Waking up in Eli's arms for the second time was surreal, but more than that, it was damn peaceful, and I was growing worried that I would soon become addicted to the moment and crave it far more than I should.

"Good morning," he said groggily, voice coated in gravel as the sleep cleared from his throat and I would be damned if he didn't look just as enticing if not more gorgeous in the mornings than he did at any other point in the day.

Slight stubble adorned his jaw, the shadow stretching across his face and giving him a more rugged and masculine effect to his look, while the sharp curve of his cheekbones gave way to his strong pointed jaw and pointed nose. I couldn't tear my eyes away, especially not as the morning light caught in his irises and his father's and my mother's favorite song flew into my mind.

Dusty green and reminding me of fields and pastures filled with verdant grass and blowing wildflowers, his eyes peered into my very soul as the weight and gravity of what we'd shared with each other the night prior finally caught up to us.

"Good morning," I echoed, still unsure of how to act around him. Did I give him a morning kiss? Ask him his plans for the day like we were a couple? Did he even want to define this, whatever the hell this was, anyway?

His lips crested over my forehead and I could've sworn it was the butterflies in my stomach that forced the hungry groan from my abdomen, indicating to Eli that I was hungry, but I was beginning to realize that I was hungry for much, much more than food.

A secret, devious part of me had hoped, desperately, that he would've taken things further the previous night instead of stopping before the main event, but our conversations needed to be had, otherwise the truth would've still been weighing on my chest heavier than an anvil, and the last thing I needed in Eli's presence was something else making me nervous around him, he already gave me enough jitters to last a lifetime.

"What time are your classes?"

I was just about to answer him when I realized how bright the room was, meaning that it must've been much later in the day than I had previously thought, and that meant that Eli was missing his morning practice.

"Shit, what time is it?"

"It's eight. I let you sleep in, I figured you needed it after what happened last night..."

"But- you missed your practice? Why would you do that?"

The answer was seemingly in the raised dark eyebrows, the suggestive smirk on his lips, and the sardonic twist of his features but I still needed to hear him say it.

"Seriously? Like I'd leave you here after everything. I can miss one practice, it's not like I'm not in that damn gym more than anyone else on the team. I earned a personal day."

"A personal day? But don't you have a charity game coming up soon, too?"

He shifted so that we were sitting up against the headboard of the bed, and I still couldn't get over how comical his legs hanging off the ends of the bed looked.

"Tomorrow, but they need me, coach wouldn't bench me for missing practice once. Plus, I told them ahead of time I wouldn't be coming in. It's fine."

I didn't appreciate the fact that he was missing practice, mainly because of me, but before I could protest once more, he hauled me up against his chest and suddenly we were in a very precarious position.

I was on his lap.

Well...this was new.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"Well, I'm just sitting here. You're aware of that concept, I hope?"

My cheeks burned from the attention centered directly on me from his vantage point, and from the new angle there were...other things that I felt more intimately than I had from only being situated in his side.

"You, on the other hand, are sitting on me, which is easily becoming the highlight of my entire day."

"You just woke up," I pointed out, trying to ignore the rampage of emotions he was stirring up inside of me so early.

"So? It'll still be the best part of my day, unless we end it this way, too."

I was getting ready to retort something else, skin burning at our contact points, when there was an incessant banging on the door, and I didn't know whether I was relieved or disappointed.

The sinking in my chest gave me my answer, and I didn't know how to feel about that conclusion.

"Eli! Wake the hell up! We all know you're not sick today!"

"Is that Patrick?"

I whisper-yelled because I desperately didn't want anyone to know I'd spent the night with him, especially since we hadn't even defined what we were doing together. I didn't want others drawing their own conclusions before I drew my own.

"Yeah," Eli groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes before grabbing my hips and flipping us so suddenly that I had to stifle a gasp of surprise, and in less than a second he was hovering above me, a sly smirk painted on his face that I had only just trained myself to not drool over in his presence, but with that devilish intent in his smoky gaze, I couldn't help but feel the need to check the corner of my mouth for evidence of said drool.

"I'm up, asshole! And I am sick, I have...mono!"

I arched one eyebrow at Eli as he answered Patrick through the door, a sarcastic remark ready to bounce off my tongue before he leaned down and effectively kept it closed.

Plush lips dancing across my own, a fire that had been only partly satiated the night before roaring back to life in my lower abdomen, that spark igniting past my belly button and curling up, spreading down my thighs to create a delicious tingle and burn that would leave me a throbbing, wanton mess if Eli continued this dangerous game we were playing.

Hands dragging down my sides in a torturously slow and lazy path, I was beginning to wonder how affected he could be by our closeness if he showed such restraint, but then the door was knocked on again, louder this time, and I jumped in earnest and pulled our lips apart.

"Mono? Come on, bro, you were fine last night, and mono takes like a month to get over. Just text me when you finally decide to come out, we gotta talk."

"Fuck, that doesn't sound fun," Eli murmured against my neck where he'd redirected his kissing attempts.

"I'd much rather do this all day."

And then his teeth sank into the soft and unblemished skin of my neck, and the visceral response that he elicited was sure to alert Patrick to the fact that Eli was most definitely not alone in his room.

