“B, what the hell?”
“Your dads know I’m getting you out of here for a bit.” I tugged.
He didn’t budge. “They know what?”
“They know I have a surprise for you.”
He eyed me warily, those brown eyes narrowing. I loved his eyes. Like heart-eyes loved them. They were a whiskey color, and in some lighting, they almost looked green. Other times, they darkened to a deep brown. “You and your surprises,” he muttered.
But he grinned at me, the grin that showed his left dimple, and I knew I had him. I pulled him out the back door and right to the shed. He knew then, shaking his head at me as I unlocked the door and went for the ATV. I was pretty good at it now. Every time we visited his dads, weather-permitting, we’d take a ride to the waterfall.
In a few moments, we were speeding down the path, me clinging to his back. He let me man the ATV sometimes, but we’d arrive with him half-dead from a panic attack because he said I drove, “like I had a death wish,” so today, in his honor, I let him drive.
When we reached the waterfall, I stepped out onto the rock first, shouting, “Ta-Da!” as I waved my hands at the blanket I’d laid out earlier that morning. He stopped abruptly, taking in the blanket and the small picnic basket as well as the champagne sitting in a bucket of (now-melted) ice. He didn’t say anything for the longest time, which was unlike Lavin since he usually blurted out whatever was in his head.
Finally he let out a long sigh, a happy one, and his eyes sparkled in the light of the morning sun. “Aw, B.”
“Breakfast. At your favorite spot. On a day we celebrate you, Mr. Summa Cum Laude.”
He laughed. “Whatever.”
“Not whatever.” I put my hands on my hips. “We went over this. Repeat after me.”
“B—”
“I, Lavin Saint.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered before a heavy sigh. “I, Lavin Saint.”
“Will be proud of my accomplishments.”
“Will be proud of my accomplishments.”
“And will now eat breakfast with my gorgeous girlfriend.”
“And will now eat out my gorgeous girlfriend.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Lavin!”
“What?” He eyes got all big and innocent.
“Perv.”
“You created this monster, B.”
I pursed my lips as I sat down on the blanket. He wasn’t wrong. He took to sex—or rather, sex with me—like he was born to do it. He was fucking good at fucking. Or maybe we just both took the time to learn each other’s bodies so well. I hadn’t been a virgin but I wasn’t necessarily experienced. With Lavin, neither of us felt pressure to be something we weren’t. So we played around, testing what each of us liked. And we did it a lot.
“Sit,” I said, needing to take my mind off of that before we ditched the food I’d made and did something else.
He plopped down beside me, reaching into the basket and pulling out a bowl of fruit. He popped open the lid and tossed a grape in the air, catching it in his mouth with a quick jerk of his neck.
“Okay, so we have the fruit, as well as muffins and some breakfast burritos. They’re still warm.” I opened up a separate thermal bag and handed him a foil-wrapped bundle.
“How early did you have to wake up to do this?” He was like a kid, spreading his food out all around him as he inhaled a muffin. “You’re the best,” he said with a full mouth, crumbs dropping on his shirt.
I’d woken up at the butt crack of dawn when he was still all warm and fast asleep. “I am the best,” I said, popped open the champagne and pouring him a mimosa. He looked at it with a raised brow before shrugging and drinking it. In one gulp. He sputtered for a minute, eyes watering. “Oh shit. Bubbles in my nose.” He gasped. “Burns.”
This was life with Lavin. “You’re supposed to sip mimosas.”
“You should have told me. It was this little glass with barely anything in it. What, you think I brunch on the regular?”
I poured him another. “Sip it this time, Lav.” He lifted his pinkie and took an exaggerated delicate sip. I smacked his shoulder with a laugh. “Just eat, you weirdo.”
Halfway through his burrito, he gazed out at the water. “What time do we have to be back?”
I glanced at my watch. “We have another hour.”
“I really don’t even want a party. This is the best graduation gift.”
