Second Chance: A Military Football Romance

by Claire Adams

Brody

  The night before had been nothing less than amazing. After making love to Cora twice more, we finally fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms. I couldn't remember ever sleeping beside someone I'd had sex with. It was... incredible. Scary.

  She was sleeping soundly when I woke up the next morning, her chestnut hair a mess and draped across her pretty face, her lips swollen and one breast peeking out from under the covers as if calling to me like a siren.

  I forced myself to lay there and enjoy how beautiful the soft curve of her cheek, her button nose, her long eyelashes were. She was exquisite, and though it hadn't been nearly long enough to think about a future together, I couldn't help but letting myself dream a little. We could date after the summer was over. I'd stay in Arizona and forgo the job with my uncle. I could find something here. If things worked out and we fell in love, then we would figure things out together.

  She wasn't the brainless, needy type of chick I usually took to bed with me, but more the kind of woman I could partner with. One that I could respect. I brushed her hair from her face as she made a cute little mewling noise and moved closer to me.

  I turned on my side and pulled her against me, kissing the side of her face and wrapping my arms around her. She looked good pressed to the front of me—and felt even better.

  "Hey." A knock at the door caused me to stiffen, but Cora didn't move. The door opened, and I gave Emily a cheeky grin as she stuck her head in and yelped. "Oh, fuck. I'm so sorry."

  "It's all good," I whispered. "She's still asleep, though."

  "Yeah, she sleeps like the dead. We're going to grab groceries for breakfast. We'll be back." She was behind the door, talking around it, which was too cute. These girls had turned out to be a treat for all of us over the last few weeks, no matter how many times I'd given the guys hell over them.

  A feeling of gratefulness washed over me as I dropped back down beside Cora.

  "I don't sleep like the dead." She blinked a few times and reached over, brushing her hand down my stomach and stroking me once.

  My chest tightened as pleasure ran through me. I'd never known a girl like her. She seemed completely unashamed of her actions. I loved it.

  "I'm thinking you do. I made love to you ten times last night while you were sleeping." I kissed the tip of her nose and rolled over on top of her, nestling myself between her thighs over the sheet.

  "I was wondering why I was so sore. I mean, you're big, but you're not that big." She smiled as I lifted my eyebrow at her. The little tart was teasing me.

  "Alright, then. I'll make sure to get you good the next time we fuck. I'll leave you nice and sore." I leaned down and brushed my lips by hers. Being with a woman in the morning light was something new for me, and where I wasn't sure I would enjoy it with anyone else, I was thrilled to have Cora beneath me.

  "How about now?" She wrapped her legs around me and chuckled as I gave her an incredulous look.

  "You're insatiable." I kissed her again before getting up and finding the towel I had on the floor. I wrapped it around my waist and offered her a hand. "Come on. Let's take a quick shower and let me wash you up. I want to get my hands on you again, and it seems like this might be a good way to do it."

  "I'm not sure after last night that I'd be able to deny you no matter what ploy you came up with." She got up and let the sheet fall, leaving my heart hammering in my chest. Every part of her looked inviting, and though I'd seen far too many women naked, having her in front of me, completely bare, felt like something to treasure. I was in trouble, and it would seem that for the first time in my tainted life, I was falling for someone. For her.

  "I'm liking this new attitude, though the old one was hot, too." I reached for her and pulled her against me, kissing her a few times before pulling back and gripping her hand. "Shower, and then let's go out on the boat and find some place to drop the anchor where we can lay around together for most of the day."

  "That sounds perfect." She walked past me into the hall and made a sharp right turn. "Morning, Dedra."

  "Hey, girl. How was-” Dedra's eyes widened as I walked out of the room and smirked.

  "How was what?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips as her eyes ran down the length of me. I was quite grateful for the towel.

  "How were the fireworks?" She laughed and walked past me as Cora stuck her head back out of the open bathroom door and smiled.

  "Come on. It's freezing." She disappeared into the bathroom and I walked in.

