Goddess Rising (47 page)

Chris looked at him in surprise. “Seriously?”

Wes nodded, hiding his rumination behind a sip of beer.

Chris was silent a long time. “I know I give you a lot of shit, Wes, but why
wouldn’t
a girl like Sam fall for you? She’s lived on a path all her life. That’s easy enough to see. Then she meets a guy like you, playing by his own rules, living life in the moment—of course she’d be attracted to you. Why wouldn’t a girl who’s trying to figure herself out be with a guy who already knows who he is?”

Wes glanced at Chris in surprise.

“What?” Chris lifted a brow. “You surprised a big, dumb football player has got you all figured out?”

“You clearly don’t have me figured out if you think I know what I’m doing.”

“I didn’t say you
know
what you’re doing, smart ass,” Chris pointed out. “I said you know who
you are
. It’s one of the reasons you’re so damn cocky, isn’t it? You may not have everything nailed down yet, but you’ll get there. The confidence is there—the rest will fall into place, given half the chance.”

Wes’d never thought about it that way. But in a sense, he supposed Chris was right. He’d always been laid-back, largely because he wasn’t worried. Never felt like he had to be, not
until Sam
…

Sure, he’d wanted to be more than a decent photographer. But being more required a plan, and his idea of planning had always been going with the flow and seeing where life took him…but Sam was so
not
that. Worry teased the edge of his mind. For the first time since they’d been together, he felt a sliver of insecurity pervade his blithe happiness.

“What if I’m not enough for her?”
Holy shit, did he seriously just say that aloud?
Embarrassed color infused his cheeks.

Chris looked at him in surprise, then he gripped Wes’s shoulder tight with his massive hand, laughing so hard, he eventually had to wipe his eyes.

“Y’all all right over there?” Sam called out, lining up for a shot as Rita glanced at them curiously.

“Fine, fine!” Chris replied while Wes pushed him off with an annoyed shrug. “Dude,” Chris said when he finally got his breath back. “You’re
definitely
not enough for Sam,” he told Wes frankly. “But that’s why you want her so bad. Because you
want
to be, and that’s love, you stupid prick. Welcome to it.”

“You
like
feeling like this?” Wes asked, recalling Chris telling him how much he missed being in love.

“Well, yeah,” Chris looked at him like he was crazy. “Think about it, Wes—no man ever reached his full potential without a woman behind him, pushing him to do it.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Nah, man,
that’s
just the honest-to-God truth,” Chris argued. “If it’s not your mama, then it’s your sister, and if it’s not your sister, it’s the woman you love, and if it’s not her, then—”

Wes held up a hand. “I get it, I get it.”

“Look, you’re not equals, plain and simple,” Chris pointed out. “She’s loaded, you’re not. She’s smart, and you’re an idiot. She’s gorgeous and you’re just plain ugly,” Chris went on with a grin.

“Hardy har har.” Wes rolled his eyes.

“But that doesn’t mean you’re not giving each other something you both need,” Chris continued.

“Mind-blowing sex?” Wes smirked.

Chris winced. “Rub it in, would ya?”

“You deserved it,” Wes drawled. “For calling me ugly.”

“And you’re not offended by the rest?”

“Nah, the rest’s all accurate.”

Chris grinned, slapping his shoulder. “Look, just don’t sweat it too much, man. You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, and you damn well don’t try to give it dental work. Just be really freaking happy you got the girl. Lord knows I would be.”

Wes nodded absently, watching as Sam draw her elbow back, ready to take aim. She was two hits away from winning, Rita just barely ahead. Sam concentrated, closing one eye. Then she stood up, sat on the edge of the table, stuck the cue behind her back and made the shot, knocking both balls into the pocket with the ease of a seasoned player.

Rita’s mouth fell open.

Sam slid off the table, picked up her beer and finished it in a long gulp.

And all Wes could think was,
Holy shit. That’s my girl.

