Autumn Leaves (Watty Awards 2013)(Editing)

Chapter 30

“Ughh,” Nicki groaned as the alarm on her phone went off.

Seconds later, Tyler’s alarm went off as well. He joined her with a groan of his own. His pounding head reminded him of everything that had happened the night before. He rolled over onto his back and covered his face with his hands.

“We won the cup,” he said in disbelief. “We won the fucking cup.”

Nicki sat up and looked at him, stroking his chest with her right hand.

“Yeah, babe. You did.”

He uncovered his face and looked at her, nearly choking on his own saliva when he saw her.

“Holy shit. You need to look in a mirror,” he said, trying to stifle a laugh. If his head didn’t hurt so bad, he would have been cracking up.

“Are you talking about my messy hair or the bite mark on my shoulder?”

He finally let out the laughter. “Both, I guess. And the seventeen hickeys that are all over your body. I did that?”

She nodded. “You don’t remember?”

“I do. I just can’t believe I did that to you. Does it hurt?”

He watched as Nicki reached to touch her shoulder. “Only when I touch it. Good thing you don’t have rabies,” she teased, “You broke the skin.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, bringing a hand up to her face.

“No you’re not.”

“You’re right, I’m not.”

They laughed together. The night before was one that they wouldn’t soon forget. After spending the night club hopping, they’d finally retreated back to the apartment around three. Some of the guys stayed out later, but Tyler and Nicki couldn’t hold themselves back any longer. It had been another evening of body shots and grinding. As if there hadn’t been enough friction between them earlier that day.

When they finally made it back to the apartment, they exploded on each other. It was a wonder that Nicki hadn’t ended up in the hospital. The teeth marks on her skin said it all.

“Well, I’m not sorry for doing that to you, either,” she said proudly.

Tyler glanced down at his body. He wasn’t surprised he’d woken up naked. From his neck all the way down to his thighs were dozens of hickeys and marks left from love bites. He looked like a bruised Dalmatian. He traced over a few of them with his fingers, recalling the memory of how he got each of them. He shuddered at the thought. Tyler didn’t know it was possible for someone to make him feel the way she had last night.

“Oh, and I’m not apologizing for the marks on your back, either. It’s a shame, really. You have a very nice looking back.”

Tyler chuckled. Now that she mentioned it, he could feel a slight stinging between his shoulder blades. He wrapped his arms around Nicki, leaving kisses all over her skin. He could hear her giggling softly. When he stopped, he rested his head on her collarbone.

Nicki kissed the top of his head and whispered, “You were amazing last night.”

“In the game or in bed?”

“Both. But I was talking more about after the game.”

Tyler tilted his head and pressed his lips to her neck. Amazing was one of the many words he could use to describe the night before, none of which could fully describe what it had been like.

“I’m not even sure what you were last night,” he said chuckling.

“Horny just about sums it up.”