Who Breaks First (Clearwater University)

I will finish this. But she’s fucking crazy if she thinks she’s not crossing the finish line with me. I’ll drag her across if I have to.

Keeping my gaze locked on hers, I slip a hand between our bodies and find the hard nub of her clit with my fingertips. Her whole body jerks, and her eyes fly open wide.

“What—what are you doing?”

“You should’ve told me you were a fucking virgin, Holloway. I would’ve gone slow.”

Even as I speak, I pick up the tempo of my fingers, circling harder and faster as I feel her inner walls clench around me. I grit my teeth, holding back a groan as I focus on the look in her eyes—confused and angry and so fucking turned on.

She starts to speak again, but the second I see her mouth open, I cover it with mine, plunging my tongue between her lips to steal her words. I know she fucking hates me. I don’t need her to tell me again.

I just need her to come on my cock.

She didn’t want to enjoy this. She wanted her virginity to be just another thing I took from her, another reason to despise me forever. But as my mouth works against hers in time to the rhythm of my hand, she starts to move, shifting restlessly on the small table as she chases my touch.

I don’t deny her. I wouldn’t deny her anything she asked me for right now, but she doesn’t need to know that.

Whimpers and moans pour from her throat, and each one seems to connect directly to my dick. I draw my mouth away from hers and kiss the tears on her cheeks, licking them away as if that will remove her pain. When I begin to thrust, pulling out and pushing back in gently, she rolls her hips against me, urging me on despite herself.

As I keep going, I feel her legs wrap around me, her heels resting just above my ass. Her body softens against mine, and when her lips find mine again, there’s something different in our kiss.

I can tell when she’s close, because her nails dig into my back and her breath starts to come in sharp gasps.

Drawing back, I stare at her face, entranced by the sight of it as she comes undone. Her cheeks flush, her jaw drops open slightly, and her chocolate brown eyes go glassy with pleasure. A sobbing cry falls from her mouth, and even though she bites her lip, it’s too late to hold it in.

Her walls clench around me, and oh fuck, fuck, fuck, I’m coming too.

Thrusting into her one last time, I grind my hips against hers, like I’m trying to get even deeper somehow, to crawl inside her fucking body, her soul. Something cracks open in my chest as my balls draw up and I empty myself inside her—but unlike the invisible knife that I swore pierced my ribs earlier, this doesn’t hurt.

It feels… good.

She clings to me, her arms wrapped around my shoulders and her face buried in my neck, her wadded up skirt still bunched around her waist and crumpled between us. We’re both breathing hard, our hearts racing, and I can feel her whole body shudder against mine.

It feels fucking perfect.

I’m about to tilt her head up to claim another kiss, to lose myself in her lips again, when I hear her whisper softly against the skin of my neck. She only says two words, but they twist the knife in my heart.

“Never again.”

“You got another round in you?”

Trent’s voice makes me jerk, dragging my attention out of my vivid memories. The noises of the gym around us slowly start to filter back into my ears, and I glance over to see him standing behind the heavy bag, waiting for me to hit it. Without responding, I dig into the fucking bag like it’s my mortal enemy, and it feels good.

It feels cleansing.

“Jesus, man.” Trent grunts, digging his feet into the floor and trying to hold on as best he can.

Reese is off running on the treadmill. I think that’s his method for relieving tension. He runs. I’m almost jealous, because it seems like a more civilized thing to do. Me, I gotta use my fists. As I keep punching away, gritting my teeth, sweat running down my fa

ce, I begin to feel better. For a few moments, I manage to not think about Emma’s body, the way she wrapped her legs around me and ran her fingers through my hair.

I never told either of the other guys about what happened that day, and I don’t intend to ever tell them. They can just go on believing that I’m the quiet guy who doesn’t like Emma Holloway. The sick fucking truth is that I crave her in a way Reese and Trent don’t know about and wouldn’t even be able to understand.

In fact, telling them would be a betrayal of our brotherhood. We’ve been blood brothers since elementary school, for Christ’s sake. We watch each other’s backs no matter what. Been through parents’ marriages, divorces, new siblings, and nearly getting kicked out of high school because of Emma. There’s no breaking the bond I have with these two men.

And there’s no way in hell we’ll let a woman come between us.

Once we finish up at the gym, I head back to my dorm pretty quickly. I’m physically wiped after the grueling workout, but it’s not enough. It’s never enough. It’s like my body stores energy reserves specifically for Emma Holloway, so I’m never too exhausted to think about her.