by Sosie Frost
“You got a deal,” I said. “I’m yours to command.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I’ll demand back rubs before the day is out.”
I could think of worse ways to spend my night. Hell, it’d be the best part of my day, if not my summer. While nothing was as exciting as winning our three exhibition games, earning Rory’s giggle thrilled me as much as a first down.
It also hurt less. Rory was quiet, unlike the grating roar of the crowd. She didn’t blind me like the pulsing of a headache. Rory offered me a strange peace.
I could either try to figure out what those feelings were…
Or I could train harder on the field and overcome the headaches and other issues.
I chose to focus. This season was the most important of my life. I had to dedicate myself one hundred percent to the game to not only win, but to stay healthy.
But pretty smiles with rose-scented teases didn’t keep me in the game. Rory was sweet. Beautiful. Fun. Was that what I had sacrificed for these past eleven seasons?
Rory straightened her hat, like it would somehow stop looking ridiculous. She got down to business.
“Most of the Rivets are helping with Lachlan’s charity event,” she said. “This is the best time to show them how lovely we are together.”
I didn’t hesitate before taking her hand. “Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll be the envy of the team with you on my arm, Doc.”
“That…or the social pariah.” She curled her fingers in mine. “I’m not the most popular on the team this week. I took DeSean out of the exhibition game for the concussion assessment, and now everyone thinks I’m some sort of bad omen.”
“You’re the prettiest curse I know.”
“You say that now…but what happens if I yank you out of a series, sit your butt on the sidelines, and force you into an assessment?”
“Good thing I’m attracted to powerful and confident women in silly hats.”
“The hat is a deal-breaker, Jude Owens. If you want me, you get the hat.”
“You drive a hard bargain…but I can’t overlook the hat.”
Rory’s expression crumpled.
I grinned. “Can’t look over it, can’t look through it, can’t look around it—”
She smacked me. “You’re such a tease.”
“Me?” I laughed. “At least I’m wearing underwear.”
Her shy smile and darted glance was the kind of flirt that might have encouraged a less respectable man to skip the charity event and aim her for the backseat of a car. My Jeep didn’t have doors. But Rory didn’t have panties.
It didn’t matter.
She was pregnant. Mine were not appropriate urges…even if the arch of her eyebrow twisted me in a dark and selfish way. The peach dress, her dark skin, and the stupid straw hat made her look…beautiful. So unlike the little Rory I remembered growing up.
She was a woman now. Smart and lovely with plump lips begging for a kiss and curves that deserved the stroke of a callous hand.
She was off-limits before, but now she was straight-up forbidden.
And I had to convince my cock that was a bad thing.
Especially walking into a kid’s charity event.
The practice facility was jammed with crowds. Fifty or so kids lined the field, footballs in hand. Volunteers chased them with band-aids and water bottles. Somewhere in the middle of the chaos, Lachlan leapt into the fray. He shouted encouragement and led the children through jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, and somersaults. The kids frantically attempted to follow his lead, laughing and colliding and screaming in delight. Leah Carson helped to organize the day’s events—an end to a summer-long camp that offered children of under underprivileged single-parents a month of fun and education. Today, as a grand finale, the campers got to meet the Rivets.
Rory took my hand and led me through the practice field. Wasn’t sure what jumped more—my pulse or my cock.
“Are you ready to become the cutest couple here?” she asked.
“I don’t think we have to work hard.”
“Wrong. We’re stepping up our game. I need you to touch me, but not aggressively. Smile at me, but like you don’t even realize you’re doing it. We might have to kiss too. Once or twice. Three times might be gratuitous.”
“You’ve been planning this out, haven’t you?”
“I might’ve created a game plan to make it look real.”
“What if we just acted like ourselves?”
Rory bit her lip. “It has to look like we belong together.”
“What if I can manage that without acting?”
“How?”
“Ask a silly question, Doc.”
I swung her into my arms. Rory stared at me, curious and panicked.
What the hell was I doing? And why hadn’t I done it sooner?
Her eyes fluttered closed as I leaned in for the kiss. Something soft. Feathery sweet. Meant more like a tickle than any declaration of whatever misguided and torturous feelings coursed the blood through my veins.
“Well, well, well…isn’t this cute?”
Rory broke the kiss with an embarrassed chuckle as Leah Carson shoo’ed us into the camp.
“So this is why you guys are late?” Leah said.
Rory tightened her grip on my hand. “Oh. Sorry. We were just…”
“I know exactly what you were doing. Second trimester, huh?”
“Yeah…” Rory was too damn adorable when she got embarrassed. “You know what that’s like.”
Like what was like?
Leah crossed her fingers. “And with any luck, we’ll be there again. Soon. Anyway, the rest of the team is stationed in the end zone. Lachlan’s doing a couple of photographs with the kids…”
Leah pointed to the field where Elle unsuccessfully wrangled her husband and two dozen rowdy children into a cluster for the picture.
She frowned. “Damn. I should call Piper in for backup or we’ll be here all night. Jude, try to make your way to the rest of the team without tripping over a kid. Rory…savor the pregnancy. Once the baby is out…this becomes your life. Enjoy!”
