They’d had a taste of him when I’d dealt with a bullying professor freshman year.
By the time Ren was done, I was panting, my entire body trembling with need that gnawed me from the inside, working its way out.
Oli watched us with blown pupils that swallowed his irises, except for a narrow brown band. He wet his lips with a dart of his pink tongue and went in for his own kiss. This time I wasn’t prepared. He sucked my tongue like he might never get it again, and I wasn’t sure if he was desperate or wanted to beat Ren at his own game. Possibly both.
I wasn’t about to complain.
“We should take this home,” Ren growled out, his voice ripping through the empty parking lot.
I yanked back from Oli. Ren was right. I was out and proud, but I didn’t want someone taking a picture of me. I didn’t care what the world of football thought, but I also didn’t want to hear the lecture from Pa as he listed all the reasons why taking on twomen was too much stress. Ren and Oli weren’t like Barber, thank God. I didn’t think I’d have to worry the way Pa did.
Barber was a three-ring circus all on his own.
“Yeah, let’s go. How did you get here?” I asked.
“Shakira. I don’t cheat on my girl,” Ren answered without missing a beat. He nudged Oli on the shoulder, and Oli sent him another glare. “Tell our sweet KC what you said about her.”
