What Are The Odds?: A college hockey romance. (Phil-U Book 1)
What Are The Odds?: Chapter 27

Levi.

I woke to the sound of movement. It took me a moment to gather my senses. The clock read five-forty-four-am. It wasn’t music. No. The party had ended a long time ago. My chest was cold. I tried to reboot to remember why. Because Grace had been there. That’s how we’d fallen asleep. Now it was cold because she was gone. I blinked, willing my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once they did, I could make out Grace tiptoeing to the door. I pushed onto my elbows.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

She jumped, dropping her things to the ground. Holding her hand to her heart, she faced me. She was dressed in the clothes I’d given her last night. A t-shirt and hoodie. It didn’t cover much. Certainly not enough to be anywhere else but in here.

“Are you sneaking out in the middle of the night, Hughesy?”

She grimaced. “Technically it’s morning.”

Bull fucking shit. It was a Sunday and the sun wasn’t up. Which meant it was too early to be awake. Sleep-ins were hard to come by when you were a college athlete.

“Somewhere to be?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Then come back to bed. I’m wrecked.”

Grace made no move to come back. She shyly tucked her hair behind her ear as she glanced between me and the door. Wow. She was definitely trying to sneak out. I hadn’t pegged her for the type. Usually, I was all for a girl leaving before I woke up. Heck, I loved when they left straight after we came back down from our high. But not now. Not with Grace. With a groan I got out of bed. I stopped in front of her, our chests inches apart. Unlike me, Grace was very much awake. I wondered how long she’d been up for, how long she’d been contemplating whether she could sneak out and get away with it. She seemed to have forgotten I was in nothing but boxers. Her eyes fell to them before slowly trailing back up my body to meet my gaze. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. It was sexy as hell.

“If you keep looking at me like that, Hughesy, I’ll throw you back on that bed before I give you a chance to explain what the hell is going on.”

Her eyes widened at that before her eyebrows pulled together.

“You don’t regret last night?” she questioned.

“Of course not.” My stomach dropped. “Do you?”

She shook her head then shrugged. I didn’t like that. I’d been mindful to take things slow. Like, slower than I ever had in my life. Which is why I’d left things where they were. Christ, I hadn’t even let her touch me which had been hard as fuck. Literally.

“No, I just. . .” she trailed off.

I placed one finger under her chin, tilting her to look at me.

“Just what, Hughesy?”

“We didn’t ruin a good thing, did we?”

“Fuck no,” I firmly said. “We made a good thing better.” I stepped closer so my bare skin brushed against her clothed chest. “And I would like to do other good things if you’d let me.”

I chased the curve of her throat when she swallowed.

“Like what?” she whispered.

Oh so many things. Endless things. The innocence of her question almost undid me.

“For starters, I want to go down on you, Hughesy.”

She choked on her surprise. I placed one hand on her hip, trailing my fingers along the hem of my clothes to brush her skin.

“Do you want that?” I asked.

With wide eyes, she nodded. Fuck yeah. We’d definitely get to it. But first. I lowered my mouth over hers. I don’t think I’d ever get used to kissing Grace. Now I’d cracked the seal, I doubt I’d be able to stop. Last night, I’d been kind of nervous. Something I hadn’t been around a girl for a very long time. Grace’s warm tongue met mine in a dance of desperation. I sunk my hands into her ass. It was easy to replace beneath my oversized clothes. When I picked her up, she let out a small yelp before wrapping her legs around my body. I liked having her this high. She pressed her chest against mine, her covered breasts meeting my naked skin. I needed to get rid of her clothes. I was dying to know what was underneath. Carrying her towards the bed, I gently lowered her down then hovered above her, our mouths still fused together. I smoothed a hand down her ribs. Once I reached the side of her thigh, I hooked it over my hip. This new angle was both a blessing and a curse. Grace ground against me, her legs clamping down to keep me in place. It wasn’t just a tease. It was fucking torture. Slow, I told myself. Slow. Take it fucking slow. Clearly last night had played on her mind. This would too. If we slept together now it was guaranteed to freak her out later. We’d never spoken about it, but it was clear sex meant different things to Grace and me. Well, usually. Right now, I was just as invested as she was. I dipped my hand between her legs, rubbing back and forth over the damp material. I couldn’t wait to do this. Couldn’t wait to taste her. Couldn’t wait to hear her moan. Couldn’t wait to feel her tremble on my tongue. Pulling back, I toyed with the hem of the jumper and t-shirt she was wearing. Her hooded gaze held mine before nodding her permission. Slowly, I peeled them over her head, watching in astonishment as each new sliver of skin appeared. After throwing the clothes on the floor, I rocked back on my heels, shaking my head in disbelief. It was like I was seeing a naked girl for the first time in my life. I was so fucking lucky. Grace Hughes was a fucking vision. I kissed each of her bare breasts, then either side of her ribs, then I trailed my tongue down the lines of her toned stomach. Once I reached the waistband of her panties, I paused. Looking up at her, her chest rose and fell in short, nervous breaths. As much as I didn’t want her to be nervous, I was too. But it was a good nervous. One that got me closer to her than I had been before.

