Even Stephie is mysteriously quiet and quite polite toward me and Sophie. Snake, snake, snake…she’s a snake, I repeat over and over in my mind, and then offer her a quaint little grin. I’d be a fool to make an enemy out of her and call her bluff, but I’m sure in the hell not going to go out of my way to lick her asshole.

“Ewww.” I groan at my own thoughts.

“What?” Sophie stops dead in her tracks and turns to face me with a questioning face.

“Nothing.” I wave her off with my right hand while I gently continue to rub circles with my other hand on my belly.

“What?” she demands once again.

I can already tell Sophie’s the nosy-ass type that would take the time out of her day to figure out who farted in a room full of people, even pulling out the detective card and not giving in until the mystery was settled. She reminds me of my own mother. Not that my mother was a fart sniffer, by any means, but she sure didn’t let anyone fire off a deadly one in her company. It’s always best to spill it with these types of people, even if it makes no sense and contains absolutely no meaning at all, just to forgo the third degree, stare down, and guilt trips.

“I’m not going to lick Stephie’s asshole.” I throw up both my hands in the air, surrendering to her. “See, are you happy? My own freaking thought grossed me out, and I said eewww.”

“I’m not going to even ask why you were thinking of Stephie and her butthole in the same sentence.” Sophie’s face dances with disgust and a tiny hint of questioning.

“Thank you.” Taking two long strides, I catch up to the still half-disgusted Sophie and wrap my arm around hers. We chose to walk to the barbeque tonight, and now in the dark night without roaring traffic filling the streets, I realize it was dumb. Yes, a very dumb decision for two eighteen-year-old girls to make. We had no business being off campus at this time of night and walking alone. I know the stories of a local string of murders and rapes filling the news, which Trainer Jay shared with us over dinner, and it didn’t help matters. I know three quarters of the goose bumps forming on my skin are due to my overzealous imagination.

“Quit worrying.”

“What?” I freeze. “I’m not worrying.”

“Oh really, you just chewing your bottom lip for an extra shot of protein?”

I shove her shoulder and then flip her the bird with my other hand. “We are two young, dumb girls walking the streets in the dark like Trainer Jay was talking about.”

The roar of an engine cuts off my speech, and we turn to see an extremely jacked-up silver Dodge with all the bells and whistles.

“See, I called Prince Charming for us.”

I see Lane’s face as he slowly rolls down the tinted window.

“Fuck,” I mumble to myself. If Lane is in there, that means Ethan is there.

As if on cue, he hollers from the back seat, “Ladies, want a ride?”

At this point, I’d rather jog home, but then I’m reminded of my full belly and screaming muscles and hesitantly follow Sophie over to the truck.

“We only have one other seat.”

Lane crawls out and lets Sophie sit in the middle beside him. Ethan pats his lap from the back seat. All of the glorious food I enjoyed before now roils around and threatens to paint the sidewalk. I’m going to have to have a serious talk with Ethan about the excessive flirting and instill a strict friend code with severe consequences if the code is broken.

My glance darts to all the seats in the truck and notice every single one of them is taken by their fellow teammates, and then my vision lands on Tuck, who is huddled up in the back corner of the truck, sitting on the opposite end from Ethan.

“C’mon, it’s just a seat, not a date.” Ethan pats his lap again and licks his lips.

“Forget this.” I continue down the sidewalk. “I’d rather walk back on my own.”

The truck creeps along the road while I walk. I fight like hell to avoid making eye contact with any of them, or acknowledge the obnoxious truck inching along with me.

“Just go, you guys.” I try waving them off.

I look up and see some rustling going on in the back seat, and I’m pretty sure Ethan’s body was just thrown across the back of the truck. I keep walking, focusing on each time my foot hits the pavement and cuss my dumb ass out for eating so much, because I’d do anything in this moment to sprint.

Moments and several steps go by, then the silver back door opens. I don’t have a chance to jump away before I’m scooped up in someone’s arms and plopped down on a lap. The sound of the door shutting and the engine roaring to life fill the cab of the truck as it lunges forward, causing me to fall deeper back into my seat.

I immediately notice Tuck has me on his lap, and when I make eye contact I feel his hands move from my bare thighs. Looking down, I see he has his palms stretched out on either side of his legs, firmly planted on the seat. Glancing back to my bare thigh, I feel the sting of his hand vanishing. It was only there a second, but sent a jolting amount of pleasure strumming through my whole body.

I know we only have a few private seconds in the dark before the rest of the truck invades our tiny space. I study his gorgeous face and smile when I recognize that strong jawline in the moonlight shining through the window. A slight stubble peppers his face, and it’s something I’ve never picked up before, but then again I’ve never been this close to the man. However, his black hoodie is familiar, with the hood hooked up over his head and beanie safely tucked underneath it.

Without breaking eye contact, I grab his left hand that rests next to the door, and his muscles go taut as I do. I’d give anything to feel his skin instead of the hoodie between us, but my thigh will have to do. And I thank the creator of very short shorts. I guide his hand back on to the top of my thigh and am slightly shocked when he follows my lead.

I lean back on his chest and realize how expansive the man is. I fit perfectly on one side of him and know I could easily snuggle in, throwing my arms around his neck and flexing my hips back into him, but I don’t. My back simply relaxes on his left shoulder. Turning my head, I let my lips lightly brush against his stubble and feel the tickle of each tiny hair, and a large smile spreads across my face. I take the path back to his ear very slowly.

And when I finally get there and that stubble is gone, my smile slowly fades. “You are the only one allowed to touch me.”

His hand tightens on the flesh of my leg, and I gasp.

“Blue.”

His whisper is more of a growl, and I know exactly what’s coming next. And I have no idea why I’m so magnetized to him.

“I know, Tuck, you don’t do people or talk or anything human. I know.”

The cab of the truck fills with Outkast singing Roses, and I’m a little stunned when both of Tuck’s hands connect with my hips as he centers me in his lap. My back immediately mourns the loss of his solid chest. He pushes up as we settle in our new position and his message takes no words to convey. It’s clearly pressed against my ass, and it makes me smile. Peeking over my shoulder, I let Tuck see my smile, but he only shoots back his dark gaze.

Our ride comes to bitter end, and I notice we are outside Tuck’s house.

“Stop one, boys.”

Without a word or as much as a glance back in my direction, Tuck hops out, leaving me on the cold seat of the truck. The remainder of the guys also get out, with the exception of douche bag Ethan, Lane, and Sophie. Of course Sophie and Lane are practically humping while he starts driving in the direction of the dorms.

My heart breaks. Wait, it can’t break because I don’t technically love Tuck, so maybe my ego fucking shatters with his reaction to me. I want to get to know the man, flirt with him, spend time with him…all the shit Ethan wants to do with me, I want with Tuck, and yet it seems he finds me as annoying as I find Ethan.