The Crush (83)

By the time we untangled from the stairs and tumbled into the California King dominating the center of my bedroom, I’d stripped off my clothes, and then littered the floor with Adaline’s.

We hardly spoke, between kisses and panting touches. I held her hands down on the bed with one of mine, her hips tilting as I filled her up. She tossed her head back, arching her back, and took every slow, rolling thrust with a sighing whimper. Sometimes, she said my name, sometimes we shared sweet, slow, long, licking kisses as we stretched out this first time.

Even when she rocked her hips and tugged her hand out to grip my back, I kept my pace measured because the thought of this ending was unbearable.

It was everything I’d ever wanted from her.

“I love you,” I said, my mouth brushing hers.

“I love you too,” she whispered.

Hearing those words, with our bodies locked together, it pushed the pleasure past a point where I could maintain control.

It didn’t take long for either of us when my pace turned sharper and harder, when her whimpering sighs slipped to moans and a body-wracking release. Toppling over the edge right after her, I shouted her name into the sweat-slicked skin of her shoulder.

I curled my arms around her as I settled on my side so we could catch our breath.

After a couple of minutes, Adaline nuzzled into my chest. “You know what I think?”

I glanced down with a quirked eyebrow. “You can think right now? I may have to try again.”

She pinched my chest, and I laughed.

“Tell me.”

Adaline sighed. “I think you should finish the season here.”

I pulled back to study her face. “What?”

She swallowed. “I mean, unless you don’t want to work for that guy anymore, which I totally get. But … he may get in trouble anyway, right? I can’t imagine you leaving your team in the middle of a season like that. That’s not you.”

The sincerity in her face was enough to break me. This woman could absolutely wreck me, given the chance. And I trusted, without a shadow of a doubt, that she never would. That was why it was so easy to love her.

Adaline laid her hand over my heart, her eyes locked on mine. “It won’t be fun to travel back and forth, and I’ll miss you terribly when I can’t be down here.” She inhaled and then let it out in one great big gust. “But I know you. I know what it means to you—to lead your team with integrity, to be the kind of man your father is. That’s who I fell in love with. And I think you should finish here, take the offers that might come in, and see if they’ll let you sign after the season is done.”

It was the right thing to do. I could see it in her eyes, feel it screaming in my gut.

I didn’t need to fight the impatient feeling anymore, that I needed to restructure my life for a chance with Adaline.

She was the thing that would keep my world upright and strong.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, voice a fierce whisper. “And I know you’re not either. Missing you will be the best proof in the world that I’ve made the right choice. Because I could only miss you that much if you had my whole heart.” She laughed under her breath. “I think you always have.”

I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face into the silky softness of her hair.

Nothing needed to be decided tonight.

So many things needed to happen before I could even attempt to make a decision about where I wanted to play.

And tonight … the only thing I needed to do was love her.





January

Emmett



The ball was held in the air, all eyes glued to it, the mood celebratory and the air thick with stadium-shaking energy.

“This ball can only go to one person today,” Coach said, his gaze moving around the packed, sweaty, stinky locker room.

Darius shoved at my shoulder. “Only you, QB,” he barked. “He’s hiding back here.”

The guys around us started yelling, shoving me toward the center of the room.

“Get your ass up here, Ward.”

I dragged a sweaty towel over my soaked face, then walked through the yelling, cheering members of my team. They all took turns bumping my fist, shoving at my back, smacking my ass. When I was next to Coach, I set my hands on my hips and shook my head when I noticed Josh holding up his phone, recording the whole damn thing.

Coach set one big hand on my shoulder. “This guy…” He shook his head. “The most stubborn son of a bitch I’ve ever met.”

There were yells and whistles and more than one guy laughing.

“That’s the only way you can describe someone who’s down by eighteen in the fourth quarter of our last game of the season, and he refuses to give up on the game.”

I dropped my chin to my chest as the guys cheered.

“In five fucking minutes, he threw three touchdowns and ran more yards than his slow ass has managed all damn season.”

The volume around us erupted again.

The mood in the locker room was the kind of high that made all the lows of this game worth it.

The mood on the field after we won on a Hail Mary with the clock winding down made me so thankful Adaline insisted I stay through the remainder of the season. See it through to the end.

In the corner of the locker room, Ned’s father kept a low profile but smiled at the jubilant celebration. I gave him a deferential nod. Thanks to him, I’d been able to stay with Ft. Lauderdale without having to answer to Ned for a single thing. When he got wind of his son’s indiscretions—more that had come to life in the last few months—he wasted no time plucking the reins of ownership out of Ned’s hands.