The Hardest Fall

by Ella Maise

  She pushed me back. “You just keep making fun of me, buddy. I predict you’ll be in the top five.”

  My eyes widened. I pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and my smile softened. “Top five, huh?”

  The commissioner was on the stage, and all the players sitting around us fell silent.

  “Welcome to the NFL draft!”

  The night began as he put the Cleveland Browns on the clock and the waiting game started. The table we were sharing with another player and his family got a lot quieter after that, and my dad changed seats with my agent, Scott, to sit next to me. My mom was next to Zoe and they were whispering discreetly.

  The minutes ticked by, and with the first pick, the Cleveland Browns selected a quarterback from Oklahoma.

  “For the overall second pick, the New York Giants are now on the clock.”

  I closed my eyes and ran both of my hands over my head. I was so ready to find out what my future held.

  Zoe touched my arm and I looked at her. “It’s going to be great. You got this,” she whispered, our heads tilted down, side by side.

  Eight minutes passed.

  “You have an idea which team will pick you?” my dad asked.

  “No idea, Dad. If I don’t get picked…if I start dropping too much, my chances will get only lower.”

  He thumped my back two times and shook his head. I could see how nervous and restless he was, but he was doing his best to not show it. We watched the commissioner walk back on stage, and all chatter quieted.

  “With the second pick of the 2018 NFL draft, the New York Giants select Dylan Reed, wide receiver…”

  It took me a second or two to process what I was hearing, what I was seeing on the screen. My dad, my mom, and Zoe were all standing, but I couldn’t hear a single thing because of the blood roaring in my ears.

  I covered my head with my hands and slowly got up.

  Both of my parents were crying, but I was still in shock. My dad was the first one to pull me into his arms. Everyone was clapping around us, and I felt my dad’s chest rapidly rising and falling with his silent tears. He pulled back and looked at me, his hands holding my face. He gently patted my cheek twice then let me go. My mom was standing right next to him, her eyes bright and wide and beautiful as always.

  “Look at you,” she said, her voice broken but still strong and proud. “Look at my beautiful boy.”

  When she let me go, I turned around.

  She was standing right there, waiting for me, and that’s when I smiled. That’s when sound started to trickle back in, and she still just stood there, tears running down her cheeks. I went to her because I couldn’t look at her and not touch, not hold. Leaning down, I wrapped my arms around her waist, and she stood on her tiptoes to hug me back. I could feel her frantic heartbeats, her pulse beating wildly. Then we started laughing, my own eyes misted with unshed tears.

  When they told me I needed to go to the stage, Zoe pulled back and smiled. “Go, go, go.”

  Everything that came after happened in slow motion, yet I still had trouble keeping up. Chris stopped me on my way and hugged me. I was still surprised…elated, shocked, honored, humbled. Then I was on stage and I could see myself on the big screen as the fans cheered. I took my new jersey with my name on it and smiled for the photographs. I’d made it.

  I’d fucking made it.

  I had everything I’d ever wanted and more.

  As soon as I was off the stage, my phone rang, and I listened to my new coach welcoming me to the team. I don’t remember everything he said to me, but I remember repeating a lot of the same things: “Yes, sir.” “I won’t disappoint you, sir.” “I appreciate it, sir.”

  It was surreal for sure, but it was also bittersweet. As soon as I hung up with my new coach, JP’s call came in. He hadn’t recovered back to his old self and the trainers didn’t think he had a future playing anymore, but he’d taken everything better than I would’ve if I were in his position. Still, I planned to try my best to help him in any way I could. We would always be a team.

  When I made it back to the table, I found Chris and Zoe standing together, smiling and talking. As soon as I got back, I went another round with my mom and dad, and listened to them talk, still just as speechless as I’d been on the call with my coach. I couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and see Mason and Amelia’s faces when they heard I was the second fucking overall pick. Mason was going to lose it.