I bit my lip. “I didn’t actually get you anything. I wasn’t sure what to get—”
“B,” he said, looking me in the eye. “This. This is amazing. You made me breakfast and dragged me out to my favorite spot. And I get to be alone with you. This is perfect.” He leaned over and smacked a loud kiss on my cheek. “I’ll show you how perfect when I’m done with this burrito, because it’s the tits.”
I sipped my mimosa, ate my muffin, and forked in some fruit. Lavin ate like a starving man—he always did. I assumed it was all the calories he burned running. He still ran every day. He’d already signed up to play a recreational adult soccer league during the summer.
When he was finished, I carefully packed away all our leftovers and trash. We came out here a lot, but it was unspoken that we left this place as undisturbed as possible. He laid on his back on the ledge, one arm behind his head, the other out, a silent invitation for me to curl up next to him. But I had other ideas. I straddled him, hands braced on his stomach and like that, his eyes went dark. I loved that. Nothing made me feel as hot as Lavin’s heated gaze on me, and how fast I could affect him.
“Shit, B.”
I rolled my hips, feeling his cock harden between my legs. “We’ve never done this here.”
He licked his lower lip, his hands sliding up my thighs. “Nope.”
“I think we should christen this spot, don’t you think?”
“I think we should christen as many places as possible.”
I leaned down, slowly, but he had other ideas. With a hand at the back of my head, he crashed our lips together, his tongue instantly invading mine. He’d always been an amazing kisser, but I swore he got better every single time.
His hips moved under me, a gentle rocking that made the zipper on my jeans dig into my clit, sending a bolt of heat up my spine. I dug my fingers into his chest, loving the answering growl that rumbled in his chest.
Then I wasn’t on top anymore. The world rotated and I was pressed onto my back, the thick blanket soft enough to protect me from the rocky ledge below. Lavin made quick work of my jeans and before I could stop him, my legs were over his shoulders and his mouth was on me.
I cried out, gripping his hair. This hadn’t been my plan. “Lavin, this was supposed to be my treat to you,” I whined.
He pulled back an inch, eyeing me up my body. “How is this not a treat for me?”
And then I couldn’t answer him because his mouth was back on me, pointed tongue swirling through my clit. He added his fingers and a moment later when he attached his lips to me and sucked, my back arched and I came like a firecracker.
Before I could come down from that orgasm, he was over me and sliding home. I wrapped all my limbs around him, exhaling at the feel of him inside me. Every time, every-freaking-time, it felt like home. We’d ditched condoms a long time ago, and there was something about removing that extra barrier that made this even more intense.
I could feel every ridge on his cock, every tremor as he thrust inside of me, peppering my face with kisses, telling me he loved me, that I was perfect, that I was beautiful. I knew he meant it. Every word. When I said all of it back, I meant it too.
He ground in and circled his hips, a move he’d started recently that made me a puddle of goo. “Oh yes, like that,” I moaned. “Please.”
He did it again, and again, and when his finger pressed against my clit again, I tightened around him and came. He did too, burying his face in my neck, my name on his lips with reverence.
I stroked his hair as his hands glided down my sides. Whe
n my legs started cramping, he let them drop, and with a sweet kiss to my lips, we got dressed. This time, when he laid on his back with his arm out, I cuddled into his chest.
“Now that’s a fucking present,” he said, which made me turn my face into his chest and laugh. “I love you, B.”
“I love you, too. I’m going to miss you.”
“Miss me? You won’t miss me.”
I raised up on an elbow. “What? Of course I will! I’ll be going to class and you’ll be working full-time.” He’d been offered a job in his hometown, a fifth-grade teaching position at the same elementary school he’d attended. It was over an hour from Parksburg. I’d loaded up on classes and would graduate early, but I still had a year left.
“How will you miss me when you’ll be living with me?” he shot back.
I stared at him dumbly. “What are you talking about? No way am I letting you commute over an hour every day. That’s ridiculous. And you know I can’t be that far from campus.”
