Ruthless Heart Read online

  My hand was in my mouth, trying to stop my scream as his fingers pushed inside me, and my whole body arched at the exquisite sensation.

  “Your roommate isn’t here,” Jett told me gruffly just before he took my clit into his mouth, sucking hard as his fingers picked up speed.

  My orgasm burst inside me, and my legs clasped around his head as I screamed out in ecstasy, crying his name. Gentle licks lapped over me until I got my breath back. The heels of my palms were pressed against my eyes, and I fought to get control of myself. As I struggled to recover from my orgasm, hearing the click of a belt, I removed my hands from my face. A strong hand slipped around my throat to the nape of my neck, and Jett pulled me up into a sitting position once more.

  His dick pressed against my closed lips, and with no hesitation, I opened for him. He filled my mouth before he slid out, leaving just the crown of the head in my mouth, and my tongue flicked against it. I heard his low moan, and I took him in my hand and started to move him in and out of my mouth, my tongue stroking his shaft and flicking against the sensitive head.

  “More,” he grunted as he pushed his hips into my face. “Swallow it, I remember this.” His voice was thick with lust, and breathing through my nose, I did, I took him deeper. Shocked that I could, I looked up at him, and his heady stare with his eyes glazed with desire made my thighs clench. I kept going, and he let me, moaning encouragement as I sucked him.

  “Like that,” he encouraged as he started to thrust into my mouth. “I’m going to come down your tight throat.” His hips picked up speed, and I intuitively knew to stop moving and let him dictate the pace, his hand tightening in my hair. “Fuck,” he mumbled as his hips stilled, and I felt him pulse in my mouth, his head thrown back as he groaned his release.

  As he withdrew, he stared down at me. His thumb caressed my lips before he pushed it into my mouth, and without thought, I sucked as his look became flat once more. Jett straightened and buttoned his jeans before tightening his belt. “You better not be lying,” he grunted. “Be at the stadium at eight on Monday morning.”

  “Why?” I asked as I pulled my sheet over the lower half of my body.

  “Because I said so.” He gave me an indiscernible look, and then picking up his boots, he walked out of my bedroom. The door thudded closed behind him, and I sat on my bed for a few minutes before I had the sense to go lock the door.

  Climbing back into bed, I wondered how that had escalated from a break-in into a spontaneous sex session. Curling up in bed, I fought the urge to scream before I got up and went to brush my teeth again. Staring at myself in the mirror, I didn’t know what the hell was happening anymore.

  But with Jett, had I ever?

  On Monday morning, I stood outside the player doors to the stadium nervously. While I waited as the minute hand ticked closer and closer to eight, my tummy was ready to upend my coffee and banana I’d had for breakfast.

  I still had no idea why I was here. I could only guess it was because he wanted me to tell his coach about the night he was drugged. I was so nervous I had put on skinny white jeans and a cream short-sleeved top with a floral pattern, and I’d even cleaned my Chucks.

  “You look like you’re going to church,” Jett said to me when he pushed the door open from inside the stadium.

  “Morning,” I greeted him as I walked towards him. “You seem breezy.” I hoped he understood sarcasm.

  In practice pants and his jersey pulled up over his pads, he looked like my version of a porn star. A rather inappropriate memory of his head between my legs made me shiver, and I saw his smirk as he watched me.

  “Coach is in a bitch of a mood,” Jett spoke easily as he secured the door behind me. His eyes ran over me, and his tongue licked his bottom lip. “You looking all innocent may not help,” he mused as he led me towards the office.

  I looked around eagerly. I’d been to the stadium many times, but this was restricted access, and my football junkie self lapped up the inside tour.

  “You really are a football fan?” Jett asked me as he hesitated at the door that was signposted Lockers.

  “Yeah,” I admitted as he waited.

  “That probably shouldn’t make my dick as hard as it is.”

  I blinked in shock, and my tummy somersaulted once more when he gave me a slow smile. Why was I reacting to him like this? The pull to step into him was strong, and I was grateful when he opened the door and led me down a corridor.

  We passed the locker room, and I had no desire to peek inside since the black football pants Jett was wearing were moulded to his ass and thighs, and I was having a hard time taking my eyes off his butt.

  “You done staring at my ass?” he asked me when he stopped outside another door.

  “I don’t think so,” I admitted without thought. My eyes flew to his, and I saw his pleased look as he laughed. It softened him, and I drank in this version of Jett hungrily.

  “Coach is waiting,” he said, sobering as he knocked, and when the call to enter came, he gave me a questioning look.

  “I’m ready,” I told him.

  “Let’s get it over with.”

  We walked into an office, which I think was bigger than it appeared. It was just so cluttered I immediately felt claustrophobic. I recognised Coach Bowers, of course. I didn’t recognise the woman beside him, but I did falter when I saw Ash and Gray.

  “Hi,” I greeted weakly.

  Coach Bowers stood up and offered me his hand, and I shook it as he told me who he was.

  “She’s a football fan,” Jett told him as he rested against a wall. It seemed to be the only spare piece of wall that wasn’t covered, and I knew I should have been looking at Coach, but I was drinking in the pictures on the wall.

