RAMSAY.

I kept replaying what Kira said, and it wasn’t sitting right with me.

On our way to the game, I tried texting Scout, but he wasn’t responding. That, combined with whatever Kira was hinting at, I wasn’t happy. All of that was churning inside of me, when I heard Alred sigh as we were paying for our tickets. “He’s hot, but when he’s pissed, he’s hot.”

I whipped around. “Who?”

He was looking toward the end of the parking lot and nodded in that direction. “Scout Raiden.”

Done.

My gut’s churning went up a whole notch, and I said, “Don’t wait for me. I’ll find you in the bleachers.”

“What?” Gem asked.

I was already heading his way, and he saw me, stopped, and straightened.

His face locked down.

Good.

He wanted a fight? I was down for it.

I started again.

His head fell back, his nostrils flared, and I caught how his jawline clenched.

Jesus Christ.

All stormy eyes, his pissed off energy, how it was apparent he’d come from the gym, the heat was starting.

His gaze never left mine. He watched me walk the whole way to him, and he didn’t move one inch.

I felt an inferno taking me over from the inside out.

“Don’t,” he said it savagely, just as I got to him.

The roughness in his voice startled me, and my foot stumbled from his ferocity. I jerked to the side before righting my feet.

My heart was in my throat.

I was almost too startled to speak, but as I opened my mouth to do just that, he turned and stalked away. “Hey.”

He glanced back once, still going, and he cut past all the vehicles in the lot, dipping into some trees. I followed him to a clearing. Whoa. Talk about weirdness privacy, especially so close to the football stadium. “What is this place?”

His hand was on my chest, just under my throat, and he was in my space.

I stopped talking. I started only feeling, that heat climbing once again. “Scout?”

His nostrils flared again. “You want to talk about an old parking area that they decided not to trim, to try to save the trees?”

My tongue was heavy. “Huh?”

He started moving me back. I went with him, not thinking about anything except his hand just under my throat or the feel of him so close to me that I could feel the heat emanating off him.

“The tree campaign. Cohen told me about it.”

My mind was frazzled. “What are you talking about?”

My back hit something, and I couldn’t move any farther.

He was right there, an inch from me.

I licked my lip. “What are you doing?”

A whole new demeanor came over him, and he looked between us, at the space there, and he took a deliberate step in, now touching me.

I sucked in some air, my pulse blasting me.

He lowered his head, his mouth so close, too far, not close enough, so close that I could close the distance if I moved a hair toward him. “Scout?”

“I want to fuck you,” he whispered, bending so his nose moved down my throat.

Oh God.

I leaned back, moving away, giving him access.

His hand sifted to cup the side of my face, moving to hold the back of my neck. His thumb was right over my carotid. He could feel me feeling him. I licked my lips again because I didn’t care. I pressed against him, the whole churning still in me, moving through me at breakneck speed.

“I don’t like you.”

“I don’t care.”

“Keep pushing, and I could hate you.”

He breathed me in again, this time his mouth grazing against my skin. “You’re a fucking liar.”

Tendrils of sensation trailed in his path, sending pleasure zinging through me.

He taunted me, “Didn’t know you were a liar, Ramsay.”

My hand went to his stomach, and I felt zapped by the contact. Further touch. Further need to feel him press all the way against me, to feel him on me, over me. To feel his mouth tasting me. Jesus. Images of us flashed in my head, how it’d feel of him moving inside me. Thrusting.

Holding.

Grinding.

I had to have that, and I didn’t care about the consequences.

“You want this now?” He was back to taunting.

“Fuck you.”

His smile was so hard, so bitter. So fucking smug. “That’s the point, Princess.”

I growled again, shoving him so he had to take a step back. “I’m not a princess.”

His eyes went flat.

I was on the offense now. “I’ve never been the princess. You want to know who I was?” I leaned in, and now I was the one taunting. “I was the girl who wouldn’t leave her abusive ex. That’s who I was. A waste, right? That was me?” I advanced, a hand against his chest, making him go back another step. “Not smart enough to leave. Thinking he’d stop hitting me. Thinking I didn’t love him enough. If only I loved him totally unconditionally, it’d heal him. Right?” He stopped, his face looking like cement. “Wrong. I wasn’t the princess, Scout. I was the stupid one who couldn’t leave the villain. How about that? What’s that make me?”

