Love of the Game - The Complete Collection (Box Set)

by Shayne McClendon

  She couldn’t stop her laughter and he flashed her with a bright smile.

  “Do you guys ever go to work?”

  “Sometimes.” He winked. “We’re off season. My trainer came at the crack of ass this morning, and I found myself with a few hours to kill. I passed Joanna on the way in. She beat you up?”

  “That woman should have been one of Hitler’s minions. She’s pure evil but I love her to death.” She lifted her leg, flattening her thigh to her torso. “She’s given me so much more range of motion. I call her every name in the book but I feel my joints loosening more every week.”

  Putting her leg back on the chair in front of her, she glanced at Dex. All the laughter was gone as he stared intently at her bared leg and thigh. He lifted his eyes and she saw the hunger there.

  “That’s a pretty serious face for a gimpy leg covered in scars from hip to knee.”

  He leaned toward her and put his hand over her knee. It was so large that it covered the bend completely. Running his palm gently up her thigh to her hip under the robe and back down again, he closed his eyes, as if savoring the feel of her.

  The feel of his hand on her skin felt so much better than she imagined.

  His voice was rough and deep when he ground out, “This is the most beautiful leg I’ve ever seen because it’s attached to you, Harley. I’ve never wanted anyone or anything more in my life.”

  The words hung between them and her heart leapt in his direction despite every instinct of her mind to pull back. He had to know she was a bad risk.

  “Dex, I’m completely screwed up emotionally and physically.” The chills rocketing up and down her body from his hand still on her leg made her breathless. His thumb made maddening circles on the side of her knee. “You could do so much better.”

  He turned to her fully and took her head in his hands. The warm roughness of his palms cupped her entire face and skull.

  Every part of her wanted him. Even her mind had no more complaints.

  “There is no one better than you, Harley. I’ve wanted you since I was sixteen and you were too young for me to want that way. I’ve loved you even longer.”

  “Dex…”

  “I was twelve when you broke your arm. You didn’t cry when Hart carried you home. Practically bit a hole through your lip, but not one tear until you saw your mom and she started crying.” The pads of his thumbs smoothed over her cheeks.

  “You aren’t screwed up, Harley. A long time ago, I made the wrong choice and I’ve regretted it every fucking day since. Then I saw you in that hospital bed, so physically destroyed, and I would have given my fucking arm to make you well.”

  Dex kissed her. Made gentle love to her mouth in a way she’d never felt before. His lips were firm, sucking hers between them until she sighed and parted for him. When he stroked his tongue into her mouth and angled his head to gain access to more of her, she was lost.

  It had been forever since she’d been kissed.

  Angry and humiliated, she avoided most men after Lexie was born. A couple of failed attempts at new relationships fell flat once things progressed past kissing and heavy petting. The resulting frustration – and the secret worry that there was something very wrong with her – caused Harley to start turning them away before they could even ask her name.

  Now here was Dex, a man she’d known her whole life and always loved, kissing her until she couldn’t think straight.

  When he lifted his mouth, he set his forehead against hers with his eyes closed. “I beat him that day, Harley. He couldn’t play ball for a week. We warned him not to hurt you. We were scared for you. You were so young and you loved him more than you loved yourself.”

  His hands moved over her hair. “The moment you said my name, I knew why you’d come. That someone better than any of us had called you. I knew what you were going to find, and I didn’t want you to know how shitty all of us had allowed you to be treated.”

  Dex lifted her from the chair to his lap. “I need you closer, Harley.” His arms went around her and he met her eyes directly. “I wanted you so much but Hart told us you were too young. He reminded us we were heading off to college and said to leave you alone until you were older.”

  The smile he gave her was sad. “I listened, Beck didn’t. He said he couldn’t help himself because he’d wanted you too long. I was furious, so jealous, I didn’t think our friendship would recover.”