  My thoughts faded fast as Cora leaned over and started the water. I reached out and caressed her ass, teasing her a little as she jerked up and glanced over her shoulder.

  "We only get 30 minutes in here, so no sex. It's house rules." She got into the shower, and I pulled the towel off my hips before joining her.

  "I'm a rule breaker. Does that mean I get sex?" I asked, reaching for the soap and lathering it up in my hands as she moved under the spray of the water. She lifted her hands to run her fingers through her hair, which jutted her heavy breasts out toward me.

  I reached out and took my time bathing each of them before moving down her stomach to the junction between her thighs.

  She moaned as I slid my fingers against her swollen flesh, and I couldn't help but move in and press my mouth to the side of her neck. "God, you're fucking hot, Cora."

  "You think so?" She kissed me once before turning around and putting her back to me. I took my time washing her back and taking special care to tease her ass while she pressed her hands to the wall above her and groaned for me.

  I pressed my teeth to the thick curve of her ass and slipped a finger deep inside of her, half expecting her to tell me to cut it out, but she didn't. Her body tightened as she took advantage of my offering and bounced on it, giving me a beautiful view of her ass.

  If I wasn't falling in love, I would be soon. Love and lust were too intertwined for me to understand the difference, and for the moment, with the sounds of her cries filling up the shower, I didn't give a shit which I was. I wasn't going anywhere.

  She sagged against the wall, and I pulled my fingers from her and stood up, grabbing for the soap and working it over my chest and rock-hard erection. I wanted to bend her over and finish the morning off right, but I knew the night would give us plenty more chances to explore each other. We needed time on the lake. Time to talk and figure each other out a little more.

  She smiled as she turned and reached for the soap. "Don't tell anyone that I'm as much of a whore as you are."

  "You are?" I lifted my eyebrow. "No, I don't believe that for a minute."

  She ran her soapy hands over my chest and scratched softly, melting me as she moved down to stroke my dick with both hands. I turned and pressed my back to the cold wall, feeling like my legs might give out underneath me any minute.

  "I am, but only with the right man." She turned the spray onto me and rinsed me off before moving to her knees.

  "Cora, you don't have to-”

  "Hush. I've wanted to since the day we met." She smirked and leaned forward, taking me deep inside her warm, wet mouth. Every part of me lit on fire for the girl before me. I was in deep shit, and for the first time in my life, I didn't want to find a way out of it.

  *

  "So, I know you don't want to talk about this, but tell me about Brandon. I wanna know what happened." I leaned over the boat and let one of the anchors go. It raced toward the water and disappeared, locking us in place in a sleepy-looking alcove off the side of the main lake.

  We'd taken a breakfast taco to go from Cindy and packed up a few sodas for a long boat ride together, just the two of us.

  She tugged her t-shirt off and then worked on her shorts as she ignored my question. Her white bikini looked delicious on her, and though I'd had her more times than I should have over the last twelve hours, I found myself hungry for more.

  Incredible.

  "We were friends for a while, and then we decided we would try dating." She moved to the front of the boat.
"I'm really more like you than you might think. I really didn't want to be with one person during college, and I wasn't during high school, either. I didn't sleep around much, but the idea of being tied down to one person was stifling. If something happened to that guy... then what?"

  "Yeah, I get that." I stood up and pulled my shirt off before moving to sit down on the front of the boat and turning sideways. I offered her a hand as she crawled up there with me and lay down, putting her head in my lap.

  I leaned back and ran my fingers through her hair as she continued.

  "But Brandon wouldn't give up. He wanted a relationship, and we had some pretty great chemistry between us." She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

  I stiffened as jealousy raged through me. I didn't want her having chemistry with anyone but me. Even with it being in the past, I still felt tense over it.

  "And, he slept around, why? You have to be every sane man's wet dream." I brushed my fingers by her cheek as she glanced up and gave me a warm smile. Her brown eyes were rimmed with unshed tears, and my gut constricted painfully. "Hey. We don't have to talk about this. The last thing I want is for you to feel pain of any kind."

