Echo (The Player Book 3)

by Nana Malone

  “I’m not. I swear, I just have zero experience with this, and I don’t know what to do.”

  He dropped his hand and stalked back into the bathroom. “Are you fucking serious right now? Look, Jen said that maybe that first night that wasn’t your plan. But the other night, at Living Green, you meant to do that. That kiss you gave me, you were dicking with me. And here’s the worst thing. I knew you didn’t mean it, but that still didn’t stop me from wanting you. All night. Hell, all weekend, it’s all I could think about. How you fucking taste, the way you move, the way your muscles clamped around my thighs.”

  Her breath caught as her gaze flickered over his body, eventually landing on the bulge in his jeans. Wow.

  Need pulled low in her belly. She wanted him. She’d always wanted him. The two of you are a bad idea. She loved how she felt with him. He doesn’t want to want you. She wanted to be the strong, confident woman she was the night they met. You will regret this. For once in her life she didn’t care.

  With a deliberate step forward, she pushed into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. “You want me to help you with that?”

  His entire body shook on his exhale. When he spoke, he voice was rough, but pleading. “Echo, you keep looking at me like that, we’re going to do something about what you’re staring at.”

  “Good, we’re on the same page.”

  His brows snapped down. “Don’t play with me. I’m not—”

  Taking another bold step, she pressed her fingertips to his mouth. “You talk too much.”

  Cole’s eyes darkened, even as his gaze narrowed and a shiver ran through her. “What do you want from me, Echo?”

  Smoothing her hand over his rock-hard abs, she whispered, “I want to feel something other than worry or exhaustion for five minutes. I want to feel something that’s mine.” She reached for his buckle. He groaned low and squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Shit, Echo.”

  She hesitated, the uncertainty washing over her. He didn’t want her, after all? She pulled her hand back. “Do you want me to stop?”

  His dark gaze bore into hers. “Fuck no.” Reaching for her, he slid his hands into her hair, clamping his hand on the back of her neck. The kiss he gave her wasn’t teasing, it wasn’t a question. It was a statement about possession. His tongue slid into her mouth, and heat bloomed in her core, making her desperate.

  She tugged on his zipper, the sound mingling with their moans. But when she reached into his boxers, Cole dragged his lips from hers and hissed in a breath.

  “Sorry. Did I—”

  Again, she tried to pull away, but he held her still. “Stay.” His guttural command was like a mating call to her libido, and something bloomed inside her. Like the other night, but this time she wasn’t pretending. This time, it was all her, and she was driving him crazy, just with her touch.

  She wrapped her fingers around the length of him and his body shook. Cole went back to kissing her as she tentatively stroked him. His hips bucked and his tongue mimicked the thrusting of his dick in her hands. Matching time and tempo.

  She pulled him free of his boxers, and marveled at how soft the skin covering his smooth tip was.

  When she used her thumb to gently rub in the bead of moisture over the tip, his knees buckled, and he took a small step to steady himself. “Oh God. Echo.” He moaned into her mouth. He tried to hook his thumbs into her workout shorts to tug them down, but she pulled back. She wanted to drive. And if he made love to her, there was no way she was going to be in charge of anything. She’d happily turn her body over to him and melt into a puddle of lust.

  “I want to be in charge, Cole.”

  His gaze met hers, and he seemed to understand. Nodding slowly, he said, “It’s your show, Echo. I want you any way I can get you.”

  She licked her lips. “Okay.” She stroked him down to the root again, then back to the tip, smoothing her hand over all of him. Did he like this? Was she any good? Even as her confidence grew, there was something about the harsh light of day to shake some of her newfound moxie. “Can you— Can you help me? I want to know what you like. That I’m doing it right.”

  Cole drew in a shuddering breath. “Your hand is on my dick. That’s pretty much a great start right there.” But still he laid his larger hand over hers, tightening her grip and upping her tempo.

