Plan B (14 page)

“What, you don’t want her brother knowing you’re boinking?” I whispered. “Your secret is safe with me. Although my guess? He already knows. And you don’t concern yourself with my wrappings. I’d have to get lucky enough to need one.”

“I thought you and….” He gave a curt nod in Lance’s direction.

I scrunched up my face.

“Really? So you two really are just friends?”

I nodded. I hated lying to Bo, but I couldn’t tell him the truth. As tempting as it was to talk about Lance with Bo, I wasn’t about to be the one to out a man. That had to be his choice and on his own terms, and besides, said individual was sitting less than six feet from me and talking to his frickin’ sister.

“Wow! So no one?”

“Nope,” I murmured and downed the last of my espresso.

“No wonder you’re so cranky lately.”

“Shut up!” We both laughed and I was relieved that line of questioning was over.

The barista brought breakfast for the other three as well as my coffee and muffin to go. When I tried to pay for it, Lance stopped me. “I got his,” he told her; to me, he said, “I invited you, so my treat.”

“Thanks.”

“Since you invited me and Bo, does that mean you’re paying for ours as well?”

Okay, that caught me off guard. Why hadn’t Lance mentioned he had invited them? I was under the impression this was a last-minute thing to apologize. So much for an apology. Whatever.

“No, I planned on sticking you with the bill.”

“Brat!”

Lance just smiled at his sister and shoved nearly an entire biscuit in his mouth. Eww!

I grabbed my bag and coffee and stood. “Thanks again for the coffee.” I held up the bag. “And the muffin. Good seeing you two. Don’t be such strangers.”

Bo bumped his fist against mine, nearly dislodging the bag. “See ya.”

“Bye, Danny. We definitely have to do this again,” Katie said with a wave.

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll text you later,” Lance said around another big bite without looking at me.

I left the shop with my breakfast and coffee and wondered what the hell that was all about as I hurried to my class.

W
HEN
I’d first met Lance, I’d relegated him to the dumb jock category. However, by the end of April, I was starting to think so not a jock, that it was me who was dumb. The month started okay. Weather-wise, April in Michigan sucks. Everything is starting to thaw, it rains all the damn time, and it’s one big muddy, wet mess. Still, it’s like the first indication that we are finally thawing and can now come out of winter hibernation, or at least had the promise of shucking our winter coats.

I hadn’t seen much of Lance the last couple of weeks. In fact, our only interaction was through text—my new daily routine included a text each morning that said
Good morning cranky
—and one breakfast date. I say date, but it was like the previous breakfast meeting. Bo and Katie had been invited and I spent my time teasing Bo, and Lance spent his teasing Katie. It really shouldn’t have surprised me how little Lance and I saw of each other—like Bo and his group of math nerds, Lance ran with the football jocks, neither of which held any interest for me.

Our occasional orgasmic meet-and-greets had come to a sudden halt when Katie had a falling out with her roommate, and so she and Bo had been studying and playing kissyface either in our room or down in the student lounge. Lance lived with a bunch of his jock buddies so that was a no.

The weatherman predicted unseasonably warm temps, and for once he was right. I decided, instead of running on the treadmill at the campus gym, I’d run through the park. I’m naturally thin and sexy, good genes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to keep what I got toned. Plus, running helps to clear my head.

Ear buds in, the Rolling Stones rockin’ on my MP3 player, I jogged through the park. The sun was just coming up over the horizon and I had the roadway all to myself at that early morning hour. After the first mile my legs began to burn slightly, and I had to force myself to push past it. Running outdoors is a lot different from a mechanical soft surface and my thighs were reminding me of that fact.

I veered off the main road onto a dirt path that wound its way through the woods. Sweat trickled down my spine, my heart was pumping, and rock and roll blasted in my ears. My mind wandered to the upcoming show. Was I ready? Could I pull off a convincing Tony? Would I make my dad proud of my performance? As I continued to run across the darkened pathway, the pain and burn were forgotten as I began running through lines, entry points, and stage setup.

Something slammed into my back, and then an arm went around my waist and lifted me off the ground.

“What the—”

A hand clamped over my mouth and panic raced through me as I was pulled away from the path. For a split second, I froze and allowed them to take me farther into the woods. The irony of the Stones belting out “I Go Wild” in my ear was not lost on me when my brain caught up fast and I began to struggle, hands reaching back to grab at hair, feet kicking, heels connecting with shins, and doing my best to bite the hand over my mouth. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest it was beating so hard with fear. In my fight to free myself from my captive, my ear bud fell from my ear and I heard a familiar voice.

“Ouch! Danny, stop, it’s me.” His hand fell away from my mouth the instant I stopped struggling.

“Jesus, you scared the hell out of me,” I hissed. My fingers finally found purchase in his hair and I yanked hard.

“Ow!”

“Serves you right. Now put me the hell down so I can kick your ass.”

“Holy fuck! You’re like a little wild man.” Lance chuckled and carefully set me on my feet and pried my clenched fist from his hair.

“You’re lucky I couldn’t get my foot up high enough or you’d be singing soprano.”

Next thing I knew, I was pushed up against a wide oak tree and Lance’s gorgeous gray eyes were roaming over my face, twinkling with mischief. “I have no doubt you could have done some permanent damage. You’re a lot stronger than you look.”

“Damn right I am.”

Lance leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. “I did try to get your attention.” He pulled the other bud out of my ear and kissed a path to the sensitive flesh below it. “Although I’m kind of glad you forced me to such extreme measures.”

I shuddered. I hadn’t been with him or anyone else, including my hand, in far, far too long, and my dick instantly responded to his nearness. I tilted my head, giving him more room to lick and suck at my neck. I grabbed his hips and pulled his groin hard against mine. He was just as aroused as I was and moaned against my neck when our cocks came in contact.