  “Holy shit, this is Devonte Carlson,” I said, whirling to look at Coach Bowers.

  He looked at me in confusion before he nodded. “Yeah, good player.”

  “Good player? Are you joking?” I moved to the wall. “He’s the GOAT! Over a thousand passing and rushing yards three seasons in a row, the guy moves like a hot knife through butter.”

  “As I said,” Jett said dryly, “she likes football.”

  Aware that all eyes were on me, I flushed. “I’m sorry,” I rushed out. “I’m not here to stare at your wall.” My eyes darted back to it, and I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders as Jett pushed me down into a chair.

  “Focus,” he said quietly into my ear.

  “Sorry.”

  Coach was looking between the two of us, his eyes curious, but his lips were pressed together tightly.

  “You know why you’re here?” he asked me.

  “I think so,” I told him.

  “This is the team’s doctor, Isabell Sanchez. She was the one who tested the sample from Santo that Saturday morning.” Coach pointed towards Ash and Gray. “These two are here because it seems private meeting means shit to them.”

  Looking at the two of them, I saw Ash grin and Gray stare impassively back at me.

  “My understanding is they come as a package.” I opted for light and cheerful.

  Coach snorted and leaned back in his seat as his hands clasped in front of him. “I’ve had your school records looked at.”

  “Why?” I asked. He now had my full attention.

  “You’re one of three people in this school on a full ride.”

  I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “My understanding was that this school didn’t discriminate against the scholarship kids.” It was true. Sure, you could spot the money kids, but that was true in any walk of life. In some colleges, they gave you a card that declared to all whenever you used it what your college payment plan was. Cardinal Saints didn’t. When I handed my card over to pay for books, food, hell, even a coffee, it was the same card as anyone else’s.

  “We don’t.” Coach watched me. “But I also know you got pulled into the dean’s office last week for making a side profit.”

  I glanced at the silent observers to my right. “Yes,” I answered.


  “Which tells me you’re either stupid to throw away a full scholarship or desperate.” Coach didn’t break my eye contact. “You don’t strike me as stupid.”

  “That’s what Dean Porter said,” I muttered as I fidgeted in my seat. “I’ll tell you what I told him, which is the truth, and trust me, if you’d received the call I got from my mom afterwards, you’d feel bad for me.”

  “Explain.”

  Looking at Jett again, I flinched at his hard stare before I turned to look at Coach and the doctor. She looked nice. “I’m a fully funded scholarship recipient,” I began. “I applied here on a whim, and the school must have liked what I had to offer, because as you rightly said, I got the whole shebang.” My finger rubbed over my eyebrow. “But…” I sighed as I thought of my reasoning. “I get my tuition paid, my books, my housing and my food.”

  “Nice,” Ash murmured.

  “Yeah, well, have you eaten in the cafeteria?” I asked him. When he nodded, I turned back to Coach. “It’s the same food every week. For a seventy-five grand tuition cost per student, the food could be better. I got a side income so I can buy and make my own food.”

  I sat in the silence and waited. Dean Porter had also been silent, but the doctor lady leaned forward.

  “You risked it all so you could eat in your apartment?”

  I nodded. “Look, my mom sends me an allowance, and I know I sound like a whiny shit, but I wasn’t asking her to break the bank so I can eat fresh pasta. My friend offered me cash if I provided a service for him, and it meant I earned fifty bucks at a time and my mom didn’t have to waste any more money on me.”

  “You risked a full ride for fifty bucks?” Ash asked me in disbelief.

  “What kind of service?” the doctor asked at the same time, and it was she who I answered as I saw she had made an entirely wrong assumption.

  “I draw.” I hastily pulled out my phone and opened my photo gallery. “I make posters and flyers for his band.”

  “Oh.” She looked entirely too relieved. “You’re very talented,” she said as she passed me the phone back.

  “So you’re stupid after all,” Coach Bowers commented.

  I grimaced as I looked at him. “Guess so,” I admitted. “My mom definitely called me that several times when she got hold of me.”

  “What did Dean Porter say?” Gray asked me. It was the first time he had spoken to me.

  “Um, I have to stop, obviously. I’m on probation so I have to behave even when I want to smack someone,” I said as I glared at him, and he actually grinned. “And he’s making me spend Saturday mornings teaching art to underprivileged kids as penance.” I sat on my hands to stop from fidgeting. “‘Making me’ sounds harsh; it’s been fun so far.”

  “And the incident with my quarterback?” Coach asked me.

  “I was really drunk,” I admitted. “I don’t remember meeting him, I don’t remember being with him, I do remember the hangover.”

  The coach studied me, and then he stood. “We’ve been looking into the drug that was administered to Jett. I need to go coach my team. Doctor Sanchez wishes to talk you through everything. It’s entirely possible you were also under the influence.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Jett’s hard look made me stop. “Okay.”

  “Before I leave, I have one more question for Ms Bryant.”

  “Okay,” I said as I swallowed.

  “Should it be found that you were also drugged, will you be seeking damages against my quarterback?”

  My eyes widened, and I shook my head. “No, sir.”

  “The team?”

  “No.”

  “The school?”

  “No.”

