by Fields, MJ
“By who?” Delaney asked.
Violet pointed to Deena.
“Ladies, whatever you five want, it’s on the house tonight.”
“No need, I’ve got them,” Roman answered.
“No, let me. I’ll send Savannah right up.” Delaney turned to Deena. “Come with me.”
“Oh, Deena.” Cami stopped her. “I heard that you were planning on trying out for our cheerleading squad. One thing I pride above all else is a good attitude, routines can be taught, personality can’t.”
I was stunned at the way Cami emphasized the word were.
“Ladies, it was lovely seeing you all but if you don’t mind, I would like some time with my girl,” Roman announced. Violet patted her heart. I stood and he instantly pulled me into his arms. “God, I’ve missed you.” His warm breath as he spoke was a balm to this crappy evening.
“Hey, what can I get you all to drink?” another waitress who I assumed must be Savannah asked.
“My girl wants a Prosecco. I’ll take a Murphy’s Red,” Roman ordered.
“How did you know what I liked to drink?”
“One, when are you going to get it through your head. I know you, I know everything about you. You’re it for me, baby.”
Seven
Roman
“Ms. Crossman will see you now, Mr. Gallagher,” Natalie’s assistant said as she hung up the phone on her desk.
I stood, blew out my breath, and adjusted my jacket. This was it. The day of reckoning in more than one way. For one thing, I would finally learn whether I would make roster. Two, and most important to me, I needed to inform the team owner and general manager of my intentions with Avery. I couldn’t remember if there was ever anything mentioned about fraternization among employees.
Upon entering the room, I found Natalie at her desk, accompanied by Grace and George who were already seated. Natalie waved me to the one empty chair immediately in front of her. I took my seat and searched her face for a hint of what was to come but found nothing. This woman had to be one hell of a poker player.
Natalie opened a manila folder on her desk to reveal a short memo and pushed her glasses up her nose. She read the brief summary before she flipped the folder shut and clasped her hands together.
“Mr. Gallagher. I have Dr. Hanover’s assessment from your follow-up with her yesterday. How do you feel you did?” Fuck, this woman was killing me. Why couldn’t she get to the point?
“Well, I think pretty good,” I admitted and sat forward in my chair. “She put me through the MRI again and she seemed hopeful when I saw her afterward, though she admitted she still had to get a follow-up reading from another radiologist.”
“Yes, that’s correct. His follow-up is what I just read when you walked in here.” Natalie’s statement hung in the air, her eyes narrowing on me, her face devoid of emotion.
“George, your assessment of Mr. Gallagher’s performance?” Natalie asked, apparently done with me for the moment.
“I began to put Mr. Gallagher through basic drills this week. No contact. He did very well and I could detect no perceivable loss in dexterity or speed. Whatever Avery has been doing has been working and I would like to be so bold to ask that we pull her into a more driver’s-seat approach with all of our players. If Roman can maintain what he had with an injured back, imagine what magic Avery could work with prime-health players.” My jaw tightened with George’s suggestion, I didn’t like the thought of my One’s hands on other men.
Natalie’s eyes darted to the ceiling and she nodded slowly. “You may have something there. Put together a proposal for me and schedule a time next week. Bring who you need.” She paused and looked back at me. “George, your assessment of Mr. Gallagher is quite inspiring. Am I to assume you are recommending him for roster?”
“Yes, ma’am. I recommend Mr. Gallagher be placed on the team roster as running back.”
“Grace? What are your thoughts?” Natalie turned her attention to the General Manager.
“I concur with Coach Goddard, Mr. Gallagher has earned a spot on the team. Also, Dr. Hanover visited me personally following her assessment of Mr. Gallagher. She expressed to me the same sentiments concerning Avery as Coach Goddard did. That her opinion of Avery’s performance was nothing short of remarkable and we should consider her for more challenging roles.”
