by Toni Aleo
“While he was with you?” Phillip asked, already hating the guy.
“Yeah. It completely broke me, and it has taken me a long time to get over him. I sometimes think I still love him, and I know that there will never be a love like that again. That’s why I’m emotionally unavailable, because I don’t want to be in a relationship with some guy and have him fall in love with me when I can’t fall for him. It isn’t fair, but it’s how I’m programmed now.”
“Are you sure?”
She looked up, confused. “Sure?”
“That you’re programmed like that. Have you tried after douchebag?”
She smiled, only for a second, before shaking her head. “No, I haven’t.”
“Then how do you know?”
She eyed him for a second and then asked, “Are you suggesting I try with you?”
He didn’t answer right away. He could see in her eyes that she was looking for a reason to run, and he’d be damn if he was going to give it to her. He had to play his cards right or this woman would shut him out so quickly that he wouldn’t know what hit him, and he couldn’t let that happen. He enjoyed her way too much. If she wanted to keep things light, fine, he could work with that. It might be something she wanted now, but if he worked hard and kept his eyes on the prize, he would score.
And if there was one thing he was good at, it was scoring. On and off the ice.
With a careless chuckle, Phillip said, “Heck no, I like what we have. I’m just saying.”
She eyed him only for a second before smiling back at him. “Me too.”
“Good, now hurry up and finish, so I can take you home and make you scream.”
She laughed. “Do I even need to ask how you plan on doing that?”
Shooting her a grin, he said, “Nope, I’m pretty sure you know exactly what that entails.”
“Yeah, me naked.”
“Yup, and in my mouth.”
She took in a sharp breath before biting her lip. Looking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes, she breathlessly said, “I’m suddenly full.”
“Good, let’s go.”
Throwing three twenties on the table, he stood and reached for the woman that he hoped to make his. It wasn’t going to be easy, and it was going to take a lot of work to build the trust they needed for a relationship, but for once, Phillip Anderson had met the woman he was ready to try for.
“DON’T YOU think we bought enough boy stuff?”
Claire snickered beside Reese as she held all the blue crap Harper kept throwing at her. Harper shook her head as she continued to pick up little blue outfits.
“No way, they are having a great sale!”
“The same sale they’ll have in two weeks! Why don’t you wait?”
Harper turned and set Reese with a dirty look. “You can leave.”
Reese glared right back at Harper as Claire laughed beside them. “No, you promised me food.”
“Yes, so hush. Let me shop, and then I’ll feed you.”
Letting out an annoyed breath, Reese knew she should have never gone over to Harper’s house today. She knew today was when they would find out the sex of their baby but no, Claire wanted the music from the dance they we working on and, because Reese had a soft spot for the girl, she rushed over to get it to her. Then Harper promised her food to celebrate the baby but instead of going straight to the restaurant like she thought, she was parading through damn Carters with Harper as she squealed and gushed over every damn blue thing in the store.
It was annoying.
Reese loved Ally and Dimitri, she did, and now she would love the new baby, but she hated shopping for baby stuff. It always turned the mom-to-be into a freaking idiot, cooing and gushing over miniature-sized things for a baby that was going to grow out of it faster than a weed, and then shit and piss all over it. It was insane and stupid. Why couldn’t the kid just wear diapers for the first year? Why spend thousands of dollars on clothes and things when the little thing was just going to grow out of it!
It made no sense and completely boggled Reese’s mind, which was the main reason why she was never having children. It wasn’t that she didn’t love kids. She was a dance teacher and she loved her niece and nephew, but kids were freaking expensive and then there was the chance that you could mess them up, or some fuck up could fuck them up, and then what? With Ally and Dimitri, she knew they were taken care of. Harper and Piper were two strong women, both married to good, strong men, but Reese would never find a man like the Titov brothers. She wasn’t going to put herself through looking for another man that would more than likely hurt her like Kevin, so instead of having that fairy tale ending, she would settle for the cool aunt.
And she was cool with that, but when a quick image of Phillip holding a little brown-haired, blue-eyed baby came to mind, she stopped and braced herself against the wall. She had no clue where that crazy image came from, but it needed to go the hell away. Things with Phillip were light and fun. He was great, and they had a blast together, but babies were in no way, shape, or form ever going to happen between them. That would involve her actually opening up to someone, and that was a laughable event in itself! Writing the image off as a reminder to go to the OBGYN to make sure her IUD was well in place and nothing more, Reese groaned as she followed Harper around the damn store.
An hour later, as they stood by the socks, Reese was ready to say the hell with lunch when Claire glanced over at Reese and said, “When Phillip gets back, can we come in so I can show him my solo?”
Reese nodded as Harper asked, “When does Phillip come home? With Jakob’s arm being messed up and keeping him from playing. I have no clue what the schedule is.”
“Friday,” Reese said at the same time Claire did.
Claire’s brows came together, and Reese promptly picked up a pair of blue socks and decided they were the most fascinating socks ever.
“Oh, Harper, these are too cute!” she said quickly, but Claire was still watching her.