  She watched his face intently as they stroked him together. His eyes were on their now-intertwined hands as they worked him, and sweat beaded on his brow. And every time they reached the tip and she stroked her thumb over the underside of him, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

  Note to self, touch here again. And do it often. It wasn’t long before she added the rubbing of her hand over the crown of him on every up stroke. He eventually let go of her hand and used that hand to grip the edge of the counter, even as he gently, but firmly, tugged on her hair.

  Hushed curses and the constant chanting of her name was all she could hear as her brain drowned out anything that was not happening inside this locked bathroom. Nothing was going to intrude. She needed this time for herself with Cole. This time where she could be wanted and desired simply because she was herself.

  “Yes, fuck, Echo. God, it’s like you were made for me.” His hips rocked into her hand, his voice going guttural and his tempo increasing. “So close. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m going to come.” His eyes squeezed shut as his release bore down on him.

  “Please look at me, Cole.” If they were only going to get this stolen moment, she wanted to feel some of that initial connection. Wanted to know it was her he wanted. She wanted to feel it.

  His eyes snapped open, and the heat of his gaze burned through her. His body went tight, and if possible, the already thick length of him expanded in her hand. With a low, feral growl, he pulled her in for a kiss, even as his release broke, and his warm seed poured over her hand.

  His kiss was equal parts tender and desperate, as if he was just as eager to hold on to this moment as she was. Echo kissed him back with every ounce of need and passion and desperation she had in her body. To her surprise, instead of going soft, his dick hardened again.

  He moaned into her mouth, then whispered, “Did you like being in control?”

  Even as she dragged in ragged breaths, she nodded. “Y-yes.”

  “Good. My turn now.”

  His? Oh. Ohhhh. He lifted her easily to sit on the counter. He pulled one of the washcloths from the shelf, and quickly cleaned all traces off himself from her hand and hip. Then he tossed the washcloth on the counter before stepping between her thighs. “I’ve been fucking dreaming about this again since that morning you walked out.”

  Before she could argue that she hadn’t meant to leave him, distant sounds of someone calling her name had them both freezing. Well, except for his cock. His erection continued to bob happily between them. Teasing her center with promises of fun to come.

  Cole swore under his breath, even as she whimpered. Her parents were home. Hell.

  Cole was surprisingly calm as he righted his clothes. “Go, take a shower. I’ll see you down here for the sit down with the family.”

  She stared at him for a second, unable to do anything but blink. He thought she could just pretend that everything was normal? “I—Cole?”

  He tucked himself back into his jeans and kissed her deep. “We’ll talk about this later.” He shrugged. “Right now, we have a meeting and we both need to keep it together.”

  Damn it, the meeting. She’d totally forgotten the whole reason for them working on the estate today. She hopped off the counter and tossed the washcloth onto the hidden hamper. “Oh, my God.” Had she really just done that?

  Cole pulled her close, but he didn’t kiss her again. “It’s fine. We’ll talk later.”

  Emotions roiling inside of her, she nodded and unlocked the door. When she let herself out, she didn’t look back.

  Do not stare at Echo.

  It was a simple command. One his lust-fogged brain could barel
y send to his eyes. Given the effort put into the command, he would think his eyes would be more inclined to pay attention.

  Yeah, not easy. Try as he might, he couldn’t help but steal covert glances at her. And given the occasional spike of prickly heat he’d feel every few minutes or so, she was looking at him, too.

  He had no idea what the fuck had just happened, but he wanted it to happen again. Right the fuck now. He didn’t know exactly what was up with her, but there was something going on. Something besides the training. Whatever it was, it had to be the reason for the bags under her beautiful eyes, and her distraction. She’d needed him, and if he was being honest, he’d needed her too. He’d been fighting the attraction for so long, hiding behind his anger, but like it or not, the two of them were combustible.

  But not just that, there was a vulnerability about her that pulled at him. He wanted to ease what was worrying her. He wanted to make it better. He wanted to protect her. Because you’re a fool. Maybe he was, but he was willing to admit he’d been wrong about her. Maybe a little.

