Page 124 of Broken Romeo

Five Years Ago…

Tonight’s game was a disaster.

Not only did we lose the game, but I got hit hard on my left side, making my already tender shoulder scream in pain.

To add insult to injury—literally—my dad called me on my way out of the locker room, berating me for a shit game.

Even though it wasn’t my fault I got slammed into. My team should have been watching out for me, defending me.

But that never matters. Not to Erik Dorsey.

Mom was back to her chipper, slightly tipsy self, tittering in the background of the call as though nothing happened last night.

I was fucking exhausted and in throbbing pain. The last thing I wanted to do was stand there and talk on the phone with my parents like we were one big happy fucking family.

I popped a few muscle relaxers, then headed to the pool. A little time in the hot tub would do my shoulder some good and I could check to see if Katherine had dropped off the panties yet.

I’d spent the morning at a little sexy boutique I knew of downtown, buying her some presents to leave in the locker. Originally, I’d planned on only buying her a sexy pair of panties to wear, but the saleswoman talked me into the pearl thong, explaining to me that the pearls will tease her with every step she took.

The mere thought of those pearls drenched in Kate’s arousal had me fucking hard just thinking about it. It was a spending spree once I was that turned on. I got her the panties, a vibrator, and nipple clamps. After the saleswoman gift-wrapped the presents for me, I bought some stationary with hand pressed roses on the cards and jotted a quick note, leaving them all in the locker before I headed to the game that afternoon.

Now, it was almost eleven and the pool was utterly empty. There wasn’t a soul in sight as I entered and gave a wave to the half-asleep security guard stationed at the door. No surprise there, of course. Most students were out partying or home. No one wanted to come to the pool for a swim on a Saturday night.

But after a shitty game? There was no place I’d rather be. Some of our teammates were hosting a huge party. Losing tonight had been an upset. We never lost against the Rams, so the fact that we let this one slip through our fingers pissed me off to no end. That combined with my shoulder? I didn’t want to be anywhere near that party. The hot tub beckoned me, though.

After changing into my swimsuit in the locker rooms, I froze at the door to the pool. Through the window, I could see one person already relaxing in the hot tub.

Katherine.

I glanced at the locker. Her panties were likely there right now. Which meant she’d likely already gotten my presents for her… not knowing they were from me, of course.

“One thing at a time, Holden,” I muttered to myself, then pushed open the door, walking toward the hot tub.

She didn’t open her eyes as I approached. The roar of the bubbles must have drowned out my footsteps.

I didn’t mean to sneak up on her, but as I sunk into the swirling, steaming water beside her, her eyes flitted open, taking a long moment to land on me and see that I was sitting next to her.

She screamed and almost jumped out of the hot tub.

It wasn’t until recognition registered across her features that she realized it was me and calmed down, resuming her position and lowering herself back down into the water, palm pressed to her sternum. “Horking jackrabbit, Holden!”

A laugh exploded out of me. It shouldn’t have been funny, but it was. They were just such random ass words to be used as expletives. “Horking jackrabbit?” I repeated.

She gave me one of her signature eye rolls. “We’ve been through this already. Religious parents, remember?”

“Oh, I remember. Ever care to try cursing though? You know, now that you’re on your own?”

“I wouldn’t call college on my own exactly,” she said. “But I dunno. Cursing just seems so… unnecessary.”

I shouldn’t have pressed her for more information, but I couldn’t stop. There was something about this girl that kept reeling me in. Some invisible, indestructible tether tying her to me. “How so?” I asked.

“Why say fuck when frack or flip works just as well? Saying fuck seems so uncreative.”

The fact that she found a little game in not cursing was so fucking endearing that it took everything in me not to smile. It was goddamn adorable. “Noted,” I said. “Fuck is uncreative.”

I wasn’t even lying when I repeated her, but the look she gave me suggested she wouldn’t have believed me even if I’d said as much.

“Exactly,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. “Wait a minute!” Her eyes went wide and she popped higher in the water, shifting to sit on her knees. The water splashed around her and the new vantage point gave me a delectable view of her lush tits. Small, round, just big enough to fit into the palms of my hands and squeeze. They curved into two small mounds beneath her bikini as droplets of water dripped between them.