“How did you know when Phillip is getting home?”
Thinking quickly, she said, “You told me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Reese cocked her head towards Harper. “Then she did.”
“Why would I ask if I already knew, Reese?’ Harper asked with a ‘come on’ kind of look. She then eyed Reese suspiciously. “Your face is bright red, what are you hiding?”
Shit!
Gathering her wits, she laughed as she waved them off. “Not a damn thing, I don’t know how I knew. I could have sworn one of you told me. Why does it matter anyways? Come on, I’m hungry.”
When neither of them moved, both eyeing her, she laughed again. “What?”
“Nothing, just thinking,” Harper said with a small smile.
“About?”
“The fact that you and Phillip would be cute together, really good together.”
Reese could feel Claire’s eyes on her and knew that this conversation needed to end. NOW.
“What the hell ever; he is so not my type.”
“Yes he is, he has a penis, that’s the first step,” Harper said with a laugh.
This was true but still. “Bitch!”
Expectant mothers and parents alike shot Reese dirty looks, but she didn’t care. Harper continued to laugh while she shook her head. “I’m just kidding…kind of, but really, y’all would be cute together. I wonder why I never thought of it before. Hmm…”
“Because it will never happen. I don’t want to be with anyone, you know that.”
“Why?”
Harper and Reese both turned to look at Claire. Her eyes were wide, looking right into Reese’s soul.
“Um. Well. I was hurt pretty bad by a POS, so I tend to stay away from guys.”
Claire face scrunched up. “But I’ve heard that you’re always with guys.”
As much as she was glad the conversation of her and Phillip was over, this wasn’t one she wanted to go into. Plus, who the hell said she was always with guys? She kept her nigh
tly shenanigans out of the light. What the hell?
“Well, you see, while you should wait until you’re married—”
“I’m sixteen, almost seventeen, I get that you can have sex without love and stuff like that.”
“You shouldn’t know that,” Harper said with a shake of her head as she started towards something else that was blue.
“Well I do, and I get it.”
“Then we’re good,” Reese said, picking up another outfit and throwing it in their pile. It was cute. It had little dogs on it.
“Not really,” Claire said softly.
Reese looked back. “Why’s that?”
Claire moved her hand into her hair before kicking at the ground. She then looked up at her, and Reese felt like she had kicked the girl. She looked so worried, so hurt and unsure of herself.
“I don’t want you to hate me.”
Reese’s head cocked to the side. “I would never do that.”
“You will if you get with Phillip. He’ll break your heart.”
She wasn’t sure why she was about to entertain this conversation, but she needed to know. “Why would I hate you if he broke my heart? Not saying he will, because we aren’t together,” she said, directing her comment to her sister, who was eyeing her. She then looked at Claire before continuing, “People break up all the time, Claire.”
“I know, but Phillip always hurts people. He hurt me, he hurt my mom and grandma, and even the girl he apparently loved.”
Wow, talk about some deep, pressing issues these two had.
Reaching out, she took a hold of Claire’s hand. “The point is moot, kiddo. I’m not dating Phillip.”
They shared a long look. Claire looked skeptical, but thankfully said. “Okay.”
“Okay, now I really do think you and Phillip need to discuss your feelings. You two have issues,” she joked.
Claire smiled. “It’s getting better. As much as I want to hate him for leaving me, he’s making up for it.”
“He loves you,” Reese declared, “very much.”
Claire moved her fingers through her hair. “I know.”
“Good.”
“Come on, you two. Let’s go pay and get some lunch,” Harper called out towards them.
“Thank God!” Reese joked as she wrapped her arms around Claire’s shoulders and started for Harper. She tried to ignore her pounding heart, but it was hard. She hated lying to Claire, but no one could know about her and Phillip right now. Really, there wasn’t anything to know. They were just fooling around. No reason to get everyone all twisted in a knot over it.
Reese sure wasn’t in knots…
Where are you at?
Phillip leaned against the wall of the arena with a grin on his face. He had been excited about seeing Reese all day but, like always, she was late. After being gone for three away games in the east, he was glad to be back home. Not only did he miss Claire, he missed Reese. They talked every day, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted to touch her, and feel her against him. He was hard just thinking about her.
I’m turning in. Sorry, I suck.
You don’t suck, but I do have something you can suck on.
When his phone started ringing, he laughed. Answering, he said, “Too much?”
“I almost crashed my fucking car! Jeez.”
“Shouldn’t text and drive, it’s dangerous,” he said as his smiled grew when he saw her pulling in.
“I wasn’t. I was at a stop light and then all of a sudden, I get that and almost take out a beamer.”
“Damn women drivers,” he teased as he watched her park her little blue Prius.
“Haha,” she said as she slammed the door and then hung up her phone. “Ass,” she then called out to him as she made her way to him. He always loved the way she walked, but most of all, he loved the way she looked. She was gorgeous, but she had such a carefree look. In a pair of tight black jeans, a white, over-sized tee, and a bright yellow scarf, she looked great, but the best part was her hair. He loved how long it was, and how it fell bone straight down her shoulders. He wanted nothing more than to eat her up. Ever since she said hockey wasn’t sexy, he had made it his mission to show her it was. He had a whole day planned, full of skating and shooting pucks, and then hopefully him scoring at the end. Off the ice, of course. Or on. Really anywhere in his opinion. With the look in her eyes, he was sure it wouldn’t be too hard.
