Her Striker by Charlene Raquel

Chapter Six

 

 

“Ugh. Drew is a jerk, and his friend, Dean, is even worse!” Sam paced the living room of the apartment she shared with Gwen.

Gwen sat on the couch cross-legged, watching Sam go back and forth. “Were the guys at your table being jerks?”

Sam huffed to a stop. “That’s beside the point! I didn’t need him to swoop in to save me like I’m a damsel in distress with his muscles bulging and his military-cut coffee-colored hair.”

Sam continued to rattle on. “Can you believe he smirked at me? That dimple just taking up his whole cheek. And those laughing hazel eyes! Ugh!”

“Bulging muscles?” Gwen couldn’t keep in a giggle. “Oh Sam. You absolutely cannot fall for Drew’s friend.”

“What?” Sam screeched. “Yuck. How could you even think that?”

“Dimples, dark hair, laughing hazel eyes and big muscles?”

“I was not into him!” Sam flopped down next to Gwen.

“How did it end?” Gwen told herself she didn’t want to know but couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“I pushed them both out the door and told them to not come back.”

Gwen was almost disappointed in the anticlimactic ending. “That’s it? They listened to you?”

Sam winced. “I might have told Drew to leave you alone.”

Gwen covered her face. “You didn’t?”

“Sorry. It just popped out.”

“It’s okay. They both will probably stay away from us now.”

Sam twisted to face her friend. “I don’t know. Maybe.” Sam had a feeling they would be seeing Dean and Drew again soon.

 

~*~*~

 

Drew took a long pull from the Shock Top Lemon Shandy. It had been a hell of a week of daily double practice and dodging an ever-growing number of groupies wanting to “take the new striker for a ride.” He even had two girls tell him that and offer to break him in together. 

A couple of years ago he might have taken them up on it, but he wasn’t interested. They were too easy. No challenge at all.

Dean and he were at a party that two of the neighboring fraternities were having together. They turned the back yards of their houses into a mock beach, complete with palm trees, a tiki bar and scantily clad ladies. Drew had no idea where they had gotten so much sand. They had put in a good effort to make it look authentic.

Tiki torches lined the two backyards, which had Drew wondering who would be the first drunken idiot to catch themselves on fire by stumbling into them. Several fire-pits were scattered around and casting a warm glow in the darkening sky. Soon, couples would be pairing off and wandering farther into the woods behind the party.

He glanced at Dean who was finishing off his bottle of Curious Traveler. “She still won’t talk to you?” He grinned over his bottle of beer. Drew had been razzing Dean all week.

Dean glared at Drew, who was leaning on the railing of the deck. “No, and I’ve gone to the diner for breakfast every day. She either changes tables with someone so she doesn’t have to wait on me, or she is overly polite and will only address me professionally.”

“There are a lot of other girls around.” Drew nodded to a group who had been checking them out. “Right over there are a few. They’d be over here in a second if you smiled at them.”

“Yeah, and then we won’t be able to get rid of them.” Dean sat on one of the white plastic chairs near the edge of the deck. College party kegs usually contained shit beer. Dean and Drew didn’t drink that much, so they splurged on decent alcoholic beverages.

Drew sighed when he saw the first and certainly not the last chick of the evening to proposition him. “Hey, Drew.” He cringed when she purred his name, turning it into two syllables.

Drew barely nodded.

Dean ignored her all together until her bleached-blond friend plopped down hard on his lap, spilling his beer. “Damn it!”

The girl wiggled on his lap, not getting the hint when Dean put his hands on her waist to remove her. “I’m comfortable here.”

Dean glanced over toward Drew for assistance when his eyes connected with Sam’s. Just his freakin’ luck. He stood up abruptly, knocking the blonde off his legs. She shrieked and attempted to cling to his leg as he stepped away.

Drew rolled his eyes and tried to detach himself from the blonde’s black-haired clingy friend, who was hanging onto his arm. He pulled his arm up, but she was holding on tightly.

“Let’s go for a walk, baby.” She batted her heavily mascaraed eyelashes.

Drew groaned and managed to extract himself when the girl tried to help her friend off the floor.

Dean grabbed their two started six packs off the deck and motioned for Drew to follow.

Drew thought about bailing on the party when he noticed a tall redhead who was watching him. All week, he had scrutinized everyone he came in contact with. He thought he would be able to tell who kidnapped him. Drew was convinced that someone would make a comment or do something that would give themselves away. So far, that didn’t happen. He had also scoured the campus for a tall redhead that carried herself with arrogance.

