I woke up the next morning with a smile on my face, a weighted warmth that tickled my lower abdomen, a stiff hardon pressed against my underwear, and my entire left arm covered in sensations like needles poked into my skin. A hard surface pressed right into my left shoulder, which explained why my arm was asleep, but my smile grew wider when I saw Ellie had snuggled up against me. Her left arm rested halfway over me, her hand flat below my navel, where her thumb stroked into my skin.

As for the hardon... Self-explanatory.

Her soft breaths alternated with slight gasps and drool slid out of the corner of her mouth closest to my arm, which explained the damp spot in my armpit. I rolled my lips inward and suppressed a laugh at her state, but was relieved she at least looked like she'd slept soundly.

And even better, next to me.

My eyes blinked at the ten am time on my dresser clock. While Ellie and I's heavy conversation kept us up late last night, I was surprised at how late we'd slept in. The day after game days, the team had a light recovery workout at three pm, then an hour of game film study for the next opponent, an away game at the University of Arizona.

They also use a three-four defense, so similar setup. Away game though, so we'll see what they bring on their home turf...

Darrius and Kade need to work on their hand-off reactions.

My lighter schedule today meant I had a few hours for the grocery store and homework, then hopefully just relaxed tonight. I wasn't sure what Ellie's schedule was but she'd mentioned she did her blog updates on the weekend and, hopefully sooner than later, needed to get the new sofa.

"Morning," my armpit mumbled to me. I inhaled sharply when she stretched out her arm, fisted her hand, and rubbed her knuckles right near my not-half-deflated-for-much-longer erection.

"Hey," I croaked out, not raspy from sleep but effort as I mentally willed myself flaccid with any football-related thoughts that came to mind. My cock had its own ideas and swelled larger towards the source of friction.

"Oh gosh!" Ellie's body tensed along my side and she yanked her arm back right when my tip pressed into the side of her hand. My shoulder warmed with what I assumed was the embarrassment I heard when she said, "I'm so sorry, I just -"

"You want to wake me up that way, I have zero complaints," I teased.

While Ellie groaned quietly in response, I titled my head down and met her still-sleepy gaze. She rolled off me and I wiggled my left hand's fingers until some of the feeling came back into my arm.

"No, sorry." She blinked open her eyes, then a slight shade of pink filled her cheeks when her fingers touched the damp corner of her lips. "Guess I still drool over you."

"Your words, not mine." Despite her definite morning appearance, I grinned down at her. With her slightly messy hair, bleary eyes, and morning breath, I still would've kissed her if she'd asked. "But again, no complaints."

She rolled onto her side and looked at me with now fully open, doe-shaped eyes. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Just did," I chuckled at myself, which only earned me a soft push into my still-numb left shoulder.

With my mind still on a good morning kiss and a lot more wishful thinking from my cock, I definitely hadn't expected when she asked, "What's with the boxes of condoms?"

Of all the questions she could've asked after our talk last night, that wasn't what I expected. I couldn't help myself but laughed until my shoulders and chest shook the bed slightly. I hadn't considered the possibility that she'd seen them when she brought my change of clothes after the guys took them after practice.

Wonder what else she found.

One of the condom boxes, sadly, Mom had given me. She actually gave me a box every year with a stern lecture for me not to make her a grandmother. That speech was a slightly different take from what she'd told Ellie while we dated and my usual response was that I'd rolled my eyes, taken the box, then never used them. I hadn't looked very hard before I found a guy on the team that happily used them instead, but I didn't know any of the Huskies' players that well yet.

The second box, however... that one had been a surprise.

"I'm serious!" She tested my no-kiss resolve when she pulled a false pout across her lips. "You're looking a bit... optimistic here."

"It's not that at all," I reassured her while my laughs subsided. "One of the boxes is from Mom, her own special contribution towards my college life, the other box was mailed to me and arrived the second week I was here."

That comment lifted her eyebrows higher. "From who?"

"Uhh..." I ran one hand over my head, then confessed quietly. "Harper."

"What!?" Ellie shot straight up in bed faster than I knew she was capable of moving. Her nose scrunched up into an adorable angry kitten face, irritation flashed in her eyes, and she balled her fists into the sheets. "Oh that is it! The underwear and dildo were enough, I will seriously be having a talk with her about boundaries... or lack of them."

No complaints on the underwear, other than what I did in the parking garage.

"I don't think she meant anything other than a joke." I slid out of bed, grabbed the box Harper had sent from the second drawer, then tossed it over to her. "Not to boost my own ego but those are extra-smalls."

"So..." Ellie frowned down at the box now in her hands. "She sent the wrong size?"

"Yup." I crossed my arms over my bare chest and smiled. "She included a note that these would be too big after she was done with me if I ever hurt you."

