by Amy Andrews
He was so matter-of-fact it only made things worse. She nodded, wishing it didn’t make her feel so bloody mercenary. There was some kind of irony that the two greatest things to have ever happened to her had hit at once.
Which meant she could half-arse both or she could choose.
She sat on the bed beside him. ‘I do want to be with you, Levi.’ She lifted her hand and stroked the side of his face. ‘But the Banshees... they’re a once-in-lifetime opportunity.’ Her injury had taught her how transient that part of her life could be.
‘Hey.’ He slid his palm over top her hand and looked so deeply into her eyes, Darcy felt he could see way back to that broken fifteen-year-old. ‘It’s okay, DC, I get it. I know how important this is to you.’
A lump rose to Darcy’s throat. ‘But so are you.’ He always had been, she’d just never known how much until today.
‘I know that.’ His unquestioning acceptance was like music in her soul. ‘But I know what a perfectionist you are. I know you don’t do anything by halves. There’s five weeks left of the season—you need to do that first. I’ve waited for two years. I can wait five weeks.’
Darcy’s heart gave a funny little wobble. She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve such an amazing man in her life. Sure she’d worked hard and tried to be a good person but that wasn’t a guarantee of good karma.
‘And in the meantime we just what...? Stay friends? Keep our hands off each other. Pretend we haven’t seen each other naked?’ Waiting was all well and good in theory, but Darcy suspected it was going to be a lot harder in practice.
‘Oh hell no. I’m going to be remembering that as often as possible.’
Darcy laughed. He wouldn’t be the only one. She nudged his shoulder playfully. ‘I’m being serious.’
‘I know.’ He sighed. ‘I’m not saying it’ll be easy but we have work and you have training three nights a week and I have yoga the other three nights and on the weekend you have games. Most of which you have to travel for. It’s not like we really spend a lot of time alone together anyway, right?’
Darcy nodded. ‘Right.’
‘And we’re two grown adults. I’m sure we can control ourselves for a few lousy weeks.’
Darcy wasn’t so sure about that. With his knee brushing her thigh, she already she wanted to do him again. ‘You think you can resist me, huh?’
He laughed. ‘Trust me, if you knew how many times I’ve wanted to pin you to the couch out there and kiss you until you begged me to make you come, you’d be shocked. I’m used to resisting you, Darcy Clarke.’
His admission fluttered deep and low through her belly, stirring embers of their earlier joining. And her competitive spirit. ‘Yeah... but...’
He cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to say more, but the sudden slow thud of her heart demanded action instead. In a flash she’d slid her leg over his lap and was straddling his thighs, her knees digging into the mattress either side of his legs, her crotch jammed against his, her arms twined around his neck.
‘I’m not used to resisting you,’ she whispered, her lips perilously close to his.
‘Darcy.’
She grinned at the strangled warning in his voice. Unfortunately, the hitch in his breath, the way his hands palmed her arse and the stirring of his stupendously indefatigable penis told Darcy his resistance was wafer thin.
‘Oh dear.’ She shot him a look of faux innocence as she rubbed herself against his rapidly thickening cock. ‘So, I shouldn’t do this?’
He didn’t bother to answer, just kissed her hard and quick and thorough, his hands kneading her arse, encouraging her to stay and grind some more. They were both panting when Levi wrenched his mouth away on a growl. ‘You need to pack.’
Darcy nodded, dazed from the heat and lust swirling in her veins and firing up between her legs. His mouth was wet and swollen. She didn’t have to look at hers to know it would be exactly the same.
She pressed her forehead to his, a little out of breath. ‘Yeah. I know.’ Reluctantly she dropped her arms from his neck and reversed her movements to sit on the bed next to him again, her legs weak as wet spaghetti.
Her gaze fell on the bulge—unconfined by underwear—tenting his trackpants. Her fingers tingled with the urge to touch, to pull those pants down and lower her head.