October—Sunday Night

Sam’s Apartment, Texas A&M

S A M A N T H A

“S
top!
That tickles!!”
Sam’s surprised laugh morphed into a thrilled gasp as she gripped Wes’s shoulders.

Her phone rang loud and long in the living room, startling her.

“Shit!” she exclaimed, scrambling up as she saw the time on her clock.

Wes’s head popped up from under the blanket, hair tousled every which way. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, grasping her waist as she tried to wriggle off the bed. “I’m just getting to the good part—”

“It’s Ry—I have to get it. We talk every Sunday night,” she explained quickly, pushing him off as she scrambled out from under the sheets.

“So call him back later,” Wes replied, perplexed, laid out on her bed in all his delicious, naked yumminess. As tempted as she was, Sam made it a point to never let Ryland down if she could help it.

“No way.” Sam shook her head as she tossed on his t-shirt. “I don’t stand that boy up. Ever.”

She leapt toward the phone before the voice recorder could pick up.

“Hey, hey,” she answered, breathless.

“You all right?”

“Dad!” She straightened immediately, unconsciously tugging Wes’s shirt down over her ass. “Is Ry alright? What’s going on? Where is he?”

“All right, all right, calm down,” her father replied. “He’s in the next room, finishing up dinner. I wanted to talk to you before he did.”

“Okaaaay,” Sam answered slowly, fidgeting. She’d yet to tell her father about being disqualified from the Challenge. Partially because she didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say about it, and partially because she’d been too distracted by the sex haze she’d been lost in over the past week with Wes.

“Ry wants a hayride for his birthday,” her father told her, interrupting her thoughts. “I know it’s the weekend before the Challenge, but you know how blue he’d be if you weren’t there—”

It was definitely time to fess up. She didn’t have to worry about being gone the weekend before anymore, just to make it home for her little brother’s birthday. She wandered back into her bedroom.

“It won’t be a problem,” Sam told him, noticing Wes slipping off the bed, looking lean and gorgeous like some golden god. He pulled on his jeans and pointed toward the kitchen, looking to give her a little privacy.

“Why not?” her father asked, drawing her attention. “I figured you’d all be on lockdown right before the competition.”

Sam took a breath. “I won’t be going to the Challenge, Dad.” She sat down on the bed. “I got eliminated last week.”

Her father said nothing for a moment and Sam chewed her lip, the tension getting her back up.
Was he happy? Was he pissed?
God, she wished she could see her father’s expression. But at the same time, she was relieved he couldn’t see hers as she admitted her failure.

“How?” he finally asked. “You were at the top of all the training sessions.”

“It’s a long story.” She rubbed her brow. “I’ll tell you about it later. But I’ll definitely be there for Ry’s birthday. Hell, I’ll even drive the tractor for the hayride if he wants,” she offered, trying to keep her tone light.

“He’d love that,” her father replied before a heavy pause. “You alright, Sammy? With what happened?”

Wes came back into the room with a lopsided grin and handed her a glass of water. Sam shifted the phone between her shoulder and ear, grabbing his hand as he turned to go. She squeezed his fingers in thanks, and Wes lifted their hands to his mouth, eyes twinkling as he kissed her fingers.

I’m more than alright, actually. I’m better than I’ve ever been.

“I’m fine now,” she answered honestly. “Took me a few days to get over the news, but there’s always next year I guess.”

“I know you worked hard, Sammy—”

“And I’ll keep working hard, Dad,” she interrupted. “It’s just a setback is all.”

“All right, that’s it,” he replied, droll. “Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?”

Her brows lifted. “What do you mean?”

Her dad sighed. “Even though I didn’t want you to do it, Sammy, I’d understand if you were completely torn up over this.”

“I was upset,” Sam admitted. “I won’t deny that. But…” She looked up at Wes. “I’m trying to get a little perspective. Expand my horizons a little.”

Wes’s eyes twinkled as he laughed softly.

“Speaking of which…” Sam wondered if it was too much, too soon, but she went for it anyway.

“Go on,” her father responded.

