Fox (The Player Book 4)

by Nana Malone

  “So you were fucking some other guy,” Ryan muttered beneath his breath.

  She knew she shouldn’t have done it, but she smiled evilly and said, “Not till after I kicked you out, and that’s not how I would describe it, but…yeah. There’s someone I care about—more than I cared about you, if you really want to know the truth. I’m not sure where it’s going—if anywhere—but I’m certainly not getting back together with you, so… Leave. Me. Alone.” Her anger and frustration with Ryan were keeping her from crumpling at the thought of Fox and the shambles of their friendship.

  Ryan clearly had more he wanted to say, and judging by the color of his face, it wasn’t anything pleasant. So Sasha was thankful when Jeanine and a few others came over with their coats over their arms, ready to go.

  “Everything all right?” Jeanine asked, her gaze flitting between Sasha and Ryan.

  “Yeah,” Sasha assured her colleague as she pushed her chair back and rose to start cleaning up her desk. “Ryan was just explaining that he had a small family emergency and can’t make it tonight. His aunt’s gone into the hospital and needs him to stop by her house and grab a few things for her.” She stacked her piles of paperwork together to create more coherent long-term files later.

  He glared at her when she looked up at him and raised her brows in a dare. If he denied her lie, she’d have an opportunity to explain why she had essentially uninvited him, and he had to know that she would be thorough in her reasoning.

  “Yeah, she, uh…she had a bit of a fall. Nothing too serious, but they want to keep her overnight,” Ryan lied. “I’m closest, so it’s easy for me to swing by and grab her a change of clothes, make sure all her doors are locked, that sort of thing.”

  “Well, I hope she feels better soon,” Jeanine said with a note of dismissal. The others offered their best wishes for Ryan’s aunt as well, their words effectively ushering him away.

  “Thanks for that,” Sasha whispered to Jeanine.

  “No problem. I wouldn’t want my ex at a celebratory dinner like this, either,” she whispered back.

  “Who’re we waiting on?” Allison from the main research team asked, looking around.

  “I kind of invited some of the guys from sports,” Sasha mentioned.

  “Okay, but this dinner is not about talking shop,” Jeanine reminded her. “It’s about celebrating the work you’ve already done.”

  There was a bit of commotion down the hall, and the women collectively turned to see the guys from sports approaching, but there was one too many of them. They were crowded around Fox, who was politely smiling and dodging their questions about the contract rumors, explaining that he hadn’t been in touch with his agent and anything like that would go through his agent and manager first. His eyes locked on Sasha, and her pulse ticked up. He looked too good. Tattoos on full display. Looking like a total badass. He didn’t have the bleached blonde with him, so that was something. If he was here to yell at her, she was in no kind of mood.

  “Fox,” she managed to croak as her friends’ and colleagues’ eyes darted back and forth between them. “Congrats on the game earlier. You were amazing. Sorry we couldn’t talk after. You were clearly busy, and I had to get back.”

  “Uh…thanks, Sash. Could we, uh… Do you think I could talk with you for a minute? Privately…?”

  “Um…” Sasha glanced around.

  “If this is the whole party,” Jeanine stepped in, “we can call ahead and let them know we’re on our way. There, uh…there might be a bit of a wait with a party of this size, so take as long as you need.”

  Sasha nodded and led Fox through the knot of her coworkers in search of an empty room where he could say his piece. She was a little scared, thinking that maybe that he wanted to let her know that he was moving out. That he’d be by to pick up his stuff the next day, and that living together had been a bad idea. Or worse, he was sleeping with the blonde. She didn’t want to go back to where they’d been before, but she’d rather have his friendship than nothing. It would kill her, but she could do it.

  Finally, she found an abandoned conference room and pulled him inside.

