The Win: Rebels of Ridgecrest High (Book 4)

Hunter, Jace, and I sit in the living room, uncomfortable, as Mom hands out snacks. James came back a week ago and asked us all to meet him here to have a “little chat.” But I already know about the birds and the bees. The last thing I want is my future stepfather telling me about sex.

“Mila’s on the way home, as you all know,” he starts, and we nod as Mom leaves the room. She’s smiling and winks just before closing the door behind her. Bah . . . this is a sex talk.

“She’s only a few hours away.” Hunter holds up his phone.

James nods, then looks between me and Hunter.

It’s been easy to keep the fights we’ve had off Mom’s radar. But at school . . . not so much. Hunter and I have been good, and then we have been bad. Seeing Alessandro worked out great for everyone; it was a weird car ride, but I chalked that up to going to see the son of a mafia boss. But we were in the school gym earlier today and well, it ended in a scuffle, and James was the one to come break us up. Again.

I don’t know why—he just attacked me. I’d been doing squats, and he just launched at me, wrestling with me on the mat. He got a few hits in low, and I did the same. But the way he watched me . . . it gave me shivers. He wasn’t mad at me. His eyes were wild but not with anger. With something else.

“Now, I get that you are all in love my daughter. But she’s my daughter and I will always love her. And if that mean she wants all of you, and you love her and will treat her good, then I’m okay with that.”

He lets out a deep breath and shakes his head. “Okay, to be honest, I don’t get this at all. It’s a very unconventional relationship. But the fighting stops now.”

He points between Hunter and me. I nod earnestly; I don’t want to fight. I like Hunter. I respect him. But there’s just something there that gets under my skin, and I think it’s the same for him. We’re too similar and we clash.

But I will make it work, for Mila.

I’ll make anything work for her.

“Hunter, I understand that you’re going to join the team,” James says. “The Kings could really use a player like you.”

And we’re back to football talk, which is a much safer topic to be having with James. I was a little concerned he would go into the birds and the bees. And I was not prepared to talk about having sex with his daughter.

“Is this why you’re fighting? Because you both play wide receiver?”

I looked at Hunter, and his eyes widen a little as they bore into mine. I get what he’s trying to say to me—that he doesn’t want James to know we’ve been fighting because of Mila. But are we fighting because of her? Or something else?

I quickly speak up. “Yes, I’m worried he’s going to steal my position.”

I get a slight nod from Hunter, who adds to the lie. “I love being wide receiver, and I know Asher’s going to be your best player next year once Walker goes off to college. I want to play for the Kings, James, but he has my position.”

James nods and rubs the scruff on his chin. “Mmm . . . I can see how this could cause tension between you. Even as friends. Have you ever thought of playing quarterback, Hunter?”

“No, Jace had always been quarterback, and I was never going to compete with my best friend. I enjoy being a wide receiver, but I could always try out for quarterback. Don’t think I’ll be as good as Walker—” Jace waves his hand and motions to himself “—or Jace. But maybe if you work with me this summer, I’ll be ready to go for tryouts.”

“We can practice together,” I say. “We’ll be on the same team, and it would be good for us. We already have chemistry off the field. It would be good to have it on the field as well.”

And then I freeze at what I said. “I didn’t mean chemistry, like as in . . . I meant . . . ahh.” Fuck, what did I mean?

The whole room grows quiet, and I swear I can hear my heart so loud that I panic everyone else can too. Everyone’s watching me and wondering what I meant by chemistry.

What did I mean? I like Hunter . . . when he’s not being an asshole. Well, to be fair, I’ve been a dick to him in the past. Look what happened when he spent the night with Mila at Walker’s place. He didn’t hit me back then, and I deserved it. I’ve been an asshole too.

He’s accepted me into this friend group. I look down at the scar on my hand. Fucker took so long to heal; I swear Roman did that on purpose. I’ve been on medication to clear that infection.

Despite the history they share together, they let me in. Accepted me as I am . . . who I am.

James clears his throat. “Whatever your relationship is off the field, I don’t care. As long as y’all are using protection and are being safe, then I don’t want to know about it. But leave it in the locker room. We don’t need distractions out there or I won’t be putting you on my team.”

My mouth drops open. Did he just tell me it’s okay to be with Hunter and Mila . . . if we use protection?

Jace looks over at me, his brow furrowed. Hunter’s not looking at me, but he’s not speaking either. He’s not denying anything, and I don’t know what to say. I think this whole thing got more awkward than if James had just given us a full sex talk.

I worry my hands together and look out the window, praying that Mila and Roman will be here any moment to save me from this room.

When I feel a set of hands on mine, I look down, where a caramel-colored hand is holding my hands steady. I look up into Hunter’s dark eyes, and he smiles. “It’s okay, Asher. I get it—the chemistry.”

Holy shit. Is Hunter saying he’s into me? No, he’s just being nice and trying to help me with this weird, awkward cloud hanging over my head.

James looks over at us and clears his throat, “Okay, this conversation is over. You can all wait here until she gets back. If you want to talk about football or how to cook a steak, you can come to me. If you have relationship issues, that’s not me.” He stands and gives us all a silent nod before leaving the room.

Jace is the first to speak. “Wow, never in a million years would I have thought James would talk to us about that. Like, yeah, I always thought I would marry Mila one day, so I assumed there would be a talk. But that was painful. And it wasn’t even directed at me.”

Hunter turns to him. “You know you’re part of this. Mila’s in love with you. She admitted that she wishes she kissed you and stopped messing with you. So, get over yourself if you think he wasn’t talking to you.”

I agree. “He was talking to you.”

