Page 83 of Play For Me

Me:My annoying friends are here.

Me:Can I call you in a few?

Cecelia:Sure. Unless you want me to call you now and give you an excuse to get rid of them? I could pretend something bad happened.

Cecelia:Sol, please kick your friends out and come save me, I’ve been abducted by aliens.

Cecelia:Or I have a flat tire, if that’s more believable.

I chuckle and then make the mistake of looking up. They’re both staring at me, Em with her lips pressed together tightly, Jay looking like it’s Christmas morning.

“Okay, you can both go now,” I say, standing. “Seriously, get out.”

“Is she coming over?” Jay asks, not budging from the couch. “I want to say hi! Maybe she’ll give me details since you’re being such a spoilsport.”

I look at Em. She still seems on edge but at least she’s not crying anymore. I soften my expression. “Can you please take your idiot brother away?”

She tries to smile back, but it looks more like a grimace. “Come on, dumbass,” she says, standing and grabbing Jay’s arm. “Let’s leave so Solomon can unpack. You know it’s killing him that his duffle bag is still just sitting there.”

I smile at her in relief. If she’s teasing me about being a neat freak, things are almost back to normal.

She helps me push an indignant Jay to the door—he keeps babbling about details and bro code—before turning to me and throwing her arms around my waist, squeezing me tight. My annoyance softens and I hug her back. Em knows me, and she loves me, and she just wants what’s best for me.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to her bullshit about Cecelia. Even if she has a point that I’m probably going to get hurt by the end of this.

Two hours later,Cecelia is in my bed, naked, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never been happier. She came over shortly after Jay and Em left, under the guise of needing help icing her knee. I had her pressed against the wall with her clothes off approximately thirty seconds after she walked in the room.

“You’ve got a freckle right below your ear,” I tell her, kissing the spot gently. “I’m kind of obsessed with it.”

Her laugh is breathless. “Obsessed with my freckle?”

“Yup. Noticed it the first time I came to one of your practices and I’ve been wanting to kiss it ever since.” My fingertips run a path from her shoulder over her collarbone. “Your skin is very soft right here. And over here, too.” I press a kiss just under her jaw, and she shivers.

“Sometimes Vega makes me go to the spa with her,” she says, breathless. “They put a bunch of gunk on you and then leave you alone to relax with like, wind-chime music playing. It’s terrible.”

I laugh, kissing her again. “Figures you would hate anything to do with relaxing.”

She stretches a little and I get distracted by the sight of her chest rising and falling. “I’m feeling pretty relaxed right now.”

I figure I better try to change the subject, since I’m very much in danger of ruining her relaxation by pouncing on her again. “What are your cousins up to tonight?”

“Not sure about Ash, Cade and the girls were gonna go to some party at the basketball house."

Something unpleasant twists in my gut. “You didn’t want to go with them?”

“Nope,” she says easily, but I press, because now my brain is locked on this and I always have a hard time moving on from stuff once I start overthinking.

“Are you sure? This is two nights in a row you’ve given up going out with friends to hang out with me.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Are you complaining?”

“Fuck no!” I blurt out, loud enough that she startles a little. I press another kiss to her jaw, trying to calm us both down. “I just wouldn’t want you to feel like you have to…you know. Give up being social. Just because I’m not.”

She turns her whole body so she’s facing me, and takes my face between her hands. “Solomon, I’m exactly where I want to be right now.”

Warmth rushes through me. “Yeah?” I’m embarrassed to hear the slight shake in my voice but she only smiles.

“Yeah.” She kisses me and all I want to do is deepen it, but she pulls away after just a moment. “My life can be pretty loud, you know? Between my family and the team, there’s always a bunch of people around. And I don’t mind it, not really.” She kisses me again. “But this? Just you and me together? I like that a lot.”