  “I’m sorry…” he said immediately, “for hanging up on you like I did…when you said… I wasn’t sure…I was mad and hurt and…I didn’t know what to— And fuck, that groupie. It wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “I shouldn’t have just…blurted it out like that, and especially after the way I behaved toward you for the photo thing…and I get it if you don’t love me back,” she interrupted, looking down at the coat she had draped over her clasped hands. “I get it. I hurt you.”

  “Of course I love you,” he said quickly, startling her into silence. “Fuck, I’m bad at this. That’s…what I should have said…instead of hanging up. I…I should have said it…much sooner—probably during that first night… But you’d just broken up with Ryan, and you said—”

  Her head snapped up. What did he just say? “I…I know what I said, and I thought it’s what I wanted, but…everything with you has been…it feels right.”

  Fox took her hand. “Coach Tremblay said they’re going to get me a proper contract. It meant the world to me that you were there. I hated that I couldn’t call you and talk to you about everything. Dax and my parents were excited for me, but…it wasn’t the same as when you get excited for me. When you get excited for me, it becomes real… I can finally believe it. And no one had a sign.”

  Sasha leaned into him. “You’re going to get a contract from the team?” she asked in a quietly playful tone. Her fingers reached toward where his hand rested on the back of one of the conference room chairs. She lightly touched the back of his hand and trailed her fingers up his arm as she moved closer to him.

  “Uh-huh,” he answered, the reply almost a grunt as his head bent toward hers.

  “Congratulations,” she whispered, and then she turned her face just enough to meet his kiss. The first kiss was soft, a mutual apology.

  The second was more greedy. She clutched his arm with one hand as the other slid up to clasp the back of his head. She felt his hands lock on her waist as he pulled her against him. Then they slid to embrace her tightly, and he lifted her just off her feet, their lips disconnecting as he gave her a small spin of celebration, both of them laughing.

  “We should get back,” she murmured without conviction as his lips sought the warm spot where her ear and the edge of her jaw created a little hollow. “I can’t blow off dinner with them when they’ve gone to so much trouble…” she said breathily. His lips were working their way down her neck, and his hands had drifted down from the small of her back to cup and squeeze her buttocks. “But you can come, too,” she added as his hands drifted farther down the backs of her thighs toward the hem of her skirt. “We can sit together.” Her hands slid down his torso, feeling for the muscles she knew lay beneath the thin layer of cotton. Her palm skimmed over his waistband as she sought and stroked his cock over his clothing, smiling at his low growl.

  “Fine,” he conceded, giving her ass a final squeeze. “No appetizers, eat fast, and we can either order dessert to go or see what’s in the freezer at home,” he suggested.

  They reluctantly pulled away from one another, but Sasha took his hand as they headed back to where her coworkers were waiting for them.

  “All set on the reservation?” she asked, ignoring the inquisitive gazes that dropped to where her hand was linked with Fox’s. Not to mention the flush she was sure was evident in her cheeks.

  “Uh, yeah. They have one of their event rooms available, but it’ll take a while to get it set up for us,” Jeanine explained. “We can head over whenever, though, and just wait at the bar. We were starting to arrange carpools to save on gas…”

  “I’ll ride with Fox and meet you there, all right?” Sasha said, giving his hand a squeeze.

  “Perfect,” Jeanine said before anyone else could comment. “We were trying to figure out how to fit everyone into my SUV and Natalie’s van without having to
take out her kids’ car seats. If you two go separately, the seats can stay put.”

  “Well…let’s go, then,” Sasha said, waving her arm to usher everyone in the direction of the elevators.

  When they reached the parking garage, the group split up.

  “Come on,” Sasha insisted, pulling Fox toward a dark corner of the lot. “I’m parked over this way.”

  “We can take my car,” Fox offered. “I got a spot right near the entrance.”

  “Actually…” Sasha said, biting her lip and dropping her voice, even though she knew they were out of anyone else’s hearing range. “I had a little thought about that ‘Never Have I Ever’ list from the other night…”

  “Oh, did you?” he asked with a broad grin that sent a delicious shiver through her belly.