A strangled noise came from somewhere at the back of Levi’s throat and he said, ‘Don’t you even dare,’ as he stood and took two paces away from her.
It didn’t really help, she was about eye level with his arousal now. ‘Sorry about that.’
Except she wasn’t. She should be. Knowing she could do this to his body with some kissing and a bit of grinding was exactly the kind of distraction she should be avoiding.
Levi laughed. ‘That’s the most insincere apology I’ve ever heard.’
‘Sorry,’ she muttered on autopilot, unable to drag her eyes off his erection. His loose trackpants were no match for the heavy steel of his cock. ‘It’s hardy, isn’t it?’
He laughed again. ‘Maybe if you stopped looking at it like you want to suck on it like a lollipop...’
An image of her doing just that slipped into Darcy’s mind and she absently licked her lips. She couldn’t help herself.
‘Darcy...’
The strangled tone in his voice wiped the image from her head. ‘Sorry.’ And she was this time, her gaze meeting his. ‘I’m packing. I’m packing.’ She stood and turned her attention to her bag.
‘And I’m leaving.’
She smiled to herself before looking over her shoulder, their eyes meeting. ‘You going to be alright with that thing?’
His soft laughter tickled the hair at her nape. ‘It’s not the first Darcy Clarke hard-on I’ve had to ignore.’
‘Five weeks,’ she murmured. If they made it to the finals.
‘Thirty-five sleeps.’
Darcy’s gaze dropped once more to his crotch, still badly affected by their make-out session, as a surge of slickness between her legs dampened her inner thighs.
Who was going to blink first?
***
Darcy wasn’t thinking about the events that had lead up to her and Levi doing the wild thing when she entered the airport—just the wild thing itself. Which was frustrating and annoying but not anything she had much control over. She tried to redirect her thoughts to the game and strategy but they kept dissolving into the pant of his breath in her ear, the coffee on his breath, the hard thrust of his hips.
It was a jolt to see about three times as many reporters as usual all calling her name. Levi had warned her they’d be all over the picture on the front of the paper and he wasn’t wrong.
‘Hey Dancer, you sleeping with the coach?’
‘Are you match fit or is Tony doing you some special favours.’
‘How’s it feel to the coach’s pet?’
‘Are you and Tony getting back together?’
‘Do the team members resent your special relationship with the coach?’
Darcy’s head spun at the kaleidoscope of questions battering her, temporarily shocked by the rudeness and the sudden hostility of the press. She’d had a bit of a love affair with them to this point but, clearly, they’d judged her over those photos. She stood stunned for a moment or two before Shayla and Wendy came to her rescue.
‘Darcy has the full support of every member of the Banshees,’ Wendy announced before she and Shayla bundled her away.
‘You okay?’ Wendy asked as they headed over to the private area where the Banshees were congregating away from prying eyes.
‘I... think so.’
They didn’t say anything until they reached the team and Darcy had been greeted by all. ‘So... you and Tony, huh?’ Shayla said.
Darcy shook her head. ‘No. Not me and Tony.’
In fact Tony could go fuck himself. This should be her triumphant return from injury but all the press could talk about was her personal life and her teammates were looking at her with varying degrees o
f speculation. If he’d been here she might just have kicked his arse again. Fortunately for him, and probably for her as well with the huge media contingent, he wasn’t getting in to Sydney until tomorrow morning.
‘That’s not what it looked like,’ Genevieve said, crossing her arms.
Tough crowd.
Freaking Tony!
She thought about telling them about Levi to prove there was nothing between her and Tony, but she had no desire to jinx that before it ever really happened. And why should she have to prove anything? She was bloody innocent in all this.
Not to mention the shit tonne of further speculation it would stir up. Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire. Her friends had been Team Levi since Christmas Day—the Banshee number plates had been a real hit—they’d be merciless in their efforts to find out more.