“Far too long.” He echoed the words in my head.

“Not my fault,” I said and shoved down his sweats, exposing his dick. I wrapped my fist around him and slowly began to slide it up and down his length. I had no idea if we could be seen if anyone ran by, but I didn’t let it stop me. The thrill of getting caught only increased my desire.

Lance wasn’t worried about spectators either. He shoved my shorts down, pushed my hand away, and took us both in his big hand. He set a hard and fast rhythm, his calloused fingers and palm adding to the friction and pushing me to the edge in just a few pulls.

“Not going to last long,” I gritted out, hips snapping.

“Nuh uh,” Lance grunted and added pressure.

I had just enough time to move my hand over our dicks to prevent us both from ending up wet when I felt the first burst of cum hit my palm. I threw my head back, slamming it against the bark, but the pain was lost to the pleasure as I shot against my hand, our combined juices flowing back over our cockheads. I clung to Lance with my free hand, my hold on him keeping me grounded through each pulse of my orgasm, then hung on to him to keep from falling when my knees threatened to buckle.

As we stood there catching our breaths, I felt Lance begin to shake, and felt his muffled laughter against my neck.

“What’s so damn funny?”

“You made me break my promise.” Lance stepped back, pulled up his sweats, and looked down at his wet hand. His brows furrowed in disgust and he shook his hand, dislodging most of the mess, before wiping it across his thigh.

I thought about licking my hand clean just to see the look on Lance’s face. I loved shocking him. He was too damned cute with his nose all wrinkled up. Instead, I wiped my own hand on the small towel still hooked to my waistband and pulled up my shorts.

“What promise would that be? I don’t remember you promising not to accost me and jerk me off in public.” I pursed my lips. “I so wouldn’t have let you make that one.”

“You liked that, did you?”

“It was hot! Scary as hell at first, but hot. Next time I think I’ll try jogging down a dark alley.” I waggled my brows at him.

Lance studied my face for a moment then shook his head. “You scare me sometimes.”

“Then we’re even. So what promise did you break?”

“The one about being a randy teenager when I was around you. Christ, Danny, it’s been two weeks and I saw your cute butt in those shorts and—” He shrugged. “Once again, all your fault.”

I looked back over my shoulder briefly, trying to see my ass, and then winked at him. “You’re right, my fault. However, the two-week thing is not.”

We started walking back toward the still-deserted path. “I know that crap between Katie and Dani needs to get fucking resolved and fast.”

“The roommate feud isn’t the only problem, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, but can’t do anything about our schedules or living arrangements. Hey….” He stopped on the path and turned toward me. “I got to run up to Grand Blanc and pick up my phone tomorrow. Why don’t you ride with me? We can stop on the way back and grab some lunch. I know a place that has the best macaroni and cheese on the planet.”

I’m not sure why my gut fluttered pleasantly—maybe because it sounded like a date, but that was ridiculous. Just one friend keeping another friend company on a long ride, it had nothing to do with a date or the chance to spend the day with Lance. Nope.

“I can cut my one class, but I’d have to be back no later than five. I have dress rehearsal.”

“I’ll have you back in plenty of time.” Lance scanned the area then leaned in and placed a chaste kiss to my lips. “I’ll pick you up at ten.”

“Cool.”

He jogged off in the direction we had just come from. I popped my ear buds back in my ears, the Rolling Stones still playing, and started to jog in the opposite direction.
I think that boy was following me.
I smiled at the thought, but not at a date I didn’t have with a guy I wasn’t hot on. Nope.

I
WAS
just putting the final touches on my hair, bangs teased high until every bold purple strand stood perfectly from the nearly white blond base, when my cell chirped. I checked it to find a text from Lance.

Running late, grab two coffees, and I’ll meet you outside the shop.

I sent back a reply.
Is it raining?

While I waited, I added a little more shine to my lips and did my best fish lips impersonation, tilting my head from side to side to check every detail. “Honey, you look fan-fucking-fabulous!” I chuckled at myself, but it was true. The new pale purple shirt complemented the color in my hair and on my eyes and what could I say? I was gorgeous.
And conceited
, my inner party pooper reminded me, but I ignored it.

When my phone chirped again the text read
No
.

Sighing, I grabbed my coat, shoved my cell and wallet in the inside pocket, and headed out. Guess I was coffee boy this morning. I’d just made it to the door to the stairwell when Mike called out behind me.

“Hey, Danny. Wait up.”

“I’m kind of in a hurry, Mike.”

“Going to go meet that hot jock of yours?” he asked, his voice dripping with contempt.

My gut fell. “What hot jock?” I asked innocently, but dread was beginning to settle into my chest.

“Oh, did you two have a falling out? Is that why I haven’t seen him around lately?” Mike waved a hand like he was dismissing the thought. “He wasn’t your type anyway.”

“If you’re talking about Lance, he’s just a friend. His sister is dating Bo.”

“Mmm hmmm.” However, I could tell from the look on Mike’s face he didn’t believe the lie. “Anyway, just wanted to remind you about the spring fling party this weekend, hope to see you there.”

Shit! Had Mike been watching Lance come and go from my room? And if he had, who was he telling? I felt sick. Should I warn Lance about the possible rumors, or should I keep my mouth shut?

By the time I stepped out of the shop with two extra-large Styrofoam cups, Lance waiting at the curb, I’d decided I wasn’t going to say anything to him. They were only rumors and Lance hadn’t been hanging out at my dorm as much. They would blow over, I was sure of it. There were always new rumors starting every day, we’d just have to be more careful, was all. When I approached, he leaned over and opened the door.

“Morning, cranky.” He took both the coffees, putting them in the holder. “Thanks.”