Tackle (Bad Boy Billionaire Sports Romance)

"Where's my pizza? You're a lying liar who lies, Cassie," she yells. "There is no wrinkle on my forehead. But just in case, I —"

She stops short when she sees Colton and I standing there. My instinct is to move away from him, except I have nowhere to go because my back is already against the sofa. So now I'm standing there, too close to Colton for comfort, and Colton doesn't even make an attempt to put space between us and pretend to be appropriate in any way.

"We were just talking about you," Sable tells Colton, completely nonchalant. As if it's every day she chats with football players while wearing a mud mask on her face.

"I heard," Colton says, looking at me and winking. He fucking winks. I scoot to the side, extricating myself from close proximity to him. "Cassie doesn't want my penis."

Sable snorts. "That's not true at all."

"Sable!" I shriek. "Not helpful."

"What?" she asks innocently. "How is it not helpful that I'm standing here trying to get you laid? This sexy football player wants to show you his massive penis."

"Thanks," Colton says to Sable. "How'd you know it's massive?"

Sable shrugs. "General knowledge," she says.

"General knowledge?" Colton asks. "Shit. I didn't think I'd hooked up with that many girls."

Sable laughs. "Dude, you have a reputation for being a bit of a slut."

"I don't know whether that's a compliment or an insult," Colton says. "Is there pizza somewhere? You said there was pizza."

"It's an insult," I interrupt. "And there's no pizza. There's nothing. Colton is just leaving."

The doorbell rings again and Sable bounces to the doorway. "Gah, it's about time, man," she chastises the pizza guy. "I'm fucking starving. Pizza is here!"

"Sweet, can I grab a bite?" Colton asks as soon as she sets the box on the coffee table. He walks around the end of the sofa and sits down to help himself.

As if he's a regular friend coming over to hang out.

"It was a compliment," Sable says. "From one slut to another."

They're talking as if I'm not even here, and for a minute, I feel a pang of jealousy at the easy banter between the two of them.

Colton laughs and looks over his shoulder at me. "Pizza?"

"No, I'm not having pizza," I say. "And shouldn't you be going? Don't you have studying to do?"

"Oh yeah, that's why I came here," Colton says, his mouth half-full of pizza.

"You came here with a bouquet of cocks to ask me to help you study?" I ask. "Your thoughtfulness is amazing."

"You brought a dick bouquet?" Sable asks, laughing with her mouth full. She leans over from the loveseat, craning her neck to see the bouquet now lying on the table.

"Yeah, I did," Colton says, grinning like he's fucking proud of himself. "They're lollipops."

I roll my eyes as Sable orders me to hold up the bouquet. "Let me see," she demands.

"They're lollipop penises," I snap. "It's pretty self-explanatory."

Sable laughs and holds up her hand. "Awesome."

Colton high-fives her. "I know. It's like a bag of dicks, except it's… you know..."

"More romantic?" Sable snorts.

"Exactly," Colton says, tearing off another huge bite of pizza. How is he not choking on that? It's like he's a damn animal.

Romantic, my ass. He's the most juvenile man I've ever met.

"You were just saying you didn't want to see Colton's penis, and he brought you a whole bunch of penises," Sable recounts as she collapses against the loveseat giggling.

"I even told her she could see the real thing," Colton adds.

"You should take him up on that," Sable advises. "Most of the time, slutty guys know how to work it."

"Trust me." Colton looks directly at me. "I know exactly how to work it."

My cheeks warm under his gaze, the look in his eyes telling me exactly how much he wants me. That is probably my imagination, I tell myself. He's obviously much more comfortable with my roommate than he is with me.

And that's fine with me.

"You should take Cass out," suggests Sable, oblivious to my discomfort. She smiles when I glare at her. "Like on a date. Or, you know, keep her in on a date."

"I —" Colton starts, but I interrupt.

"There is no 'going out on a date'," I say huffily. "There's a rule against fraternization. Not that it would matter, because I wouldn't be going out on a date with Colton anyway."

"Be persistent," Sable coaches Colton.

"Do not be persistent," I say.

Sable keeps going. "Persistence is always rewarded when it comes to Cass."

"Are you advising my student to keep stalking me?" I ask. "Persistence is not ever going to be rewarded in this case."

"I'll wear her down," Colton promises. He grabs another slice of pizza. "This is a pretty nice place. It's a lot less messy than my house."

"That's because your place is filled with naked girls and spilled beer," I remind him. As much as Colton seems hell-bent on getting a rise out of me with his innuendos and inappropriate behavior, I haven't forgotten that first day I met him.

The day I saw his cock.

He's not lying about how big it is, that's for sure.