Stopping in front of him with a sneaky grin, she said, “Hey there.”
He wanted to say he missed her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let go but, instead, he said, “Hey.”
“So why am I meeting you here?”
He reached for the door, opening and directing her in as he said, “You said hockey wasn’t sexy, so I’m going to prove you wrong.”
“Oo, I must say, I’m a little excited for this.”
He watched as she walked passed him and took in the beauty of her nice ass before following behind her.
“You should be,” he said as they walked down the hall that would lead them to the locker rooms before taking them to the ice. The arena was empty today. The team had practice this morning, but everyone was already gone. Phillip decided today was the perfect time to take Reese on the ice. They wouldn’t be bothered, and that’s how he wanted it, just in case they wanted to get freaky on the ice.
One could hope.
Nothing else was said as the two made their way to the locker room. Once there, Phillip had some gear sat out for the both of them to change into. He threw off his shorts, slid up his girdle, and was tying it when Reese looked back at him from the equipment that waited for her.
“You got gear for me?”
“Sure,” he said with a shrug. “You don’t like it?”
“I do, but you could have told me. I would have gotten some myself,” she said, looking back down at him.
“What’s the big deal?”
“You shouldn’t buy stuff for me.”
“Why?” He laughed.
“Because we aren’t dating.”
His laughter stopped when she glanced back at him. She was serious. It wasn’t that he was delusional, he knew they weren’t a couple, but surely as much sex as they’ve been having, they were something more than just a quick lay.
“I understand that, but if I want to buy you something, I will.” She rolled her eyes before biting on her lip. She was holding something back, and that bothered him. He asked, “What… are we not even friends?”
She shot him a look that told him that was a stupid question. “Of course we are, it’s just I don’t want you getting attached.”
He laughed out loud before pointing to himself. “Me? Get attached? Please, I am the least attachable person.”
Well, he used to be. Then she came in, rocked his world, and left him a little attached. Just a little though.
She smiled as she reached for her girdle. “All right, just making sure.”
He watched her face scrunch in confusion, and he could tell there was something more to this.
“Why?” he found himself asking.
“No reason.”
“No, there is,” he said. He could tell.
She eyed him, her eyes narrowed. They stayed staring into each other’s eyes, until finally she said, “Okay, so Claire is totally against us seeing each other.”
He let out a breath; he should have known this had something to do with Claire. “I know.”
“And?” she asked, her face full of concern.
“And I’m not getting attached. I want to have fun, I want to enjoy your body and mind, and that’s it. When we get sick of each other, we’ll call it quits, no hard feelings. She doesn’t need to know anything.”
“She thinks I’ll stop caring about her because you’ll break my heart.”
“Not gonna happen on either account.”
She laughed. “Oh really?”
“Yes, I’m not going to hurt you and plus, I know you’ll never stop caring about her.”
“I know, now get ready. I wanna have fun,” he said, pointing to the things beside her. He hated that Claire thought that, but he was glad that Reese cared a lot about her. Claire needed someone like Reese; she was strong, driven, and beautiful, everything Claire was. Now all he needed was for both of them to be cool with them dating, and life would be great.
“How do I put this on? Over these shorts?” she asked with a confused look on her face.
“Yeah, take off your jeans, and I’ll help you.”
She gave him a playful grin as she slid those delectable jeans down her gorgeous legs, revealing a very sexy lace thong. His cock strained against his girdle as he watched her slide up a pair of shorts over the thong before she glanced over at him. Deciding that he couldn’t keep his hands to himself much longer, he came over to her and picked up the girdle from the bench. With his other hand, he lifted up her shirt to reveal a thin sports bra. Her nipples were hard and, without really thinking, he leaned forward, biting her through her bra. Her hand came up behind his head as her body arched into his.
“Phillip,” she gasped.
He chuckled against her breast before dropping the girdle and bringing her closer to him. Pulling down her bra, he took her other nipple into his mouth, raking his teeth along her breast as her breathing picked up.
“I thought we were going to play hockey,” she said. Her hand slowly slid into his girdle, taking a hold of his hard cock, causing him to groan against her rosy peak. Bringing his mouth up to hers, he kissed her long and hard while her hand slid up and down his rock-hard length.
Parting only for a second, he said, “I want to show you my favorite part of this arena, besides the ice.”
He didn’t have to wait long before she was nodding her head. He quickly chucked his girdle off and lifted her in his arms. Her legs wrapped around his hips, her hands around his neck, as he carried her towards the shower while she licked and nibbled at his neck. He wanted to strip her in the locker room, press her against the bench, and just fuck her senseless but, instead, he hurried to the shower. Like he said, it was his favorite part of the arena. It had twenty showerheads that had the best pressure and the hottest water ever.