“In one respect, I thought you were a typical jock, but on the other hand you were also a bit of a mystery, if I’m being honest. I’m so glad you told me about what happened with you and your dad. It makes me feel closer to you.”
“Me, too. I feel lighter somehow.” I threaded my fingers through hers and wondered what I’d done to meet someone like her.
“So what happened next, you know, after all the sex?” she asked, gently teasing me.
“Oh, you want to hear more?”
“Of course I do.”
“Okay then. After that, with all the scouts sniffing around, the coach told me that I could go into the draft. He didn’t want me to, but hell, that was my dream, the thing I had been working toward all my life. I met with an agent and dropped out of the school the next day.”
Looking back, I was an idiot to do so. Another year and I would have graduated with a degree in public relations, something that I could have used when or if my football career tanked. It’s the one mistake all college athletes make, thinking they are invincible enough to play for twenty or so years. “Anyway,” I continued, shaking off that mood, “when the draft came, I went in the first round. You probably know some of this. But the money, hell, it was more than I could have ever imagined. After all my struggles growing up, barely having enough to eat ’cause it all went to feeding my father’s beer and whiskey habit, I saw it as an opportunity to make my own way in life without the shadow of my father hanging over me. I spent and wasted far too much, but it was worth it. And the first few games, I rocked it. But then the phone calls started, and the visits. He was in my head all the damn time, making me lose focus. And then…”
“Then something happened?” she asked, and my mood darkened immediately. I sighed and dropped my head, wishing I could go back to that one game that changed my damn life forever.
“Maddox! Suit up! You’re going in!”
Pumped, I grabbed my helmet and slammed it onto my head, trotting out onto the field to the roar of the crowd. The game that was going to push us into the playoffs hung in the balance, the team down by a touchdown with less than a minute left on the clock. I’d been benched for throwing an interception a week earlier, but now was my time to bring the glory back. If I could pull this off, we were going to be in the playoffs, which meant a bonus was coming my way.
I huddled with the offense and rattled off the play call, clapping my hands to break the huddle before positioning myself behind the center. It was an easy route, a fake to my running back before an easy throw downfield to my open receiver. I had done it a thousand times before. I did a hard count and backed up, faking the handoff and setting up my throw before I saw an opening right down the middle, a near straight path to the goal line.
I was going to win this game.
I took off, my breath harsh in my own ears as I tucked the football under one arm and headed for the open pocket, the goal line in my sights. But then out the corner of my eye I spotted him.
Somehow there he was, after all the years without a word. My father had somehow managed to get himself on the sidelines. It wasn’t an illusion, he was really there. I still don’t know to this day how he did it, or how he got around security, but it didn’t matter; the damage was done. In that moment, as he stood there with his arms across his chest staring me down, watching my every move, every single beating came rushing back. Trapped within a playing reel of my memories, I was distracted, so much so I almost stopped running. And that moment when I slowed down—did a double-take—was all it took to ruin everything.
I didn’t see the defensive back come out of nowhere. He collided with me on the ten yard line, knocking the ball out. I fell hard on my side, the jarring motion rattling my teeth as I landed on the turf, watching as the ball was scooped up by the other team. There was no one there to lift me off the ground, and I was forced to walk back to the sidelines in a daze. I tried to find the figure that had distracted me, but he was gone, and the coach grabbed my arm. I couldn’t comprehend a word he was saying. I had blown it. I had single-handedly blown our chances for a playoff game.
“They wasted no time trading me,” I said with a grimace, setting another bottle of beer on the table in front of me, “and you know the rest.” I was spent, reliving the memories that had brought me to this present day. I looked over to see Lucia wiping tears from her eyes, a look of compassion on her face. “Shit, I didn’t mean for you to cry over me.”
“I’m so sorry, Jacob,” she replied softly, removing the remainder of the tears from her cheeks. “I didn’t know.”
