"Yep, I agree. Get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, and the girl must like you if she was willing to leave the party with you, right?" Sam sounded hopeful.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I fucked that up." I let out a long sigh. "Alright. I'm getting off the phone. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Make it up to her, Tate. She'll probably jump right back into whatever you guys were starting between you."
"Thanks, man." I hung up the phone and stripped down before getting into the shower. My internal bantering continued to slam into me as I kicked myself left and right. I shouldn't have been in the shower alone, hating myself. I should have been sitting in the cab of Sam's truck with Val snuggled up beside me laughing and having a good time.
"I hate you so fucking much sometimes." I ran my hands over my chest and turned to press my back to the cold wall as the image of me and Val having fun turned into us going back to her place.
Her smile was brilliant, beautiful, intriguing. The soft laugh that kept leaving her showed just how nervous she was. I wanted to be easy with her, but something inside of me wouldn't relent.
I could almost feel the softness of her skin as I reached out and slid my hands under the edge of her sweater, splaying my fingers along her stomach and around her waist.
"Fuck me," she whispered.
"Yeah," I mumbled and moved up close to her, leaning down and pressing my lips to the side of her neck. I sucked softly as she worked on my jeans with a franticness that drove a stake of desire deep inside the center of me. "Nice and slow, Valentine."
She lifted to her toes and pressed her lips to mine, and I could see in her eyes the neediness that I had seen the first night we'd met. She needed me, and I wasn't going to deny her again.
Her cries were intense as I pressed myself to her and gave in to the need to watch her come over and over before I got mine. I rarely felt the need to give myself over to a woman, but somewhere in my fantasy, I found myself willing to offer up anything in that bed to give her pleasure.
"I love you," she whispered as her fingers dug into my back painfully.
My heart constricted in my chest.
I buried my face against the side of her neck as I gripped her ass and continued to drive into her. My fears were recognized in that moment. I wanted her body, her lust, her desire, but I knew within no time, I would want her heart.
I gripped myself tightly, standing there in the shower, and worked to bring myself to the edge of orgasm as I let my hand be her body, working me hard and slow. My panting got louder as I closed my eyes tight and hit my head against the shower wall.
I cried out hard as I came and felt my knees go weak. Anger replaced lust as I turned and pressed my chest to the cold tile.
She should have been in my arms for the night, even if it was nothing more than a nice petting session. She wanted me with her, but I had tucked tail and run.
A growl left me as the image of us tangled around one another seared through my mind's eye. We could study at the library the next day under the pretense of friends, but I'd make the mistake of pulling us toward that, and now it would have to be me who brought us back out of it.
Chapter 15
Val
I had no clue what to think about Tate and try as I might to force my thoughts to stay away from him, they just wouldn't. I lay in my bed forever that night, trying to figure out if I'd done something wrong or if his denial was more about him and less about me. The same old part of me that always felt inadequate and not good enough reared up throughout the night, but I just couldn't fathom it being my fault this time.
His text had been more shocking than being friend-zoned, but the man was just full of surprises.
I woke up earlier than usual the next morning and changed into a pair of jogging pants and a sweater. I wanted to run the indoor track and shoot some hoops before going up to the library. The girl's locker room on campus had a killer shower area, anyway.
I stopped by the kitchen, a little surprised to see some of the girls up so early on a Saturday morning.
They were laughing about something Carolyn said, and I shouldn't have been eavesdropping, but I couldn't help myself. I stepped back into the hall and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Yeah, I'm not sure why Kade is interested in her. She's not going to date him. He's like a fucking replica of Paul," Carolyn laughed loudly.
"He's incredibly hot. If Val's not interested in him, then I am,” Mary, one of my least favorite girls in the house, responded.
"She's interested in that biker guy you were hitting on last night," Kathy spoke up. "They would be good together. She needs a guy that doesn't care about her family and all their high and mighty bullshit. She's nothing like them."
Carolyn snorted. "Exactly. That's why her life will forever be miserable. She's going to have to marry someone like Paul and shut up about it or leave her legacy. Poor little thing."
Kathy responded, "Carolyn, watch it. You're just jealous."