  He looked up to find Brent Coulter looking at him expectantly. Shit. What were they talking about? “Sorry. My mind was somewhere else. What was that?”

  Rory harrumphed. “And this is the man we have training her? He can’t keep his focus.”

  Cole didn’t bother rising to the bait. “I’m going over every eventuality for what might happen at the race. Sorry.”

  Brent shook his head. “No, of course. I was just checking to see if you wanted any changes made to the reservation; do you have any family you want us to add a hotel room for?”

  Oh, that. Alex would love to come, but Cole wasn’t going to do that. He didn’t want to be beholden to them in any way. “No. Just me.”

  Rory muttered from the corner. “I guess the Biltmore is a step up from where you’d normally stay.”

  Cole didn’t need to rise to the occasion. Echo beat him to it. “Gramps, enough. I have enough to think about without you harping on my coach.”

  Cole didn’t dare look at her. Everything he was thinking and feeling would be written on his face for everyone to see. Instead, he looked at the old man, who stared at his granddaughter.

  Looked like Echo was coming into her own, and damn if that didn’t make him want her more.

  Eighteen

  Avoidance was the name of the game. And he played it well. All he had to do was not think about Echo’s hand on his cock. How hard could that be? He had expected a few people from her family to make it out to Boston for the race, but Cole had assumed they would be waiting at for her at the finish line. He did not expect to meet her brother, Bryce, or his wife Tami, right at the beginning. They stood with Jen near the starting line, when he had finished helping Echo to check in and collect her bib.

  Echo gave them a forced smile, but she was already receding into her head in anticipation of the race ahead, stretching and checking her watch and heart rate as the gathering crowd grew. It was a lot colder here than the balmy San Diego winter she was used to. Their breath was just visible in the air, but the skies were clear, and the forecast predicted it would warm steadily through the morning.

  Jen finally stepped in to make the introductions.

  “Bryce, Tami, this is Echo’s coach, Cole Jackson. Cole, Echo’s oldest brother and his wife.”

  “Pleasure,” Bryce said as they shook hands.

  “You look like you could be—” Cole began, looking back and forth from Bryce’s blond head to Echo’s. He’d been more aware of her and her family in the news and tabloids since he started coaching her, and found it baffling how little Echo and her twin Dax resembled each other. Or how much Echo and Bryce did.

  “Her twin,” Bryce agreed. “We get that a lot.”

  The announcers called for the runners to gather. The first group of wheelchair racers were about to start and they needed everyone together as things officially got under way. Cole excused himself to see Echo herded into the elite group, but there was only so much he could do for her now. Had they done enough? It was too late to worry about that sort of thing. He wandered off to find a position along the roadside, only to find Bryce steering him to a spot the others had claimed while he was preoccupied with Echo. Like it or not, he was part of the Coulter herd.

  Tami held out a steaming cup of coffee for Cole. “Weren’t sure how you took it, so it’s black.”

  “That works for today. Thank you,” he accepted the offering.

  “How long till her group starts?” Jen asked.

  “At least another forty minutes.” He expected an awkward silence to fall between them, or to be excluded from the conversation, but Bryce and Tami made an effort to draw him in, asking about his family and where he’d gone to school.

  “You competed?” Tami asked.

  “I did. Bad knee, though,” he said with a rub of his knee and hip.

  Bryce nodded and Cole remembered the story about Bryce getting injured at some point. He didn’t really follow tennis, but he knew Bryce and Tami had become a big deal in the tennis world; Cole caught a glimpse of some of their fellow spectators taking photos of the group while they stood, waiting for the race to start.

  “It doesn’t always matter what you do,” Bryce agreed. “You can come back and do your best, but it’ll never be what it was before you were injured. But that doesn’t mean that what you do instead can’t be just as good.” He wrapped his arm around his wife and pressed a kiss to her hair while she rolled her eyes but smiled, folding herself in closer to Bryce.