‘It was just... crossed wires.’ As much as Darcy wanted to say it was Tony being a douche, she had to tread carefully. He was the coach and highly respected by the team and hierarchy. ‘There’s absolutely nothing between Tony and me.’
‘Yeah,’ Shayla said. ‘I always kiss guys when there’s absolutely nothing between us.’
Darcy ground her teeth. How dare Tony leave her to face the music like this. She shuffled her feet trying to come up with an explanation that didn’t go into too much detail.
‘He thought I might be interested in rekindling our relationship. I told him in no uncertain terms I was not. End of story.’
The team regarded her for a moment or two before Genevieve nodded, apparently satisfied. ‘Okay.’ She turned to face the team. ‘Don’t forget, there are cameras everywhere. And that includes Joe Public with his mobile phone. So be careful what you do out there.’
The women all murmured in agreement. Darcy did too. It hadn’t occurred to her that she and Tony were in full public view. Of course, it wouldn’t have occurred to her to worry even if she’d known about the lurking camera because Tony’s kiss hadn’t been expected. As far as she’d been concerned, they’d been having a conversation about her fitness.
Until they weren’t.
‘Alright.’ Genevieve nodded. ‘Let’s put it behind us. Dancer’s back.’ This was followed by several woot’s and high-fiving. ‘Let’s go kick arse in Sydney.’
‘Banshees,’ Wendy yelled. And the whole team took up the cry.
Chapter 11
They did kick arse in Sydney. Won by forty points.
Darcy’s form was blistering and it felt good to be back. She gave the crowd a real show, and her teammates carried her off the field on their shoulders at the end because every single person who had witnessed the game knew it was her marks and her kicking that had made all the difference.
After twenty-four hours of a media shitstorm over her and Tony and that kiss, it had felt good to get out on the field and do what she did best—footy. No speculation bullshit. No Darcy and Tony crap was on anyone’s radar by the end of the game.
The best part was her thigh held up well. There was only so much that could be tested in a training session. Declaring someone match fit was always done in non-match conditions and it wasn’t until the rigours of a full-on game and all the associated wear and tear that anyone knew for sure. It was the ultimate test.
And Darcy’s corked thigh had passed with flying colours.
It’d felt strong and supportive throughout. Sure, it’d ached by the end, but not anymore than it had after the training session. And that was why someone had invented foul-smelling liniments and massage therapists who travelled with teams.
Lying on the bench after the game as the therapist worked on her thigh and with the toxic smell of Deep Heat in the air, it was only natural that Darcy’s mind drifted to Levi. She’d been super disciplined throughout the game to not let her mind wander to him, but lying here with her eyes shut, there was nothing stopping her.
There’d been several texts from him when she’d checked after the game, which he’d obviously sent throughout. They’d made her laugh and she’d rung him briefly from the locker room to share in the victory. His praise over her performance had gone straight to her head.
His I missed watching Netflix with you last night had gone straight to her heart.
The need to see him thrummed through her system as her quad was expertly pushed and prodded. Unfortunately, she was going to have to cool her heels a bit longer. The team wasn’t leaving until tomorrow and they had a night on the town to get through first.
A night she thoroughly enjoyed but one she would have traded in a heartbeat for Levi, a bowl of popcorn and their latest binge fix on the telly. Which only confirmed the validity of their decision to keep things on hold until after the season.
Because that was a crazy thing to admit.
She was cresting an enormous wave of success, she should be out there riding it, not sitting at home with a guy. Who knew how long it’d last before she wiped out?
But it still gave her a thrill when the apartment door opened just after five-thirty on Monday to admit Levi. Darcy had been back from Sydney for a few hours, trying to pretend that she wasn’t killing time until Levi got home after his class at nine.
‘Levi?’ He was in his work clothes looking all serious and professional, his hair tamed into a neat bun. He looked hot and her pulse sped up.
When had professional Levi been such a bloody turn-on?
