Page 77 of Play For Me

Perfect.

I feel out of it, like I’m drunk on him, as he collapses on top of me, breathing hard. I sense more than see him moving next to me, rearranging my body until I’m splayed against his side. He kisses my face, over and over again, his breath coming in shaky pants while I try to bring my brain back online.

Finally, I manage to open my eyes and peer up at him. He’s staring down at me with the most beautiful expression on his face. Happy—he looks really, really happy.

“Was it worth the wait?” I whisper.

He pulls me closer, tucking my head against his chest. “I’d wait a lifetime for you, Cecelia.”

I knowthat I should go back to my room, but moving feels impossible. I’ve never felt so sated in my life, all warm and content cuddled up with him. He makes me get out of bed around midnight so he can ice my knee. I request a massage to go along with it and pretty soon his hands are moving in places that have absolutely nothing to do with my injury.

The second time is as good as the first. Maybe even better, because he takes his time. It’s becoming pleasantly apparent to me that Solomon’s tendency to over-focus on a task is working in my favor.

“Will your roommate wonder where you are?” he asks later, running his hand down my back. We’re laying side by side, meon my stomach, him on his side. His fingers are gentle as they dance down my spine, his eyes following their every moment like he finds the sight of them against my skin fascinating.

“Nah. I told her I was meeting up with a friend and not to wait up. They were all going out dancing, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up crashing in someone else’s room anyhow.”

That has me realizing something, and I lift my head from the pillow, looking around. “Hey, you don’t have a roommate.”

He grins. It looks a little dopey and adorably boyish. “You’re just noticing that now?”

“I was a bit distracted earlier,” I say drily, and he laughs, pulling me back down and arranging me so my head is on his chest again.

“I’m the only male student on the trip. They weren’t going to have me room with one of the actual staff members.”

“I guess that would be weird,” I concede. “Still pretty bullshit that this is a women’s soccer trip and you’re still coasting on your male privilege.”

He laughs again, kissing the top of my head, and I’m sure my smile is plenty dopey, too.

“Sleep here?” he asks quietly. “We can set an alarm so you get back to the room before anyone is up.”

I know I should decline. The longer I stay here the more we risk someone finding out. And the last thing I want is to mess with Solomon’s position in the trainer’s program.

But his arms are wrapped tight around me and I can feel the beat of his heart under my ear. I’m warm and my body feels all loose and languid. My knee doesn’t even hurt for once. The thought of getting up is horrible.

“We’ll set an alarm,” I agree, cuddling in closer, relishing the way he sighs, as if in relief. I’m vaguely aware of his arm leavingmy body for a moment, of the sounds of him tapping on a phone screen, but I’m in that floaty, pre-sleep space and I don’t look up.

“Thank you for coming over tonight, Cecelia,” I hear him whisper.

I’m pretty sure I manage to thank him for letting me in before I fall asleep in his arms.

I expectthings to be awkward in the morning, but Solomon barely moves when his alarm goes off. He grumbles something about it being too early as he slaps at the buttons to turn it off, then rolls right back over and starts snoring. Jay had mentioned that he doesn’t sleep much when he has one of his rough nights. I feel a pang as I watch him, wondering if he slept at all the other night after seeing his mom. I scrawl out a quick note letting him know I’ll see him on the bus, then call the automated number listed on the room phone to request a wakeup call for him in two hours.

I stand at the side of the bed like a creeper for a long time, watching him, all long-limbed and sprawled on the mattress. He looks so different when he’s sleeping. All of the tension he usually carries is gone, leaving him looking soft and warm and relaxed in a way I never see during the day. The idea of climbing back into his bed is very tempting, but I need to not be selfish—he’s the one who’s going to be screwed if we get caught. So I press a final kiss against his hair before I slip out into the hallway, looking both ways first to make sure no one is around.

My room is empty, so Helen must have crashed with the other girls after their night out. I manage to grab another hour of sleep before I need to get up and get ready for the ride back. When I get out of the shower, there’s a text from Sol on myphone. I should probably be embarrassed by how eager I am to read it but at least there’s no one around to catch the expression on my face as I open the message.

Solomon:You should have woken me up.

Me:I think you mean “thanks for letting me sleep.”

Solomon:Thanks for letting me sleep.

Solomon:And thanks for letting me do all of those dirty things to you last night.

My cheeks heat as a film reel of those dirty things runs through my mind. I stare at my phone, unable to come up with a single thing to say. Thanks for the best sex of my life? Thanks for multiple orgasms? Before I can type anything, another message appears from him.

Solomon:Jesus, that was lame, wasn’t it? I’m so not good at sexy texting.