“Ramsay,” he gutted out.

“Hmmm?”

Ice cold. Everything froze inside me, but damn him because one look from him, one touch, and a volcano torched it all away. “You want to do this? Fine. Fuck. But rules.”

“Rules?”

“I do not like you.”

A rough growl left him, ripping out of him, and he advanced again. His forehead went to mine, and I moved back without thinking. He was forcing me to retreat. He was taking the power. “I don’t like you either, Williams.”

“Good,” I spat. “We can’t do this if we like each other. If there’s feelings.”

“Feelings?”

“You know, emotions. Just sex, okay? Anything else, we have to stop this.”

“Fine. Sex as long as we don’t like each other.”

I almost laughed. It was the perfect arrangement.

His hand went to my throat again, holding the side of it. “I’m not going to lie to Alex.”

Alex?

Right. My cousin.

“I’ll talk to him. I’ll explain where my head is.”

His hand tightened. “Where is your head?”

I shook my head. “We can’t do that shit. Sharing. You said it yourself. We’re not friends. What we have is attraction. That’s it, and denying it is putting us in a situation where I don’t want to go.”

“Me neither.” His eyes flared. “But Alex is not going to understand this.”

“Yes, he will.” I focused on his chest, knowing what he had pumping just inside there. If I touched him, slid my hand up, over his shirt, under his shirt, I’d feel his heart. If his pulse was frantic or steady.

I swallowed, knowing what was going to happen and knowing I wasn’t going to stop it.

We were past our expiration, way past. It was time to catch up.

“You make him understand. You got that?” His voice wasn’t quite steady.

I didn’t need to feel his heart. I heard how he was affected, and it was my undoing.

I nodded, hunger igniting as he just threw gas on the already blazing fire inside me. Then his hands were on me. Mine were on him. He groaned, backing me up. He hadn’t even kissed me. His hands were on my hips. Mine were on his chest, and he moved me until I was against a tree.

Holy shit. A tree. That scene was happening, doing it in the woods. He lifted me in the air effortlessly. My legs wound around his waist. I could feel him where I needed him. We both paused at the connection.

I was panting. His forehead rested against mine, and he swore softly. “It’s like this and we’ve barely started.”

“Uh-huh.” I opened my eyes. We were doomed if we started, but we were doomed if we didn’t. “How about no kissing?”

“What?”

“No kissing. Just physical? Kissing can make you feel more. You know?”

His eyes went back to my mouth, and he shook his head slowly. “No way. This time, yeah, because I want to experience that kink, but no way am I saying yes to not tasting you. No fucking way.”

Kink. Tasting.

He was speaking porn to me. It flooded my brain. “Fine.” I reached for his jeans, my hand closing around the button. We both stilled because if I undid that top button, there was officially no going back.

Did I really want to do this?

Maybe, because no friendship. No feelings. I wanted to stay with that. No emotions. No hurt after.

I growled deep in my throat. “Do you have a condom?”

He cursed, releasing one of my legs as he reached into his pocket. He pulled one out, then cursed again at the buzzing coming from between us. He dug into his pocket and pulled out both of our phones. Clint was calling him, and Gem was calling me.

A different frenzied sensation came over me as I reached for my phone. I declined the call and texted her.

Me: Talking about something. Be back in ten.

Scout read my text and snorted. “Ten minutes? You serious?”

“Shut up.”

I dropped the phone on the ground and took his. I held it up to him. “Unlock it.”

He adjusted his hold on me, using his free hand to punch in his code.

I texted Clint for him.

Scout: Talking to your cousin about something. About Kira. I dunno.

“Kira?”

I dropped his phone next to mine and shook my head. “Tell you later.”

After that, I flicked the button open, undid his zipper, and reached in, finding him rock hard and pointing all the way up at me.

He watched as I began working him, up and down. My hand closed around him, squeezing just slightly. He groaned, pressing me against the tree, and I went back to moving up and down. Slow. Slow. A little faster. I took my time until his forehead hit my shoulder, and I heard him cursing again.

“Put the fucking condom on. We have ten minutes, remember?”

