The Perfect Touchdown

“Please, don’t tell my brother…” I whispered.

I felt him pause, and then he sighed. “I won’t tell him tonight, but I can’t keep this from him. I promise I won’t let him report it, but you should consider saying something to the school.”

I nodded. I really just wanted to forget this ever happened, but my silence could end up allowing this to happen again. The best I could do is at least report it to the school and make them aware of the parties that went on right under their noses.

Aiden shocked me further when he turned off the truck and carried me inside rather than putting me down once we got out. The front door was already opened as the last few partygoers trickled out and I buried my head in Aiden’s chest again so they wouldn’t recognize me.

“Is that Rylee?” I heard Carter shout, but Aiden quickly shushed him, and I pretended to be asleep. “What happened, is she okay?” he asked quietly.

“She’s fine, get away from her,” Aiden scolded.

I heard Carter scuffle back and Aiden kept moving. He managed to get up the stairs and opened the door with one hand and kicked the door closed. He placed me on the bed, and I wasn’t sure if he really thought I was asleep or not until I heard him walk away from me.

I opened one eye to peek at him as he stripped off his jacket, and then his shirt. I got a full view of his muscular and well-toned back, the drool already hanging from my mouth as I watched the muscles in his shoulders move and contort. I imagined those huge biceps cradling me minutes before and I felt my stomach heat up, I had to look away.

I closed my eyes once more when he turned around, not sure why I was pretending to be asleep now.

“I’m sorry, Ry, you need to wake up,” Aiden said and shook me a little.

“Why?”

He lifted a change of clothes. “I don’t want you wearing that anymore.”

I picked at my shirt. “What, why not?” It wasn’t uncomfortable for me to sleep in jeans.

“I want to burn any fabric he touched,” he said in a serious and dark tone.

I understood then why he wanted me out of these clothes and tried to hide my smile, extremely touched. I grabbed the change of clothes and went into the bathroom to change, expecting him to be either gone or getting ready to leave when I got out.

Instead, he was getting the bed ready and was wearing sweatpants – and no shirt. I could now see every outline of his abs and chest and dear God, this boy’s body should be illegal.

He climbed under the covers and looked over at me.

“Why are you just standing there?” he asked.

I pointed to the bed. “Are we sleeping in the same bed?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time, Ry. We’ve frequently shared a tent when camping, or sleepovers.”

I rolled my eyes. “Avery was always a part of that equation.”

“Say the word and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind joining us, like old times.” He grinned.

I laughed loudly. “Okay, no, too far.”

“Come here, Ry. I’m tired as fuck.”

My heart hammered and my palms became so sweaty I had to start wiping them on the basketball shorts he gave me, but the sleek material just moved it around on my hands. I climbed under the covers and made sure to keep a comfortable distance between us.

It was silent until I heard Aiden clear his throat.

“I’m sorry…for the way I’ve acted recently.”

Now was also my chance to tell him it wasn’t his fault at all, and he shouldn’t put any blame on himself for what happened.

“If I had listened to you in the first place, it wouldn’t have gotten this far. I had no idea he was capable of being that kind of person, but it was too late for me to remember I barely knew this guy, but you did.”

“It was your brother who allowed you to go there alone,” Aiden muttered and clenched his jaw.

I laughed. “Don’t blame him either, I really pressured him to let me go. I just wanted you guys to stop treating me like a little kid sister all the time. I worked hard to get here, and I never got to enjoy many things as a teenager, and now I’m about to leave my teen years with little to no experience under my belt. When compared to you two, you guys are only a year older than me, but you’ve already partied hard and probably fucked random girls even harder.”

“Rylee!”

I laughed loudly. “What, am I wrong? Come on, I wasn’t that naïve growing up with you guys, I knew everything you were doing when you guys had me cover for you Saturday nights.”

“Ha, that’s right! I completely forgot we used to do that.”

I joined in his laughter, and we spent the rest of the night reminiscing about past times until my eyes became too heavy to keep open, and I vaguely felt Aiden tuck me in before I passed out.

~*~

The next morning, I had no choice but to face the music with my brother and tell him what happened at the party. As I suspected, he blamed himself entirely for not seeing his phone sooner.

“Ryles, I’m such an idiot. I never should have let you go there.”

I rolled my eyes and patted his back as he clung to me.

“It’s fine, Avery, I’m the only person to blame. Besides, despite me asking you not to send Aiden to get me, I’m really glad you did.”

He frowned in confusion. “I didn’t send Aiden; I wasn’t able to see your text until after he had left. Once he found out where you were, he just ran off. We had no idea where he was going until he came back with you.”

‘So…Aiden acted on his own.’

“Well, either way, he got me out of there and gave Jake a pretty good beating before we left. I’m fine and I really just want to move on from everything.”

Ryan came through the front door at that moment.

“Someone reported it to the Dean at the school,” he said.

“Wait, what?” I scrambled to my feet.

“Yeah, I got a cousin over at Jacksonville State and he frequently goes to those parties. I had him report it since he was a witness, in a way, to what happened with Jake. I figured this was easier than you having to go back there yourself,” he said sheepishly.

I felt my bottom lip tremble and rushed to give Ryan a big hug.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it,” I muttered into his stomach, my height so much shorter than his.

Before I knew it I felt someone tug the back of my shirt and I was pulled into another chest. I looked up to see Aiden glaring down at me.

“You can’t just go around hugging random people,” he pouted.

“Hey!” Ryan cried, slightly offended, but Aiden ignored him and dragged me away.

“All well that ends well!” Carter cheers out loud and lifts a beer can.

I gaped at him. “Are you serious, you’re drinking again already?”

“It’s the best cure for a hangover,” he winked and chugged the can.

“Ugh, that’s gross. Anyway, can someone drive me home? I’d really like to shower and change and forget this night happened.”

Aiden nodded and pushed Ryan out of the way to run up the stairs. He returned shortly after with changed clothes and his keys but didn’t have my change of clothes.

“Did you grab my clothes?”

He chuckled. “I meant it when I said I’m burning them.”