Wait, no. That’s not true.
Right. He’d been acting strange before. Something must have happened, and he’d kept it from me.
Damn you, Howard.
I didn’t even go to see the afternoon practice because I was in such a bad mood. I walked around the building, looking for other stuff to do, and managed to keep myself occupied for two hours. I wanted to just storm off and forget him, but this really bothered me, so I was waiting for practice to be over before I ambushed him. Then, I went to the parking lot to wait for Howard. He’d parked his car furthest from the entrance, which worked just fine for me.
The guys came out, got into their cars and left, but no Howard. By the time Dad left, Howard hadn’t come out yet. Just as well, there were only a couple cars left in the lot, the whole area almost looked deserted.
When Howard finally came out, I shot a glare at him that he didn’t see because he had his head ducked down. He got all the way to his car door without looking up, and I let out a snort.
“Were you planning on leaving without me?” I asked sarcastically.
His head whipped up, then he looked around in panic, before turning back to me.
“Zoe, what are you doing here?”
I scowled. “What? Do you not want to talk to me anymore? You were perfectly fine over the weekend, so what did I do to make you so mad at me so fast?”
“It’s not you,” he said quickly. “I swear, Zoe, you’ve done nothing, it’s all me.”
“So fucking explain already,” I snapped. “I want to know why you’ve been avoiding me the whole day. Or did I just imagine the whole thing?”
He winced. “Uh, no, you didn’t imagine it. Sorry. Can we sit in the car and talk? I don’t want anyone seeing us.”
I stared at him, feeling hurt. “Are you ashamed of me?”
Come to think of it, he’d asked me something like that, but he was joking at the time.
He looked surprised by my question, but when he answered, his voice was strong and clear. “No.”
Our gazes held for a long moment, and I relaxed, because I could see how serious he was. I wasn’t about to let the whole team and the staff in on what was between us, so it had worried me, why he kept avoiding me, but I figured there had to be some reason. Whether it was a good reason or not... I wasn’t very happy with him. More than that, though, I was a little irritated with myself.
Why did I react so strongly? I’d expected for this thing Howard and I had between us to run its course and stop at some point. It was a bigger surprise that we were still meeting up after six weeks, but now, the thought that we really could stop, made me feel slightly panicky.
I wanted to lie to myself, but I knew it was because Howard had become important to me while I wasn’t paying attention. We weren’t even dating, we hooked up for sex, so to see him start ignoring me out of nowhere, I’d wondered if that wasn’t the end for us.
“Fine,” I murmured. “You’re explaining everything right now, though, or I’ll do the same thing to you.”
“I’ll tell you,” he said, looking relieved.
He unlocked the car and we both got inside. I waited for a while, but the longer he kept quiet, the more agitated I became. Before I could snap at him again, he turned to face me.
“Can you promise me you won’t be mad?” He asked, but not with much hope behind it.
I narrowed my eyes on him. “Of course not. Whether or not I’ll be mad depends on what you say. Come out with it already, Howard. What the fuck is going on?”
He sighed, a grim expression on his face as he looked at me closely. “Your dad gave me his answer last Friday. Well, not directly, but my agent got a call that the team was ready to take me on again, but there’s a condition. A condition which probably explains why he didn’t come home all weekend. He knew you’d hear about it eventually.”
“What kind of condition?”
“The deal is that if I sign the contract, I have to stay away from you.”
He was watching me closely, warily, as if he was waiting for me to be angry, but really, I was stumped. I knew the kind of influence Dad had on the team, but I didn’t think he could manage something like this.
Seeing I wasn’t shouting at him, Howard relaxed a bit and continued. “Don’t worry. I just need us to be quiet until I get drafted. I don’t think your dad would actually do anything after everything is signed and it’s official, since this deal isn’t in the actual contract.”
What kind of bullshit was this? Did I make Dad angry without realizing, and that was why he was doing this to me? My interviews got cancelled, and now I had to act like Howard, and I were nothing to each other?
I didn’t even realize I was pouting, until Howard chuckled, and I sent a glare at him.
“So, are you very angry?” He asked.
I puffed out a breath and ran an agitated hand through my hair. “I can’t exactly blame you for this. It’s good that you can be on the team now. Do whatever you have to do, but I’m allowed to be irritated about it.”
How long would we have to wait? Maybe until the season started? If Howard proved to be an asset to the team, I didn’t think even Dad could do a thing about it. Being the coach, he could still make life hard for Howard, though, if he went back against the deal.
I sighed, and was about to open the car door and step out, when Howard caught my arm. When I turned to him, before I could say anything, he’d pressed his mouth to mine in a kiss. I was frozen for a second, but I melted into the kiss with a moan, parting my lips as his tongue nudged for entrance. Our tongues rolled and tangled, and I reached out to grab his shoulder. Then I felt his hands on me, and I gasped as I pulled away.
“You’re not actually planning on doing this here, are you?” I asked in surprise.
Howard just responded by grabbing me by the waist, all but lifting me into his lap as he pulled me into another kiss, his hand going back to my breast. I let out a whimper, not struggling nearly as much as I should, considering just anybody could come out and see us there.
“Howard, we’re out in public! If you’re trying to hide our relationship, you have to know we’ll get caught here!”
That came out a bit more bitter than intended, but Howard didn’t seem to hear it.
“Then let’s go to the back,” he said, roughly kissing my neck. “The windows are tinted. No one will notice.”
“Wha–!”
With his mind decided, Howard moved. If he could, I thought he’d bodily carry me into the back. I crawled between the seats, and he followed right after me, grabbing me and lowering me into the seat, as if I would try to run away. With an arm around my waist holding my body to his, he kissed me desperately.
Even if no one sees us in the car, if we keep doing this, someone would notice the car shaking!
Howard wouldn’t separate from me long enough for me to say anything, and the longer he kissed me, the more my mind turned to mush. Suddenly, I wondered where the problem was. Well, besides the cramped space.
Even as our mouths didn’t separate, we had to keep shifting to find a comfortable position, especially with Howard holding me so closely. I even knocked the back of my head on the window, but it wasn’t too hard, and I barely felt the sting. We finally settled with me lying along the back seat, legs wrapped around Howard’s hips. Since I was in a skirt, this position pushed it up my thighs, and when Howard rocked his hips, his erection pressed against my sex through my panties.
“Howard!” I gasped, breaking from the kiss. He ground his hips against me again, and I groaned, turning my head away so he couldn’t kiss my mouth again. I needed to breathe. “If y-you keep doing that...”
I didn’t know if he was listening, but he wasn’t stopping. With a growl, he turned to my neck, leaving rough kisses and bites that would likely leave marks. Dammit, I’d have to wear a scarf even with the damn heat. His hand snuck under my top and cupped my breast. I cried out, jolting against him, the feeling of him stimulating my nipple and my clit at
the same time sending tingles of pleasure through me.
“If you do that, I’ll come!”
“You can come as many times as you want,” he murmured.