What I failed to share was the moment I read that note, when I'd laughed so hard that the UW mailroom's worker stared at me like I was crazy, that box delivery also cemented the reality that Ellie was my roommate. After that I waited, ridiculously excited like a kid before Christmas, until she arrived.

"I don't know whether to be horrified or appreciative," Ellie mumbled and tossed the box back at me. For a moment her eyes hovered on me, which I was more than fine with as I stood in just my boxer briefs. My skin warmed the longer I looked back at her... in the least sexiest pajamas she owned.

Still beautiful to me.

Thankfully, she just smiled and changed the subject, "I picked up a morning shift at the library today, just for two hours but have to be there at eleven. Do you want to come with me to the grocery store afterwards or should we do the new sofa pickup first?"

"Food first, but sure I'll come." I pulled out a T-shirt and a pair of socks from the dresser. "I just have the post-game workout and film review at three, so can I just pick you up?"

"Works for me. Are you too tired for sofa lifting after practice?" She flashed me a beautiful smile when I shook my head. "I'll do my blog update while you're at practice then. At some point, I also really want to give you a library tour."

"Sure." I knew where the library was but hadn't gotten further than the outside front steps from the pep rally.

"Sounds like a plan." She nodded slightly, then read my mind when she added, "But for now... breakfast?"

I returned her smile with a grin. "Of course."

After a ridiculously good breakfast of some egg and sausage thing Ellie whipped up, she left for work. Just as I finished the insane mountain of dishes, a heavy knock pounded through the living room.

"Is she okay?" Charlie blurted out before I even fully opened the door, to a very concerned look on her and Wes' face. Both of them squinted at me with narrowed eyes and downturned mouths like I'd done something wrong.

"Yeah." I stepped aside and let them in. "She's at work."

Charlie's blue eyes roamed all over me. She inspected my face like she had when she'd asked if I had any prior injuries during training camp, then traveled down over the sides of my neck and shoulders.

Wes stood behind her, his arms crossed over his chest and an expression that read either he was ready for my limb dismemberment or relieved that Ellie and I finally talked.

I wasn't sure exactly what Charlie looked for, but she finally broke her silence with an eyeroll, then reached into the pocket of her jeans and slapped her palm flat into Wes' chest. He burst into loud laughter, cupped his hand over hers, then smoothed out and held up a twenty dollar bill.

"Told ya," he chuckled at Charlie, pulled out his wallet, and pocketed the bill without a single amount of remorse on his face. On the contrary, he looked extremely pleased with himself about whatever the hell this was.

"Don't be a sore winner," she murmured. "Or I'll pretend I'm on my period for the next ten days."

Charlie's words instantly turned my stomach.

Maybe that's why Ellie was moody? No, no, no, not going there.

Right then I realized I hadn't thought about... that at all in relation to Ellie as my roommate. Before this reminder, I'd thought the worse issue was how her long hair had already almost clogged the shower drain.

A front row seat to shark week is the last thing I want.

While I internally debated how inappropriate the idea that I asked when Ellie's next period was, the question hung on the tip of my tongue. I pressed my mouth tightly closed until I remembered that I still had no idea why Charlie had just paid off Wes.

"Care to explain the payoff?" I eyed his wallet as he slipped it back into his pocket.

"We had a slight wager," Charlie grumbled under her breath, then waved her hand away. "Which I obviously lost, but please tell me if Ellie's okay or not."

"I think so," I admitted and steered them into the living room. "We talked a lot, I think it helped."

"Hmm..." she murmured more to herself than me or Wes and eyed the air mattress propped up against the wall with distaste. "I should've known better, Ellie's very stubborn. What if we pop a hole in it?"

"Still not winning your Benjamin back, babe," Wes teased, then flung his large frame right onto our sofa.

Before Charlie or I responded, since I still had no idea what this conversation was specifically about, the sofa erupted a loud crack, crumpled in half onto the floor, and took Wes down with it.

Oh shit.

"Wes!" Charlie and I shared a side glance, where she looked as horrified as I felt. Concern flooded through her voice when she cried out, "I told you not to sit down like that!"

Not one second later, with the incredulous look on Wes' face like he hadn't believed he'd just broken that piece of junk sofa, Charlie and I erupted into loud, hearty laughs. His hands and feet stuck out but the middle of the sofa looked like it had eaten his ass.

"It's not funny," he grumbled. The way he easily disentangled himself, obviously only his ego hurt.

"Yeah it is," I said between laughs that shook all the way down into my stomach. A slight stitch poked in my side but I just grasped it with one hand and laughed like an idiot.

"It's - ahh - I c-can't!" Charlie's cheeks were bright red as she gasped between laughs. "Your fat ass broke a sofa, Wes."

"It's not fat." He finally crawled out, then stood up and gave both of us a murderous glare. "It's muscle."

