“So I’ll be posting pics with you, not posted, as in the posting will continue?”
Gavin shrugs, an innocent look on his face. “Why not? We hang out, and we both have Instagram. Got to share the love, babe.”
“I’m not sure I know what that means. Explain it in non-Gavin macho speak.”
“You’re sexy as hell, and I’m not half-bad myself. We look good together, so we should share it with the world.”
I’d laugh at his false modesty if my head wasn’t spinning. He wants to show off that he’s with me? But he’s not really with me, is he? This guy is going to break my poor brain before I figure him out.
Gavin slips his hand into the back pocket of my jeans under his jersey. He gives me a little squeeze before pulling out my phone and doing something on it. “Look, your account is private, so you’ll be safe from the boxer brief bimbo squad. You’re good to share all of your favorite underwear modeling pics of me.”
He frowns as he realizes the implications of what he said. “Maybe block all my teammates first, though, so none of them repost the pics or hang them in my locker. They already have more than enough, and I know you have access to lots that were never used.”
Gavin leans down and kisses me. I’m caught up in how his mouth feels on mine, and I don’t notice what he’s doing until the flash blinds me.
“Did you just take a selfie of us kissing?”
“Yes.”
He’s not done with my phone. Before I know it, I’m looking at that picture posted on my Instagram account. In the past, I’ve rolled my eyes when my friends posted pictures like this, but we look kind of hot. I like it.
“See, I told you. We look good together.”
“Yes, but . . .” My friends are going to be all over me about this picture. The first picture he posted of us could have been taken as a fan, especially since there are tons of those with Gavin floating around today, but there’s no doubt left here.
“Just be glad my hand on your ass is hidden under the jersey. Wouldn’t want to offend your mom.”
He’s been following me closely if he knows about my mom commenting on some of my pictures. One more fond squeeze for my ass, and he pushes my phone back into my pocket.
“Actually, you don’t know my mom. She’s all about being free and having sex when you feel like it. She thinks it improves your energy and aligns your chakra.”
Gavin chuckles. “I’m starting to see where you get your love for penis. It’s in your genes. Don’t worry, babe, because it’s in mine, too.”
I’m confused until he pats his junk through his jeans. I shake my head at his lame joke. Why do all guys act like they’re five years old?
“What? You have a thing for dicks, and I have a nice one I like to share with you. Sounds pretty perfect to me. Your mom would approve.” He smirks.
My mom would love Gavin, but I don’t tell him that. His ego doesn’t need the extra stroking. She doesn’t know about him, but I guess she will after today.
On the way to the car, Heather sends me a text.
Heather: I see you’ve gotten over your disappointment by falling on someone’s dick this weekend. Have fun!
She’s always been supportive of whatever it is Gavin and I are doing, even though you’d think she wouldn’t want a pro athlete messing with me. Seth considers Gavin to be a decent guy, so she approves.
Jana: Thanks.
Heather: I’m here with Seth in the press box. You were shown on TV with Gavin several times. ESPN loved your dramatic kiss at the end, the way he dipped you back and kissed you for a long time. They replayed it nearly as much as the game-winning touchdown!
Jana: Crazy!
Heather: I’d offer to meet up with you now, but I’m sure you’re too busy getting your world rocked by the sexiest underwear model alive. See you on Monday, if you can still walk.
Jana: See you.
Smiling, I stuff my phone back in my pocket. As we walk to the car, I think about us being featured on ESPN. Is Gavin ready for the entire country to see their beloved Pro Bowl underwear model with someone? He’s never publicly dated anyone before—if that’s what you could call whatever it is we’re doing.
“Heather says we were on TV, shown on the sidelines.”
“I figured we might be.”
“ESPN loved the way you kissed me at the end of the game and even replayed it a few times.”
“I told you that we look good together. Looks like the world agrees with me.” He smirks.
“You don’t mind at all?” Where’s the guy who I thought wouldn’t want to be publicly tied down?