  She felt the warmth of him behind her, closer than he’d been moments before. They were standing in front of her car—it was a four-door sedan, but had plenty of leg and headroom, in addition to soft leather seats.

  “I think I’m going to like this boyfriend-girlfriend arrangement,” he said with a low rumble in his voice. Fox turned her around and pinned to the side of the car, his hips impatiently pressing against hers, as he picked up where he’d left off. He kissed her throat, his hands trailing up under her suit jacket and skimming over her blouse to press against her firm breasts.

  “You know…car sex usually takes place in the car,” she teased, one hand stroking his cock while the other untucked his shirt from his pants. “Let’s get in.”

  He sighed as he pulled away. It took a little maneuvering—the people next to her passenger side had parked a little close—but he was soon seated in a reclining position in her passenger seat while she lifted her skirt up over her thighs so the bulk of the fabric sat on her hips. The tops of her nylon stockings reached to her mid-thigh, and she was sure her silky black panties would be seen easily if anyone happened by. She ducked her head and climbed into the car, straddling Fox and resting her ass on his knees as she settled herself in enough to close the door behind her.

  “Now I remember why car sex never held a lot of appeal for me,” he joked as she inadvertently smacked him in the face with the sleeve of her suit jacket while taking it off. She threw it onto the driver’s seat and tugged her skirt up a little higher, then she leaned forward to help Fox free himself from his boxers.

  “I think you forgot something,” he said, running a finger along the seam of her panties before rubbing at her damp cleft. “Also, I know that friend of yours said that there was going to be a bit of a wait, but I think they’ll notice if we show up so much later than they do.”

  “Oh,” Sasha said as she ran her fingers up and down his pulsing erection. “I’m glad to hear you don’t plan to rush things. Besides…I did tell them I wanted to ride you and then meet them there.”

  Planting her knees firmly into the leather on either side of his hips, Sasha took hold of his cock and guided him into her, tugging aside the crotch of her panties and lowering herself onto him slowly, pausing to get a feel for how they fit together in this new position with such cramped quarters.

  “Actually,” Fox said, swallowing with difficulty as his breathing became ragged, “I believe you said you wanted to ride with me.”

  “Ah,” she sighed as she adjusted her position and he slid a little deeper. Oh, yes. “Pesky preposition. Chalk it up to being a typo.” Her breathing became uneven, and she could feel him twitch inside her.

  “You know,” he said, “I had a dream like this last night. Well, we were in the shower, not a car—”

  Sasha rocked her hips to a steady rhythm and he leaned his head back with a low groan and a forceful thrust into her. “But you…you were riding me like this,” he continued.

  She settled her hands on his shoulders, her forearms braced against his chest as she rotated her hips and tried to maximize the friction between them. “And did you like it? In your dream, I mean.” She bit her lip.

  His hands slid along her thighs to her hips, loosening her blouse from the waist of her skirt before sliding to her buttocks and taking a firm hold to raise her off him momentarily and then re-sheathe himself in her. “Yes,” he assured her as she stifled a moan. “But I like the reality better.”

  “We’ll have to…try this…in the shower…sometime then…for the sake of…comparison,” she panted.

  His shoulders didn’t give her the leverage she longed for so she reached above her head and braced herself against the ceiling, groaning at the additional pressure she was able to utilize as she sought friction.

  Fox was busy fiddling with the buttons on her blouse, trying not to lose any in his haste to compare the silkiness of her skin to the silk of her shirt. The seat was in a reclining position, but he fought to sit up, bracing himself on the console between the two front seats. She cried out as he pulled the cups of her bra down and seized the supple flesh of her breasts, pulling one to his mouth and rubbing the nipple of the other with the pad of his thumb. It was effective, but not what she needed most.

  She took his hand from her breast and drew it down between her legs, guiding his fingers as he started massaging the sensitive button just above where they were joined. Her body’s response was immediate and intense. With nothing to hold on to on the ceiling, she leaned back and rested her hands on his rigid thighs, all of the muscles from her neck down convulsing as her release washed through her.

