Following the Rules (The Script Club 1)

I nodded in agreement because honestly, I liked my classes. Calculus still sucked, but the others were cool—especially humanities.

“If humanism states that man is the measure of all things, do you think this period is a precursor to current times where individuals put their personal interests before the greater good? Or is it a statement about our desire to measure ourselves in our environment?” I asked in a super studious tone.

Topher snapped his gaze to me so fast he might have given himself whiplash. “Uh…well, perhaps. It’s a study of perspective and inductive reasoning and…”

I cocked my head as I brushed my thumb over his scruffy chin, loving the insta-flash of desire in his molten gaze.

I’d talked my usually fastidious lover into not shaving ’cause I’d wanted to feel the rough beard on my balls when he blew me this morning. Topher didn’t hesitate. He’d pushed the borrowed razor on the marble bathroom counter, sunk to his knees, and gone straight to work while I tugged his hair and fed him porny lines, alternately praising him, then telling him all the dirty things I wanted to do to him.

And now he sat beside me, wearing my football jersey and nothing else, looking wild-eyed and slightly unkempt. Like sex personified. Damn, I wanted him all over again. How was that possible?

We’d fucked in practically every room in this house and in every position imaginable, but this fire between us burned hotter than ever. The intensity kind of scared me.

I massaged his earlobe, unthinking. “What were you saying?”

“Oh, geez. I have no idea,” he mumbled, raking his fingers through his hair. “Um, humanism? You’ve been studying.”

“A little. I have a great tutor.”

“Mmm. Me?”

I nodded as I leaned in, sliding my tongue inside when he opened for me. The kiss was unhurried. A slow, sweet dance with soft sighs and tender caresses. I set his notepad on the coffee table after a few minutes and pushed the computer aside.

“Is it normal to feel this way? One second I’m fine and the next, I have to touch you.”

“Mmm. I’m a little sore.” He sat up and raked his teeth over his bottom lip. “Do you think you’d ever want to, um…you know.”

“Take it up the ass?”

Topher snorted. “Well, would you?”

“With you, yes. I mean…not today, but eventually, yes. I would.”

He lowered his chin slightly. “Okay.”

“Are you blushing?”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course not.”

I snickered then kissed his hand and stood. “Come on. We’re done for the day. Get dressed. Let’s drink wine and watch the sunset. What d’ya say?”

“Yes.” Topher hopped up, pulled my jersey over his head, and sauntered buck-ass naked toward the bedroom. He turned in the doorway and fixed me with a naughty smile.

I stared after him with a stupid grin on my face till he disappeared into my room, wondering for the millionth time why this felt so right…and so damn easy.

I grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses and headed outside to wait for him on the deck.

Now, this was the life.

A perfect autumn afternoon…blue skies, puffy white clouds, sand, and sea. I poured us each a glass of Pinot Grigio, handed Topher one when he joined me, and raised mine in a toast.

“Cheers.”

He clinked his glass against mine and stared out at the ocean. “This is beautiful. How long have you lived here?”

“Three years. I’ve owned it for four, but I had to do major renovations before I could move in. Most of the original homes on this stretch have been razed to make room for McMansions. I couldn’t afford to tear this down, so I fixed it up and all of a sudden, this place doubled in value. I didn’t want to move again, but I decided to see if I was any good at this fix-and-flip business. I bought a tiny house in Costa Mesa, a condo in West Hollywood, and a bungalow in Pasadena. Fixed ’em, sold them, and made bank. I have a couple more deals in the works. It’s fun.”

“Do you do any of the renovations yourself?”

“I never had the time. I’ve always been on the field or on the road. Football came first.” I shrugged, sipping my wine.

“You used past tense,” Topher noted shrewdly.

“Hmph. Maybe I’m mentally preparing myself. My agent hasn’t called since my trip to Denver last week. That’s very Ryan.” I sighed. “It’ll be October in a few days. You’ll be back in school and…I still don’t know what I’m doing. I’d rather hear something than nothing at all…even if it isn’t what I originally wanted to hear.”

“What do you want to hear now?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s like I’m frozen. My plan is to wait it out and spend as much time as possible with this sexy genius I know who loves dick and has a secret football fetish. Who knew? Dude, you got jizz all over my jersey.”