Heart of Thorns (Shadow Valley U Book 2)
Heart of Thorns: Chapter 24

“This is fine,” I tell Rhys. And myself. And Briar, perched on my bed. “This is all fine. We’re fine. You’re fine, I’m fine⁠—”

“He’s freaking out,” Rhys says to Briar.

“Obviously,” she replies.

“I’m not.”

“This is like when Coach asked you to throw a Hail Mary pass and none of our receivers were free, so you did this dance in the pocket, twisting and dodging, until you could finally let the ball fly.” Rhys snickers. “And remember how that turned out?”

“I got sacked.” I frown. “And a concussion. I was out for three weeks. Thanks for that reminder.”

“Yeah, but your perfect spiral landed in what’s-his-face’s hands, he scored a touchdown, and we won the game.” My best friend smirks. “So what if you got a little knocked around?”

“I—”

“He’s probably trying to say, you got the job done even though it seemed impossible,” Briar interrupts. “Just like now. I’m your, uh, receiver. Just throw me the ball, baby.”

I groan through my teeth.

We’ve got an hour until Rhys and I need to be at the stadium, and then I have to play while Briar is left unattended in the presence of my parents… and then we’re going out to dinner.

So, basically, fuck my life.

Not to mention I haven’t been able to scrub the thought of fucking her out of my mind. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face as she came. And every time I lick my lips, I swear I taste her arousal.

“Rhys, get out.”

I focus on Briar, who stares down my best friend with her arm lifted, finger pointing to my door.

He blinks at her, then slowly nods. He closes the door behind him, and then it’s just us.

“We’ve been over this a hundred times,” she says, pushing up from the bed and coming closer. “We’ve got this. I’m wearing the fancy shit we bought, you know what my parents fake do for a living, and I’ll survive them without you.”

Yeah, right.

“I probably won’t even see them until after the game,” she says. “Lydia and Marley are going to sit with me.”

“Oh. Good. But if you see two people in expensive outfits looking like they don’t really belong⁠—”

“I’ll say, ‘Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Thorne,’” she finishes with a wicked smile. She steps into the bathroom with me, using one finger on my chest to back me up. “Now, Cassius Remington Thorne the Third… you seem a little stressed. I think I can help.”

Her fingers trail down my dress shirt and hook on the waistband of my slacks. Her eyebrow rises, and I slowly nod.

This is not part of the plan.

But I’m sure as fuck not going to stop her.

She unbuttons my pants with deft fingers and drags the fabric—and my briefs—down my thighs. As it goes, she lowers herself.

“Your knee⁠—”

“Is fine,” she murmurs. “For this? It’s fine, Cassius.”

I open my mouth to protest her using my first name so much, but then she wraps those fingers around my cock—which is quickly waking up—and my brain stops working.

She can call me whatever she wants.

Thorne. Cassius. Baby.

“Briar—”

“Just lean on the counter and enjoy it.” She meets my gaze and winks. She strokes me to full hardness. Her tongue pokes out between her red painted lips. “Mmm, hello, friend. Long time no see.”

“It’s only been⁠—”

“Shh,” she interrupts. “I’m getting reacquainted to the one that made me see stars the other day.”

I huff out a laugh, but she keeps stroking, twisting her wrist and squeezing around the tip like a damn expert. When she leans forward and takes me in her mouth, I just barely stop my hips from jacking forward and pushing deeper.

I grip the counter to keep from threading my hands through her hair.

She licks and sucks at the tip while her hand keeps jacking me off. Her tongue flicks at the underside of my cock’s head, and I’m torn between wanting to take over and let her continue to tease me like this.

“You’re so fucking sexy on your knees.” I stare down at her. I can see down her shirt, to the dip between her breasts. “Fucking hell, Briar.”

Her mouth lifts away from me. “My real name?”

“Kitten,” I growl. My dick feels like it’s going to explode. “I’m a breath away from taking over and fucking your face until tears stream down those pretty cheeks.”

“Hmm.” Her tongue pokes out again, and then she slowly licks at me. “Sounds like fun.”

My body tenses. “Is that⁠—”

“Show me what you’re made of,” she goads.

Oh, fuck.

I reach out and run my knuckles across her cheek. Then, well. My fingers plunge into her hair, and I guide her mouth back to my cock. Her hands come up to my thighs, her manicured nails digging into my skin lightly.

She takes more of me into her mouth, and I let out a hiss of breath when I hit the back of her throat. I stay there for a second, then withdraw. When I push back in, she sucks. Her cheeks hollow, and her tongue curls around me.

Pulses of pleasure zap up my cock, through my balls, and up my spine.

Slowly, I increase my pace until my words come true. The intensity brings tears to her eyes. She gags around me, and it only makes me want to push deeper. When she reaches up and cups my balls, I see stars.

It’s game over at that point.

I release her hair. “I’m gonna⁠—”

She doesn’t pull away, and I explode in her mouth. My vision goes white for a second, my cock twitching with each pulse, until I’ve got nothing left.

Only then does she carefully withdraw, licking her lips. She presses a finger to the corner of her mouth.

I haul her up and set her on the counter. Legs parted, me between them. I run my fingers under her eyes, catching the remnants of tears.

“That was something else, kitten.” My voice holds wonder. “I…”

“When you win, we’ll add that to your pre-game ritual.” She winks.

I kiss her.

I can’t help it.

I really don’t care that she just swallowed my cum—maybe it’s even because of that. Because she really didn’t have to. Because we’re alone, and we can’t seem to stop from breaking our own damn rules. But our lips part, and our tongues tangle, and my heart fucking skips.

When we break away, we’re both breathing hard.

I step aside and clean myself up, towing my briefs and slacks back into place. I tuck in my shirt, but my gaze keeps straying back to Briar. She sits immobile on the counter, watching me until I’m done.

Then, she hops down—landing mostly on her good leg—and swivels around to assess the damage in the mirror.

“Oh, fuck,” she laughs. “I need to redo this.”

I wince.

“It’s okay, Thorne. I knew what I was getting into. I’ll see you after the game, yeah?”

“On the field,” I confirm. I find the special access pass I got for her and hook the lanyard around her neck. “You’re going to be okay?”

“Of course.” She presses a kiss to my cheek, then rushes away.

I watch her ass on the way out and chuckle to myself.

But I’m not alone for long.

Rhys comes in a second later, and he rolls his eyes at me. “You two are so fucking screwed.”

“What?”

He snorts. “Fake dating, my ass.”

I ignore him and grab my keys and phone. I don’t have to bring anything with me since it’s a home game. All our gear is already at the stadium. My wireless headphones are in the car. They make us walk down a hallway, and the social media team takes photos of us. It’s a bit nerve-racking, not knowing what kind of shots they’re getting. And, of course, they go everywhere for promo. Having headphones to block out the noise helps.

Walking in with Rhys helps, too.

“Let’s go,” I order. “Anyone else riding with us?”

“Nah. They know you have some fancy dinner with your folks tonight.”

Great.

I check my phone and shoot Briar a quick text.

To my surprise, the little bubbles of her typing pop up right away.

Rhys gags. “You guys are kind of cute, I’ll admit. But seriously?”

“Shut it.”

A new text comes in, and I’m smiling before I even read it. But just as fast, my smile drops.

“He’s an ass.”

“You’ve got to stop reading my texts over my shoulder.” I shake my head. “But, yeah. He is.”

Rhys claps me on the shoulder. “Let’s go fucking win a football game, then.”