University Park Series Box Set: Books 1-3 (28 page)

He laid his jacket on the floor and took
a seat next to me. He continued singing and I had to take a deep breath to get
my body moving again. I hit a few wrong keys, but kept playing. I couldn’t
believe that he was actually there. He stared intently at me and all sense of
worry and sadness seemed to vanish in an instant. His presence had a way of
doing that to me and no matter how hard I tried to warn myself to be cautious,
my heart took full control of the situation. Every time.

Something told me the words he sang were
exactly how he felt. That he couldn’t live without me; that he wanted to stay
with me. My heart soared to a new level of contentedness as our gazes connected.
We began to sing, creating a lyrical dialogue that we were both too afraid to
say out loud. Telling each other that the reason we held on was because we both
needed the hole in our bodies gone. That we were both broken and we both needed
saving. Even though we had no idea who was in need of it most.

We continued singing, not missing a beat
until the song ended. Our eyes stayed fixed as we poured our hearts into each
other. Our connection not only reunited us, but also took us a step deeper. I
knew exactly how he felt and I was one-hundred percent sure he knew how I felt.
We were the only people that could truly save each other.

“That was beautiful, Lexi.” Raven tucked
a stray strand of hair away from my face, reducing my body to a puddle of
water. I was a lost cause and totally consumed by The Raven’s trap. But there
was no one else I’d rather be imprisoned by.

“Thank you, but I messed up.” I removed
my hands from the keyboard and held them tightly in my lap. Every muscle
twitched, eager to embrace him and never let go.

“It’s okay. No one’s perfect.” He leaned
closer to me and nudged me with his shoulder. “We all make mistakes. At least,
I know I do.”

I swallowed hard, trying to clear the
knot in my throat. Why the hell was I so nervous? “I’m, um, no exception. I
make mistakes just like you.”

He cocked a brow. “Then that only means
one thing.”

“What’s that?” My voice lifted in
anticipation and my stomach twisted, hoping that he was about to tell me what I
wanted to hear.

“We’re good for each other.”

∑

I smiled and my heart filled with an
insurmountable amount of joy. Raven was confirming his decision to be with me.
I pressed my lips together, trying to stop the trembling because I was on the
verge of happy tears. But it was no use. One escaped and Raven caught it with
the pad of his thumb.

“Lexi?” He cupped my face with his hands
and I instantly lost myself even further.

Placing my hands on his chest, I
responded, “Yes, Raven.”

“Do you wanna hang out today?” His
alluring eyes roamed my face as though committing every part of me into memory.
“And every day after that?”

“More than you will ever know,” I
whispered against his lips.

His mouth parted and my eyes fluttered
to a close. My heart did a happy dance as his lips pressed to mine. I spread my
hands over his broad shoulders and pulled him into me. His familiar scent
encamped me and I felt safe and somewhat whole again.

“Lexi?”

We stopped kissing and I jumped at the
sound of my brother’s voice.

“Luke. Hey. I, um…” I hopped off the
piano bench and retrieved my phone from my back pocket. “I didn’t realize you’d
be here so soon.” I glanced at the clock on my phone, but my mind couldn’t
piece together how much time had passed since I’d texted him.

“What’s going on?” Luke looked at me and
then at Raven. His eyes were as wide as saucers and his mouth was slightly
agape.

Raven got up from the bench slowly and
then stood beside me. He shoved one hand in his pant pocket and ran the other
over his short hair. A perplexed expression formed on his face as his eyes
darted back and forth between Luke and me.

“Hey, man…good to see you.” Raven
extended his hand and Luke hesitantly gripped it. Apparently, Raven knew my
brother. “Lexi is your sister?”

 “Yeah.” Luke nodded.

“No shit.” Raven’s voice lilted.

They continued shaking hands as their
stare deepened. I said a silent prayer that things weren’t about to get ugly.
“What are you doing with her?” Luke asked.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I
felt like I had just been caught with my pants down even though I knew I had
nothing to be nervous about. I was free to see whomever I wanted. The air
thickened to the point I was barricaded between them, but refused to let the
situation turn bad. “You two know each other?”

They both looked at me and finally stopped
shaking hands as reality set in. “Yeah, we’ve known each other for a while.”
Luke shot me a quick gaze while keeping a watchful eye on Raven.

“I’ve trained with your brother several
times.” Raven’s head bobbed back and forth, as he was working to put two and
two together. “I can’t believe Luke Thompson is your brother. You two look
nothing alike.”

“We’re not identical, remember? And we
have the same last name, so…”

“I know, but it just never occurred to
me.” The revelation left a star-struck expression on his face.