  She turned her face and kissed my palm a few times as my cock hardened in my shorts. I had no doubt she was going to tease me over it seeing that her pillow had become less than comfortable, but she didn't.

  "It's alright." She turned her face a little and kissed my erection over my shorts, causing a groan to rip from my lips. She sat up and ran her hands through her hair. "It was over after I found him with the girl. She was pretty and probably far more his style. I just hate that she was a cheerleader. Perfect. Blonde. Popular. Just like him."

  "A cheerleader at Arizona State?" I moved up beside her and wrapped my arms around her.

  "Yeah. Tinsley Myers. Stupid bitch." She turned as I stiffened. "Oh great. You know her? You totally slept with her, didn't you?"

  I didn't have a voice for a few minutes. There was no way in hell it was Tinsley that slept with Cora's ex. She was a virgin. A good girl. Or maybe... I stood up and started to pace the boat.

  "You have to fucking be kidding me." I glanced over at Cora. "Are you sure it was Tinsely?"

  "I'm quite positive. I walked in on her getting it in the ass." Her expression hardened as my stomach grew sick. "Brody. Did you sleep with her, too?"

  "What? Fuck, no." I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a long sigh. "Shit, Cora. She's my baby sister."

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Cora

  His sister?

  I couldn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I let it go pretty quickly in front of him so that we could enjoy the rest of our afternoon together, but it wouldn't leave me alone. He was just like his sister, right? That was the assumption I made the first day I saw him. He was a player. She obviously was, too. That bitch had known that Brandon was in a relationship, and yet she still chose to sleep with him.

  The number of girls I'd seen Brody with over the first couple of days of us getting to Lake Havasu haunted me as I laid on the couch that evening and ignored everyone. They were all headed out for another shopping trip, and I was honestly shopped out.

  The night before with Brody had been the stuff of dreams, and yet having let myself go with him only seemed to lock in the fact that I was falling for him. I didn't want to, either. He wasn't the kind of guy that would make it in a long-term relationship, from what I could tell. Fuck, his sister was as much a whore as he was.

  "Hey. You okay?" Cindy sat down on the couch beside me and reached out to rub my arm.

  "Hmmm? Oh, yeah. I'm doing great. Just a little tired from last night." I smiled and scooted over to give her more room. "Did you guys have a good time at the beach?"

  "Yeah, but the cops were on their patrol big time. There was one that kept coming around, and I thought Derek was going to blow a fuse." She laughed and wrapped her arms around herself. "I didn't mind him so much, though. He was crazy cute."

  "Cuter than Derek?" I lifted my eyebrow.

  "The cop again?" Emily walked in and sat down on the other end of the couch by my feet.

  "Yep. He's worth bringing up a few more times, don't you think?" Cindy's cheeks colored pink, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

  "He was a fine, fine man." Dedra walked in and sat down on the coffee table. "Come on. We only have a little more than a week left with you. Don't make us spend the evening without you. We can go see a movie or eat all the chocolate in the candy store in town, but come with us."

  "I agree." Cindy turned to me and reached out to brush my hair from my face. "Our time is growing short, thanks to your dumb parents. Come with us tonight."

  "Yeah, you're right. I'll come. We can go shopping, though I'm in a bit of a mood. Be warned." I pushed at her hip so that she'd move and I could sit up.

  "We like moods, right?" Cindy stood up and smiled. She was a little too positive for my liking, but I swallowed my need to growl and got up.

  "I don't feel like driving." I walked to the door and slipped on my sandals. "Can one of you do it?"

  "I'll drive." Emily grabbed the keys and touched my back. "You okay? Something go wrong with Brody?"

  "It was his sister that Brandon cheated on me with." I shrugged as my friends gasped.

  "Oh, fuck. Seriously?" Dedra opened the door and gave me a sympathetic look.

  "Yeah, and I know it's stupid, but I just can't shake the fact that he's just like her. I mean, I must have seen him with five girls over a three-day period before we decided to give each other a try." I walked to the car and pulled my sunglasses onto my face. Going out with my friends was the like the last thing I wanted to do, but it was probably because it was the only thing that would pull me out of my funk.

