Kickin' It (Red Card #2)(65)

“No,” he grumbled. “Yes. Maybe?”

“You love me.” I tightened my grip around his neck. You could have bounced a quarter off the muscles that tightened in his body. “It’s okay, I know you do. Real love sacrifices or stupidly thinks that the only way to know if it’s real is if you give it away, run away, fly, bird, fly . . . But, what if I want to be captured?”

“What bird wants to be captured?”

“One who has a fabulous boyfriend.” I sighed and pulled away, looking into his beautiful eyes. “One who really likes the cage. One who gets to sleep naked and eat tacos off her boyfriend’s six-pack—”

“We’ve never done that.”

“Yet,” I pointed out. “But I did just get signed to a professional team, so I’m thinking taco Tuesday on your six-pack is in our future.”

“Only if I get to eat your taco—”

“GUYS!” Willow yelled from the other room. “Stop talking so loud, it’s embarrassing, and frankly, I think the plant heard you. It just died.”

I rolled my eyes and pressed a kiss to Matt’s mouth. “I’m yours if you’ll have me.”

“I’ll have my decision after taco Tuesday.” He grinned against my lips and then deepened the kiss, his head angling as he gripped my ass.

And then another sigh from Matt.

“Stop that! You’re ruining my happy!” I swatted him on the shoulder.

“I’m old.” He hung his head.

“Wait, you’ve been spending weeks trying to convince us you’re not old.”

“To you, I’m old.” He winced like it came out wrong. “I just, I guess this is my way of saying I want to protect you.”

“Great.” I parted his lips with my tongue and lingered there, tasting him, reveling in his perfect kiss, the faint smell of his skin. “Protect me by staying at my side and in my arms, not by leaving me.”

He exhaled, dragging his mouth against mine, drugging me with his taste as he held me tight against him. “I can do that.”

“So about those tacos . . .”





Chapter Thirty-Two MATT

“At least let me drive you to practice.” I crossed my arms while Parker ran around me and grabbed a banana then tried to pry open her shaker cup using one hand.

Sighing, I took it from her, filled it with ice and water, then grabbed two scoops of protein and dumped it in. “You get your extra water bottle?”

“Yeah, and the hydration supplements you ordered for me last week.” She flashed me a wink, I tried not to gape but she was beautiful, mine. Clean skin, huge smile. Strong legs. Mine.

“Awesome. The extra pair of cleats is already in your bag, and I packed information about a few sponsorships for you to look over. Willow, in all her agent knowledge, said to give you time to adjust, but I pulled the boyfriend card and said I was excited to see who was interested. Then she wouldn’t shut up about it. Remember, you can always say no.” I turned to see Parker grinning at me from ear to ear. She was wearing a Seattle practice jersey, short black shorts, and knee-high socks. I wanted to strip her naked and beg her to stay home.

My home.

Our home.

We still hadn’t discussed what would happen after the summer was over.

Would she move out and find her own place with Willow like they planned? Or would I just beg her to stay like I planned?

The prospect of not having her in the house felt like a kick in the gut. But Parker deserved this moment. It was her first practice, and I’d like to think that as her boyfriend I did even better than as her coach in getting her completely stretched out, sore in all the right places, and ready to go.

“Why are you smiling at me like that?” she asked, a little breathless like she could read my mind and all the dirty thoughts floating around in there.

I tossed her the protein shake and crossed my arms. So damn pretty.

Parker laughed. “You’re cute when you’re worried. You know that your vein’s popped out again, right?”

I instantly touched the vein and then flipped her off. “Cute.”

“Hey.” She spread her arms wide. “You fell for it.”

I tackle-hugged her and then swung her around, dangling the key fob to one of my five cars in front of her. “Don’t tell Willow I let you take the Benz.”

“I swear.” She winked and reached for the fob.

I jerked it away. “No speeding.”

“Are you my boyfriend or my dad?”

I pulled her against me so she could feel what she did to me, the heat of arousal even just standing next to her was almost painful. “I think you know the answer to that question.”

She cupped me, and then bit down on my neck.

I growled and pushed her against the counter, capturing her mouth with mine and pressing the fob against her palm. “If you don’t leave now, I’m going to be the one driving, and it won’t be a car.”

“Ah, good one.” She slapped my ass and made her way around me, grabbing all her gear. “I’ll call you when practice is done, okay?”

“Okay . . . and, Parker?” I hated ruining her day, but it needed to be addressed.

“Yeah?” She was halfway to the door.