So Rare (Boys of South Chapel #3)

23. Greedy

Chapter 23

Greedy

NOW

After what feels like a lifetime, the door I’ve been staring at swings open and the girl of my dreams steps through it.

She looks so much better: freshly showered, her skin clean and glowing. Her eyes are brighter somehow, too.

Working to steady my breathing, I rub at the tightness coiling in my chest. It’s futile, though, to temper this response to her. After all these years, a single look at her still gets me all hot and needy. Every time. In every situation.

“Look what I found,” Hunter singsongs, stepping into the hallway and pulling the door closed behind her.

When I finally get my wits about me, I scan her from head to toe, and I’m just about blown over by what I see.

Fuck. Me.

She’s wearing a teal jersey, the oversized garment emblazoned with a white 2 across her chest. On her, the hem of the shirt rests mid-thigh. Her tan legs are bare, and the jersey is loose and flowy except for where it stretches over her hips and accentuates her curves. I’ve never seen anything more erotic in my life.

She’s not just wearing teal; she’s wearing South Chapel Sharks teal.

She’s not just wearing any South Chapel Sharks jersey; she’s wearing number 2.

She’s wearing my jersey.

“Spin for me,” I husk out. “Let me see the back.”

She obeys, doing a half turn while she sweeps her hair to one side, revealing Ferguson scrawled across her shoulder blades. Her ass cheeks peek out from beneath the hem of the jersey when she lifts her arms to hold up her hair. Her bare ass cheeks.

I can’t help but reach out. Touch her. Confirm this is real. Reverently, I smooth my palm over the 2. Then I take my time tracing each letter of my name where it’s proudly displayed on her back. Finally, I use that same finger to glide down the curve of her spine. The smoothness of the path confirms what I’m desperate to know.

Nothing beneath. Nothing between us but my jersey.

“You’re killin’ me, Tem.” Groaning, I pull my hand back and run it through my hair, just to give myself something to do.

She spins around, her eyebrows knitted together in concern as she studies me. “Do you want me to change?”

“Hell no,” I rush out. I want to commit every detail of this moment to memory. I want to take a goddamn picture. She looks so fucking good wearing my jersey. Nothing but my jersey.

“Get over here.”

She’s in my arms a moment later.

Running my hands down the length of her back, I breathe her in. I pause above the globes of her ass, and in response, she leans into me farther, squeezes around my neck tighter. With that silent cue, I continue my exploration. Cupping her cheeks, I lift her up, stalk forward, and pin her to the wall.

I hold her just like that and drink her in. In this moment, I swear my heart might beat out of my chest. My reaction to the sight of her, the proximity, is visceral and overwhelming.

My brain is working overtime to commit this moment to memory. Her body pressed against the wall as I support her weight. Her toned legs wrapped around mine, holding me just as tightly. The soft skin of her thighs and hips against my fingertips where I hold tight to her.

My cock is weeping with want. But it’s my heart that aches the most.

This is all I’ve wanted for so long. This woman. Our connection restored.

“Do you know how crazy I feel right now? Seeing you in this jersey? Holding you in my arms?” I clear the emotion from my throat, then bury my face in her neck. “I want you to wear this all night.”

I take in a deep inhale but am surprised when the scent assaults me.

“This doesn’t smell like you.” I press a kiss to the side of her neck, then gently set her back on her feet.

“It’s Joey’s.”

I cough in surprise. “Any idea why your best friend has my jersey in her bedroom?”

Biting down on her plump bottom lip, Hunter leans back against the wall once more and extends her arms, inviting me in.

I situate myself between her legs and wrap both arms around her shoulders, soaking in the feel of her.

“I do know why,” she finally says when we’re wrapped up in each other once more. “Locke and Kendrick have a wicked sense of humor and like to regularly remind Decker of that time Joey wore your jersey to the shore week game. They gave this to Decker for Christmas. Joey wisely confiscated it and stashed it up here for safekeeping.”

Heart in my throat, I search her face. Christmas was only a few days ago. “You remember all that?”

Surprise passes over her expression. “I do.” She tilts her head back to meet my gaze, confusion and frustration swimming in her eyes. “Joey texted me all about it on Christmas. We laughed, and she even sent me a picture. I remember other things, too,” she says. “I’m just missing a lot of details. I know who Levi is. I know Spence and I were involved. But the personal stuff, the stuff that matters, feels like it’s just out of reach.”

I rest my chin on top of her head, smoothing both hands back and forth along her back. “Spence thinks you were drugged.”

“I was,” she states matter-of-factly.

Shock ripples through me. The simplicity of her confession is gut-wrenching, but the way her face morphs as she comprehends her own words is what threatens to send me on a personal rampage against her mother.

“Shit. I was. I was drugged. I—I didn’t remember until just now.”

Tears well in her eyes, and her bottom lip trembles with emotion.

“She kept making me drink from a bottle. She forced me to take little sips, and each time, I’d fall asleep again. I couldn’t shake it. Everything was sluggish. I couldn’t wake up. I tried, Greedy.” Her voice cracks on my name, and tears fall in rapid succession down her cheeks. “I swear, I tried.”

I wrap her in a hug so suffocatingly tight I fear I’ll hurt her. But I can’t quell the pulsating anger that’s taken over. It’s like a living, breathing beast has been awakened in my chest. I couldn’t tame him if I tried.

“Shh, you’re okay, baby.” I will her to feel all the love and comfort I’m mentally pouring into her as she sobs in my arms.

Her body heaves with emotion, trembling in my arms as she processes the memories coming back to her. I struggle to keep my shit together, but I do. I breathe deeply and use every ounce of energy I possess to whisper reassurances and hold my girl safely in my arms.

Once I’m sure I have a grip on my own emotions, I pull back and search her face. “Want me to go get the guys? You might feel better if we’re all together.”

If she remembers being drugged, I surmise it won’t be long before other memories reemerge as well.

She snuggles closer, shaking her head against my chest. “Would it be okay if it was just you and me tonight?”

A surge of pride and protectiveness rises in me. “Of course.” I kiss the top of her head, then step back and take her hand. “Let’s go to bed, Tem.”

I exude calmness as I guide her down the stairs.

In reality, I’m anything but calm.

Tonight, she wants only me. It won’t last. Her memories will come back, like the one that hit her just now. She’ll remember and embrace what she shares with Spence and with Levi.

But for tonight, it’s just her and me. I’m going to savor it while I can.