Page 120 of Game Plan

“I haven’t decided if I’m going yet. I have a shift at Lola’s on Tuesday night and one on Friday.”

“If you don’t wanna go, we can lock ourselves here and celebrate together. All my roommates are going home for the holiday, so we’ll have the place to ourselves. Or we can leave Wednesday morning and drive back before your shift on Friday.”

I bit on my thumbnail. “Where will we stay? I don’t feel comfortable asking my parents if you can sleep over, and I’m not sure they’ll like the idea if I say I’ll be sleeping at your place either. I kinda don’t want us to be separated, though. I haven’t told them about us yet, so it might surprise them at first.”

“We could tell them together. How about we see how things go and decide what’s best then? I could also reenact senior year and climb the wall of your house and join you in your bedroom at night and rock your world. What do you say?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“I won’t say no to what you did earlier. It sent shivers all over me. The most delicious shivers I’ve ever felt. For now, though, kiss me, and I’ll forget that climbing my bedroom wall is your solution to our sleeping arrangement.”

I didn’t have to ask him twice. Mason caressed my bare leg under the covers, and tingles ran across my skin beneath the pads of his fingers. I rubbed my aching self against him, unable to resist him when his hand neared the apex of my thighs.

“Are you sore?” he asked breathless, cherishing the flesh of my throat with his lips and his tongue.

“A little. Perhaps we can give it another try later. After I shower and we fuel up on food, I would really love a do-over. I heard the second time is even better.”

“Each time is always going to be better, love. Because it’s you and me. Let’s sleep for now, though. I love us like this, and I’m not ready to go back to reality this early. I’m so happy the town cut the water across campus today to fix the pipes, and the university canceled all classes and sports practices. Let’s enjoy this moment while we can. We’ll discuss Thanksgiving another time.”

Releasing me, he rolled to his side and pulled me against him, the warmth of his skin a delicious temptation as it spread across my back.

Soon, his breaths evened.

His arms went slack around me.

My eyelids fluttered closed.

“I love you, Mason Pierce,” I murmured. I couldn’t keep my eyes open—and the words in—any longer, and so I followed him into his dreams.

“Hi, I’m Melinda. You must be Amber,” I asked the girl with long, braided blonde hair, dressed in purple workout gear, sitting at the kitchen table and cradling a mug of tea between her hands.

“Yes. Mel?”

I nodded, and she moved to her feet, pulling me into a hug. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.” She released me and stepped back, giving me a once-over. “You are even prettier than what Mason told us.” She smiled, putting me at ease.

“Huh… Thanks.”

“Want tea?” She nodded toward the mug on the table.

“Sure.”

“Awesome. Sit, I’ll make you one.”

I took the seat right next to hers at the small square table. “Were you about to go for a run, or did you just come back?”

She added a tea bag into the black mug she fetched from the cupboard above the sink and poured hot water from the kettle. “Nah. I was about to do some Pilates. I do that most mornings. It infuses me with energy, and I feel better afterward.”

I scanned the room around me. “Where’s everyone?”

“Asleep.” Amber brought my tea over and sat back.

I blew on the billowing steam.

“Devin usually wakes up at five every morning. I don’t have it in me to wake him up when he sleeps so soundly. I’m surprised the team doesn’t have something football-related today, although the university shut everything down until tomorrow. They usually watch game tapes or train together at the gym even on the weekends.”

“Same with Mase. He was deep asleep when I woke up. He didn’t so much as shift when I escaped his bed.”