His Revenge by Charlene Raquel

Chapter Seven

 

 

Drew was happy to be on the soccer field. Practicing with the team was just what he needed. Time to focus on the game and nothing else. The only thing that mattered was the ball at his feet and the goal in front of him.

His team was playing an area college team who wanted the practice playing a higher rated division team. Drew’s Stonewall University team was one of the best in Division One soccer. This college was just developing their team and had not officially entered the NCAA yet. It was the perfect solution to give both teams practice.

A lot of players thrived on the fans cheering on the sidelines, but he never heard them. When he had control of the ball, he was in the zone. The only time he paid attention to the spectators was when he needed to see Gwen. He would scan the stands until he saw her smile and he was rejuvenated and ready to take on the next defender.

Glancing to the side, he knew his teammate, Tom, was in position to accept a quick pass. Tom and Drew clicked on the field, playing as if they were on a team for years. Tom dribbled the ball up the field but had to kick the soccer ball back to Drew in a side slide to avoid having it intercepted from the practice team.

Drew weaved between two players, took control of the ball and took it down field toward the goal. Passing it once more to Tom, he watched his partner get ready to take a shot on the goal when Drew’s legs were swept out from under him from behind. The grass kissed his face and palms as he took a header into the ground inches from the cleats of the other team. “Fuck!”

Flipping up, he spun around to confront his attacker. If it had been a game and not practice, the guy who tripped him would have gotten a yellow card and Drew would have gotten a penalty kick. Looking at the player that fouled him, there was no way it was an accident. The guy had wanted to take out Drew. “What’s your problem, man?”

“No problem here. It’s not my fault you tripped over your own fucking feet.” The guy had a blue jersey with no name on the back, just the number eighty-seven.

“You tripped him on purpose, dude. He didn’t even have the ball anymore.” One of Drew’s teammates who had been close by spoke up.

If Drew hadn’t been so pissed about the asshole tripping him, he would have felt good that his team had his back.

Player Eighty-Seven turned his glare at Drew’s teammate. “No one asked you, asshole.” He turned to one of his buddies. “Maxwell is such a pussy. He has to get his team to stick up for him.”

Drew took a step toward the dickhead when he felt a hand to his shoulder. “Don’t, dude. That’s what he wants. For whatever reason he wants you to get pissed off and react. You’ll get tossed from the next game.”

Drew nodded curtly to Tom, still pissed off, but thankful his friend had stepped in. He would have hit the dickhead and he would have gotten benched for a game or two. “You’re not worth it. We’re done here.”

“You’re a pussy.”

Drew tried to shake off his anger. “Whatever.” He turned to leave, when the guy called out.

“Be careful, Maxwell. You wouldn’t want to break something. Your adoring fans might get disappointed.”

Tom grabbed Drew’s arm to keep him from following after the jerk. “You know him?”

Drew was buzzing with fury. “No, never saw him before.”

Tom frowned. “He sure knew you. Wonder why the coaches didn’t intervene?”

Drew watched the guy and his buddies leave the field. The scrimmage was not finished but they didn’t seem to care. “No idea. But I’m done for today.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

 

~*~*~

 

Drew stood in the doorway to the room he was sharing with Gwen, watching her sleep. His girl was lying across the bed with her head resting on a textbook. She had gone through so much in such a short time, it was not surprising she fell asleep studying.

He’d come up to check on her after she missed their debrief in the dining room. Jeff had told everyone about his encounter with Paris Ellison, Crash had relayed how Parker had cornered Gwen and he filled everyone in on his run in with Abby.  The whole time Drew watched the doorway, waiting for Gwen to arrive, but she never did.

Crash had teased him about it, but he didn’t care. Gwen had been taken once; he was not going to allow it to happen again. They had added everything they learned to a computer program that Jeff used to track intel. It helped him make connections with the information they gathered.

Seeing Gwen sleeping so peacefully gave him an ache in his chest that he wanted to rub. He couldn’t believe that the girl he loved for so long was back into his life. Drew hadn’t realized how lonely and desolate his life had become until Gwen’s light filled his soul. It sounded corny, even in his head, but she was the sunshine in his life.

Drew quietly approached their bed, slipped off his sneakers and stretched out next to her. He shifted them both so that her head was on his chest, and she was securely wrapped in his arms.

Gwen had to have been exhausted for her not to stir when he moved her. He closed his eyes and soaked in her vanilla scent. She was always using some fruity, girly scented shampoo.

A few minutes later, Gwen’s hand began to move over the plains of his stomach. It had somehow found its way under his V-neck, and she was stroking his smooth skin.

“Did you have a nice nap?” Drew kissed her head.

Gwen snuggled against him. “Mmhmm.”

He captured her hand as she slid it lower. “As much as I would love for you to continue that, we have somewhere to be in a little while.”

“We don’t need to go anywhere.” Gwen pulled her hand from under his and tried again.

“Normally, I would agree.” He linked his fingers with hers. He only had so much willpower and her touching him like that was sorely testing it. “Babe. Seriously. We don’t have time for what you have planned.”

Gwen sat up and gave him a pouty look. “You’re no fun tonight.”

“Trust me. Fun is what I want right now. Too bad we have to be at a mixer in forty minutes.”

“We have lots of time.”

Drew smirked. “Okay. We can play.” He dipped his hand inside her yoga pants and by passed her panties.”

Gwen leaned down and opened her legs to give him more access.

Drew ran his finger along her wet folds. “I just figured you wouldn’t want to go to the mixer with your hair a mess. I’m all for the sex hair look.” He pulled his hand from her panties and gave her a hard quick kiss. “Get moving.”