“If I minded, I wouldn’t have done it. I’m not a rookie at this. I know they have cameras everywhere.” He pulls out his phone and looks at the screen, which displays a notification of fifty new messages. “I guess I know why my phone’s blowing up with texts.” Not bothering to check them, he stuffs it back into his pocket.
I like that I get his attention over everyone else. He’s been good about that today. After he’s spent time with his fans or his friends, he’s always come back to me and made sure I received plenty, too.
Gavin looks at me, his gaze searching my face. “Do you mind? Your boss is going to see it.” For the first time since I brought up our being on TV, there’s a crack in his arrogant armor.
I breathe out as I think about it. Alicia probably won’t have nice things to say about me. But Steve hopefully won’t make a big deal out of it, not when Gavin and I didn’t become involved until after our work together on the sports drink ad was finished. Besides, we got him for the Kevin Jack ads only through my personal relationship with him. “I think I can handle it.”
Gavin looks relieved, and he resumes his usual cocky smile. “I don’t blame you for not being able to keep your hands off me on the field, you know, with me being fuckhot.”
I narrow my eyes. “Have you been searching for yourself on Instagram?” Pictures of him on Instagram are frequently tagged #fuckhot.
He grins at me and shrugs. The cocky bastard knows exactly what females think about him.
I shake my head because Gavin is too much sometimes. I take off, jogging away from him because I’m not sure his ego and I can fit in the same time zone. He gives chase, easily catching up, staying on my heels. I appreciate how he doesn’t restrain me until we reach his car. He grabs me from behind and flips me around to face him.
“Gotcha!” he says as he presses his front into mine, trapping me against the car. His eyes shine. He’s enjoying this.
The exertion of running has my breath coming fast. My chest moves against his as my breathing slows. For a moment, we’re quiet, absorbing the feeling of our bodies pressed together. I didn’t try to, but somehow, my breathing adjusts to compensate for the motion of his chest and abs against me, our bodies moving in sync. It feels like it does when we lie together after sex, enjoying the closeness as we regain our breath together.
“Why’d you run from me?” he asks. “Not that I don’t like chasing you. But next time, we should do it naked. Maybe you can wear some heels and a garter belt and stockings, and pretend that you’re afraid of Tap violating you while I chase you with him at full mast.”
Gavin smiles as he pictures it. “Then I catch you and convince you to let me fill you with my dick. You know how that ends, since you worship my cock. Your pussy comes all over me. Maybe even twice, if I’m feeling generous.”
That’s an interesting fantasy, specific enough that he’s probably not making it up on the spur of the moment. It sounds like something he’s put a little thought into, and it’s kind of hot. Maybe I’ll play along with it sometime. For now, I concentrate on looking fake annoyed.
“Because I’ve reached my daily quota of hearing ‘I’m Gavin McGraw.’ I might puke if you say it again.” I can’t let his ego get too out of check.
“How do you know I was going to say that next?”
“Please. You declared that you’re fuckhot, so the next step is spouting off about
being Gavin McGraw. You can’t call yourself fuckhot. You need to wait for a woman to call you fuckhot.”
“You’re pretty sassy for being so little. That’s why I put you in heels in my fantasy, so it’s easier to do this.” Gavin takes his hat off and puts it on my head backward. He leans down to kiss me.
He’s so good at this. Heat spreads over me as his lips cling to mine. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on. Maybe he’s earned the right to be so arrogant since he can kiss my pants off. If he kisses me long enough, my panties will drop away for him, too.
“Gavin! I want a hug!” a female voice interrupts us.
“Gavin, I want a kiss like you gave her at the end of the game. We need some consoling since we lost to you guys!” another woman yells.
Gavin ends our kiss. I look over his shoulder at the growing crowd of women watching us. The Free Hugs poster is propped against the back window of his car, a parting gift from his friends that we didn’t notice.
“Gavin McGraw! Show us your Kevin Jacks!” a woman calls out.
