Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97882 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“I love you, you idiot.”
I laughed.
And then I framed her face and kissed her to show her I felt the same.
Julep
A week and a half later, we carried the National Championship Trophy back to Boston.
In another grueling game against the Arizona Panthers, we clinched the win by a narrow three points. Riley had kicked a field goal with two-and-a-half minutes left to go, and our defense had held strong, keeping our opponents from getting into field goal position themselves. They tried, anyway, and failed the almost sixty-yard attempt. Possession had come back to us with less than a minute left to go, and Holden took a knee each time until the clock ran out.
Just like that, we were national champions.
The next two weeks were a chaotic, joyful blur. We flew back home and celebrated with our university in a parade that spanned the city. Two days later, we were on a flight down to Florida to spend three days celebrating our win at Disney World. The team couldn’t wait to get their rings, but until then, they took the trophy out to as many parties and bars as they could before my dad put it under lock and key in a trophy case outside his office at the stadium.
It was the first one put there since the 90s.
All the while, there was a bittersweet scent in the air. As much as we celebrated, almost a quarter of the team was graduating — and that meant this was their last season as a Rebel.
Holden was on a rollercoaster of emotions, high off the win one second, devastated that his college career was over the next, and — most frequently — nervous about the draft.
But the night before classes started on our final spring semester of college, we laid on the couch at my house, both of us cozy in our hoodies and sweatpants with two blankets piled over us. We made out beneath them until we were both sweating and tossing them off, but even then, we stayed tangled together.
And for one blissful moment, neither of us worried about anything at all.
“You know, I feel a little cheated,” he said, running his fingers through my hair. “In all this time we spent sneaking around, you never teased me with another dance.”
“Dance?” I asked, confused. When his eyes landed on the pole set up in the middle of the living room behind me, I rolled my eyes and smacked him playfully. “Oh, my God, Holden.”
“What?! That was hot, and you know it was or you wouldn’t have left the windows open for me to see.”
“I didn’t realize they were open until I saw you creeping.”
“Mm-hmm, sure. You wanted me to watch, and you know it.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to stand, but he hugged me tight to him, wrapping his legs around me as I squirmed.
“I don’t dance for anyone but myself,” I told him.
“You also swore you’d never get on your knees for me, but we all see how that turned out…”
I tried to knee him in the stomach, but he had me tangled up so much that I couldn’t do much but wiggle while he laughed and held on tight.
I sighed, relenting. “Fine. You want me to dance for you?”
“Really?”
“If you let me go, you boa.”
“Boa, huh? Because my dick is so big.”
“Because you’re strangling me, you cocky jerk,” I said, finally wriggling free. When I did, I stood up and pulled him by the hand until he was sitting upright.
“You love when I’m cocky.”
“Shut up before I change my mind.”
He zipped his lips closed, sitting with his hands in his lap like a little kid waiting for his Christmas gift. I rolled my eyes again, but then grabbed my phone and turned on my playlist.
“Wicked Games” by The Weeknd started playing, and I closed my eyes, slipping into my body.
I faced the pole then, pulling my hair back and over my shoulders. Inhaling a breath, I slowly slinked toward it, reaching up to grab it with my right hand. I walked around, dragging my sock-covered feet behind me with each step before I did a dip and a goddess spin down to the floor just as the beat kicked in.
I landed on my knees, arching my back before I dove down onto the ground. I kept my back arched and my booty up, letting it fall to one side and bump against the floor before I took it the opposite way.
My eyes met Holden’s as I braced my hands on either side of my chest and pushed back, chest dragging along the floor with my ass in the air. I flicked my hair back when my chest met my thighs, coming to sit on my heels as I rolled my neck and let my hair fan out over me.
He was gaping.