He shook his head. “I’ll be living in Parksburg.”
“What—”
He beamed. “I got a job offer from Tollgate Elementary.”
I gaped at him. Tollgate was right outside of Parksburg. Five minutes away from campus. “What?” I breathed.
“Yep. I’m going to accept. You and me are going to get an apartment, and I’ll let you talk me into a small animal as a pet. No snakes though. I’ll consider a small bird.”
I just stared at him. “But what about—”
“B, it’s fucking weird to teach next to teachers who taught me. Point blank, it’s weird, especially when I know for a fact that Mrs. Grant, who still teaches there, wiped my ass in kindergarten.”
“Oh my God, Lavin.”
“See? And I’m supposed to be her peer? I can’t do it.”
“But—”
“The pay isn’t as good at Tollgate, but I was offered second grade, which I prefer, because fifth grade is scary. Do you know what ten-year-olds are like? Boys with chest hair, and girls getting their periods?” He shuddered.
“I don’t think they get chest hair that young—”
“I saw it! When I interviewed. Swear to God. This kid had chest hair and a deep voice. He looked like he could kick my ass.”
I rolled my eyes, but the excitement was bubbling in my belly. “Wait, so are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. This is where the decisions happen, and I made it. I’m accepting on Monday.”
I threw myself on top of him, waffling between crying with happiness and screaming with joy. “I’m so happy!”
He wrapped his arms around me, tight. “I know.”
“Are you sure this is what you want?”
He tucked my hair behind my ear, his whiskey eyes dancing. “Never been more sure of anything in my life.”
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Author Note and Acknowledgements
I grew up around the sport of soccer. My older brother played, and he was good, which meant many weekends at tournaments, late nights in the cold, holding a Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate, cheering him on until my throat was hoarse. I had a rotating series of crushes on his teammates. I played when I got old enough, and while I was never very good, it didn’t matter. I loved it anyway.
My first boyfriend was a soccer player, and of course I married one. And now, I gave birth to one. So yeah, it’s in my blood. I have wanted to write a soccer romance for years, but I had to have the perfect hero. The perfect one. So I waited, and waited, and when Lavin Saint started talking to me, I knew I’d found him. I’m not sure I’ll ever write another hero who I love as much as I love my Lavin.
One of my favorite movies is The Girl Next Door, where a virgin high school guy finds himself falling for his porn star neighbor. That’s where the inspiration for this book came from, and I’m ridiculously happy with how it turned out.
I loved writing this book. In fact, it helped me fall back in love with writing. I can’t thank my readers enough for standing by me while I took some time off writing. Meg’s Mob, I couldn’t have done this without you! I appreciate you all so much.
Thank you to my beta readers—Natalie Blitt and Krista Davis. You two gave me the courage to set Lavin loose.
Thanks so much to Melinda Utendorf for the great proofing.
A million thanks to my readers. I hope you fall in love with Lavin like I did.
About the Author
Megan Erickson worked as a journalist covering real-life dramas before she decided she liked writing her own endings better and switched to fiction. She's a multi-published author with Avon, Berkley, Grand Central Publishing, and Entangled. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids and two cats.
Feel free to contact her at
www.meganerickson.org
[email protected]
Other Books by Megan Erickson
Wired and Dangerous series
Zero Hour
Darkest Night
Final Day
Boots series
Boots
Heels
Silver Tip Pack series
Daring Fate
Chasing Destiny
In Focus series
Trust the Focus
Focus on Me
Out of Frame
Overexposed
Bowler University series
Make it Count
Make it Right
Make it Last
Mechanics of Love series
Dirty Thoughts
Dirty Talk
Dirty Deeds
Gamers series
Changing His Game
Playing for Her Heart
Tied to Trouble
Leveling the Field
Mission Series
Blood Guard
Blood Veil
FALSE 9: Red Card Series Page 24