A warm smile crossed Natalie’s lips at the news, my god the woman did have a heart. “Bring your ideas with George next week when we meet again. I should be back from my meeting with the league by Wednesday afternoon.”
The smile on her lips quickly vanished and Natalie leveled me with a look. The sound of my heart pounded in my ears and I swear the room’s temperature dropped ten degrees. “Mr. Gallagher,” she paused before her warm smile came back, “welcome back on to the Suns.”
I shot out of my chair at the news and everyone stood and congratulated me. We exchanged small talk for a few minutes while I gathered the courage for the second thing I wanted to discuss.
Feeling I could delay no more, I politely interrupted. “Ms. Crossman. I do have one other thing I need to discuss before I leave. It’s very important to me.”
Natalie smiled and waved everyone back into their seats. “The floor is yours.”
I took my seat and straightened my back. “Seems everyone here has news concerning Avery and I would like to add mine as well.”
Natalie’s eyebrow rose and a curious look covered her face but I continued. “I don’t know how to say this so I will just spit it out. Avery and I have fallen in love.”
“Why do you feel the need to bring this to my attention, Mr. Gallagher?”
“Because I intend to marry her.” I held Natalie’s eyes. “I’m not sure exactly what fraternization policy you have in place. So, I am basically here to ask you permission for Avery’s hand.”
Natalie cast a glance at Grace who held a bewildered look on her face. “Do we have a fraternization policy, Grace?”
“Not that I am aware of, but his request does have merit. It is common in the league for teams to have language disallowing any sort of romantic relationships between its employees. While I always regarded those policies as barbaric and medieval, there is a case for protecting the club’s name from social media drama should a dating relationship go sideways.”
Natalie nodded her head. “I can see the concern. We live in a glass world. George, your thoughts?”
“I agree. We have million-dollar athletes and the team deserves a million-dollar effort from them. I also don’t agree with the No-rule, everyone has a life and we don’t want to lose talent because we exclude them from having one. We just need limits.”
“Mr. Gallagher, this has been a very helpful discussion, but maybe not in the way you intended it since I have not yet provided an answer. I am going to ask Grace to take input from her team and pull together a club-rule on this subject. I will expect an answer from her two weeks from now. But, in the meantime.” Natalie let her statement hang in the air and I froze in my chair. “My answer is yes, Mr. Gallagher, and I expect an invitation. Grace, be sure the policy includes a marriage clause as long as the couple are not direct reports to each other.”
My shoulders dropped and I exhaled, finally able to breathe again. If the answer had been no then I would have married Avery anyway and taken my lumps as they fell. Having Avery and a job though? Bonus. “I know I’m really pushing it here, but I have a secondary request that goes along with this.”
Natalie cocked her head and waited. “My name for Avery is One. She is my One and she will always be my One. I want to propose to her by presenting her with a Suns jersey with my name on the back and the number one below it. Since I want the team logos on the jersey, I definitely need your permission for it.”
Natalie leaned forward and her eyes took on a devious look. Maybe there was more to this woman than I thought. She could play cold-bitch better than anyone I could imagine, but I also sensed a deep passion beneath her cold professional exteri
or.
“I think that is a great idea, Roman,” she said and I took note of the first time she had called me by my first name. “I don’t think we have a team player claiming the number one, do we, George?” George shook his head no. “I didn’t think so. Consider it done.”
Ten men couldn’t erase the smile on my lips as I stood and vigorously shook Natalie’s hand. “Thank you, ma’am. Really, thank you. You have put me on top of the world.”
Natalie rose from her chair, she held my hand and smiled. “No, Mr. Gallagher. You and Avery did that.”
Eight
Roman
“Here.” I held out the box to Avery.
“What’s this?”
“Open it. From me to you, a thank you gift.”
“Thank you, for what?” She looked puzzled.