Toes curling, back arching, stretching my neck as far as it would go to give him better access, I was a shaking and near begging mess while my legs had a mind of their own, wrapping around his waist and pulling his body impossibly closer to me.

"Eli! Come on, bro."

Eli groaned against my neck, taking one, two, then three deep breaths.

"I swear to god, if I didn't love him like a brother, he'd be getting punched in the face right now."

I did the same breathing technique Eli had adopted, catching my breath and calming my racing heart which was more than a desperate feat in his presence.

"Maybe you should find out what he wants. I'll...I need to get to classes today, anyway, and I have my first eight hour shift by myself tonight at four."

"Okay. I'll text you, and we can talk more? Or, not talk?"

He emphasized his question by capturing my mouth with his once more, the quick, almost forbidden aspect of the act with someone else waiting on the other side of the door only adding to the thrilling effect of his kiss.

"Okay," I answered breathlessly when he finally pulled away, and I found myself shamelessly following his mouth with mine until it was clear that he'd wanted to say something.

He rolled off of me and I looked down, noticing that I was clothed in his shirt and my underwear, nothing else. I would've been embarrassed, had I had time for that.

"I'll be out in a minute. Meet me downstairs."

Eli gave Patrick no room to argue, and after he agreed, I found my pants in the corner of his bedroom and rushed to put each leg in the corresponding leg without tripping over and looking like an idiot in front of him.

My shirt, far too formal for a day full of classes, had unfortunately fallen into one of the messier areas of Eli's room-his roommate's side.

A half eaten fried chicken meal complete with ranch, ketchup and honey mustard packets littered across the end table had stained my white top a myriad of colors, making it look more watercolor than solid print.

"Shit," I hissed out, inspecting the damage.

"Just wear my shirt, looks damn better on you than it does on me," Eli called from the ensuite bathroom where he'd escaped momentarily to allow me some privacy in collecting my things and also to brush his teeth.

At least he got to brush his hair and teeth before I left, whereas I was too scared to even look in the mirror.

"Can I borrow a baseball hat, too? I'm scared to go outside looking like this," I called back, and he wasted no time after my question before quickly finding me a suitable hat on his desk for me to wear.

"Me, too, but not in the way you're thinking. At least you'll be wearing this."

He was close enough that the cologne he'd recently sprayed invaded my every sense and almost made me loopy with need.

I didn't miss the markings on the hat, however.

"The team name and your number? Subtle."

"Hey, what can I say? Maybe I just wanna scare the other guys away."

He was cheeky, I'd give him that.

Bra slipped on underneath his shirt I'd worn to sleep, high top sneakers tied on my feet and baseball cap slid on top of my sleep messy hair, I dared a peek in the mirror on Eli's dresser, and felt slightly better about my appearance than I had assumed.

"V?"

I turned around at his voice, finding him chest to chest with me and I couldn't help the small squeak of surprise that slid past my lips at his closeness, almost like he'd snuck up on me which was incredibly hard for someone of his height to do. It was like a giraffe sneaking up on a deer.

"Y-yeah?"

Fuck that stutter. My breathing uneven, my heart damn near about to break out of my chest, I somehow found the courage to glance back up into his verdant eyes watching me like I was a puzzle and he didn't have the right pieces to complete it.

"I'm not taking you home to your father's house this weekend. Not after what you told me about him. If you want to go and get your things, that's fine, but please, don't go back there. He's coming up tomorrow for my game, and I don't know how I'm going to act around him, how to tell him I don't want him as my coach anymore, or-"

"Wait. You can't just fire him. He has all the connections you're going to need in your career, he can launch you into the contract that you want, multimillion dollar contracts. As much as I hate him right now, he's your best shot at this. And if you don't listen to him and do what he wants, he's through with you. I'll suck it up for now until I can find an apartment, play along so he doesn't trash all my stuff and so I can get my music equipment back, and so you can get what you want from him, too. We can play him, just like he played everyone else all those years ago. But this time, we can beat him at his own game."

An indecipherable flicker of something, maybe shock or confusion, mixed with something akin to resolve settled within his features, and then his hands were on my waist and his lips were on my forehead.

"We can talk more later tonight. I don't know why but I feel like I shouldn't leave you alone tonight. Can you stay again? I can kick my roommates out again."

"I-yeah, yeah, I can do that."

Another night of sleeping with Eli, without doing the things that sleeping together usually entailed? I was more than terrified, but with him, he wouldn't push me to do anything I wasn't ready for yet. I knew he'd respect my boundaries.

"Good. Now, we've got to get going. And V?"

"Yeah?"

"You have no idea how fucking hot you look in my clothes."

I hid my smile behind his ball cap, dipping my head until he captured my chin with his fingers.

And then he melted my shyness away with his searing kisses until it really was time to break apart and face the music, which happened far too soon for my liking.

I could've stayed in his arms forever, which was a fact that had me shaking on the spot, because the truth was that I would've given my everything and my all to the man standing before me without blinking an eye, without ever even knowing what his real and true intentions ever were with me.

Could I risk it so easily, hand over my heart like it was nothing?

My breath caught as I realized with a start that I had already done that, and there was nothing I could do to get it back.