Quarterback Sneak (Red Zone Rivals #3)(38)

He shook his head, pretending to focus on the words in his textbook even though I knew he couldn’t read a damn thing with me there.

I sighed, wondering if this was residual upset from the win on Saturday. It was a good thing that we won, of course, but I knew even though he’d never admit it out loud, it bothered Holden a little bit, too.

Because they won without him.

I watched him for a moment before I said, “It’s just a couple games. They still need you. And now that you’re cleared to practice, you’ll be back out there before you know it. You’ll be—”

“Save the pep talk for someone who gives a shit,” he interrupted, flipping a page so haphazardly he nearly tore it.

My head reared back as if he’d slapped me. “What is your problem?”

“You!”

The word rolled off of him like a bellowing roar of thunder, loud and menacing, his chest heaving as he slammed the textbook shut and glared up at me.

I didn’t know what to do, what to say, so I just stared back.

“You,” he said, his voice still rough and ragged as he splayed his hands on the desktop and used it to stand, to push into my space. “You’re my problem. You, and your hot and cold bullshit, your blatant annoyance with me followed quickly by trying to make me laugh, make me feel better. You and your leave me alone attitude one minute and your let’s play attitude followed right after.”

My breath caught in my throat as he stepped even more into me, his chest touching mine, the fresh scent of him hitting my nose.

“You,” he said on a shaky breath that touched my lips. “And the way you’ve scrambled my fucking brain.”

He lifted his chin, just a notch, so that he was staring at me down the bridge of his nose. Every cell in my body vibrated under that stare. I noted how the muscle in his jaw ticked, how his throat was tight on his next swallow before he blew out a breath and shoved away from me.

Holden stormed to the other side of the room, his hands raking back through his hair before he left them clasped on top of his head, his back to me, eyes on the garden outside the window.

For a moment, I was shocked still and silent.

And then, I scoffed.

“Oh, fuck you, Holden,” I spat, shaking my head. “Don’t act like I played some game with you that you didn’t willingly participate in, too.”

He laughed, turning to face me before his hands hit his legs with a slap. “What do you want from me? Hmm?”

I sobered, swallowing. “A friend,” I said weakly.

“A friend,” he echoed on another bitter laugh. “Right. Okay. Then we’ll be friends. You can leave now.”

I shook my head. “I came over here to celebrate, to be fucking nice and bring you a goddamn muffin. You’ve been moved from me to JB. This is a good sign, Holden.”

“You think me getting switched to him means I’ll be playing soon?” he asked incredulously, and then he stepped toward me, face leveling out. “I was put with JB again because your father doesn’t want me anywhere near you.”

My jaw was set as I argued, “No, it’s because at this point, you need a more experienced trainer to step in and—”

“God, will you just…” Holden fisted his hands, shaking them as frustration colored his face red. “Shut up?!”

I all but growled as I crossed the space between us and pressed my chest to his, nearly knocking his chin with my own. “Make me.”

He stared down at me, his eyes flicking between mine, chest heaving with rage. He grabbed my arms like he was going to throw me off him, like he was going to shove me to the side and storm past me right out of the room.

But instead, he gripped them tight enough to bruise, like he wanted to leave a mark.

And he kissed me.

His mouth hit mine with brutal pressure, hands sliding roughly up my arms to grip my face, instead. And he pinned me there, holding me to him as he inhaled that kiss in a mix of want and fury.

I pushed back.

Pressing up onto my toes, I met his demand, opening my mouth and gripping his hair in my hands as I tugged back just a little, just enough for me to suck his bottom lip between my teeth and bite.

Holden groaned, and my entire body erupted in chills as his hands groped blindly down my back for my ass. He cupped me to him, and I scraped my nails down his back with the same infuriating need.

One breath, and I was lifted, my legs hiked up and wrapping around his waist as he palmed my ass and held me to him. Another, and I was dropped onto his bed, the covers whooshing up around me with the pressure of my weight hitting the mattress. I didn’t have time for a third breath before Holden was on top of me, his knee between my thighs, backing me up into his pillows with punishing, desperate kisses.

His tongue snaked against mine, and I held the hair at the nape of his neck, held him to me, demanding more. I ignored every distant warning sign blaring in the back of my mind, ignored every ounce of good sense I had that told me this couldn’t happen, that we couldn’t happen.

I wanted him.

I wanted him so badly I’d let him devour every bit of everything that I was. I’d let him banish me from existence, to wipe me off the face of the planet if it meant I got to succumb to this moment right now.

Holden ran his hands back through my hair and tightened his fingers into fists, making me arch, my chin tilting up and mouth popping free of his own. He licked and sucked along the skin of my jaw, my neck, across my collarbone as I writhed beneath the touch. I couldn’t move, not with him holding my hair so tightly, and it only made every caress that much more intense as he crawled his way back up, gently biting my chin before he claimed my mouth once more.