I pulled Avery into my arms. “A lot of things but right now I’m specifically talking about helping me, making sure that I was ready to play. You believed in me, you fought for me to stay on the roster and keep me in the lineup, I’ll never be able to repay you. This is just something small from me to you. Hopefully it will remind you what you mean to me.” I rolled my eyes. “Now are you going to open it or what?”
Avery carefully lifted the lid and pulled out her very own official Suns jersey in size extra small.
“I have my own jersey!” Avery exclaimed. “But it has a one on it, not a twenty-two like yours.”
I chuckled, turning it around. Across the top it still said Gallagher. “That’s because you’re my One and everyone who sees this will know it.”
“Really?”
“Don’t sound so shocked, I’ve told you, you’re it for me. It’s time the world knows it. I want you to wear that. Will you?” I waited, had no clue how much this answer had truly meant to me until I heard her single word.
“Yes.” Avery pulled one corner of her lower lip in between her teeth and nibbled. I swear that I felt that simple gesture straight to my dick. Rubbing a thumb across her lip, I loosened the hold she had on it. “Yes.”
“Stop biting your lip, it turns me on.”
Avery’s sweet and innocent yes was gone and now she had a wicked smile painted across her face. “Then take me home and let’s see what else I can do to turn you on and you can finish thanking me.”
“Agghhh,” I let out a long pent-up moan. “Baby, the things you do to me.”
“I’ll follow you in my car if that’s okay?”
“Sure, One, whatever works best.” Of course, I’d like her to ride with me and for us to ride in tomorrow together but I wasn’t going to push it, not over this, because tonight I was going to push her spending the night, all night.
I only had two reserved parking spots at my condo and since I found myself driving the Land Rover more often than I did the Charger, I had moved the Charger to storage so Avery could have her own spot. Sure, some of the guys gave me a hard time about driving the family car. But it was more than that, it had a better safety rating and now with Avery as a passenger sometimes I had precious cargo to think about.
I pulled into the condo and checked my rearview mirror to make sure that she had no problem getting through and smiled when the guard actually stopped to wave and say hello to her. God, the woman was adorable.
Hurrying out of my car, I raced over to hers to meet her.
“Roman, can you carry this for me?” She handed me a heavy bag.
“Good god, Avery, what’s in here, a ton of bricks?”
“Oh, never mind, just leave it in my car.”
“Baby, I wasn’t complaining, I was just teasing. I’d do anything for you, you know that.” She bit that damn lower lip. “There you go biting that lip, drives me crazy.” I leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. Then we headed for the elevators. “So what’s in here?”
“I did some shopping, I hope you don’t mind.” She sounded hesitant and that was so unlike her.
“Okay?” I was waiting for the punchline.
“I bought doubles of all my stuff, you know my shampoo, makeup, hair stuff. I can keep it in my car.”
My heart was beating a million miles a minute at these words. “Ah, hell no, you can set it up in our bathroom.”
“You don’t mind?”
“One, I’ve been asking you for almost two weeks to stay the night, now I just want you to move in. There’s no need for you to keep your apartment when we have this one, it’s bigger and closer to work.”
We stepped off the elevators and headed for my corner condo. The complex wasn’t huge but it was designed for people who weren’t hurting for money. God, I sounded like a snob just saying that. But it was seven stories and each floor was divided into four condos, in other words I had an entire corner of the building on the fifth floor. Sure, people think the top floor is the best but I’m a fucking Florida native, I leave that for the yanks, they can have their penthouses. I know all too well that the top floor can’t ever get as cool as the lower floors, not only does heat rise but the sun beats down on the roof top all fucking day long.
As soon as we were in the condo, the door closed, and then I twisted the deadbolt. I set the alarm, dropped her bag to the floor, then swept her up into my arms.
“One, you’re it, baby. God, I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too, Roman.”
I carried Avery into our bedroom and gingerly laid her on the bed. Treating her like the goddess she was, I knelt at the edge of the bed and first removed her shoes before sliding my hands up the calves of her legs and trailing kisses along the way. When I reached the juncture between her legs, I blew several warm breaths of air before standing, and quickly undressing down to my boxers.