I barked out a laugh and took it from him before opening it. I reached down, rolling it over his dick. He lifted his head, his eyes in pure, carnal agony. “I’ve not had my time with you.”

“Don’t worry. I’m ready.” I moved up, pressing against him, and he groaned again.

“God, I hope so.” He shifted, lifting me so he could pull my leggings down just enough before he moved back in. He touched me, finding me wet, and he panted against my shoulder. “I’ve never had it like this.”

I moved against his fingers. “Ten minutes, buddy.”

His eyes shot to mine. “Buddy? That’s an upgrade from asshole.”

My eyes flashed. “Do you normally talk this much during sex?”

A rakish grin flashed back at me, but then he moved my thong aside, and I felt him line up at my entrance. We both held still for a second before he slid inside.

Oh. God.

It felt good.

So good.

I moaned, already panting.

He began to move, and I stopped thinking altogether. Pleasure whipped through me, sending a sizzle down my spine. Need—all-consuming, primal, earth-moving need—bloomed so deep in me that I almost screamed because I’d had no idea I needed his touch so badly.

I thought I knew.

I’d been wrong. So very really wrong.

He kept moving. In, in, in, so deep inside before pulling out. Soon he was pounding into me, and I moved my hips over him, trying to match him. Then finally I stopped and let him have his way. Reaching up, I found a strong branch and tried to pull up so he could go even deeper.

He cursed, doing just that, his hands kneading my ass and under my legs from behind.

“Oh God.” My hips rolled against him. “I could do this for hours.”

“Jesus Christ.” His teeth scraped against my throat. “Shut up or I’m going to come sooner than I thought.”

I laughed again, but it ended on a shrill yell because my climax erupted, and I wasn’t ready. My whole body felt that. It went all the way to my toes, and I could only gasp and keep breathing. Wave after wave crashed through me.

I held on.

Scout kept thrusting, grunting. “Fuuck.”

My last wave finished, and I wrapped my arms and legs around him again, letting go of the tree branch. He pressed me against the tree. I knew I’d have cuts and abrasions from the bark, but it was worth it.

He thrust one last time, a deep guttural groan leaving him. “We’re going to do three climaxes next time,” he breathed. “I promise.”

I wound my arms tighter around his neck, enjoying the feel of him finishing inside me. His forehead pressed against my throat. “That . . . we’re so screwed. You know that, right?”

He pulled out, helping me to the ground as I nodded shakily. “I know.”

We cleaned up as best we could. He turned me around, sucking in a breath as he saw my back. “We can’t go to the game.”

“What? Why?” I tried to see, but the burning had already started.

“We were stupid. I was stupid. I should’ve turned you the other way. Now these need to be cleaned and sterilized.”

“Are you serious? I thought my clothes would give me some protection. I didn’t feel it during, you know.”

“There are a couple of deep ones that shouldn’t wait.” He smoothed a finger over them, and I arched forward, searing pain coming from his touch.

He was right. I hated that he was right.

“This was supposed to be my first football game here. I missed last week, you know.”

He flashed me a hard look. “They have another one in seven days.”

“Not the same thing. I was supposed to be making friends too.”

His eyes darkened as he stepped back. I pulled my shirt and sweatshirt down, getting my leggings back up and comfortable.

He bent, grabbing our phones, and handed them over. “Text our excuses. We can run to my house—”

“No, my house. It’s closer. My mom is a nurse’s aide. We have everything. Plus, Clint’s going to go straight there anyway. There’ll be less questions.”

“Okay with me.”

I made up the stupidest excuse, but it was the only thing I could think of. Once we got to his truck, I sent both texts out.

Scout: Your cousin is clumsy AF. She fell down and twisted her ankle. I’m taking her to her house. Sorry ahead of time, but it wasn’t my fault. I swear.

I read it to him. He shook his head. “Now you gotta pretend to be limping.”

“Just for the night. I can do that.”

My phone lit up as Clint called me, so I hit accept and put him on speaker. “Hey.”

“What the fuck?”

I could hear whistles and cheering from his end. “Can you even hear us?”

“Yes. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. More embarrassed than anything.”

“What happened? What were you doing?”

Scout glanced my way at Clint’s tone on that word.