Leah ran away as a squadron of screaming, laughing, sprinting eight-year-olds cut across the field with water balloons. The balloons launched like grenades, and I batted away one particularly overfilled projectile. The balloon popped, showering Rory in a spray of mist. She squealed, but the kids bolted.
At least that was the only water breaking on the field.
Rory bumped her shoulder into me. “You’re very surprising, Mr. Owens.”
“Why?”
“Your timing on that kiss? Leah bought it, one hundred percent.”
Yeah, but I hadn’t meant to impress Leah with it. “It was my pleasure, Doc.”
“Well, keep it up.”
“Another kiss like that, and I’m afraid it won’t go back down.”
Rory nudged my arm. “I never thought I’d say this, but you had better behave.”
“You wanted it to look believable.”
“Oh, it looked very believable.” I raised my eyebrows. “You even parted your lips.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You wanna bet?”
“I can assure you, I did not part my lips.”
“So I must have flicked…my own tongue?”
Rory doubled down. “How talented you must be.”
“Care for a demonstration?”
Her words warmed with a delightful tease. “You better be careful, or I’ll take you up on that offer.”
“You should. It’s a great opportunity.”
“A little over-confident?”
“Just over-eager.”
Rory rubbed a hand over her tummy. “Don’t you think I’m in enough trouble now?”
“This wouldn’t be trouble…it’d be fun.”
Or the greatest mistake of our lives.
Rory stepped too close. “You’re not the type to play games.”
“First time for everything.�
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“I don’t even know the rules.”
“Maybe it’s time to break them?”
I leaned down. Her lips parted before I even grazed the perfection of her kiss.
Unfortunately, a football thudded into the ground at my feet. Rory pulled away, practically pulling her straw hat over her face. Jack laughed, already armed with a second ball.
“Take it to the exam room, you two.”
He tossed the ball, nearly tripping over his son. He grabbed Sammy and hauled him onto his shoulders.
“Sorry,” I said. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
I handed Rory the ball. She had no idea what to do with it and clutched it like a baby.
Like I hadn’t had enough guilt for kissing her again.
Jack grimaced as Sammy tugged on his hair. “What you do in the privacy of your own home is none of my business…but around here? You’re just gonna give Leah ideas. Even I need to rest once in a while.”
“Down!” Sam tugged harder on Jack’s head. “Daddy! Wanna run!”
A few feet away, another rambunctious toddler answered his cry. “Daddy! Cole! Down!”
Jack lowered Sam just as Cole released his step-daughter, Rose. The two ran for each other, arms outstretched, but they didn’t know how to put the brakes on yet. Puff-ball pigtails collided with a bundle of pure energy, and both kids tumbled on the ground, hugging each other and wailing.
“Match made in heaven.” Rory laughed.
Cole grumbled. The monster of a man knelt down, helped Rose to her feet, and sighed as she gave him a kiss to his cheek. She then bolted to race Sam once more.
“Great.” Cole scowled at Jack. “Tell me that apple fell very, very far from your tree. I won’t have your boy breaking my little girl’s heart.”
Jack hauled Sam up, patted the dirt and grass from his butt, and sent him after Rose once more. “You’ll be relieved to learn that he takes after Leah.”
“I think they’re cute,” Rory said. “They can grow up together. Always have someone to watch over them. It’s…” She glanced at me. “They’re lucky they’ll have each other.”
And the guilt crushed me.
And the lust.
And the fucking confusion of it all.
But I’d swear Rory hadn’t been acting through either of the kisses. Her lips had nibbled, her eyes had closed, and her soft, gasped breath was a secret invitation.
Had I imagined it?
Rory reached into her purse, checking her phone. Her fingertips drifted over my shoulders.
“I’ve gotta go make a call.” Her gaze lingered a moment too long. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here.”
“I won’t be far.”
“Sure thing.”
Rory snuck away, her fingers tangling in mine until her arm outstretched. The heat remained. Her dress clung to her hips, framing everything soft and feminine and curvy. Even her damn hat looked cute, though I’d have loved to knock it back and dive in for the kiss she really deserved.
“So…” Jack gestured over his shoulder with a thumb. “Aren’t you…?”
“What?”
Even Cole gave me a frustrated glance. “Honeybuns?”
“What about her?”
Jack groaned. “Christ, dude. I know those concussions dented your brain, but how the fuck did you knock her up if you’re this dense?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“She wanted you to follow her, Daddy.”
I stiffened, in more ways than one. I played it cool. “She said she was making a call.”
Cole rubbed his chin. “She’s second trimester?”
“Yeah?”
Jack shrugged. “And you’re just gonna…pass up this opportunity? Jude, this is when the sex is great.”
I was stealing Rory’s baby book the instant we got home. “Believe me, I know Rory. She’s not that adventurous.”
“Those hormones bring out the wild side,” Cole said. “You thought I was the Beast? When Piper was pregnant with Ethan, I thought I was gonna die of exhaustion. A good death, but messy.”
Jack agreed. “But we’re not gonna tell you how to please your woman.”