“This is where you belong, god, I knew that you would look incredible in my bed.” I took her mouth and our tongues tangoed, the dance was sensual and urgent.
She slid a hand into my boxers and I groaned when she found my rock hard cock. Slipping out of her reach and returning my attention to her, I raised the hem of her shirt, following its journey with my mouth, finally stopping at her breasts. Her nipples were perk, I pinched each one, slowly rubbing them between my index finger and thumb before lowering my mouth and sucking. Gliding my tongue over the sensitive tip and relishing in each of the tiny mewls that escaped her lips.
“I need you, Roman. I need you inside me.”
“Oh, I will, baby, I promise. You just have a few orgasms to go first.”
Avery sat straight up, her hands smacking against the bed, “A few? You’re gonna kill me.”
“Oh, but what a way to go, now lie back and enjoy.” I scooted down her body taking her jeans off along with her panties.
Pulling her to the edge of the bed, I tossed her knees over my shoulders, and lowered my mouth to her sweet center.
Eating pussy was a skill, there were amateurs and then there were professionals. I think the biggest discerning factor between the two was you had to be in love with your woman. I don’t mean just love her, I mean all consuming, know every inch of her kind of love. Because one didn’t simply go in to just lick, they went in to savor. Like when I did this, I dragged my tongue up one side of her clit and then down the other. Avery released tiny pulses of air that she’d been holding. Or when I did this, I slid my tongue inside her and she let out a long moan while her toes curled. Each movement created a different reaction and it was my pleasure in learning each one. But more than that, I choreographed routines so that she was always swept off her feet and I could hear a different melody of sweet pleasure escaping her lips as she begged me to come inside her. I knew that she talked to her friends about the things we did and they didn’t get it, that’s because they hadn’t found what we had, not yet.
I returned my full attention to One’s pleasure, sucking, lightly nibbling on her clit and driving her to orgasm. When her fingers slid into my hair and she pressed my head so tight against her, it was her sign that she was close. I moved one hand under her and slipped two fingers inside, one in each hole as I sucked a
nd sucked.
When Avery came, it was music. Before the final strings of her orgasm had stilled, I pulled my fingers free and had climbed on top of her.
“Holy fuck, Roman, what did you do?”
“Did you like it?” Avery looked a little apprehensive. “Be honest with me.” I waited for her answer, I’d been a little worried about it, since we had never tried anal play.
“Yes, but it felt different. A good different but different, I think I was more shocked than anything.”
“Baby, let me tell you, when I’m inside you pounding, and you think you are about to come, let me slide a finger in then, it will blow your mind.”
“Really?”
“Promise.” I stared into her beautiful eyes that held such trust.
“Just a finger, right?”
“One, you’re not ready for anything else, but if you want to try more we can slowly work up to it, but the key word is slow.”
“I’d like that.”
Holy fuck, hearing her say that, I thought I’d come right then and there. The mere thought of sinking into her pussy was one thing but sliding into her dark, tight, forbidden area had me ready to blow.
“How do you need me so you can slide a finger in?” Avery asked somewhat timidly.
“On all fours, baby.” Please let me last for more than two minutes, I quietly begged my cock, this woman–my woman was so fucking hot.
Gripping onto her waist, I held her perfectly shaped ass against me and slowly sank into her pussy giving her time to enjoy this new position. I felt like king of the mountain looking down on all the riches that were mine as I gazed upon her.
I thrust and she moaned.
“Holy fuck, Avery, you’re perfect.” I continued pushing inside her, gliding in and out. Her breathing was labored, her skin a rosy red, and my fingers leaving indents in her hips.
“I love this, Roman, oh my god, you’re so deep,” Avery cried.
At that exclamation, I reached around with one hand and massaged her clit, and leaning slightly back, I took my other hand and slid one finger inside her as I made love to the woman I wanted for the rest of my life.