  His hands reached for her wrists, grasping them and pulling her toward him so that they both fell against the reclining seat, her breasts crushed against his chest. “You’re coming…with me…next time,” he told her as he took firm hold of her buttocks and guided her, jerking his hips and plunging inside. Stroke, retreat, stroke, retreat. She clasped his shoulders and leaned her forehead to his, locking eyes with him as his pace increased and the muscles in her legs began to ache as she melted from the inside out. When he jerked to a stop, she commanded her thighs to clench and hold him tight within, so she could savor the synchronized pulsing as he came deep within her with a roar.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you, too,” he breathed against her lips, before tasting them and seeking to do the same with her tongue.

  She wanted to stay and doze against him, but as the sweat cooled on her limbs, she became increasingly aware of how exposed they were. “We’re going to be more than just fashionably late if we don’t leave soon,” she remarked.

  “Well…you were the mastermind of getting us into this particular position…do you have any idea how to get back out of it?” he asked. “I mean…am I supposed to toss you over the arm rest and into the driver’s seat…?”

  They both turned their heads to look at the obstacles around them and laughed.

  “Now I’m thinking we should’ve just done it in the backseat,” she responded, reaching down to tuck her breasts back into her bra and re-button her blouse.

  “We’ll do that one on the way home.”

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  He grinned. “If that means horny and in love with my girlfriend, then yes.”

  Epilogue

  Two more exams, and Sasha was done with classes and would have her master’s degree. She had been studying relentlessly, though Fox made sure she took breaks every now and then and helped take her mind off of the material long enough to actually relax.

  She was able to let herself relax because her internship was over and the photo shoots for Echo’s premier collection were complete, so all she had to worry about for the time being were her classes.

  The station had offered her a contract, but after her story was featured on the website for a national syndicate, she had received a few other job offers as well. Sasha was weighing her options, waiting until she had matriculated and could breathe freely before making her final decision.

  She was leaning toward one of the weekly newsmagazine programs headquartered just a few blocks from the arena where she currently sat while watching Fox play and
trying to keep her hands off her textbooks.

  “How’re you holding up?” Echo asked as she moved to the front of the private box and took a seat beside Sasha.

  “How many minutes left in the period?” Sasha asked. “My fingers are itching for intermission so I won’t feel guilty about double-checking those quotes I need to memorize.”

  Echo chuckled. “When’s graduation day?”

  “The ceremony is next Thursday night—one of the best things about graduating during the winter session is that the graduation ceremony is low-key,” Sasha explained.

  “Not interested in making a big show of it?”

  “There are other ways I’d rather celebrate. It’s an off-night for Fox, and the team won’t be traveling again until a few days before Christmas, so he’ll be able to make it.”

  “And your parents?”

  Sasha shrugged. “Mom’s coming. And Dad…Well, my dad couldn’t be happier about me and Fox being together, so he’ll be there.”

  “I take it you’re not going to stay behind and visit with your parents over Christmas.”

  Sasha grinned. “Nope. I’m very much looking forward to spending a quiet Christmas on the road with Fox and the team. I mean…I’m sorry he has to play an away game on Christmas, ’cause it means we won’t get to spend any of the holiday with your family,” Sasha quickly backtracked. “But as far as my own family is concerned, a trip to the East Coast is the best Christmas gift Fox could get me.”

  “Well, we’ll be having a New Year’s Eve party at Bryce and Tami’s place, so as long as you can make it to that, the Coulters will be pacified.” Echo shrugged. “And the family dinner tonight, of course.”

  “That’s why I need to cram so much studying in during the next intermission,” Sasha explained. “I promised Fox that I’d put the books away for at least twelve hours, starting with the end of the game.”

  “Sounds like a good plan to me.” Echo patted her arm. “And for the record, I’m glad you guys are together.”