Jace just eyes where Hunter’s hands still hold mine. I feel my cheeks burning as I move my hands and Hunter lets go. “Sorry,” he mumbles.

I don’t know what’s going on. I didn’t mean what I said. At least, I didn’t until he held my hands, and it’s just making me overthink things. Right? He loves Mila. I love her. He wants to be with her for the rest of his life. So do I.

Hell, he has threesomes with Roman, and that guy doesn’t like touching. I’ve picked that up after being around them long enough. He likes it from Mila, but I wouldn’t touch him unless he permitted it. Like a hug . . . I don’t want to touch his dick.

But is Hunter into that stuff? Would he like to watch me with Mila . . . touch me? My cock stirs at the thought. I shuffle to angle myself away from Hunter. I’ve never had that reaction to another guy before, and I’m confused.

It’s probably why we keep fighting. I fought him twice last week, and the feeling was there then.

He quirks a brow at me and glances to my now semi-hard cock. I shake my head. Please don’t ask me. Please. I beg him with my eyes. Jace can’t see me from this position, but I don’t want him to know. Hunter winks at me and stands, throwing a pillow my way and it lands in my lap. I let out a deep breath as I hold it to myself.

“Okay, Jace,” Hunter says. “We have around two hours before she’s here. How do you want to play this out? You want to kiss her first or wait for her to come to you?”

The guy shakes his head and gestures with his hand at us. “You guys kiss her first. You’re her boyfriends, and you haven’t seen her in a month. I’ll stand back and wait. When she’s ready, she’ll come to me. Our kiss will be epic.”

I’m imaging that dirty dancing scene where Baby runs at Johnny, and I smile. That would’ve been an epic first kiss. Why didn’t I think of something like that when I kissed her for the first time?

“What are you grinning about over there?” Jace throws a pillow at my head, and it hits me just as I turn. He cracks up laughing, and I scowl at him.

“Not gonna tell you now.”

“Let’s put on a movie and get some rest.” Hunter moves to turn out the light. Because I know I will want to spend as long as I can awake with her tonight. I’m glad James and Kate are letting us crash here.”

He gets cozy on the other end of the three-seater, leaving plenty of space between the two of us. And I already feel like that space is a huge hole that I’m going to fall into. I don’t want him over there; I want him next to me.

Damn. I need to get my emotions in check, because I’m losing it. I turn on the TV, and the light of it puts the room in a low mood light. It’s dark enough that I don’t have to worry that Jace can see I got hard. But if he’s looking at my dick, he probably wouldn’t admit it.

I put on Netflix before throwing the remote to Jace. He can pick the movie. I don’t care what he puts on. I’m not going to watch it at all.

Then I remember Mom’s warning about allowing the other guys to stay over. “No sex at all. Don’t forget the rules,” I remind them. Mostly Hunter.

It’s the only rule we have under this roof. Which is fine. Hunter has a huge, empty house. We will go there tomorrow if we want to go further than a few cuddles. But that’s all I want to do—hold her.

“Sex?” Hunter asks. “I wouldn’t dream of it. There’s no rule against running my finger down her wet slit as her greedy pussy sucks my two fingers deep into her. Brushing my thumb over her clit as she moans my name . . .”

And I have a full erection, great. I throw a pillow at Hunter at the same time Jace does, and I hear him moan out, “Hunter, your cock is so big.”

I shake my head and chuckle. The guy is ridiculous.

“Fuck you, man,” Jace groans. “Now I’m all hard and she’s two hours away.”

I’m relieved to find I’m not the only one affected. As Hunter palms the front of his jeans, I can see he’s hard too. He looks over at me, and our eyes meet. He doesn’t change his expression or look away, only rubs his cock over his denim.

I let out a small hiss as the room grows dark at the start of the movie. Then the trumpets start as the bunny appears on the screen, and I sink lower into the couch. Hunter doesn’t look away, still palming his cock, and I lick my lips, wetting them. I reach for my own, and it’s almost a relief to be able to touch it.

But my sweatpants are in the way. I want to take them down and pull my cock out. Stroke it and have him watch.

“Hey, would your mom mind if I go raid her fridge?” Jace asks. “I skipped dinner and I’m starving.”

I’m jolted from my sexual daze, and I sit up straighter, bringing another pillow to my lap before quickly replying, “No, it’s fine. I hope you like cake.”

Once he leaves the room, closing the door behind him, Hunter turns to me, and I try to ignore him. Pretend to be engrossed in the movie. Is this an English movie? Indian? I have no idea what Jace chose, but I’m really into it all of a sudden.

I feel the couch move a little as Hunter shifts, but I don’t look at him as I steady my breathing.

“Asher,” he whispers into the dark room. The speakers around us almost drown out his words as there is an elephant stampede and earthquake in the movie, and the little girl hides.

“Hey.” He grabs my arm, and I flinch back from his touch.

It felt electric this time, and I don’t know what it means. The look on his face tells me that my reaction upset him. He only touched my arm to get my attention. Yet, why did it feel so . . . right? The air in here is so thick, and I swallow down the lump in my throat. When he goes to move away, I reach out and grab his arm. But I overshoot and grab his tee, and he freezes.

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “I love Mila.”

“I do too. But . . .” He leans in closer, and so do I, to hear what he’s going to say.

He just watches me, like he’s under a spell. And I do the same. But the door to the kitchen opens and light spills in. We break apart like we were doing something . . . wrong. Mila’s not here yet. Are these feelings I’ve been having wrong? Because it’s not just today that I’ve felt them.

They’ve been there a while. I’ve just been good at ignoring them.

“Man, your mom makes good cake.”

I blink, and the spell is broken.