I ignored it, saying, “Nothing. It’s all dumb. I just stepped wrong when we were coming back to the game.”

“You’re lying to me.”

My cousins and their freaking lie-detector radar. “I’m not.” But damn it. Stick to the truth here. “I’m in pain. I got hurt. We’re going to my house so I can fix it. All truths.”

He was quiet before cursing under his breath. “You want me to leave?”

“No. I mean, not unless you want to, but finish the game. What’s the score?”

“We’re up ten to three. Alex scored the first touchdown, and Cohen got us close enough for a field goal. Are you sure you don’t want me to leave?”

“Finish the game, but could you let Gem know what happened? I can text her, but it might go better if you let her, Theresa, and Alred know.”

“Alred?”

I smiled, envisioning Clint meeting Alred for the first time. “You’ll meet him.”

“Yeah. I can do that. Okay. I’ll text when the game is done.”

When the call ended, Scout shook his head. “You’re really fucking good at lying.”

I grunted, hissing, starting to feel the pain now. “Not with Clint. He knows.”

But one problem at a time.

Why were you bringing up Kira?” Scout asked as he finished cleaning up my back. There’d been some burning, hissing, and curses, but it was mostly done and bandaged. I’d need to watch who saw my back. The lie I had ready was that I fell and scraped my back when I twisted my ankle. It was a stretch, but it’d have to do.

I looked up in the mirror, meeting his gaze. “Because she made a weird comment to me when we were leaving Mario’s.”

He stilled, and his eyes flashed before his face got hard again.

He clipped out, “She’s nothing.”

I stilled. “Doesn’t feel like nothing. Is there something I need to be worried about?”

He rolled his eyes, putting another bandage on my back before stepping back. “No. You’re all done.”

I reached for my shirt and pulled it on, not replying, just watching him.

Now he wasn’t making eye contact.

What she said definitely had something to do with me. “Scout,” I said quietly.

It worked. It got his attention. His eyes came back to mine.

“She said it to me. You don’t tell me, I’ll go to her. I won’t let another person have something over me, not ever again. You get me?”

We continued staring at each other in the mirror until another look flared over his face, so brief, so instant, that it was there and then gone before I could place it. But then we heard a crash downstairs, followed by, “Ramsay!”

It was Clint.

Scout helped the back of my shirt fit better. “Scout.”

He started for the door, ignoring me.

Damn it!

I heard him talking to whoever was down there, and it wasn’t just Clint. I followed at a more sedate pace, making sure to grab my sweatshirt from my room. I winced just as I stepped out from the stairs.

Clint was there with a couple of guys, along with Kira, Ciara, and Leanne.

Clint’s eyes narrowed to slits, taking me in, but before he could say anything, Scout held up his hand to my cousin. “My Good Samaritan part is done. I’m taking off.”

Clint ignored him, studying my ankle. “Thought that was twisted?”

Crap. “It was. It still hurts, but I’m of the mindset that I can will it back to normal. Must be working if you—”

Clint’s eyes flared. He so knew I was lying, but he wasn’t calling me on it, not in front of our audience. He kept studying me until he finally gave in. “You’re better now?”

“Yeah.”

Clint glanced back to Scout, who’d paused before leaving and was on his phone. “What are you doing tonight? We were thinking of grabbing drinks and going to hang out at your uncle’s gym.”

“Uh . . .” He lifted his head and raised his phone. “That was Cohen. He, Alex, and Trenton have it all figured out.”

“You cool with that plan? It’s your uncle’s place.”

“Yeah.” Scout looked past him to me. “I’m cool with that plan. Want to grab some food?”

“We can all do that together.” Kira stepped to Clint’s side, leaning into him. “Right, Clint? We were thinking of going to Louie’s and getting food to go.”

“I’m good with that.”

Scout’s eyes lingered on her hand on Clint’s arm before, “Yeah. I’m good with getting food there too.”

Clint looked to me. “Maybe while they get the food, you and I can go get the booze?” He gave me an extra-forceful stare, and it took me a moment to remember his restless energy from school. That was right. He and I were due for doing something stupid.

I mean, I’d already gotten that out of my system, but evidently, he hadn’t. “That sounds good to me.”

His grin turned wicked. “Awesome.”

Oh no.