“Luke, can you give us a moment?” I
motioned with my head toward Raven and waited to see how my brother would
respond.

Luke raised his brows, shooting me a
warning stare. His jaw worked from side to side and I knew he was holding back
from telling me something. I couldn’t blame him because I knew what he was
thinking. What the hell was I doing with Raven Davenport?

“Yeah, I guess. I’ll be waiting out in
the car.” He turned to Raven and said, “Give me a call. I have a new routine
I’d like to show you.”

Raven lifted his head with a slight nod.
“Yeah, I’ll reach out to you over the break.”

“Do you want me to take something to the
car?” Luke pointed to my bags along the wall.

“I’ve got it.” Raven quickly darted over
to them. Luke rolled his eyes and I returned the same warning stare he had
given me.

“Whatever,” Luke mumbled before walking
outside.

I exhaled, glad that introduction was
over with. I couldn’t imagine how I would introduce him to my parents if that
opportunity presented itself. I’m sure Luke had a thousand questions for me and
was already on the phone with Delaney, trying to find out what she knew.

“I can’t believe Luke is your brother.”

“I can’t believe you two know each
other.”

“Small world.” Raven hitched a bag over
his shoulder. “And you’re right. You two look nothing alike.” Raven gave me a
thorough once over and my cheeks flushed with heat. I wrapped my arms around
myself, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Setting my bags down, he asked, “What’s
wrong?” He reached for my hands, pulling them away from my body. His fingers
caressed my skin, giving me the warmth it had been crying out for. “Did I
embarrass you?” One by one, he laced his fingers through mine and pulled me
close. My body trembled and I took long, steady breaths, trying to ease back
into my comfort zone. Raven knew how to get my blood flowing, not to mention a
couple of other things, too.

I nodded and stared at the floor. His
minty breath surrounded me and I gripped his hands tighter, using him for
support. “Yeah, kind of.”

“Well, get used to it.” He nuzzled my
neck and I about came undone. Chills dotted up my back and spread across my
face. I bit my lower lip, trying to hold back my desire to jump into his arms.
“Because I’m going to be doing a lot of staring.” He nibbled on my ear and a
moan escaped my throat. “And touching.”

Oh, shit.

“Raven,” I whispered in his ear, “why
are you telling me this when you know I have to go?”

“That’s just it, I don’t want you to
go.”

I glanced at the girl behind the front
desk. “But they are about to shut the dorms and my mom is waiting.”

“I know.” He rubbed his thumb along the
top of my hand and I fidgeted, trying to fend off the need calling deep inside
of me. “I was kind of hoping we’d hang out today.”

“How will I get home? I don’t have a
car.”

The green in his eyes flickered. “I can
take you home later. If you want.”

“Seriously?” I had to stop for a moment
and think about what he said. I really wanted to go with him, but I knew my
parents would flip. Then again, did I really care what they thought? I wasn’t
with Collin any longer.

“Yeah. Your parents live in Dallas,
right?”

I nodded and then smiled. “I’ll tell
Luke.”

Raven picked up my bags. “Let’s go.”

It took all of my effort not to run to
Luke’s car. I was sure that what I was experiencing is what most girls went
through with their high school crush. At twenty years old, it was a little
embarrassing, but I loved every minute of it.

Luke was leaning against his car,
smoking a cigarette while texting. I knew he was chatting with Delaney. I made
a mental note to message her and ask her what he wanted to know.

“I’ll be right back.” I lifted to the
tips of my toes and planted a quick kiss on Raven’s cheek. The cold wind
whipped around me and I zipped up my jacket.

“Ready?” Luke tossed his cig to the side
and started to round his car.

“I’m not going home,” I blurted, wanting
to get this over as quickly as possible. I hated to admit that I was terrified
to tell my brother, but I think it was because I knew what he was going to tell
me.

Luke stopped and pivoted on the heels of
his Chucks. “You’re going with him?”

 I pulled at the edge of my knee-high
boots, feeling my legs shake. I sucked at these situations. “Yes. He’s going to
take me home later.” I gave a casual glance to Raven. Even though he was a few
feet away, I knew he could hear our conversation.

“I promise I’ll bring her home when ever
she’s ready,” Raven quickly interjected.

Luke gave him a doubtful look and then
opened the car door and got in. He shut the door and rolled down the window.
“You tell Mom, I’m not going to.”

I nodded, relieved that he wasn’t going
to give me a hard time like I thought he would.

