by Aja Cole
It’s a stab right to the heart. I don’t know why it hurts so badly, maybe because I thought there was potential so I’m mourning that too.
“Meeting Rob?” I reference his friend that’s my regular teacher.
“I was hoping to catch you.” He pins me with his unrelenting stare, and I want to look away as much as I don’t.
Pathetic.
“For?”
“To talk, to apologize.”
“Okay. You have. I’m going to go now.” I clutch my bag tighter against my shoulder and start to move around me
“Please. I promise I won’t take up a lot of your time.” There’s a quiet earnestness in his voice that chips away at my defenses, and I give a jerky nod, taking zero pleasure in his low exhale of relief.
We walk until we’re in a secluded area near the school’s water fountain, and we sit on a low bench. I make sure to keep a little distance between us.
“How’s your knee?” I ask politely.
“Great. Better than everyone expected. I’m doing more runs with the team, and I should be able to start again next week. I guess my caution paid off.”
“That’s good,” I say primly, avoiding looking at him. I don’t want to be reminded how sexy he is.
There’s silence for long moments, and then he starts to speak.
“You were something more to me from the first moment we met. I know that sounds like the most cliche shit imaginable, but it’s true. Something I never told you is that I had problems with my mom, too. Except she was just good at saying one thing and then doing someone entirely different. I can’t count how many times she promised me she’d be there or would do something, and then I was just disappointed because I kept believing her. So in a way, me avoiding having anything real, anything where promises would be made - was my way of trying to run from that constant disappointment that I felt growing up.” I can hear him swallow, and my lower lip trembles because I know exactly what he means.
I went through the same things when my mom was drinking. She’d forget to do things, or she’d say she would and then she was nowhere to be found. That was part of what made my dad leave with my little sister and me because he said he didn’t want us only to remember being let down by her.
“I told you about my mom; I would’ve understood where you were coming from.” I stare hard at the spidery cracks in the gray concrete.
“I’m not exactly the best at sharing everything that’s in my head, and I didn’t think about how much it still affected me.”
“So what’s changed now?”
“Someone might’ve told me to pull my head out of my ass because he was sick of seeing one of his favorite athletic trainers seem so down.”
“I didn’t know Rob knew about us.” I look at him in surprise.
“He didn’t, not really. I’d asked him if I’d be breaking any rules by seeing you initially, but I didn’t tell him who you were. I guess he put two and two together.”
“I asked one of the directors if I’d get into any trouble by seeing you too,” I confess. “I guess we were on the same page about that, at least.”
“I was the biggest idiot imaginable. I was scared that you were going to tell me you wanted to be with Vic, and I wanted you so damn much that I thought I’d hurt you before you could hurt me.”
“You’re a doofus.” I grind my teeth, annoyed. “Vic wanted to get back with me, yeah, but I was coming to tell you that I wanted to be with you.”
“I knew that the moment I saw your face and you told me I could leave. I knew I fucked up. I know I fucked up, and I know you don’t owe me anything, but…I want to be with you, Neiko. I’ll do whatever you want, however you want. I just want another chance to show you that this isn’t some fling to me.”
“And what happens if you want to run scared again?” I ask seriously. “I’m not perfect at all, but I think we at least need to both commit to trying to be open with each other and talking about stuff when it comes up. Not making assumptions and acting only on those.”
“I can’t say you’re not going to want to knock me upside the head sometimes when I’m being thick, but I promise I’ll give it my best. 250%. Exactly what I give in every game, I’ll give to you, if you let me.” I give him a once-over, gauging his sincerity.
And he seems pretty sincere.
When it comes down to it, I haven’t stopped thinking of him for a single day since I last saw him. Yeah, he did something stupid, but I think we both have things to work on.
Mainly just communicating with each other and being transparent.
“Okay.” I trail my eyes over his scruffy cheeks, and reach out a hand to touch him. “You need a shave.”
“I know.” He presses my hand to his face with his own. “So, we’re in this? You’re officially my woman.”
“And I guess that makes you my man, too.”
“Damned straight.” He murmurs and kisses me slow and deep. It’s a make up for lost time type of kiss, and heat only grows under my skin as it goes on. “Thank you for giving me another chance.”
“Thank you for not giving up for good. Because I definitely wouldn’t have chased you.” I lean my head on his shoulder, and we sit there, watching the water spout up from the fountain.
“Make-up sex?” He suggests, and I nod my head gratefully, springing up from the bench.
“First one to my apartment wins.” I start to race towards the parking lot, but he stops me with a gentle grip.
“I think it’s time for you to see my place.”
“Oh snap, this is serious.” I laugh, even though I feel a little relief. I know that he doesn’t have women over, and it warms me to know that he’s really taking different steps here.
“I’m all in, baby, and don’t you forget it.”
14
Epilogue
Neiko
I’m deliriously happy, and I want to shout it from the rooftops.