That woman should be embarrassed, because she looks like she’s at least fifty. But she has no shame, getting her friends riled up to join in.
“I want to see your KJs!” a woman yells. She looks old enough to be Gavin’s grandmother.
“Come on, Gavin, show us the goods!” a man yells.
I’d think a bitter PSU male football fan is mocking him, but the fan looks sincere. Gavin’s picked up some gay admirers. I can’t really blame them. Tap is impressive to either gender.
Resting his forehead against mine, Gavin mumbles, “Fuck me.”
“I will, but later tonight, when they’re not watching. Otherwise, they’ll ask for you to bang them the same way, too.” I run my hand through his hair. “I didn’t bring any heels, so you’ll have to wait for your little fantasy reenactment.”
Gavin chuckles. “Let’s get out of here, babe.”
We’re leaning against the passenger door. He opens it and helps me into my seat. I put on my seatbelt as he hurries around to the other side of the car, stopping to throw the Free Hugs sign on the ground. He gets in and jabs at the button to lock the doors to keep us safe from the crazy fans.
“I fucking hate Burke for making that sign,” Gavin growls.
Because he’s irritated, I decide to humor him. “It’s okay, Gav.” I give him a consoling pat on his thigh as he starts the car.
“Gav? I get a nickname?” He smiles at me. His annoyance with the fans drops away, and I’ve got my Gavin back, happy and relaxed and completely focused on me.
I’ve never used a nickname for him before, even though he drops little sweet nicknames left and right with me. Assuming they’re part of his sexy, macho act, I’ve never taken them too seriously, although I didn’t hear him use any of those endearments with his female fans today.
Gav just slipped out of me, but it feels right. “Do you prefer something else?” I ask.
“No, babe, I like it. Whatever you want to call me is cool, although you might want to also consider Mr. Fuckhot if you need a little variety. Or Gavin Fucking McGraw could work, you know, when you need to scream something when I get you off.”
“All right, Mr. Fuckhot, I’ll consider it.”
I get an even bigger grin from him. “Damn right, that sounds good. Hey, have I mentioned yet how cute you look wearing my hat?”
His hat’s too large on my head, and I’m not sure if it actually looks decent, but he’s always liked me wearing his clothes. I’m sure it fuels the cocky, possessive, masculine part of him, but I kind of like wearing his hat anyway. It’s the same as me wearing his jersey and the underwear and jeans he picked out for me today.
“I should get you one that fits better.”
“I don’t want my own OSU hat. But I think I can manage a Condors hat.” I’ve worn some of his Condors gear while hanging around his place, but I don’t have any of my own.
“Really?” He sounds pleased. “There’s one of those in the back seat, if you want to switch.”
“No, I’m fine in this one for now, to celebrate the win and all. Besides, you need to get me a female size.”
“Will do.” He drops a quick kiss on my lips and backs out of the parking space, right over that damn sign, and heads for the exit.
Chapter Eight
Gavin decides that we should go back to the hotel before we go out tonight. He says it’s so I can change, but I wonder if he has other plans. Or maybe I only suspect his motives because I have dirty ideas of my own.
I can’t help myself once we’re in the hotel room. He takes off his hoodie and his shirt lifts up with it, and I catch a glimpse of his chiseled abs. Has it really been twelve hours since I last saw those? I need them in my life again. I strip off his jersey because I’m hot with all my layers and his body to stare at.
Stepping up behind Gavin, I slip my arms around him and let my hands roam over his cut stomach. He’s slowed down by trying to untangle his shirt from the sweatshirt, but he finally gets the hoodie off over his head and tosses it aside. He drops his arms but doesn’t stop my wandering hands.
I’m not used to pressing up against his back, but I like it. He’s as muscled, warm, and strong from this angle as he is from the front. After a little while of me touching him, he does that sexy one-handed grab on the back of the neck of his shirt and pulls it off in one smooth motion.
