Game On

"Is it wrong to check out the freshmen?" David asked with a smile as three girls walked by in way-too-short of skirts.

"You have to ask?" Bryce answered as he looked over at Ashley. "Hey, I don't remember you in any miniskirts."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "That is because I don't own a miniskirt."

Bryce sat back in the booth. "That should be crime."

"You'd know if it was," David commented as he winked at Ashley from his spot across the table from her next to Bryce.

She smiled. "Naturally, the son of a mafia bigwig would know."

"Hey, you had better watch out or the Springfield mafia will be knocking on your door." Bryce gave the table two loud knocks. Yes, his dad was rich, but it was highly unlikely that the mafia had anything to do with it.

"Run, run as fast as you can," David said as he stood. "I need a Coke." He left them and walked over to the coffee bar in the on-campus café.

Bryce gave the café one final, slow look before turning his attention to Ashley. "You know, freshmen aren't really my style."

"Are minors more your style?" she answered coyly.

"You are so mean." He continued to tease her.

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's part of my charm."

"Charm?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. "I don't remember charm either. Do you own any of that?"

"Yeah, but it didn't fit in my car when I was packing. Maybe I'll pick it up at Christmas time." She shrugged and took a long drink of her iced caramel cappuccino.

Bryce took a drink of his black coffee, covering his smile. "You know, I could make do without charm."

"Is that so?" Ashley asked with a small lift to her eyebrow. She had missed David and Bryce over the summer, and after both of them had expressed their doubts about returning to school this year, she was more than pleased to see them. David was one of her closest friends, and Bryce was always good for a laugh.

Bryce shrugged, "Yeah, but why would I?"

David returned then, cutting off Ashley's biting retort. "So, are either of you two up for the lecture tonight?"

"Nerd alert," Bryce quipped before polishing off his coffee.

"It's required for Doc's class," David answered back with a sigh.

"Eight of the fourteen this semester are required," Ashley corrected. "But," she conceded, "It's wouldn't hurt to knock one out. Bryce, care to join us?"

"No, I don't take classes that require lecture series outside of class. In-class is bad enough."

"No surprise there," Ashley muttered under her breath but loud enough for them to hear.

"Work not-at-all, not harder," Bryce answered her volley. "I will walk over with you. It's on the way to Pauly's."

"First night of the year and already hitting the bars?" David asked, disapprovingly. "I won't wait up for you," he told his roommate.

Bryce just smiled as he fell in-step with the other two, Ashley in the middle. As they approached the lecture hall, cutting through campus on one of the wooded paths, he patted his pockets. "I think I dropped my phone or maybe left it at the café. Can you call it?" he asked Ashley.

She nodded, looking to David. "Grab me a seat?"

"No problem," David answered continuing on as Ashley pulled out her phone.

While she was engrossed in the display and punching in her security code, Bryce grabbed her by her upper arm, pushing her back against a tree. He stepped close to her and lifted his hand, his phone prominently displayed. His other hand rested near her hip on the tree. "Found it," he spoke quietly.

Ashley sighed. "Trying out a new move to use on unsuspecting freshmen?"

Bryce's features grew serious, though his eyes still held their usual twinkle of mischief. "Why haven't we ever, you know?"

"Because, Bryce, you only date freshmen bimbos."

"I told you, freshmen aren't really my style, at least, not anymore."

"Well, then, perhaps it's because you never asked. I'm not the miniskirt wearing type, and those are the ones you always seem to be chasing."

"All I had to do was ask?"

"To get a date, yes, all you had to do was ask," she confirmed. She knew they were simply playing chicken; it was far from the first time in the last two years that Bryce had played these games, and she knew better than to ever think it was anything more. Between her and Bryce, it was always just a game.

Bryce moved closer. "What if I'm asking now?" He moved his hand from the tree trunk to her hip, and braced himself with a hand next to her cheek.

"Are you?" she challenged, and not to be outdone, she put her hands on his chest, the tips of her fingers grazing his shoulders. She could feel the warmth radiating from him this close, and she resisted the urge to squeezed the muscles beneath her hands.

Bryce slipped under her hands, pressing himself to her. His hand on the tree cupped the back of her head, and he crushed her lips with his. He ground his hips against hers as he held her in place.

For a moment, Ashley froze as Bryce moved in. She saw everything in slow motion, felt every nerve ending electrify as he closed the distance between them. Then all she felt was heat. Warmth flooded through her as she kissed him back, winding her arms around his neck. When she felt his hand withdraw from the back of her head, she prepared to pull away, refusing to hold on after he was done, but before she could pull her lips from his, he had hold of her hips and was lifting her up against his body, her back pressed even more firmly to the tree. Never letting loose of his lips, she wrapped her long legs around him, steadying herself. Her bare skin was tight to the denim of his jeans, and her shorts were pushed up her thighs. She felt lightheaded, and she could barely breathe, but the last thing she wanted at that moment was for this life-affirming, earthshattering, soul-searing kiss to end.

Kissing isn't typically something men brag about, but Bryce would have had good reason to brag. He combined fire and intensity with enough gentle coaxing of his tongue to part her lips and begin his exploration. His tongue tangled with hers, and he could feel her pulse rate jump and her breath hitch when he nipped her lower lip, pulling it back slightly before he dove in for more.

Ashley was no prude, but he knew how his numbers stacked up against hers, and he knew that experience weighed heavily in his favor. His instinct was to move his mouth to her neck, her collarbone, her ear and tease her until she writhed against him, but he didn't dare move from her mouth, knowing that stealing her breath away was his best move.

When he decided that he satisfied, and by satisfied he did not mean that he was sated. A more accurate description would be that he was satisfied with the kiss and ready to strip her down and take her against the tree right then and there, he pulled his mouth away to look at her. He took deliberate breaths to calm his racing heart and boiling blood.

When it finally ended, as all good things must, Ashley forced composure as she waited for Bryce's reaction. She looked down into his face from her raised height, unable to hear anything save for the blood drumming in her ears.

Bryce lowered her to the ground, savoring the feel of her legs drifting over his as she unwound them. At 6'2" he was tall with a good build, but so was she, and at 5'11", she had a lot of leg to wrap around him. The light was fading, but he could still make out her expression and the heat in her cheeks despite the shadows from the trees around them. Letting a smirk take his features, he released her hips and stepped back.

"You forgot to ask," Ashley spoke, her defenses reacting to the smirk.

"Oops." Bryce could feel the strain in his jeans, and he was certain that Ashley had felt it just as he had felt the heat and electricity on her skin. There was no hiding the mutual passion between them, but games had always worked best for them, and if she was willing to continue playing, so was he. "You should probably get going. There is a boring old guy waiting in there to lecture you to sleep."

"True, and if I stay, I probably won't get much sleep at all." She turned away from him, and he resisted the urge to grab her again. "I'm glad you found your phone," she called, not even looking over her shoulder at him.

"Thanks for the help," he called back, smiling broadly. "Game on," he muttered under his breath. In that moment, he knew that it was going to be a great semester.