I graduated college but stayed on to work with the football team as an athletic trainer. I did that for a year, and then an intern position opened up with the Knights. Ty’s coach practically begged me to apply for it.
I’d gotten to know him and some of the other players pretty well by then, and I agreed, even though I figured more qualified people would apply too.
To my surprise, and no one else’s apparently, I got it. Coach said he thought that I had a really good head on my shoulders, and I interacted with the team well.
He also assured me that even if something happened between Ty and me, my job would be completely separate and he’d only base things on my merit.
I appreciated that because I was most hesitant about mixing our lives that way. But honestly? It’s been fucking amazing. I’m learning from some talented trainers, and there are rumblings that they’re going to ask me to stay on in a permanent position.
Honestly, nothing would make me happier. It turns out; hockey is amazing. I love watching them on the ice, the fast pace of the game, and the edge of aggressiveness is hot too.
Especially when it’s my man out there kicking ass and taking names. It’s been a little over two years since we met.
Definitely the longest time he’s been with one woman, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he acts. He’s a natural-born boyfriend; I like to tell him.
Speaking of being born, my 24th birthday is tomorrow, and I think I’m doing pretty damn well when it comes to where I was hoping to be.
I’ve got a cool job, an amazing man, and my family is thankfully alive and well. My friends are doing well too and that damned group chat is still as lively as ever since everyone is spread out now.
I met Ty’s dad last month when he came into town. He lives in Alaska and spends a lot of his time on the boat that he bought. My dad and Ty spend a lot of time together, I mean, I think he might like him more than me.
I unlock the door to our apartment and take off my sneakers by the door, dropping my bag to the floor. Ty hates when I do that, but I’ll grab it later. Or h
e’ll swat my ass a few times for it, whichever comes first.
Spanking is a regular part of our fun now, and I can’t believe I only started it when I met him. I almost crave the feeling of his hand on my ass now, it’s a little twisted but also, amazing.
What was really fun, was when we role played student and teacher and he introduced me to the fiery sweetness of a paddle with heart- shaped cutouts. It was the best kind of burn, even if my butt was sore for a few days.
Desire is growing in my body because of the memory, I pad into the bedroom, peering around the corner to see if he’s in the room. He’s sitting on the bed, unlacing his sneakers, and he glances up with a warm smile when he hears me.
“Hey, baby girl.” He notices my empty hands and gives me a look, to which I smile innocently at. “You dropped your bag at the door again, didn’t you.”
I put a knee on the bed on one side of him, then the other, hooking my arms around his neck and settling my butt to his thighs.
“Whoops. I’ll grab it later.”
“Mhm.” He drops a kiss on my shoulder. “How was dinner with your sister?”
“Good, she sends her greetings, and wants to know if you’ll do that mud race with her and a few other people.”
“Oh yeah, that’ll be fun. You gonna do it with us?”
“Do I look like I want to crawl through the mud for obstacle courses?” I grimace, shaking my head. “Count me out. I’ll cheer from the finish line or something.” I pull back and take in his features. I swear he gets more attractive to me every day. He’s gotten rid of his facial hair and is more clean shaven all the time. It’s just as hot as the short beard, if not hotter.
He’s got this sexy dimple right below his mouth that makes me want to just dip my tongue into it whenever I see it.
“I’m horny.” He speaks against my neck, and those two words send a jolt to my clit.
His dick. I want it.
“How do you want me?” I stroke my hands through his hair, raking my nails lightly over his scalp.
Instead of answering, he shifts back a little and moves me off the bed so that I’m standing. Then he turns me around, and I’m facing the large standing mirror that’s usually inside of our closet.
Oh fuck me, I can’t believe this didn’t cross my mind before.
He starts tugging my jeans down my hips, and I kick them away when they reach my feet. Next is my tee, then my bra and my bikini panties. He gets rid of his clothes, and I watch him behind me giving long strokes to his heavy cock while he sits on the beg. Thick legs wide, and I can see the veins in his forearm that I think are so fucking sexy too. The sight of him is so erotic, and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, breathing shallower.
“1-10?” He asks.
“Mmm, 5,” I admit, and he gets a devious smile on his face. It’s his way of asking how ready I am. Ten is dripping wet, shove your cock in my right now, no delays.
“Can’t have that.” Husky and sensual, that voice of his. I can hear it in my dreams, and it’s the most comforting sound to me.
He tugs me by my hips until the back of my legs hit the end of the bed, and he’s framing me with his powerful thighs. Starting with his hands on my shoulders, he caresses down my arms and over my hips, up my sides so he can trace tantalizing circles on the sides of my breasts that make me shudder, then back down my abdomen and pauses with his hands over my sex.
It’s a little surreal watching his every move, and seeing the arousal on his face that matches mine. It’s like our own personal porno, in real time.
He thrums my clit with his thumb, and I blow out a soft breath, watching and feeling the sensitive nub throb and grow harder under his attention. With his other hand, he swipes two fingers over my slit, testing until I part for him and he sinks into my hot pussy.