  Then it was just Zoe and me, resting our foreheads against each other and just breathing as I held her face in my hands. I tried to clear her tears with my thumbs, but I couldn’t keep up.

  “We did it.”

  She put her hands on my chest. “You did it, Dylan. This is all you and you’re amazing.”

  “No. These last few months…you’ve been amazing, and it’s New York, baby! It’s where you wanted to live.”

  “I’ll live anywhere with you, Dylan. I’ll go wherever you are.”

  “Come with me.” Grabbing her hand, I dragged her behind me, dodging cameras and even more people. Breathless, she ran after me to keep up. If I could’ve kept my hands to myself for a little while, we would have heard that Chris had been picked by the Chicago Bears.

  I stopped when we reached the bathrooms and pulled her in behind me, locking the door immediately.

  I took a deep breath before I turned around to stare at her. She was leaning back against the sink, her beautiful smile soft and inviting.

  “I can give you everything you want now. I know I couldn’t do much until now, but Flash, trust me, you’ll—”

  “Shut up. I just want you, Dylan. Nothing else matters. We’ll figure everything out together, right?” I swallowed thickly. “Though I have to say, I can’t wait to see you wearing more suits from now on. You look so handsome.”

  “You like it? You like me like this, Zoe?”

  I went to her before she could answer and grabbed her waist to hoist her up. She locked her arms around my neck and hid her face in my throat, pulling me closer. I rested my head against her temple, just breathing, just the two of us, away from everything and all the noise.

  “I love you. I’ve loved you for so long, I don’t even know when it started anymore,” she said quietly, so much emotion in her voice.

  I drew back and looked into her watery eyes.

  “You don’t know? The first time you saw me, you were grinning at my dick.”

  She snorted then groaned to cover it up. “I did not fall in love with your dick, Dylan.”

  “I think you did, but let’s go with your version. It’s a package deal anyway.” I started to drag her dress up her thighs and she let me. Wiggling her butt, she even let me remove her panties. Widening her legs, I yanked her toward me until we were perfectly aligned and I could feel her heat against my slacks. I didn’t even care if she gave me a wet spot. She moved closer, her arms already pulling me to her. “You could hardly look away,” I mumbled against her mouth, her breath already mingling with mine.

  She took my lips in a heated kiss, her tongue pushing between them and demanding I give her what she liked. I kissed her and let her slowly unzip me with her sneaky fingers.

  “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

  “Not really,” she panted.

  “I didn’t either, but then why would my eyes look for you in a crowd when I didn’t even know your name? Why would my pulse jump whenever I saw someone I thought was you?”

  Moaning, her eyes closed and she played with my cock, making me hiss.

  “You want me inside you?”

  She nodded. “Always.”

  I held my cock in my hand and parted her lips before slowly pushing in. She was slick with arousal, tight and ready for me, as always. My breaths were coming in harsh spurts when I gave her all my length, and her legs trembled around me.

  “Will it always feel like this?” she asked, her eyes already unfocused, body restless.

  “Always.”

  “I love you so much,�
�� she whispered. “I don’t know what to do with it all.”

  “I love you too, Flash. On and off the field, you’re my hardest fall. No one has ever compared, and no one ever will. It was always going to be you for me.”

  Epilogue

  Six years later

  “Oh,” Zoe gasped as her body tensed for a quick second then relaxed against my chest. I circled my arms around her waist before she could get away from me. “It’s you. I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “Were you expecting someone else?”

  I stared down at her as her head fell back against my chest and she looked up at me. “Nope.”

  “Good answer.” I leaned down and dropped a quick kiss on her forehead.

  When our eyes met, she smiled at me, and my arms involuntarily tightened around her. Years had passed since she’d first told me she loved me, and I still couldn’t get enough of seeing how much she loved me in her eyes without her having to say it.

  “You don’t get to use that smile on me,” I said, my heart warming just at the sight of that sweet expression on her face.

