Game Lover: A Steamy Standalone Instalove

“Is it the presentation?” I ask softly.

“No,” she moans, and then leans back in my embrace, looking around the parking lot. “We shouldn’t hug here.”

I squeeze her tighter. I can’t stop. The feel of her warm body against mine is like a salve for all the tension inside of me.

Leaving her last night was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

“Why are you here?” she asks again.

“I had to see you,” I tell her. “I know it’s reckless. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. It’s impossible. It hurts to be away from you, I need to be close to you.

“You mentioned your presentation was in the morning. I was literally about to call you before I saw you walking out here.”

She digs her fingernails into my chest, staring up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “I’m glad you’re here. Even if we should be more careful.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“It’s nothing. Honestly.”

“It made you cry. It’s not nothing. Tell me.”

She bites her lip, her eyes flitting here and there, and then she sighs and nods. She tells me what happened in the cafeteria, explaining that she knew Dirk in high school and he’s kept up his bullshit since joining the same college. When she tells me the nickname he called her I step away from her, my fists clenched, my jaw ticking.

I feel like an animal whose mate has just been threatened by a predator… a stupid fucking predator, who doesn’t realize I’m the real threat here.

Maddie the Manatee.

To denigrate my woman like that, to comment on her gorgeous curvaceousness as though it’s anything other than perfect…

“What does he look like?” I growl.

“Max…”

“Tell me what he looks like. Now.”

She flinches. My woman can sense the fury building inside of me. She knows how close I am to snapping.

She does as I ask. He’s taller than I am, apparently, towering at seven feet, and it sounds like he may even be heavier.

“He’s dangerous, Max,” she murmurs. “He’s always bullied people with his size. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I smirk. “Me? Get hurt? I’m just going to talk to the guy.”

Without waiting for a response, I spin and stride toward the college campus. She said it happened in the cafeteria, and it’s only been a few minutes since she walked into the parking lot. My bet is he’s still there.

If not, I’ll find him. I’ll tear this whole damn place apart if that’s what it takes.

My head is spinning, my vision clouded with rage. My fists clenched so tightly I can feel my knuckles pressing through my skin.

The cafeteria is busy, but I spot the prick sitting at a table by himself. Maddie was right. He’s a big bastard, and probably has around fifty to a hundred pounds on me. But I don’t care. I’d fight ten of him for what he did to my woman, my Maddie.

He looks up when I stand over him. “Can I help you, bro?”

“I’m a friend of Maddie’s.”

“What are you, her grandpa?” He snorts.

“You’re going to leave her alone, Dirk. If you ever see her in the cafeteria, you’re going to sit on the opposite end. You’re never going to insult her again. Not once.”

“Oh yeah?”

I grin, but it’s more like I’m baring my teeth in a predator’s display. “Yeah, that’s fucking right.”

He bolts to his feet, staring down at me. It’s an unusual feeling. But there’s no fear, no doubt, only the fierce determination to make this right.

He steps forward. At the tables around us, people begging to look over at us, but I ignore them all.

Dirk must’ve expected me to step back. He pauses when I don’t.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m the man who’s going to marry that woman you just insulted, motherfucker. I’m the man who’s going to have children with her. I’m the man who will tear you to fucking pieces if you ever hurt her again.”

Dirk’s lips twist. His eyes flit around the room, aware of everyone watching while pretending not to.

“Are you on crack, old man? I ought to break your legs for speaking to me like that.”

I chuckle. “You’re welcome to try.”

He shakes his head slowly as if no one has ever stood up to him before. “Don’t push me…”

I move a little closer, but I don’t touch him. If he decides to make this violent, I need to be able to claim self-defense.

But it’s an effort not to grab him and throw him to the ground.

Maybe he’s good on the football field. Maybe he’s bigger than I am. But I’ve trained in MMA since I was a kid, and I’m certain I can take this bastard.

Even if I can’t, I’ll fight and bleed for my woman.

No one gets to disrespect her.

“If I ever hear that you’ve so much as spoken to Maddie again, I will royally fuck you up.”