“I love how big your clit is, fucking sexy.” He kisses my back and goes lower to the swell above my ass, pressing a kiss there too. While his hands continue to wreak havoc all over my sex, he bites and licks at my ass cheeks, nuzzling his face in them. I’d be amused if I wasn’t so damned heated from his touch.
He does this to me, to my body, with a single look sometimes. It’s insane. Ty sends fire streaking through my veins and pure need rising in my soul with every brush of his attention on me.
“Thank you.” My eyes flutter shut because the thrust of his fingers is stealing my sanity. I shift on my feet, getting restless, but I let him run the show in here, and he runs it so well.
“You need more from me?” He sinks his teeth into my ass, and I moan, pressing back against his mouth.
“Yes, please.”
Switching our positions quicker than I can follow, he yanks me so that I’m teetering on the edge of the bed and puts his massive shoulders under my thighs. At the first suckle of his mouth on my wet folds, I whimper, watching my toes curl in the mirror. Seeing his dark head between my thighs, the muscles in his muscular back, seeing this powerful man knelt on his knees to worship me with his mouth…I almost shatter into a million brilliant pieces.
He licks and kisses and breathes life into me with his mouth, even as he steals my breath, and I sink my fingers into his hair, clutching him to me. I’m growing wetter by the second, and I can’t take it anymore.
“10, baby, 10.” I moan. He shares the taste of my juices with me with a delicious, passion- fueled kiss and reverses us again. He positions the tip of his cock at my pussy, and I sink onto him, filled inch by inch by his thickness and unable to stop my faint gasps as he stuffs me full of his length. The contrast in our skin tones is erotic too, and I watch the deep pink flesh of my cunt part around him, sucking him in.
I see myself through his eyes, this way. I look…passionate. And alive. And sexual…majestic. And he looks the same, my powerful, sexy man holding me in his arms and having my back in more ways than one.
He moves my foot up to to the bed, and I bend my knee, the angle allowing me to see everything as he brings me down on his erection and I writhe against him with every movement.
Sparks. Heat. Light. I’m one aching mass of lust, of love, of pure, unadulterated need and desire.
Only he can satisfy me this way. When watching us gets to be too much, I turn my face to his and take his lips in a needy kiss, our tongues dueling with each other as our fucking speeds up. Guttural sounds, low moans, and the slaps of skin on skin fill the room. He fills his hands with my breasts, pinching and pulling at my nipples as he growls against my skin, whispering heated words in my ear and questions that I can’t even string words together to answer.
“Look at how fucking hot we are together, how sexy you are to me. Do you like seeing me fill you up? You like watching this beautiful pussy of yours take me so easily, suck me in and not let me go?”
Fucking yes to all of the above.
I tremble in his arms and fist the covers with my hands, eyes almost rolling back in my head as my orgasm rushes over me. Seconds later, I feel his cock thicken, and he fills me up with his come, sending small aftershocks through me. I watch him in the mirror, eyes heavy-lidded and feeling completely content, my hand stroking whatever part of him that I can reach while his do the same.
No matter who he used to be, there’s zero doubt in my mind that this man is mine.
And I’m his.
“So, I have an early birthday gift for you.” Ty rolls over and reaches into the nightstand drawer, pulling out a box. We’ve just been lying here and talking about our days before we drift off to sleep.
It looks suspiciously like a ring box, and my chest gets tight. When he looks back at my face, he smoothes the worried lines from my forehead and laughs.
“I’m not proposing marriage baby girl, don’t worry.”
“Oh, thank god. I would’ve hated to have said no, but I would’ve.” I rest my head back on my pillow, facing him on my side.
“I know you want to wait a few years to get married, so I won’t ask you yet because I’m not fucking with a long engagement.” He starts. He flips op
en the box, and it’s a really stunning and sparkling band that looks like flower vines, then there’s a rose in the middle with a single diamond.
It’s perfect and simple, and I love it.
“This is a promise ring. It’s my promise to you that when you’re ready, I’ll replace it with a wedding band. It’s my promise to you that I’m in this for good, and you’re the only woman I want. Since you won’t let me give you my last name yet,” He takes my right hand and slides it onto my ring finger. “We’ll let this hold my place. Okay?”
I nod rapidly, straddling him and covering his face with kisses.
“I love you I love you I love you,” I whisper between them, feeling his body shake under me as he laughs and envelops me in a tight bear hug.
“I love you too, baby. Always.”
The End
Also by Aja Cole
Finding Her Center: Hockey Romance
One Last Play: Sports Romance
Love At First Down: Football Romance
The Banks Sisters Series
1. Ache For Me: Hockey Romance
2. Yearn For Me: Hockey Romance
3. Burn For Me: MFM Sports Romance
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About the Author
In addition to the people in her life that indulge her crazy - Aja Cole loves men that smell phenomenal, food that tastes amazing, and something that college makes it hard to do called sleep.
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