  “Exactly,” Cole said, surprised by the way Bryce at least appeared to understand what he was getting at. “I couldn’t run anymore, but I couldn’t give it up, either. So I had to shift my focus. If I couldn’t run myself, I figured I could help those who could.”

  “I have to say,” Jen said, jumping into the conversation, “I used to run with Echo a lot. She was quick then. But now? The transformation is crazy.”

  The noise from the crowd around them grew, as the first wheelchair racers came into view. They dropped the conversation to cheer the racers on; all of them checking their watches to see just how much longer it would be until Echo’s group started.

  As the group of racers thinned out and the crowd on either side of the street quieted, Cole turned to Bryce, “Your parents are going to be at the finish line, then?”

  “Yup, and Gram and Gramps, and Gage. Fox has a game to play later, and Dax…” Bryce shook his head but was still smiling. “He was supposed to be here with Asha, but then it turned out she had to work and he had signed this endorsement agreement with a…car company or something, and they scheduled the commercial shoot without double-checking with him…” Bryce rolled his eyes and shrugged. “It’s Dax. We’ll give him a call when she’s almost at the end, and he’ll stream it and give her a call when it’s all over.”

  “Why don’t you give him a call now, babe?” Tami suggested, looking at her watch. “Make sure he gets to see the start of the race.”

  Bryce shot Cole a glance, complete with raised eyebrows, but didn’t argue. He took his phone out and slipped back through the crowd to a place where it would be quieter for him to call, and Tami slid over a bit closer to Cole, taking up more room to hold Bryce’s place.

  “So, you and Echo seem to be a good team,” Tami said. “I mean…from what she’s told Bryce, you’re really helping her.”

  “Yeah, she’s incredibly talented, and driven,” Cole said, trying to make small talk. He glanced over to Jen, but she was on her cell phone and paying no attention to his and Tami’s conversation. “I mean… You’re an athlete, you know how hard it can be to deal with the physical side, but then you throw in the mental side…”

  “Getting to a place where the pressure isn’t too much, yeah.” Tami certainly understood. “For me, it’s not the game on the court I have trouble with. Never has been. It’s…believing that I belonged in that world. Tennis…tennis was just a part of who I was. I met Bryce when he was walking by the school co
urt where I used to play to blow off steam after work. I would’ve been fine playing on that court by myself till I was old and grey. It was Bryce who told me I should be competing. That I’d get more from playing an actual opponent than from banging the ball against a wall. Of course, it took a long time before I believed him, and even longer before I started to feel comfortable in that world—I still don’t, most of the time.”

  “Then why do you keep doing it?” Cole asked, genuinely curious.

  “Having Bryce there makes me more comfortable,” she admitted. “I love playing doubles with him, though it’s great to push myself in the singles bracket, too.”

  “So he gets the glory of having introduced you to the world, huh?” He was joking, but while Tami smiled, she didn’t dismiss the comment as just a joke.

  “I don’t think he’d put it that way, exactly. He…he helped me acknowledge what I wanted. That was to play tennis. And then he did what he could to help me achieve it. It’s true that his being a Coulter helped open a few doors, but not as many as he wanted to open for me,” she said. “He let me find my way on my own. I actually worked my old retail job for the first few months I was training with him. He was coming back from his knee injury and needed someone…well, someone who wasn’t going to pressure him to push harder than his body could handle, or make him feel like everything would be over if he couldn’t return to the grand slams. I mean…his parents and everyone wanted what was best for him, but he needed someone he could…be himself with and admit what it was he really wanted for his future.”

  “And that was tennis.”

  Tami smiled. “It was tennis.”

  They were interrupted by the next set of mobility-impaired competitors coming up the road to massive cheers from the crowd. Tami glanced over her shoulder, and Cole followed the track of her gaze to Bryce moving farther off as he gesticulated with his free hand, his cell phone pressed to his ear. Jen had vanished from Tami’s other side, too, leaving Cole alone with her near the police barrier at the edge of the sidewalk.