  Harley lifted her hand and laid it against his cheek. He leaned into the simple touch. “I didn’t know, Dex.” She shrugged. “You never seemed interested in me that way.”

  “After I beat him, Hart and I made it clear we were through unless he got help. He checked himself into rehab. He was supposed to get in touch with the people he hurt and Hart told him to fuck himself. He made it clear Beck was never to contact you again.”

  “He did?”

  “He told me a couple of years ago that nothing had ever made him feel true shame until he let you get caught up in a situation there was no way you should have been in. He swore he’d always have your back.” He shook his head. “We never imagined he could keep a secret like Lexie.”

  “I made him swear. It was the hardest decision of my life and I had to make it more than once.” She raked her fingers through his hair. “Every time she did something amazing, it was bittersweet. You were fixtures in my life and I felt like a piece of me had been carved out.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. I do, Harley. We tried to move on, to let you go. When we were drafted, a reporter dug up all the dirt on us he could. He flashed pictures of our girlfriends. Both of us dated women who looked like you in some way.”

  She tilted her head and he smiled.

  “No one else saw it unless they knew you and Hart. We knew though. That was when the rift between us started healing. We’d loved you since before we knew what love was. Things got twisted and so much went wrong.”

  Dex stroked her back with one hand, her thigh with the other. A bone-deep lethargy settled into her from the heat of his skin.

  “You live together. You came to the hospital together. You talked to me together. Are you trying to tell me you’re both in love with me…that you want to share me? I was only ever with Beck and look how that turned out.”

  He went still. “You haven’t been with anyone else in all this time, Harley?”

  She blushed. “I tried and even thought a couple of relationships might work.” She shrugged. “When things went too far sexually…I locked up. I would get sick and the most bizarre sense of cheating would come over me.”

  Looking out over the desert, she took a deep breath. “I was angry for so long. I couldn’t talk to my brother and barely spoke to Dad the first year.” Meeting his eyes again, she whispered, “I want to be normal…not locked in this time-loop of hurt, shame, and humiliation.”

  “Why would you feel shame, Harley? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I didn’t do anything right either. No matter what I gave, it wasn’t enough. After trying a couple more times, I realized it was me.”

  Dex pulled her more firmly into his arms. “Listen to me carefully and believe what I’m going to say. What happened had nothing to do with you not being exactly right, Harley. He was sick, out of control, and in a hell of his own making that had nothing to do with anything missing in you.”

  He kissed her again, stroking over her body and soothing her nerves with hands that were amazingly gentle.

  When his lips went to her neck, she whispered, “What do you want from me, Dex? I can’t deal with the bigger questions I have. So just you, right now…what do you want?”

  He lifted his head and stared deeply into her eyes.

  “I want the chance to love you, Harley. I want my chance to love you.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dex’s hand slipped inside her robe and cupped her breast. Harley moaned softly. “I know you’re still hurt. I’ll be careful.”

  She nodded and he stood with her in his arms. T
he walk through the house seemed to take forever. He entered her bedroom, kicked the door shut, and set her on her feet long enough to undress.

  When he stood naked in front of her, she reached out to stroke his body from his shoulders to his groin, taking his heavy erection in her hand.

  “I always wondered.” His cock was thicker than Beck’s and a little longer; just like his body overall. “You’re beautiful, Dex.”

  He untied her robe and pushed it off her shoulders. His eyes roamed down her body. “You’re more beautiful than I imagined, Harley. I’ve wanted to see you like this for more than half my life.” His hands drifted over her skin. “You’re so soft.”

  She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m scarred from head to toe.”

  “To me, you will always be perfect. Absolutely perfect. I’ve wanted you so long. I dreamed of kissing you, touching you, making you mine, Harley.”

  He stepped close, gathered her in his arms, and devoured her mouth. Her hands slid into his hair and she sighed, loving the silky texture and weight of it. He backed her to the bed and lowered her carefully, supporting all of her body weight.