Gwen narrowed her eyes. “That wasn’t nice. And my hair isn’t a mess.”

“Yeah, babe. It kinda is.”

Gwen jumped up from the bed and marched over to the dresser to look in the mirror. “Oh my goodness! It is a disaster.”

Drew chuckled.

“Why do we have to go to a mixer?”

Drew leaned back against the pillows with his hands behind his head. “A couple of reasons. We need to let Parker know you’re taken. Although he should know. We’ve been seen around campus together and at Dizzy’s. Why he all of a sudden doesn’t know that you’re my girl is something we need to find out.”

Gwen began to brush out her hair. “What’s the other reason?”

“It’s a party for the rowing team and Adrian will be there.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“No. There will be a lot of people there.” Drew glanced at his phone. “Thirty minutes, babe.”

“We can be late.”

“No. we can’t. It’s a river cruise. The boat leaves in twenty-eight minutes and we still need to drive there.”

“Are you kidding me?” Gwen screeched as she rushed to her closet. “Why didn’t you tell me that? Ugh! I’m going to clobber you!”

Drew laughed as he watched her gather up clothes and head into the attached bathroom. If they had more time, he would have joined her in the shower. He needed to think about something besides Gwen naked or he would be sporting wood all night.

They had just made it to the river cruise as the deck hands were untying the boat and pulling the gangplank away from the dock. After a few dirty looks from the crew, Drew escorted Gwen onto the deck.

Most of the males aboard were openly staring at Gwen in her short, deep purple dress that hugged her curves and flared out just right at her hips. It was begging him to slip his hand underneath to find out what she had on under it. Knowing Gwen, she left off her panties to torment him all night.

Slipping his hand from her waist lower over the curve of her ass, he confirmed his suspicion. He couldn’t feel any lines. He dipped his head so he could nip her ear. “Forget something when you were dressing?”

Gwen’s mischievous grin said it all. “Nope. I didn’t forget a thing.” She leaned into his side, relishing the feel of his lips on her ear.

Gwen toyed with the necklace that Drew fastened on her just before they left for the river cruise mixer. Jeff had told her that it had a tracking device hidden within the locket. She felt a little better that they would be able to find her if she was ever taken again.

“I don’t remember seeing your name on the guest list, Maxwell.”

Drew straightened and had to control his urge to scowl. Adrian Colton was undressing Gwen with his eyes and Drew wanted to beat the hell out of him for even looking at his girl. “I’m sure you didn’t expect to see me at all, did you, Adrian?”

Adrian was not as good as Drew at hiding his emotions. “Contrary to what you must think about yourself, I don’t consider you at all.”

“Keeping telling yourself that, Colton. Maybe one day you’ll believe the lies you tell yourself.

“You’re nothing more than a nuisance, Maxwell. Some people foolishly think you’ll live up to your family’s reputation, but I know better.”

“As much fun as this chat has been, I promised Gwen we’d have a good view of the sunset.” Drew led Gwen away from Adrian before he could say anything else. He called over his shoulder a parting shot. “Make sure you let me know when the next meeting is. I want to be sure to attend.”

Adrian’s glare intensified and his hands fisted. Drew thought Adrian would lunge after him if people were not around to see him lose his cool.

The guy had not been surprised that Drew was alive, so someone had to have told him. Drew wondered if it had been Abby. For some reason he didn’t think so. The tall redhead was not innocent, but he didn’t think she was evil.

When they were at the railing on the upper deck, Gwen leaned close to Drew and whispered in his ear. “Did we come here so you could show him you were alive and that they didn’t succeed in killing you?”

“Partly.” Drew wrapped his arms around Gwen, settling her back to his front. The sunset was spectacular, but he had too much on his mind to appreciate it. “This is technically a fraternity mixer, but this party is to celebrate the first rowing competition of the season and graduates and benefactors come to it. There will be a lot of members of the Scorpio Society here tonight.”

Gwen’s eye grew large. “We’re here alone? Is that safe?”

Drew smiled into her hair. “If you’d been at the meeting earlier, you would have known the plan.”

Gwen twisted her head to see him. “You should have woken me up.”

“You didn’t miss much. Crash is here. He’s tending bar and Rip is filling in on the security team.” He squeezed her. “I would never bring you into a dangerous situation without protection. You mean more to me than any of this. Even avenging my brother.”

“Love you, Drew. Never forget that.

After the sun dropped below the horizon, the lights on the boat brightened and the air turned chilly.

Gwen shivered. “Something smells incredible. We should find out what it is.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m starved.”

Gwen laughed. “Now, you sound like Dean. He’s a bottomless pit. I have no idea how he can eat so much.”

“He acts like he’s a lazy ass, but he works out all the time. His exercise routine is insane.”

“Where is he tonight?”

“Watching us. Dean and Sam are on surveillance.” Drew brushed some hair from her face and slipped a tiny device inside her left ear.

Gwen was happy she would know what was going on. “How can they hear us?”

Drew picked up her necklace.

“But I thought…”

“It’s both.” Drew nuzzled her neck.

She should have known the necklace was more than just a tracker.

“You better bring me some of those beef skewers. They look so good.” Dean complained from the car.

Gwen laughed as Dean continued to talk about food in her ear. She should have known that they would have a plan in place. “I can’t just slip them into my purse.”

Her smile dropped when she glanced at the stage. A man had just stepped up to the podium. “Oh my God! That’s Dominic.”