“Your ass is mine.”
Their cheeks warmed, but it had to be the summer heat. “You only wish you were so lucky.”
Oliver called, “Hike,” even though no one knew what it meant, and Cya feinted left, before darting around Dex’s right. He grabbed at the end of their tail, missing by a scale, and they flexed their muscles to rise quickly, snatching the dysc out of the air.
They heard Dex hot on their tail, and before they could cross the goal line, he slammed into their back. With a yelp, they went down, but he twisted them mid-air, so he landed on the grass with them on top, ensuring they didn’t get hurt.
“Cheater!” they snarled, wriggling to escape his hold.
Laughing, he tried to wrestle the dysc out of their grasp, but their pride would not concede so easily. They rolled, hissing in frustration when he rolled with their momentum until he straddled them.
Objectively, what Cya did next was a low blow, pure and simple. But Dex was bigger and heavier, and sometimes, one had to play dirty.
They gripped the ground with their tail muscles and shoved forward, bringing their hips up between his legs and rubbing briefly against his groin. The Lupyn gasped at the contact, and his grip loosened minutely, his knees shifting ever so slightly. It was the opportunity they needed to slither out from under him, spin onto their belly, and slam the dysc over the goal line above their head.
“Game point!” they shrieked in victory, and their team roared somewhere behind them.
“They were down; the play was over,” Liel cried in frustration.
“Yeah, that doesn’t count!” Dex grabbed them by the tail, flipped them over, and yanked them back until he had them pinned with their hands above their head. He chuckled down at them, his chest heaving, eyes bright, fur damp with sweat. “You rotten, little cheater.”
“You cheated first,” they retorted, pushing against his unbreakable grip on their wrists. “Get off me.”
At first, they thought he’d ignore the command, but then he sat back, his weight heavy on their stomach for only a few seconds before he was dismounting and climbing to his feet. Reaching down, Dex offered them a crooked smile, fingers wiggling in invitation. They slipped their hand into his and let him pull them to standing.
“Good game,” they said with a hint of cheek to their tone.
“You play dirty.” The dark look in his eyes made them shiver, and his grin sharpened. “Better watch out ’cause I can play dirty too.”
High on victory and the buzz of his flirtation, Cya scoffed and gave him a coy onceover. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”
Dex side-stepped to block their path back to the veranda, swim shorts slung low on his hips to reveal the carved valleys of his obliques. This close, they could smell his musky sweat and the woodsy, untamed scent of hisskin, and heat that had nothing to do with the sun or sport rolled through them. Nostrils flaring, he cocked his head, and a low rumble vibrated in his chest. He fingered the secure knot of their sarong, bringing a soft gasp from them, and his responding smile was all teeth.
“Is that a challenge, highness?”
Nerves flurried up their throat, but somehow, their voice held steady. “Perhaps,” they whispered, forked tongue flicking over their bottom lip to wet it. “You think you’re up for it?”
He growled again, and their chest filled with vicious satisfaction, their rattle clattering instinctually in response. The air trembled with expectation, and goosebumps exploded over their skin as his finger traced the jut of their hipbone. His eyes dropped to their mouth, and they swore he leaned in, like he wanted to kiss them.
Glass shattered on the patio, breaking the seductive spell, and Dex’s touch fell away as he stepped back, head turning toward the commotion. Half-relieved, half-disappointed, Cya swallowed thickly and pressed a hand to their stomach to quell their wanton desire. To distract themself from the maybe almost-kiss, they headed into the house to retrieve a broom at Hemersyn’s request so he could clean up the glass Jasmyn had dropped.
After everyone cooled off in the pool for another hour, they started to leave in two’s and three’s until it was just Dex, Jasmyn, Ellyn, Cya, and Hemersyn left. Night was falling, and Ellyn was trying to convince Jasmyn to leave the pool so she could dry off. Dex sat beside Cya on the edge of the pool, his legs dangling in the water, brushing their tail every now and then.
Their phone buzzed, and they checked the email from Pride University, inhaling sharply. “They posted exam results.”
At Dex’s insistence, they logged into the P.U. student portal and clicked on their dashboard. Their thumb hovered over the tab, before they shoved their phone in his face.
“I can’t look. You do it.”
“Uh-uh, no way! I’m not doing this again.” He shook his head resolutely. “I will not be the bearer of any more important news. It’s too much pressure!”
They had no idea what he was talking about, but they dismissed it with a huff. “Fine. I’ll do it. Coward.”
“You’re the coward,” he muttered.
With a fortifying breath, Cya clicked the tab and their grades for the semester exams loaded. They scanned the list, finding Professor Myls’ name, and audibly gasped.
“B minus,” they said, and Dex’s eyes widened comically as he snatched their phone out of their hand to see for himself.