  The moment she was settled, he was moving down her body. He took his time, touching every inch of her with his hands and mouth, spending long moments sucking first one nipple, then the other until she was arching her hips to him.

  “I want to be everywhere on you at the same time.” He slid lower, kissing and stroking her stomach, placing more gentle kisses on her damaged hip and across her pelvis. “I won’t hurt you, Harley. Just relax and let me love you.”

  He settled between her legs and lifted the good one over his broad shoulder until her calf rested along his broad back. When he separated her folds and licked over her clit with his tongue, she came off the bed with a gasp.

  Warm fingers slipped through her cleft and he followed with his tongue until he slid one long finger inside her and she whispered his name. Her hand went into his hair, petting and lightly tugging as her urgency increased. He stretched her and she knew he was preparing her for his size.

  “You’re so wet, Harley. I’m desperate to be inside you, to feel you wrapped around me.” The explicit words combined with his touch pushed her over the edge and she came against his mouth, crying out.

  “Dex, I need you closer.”

  Then he was gone but returned quickly, rolling on a condom as he moved her to her side. “Harley, I can’t put my full weight on your hip and pelvis. I’m heavy.”

  Dex laid down, stretching out along her back with his arm sliding under her head. Warm fingers wrapped around her knee and he lifted her bad leg to the outside of his hip.

  “The slightest pain and I’ll stop. Just tell me. I don’t want to put your recovery back with too much pressure on healing joints.”

  Harley nodded and Dex nuzzled his face against her soft curls.

  A lifetime of fitness still showed in her body despite the accident that almost took her life. Firm, full breasts tipped in light brown nipples, toned arms, sculpted abs, and sleek legs were everything he’d ever imagined and more. Professionally trimmed curls covered her mound.

  He would never tire of touching this woman.

  Positioning himself at the entrance of her pussy, he pressed forward carefully, entering her a little at a time, letting her stretch to him. He was a little more than halfway seated when Harley came, clutching his hip so hard she left crescent moon indentations in his skin.

  “Harley…god yes.” She was slicker now, opening for him like a flower, and he slid to the base on his next stroke. “You’re so tight, so warm. Please don’t let me lose control just from the feel of you around me. I’ve waited so long to touch you.”

  He began to move, Harley’s head on his bicep, her thigh over his. He used his free hand to caress every part of her he could reach, needing to touch her everywhere. Moving back and forth between her breasts, his fingers rolled her nipples, kneaded their fullness in his palm.

  Harley moved with him but he was cautious about how hard he held her and how forcefully he took her. Instinct told him to drive deep, to mark her, but he reined it back. She turned her head and the green eyes that had haunted his dreams for years met his.

  “Dex, I’m coming…” Her voice was breathless as her body clenched around his cock, milking him firmly.

  It felt incredible.

  “I need to give you more. I need to know I made you feel good after so much pain.”

  “You feel so strong around me, inside me. I feel safer than I have in years. Don’t stop.” She rubbed her cheek against his bicep. “I feel warm again. I’ve been cold for years, Dex.”

  His palm skimmed over her belly and he raked his fingertips through her folds. He set a rhythm over her clit that matched his thrusts into her body and loved the sounds of pleasure she made into the quiet room.

  The orgasm slowly tightened her body under his hands and when it crashed over her, she chanted his name. His dick got impossibly harder, bigger inside her, and he came with a low groan.

  He kissed her hair, her neck, her shoulder, and probably held her too tight. The relief of coming buried in the body of the only woman he’d ever loved was unlike anything he’d ever felt in his life.

  “I’ve missed you so much, Harley. I hurt for you, longed for you, needed you until I couldn’t think straight.” He stroked her curls over her ear and kissed the skin just beneath it. “I’ll take whatever you can give me, or nothing at all if it comes to that. Just don’t make me have to go without seeing you. It was like losing the sun.”

