Page 35 of The Golden Receiver

I stood up, which was a mistake. I was too close to him. The heat ramped up between us, and before I knew what I was doing, I closed the distance between us and kissed him.

Chapter Twelve

Evander

One moment, Kieran and I were laughing in my room.

The next, he was kissing me.

It wasn’t one of those slow kisses either. It was passionate and explosive, lips bruising and tongues immediately slipping into mouths. It was the kind of kiss that started fires. I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear the smoke alarms going off in the dorm with how hot this kiss was starting out.

I had a feeling that this was going to get out of control fast.

Not that I was doing anything to stop the kiss from getting out of control. Instead, I was hellbent on stoking the fire that was sparking between us. This wasn’t what I’d invited him upstairs for, but the moment I’d mentioned the chance of it happening again, I knew that was what I wanted. I wanted to drown myself in the way he smelled when he got aroused. It reminded me of this spiced cider Kali made every winter—full of cinnamon, warm, mouthwatering. I wanted to find out every single sound he could make when he got going, and I wanted to be the one that pulled them all from him.

Normally, this might be a concerning thought, but how could I think of anything else when he was kissing me like this?

How could I think of anything else when that spiced cider scent was starting to fill my teensy-tiny dorm room? There wasn’t a lot of space for it to go. There wasn’t a lot of space for us to go. There was the desk chair behind him, and there was the bed behind me. I knew where I’d rather have us go, and it sure as hell wasn’t that uncomfortable wooden desk chair. I wasn’t even sure it could support our weight.

I tugged Kieran backward. It was only three steps before the backs of my legs hit the dorm bed. I sat, and Kieran bent to keep our lips together, to keep kissing me. I felt the bed shift as his weight settled on top of me, one knee on either side. He was heavy, but I didn’t care. I already knew that he had a bit more muscle than me. Just like I knew that he weighed more than me. Our stats weren’t exactly private on the team.

It wasn’t just his weight that was doing it for me either. It was the way his scent surrounded me. It was as intoxicating as the way his lips moved against mine, the way his tongue explored every inch of my mouth. Every part of him that touched me made me want more. I wrapped my arms tight around his waist, pressing him closer to me. The press of his body against mine was good, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to feel his skin on mine. I wanted to see more than just the stolen glances of him half-naked in the locker room.

Okay, more than half-naked.

I’d seen him in just a towel less than an hour before, but I’d been trying not to look. It wasn’t what I wanted. It wasn’t enough to satisfy the cravings that were growing inside of me.

I needed to feel his skin against mine.

I reached down to the hem of his shirt and tugged it up. He lifted his arms and let me peel the sweaty tee shirt from his body. I dropped it on the floor of my room. His hands immediately found the bottom of my shirt. The moment my shirt was abandoned, our lips collided again. Just kissing him was not enough. I needed more than the feel of his lips on mine or the weight of his body on my lap. Every touch of his skin against mine made me desperate for another.

This wasn’t going to be enough.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid him back on the bed, slotting myself between his open legs. I broke away from the kiss and looked down at him. His broad chest was mouthwatering. He had actual ab lines. I worked out just as hard as he did, but my abs were nowhere near as defined. I wanted to trace every line of muscle with my fingers and then my tongue, commit them to memory.

As he looked up at me, his lips formed a straight line. No longer smiling. “What?” he asked.

Was I hallucinating, or did I hear a hint of insecurity in his voice? That was not at all what I was hoping for. That would be a mood killer. I reached down and traced my index finger over his chest. “Just taking in the view,” I told him with a grin. I saw his lips twitch ever so slightly. “You’re really hot.” I saw a hint of color flush his cheeks. “Surely you know you’re hot,” I teased.

“Heard it once or twice.”

He almost sounded shy. I was into this version of him. I would never have thought that he was going to be the shy type when he was in bed. To be fair, I never thought I’d have him in my bed. Even after we hooked up on Friday, I had just assumed it would be a one-time thing. Something that could be shrugged off as a mistake by Kieran.

Until he kissed me, I was sure that’s what he was going to do when he came upstairs.

There was still a chance he’d write this off as a mistake. If that was the case, I had to take full advantage of the moment while I had it. I leaned down over him and began to kiss along his chest. His back arched, pressing more of his flesh against my lips. The aroused flavor of his scent grew stronger. It was overwhelming. In the very best way, of course. I wanted to drown in it.

I kissed up his chest until I was close to his armpit and breathed in deep.

His scent was stronger there. I could make out the individual flavors and layers. There was that scent that was just distinctly him. There was the musk from practice. There was the cinnamon spiciness that told me he was turned on. The only smell I’d come to associate with him that I couldn’t find there was that sour anxiety. Without thinking, I licked a stripe of skin near his armpit.

He let out a quiet moan.

I kissed over his collarbone and began down his torso again, stopping briefly to explore his dusky nipples. I flicked my tongue over them when I felt them harden. The salt taste of his skin was enhanced by the strength of his smell, and I just… Holy fuck. I wanted more.

I continued my journey down his chest, finally getting to trace the lines of his muscles, until I reached the top of his sweatpants. I looked up at him, taking in the relaxed way his eyes were only half open. “Is this okay?” I asked as I danced my fingertips along the elastic waistband.

“Yeah,” he exhaled. The word was almost lost in his breath, and I wasn’t sure a normal human could have heard it. Lucky for me, I wasn’t a human.