"Shit, I wished I'd taken a picture of that," she gasped again, then dragged her thumbs over the tears in the corners of her eyes. "Now you have to help move that with Logan to the dumpster."

"Should be easier." I looked down at the broken wood frame. "You free now, Wes?"

"Only if you stop laughing." His brown eyes shifted between the two of us, then put both his hands on his hips.

"Deal." I inhaled sharply. Charlie barely hid her giggles behind her hand while she held the door open for us. After a few trial and error rotations through the door, the sofa groaned just as much as we did down the stairs.

The morning air hit my face while Charlie held the outside door for us. With a few manly grunts and curse words, we chucked the sofa into the trash bin behind the apartment, then collected our breath.

My heart pounded in my ears but I grinned at him, "Thanks, bro. For breaking it."

"No problem," he took a slow breath, then eyed me suspiciously. His mouth opened but instead of a sarcastic response, he just asked, "You coming Wednesday?"

My head cocked slightly sideways. "What's Wednesday?"

"U-Dub movie night at the local theater," he filled me in with what I felt like weren't the full details. I must've given him a look that conveyed that thought because he added, "Ellie asked me and Charlie to go, like a group thing with her and Seth."

"Her and Seth," I mumbled the words that tasted horrible on my tongue. My forehead tensed, quickly followed by my fists. "That guy -"

"Has nothing on your history," Wes interrupted me but gave me a hard look. "You want Ellie left alone though, better put a claim on her."

"Like what, a hickey?" I snorted but the tension stayed in my hands. Somehow a giant bruise on Ellie's neck probably wasn't what she had in mind.

"Use your imagination," he mumbled and walked back to the apartment entrance. "Before someone else beats you to it."

Since I knew by now that he had no clue on the full story between Ellie and me, I just sighed. After a few moments of silent thought, an idea came to mind and I called out, "Hey, you busy right now?"

An hour after I thanked Wes for his help, I picked up Ellie at the front of the library. Thankfully, she only curiously glanced at my sweaty forehead and warm cheeks, but greeted me with a big smile that made my secret efforts worth it.

At work, Ellie apparently had done this week's meal planning that resulted in a long grocery list. After she went through what she had planned and I just nodded because what wouldn't I eat of hers at this point, she begged me for a slight detour.

"Please Logan?" Those dark, doe-shaped eyes looked up at me in a ridiculously unfair way.

"Really?" I groaned and tightened my hands around the steering wheel since her request was the last thing I wanted to do.

Her voice was also painfully soft and sweet. "Yes, please?"

This is so embarrassing.

I need to work it in my favor somehow.

"What do I get in return?" I asked her as my previous conversation with Wes replayed in my mind. "I'm the one driving here."

"Umm..." Based on her slightly parted lips, she hadn't expected that question. "Me cooking food for your ass all next week?"

"Nice try." I smiled and pulled my truck out in the direction she'd requested. "But you already agreed to that and I have the wrinkled, dishwashing hands of an eighty year-old to prove it."

A few minutes of Ellie's silent reflection later, she turned away from the side windows. My eyes stayed fixed on the road ahead of me, especially when I pulled onto the highway, but still felt the weight of her eyes on me.

"So..." Her fingers drummed softly onto the console between us. "What do you want?"

"Kiss for good luck before next week's game," I replied quickly. What I hadn't said was under what conditions I wanted it, before we left for the game in Arizona and right in front of the whole fucking team.

She definitely suspected something because her eyebrows lifted high. "Before your send off?"

I nodded silently, which rolled her lower lip under and she bit down, a sign she either considered my request or was uneasy about it. Finally, she just lifted her shoulders lightly and casually relented, "Okay."

"Good. Because there it is." I pointed one finger off the steering wheel and shook my head at the ridiculousness that approached on Ellie's side of the highway. "Exit five in all its glory."

After a few moments of silence, I glanced sideways at her, and groaned when I saw she'd pulled out her phone. She bit down on her lip harder but now, by the way her shoulders and chest twitched, she held back laughing.

Can't blame her there.

"Ellie," I warned her that no part of me appreciated her having a record of this.

"I have to send this to your mom, this is too good." She snorted softly, then read off, "Real Dawgs Wear Purple... What does that even mean?"

"I have no idea," I confessed and thankfully drove past the billboard with Emmitt, Wes, and me.

All three of us wore the purple away jerseys, with Emmitt front and center, me and Wes stood behind his left and right, and all three of us without a helmet and smiled like complete idiots. I had no idea why but the photographer altered our pictures slightly. Along with sun-tanned complexions, we all had enormous dimples in our cheeks, which for record, I didn't actually have.

"Dimples, priceless." Ellie snickered but thankfully tucked her phone back inside her purse.

Only for you Ellie.