  “What? Why?”

  “I still haven’t forgotten about John, Flash. You still haven’t made up for that.”

  She snorted and her smile got bigger. I loved it, loved seeing her face light up, seeing her eyes sparkle when she looked at me with such open, endless love.

  “He gave me his wife’s phone number. You were there, right next to me.”

  “Yeah and thank God I was. I’ve never seen you smile that big at someone other than me or your dad.”

  “Oh, shut up.” Her arms started running over my forearms, caressing, seducing without even noticing what she was doing. “I was just trying to be nice.”

  “You don’t have to be nice to my teammates. Be nice to your husband.”

  “I’m always nice to my husband, and that teammate just gave me his wife’s number so we could talk about a cute little shoot I’ll do for them when their baby is born.”

  Husband—every time the word left her mouth, my chest puffed up, and I couldn’t help but feel proud. She was mine, my Flash, and I was the luckiest bastard to walk this earth.

  Leaning down, I ran my nose along her neck and breathed in her scent. “Still doesn’t change the fact that you smiled at him like that. Admit it—I know you checked his ass out.”

  “Are you kidding me? Have you seen your own ass in those tight pants? I mean, of course you have, but…do you know what I mean? It’s just hard to take your eyes away when someone walks right in front of you. I didn’t know where else to look.”

  I stopped and lifted my head from her neck. “That’s not funny at all, Zoe.”

  She laughed. Her body shook in my arms as she turned and pulled my head down for a quick kiss. “Then don’t ask me funny questions. Now go away so I can finish cooking, and don’t open the fridge—you don’t get to see the cakes.”

  There was no way she could get rid of me that easily. Instead of getting out of her hair, I pushed her back against the kitchen island and trapped her between my arms.

  “I like where I am.”

  I tried to go for another kiss, but she arched away from me. “Everyone will be here soon and nothing is ready yet.”

  “Relax. Everything is ready. I can barely walk into the living room with all the balloons,” I murmured against her throat.

  “How was your workout?”

  We were off-season, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t training. I was working every day to stay at the top and be the best I could. After New York, we had moved once, but it’d been three years with the new team and I was happy with the move. I’d be happy as long as I played, and that was the truth. We were happy.

  I ignored Zoe’s question and sucked the skin on her neck to make her go crazy.

  “Dylan,” she groaned, her tone a dead giveaway as to how close she was to giving in to me, but then again, she always gave in to me.

  I stole another kiss, this one longer and filthier as I tasted every inch of her mouth and took her breath away. By the time I gave her a break, she was already standing on her tiptoes and reaching up for seconds.

  Her eyes still closed, she swallowed hard and licked her lips. I pushed my hands under her silk shirt and caressed her back, smiling when I felt goose bumps break out over her skin.

  “Did you get the Nutella?” she murmured.

  I buried my face in her neck and grazed her skin with my teeth. “All four of them.”

  “And did you get all the Reese’s, too? And M&Ms?”

  I let my hands travel all the way up her back and couldn’t hold back my grin when she shivered and tried to plaster the lower part of her body against mine. I gave her what we both desperately needed—always—and lifted her up on the counter, pushed her skirt higher on her thighs, and pulled her legs around me until I could feel the heat radiating from her core through my pants.

  “I got everything. Do we have enough time?”

  “They—”

  Before my beautiful wife could give me an answer, we heard footsteps rushing toward us, then my gorgeous little girl appeared around the corner. Her eyes got bigger when she saw me and her little feet quickened.

  “Daddy!” she shrieked, arms open, ready for me to catch her. “Snuggles!”

  Zoe unwrapped her legs from my back and I took a step back from her. The little monster aiming for me was the only thing that could distract me from my wife.

