He looked relieved.

She nudged him. “I’m not going to change my mind.”

“Well, certainly not after that,” he joked.

She sighed and lay back on the bed. “I feel amazing.”

“I feel like I’m going to need another shower.”

She looked up at him with mischief in her eyes. “I could help with that.”

They spent the rest of the night locked in each other’s arms, making up for lost time. They knew that not everything would be fixed between them so easily, but this was the first step.

Bryna woke up the next morning to light filtering in through the window. Her body was pleasantly sore but utterly content. She opened her eyes to find herself in Eric’s bed. A smile touched her lips, and she relaxed back into the pillow.

Memories of last night washed over her, and her body heated at what had happened. The clearest thing of all was her confession. She loved him. She had told him she loved him. Even when she had thought she felt that for Jude, she had never told him. Now that she was looking back on it, she wasn’t sure she had even loved Jude. She had loved the idea of Jude. How could I have loved someone I knew nothing about?

Eric was different. She knew him completely. He was the person she always wanted to run to when times got tough. He made her feel safe, whole, happy.

His arm was wrapped around her waist, and he tugged her tighter against him as if refusing to let her go. She didn’t fear that when he woke up things would be different or that he would push her away after the haze of the night was gone. This just felt right.

She slightly shifted her weight, and he groaned.

His lips touched her shoulder, and he squeezed her once more. “Morning.”

“Hey.” She entwined their fingers together.

“You feel nice in the morning. I’m going to stay in bed and have you for breakfast.”

“I think I could allow that.”

He kissed her again. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

She turned around to face him. “Where would I go?”

“Dunno. I was worried last night was a dream,” he said with a cocky smile, “and I’d wake up to find I’d imagined you here.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“It would have been one hell of a vivid dream.”

“How vivid?” she purred in his ear.

“Let me show you.”

Eric gripped her hips and pulled her effortlessly on top of him. She realized he was already hard for her. They had slept in the buff, which made this really easy. He eased back inside her. She was tender from all their activity last night, but the pain soon disappeared as pleasure took over.

When she finished, she fell against him, panting.

He kissed her forehead. “I could get used to this,” he whispered.

“Me, too.”

After they both cleaned up, they crawled back into bed and lay in each other’s arms.

Bryna was struck with how completely normal it was. There was no awkwardness. There was no wondering whether they would go out for breakfast or if she should just hurry out. There hadn’t even been a question of whether or not they would make love again in the morning. It had just happened. Just like them.

“So, where do we go from here?” she asked him, her head resting against his shoulder.

He ran his hands through her hair contentedly. “Let’s take it one day at a time. I don’t want us to rush out and tell everyone what’s going on yet. I’m going to keep you all to myself for a little bit longer.”

“You want to hide me?” She was mostly joking, but the fear pricked at her regardless.

Eric laughed, reading her question for what it really was. “No. But I want us to get to know each other again as a couple without the public scrutiny of the entire football team and cheer squad.”

Bryna nodded. “That’s true.”

“As long as you’re mine and there’s no more running away, then it honestly doesn’t matter to me what we do.”

“No more running away,” she agreed.

“Good. Then, we’ll figure it out.”

“Unfortunately, I still have to get to class today,” she told him.

“Skip it.” He held her in place against him.

She giggled and kissed him. “I wish I could, but I can’t.”

“Okay. Then, come over right after class before practice.”

“I will,” she promised.

She reluctantly disentangled herself from Eric’s arms, put her clothes back on, and headed home to change before she had to be on campus. Stacia and Trihn were both in the living room when she arrived.

Both of their eyes widened in surprise.

Trihn arched an eyebrow. “That must have been one hell of a study session with Cam last night.”

Stacia giggled. “I want to hear all the details.”

“We broke up,” Bryna told them.

It felt great saying it out loud. That felt like a lifetime ago compared to what had happened with Eric last night.

Stacia gasped.

But Trihn smiled. “About time.”

“Yeah, it was,” Bryna agreed. She walked over to the couch and plopped down. “Cam found out that I used to sleep around or dig or whatever, and he tried to take advantage of me.”

“What? Did you knock him out?” Trihn asked.

“What a douche bag!” Stacia cried.

“I know. I couldn’t believe it, honestly. He seemed like such a nice guy, and he didn’t know my reputation. But then as soon as he did, all went down the drain. So, I dumped him.”

“Good. He deserved much worse than that,” Trihn said.

“Yeah, like a swift kick to the nuts,” Stacia agreed.

Bryna laughed and nodded.

“Where were you all night then?” Trihn asked.

“So…afterward, I went over to Eric’s.”

“Yes!” Stacia cried.

They both looked at Stacia questioningly.

“What? A football player or an artsy guy? It’s not even a choice.”

Trihn narrowed her eyes. “Thanks!”

“Hey! I’m just saying.”

“Tell us about Eric,” Trihn encouraged, ignoring Stacia’s barb.

A smile came to Bryna’s face, unbidden. Eric had that effect on her.

“We’re kind of keeping it on the down-low right now, so you can’t say anything to anyone, but I think we’re together. We got into a big argument about everything that had happened between us. After I explained that I wanted to be with him, he came around to the idea. I told him I loved him,” she confessed.

“Aw,” Stacia crooned.

Trihn smiled brightly. “Finally! It’s about time.”

Bryna giggled. “You’re so right. It’s about damn time.”

WHEN BRYNA WAS WITH ERIC, time seemed to fly. All the best things in the world were tucked into the hours she spent at his house, lost in his arms. And just as good was the fact that she had her friend back. When they weren’t lying around in bed in a state of ecstasy, they would hang out by the pool, have margaritas, grill burgers, and generally enjoy each other’s company. There were still some lingering problems from their separation, but they were working through it one day at a time.

Without even realizing it, the away game against Colorado was upon them, and the entire team would be flying into Denver. Since the team still didn’t know about their relationship, she and Eric had agreed to drive to the airport separately. She was sure some people had suspected by the way they acted around each other, but their relationship was in its infancy, and they didn’t want the scrutiny.

Stacia and Bryna arrived at the airport in Stacia’s SUV. They grabbed their bags out of the trunk, and then Stacia locked up. As they walked inside, Stacia had a bounce to her step.

“I cannot wait to fuck Pace in the hotel room,” she said.