“Can I?” I whispered, my lips hovering above her hip.

She nodded. I hooked my fingers through the lace, tugging them down her tanned legs. She lifted her hips, making it easier for me. Once they were discarded, I wrapped my fingers around her ankles, tickling the soft skin before licking along her inner thigh. Her back came off the bed, arching as goose bumps broke out across her skin. The movement caused her legs to part, enough to see my prize. It was fucking glorious and ready for this. I wasn’t only teasing her, but myself too. I couldn’t put it off any longer. I delved my tongue against her clit. Her breath hitched at the same time her leg jarred.

“Oh my god, Levi,” she gasped.

I chuckled deeply, eliciting a shiver from her. I was enjoying making Grace squirm. I could do this all day. Hell, I would happily die like this. I’d never tire of this taste. My dick was responding to every noise Grace made. I purposely kept it from view. I didn’t want her thinking it was something she had to take care of. Yeah, I wanted her to. And we’d get there eventually. Hopefully. But for now, it was about her. Adding two fingers, I looked up at Grace. She was watching me, her lips parted in uncontrollable pleasure.

“There,” she breathed. “Please don’t stop.”

I didn’t plan on it. I pinned her in place, smirking as she writhed beneath my hand and tongue. She was so close. I could feel it. I was both satisfied and disappointed. Happy that she was happy. But sad it was almost over. Though if I had my way, this would be the first of many times. A moan escaped Grace’s lips as she fell over the edge. Her back curved and her breasts heaved up and down. I slowed my movements, riding back down to earth with her. She let out a deep sigh, eyes fluttering closed, when I withdrew my fingers. I crawled back up the bed, peppering her naked body with kisses. With her eyes still closed, she let out a lazy mumble. Orgasms made Grace tired. Chuckling, I rolled her into the crook of my arm. She nestled closer, draping her leg over me.

“Now can we go back to sleep?” I asked.

Her eyes snapped open before lowering.

“You don’t want me to–”

I shook my head despite my body trying to convey a very different message. One step at a time. I needed to ease Grace into this. The thought of scaring her off worried me. And the thought of scaring her into Ryker’s arms was fucking terrifying. I smoothed my thumb over her frown.

“Relax, Hughesy. I’m good.”

Grace was still naked. Something my brain was struggling to forget. I closed my eyes, thinking of gruelling practices and long bus rides. Not silky legs. Toned arms. Perfect breasts. I thought back to all the other mornings I’d woken up after a post-win party. With girls whose names I didn’t know, and girls who didn’t know anything about me other than the fact I was good at hockey. At the time, it’d been normal. But it seemed shallow and cold now. I couldn’t imagine falling back into that lifestyle, one with one-night stands and conversations that never moved beyond small talk. But I’m not sure I’d have the same stance if Grace wasn’t the one in my arms right now. Shit. I was falling for this girl. No. Forget that. I think I’d already fallen. Grace’s breaths began to even out. I could feel sleep closing in on me too.

“Hey Hughesy,” I whispered.

“Mmhm?” she incoherently mumbled.

“Whatever the fuck that was before, the sneaking out, don’t do it again.”

She chuckled. “Okay.”

“I mean it. If something’s playing on your mind, talk to me.”

My voice came out harsher than I intended, but that was only because the thought of waking up to her gone terrified me.