Chapter 59

David
David woke the following morning with his arms filled with warm, womanly curves and the scent of orange blossoms and pears. Milena’s unique aroma filled his nostrils. He inhaled deeply as if he were a wolf wanting to imprint on his mate. He cupped a handful of the soft, naked woman spooned delectably against him. David’s body throbbed with a monster ‘good morning, I’m delighted to see you,’ as he lay curled around her. He pushed his nose deep into her silky hair as impure thoughts raced through his mind.

David was jerked out of his happy place by the jingle of keys before the lock was turned. The door opened, and a quartet of sorority girls stumbled in. It was apparent that they’d partied too long and were still drunk. David instantly recognized Crystal, Milena’s roommate, as the one who’d opened the door.

Their noise woke Milena, and she blinked a few times to take in the situation. The girls clearly were not normal because they didn’t quietly apologize for intruding and slink out. The four of them perched themselves on the edge of the bed for a chat.

“Finally. I hope this puts you in a better mood,” the cute redhead said.

“You guys are the worst. Don’t bother me, or I’ll throat-punch you, I swear to God,” Milena warned.

“Oh, my. Did he not do it right? Was he a selfish prick and only worried about getting himself off?” the redhead pressed.

“Hand me my boxers, please,” David said, pointing to his clothes on the floor.

The four girls just stared at him. They had obviously intimidated other college boys and made them run for their lives the morning after. David was made of sterner stuff. He wasn’t body shy, so when he saw he wasn’t going to get any help, he threw back the sheet to expose his morning wood. He scooted to the end of the bed and stood up.

Instead of grabbing his clothes, David looked the four of them in the eye while he stood in front of them in all his glory.

“Out!” Milena barked at her friends. “I’ll fill you in later.”

“He could fill me in right now,” Crystal said.

Milena grabbed her pillow and nailed Crystal on the side of the head as the girls finally began to giggle and scurried from the room.

Milena gave him a look of uncertainty. The awkward phase of the morning after had obviously begun.

“I’m hungry. Can I take you to breakfast?” David asked.

“I think I’d like that.”

Milena fidgeted all the way to the restaurant. Her leg was bouncing up and down, so David knew she wanted to talk. After they ordered, he got the ball rolling.

“Something on your mind?” he asked.

She froze like a deer did when you hit it with a spotlight. Then she visibly shook herself before looking him in the eye.

“It’s like this: I’m busy, you’re busy. I’m not looking for anything except an occasional hookup,” Milena blurted out as she gave him a look that told him this usually worked for her.

“We can’t hang out and be fuck-buddies?” David asked.

“No,” she blurted out.

David could tell she had morning-after regrets. Did he really like her? Had he seen the mess in her closet when she grabbed a clean top? That would be ‘yes’ to both. Most guys would be doing a Snoopy dance in their heads if a girl told them that they just wanted to hook up. David took it as a challenge.

“That just sounds wrong. If we can do what we did last night, I could see us kicking back and having a beer as you share your day with me.”

Milena sucked in her breath and held it because she hadn’t expected that response. David could see that she liked it. But she decided to test his resolve.

“That’s the kind of stuff that turns into a relationship. I don’t need or want that right now.”

“But we can hook up?”

“Why not? If that’s all it is, then no one gets hurt.”

David shook his head. He knew this was all a ploy. Women said stuff like this just because they thought it was what a guy wanted to hear. They wouldn’t say they just wanted to hook up if there wasn’t some attraction. He’d made the mistake of believing Lexi when she’d floated the idea. Then she’d dropped the ‘I love you’ bomb on him. At some point, he would have to address that.

As for Milena, David suspected that she wasn’t sure of herself. He had just been on all the gossip sites because of his Sunday date with Fiona. She also knew about the jock bunnies that the baseball players hooked up with.

The thing was, David liked Milena. She didn’t come across as high maintenance, which he suspected Fiona of being. She was actually relatively normal for a sorority girl. He even liked that her sorority sisters had been brave enough to march in to protect her this morning. If he’d been a douche, he was confident they would have run him off. The only reason he decided to let it go for now was that she was Crystal’s roommate.

“Okay, you win,” David said.

He could see her relax. He couldn’t pass up the chance to test her resolve, though.

“Why don’t you swing by The Palace after I get done with football practice tonight?” David asked as he waggled his eyebrows.

He thought he’d gone too far when she stiffened.

“I have to tell you something. I think Matt Long plans to have you hurt.”

That had David’s full attention.

“What do you know?” he asked as all thoughts of flirting left his mind.

“Crystal told me that Matt’s upset that the coaches are thinking about letting you play more at quarterback. He’s afraid you plan to take his starting position from him, so he was saying stuff to his offensive line.”

“John Johnson is just dumb enough to do something,” David said.

That was probably more than he should have said since he didn’t know where Milena’s loyalties really were.

“I don’t really know what they have planned, but Crystal is worried.”

“Thanks. I’m not sure what to do with that information, but I’ll be careful,” David said.

“I’ll try to find out more,” Milena offered.

“I realize that you and Crystal are friends. Don’t do anything to hurt that. It has to be awkward when her boyfriend is my rival. I don’t want our drama to spill into your life, if that makes sense.”

“I imagine that’s bound to happen. Crystal and I are friends, and even if our guys don’t get along, we won’t let that mess with us. Crystal is much nicer than people think,” Milena explained.

Somehow David doubted that, but then again, if Milena considered her a friend...

They finished their meal, and David dropped her off at her sorority. There was no mention of whether or not she would swing by his place tonight. David went back to his dorm to shower and then hurried off to class.

From what Alyssa had to say before their accounting class began, it seemed that she and Seamus had spent some quality time together because Seamus was no longer a horse’s ass. David gave that about twelve hours before Seamus did something to revert to his usual self.