Even The Playing Field | BOOK #1 IN THE PSU SERIES

fifty-two

"Okay. Are you ready for your surprise?" She asks as I hum. "Depends, I'm waiting to hear your clothes hit the floor." I tease as she scoffs.

Naomi had drugged me through an absolute crowd of people before demanding I come upstairs with her before I got to the party.

"I kid—I kid, princess. Tell me when," I apologize as I hear her take a few steps away from me.

"Now!" She cheers as I inhale, unclenching my closed eyelids. When my eyes open, I squint—my blue eyes aren't good with brightness. I look around my living room and a smile beams on my face.

"No way." I state looking at her as she wears a grin and nods.

Half of the bedroom was decorated with my last name while the other half was decorated with "Johnson". Our jersey's were hanging up, everything was themed for Penn State.

It hadn't hit me yet that I would be an actual adult soon with responsibilities. No more partying all of the time because I want to. I would have to wake up, go to practice, go to meetings, do press, games, travel, repeat. Somehow in between all of that, find time to live and be with Naomi.

It was going to be tough, but life is tough, that's what Naomi showed me.

And I would do it all if that meant I could be with her.

"Babe—wow. All for me?" I exclaim as she chuckles. "The girls helped a lot too. Reese and Blake stole the stuff from the locker room." She points to the helmets and all. I walked towards her, smiling.

I wrap my arms around her and hug her, spinning her around the decorated room.

"So what you're telling me is that the girl that didn't want to go to parties all semester—is now throwing me a party?" I tease her as she looks at me, her eyes twinkling.

She nods, "I love you." She states as I set her on the ground and bend down, placing a kiss on her lips. "I love you a million times more, thank you." I couldn't fucking wait for this party to be over. We needed to christen my untouched bedroom.

It was nice to think about it, I was her first time. She would be my first time in my bedroom, which is a big thing to brag about here. Everyone knows—you don't get to go upstairs in the captains house, you fuck in the fuckway.

But it was like every single moment that I spent in my designated room in the fuckway didn't matter anymore—unless it would be a moment spent with her.

"C'mon, we have a party to attend—more specifically, yours and Griffins." She teases as she straightens out her outfit and mine. Her boobs looked so fucking amazing in that tight ass shirt. I swear—I saw her nipple piercings through her shirt.

"I have a better idea—" I massage her shoulders as she chuckles. "Later." She spoke with promise as I nodded.

Better keep that promise, my love.

This time I stepped in front of her. "Is Griff already downstairs?" I ask as she nods. There were people everywhere in the foyer, the walls were gleaming with moisture. The noise was high enough that someone would have called ten different police departments and none of them would be able to tame it.

I walk down the stairs as everyone cheers and I soak it all in. I looked to my left to see NJ, but she wasn't there, she was behind me.

Guess she still doesn't like attention.

Reese was the first person to jump off one of the couches. He skipped over to me, beer in hand. "Happy Penn State retirement," Reese grinned at me through his words. He gave me a side hug and although I didn't say it enough—I appreciated Reese.