  He considered me, and I realised this is why he was so sought after as a coach. It was as if he could pull the truth from me. I saw him nod once.

  “I hope you were only drunk, Ava,” Coach said quietly. “Thank you for your time today.”

  He left without a backwards glance, and then Gray and Ash followed him. Jett hesitated, his eyes on mine.

  “Santo! Move it!” Coach’s voice bellowed down the hall, and Jett rolled his eyes before he left the office, closing the door behind me.

  I turned back to the doctor. “He’s intense.”

  “He’s my dad.”

  Oh. “Um…”

  She smiled at me. “Let’s get this over with. Do you want someone here with you?”

  “No,” I answered, and then I looked at her. “Do I need someone?”

  “This is unofficial,” she admitted. “You’re here under your own choice. You can answer or you can decline, it’s entirely your call.”

  I rested my elbows on the desk. “I have nothing to hide,” I told her honestly.

  “Then let’s begin.”

  I watched the ball as it sailed through the air, bouncing off the padding at the end of the stadium.

  “Santo!”

  “Jesus,” I muttered as I turned to Coach. “Yeah?”

  “What in hell’s name was that?” he barked as he marched towards me. When he was alongside me, his finger jabbed me in the chest. “Your head is here, but your dick is in there?”

  Licking my lips, I took my helmet off. “My head’s in there too,” I admitted as I stared down the tunnel.

  “Boy, that girl is innocent. Open, honest, genuine,” Coach said to me. “I hate to tell you, I think you’re going to find she’s fallen foul of the same as you.” He rubbed his forehead. “What’s worse, she’s never going to know if she was.”

  “I know.” I tapped my helmet off my thigh. “I was so sure she was in on it until…”

  “You got to know her,” he said gruffly. “I can see that.”

  I frowned as I looked back towards the tunnel until Coach reached up and knocked the back of my head. “She’s there, you’re here, practice. You throw another ball like that and Kowoski’s back starting against Texas.”

  Slipping my helmet back on, I looked at him with a scowl. “No need for threats,” I muttered as I picked up the next ball.

  “Game head only on my field,” he told me as he walked off.

  I threw balls for another hour until my arm ached. Then we ran routes, passing to Gray or Ash as Jamie made it his personal mission in life to take me down on the field.

  By the time practice was finished, I ached everywhere. I still had afternoon classes to go to, and as I lay on the turf after being flattened by our linebacker, I stared up at the cloudless sky.

  Two shadows stood over me, and I looked up at Ash and Gray. “Still miss practice?” Gray asked as he extended his arm and helped me up to my feet.

  “What the fuck’s up Woods’s ass?” I grumbled as we headed to the showers.

  Ash grinned as he pulled his jersey off. “He didn’t even touch you,” he said as we stripped.

  “Not for the lack of trying,” I told him gruffly.

  “He took Ben down six times last Thursday in practice. Seriously started to think it was personal,” Ash told me.

  “He wants to win state, we all do,” Gray grumbled as he turned the shower on. “Let’s hope he brings this all week and still has enough for Spence next Saturday.”

  I nodded as I stepped under the hot spray.

  Pulling on clothes after I was washed and dried, I already felt my muscles stiffening in protest. “Fuck, is this what time off means?”

  Jamie was lacing up his sneakers when he heard me. “Sore, Santo?”

  “Fucking aching,” I told him as I pulled my T-shirt over my head.

  “You want the defence to go easy on you?” he asked as he stood, his broad frame filling the space.

  “Fuck no, I want to win.”

  Jamie nodded in respect, and then he and his fellow henchmen, defence, left the locker room.

  “Santo!”

  All three of us turned to see Coach at the door. “Office.”

  “Me?” I asked him as I picked up my book bag.

  “All of you.”

 
; Exchanging looks, we piled into his office. Coach was looking at the photo Ava had almost creamed over.

  “She’s inconclusive,” Coach started with no preamble. “Izzy doesn’t know if she was an unfortunate drunk or targeted also.” He sighed. “She did say she can tell you almost every statistic in the history of football though.” Coach’s eyes gleamed in approval. “And for that, Ms Bryant is your proven alibi.”

  I glanced at Gray, who was frowning. “I don’t understand.”

  “She’s a Lions fan. Blood runs blue and white, and when she’s not supporting the Lions, she isn’t even a Titans fan, but a Panthers one, something to do with her grandfather.” Coach looked personally offended. “There is no way in hell you and this girl hooked up with her only drunk.”

  Ash snort laughed, and I saw Gray hide his smile. “Coach, are you saying she would have to be drugged before she slept with me?” I asked incredulously.

  “Sure as shit am.”

  Ash let out a loud laugh, and Gray joined him. I looked at Coach, who was grinning. “Fuckers, all of you.” I walked out of the office to the sound of them laughing their asses off behind me.

  Heading to class, I ignored the calls from my brother and cousin to wait for them. Ava needed to be under the influence to fuck me? Is that what she told the doc? I’d see about that.

  The first class of the afternoon passed quickly, and then I was in the class where I got a blow job the other week. I scanned the seats for the little turncoat, and when I spotted her blending into the wall, I stalked towards her.