  After the incredible night with Brody, I couldn't help but think I was in trouble. It wouldn't take much to drown in a man like him. All I had to do was to learn to trust him and I would be completely lost. I guess it was somewhat of a good thing that I didn't trust him, at all. Especially not now.

  "I know you don't need for me to tell you this," Emily started as she glanced over the top of the car at me. "But you know that Brody isn't his sister, and he's not Brandon, either, Cora."

  "I realize that." I opened the door and got into the car as my phone dinged. Brody. I dropped it in the cup holder and buckled up. "I just don't want to end up in an emotional coma like I was three months ago. I was just starting to feel like the ice was melting around my heart."

  I teared up, hating how emotional talking about Brandon left me. Did I still care about him or was it just the excruciating pain of rejection?

  "Hey. We don't have to talk about this, but I'm telling you that I think Brody could be a different man. Clay hasn't stopped talking about how excited they all are to see a better side of him. He's the jerk in the group, and yet for the last few days, he's been chill, a totally different guy." Emily squeezed my shoulder.

  "I'm not sure what to do about all of it." I glanced around. "If it's alright with you guys, I'd rather not talk about it. We can talk about anything but Brody, but I need some time to process what's up with us and what I want to do about it, first."

  "Sounds good to me. Boys aren't the end all be all anyways." Dedra leaned up into the front seat and turned the radio up. "I'm saying let’s jam out, eat something greasy, and go lay by the lake and dream about the future."

  "I like the sound of that." Cindy pipped in. "And maybe I can try and a new pasta dish on you guys tonight. Does that sound good?"

  "Yep." I turned and smiled at them, forcing myself to let my nefarious thoughts subside. I wasn't going to bastardize the good time Brody and I had the night before—or this morning. Him washing me in the shower had been one of the most intimate times I could remember ever having with a man. He'd been tender and almost loving. It probably scared me more than the scorching heat from the sex.

  "And, no boys!" Emily declared and gave me a cheeky grin. "One more
shitty subject and then we'll just have fun."

  I gave her a sideways glance and nodded. "Sure."

  "You need to call your folks today and tell them that you're not coming back early. Life is going to move fast once we leave this place, Cora. You need the summer to have fun. That's what we planned a long time ago. Fight against it and get the six weeks back that they are trying to take. We were supposed to have three months, and you're down to having just a couple of weeks."

  I ran my fingers through my hair. My parents weren't going to relent. They never did.

  "Maybe I can come back after we go through the case work that they are wanting me to see." I picked up my phone and read through Brody's message as a smile lifted my lips.

  Brody: Just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you. I'm a little concerned by how badly I want to see you again. Feels like we could make a chick-flick out of our situation. I was trying to think of a title, but all the good ones are gone.

  Me: How about, Beauty and the Beast?”

  Brody: Don't talk about yourself like that, baby. You're only a beast in the bedroom. :)

  I laughed and put the phone down. "I will tell you one thing: Brody Myers is the all-around package, isn't he?"

  "He seems like it." Cindy let out a sigh. "What are his plans after this summer? Is he staying in Arizona or going somewhere else?"

  My smile faded at the thought of him moving away. "I don't know. I haven't gotten around to asking him. We just started treating each other cordially over the last three days."

  Dedra chuckled. "You mean you just started treating him cordially. He's been good to you since we met the guys. It's you who was fighting that sexy ass attraction between you two."

  "It is sexy, isn't it?" I pressed my teeth into my lip and glanced out the window.

  "Hey, are you going to talk to your folks or what?" Emily tugged at the sleeve of my t-shirt.

  "No. There's no reason to. I'll try to get back out here, Emily, but they've made it pretty clear that they expect me there for these trials. As much as I hate it, it's my future for right now. Until I can figure out if there's something worth fighting them over." I shrugged, tired by the conversation. The lack of sleep the night before had to be adding to my weariness.