“There’s no way you could have known, no one does. I never told anyone about what, or who, I saw that day. Or the weeks of harassment that came before that. They would’ve just seen it as another excuse, or that perhaps I’d really gone off the deep end and was seeing things,” I interjected, wiping away her tears with my thumb. “Please don’t cry, it feels good to get it off of my chest, and what’s done is done. If that hadn’t have happened, I wouldn’t be here with you now, would I?”
“No, I guess not. Damn, I didn’t mean to blub all over you. My emotions are on overdrive.”
“I get it, they’re bound to be,” I said. She was cute when she was flustered. “So, how do you do this every day? I mean listen to other people’s problems.”
She shrugged, picking at the sleeve of her blouse. “I’ve always had a good ear, and I guess I know when to keep my mouth closed. But mostly, it’s easy; clients who come to me normally want to talk and I steer them to a resolution kinda. The want to tell their side of the story, even if it’s to a complete stranger. Like you said, it’s a relief, cathartic.”
“You’re fucking awesome,” I answered, giving her a grin and pulling her close.
“Oh, shh, I’m really not. But you, you’re pretty amazing. It’s rare that someone comes back so strong after the hurdles you’ve had to overcome in your life. You need to give yourself more credit.”
“I’m still a failure, though,” I replied, grabbing her hand and holding it tightly. “I wasted most of my life thinking that the world owed me something in return for having a shitty father. Instead I let him get to me too many times. I should’ve let go of the hate and anger a long time ago.” Her thumb stroked the top of my hand, and I shuddered, thinking I didn’t deserve to even be sitting next to her. “But I promise you, I won’t fail our child, or you, again. I swear it. I won’t be like him.”
“I believe you,” she said, standing and tugging on my hand. “Come on.”
“Wait, I need to tell you about the book you found—”
“It can wait.”
26
Lucia
My heart was hammering in my chest as I pulled on Jacob’s hand, getting him to rise off of the couch. His story tugged on my heart, clearing up a great many things about Jacob that I needed to know. Now all I saw was a little boy begging to be loved, and I was going to be that person. I was going to give him everything I had.
His hands gripped my hips and he looked at me, worry and apprehension in his eyes. “I shouldn’t be here,” he said quietly. “Your father will kill me.”
I smiled, moving his hand from my hip to my stomach, where the life we had made together was growing. “Let me worry about that, okay? You have already touched me in more ways than one, Jacob. There’s no going back.”
He looked down at his hand resting against my stomach. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, to get you pregnant.”
I tipped his chin up to look at me, softening my expression. “Opportunities happen when we least expect them. And yeah, it’s scary, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Together we can make this work. It’s more important that we look forward to our future.” I swallowed. I wanted to ask him if he’d meant those words he’d said what seemed like ages ago, but what if he’d just said them in the heat of the moment? “Did you mean what you said the other day, when you said you—”
“I love you.” His response was so quick it made me gasp. “O
ne hundred percent, I meant it.”
I stepped back from his touch and walked toward my bedroom. With a quick look over my shoulder I made sure he was following me. “Show me.”
When I reached the bedroom, I started to strip off my clothes, my pulse pounding in my ears. But then his hand touched my bare back, I closed my eyes, my skin on fire. “Let me undress you for a change.” I let my hands hang loose as he caressed my sides beneath my shirt. His movements were slow and meticulous, as if he were studying each thread of what I was wearing, teasing my skin underneath before he peeled my shirt from me.
It fell to the floor and he motioned to me to turn around. He brushed my hair to the side, letting it fall over one shoulder as his lips made contact with the tip of my shoulder, working his way up to my exposed neck, laying kisses one by one as he went. The hot air of his breath swirled and tickled my ear, and shudders like the aftershocks of an earthquake wracked my body. My bra straps fell, pushed down the slope of my upper arm by his fingers. Then his capable hands sought the clasp, but not before he ran them the length of my back, squeezing my butt for good measure.