Smiling, I let my hands explore further up his bare chest. Pressing my face against his back, I breathe him in. He smells masculine and Gavin-like. He turns around to face me and I hug him, pushing my face into his pecs this time. He cups the back of my head in his hand, and it’s a perfect, sweet moment. When I started touching him, I thought I wanted to have sex, but the urge to cuddle has overwhelmed me instead.
Gavin grabs my butt and lifts me. I’m happy because I’m still able to press myself against him, this time nestling my face into his neck as he carries me. How easy it is for him to support my weight always impresses me.
Gavin bypasses the bed and settles into the armchair near the window with me straddling his lap.
“You hoping for chair sex? That’s one thing we didn’t get around to last night,” I say. It’s easier to make jokes than talk about how I feel.
“I wouldn’t turn it down, but I brought you over here because you seem more into cuddling than sex.”
I don’t know why I’m surprised that he’s able to read me so well. He did it last night too, when I was upset about work. I’ve been telling myself that we’re fuck buddies, but I’m starting to believe there’s more to us than that.
I’m quiet for a while, enjoying how he lets me cuddle into his naked chest. He strokes my hair and doesn’t ask me why I’m acting like a weirdo. He’s content to let me have what I need, and I appreciate it.
“Why did you look for my Instagram and follow me?” I ask. It’s easier to pose that question than a lot of others that I have.
“I missed you.”
I let that sink in for a while. My soft heart wants to do a happy dance. But I’m still kind of pissed off about him ignoring me all off-season and thinking we could pick up where we left off when he got back to Philly. “You know that’s messed up, right?”
“What?” he says.
“You missed me, you wouldn’t call or text me, but you would stalk me on Instagram?”
“I did call you as soon as I got back to Philly in July, but you didn’t want to hear from me.”
Gavin’s tone is hurt. I look into his eyes, and he seems sincere with his wounded expression and frown. He’s not lying and trying to play it off, turning the situation around and blaming me.
It’s a shock that I could hurt him by ignoring him, and even more that he lets me see it. Maybe I was wrong when I assumed he didn’t care about me because he ignored me since last season ended. I thought he only wanted sex from me, but the past twenty-four hours together have been way beyond sex. Our relationship has progressed so quickly that I’m dizzy.
He’s receptive and open to me in a way he’s never been before, and I go for it. “You hurt me by ignoring me after you left. I was only trying to protect myself.”
“I know I did. I’m sorry.” His voice is full of regret.
He cups my cheeks and stares into my eyes. Damn if I don’t believe this boy. My attraction to him makes me want to trust him, but I don’t think I’m being lied to. He’s the very image of honesty and remorse. He’s not telling me why he did what he did, but that was a sincere apology for doing it.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I messed up. I won’t do it again. I promise.” He kisses my forehead.
It’s so sweet that it melts my heart. Who is this Gavin? He’s never been so gentle and kind with me. All of his behavior toward me since last night shows that he cares about me more than he’s ever expressed before. Something’s changed in him since we were together last season.
“I figured out that you were mad at me for ignoring you after you left me high and dry in the car at the club. I knew then that’s why you didn’t return my calls or texts,” Gavin says.
He’s not as dense as I thought he was when I left him at the club. He’s shown that repeatedly over the past day, understanding me and what I need from him multiple times.
“Why didn’t you try to get in touch after that?” I ask.
“It didn’t work when I pursued you before we ran into each other at the club. I figured it was time to change my strategy and wait for you to come to me when you were ready. Whenever you got over being mad. You knew I was interested.”
Gavin understands me so much better than I thought, knowing that I needed some time. I sit quietly in his lap, my mind busy. He lets me be, not demanding anything I’m not ready to give.
I have to let my resentment for what happened during the off-season go if I want to pursue what’s going on between us. Gavin isn’t going to put up with me throwing it into his face every time I’m pissed at him. It needs to end now if I want us to move forward. And I very much want to see what it is we’re becoming now.
Between Hearts: A Romance Anthology Page 55