“Lexi, I’m sure you already know this,”
a low chuckle escaped, “but Raven’s probably not the best guy for you.”

Throwing my hands up in the air, I
wondered what Delaney had told him and what he knew about him. “Why does
everyone keep telling me that?”

Luke’s finger tightened around the
steering wheel and his eyes narrowed. “Because it’s the truth. Raven has some
serious issues.”

“I know.” I huffed and then gripped the
door between my hands. “And I’m trying to help him work through them.”

“Oh, so now you’re a shrink?” The
cynicism wove through me, making me angrier by the minute.

“What? I’m no—” Luke started his car,
drowning my words with the motor.

With his head cocked to the side, he
said, “Look, I’m not here to tell you what to do. You’re a grown woman and have
to figure things out for yourself. All I’m saying is please be careful. If he
tries to get you to use drugs, you better walk away.”

“Don’t worry, Luke, I’m not about to get
involved with drugs.”

“That’s what you think.” Luke shifted
the car into drive.

“How can you say that?” I shook my head.
“You know me better than that.”

Luke glared at me and a wave of
uneasiness washed over me. “No, I really don’t. Not anymore.”

My stomach dropped. Was my brother
serious? I knew I had changed, but it was for the better. I was living my life
for me instead of for our parents. I hadn’t changed that much. I mean, sure,
I’d been to a few parties and done a few shots, but I hadn’t become some wild
girl who had gone crazy. Or had I?

Before I could respond, Luke said, “Just
call me if you need me.”

“Thanks,” I replied and then stepped
back. I watched as he drove off and wondered if I was truly making a horrible
mistake.

***

“Everything alright?” Raven asked as I
bent down to pick up my purse.

“Yeah. We’re good,” I said in a low
tone, trying to sort through the thousands of voices echoing in my head.

Why couldn’t people just let me live my
life?

“Your brother’s a great baseball player
and trainer.”

“Thanks. I grew up watching him play.” I
walked next to him as we trekked down the sidewalk.

“Too bad he prefers to be a trainer,”
Raven commented. I knew if he had that tidbit of information, he knew my
brother pretty well.

“I know. He plays to appease my
parents.” We crossed the street to the parking lot across from the dorms and
near the stadium. Raven clicked the trunk and it popped open, then he lifted my
bags and placed them inside.

“Sometimes we have to do things even
though we don’t want to.”

I tossed in one of my bags. “True. But
at what point do you finally say, ‘I’m going to do what I want to do’?”

Raven closed the trunk and pressed his
weight against it. He held that stance for a while as he contemplated my
question. “I guess when you realize that it’s not what you want or you just
can’t handle it anymore.”

“Exactly.”

Raven unlocked the doors and we got in
the car. He turned up the heat and I placed my hands over the vents, wiggling
my fingers. “Are you cold?”

“A little.”

He took my hands in his and brought them
to his lips. Warm air spread over my fingers as my breath stalled in my lungs.
He did it repeatedly, causing more flesh bumps to raze my skin. In a slow and
deliberate manner, he placed soft kisses on the top of my hand and then pressed
his lips in a trail up my arm. I shivered internally as a rush of heat
inundated me, causing a moan to escape from my throat.

“Better?” He glanced up and drew my face
to his.

“Yes, much better.” I shifted in my
seat, trying to keep my body under control. Needless to say, I was quickly
losing the battle. I was no match for The Raven’s charm and affection. I was a
glutton for his touch, but I was right where I wanted to be. It was all clear
to me now. I knew the reason why I was ready to fall into him, despite my fear
of being able to trust him. Raven awakened a piece of me that I never knew
existed. For the first time, I truly felt alive.

He stared deeply into my eyes. “I
promise you, it will only get better.”

“I’m holding you to that promise.” He kissed
me softly on the lips and my heart rate picked up. I couldn’t help but feel
excited. I hoped what he told me last night was true and that he wouldn’t hold
back because of my virgin status.

Raven pulled out of the parking lot and
sped down the street. It was as though we didn’t need a green light to go where
we wanted. We could run all the red lights and let the road take us wherever. I
had nothing to hold me back. Not Collin or my parents. It was up to Raven how
far he wanted to take things with me, because I knew I was willing to go all
the way.

We ended up in downtown Fort Worth.
Thousands of tiny white lights twinkled in the trees, warming the cold December
air and reminding us that Christmas was only a few weeks away. Large boxes
wrapped in shiny red and gold paper lined the steps of the town hall and people
stood near them, taking pictures. A tall, wooden nutcracker saluted us as we
passed the stately steps of the courthouse and I was glad that he brought me
there.