What the hell was I supposed to do?
I only knew two things about women. First, they were bad for my game, and I avoided a serious relationship like I avoided linebackers. Secondly, I had no business seducing a friend.
Even if she had flirted too.
And kissed me.
Damn.
She did give me one last little touch. What if that was an invitation?
I was a gentleman, but I wasn’t an idiot.
“I should go see what she wants,” I said.
“Not hard to guess,” Jack grinned.
I had good instincts on the field, but they ended at the hash marks. I wasn’t following intuition. I chased hope.
This was a mistake.
I didn’t make mistakes.
I was too careful for mistakes.
But I couldn’t wait to ruin our lives with this one.
I followed Rory into the practice facility, my echoing steps loud, obtrusive, and revealing a determination to claim what wasn’t mine to take. I rounded the corner to the locker room, expecting a smiling Rory, giggling under a hat, teasing me without her panties.
Fuck me, I was a goddamned idiot.
Rory wasn’t baiting me. She hadn’t tried to seduce me.
She was legitimately on the phone.
I’d kill those guys. Second trimester my ass.
Rory frowned at me, just as confused as I was.
No. More confused than me. But nowhere near as fucking embarrassed. I walked cock-first into a mistake.
Jesus.
“Thank you, Doctor Summers. I’ll give you a call next week.” Rory lowered her phone with a frown. “Is everything okay, Jude?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
What could I say that didn’t sound perverted? Yeah, I just thought you were horny as fuck and wanted to hump like teenagers in a public bathroom.
“Just making sure everything’s okay.”
“Oh.” Rory nodded. “That was just my old hospital. Checking up on me. Doctor Summers was excited about the fellowship…though I suspect he just wants Rivets’ tickets.”
My mind blanked. Great. Silence would help explain why I was creeping on her. The damn humiliation silenced me.
Or was it disappointment?
I had nothing. Just a stare. Just a longing to see this beautiful woman with her perplexed smile and ridiculous hat.
My head told me to back off.
My instincts refused.
I reached for her, but Rory giggled as I tugged her close.
“Jude, if we aren’t careful, no one will see us.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
She laughed. “Why did you follow me?”
No sense lying. “We never finished that kiss.”
Rory didn’t retreat, but her voice lowered. She was right. I’d never played games, but I definitely walked a dangerous line now. And if I stumbled?
Rory was going down with me.
Or on me.
A man could dream.
“Did you want to practice a little more?” she asked.
I wanted the real thing. “We can never be too believable.”
Her tongue slipped out, licking her bottom lip. I’d taste both soon enough.
“You’re right,” she whispered. “We should take any chance we get to become comfortable with each other.”
“The closer we are, the more realistic this looks.”
“It already feels kinda real.”
I lowered my head, nibbling over her kiss. “Say the word, Doc, and we can really start pretending.”
“Practice makes perfect.”
And she was perfect.
And soft.
And hot.
And clutching me with the same intensity that I captured her. Her lips parted, but I wasn�
�t waiting for the thrill of her tongue. I took it myself, flicking across her silken heat and capturing her whimpered groan.
That was a real sound. That was the real Rory. Not the polite woman on my arm, awkwardly kissing my cheek at practice and smirking anytime someone mentioned our baby. The throaty, passionate groan was everything honest, genuine, and burning inside her.
The hallway was no place for us. My steps propelled us backward, through the swinging door of the locker room and into our own quiet, private sanctuary. Her hands wove over my body, as if memorizing my muscles, my arms, even brushing through my hair.
I did the same.
Rory was a firecracker without the fuse—too polite to light herself. I’d strike that match for us, hoping for a sparking delight and not to have this mistake blow up in my face. This was trouble. Danger. And I liked it.
She was my best-friend’s sister.
A lifelong friend.
A woman carrying another man’s child.
It didn’t matter. In that moment, she’d chosen me. Parted her lips and groaned my name. Rory touched me, caressed me, and, in her own excitement, led me back until my ass struck one of the trainers’ tables.
She pinned me.
What man in his right mind would try to get away?
I hungrily devoured any kiss she offered. Her sundress wrinkled in my hand. She’d said she wasn’t wearing panties.
Was it worth jeopardizing our relationship to find out the truth?
Yes.
No.
I inched the dress over her hips, one fistful at a time. Higher and higher, until the warm flesh of her thigh brushed my fingertips.
It was enough to drive a man mad…if he had any mind left to shatter.
For once, the concussions spared me. My mind rejected everything but the promising heat that pulsed from the hidden slit between her legs.
I’d imagined it enough, fantasized about this very pleasure in my shower while struggling under the icy blast of the water. It never eased the strain of my principals, morals, and desires.
But now she was here. Waiting for me. Her every secret within my grasp. All it’d take was a single touch, a rolled finger striking a most forbidden spot. I could cripple her. Turn her pants into gasps. Transform the frustrated ache into a moment of deserving pleasure.
I had to touch her. Had to feel that wetness against my skin. Had to obey my own fantasies and savor the heat and slickness and silken petals that tormented me these past six weeks.