Darcy ground her feet into the carpet to stop from throwing herself into his arms. ‘Did you blow off your class?’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘I just... couldn’t wait to see you.’
Damn the man was good with answers. Before she knew it, he’d crossed the room and yanked her into his arms, crushing her to him as he kissed her like they’d been apart two years instead of a couple of days. Darcy opened willingly, moaning as she went up on her tippy-toes, her lips fighting his for dominance, her heart beating wildly, daffodils and coffee sending her a little crazy.
‘Sorry.’ He groaned as he pulled away, dropping his arms from her and taking a step back. ‘I know we’re not supposed to be doing that.’
Darcy shook her head, a little dazed, sinking onto the couch behind her as her legs almost gave out. She touched her mouth and savoured his taste. ‘It’s okay... I’m glad you came home.’
They stared at each other for long moments and for a crazy second she thought she saw his thighs tense as if he was going to come back in for more. God knew, she wanted it so bad she could taste him on her mouth again.
Bloody hell. How were they ever going to keep their hands off each other for the next five weeks? But she had to. If she let it, it would consume her. And she couldn’t afford that right now.
Just when she thought he was going to spring at her, Levi kept his size fourteens firmly on the floor and shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘I have to go to class, I just had to... I couldn’t wait another few hours to say hello.’
Darcy smiled, her heart cracking wide open as her fingers toyed with her mouth. She knew how he felt. ‘Hello.’
He smiled back. ‘Hey.’ Dropping his gaze to her thigh he asked, ‘How’s it feeling today?’
Absently, Darcy caressed the muscle in question with her left hand. Part of her wanted to pretend it was aching and see if she could book in some extra massage therapy with him, but she knew not to joke about that shit.
Besides, if she wanted a massage she could just ask him.
The muscles in her belly pulled taut at that image and she gripped her thigh hard to suppress the warmth spreading through her pelvis and pooling behind her belly button.
‘It’s good.’ She cleared her voice. ‘Strong.’
‘That’s great.’ More silent staring at each other, his hands jammed firmly in his pockets. ‘I’ll see you later?’
‘I... might be in bed. I’m kinda beat.’
Her body was tired. It had been a tough game followed by a late night and a super-early morning recovery session at Bondi for the sake of the media. And a good athlete looked afte
r their body, which included getting enough sleep.
But that wasn’t the reason she thought it might be best to not be up when he got in and they both knew it. This was about her libido. Nothing else. Because it wasn’t tired one little bit.
It was awake and roaring. It’d had a taste of how good her and Levi were and the fulfilment of a lifelong career goal paled in comparison.
Basically she was far too horny to be waiting up for him.
‘Yeah.’ He gave a grudging smile of acknowledgement as he pushed a hand through his hair. ‘That might be a good idea.’ Another beat passed before he turned away, throwing, ‘See you tomorrow,’ over his shoulder.
***
They spent that week avoiding each other. It wasn’t very difficult. As Levi had said, despite living together, they didn’t see each other an awful lot between all their commitments. Darcy was back at work full-time, and between his yoga and her training three nights it was easy to pass like ships in the night. Easier still with Levi going to work a little earlier than he usually did and Darcy getting out of bed a later than normal.
It was better than the alternative, which was to push him against the nearest wall and start kissing him and lose track of time and mundane things such as work. And national football competitions.
Thankfully Friday rocked around quickly and Darcy was on a plane again, flying with the team to Melbourne for their Saturday match against the Minotaurs.
This one didn’t go so well.
For starters it was raining. Hard. Warm rain, which was something for Melbourne—they weren’t all going to catch pneumonia. But warm or cold, it still made the ball more slippery than a bowl full of eels. No one could hang onto it for long—not even Wendy who had the safest hands in the game.
Also, the Minotaurs seemed to have developed a strategy to specifically contain Darcy. And it worked. They didn’t try to obviously injure her—the rain made it impossible to do anything with precision—but they worked her hard, stressing her injury to the point of pain.