“I don’t deserve you,” he breathed into my ear as he let my bra drop to the carpet. His hand wound its way to my breasts from behind, cupping them, holding them… oh, God, squeezing my hard nubs. “But I will have you if you will allow me to.”
I exhaled. It felt so good to have his hands on me again; there was no doubt in my mind I was addicted to him. “You’ve always had me.”
Jacob kissed my shoulder again before spinning me around, locking me tight in his arms, his eyes searching mine. I watched as his embrace loosened, and he knelt before me until his forehead was touching my stomach. I felt the tingle of my lower half as his hands slid down to cup my ass, then back around my waist to undo my trousers. He slipped those off faster, then moaned as my panty-clad pussy came into view. He pulled me closer to his mouth. When his lips touched the material, the warmth of his breath and kiss penetrated it. He increased his pressure against me; I squirmed and was rewarded with a slight squeeze.
“Stay still. Let me love you,” he whispered. In one swift movement he hooked his fingers around the waistband of my panties and drew them over my hips and down around my ankles. He looked back up, his eyes directly level with my pussy. I wanted to turn away—no one had ever concentrated on me like this. But he kept me locked in place.
All of a sudden there was a cool breeze blowing onto my wetness. I fisted my hands in his hair as his tongue darted out and touched the small nub nestled between my folds, eliciting a moan deep within me. I craved his touch, wanted to feel him all over me. He was torturing me slowly with his kisses, his caresses, his tongue doing wonderful things to my oversensitive clit. When the pressure mounted again, I attempted to pull away, but he held me close until the dam burst forth and I shuddered.
Jacob wasted no time getting to his feet and getting me to lie across the bed, shedding his clothes as well before he hovered over me, spreading me wide with his large hands at my thighs. I stared at him, not wanting to miss a moment, intoxicated with the way he looked at me. His eyes roamed as if he wanted to see every part of my body, not wanting to miss a single bit of me, regardless of whether it was, in my opinion, not taut enough or smooth enough.
The air around us was saturated with the sweet, musky scent of sex as he burrowed deep inside me, filling me to the very core. “God, you are beautiful,” he whispered, clasping our hands together as he slowly moved within me. I reached up and brushed the tips of my fingers across the side of his face, wishing I could erase the shadows from his eyes. But I would with time, if he allowed me to do so. I could be the balm he was looking for, me and this baby. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I pulled him in closer, deeper. I wanted all of him. Clenching his hands as he took me higher and higher, my pussy pulsed, pinpricks of white starlight shone bright behind my eyes, then the first waves of pleasure crashed over me like an unending barrage. It was exquisitely slow, gentle, but also deliciously hard.
I panted, my head lolling to the side as I tried to recover; I needed more. “Jacob?” I whispered, my hands going to his chest to make him slow down before he came too soon. I bit my lip, wondering what his reaction would be. I could hardly believe what I was about to ask. “Will you do that thing you did before? But this time, I want all of you inside me.”
His eyes widened, shock mingling with wonderment; he understood exactly what I wanted. He nodded. “Do you have…”
With a crooked, shy smile I said, “Yes, bedside table, bottom drawer.” He slid from me, the loss of him almost unbearable. But he was quick and back on the bed in no time. He knelt on the bed, cock at attention, the weight of his frame making the mattress dip slightly. He had two items in his hand, a small bottle of lube and my guilty little secret. “I found this, too, you naughty girl,” he said, holding up my trusty rampant rabbit, unable to hide his grin. “My cock is so hard just thinking about you pleasuring yourself with this. But now it’s my turn. Come here.” I matched his pose, kneeling in front of him. Before he made me turn around, his lips sought mine, his fingers raking through my hair.
“Have you ever done this before?” he asked, and I shook my head. “I’ll be gentle, don’t worry. Turn around.”