“You cool if I bring a friend home?”

Wes blinked in surprise, realizing she was asking him to join her at the ranch.

“Sure,” her father replied easily. “You know Rita’s welcome anytime.”

“No, Dad.” Sam took a quick breath, steeling herself for a battle. “I meant a friend of the male variety.”

The silence was so kinetic, it nearly crackled over the line. Wes lay down on the bed beside her, sipping from her water glass as he leaned back on his elbow.

“You mean a boyfriend, I suppose?” her dad finally asked, a certain resignation in his voice.

“Yeah.”

Another long silence stretched out between them as she waited, her breath caught somewhere in her throat. Wes kissed her knee.

“You being safe, Sammy?”

“Jesus, Dad.” Her cheeks flamed. Wes glanced up, startled. He drew a question mark in the air and Sam waved it off, mortified.

“I just don’t want you to be taking unnecessary chances, Sammy.”

“Good grief, Dad, I already had this talk with Aunt Hannah back in high school when I got on birth control—”

“You were on birth control in high school—?” her father interrupted loudly.

So loudly, Wes choked a laugh back behind his hand, eyes wide with amusement as he sat up beside her to press his ear against the receiver. Sam rolled her eyes, swatting him back playfully.

“The point is,
yes
, I’m being safe, Dad.” Given her dad’s choked reaction, she didn’t bother mentioning she and Wes had both gotten tested at the university clinic as well. “If this is going to be weird, I won’t bring him—”

Wes nipped her shoulder in retaliation.

“Now just hold on a minute,” her father huffed. “It’s hard enough to know my little girl is getting pawed by some boy at school. Now you’re going to sit him down right in front of me. Just give me a moment to get adjusted here—”

“You’ve met.”

“What?”

“You already know him.”

She heard her father sigh. “A certain photographer, I presume?”

“Yeah, Dad.”

A couple seconds passed. “Well, you can’t sleep in the same room if you bring him out here,” he told her, resigned.

“We won’t,” Sam assured him. “I don’t want to have to explain anything to Ry yet anyway.”

Wes glanced at her curiously, probably wondering what she’d agreed to.

“He better treat you right,” she heard her father mutter.

“He does,” she promised him. “Now may I speak with Ry please?”

“Gladly,” her father huffed. Sam listened to the muffled sound of the phone changing hands.

“Sammy!” her brother practically shouted into the phone. “Dad’s letting me have a hayride! We’re gonna do a barbeque, make s’mores and have a campout!” he told her excitedly. “Carey and I’ve been planning it all weekend!”

“Am I invited?” she asked with a grin.

“Are you
kidding
me?!”

Wes got up and wandered into her bathroom. She listened to the pipes squeak as he got a shower going.

Sam listened to her brother’s plans, laid out in breathless and painstaking detail. She helped him come up with some good party favor ideas and promised again and again that she’d be there right after class on Friday.

When they were finally done talking, Sam followed Wes into the bathroom, slipping into the shower as he rinsed the shampoo from his eyes.

“So you’ve got a standing date with your family every Sunday, huh?” he murmured, slipping his wet arms around her shoulders.

“With Ry, yes,” she nodded, kissing his wet chest. “It’s not like me to forget it,” she admitted. “Guess that goes to show how distracted you’ve had me all week.”

Wes leaned down, giving her a lingering kiss. “The feeling’s mutual.”

Sam ran a hand down his smooth cheek. “You shaved.” She’d noticed he’d brought over a toiletry kit this time, liked the look of his stuff mingled with hers on the bathroom counter.

“You said it tickled,” he murmured, nuzzling her a little.

“Maybe I liked that it tickled,” she whispered back.

Wes pulled away to pour some shampoo in his hands. He rubbed it into her hair gently, careful to keep it from her eyes. His tenderness melted her, and Sam leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his heart as he massaged the lather into her scalp. She was falling hard and fast for this guy, like tumbling headlong down into Wonderland. And unbelievably, it didn’t scare her.