Her bright red hair curled around her bare shoulders and just touched the top of her extremely pushed-up breasts. The bikini top she was nearly falling out of didn’t cover much but matched the pattern of the short tight skirt that fell right below her ass. She took the beach theme to heart. 

Grabbing another beer from the pack, he headed in her direction. His movements were deliberately slow and measured. Drew wanted her to know he was coming for her.

His target was definitely confident, holding his stare as he moved closer. She pushed out her chest even more and flipped her fiery curls over her shoulder. The woman licked her lips sensually in anticipation of Drew’s arrival.

Drew didn’t stop until he was nearly up against her. He crowded into her personal space, leaning dangerously close. Cocking an eyebrow, he waited to see what she would do.

She grabbed the bottle from his hand and ran her tongue along the top before taking a long sip. “Thanks.” She licked her lips again. “You came all the way over here just for little ole me?” She ran her manicured nail down the side of his face.

Drew leaned in close so that his breath tickled her ear. “I didn’t come yet.”

She circled, eyeing him up and down, inspecting his physique and running her hands along the muscles of his chest. “Well, then. We should take care of that.” She grabbed his hand and started to lead him toward the woods.

Drew tugged on her hand and pulled her against him, taking in the way her tanned skin felt smooth under his palms. He ran his fingers over her bellybutton piercing. The woman was hot and knew it.

She tried to get him moving again by reaching around his waist, slipping her hand inside the back of his jeans and applying pressure. “Don’t you want to see what I’ve got for you?”

He bit down hard on her ear, causing her to shiver. “What’s the hurry, baby?” His hand went to the back of her head.

“I thought you wanted me to make you come?” The redhead ran her finger along his bottom lip.

Drew snapped his head back away from her and threaded his fingers in her hair to hold her in place. “You know anticipation makes you come harder.”

She tugged on him again.

Even though she was only a couple of inches shorter than his six-foot-one height, he was so much stronger. He wouldn’t let her pull him along. Drew wanted to find out if she was the redhead from his kidnapping, but he needed to be cautious. She was probably playing him since she was way too eager to get him alone.

“Hey Abby!” a deep voice from across the yard called.

The woman in his arms stiffened and attempted to move away from him. “Let go now!” she hissed.

Going with his gut, Drew released her and moved back but stayed close enough to grab her if necessary.

She smoothed down her short skirt, wobbled on her high-heeled sandals before correcting herself, and pushed out her boobs.  “Leave now,” she ordered.

“Nah, I think I’ll wait with you, Abby.” Drew was surprised to see her rattled and needed to find out why.

He was disappointed that the man she was afraid of reminded him of a plastic Ken doll that little girls played with. The guy walking his way could have been featured in a preppy magazine for the wannabe elite crowd. Not a single strand of his light brown, parted to the side, hair was out of place. The asshole probably used hairspray. Drew almost laughed aloud when he noticed the khaki shorts, Lacoste polo shirt and loafers without socks.

Drew was disgusted to realize that the man coming toward him was someone his father and older brother would love to associate with. He hated him on sight. 

“Maxwell.”

Drew gave him a chin lift.

The guy didn’t look impressed. “You don’t even know who I am, do you?”

Drew wanted to say, Yeah, I know exactly who you are, dumbass, but figured he better play things out. Drew sighed in boredom.

He held out his hand. “Adrian Colton.”

Drew wanted to roll his eyes. The guy was an asshole. He had met Adrian when they were younger at a political fundraiser in the Hamptons. The Coltons were from old money and had considerable political power. “Colton.”

Adrian smirked. “I see you recognize the name now.”

Drew kept his bored expression firmly in place. He turned to Abby. “The Coltons are almost as renowned as the Maxwells, but not quite.”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not worth the effort.”

Abby had been silently watching the two men. She was not going to interfere.

“That’s not what the ladies say.” Drew smirked and winked at Abby.

“You think everything’s a joke, don’t you?”

“I like to have fun.”

Adrian shook his head. “You haven’t figured it out yet, have you?”

“What’s that?” Drew kept eye contact with Adrian.

“Only the strongest are allowed to survive, Maxwell. You need to remember that.” Adrian turned to Abby. “Let’s go. Now.”

“Whatever.” Drew watched them weave their way through the crowded party. He had just met two of his captors.