  I crouched down and caught my little baby, Sophia, in my arms. “Oooff,” I groaned when she crashed into me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  “Daddy,” she whispered as she laid her face on my shoulder, and my heart just melted. I straightened and saw Zoe watching us with a smile on her face. I couldn’t get enough of them, never would, not till the day I died. Leaning toward her, I gave Zoe a small kiss on her lips as she closed her legs and focused on our daughter.

  “I missed you like crazy,” she whispered when she was done hugging me and looked at my face.

  “I know, I missed you like crazy, too.”

  “It’s only been a few hours you two,” Zoe said, cutting into our usual lovefest as she jumped down from the counter. I’d have to wait until everyone went to bed before I gave her all my attention.

  Small hands turned my head, and I looked into my daughter’s happy little face, her clear blue eyes just like mine.

  “Mommy is jealous,” she whispered loudly, and Zoe snorted.

  “I know, she is always jealous of us.”

  Sophia nodded eagerly then a grin touched her face. “Your face looks happy, Daddy. Is it because it’s my birthday?”

  “It’s my birthday, too, you know,” I replied. While my baby was a little mini version of Zoe with all her quirks and looks, she had been born on my birthday—the best present Zoe could ever give me.

  “Happy birthday, Daddy. But your face is happy because it’s my birthday, right?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I think that’s why my face is happy.”

  “See, told ya. Did you buy my Riri’s?”

  “Yes, I got your Reese’s.”

  “My Nutella?”

  “Got that, too.”

  “Show me.”

  She was the bossiest little thing in the house, and I loved her for it.

  “Let’s check them out.” I winked at Zoe as she stood barefoot next to the stove and stirred the meat sauce for the lasagna she was preparing. She shook her head, but I knew how much she enjoyed seeing me with Sophia. Marriage hadn’t killed our love or sex life—not at all. We still couldn’t keep our hands off of each other, and I hoped it’d stay that way till we were wrinkly and old.

  I took Sophia to the counter and showed her everything I’d gotten one by one. To say both my daughter and wife had a sweet tooth would have been an understatement.

  “Good, good. You did good, Daddy. Now put them all in my closet so I can see them every day.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. She was the funniest little thing,
repeating everything she heard from the adults around her, and just like her mommy, she loved gazing at her prized possessions.

  “Where is your grandpa, Soph?” Zoe asked, and she turned her attention to her mom.

  “Outside.”

  “Yeah? What’s he doing outside?”

  She lifted her little shoulder in a shrug until it touched her ear. “I dunno.”

  “Sophia?”

  “My favorite ball went missing and he is helping me look for it.”

  My chest shook with silent laughter. “Did you hide it, Soph?”

  She turned her big, innocent eyes to me and gave another shrug. “I dunno.”

  Gently, I put her down and righted her frilly white birthday dress. “Come on, go get Grandpa Ron—everyone will be here soon.”

  “For my birthday, right?”

  “Yes, everyone is coming to see you. Now go get him.”

  Happy with everything she was hearing, she dashed out of the kitchen after giving Zoe’s leg a quick hug and a quick “Love you, Mommy,” all the while yelling for her grandpa.

  “Granpa, everyone is coming! We’re gonna have cakes and I’m gonna get pressies!”

  I went back to Zoe and she shrieked when my hands went up toward her boobs. She slapped my arms and forced my hands out of her shirt.

  “My dad is coming inside, what are you doing?”

  “You weren’t worried about your dad a minute ago.”

  “Yeah, because I knew they were outside. Now Sophia will get him in faster than you can give me a kiss.”

  Ignoring her protests, I hugged her and rested my chin on top of her head. “We could’ve gotten pizza—why are you cooking so much food?”

  “Don’t say pizza. I want one so bad. Everyone will stay for the weekend, so we’ll order some tomorrow, and your dad loves my lasagna.”

  “And you love him.”

  “Well…yeah…”

  I pressed a kiss against her cheek. She loved my family, and they loved her in return. My mom had taken her side on more than a few occasions, and I couldn’t have been prouder of my parents with the way they had welcomed her into the fold.