I did, and before I could crouch down, ready for him to be inside me again, he pulled me upright, his hands travelling up my torso to squeeze my breasts. “Not yet.” He turned the rabbit on, the vibration of the little ears wiggled, then he made it disappear below. The shock of the contact on my clit made my ass judder back, but then I was wanting more. Jacob nudged the long and thick shaft of the rabbit at my entrance; it wasn’t as big as him, but it still felt glorious as he started to fuck me with it. “Take over,” he said, and I took hold of the vibrator. With a firm hand on my back he eased me down, my bum in the air and one hand bracing myself on the bed, while the other moved the rabbit inside my pussy.
I was already wet, drenched, but the thought of him as well as the dildo inside me sent me into overdrive.
I heard the cap of the lube bottle flip open and then as his hands spread me wide, his thumb circled over my anus, coating me with the liquid lube. I swallowed thickly as he applied more and more pressure, his thick thumb stretching me… even that little bit felt so good. Nervousness fluttered around my chest, my heart skipping a beat in anticipation and trepidation.
“Relax,” he soothed as he replaced his thumb with the head of his cock. I closed my eyes, stopped thrusting the rabbit and breathed outwards as he advanced deeper. Pain mingled with a buzz of pleasure blossomed from within. “You okay?” he asked, his hands resting on my hips.
“Yes,” I answered, “God, yes. More, please.” He took that as a good sign and started to move slowly again, his hips swaying to and fro, giving me what I wanted.
“You feel so good,” he moaned, pleasure dripped from his words, and I was so blissfully happy that I was sharing this first-time experience with him. “So tight, that’s it, baby, lean back into it. Take it all.”
We found a rhythm, Jacob’s cock fucking me from behind, withdrawing and plunging in deep as I worked in tandem, my pussy walls wrapped around the dildo, the rabbit buzzing wildly. I was almost filled to the brim, all I needed was…
Jacob found my mouth, the tips of his fingers circling my wet lips. “Suck,” he demanded, and I eagerly took the two fingers he offered me into my mouth. My tongue tasted the remnants of my own juices on his skin and I started to suck as Jacob took a handful of tit and squeezed, pinching so hard I saw stars.
My senses were overloading as he continued to fuck my ass. In equal measure my chest and pussy felt they were going to explode. I moaned around his digits, panting, forcing air through my nose… God, I didn’t want this feeling to stop. It was too much and yet at the same time not enough.
I let go of the vibrator, and he claimed my hips, using them as leverage as he greedily thrust into me again and again. Harder with each stroke.
“Fuck, yes!
” I screamed, my orgasm detonating as my tits bounced freely.
Jacob tensed and my toes curled. He swelled within me, his cock feeling like it was doubling in size. I turned slightly, looked over my shoulder, and saw the muscles in his jaw as they became taut. Our eyes met and a second later he roared, his seed spurting and filling my ass before he collapsed on top of me, his breathing harsh in my ear.
We lay like that for I don’t know how long, his cock still inside me, his hand idly nestled between my legs, cupping my sex, rubbing me gently till I came again. “I can’t stop touching you,” he said, once I was spent.
We coiled around each other, and I ran my hands over his broad, muscular shoulders, tracing my fingers down his spine. His head rested upon my breast, a pillow under his sweating brow. As if demonstrating his words were true, his tongue reached out and licked at my softening nipple, causing it to crease up and harden once more. He leaned his head up to look at me, a roguish smile on his face. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Hey, yourself,” I said, falling for him harder than I ever thought possible. “I must confess, that was the best therapy session I’ve ever had.”
He let out a laugh. “I hope I’m the only one that gets this kind of VIP treatment,” he said with a wink before sliding off of me.
“You’re the first… and only.”
That made him grin again. I watched as he stood and stretched, admiring his naked body. Every part of him was perfect, tight and hard; the perks of dating an athlete, I thought, as I continued to ogle the eye candy before me. I rose up on my elbows, not even thinking about covering myself, I was that comfortable around him, and after what we’d just done, I had better be. The green glow from clock in the darkening room told me it was getting late, and my stomach growled. “Hey, are you hungry?”
The Playbook Page 17