  “Dex, let’s start fresh from now. I can’t help how I feel about Beck. I’ve held on to my anger and hurt for a long time. I imagine you and Hart were in a very awkward position then. It couldn’t have been easy, trying to choose between a friend as close to you as a brother and me.”

  “Don’t let me off so easy, Harley. There was a clear line and all of us crossed it.”

  She sighed. “You were inseparable since you were toddlers. You didn’t start letting me hang out with you until you realized I was a good fourth at sports.”

  “You were a hellion no matter what we played. Being boys, we used to say Harley is fucking awesome…you know, for a girl and all. We were so full of shit. You kicked our asses in speed and precision consistently. You held your own even when we ganged up on you.”

  “I was taller than the three of you at one point, remember? You guys used to say I used my height against you. Then over one summer you all shot past me. By the time you all came home to visit at Thanksgiving, I was lagging behind about five inches. By Christmas, it was up to seven. I thought you were just being greedy.”

  He chuckled and she slid her hands over his arms around her. “You grew up so lovely, Dex. After that funny gangly stage in tenth grade. All of you constantly tripped over your enormous feet.”

  Dex reached down and pinched her butt, gratified to hear a girlish giggle.

  “You were hateful back then. You loved to torture the shit out of us. Hart got it non-stop but we weren’t as hardened to it. You could hit so hard and fast we never saw it coming. ‘Beck, what’s the deal with that pimple…is it going to set up its own zip code?’ or ‘Dex, looks like you’re sporting wood, you little boys and your hormones!’”

  She laughed hard. “It was no worse than telling me I looked fat before I went out with my friends.”

  “We only did that if you were meeting some guy. We considered you ours in a warped, immature way. We used to climb the tree in your backyard to catch glimpses of you changing. I thought Hart was going to strangle both of us when he found out.”

  “You did not!” He nodded against her cheek. “So that’s why he bought those wood blinds with his own money!”

  “We were so pissed we didn’t talk to him for three days.”

  “Bailey and I used to sneak into the rec room to take pictures when you slept over.”

  “No way.” His voice was disbelieving.

  “Anytime we thought a shirt might
come off, we made sure we had a camera. Bailey lived to capture Hart’s chest. I went back and forth between you and Beck. She thought I was a total slut for not being able to decide which of you I liked more.”

  Dex went still and held his breath.

  “Both of you fucked with my calm on a daily basis. One day, I liked you more. The next, I preferred Beck. It usually depended which of you was nice to me. Beck complimented me all the time, the lying dog. You had your shirt off more. Puberty kicked my ass, Dex.”

  “I never thought that. I thought it was always Beck.”

  “Ask Hart. He was mad at me for liking either of you, much less both. He told me I was going to screw up the three caballeros and I guess I kind of did for a while.”

  “No you didn’t. We screwed ourselves up, Harley.”

  “Then a few days after my sixteenth birthday, I was at the mall. I’d just gotten the Bug. Beck asked me to drop him at the library, of all places. I should have known it was a play. He came at me hard that day and the ones that followed. I admit that I wasn’t a very difficult pursuit.”

  “I remember how careful you were with your appearance for weeks.”

  She nodded. “I was nervous all the time. I thought Hart was going to suffocate me in my sleep.” She sighed heavily. “I’d always known it would be one of the two of you, to be honest. I mean, what other guys did I know? You three drove any other potentials away by glaring.”

  Her laugh this time was less humorous. “I guess Beck decided it was a race. I’d love to say he was the only one who ended up winning, but I’d be lying. I have Lexie and she’s wonderful.”

  “Lexie is wonderful, Harley. We’re crazy about her.”

  “Thanks.”

  “We had no intentions of letting some fucking moron take you from us. On that, we always agreed.” He paused, considering what he wanted to say. “Was Beck gentle? Were you okay?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t have anything to compare it to until today. He was just…Beck. Full throttle and devouring me if I was within ten feet of him, from the first time to the last. At first, it scared me how intense he was before you guys left.”