Stone Creek by Davis, Lainey (reading diary .TXT) 📕

as he's watching the game. I decide to be bold and move closer to Talon. He's fixed on the TV, watching the Giants quarterback intently, but doesn't flinch when I lean right against his shoulder.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

 

"Dude, I can't fucking believe you called that safety in the second quarter!" Brandon is counting out twenties from the pocket of his jeans. He slaps the wad of bills into my hand. I do a little dance, excited to have won $200 on a football bet among a room full of football players.

The Steelers won, and as the quarterback ran in the final touchdown for the win, I leapt off the couch screaming. Regaining my composure, I looked around the room. Talon was smiling with a crooked grin and the other guys booed. Now, they're filing out of the apartment, slapping me on the back and giving me fist bumps. "Yo, Claw, this girl can hang any time." One of the linebackers named Alex had gotten into a long discussion with me about Troy Polamalu during halftime. He hugs Talon and CJ and winks at me as he leaves.

Talon gets up to put the food away, and I start to help him, working beside him in friendly silence. CJ and Alissa, meanwhile, start making out on the couch. I alternate between being happy for her and wishing she'd take it into the bedroom at least, especially when CJ slips a hand up her shirt. Alissa bites his lower lip and opens her eyes, meeting mine. She gives me a look, and then peels herself away from CJ's lap, pulling his hand down the hallway.

Talon groans as he shoves the last of the empty beer cans in the recycling. "They're going to be making an unholy racket for at least an hour."

I touch his arm and say, "Walk me home? Then neither of us has to listen to it." He nods and throws me my coat. He pulls on a beanie and heads out, wearing a short-sleeved Giants jersey. "I never get over how you're always hot," I say. A light snow has fallen during the game and it crunches under our feet as we walk. "I'm surprised you're not wearing shorts."

I've decided I'm going to touch him as much as he will let me tonight, and so I push his side playfully while I tease him about his internal furnace. He says, "What can I say? I have a high metabolism."

"I'll say. You'd have to, to look like you do and eat--what are you up to right now? 6,000 calories per day?" He nods. I put my arm around his waist. "It's freezing out here for mere mortals like me." I sigh happily when he pulls me closer and walks beside me. The streets are full of laughing people walking home from Super Bowl parties. Anyone could see us, anyone would recognize Talon Kelly here with me.

But then I remember how many women Talon Kelly has walked home from parties. My heart sinks again and I don't say anything else on the walk to my apartment. As I fish for my keys, he drops his head back against the wall. "God, I'll probably get back there and they'll just be getting warmed up. Did you know it was them for, like, this whole month?"

I shake my head. "You can hang out for a little…if you want." I don't want to sound desperate. I'm not going to beg him to sleep with me, but I also don't want to say goodbye to him tonight. He follows me inside and I toss my coat over a chair at the dining table. I go into the kitchen to pour two glasses of water as Talon sinks into the arm chair by the TV.

I walk over to him, standing in between his long legs to hand him the glass of water, and I let my hand drop to his rock-hard thigh after he takes the glass from me. I meet his eye and watch as he swallows, his Adams apple rising and falling.

When I put my other hand on his chest, he sets down the water glass and puts his hand over mine. His voice is a whisper when he says, "Serena. I can't."

I feel a lump in my chest and my ears are burning. "Why? Why will you fuck anyone but me?"

"Don't be like that, Serena. You're not just some girl to fuck and never talk to again. God, don't you know that? I fucking care about you--you're my friend."

I shake my head and close my eyes, willing myself not to cry. "Friends don't spend the night sleeping in each other's arms, Talon. I know you feel something for me. I'm not crazy." I meet his gaze, my eyes wide with anger now, my fingers squeezing into the material of his shirt. "Do you not want me? Am I not hot enough for Claw standards? Is that it--"

"What? No. Fuck. Serena, you know you're fucking gorgeous. How can you say that?" He is shaking his head, but won't meet my eye.

"Then what is it, Talon? What are we even doing?"

His mouth opens and closes a few times, but no sound comes out. He puts one hand on his forehead. "If you weren't a virgin I would have fucked you six weeks ago and forgotten your name an hour later. Do you know I've never, not once, slept with the same woman more than once? I would have cum inside you and walked out of your apartment five minutes later and blocked your number. Ok? That's what I do to women, Serena."

I open my mouth to say something, but he holds up his hand. "And then I feel like a fucking piece of shit the second after I finish. My skin crawls. It's…it's terrible. And I'm not going to do that to you."

"Talon, I know