Still Into You

by Andrews, Ryleigh

  She sat against the edge of the desk and dared to peek at Ethan. He wasn’t looking at her. He appeared deep in thought, probably reliving that day, just like she was—remembering her in the hospital, the short time at her house. When he finally looked over at her, the pain on his face had tears rushing to her eyes.

  “God, I really did fuck things up,” she shouted, running her hands through her hair, so frustrated with that fact. Yeah, there were reasons why, but in the end, she was the only one responsible.

  Me, myself and I, she thought.

  “My need to run almost cost me my life that night. It created more problems than solutions. I see that now. But running isn’t an option anymore.”

  Ethan left the couch and went to the fridge to grab another beer and on his way back, he took a hold of her hand and led her back to the couch. She sat down and he kissed her forehead before sitting down himself.

  “Even though that was hard to get through, I’m glad I finally got that all out.”

  Ethan wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. When he placed a lingering kiss on top of her head, she thought she heard him sigh.

  “I am so sorry,” Mia said quietly. Sorry for everything she had put him through, all the pain she inflicted upon him.

  Scooting closer to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. They sat like that until Luke broke the silence.

  “This is my cue to leave,” Luke said, rising out of the chair.

  Mia untangled herself from Ethan and went to Luke. He wrapped her in an embrace, resting his head on hers. “I don’t know what to say to you right now except that I love you and will continue to do so. I will always be there for you. Got it?” he asked, lifting her chin so she looked him in the eyes.

  “I got it,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. Mia really did have the world’s bestest best friend. She stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the lips. “I love you.”

  “You do that again and Ethan might just kick my ass.”

  She laughed. “No, he won’t.”

  “I won’t?” Ethan piped in.

  “You won’t,” she said, smiling at him.

  He pointed at Luke. “You watch it.”

  Luke chuckled. “Bye, Ethan, take care of her. Or else.”

  Ethan nodded solemnly.

  Luke hugged her one more time and left her room, leaving her alone with Ethan.

  Mia stood at the door after she locked it up. What a night. Not what she expected, but glad it happened. She turned and rested against the door, observing Ethan. Because of her, he went through hell, and tonight, she made him relive it, along with learning new things. Mia still had things to tell him, but not tonight. She’d had enough soul exposure for one night. All she wanted to do was curl up beside him. She sighed and headed back to the couch.

  He finished off his beer and put the empty bottle on the table, his eyes fixed upon it. Standing in front of him, she waited for him to turn his attention to her. Please, look at me, she willed him from her mind, and when he didn’t, she knelt before him, moving her head so she could see his face. Ethan finally raised his head and the tears in his eyes scared her. That did not sit well with her.

  “I’m so sorry for ever hurting you . . .”

  “Shh,” he said, placing his finger on her lips.

  “But,” she started to speak, but he replaced his finger with his lips.

  Hot, fat tears fell from her eyes. The kiss was so sweet and tender. Mia placed her hands on his face and deepened the kiss for a moment before backing away, needing to speak.

  “I love you so much.”

  “I know. I love you too, and right now, I don’t want to talk anymore. I need to show you.”

  “You’re just horny,” she joked and thankfully he laughed.

  “Well, I do admit to that, but it is definitely more than that.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah,” he answered. He leaned back against the couch, looking up at her. “Now, come here.”

  She stood before him, between his legs and slipped the straps off her shoulders. The dress puddled around her feet, leaving her in her lilac satin bra and panties. Reaching behind her, Mia unfastened her bra and slowly slipped it off her arms, throwing it aside. She made quick work of pushing her panties off her hips and onto the floor with her dress. With his eyes on hers, she stood there before him.

  “You are so damn beautiful, suga,” he said, his eyes not leaving her face.

  Without further hesitation, Mia went to him and slipped a leg on either side of his lap, cradling him. His hands found a place on the small of her back, kneading her ass, while her hands slid between them and began to unbutton his shirt. Not stopping at his shirt, she made quick work of his slacks as well.

  She regarded him through her desire-filled eyes. With his gaze locked on hers, he moved his head to her chest, suckling on one breast then the other. Closing her eyes, her head fell back, her long hair pooling on his legs. Mia loved what he could do to her and had missed it so much over these past few years.

  His hands moved from her back to between her legs, cupping her, his thumb teasing her and making her cry out. Grabbing his face, she attacked him with kisses. Preoccupied with kissing him, he surprised her when he thrust a finger inside of her. Mia moaned long and loud and bit his neck when he inserted another finger. She only got louder as he expertly moved his fingers, bringing her to her orgasm.

  “Ethan, I need you . . .” she whimpered as she searched for him, her hand freeing him from his pants. “Now.”

  Circling the soft tip, Mia brought his cock fully out of his pants. She didn’t play around. Hovering above him, she slid him inside her, shivering in ecstasy as he completely filled her.

  “Damn, Mia!” he exclaimed as she moved upon him, setting a frenzied pace.

  She opened her eyes and stared up at him. “What?” she said breathlessly. “Don’t you like?”

  “I love it. It’s just that . . .”

  “Hmm?” she asked as she nipped his neck.

  Ethan took that pause as an opportunity to take charge. He flipped them over and he left her lying there as he stood up to finish disrobing. Returning to her, he fell upon her neck before thrusting inside of her again.

  “Oh, God,” she exclaimed as he moved hard inside of her, his pace relentless. Her hips rose to meet his thrusts. She held him tight to her chest, gasping against his ear. With each thrust came a louder moan and then absolute silence. With her mouth opened wide, her fingers dug into his back as a powerful orgasm pushed her over the edge. He kept pumping just as hard, not giving her a break, making her go to another level until she felt another coming, and with that final release, Ethan came deep inside of her.

  As she held him tight to her, not wanting him to leave her, Mia felt him breathing heavily against her. She toyed with his damp hair as he tried to catch his breath.

  “Wow!” she exclaimed.

  “That good, huh?” he chuckled, leaving the warmth of her body and standing up.

  “That good!” she said, watching him, staring up at his beautiful abs and strong arms. “Where are you going?”

  He bent down and lifted her in his arms, a little yelp escaping her mouth. “Bed.”

  “Why? It was so cozy there.”

  “No room for what I want to do,” he said, carrying her to the bed.

  “And what is that exactly?”

  He smiled devilishly as he placed her in the center of the bed. “You’re about to find out,” he said, placing a kiss on the inside of her ankle.

  Mia awoke and immediately felt the lack of Ethan’s presence next to her. In a panic, she opened her eyes and found him out of bed, getting dressed.

  “Uh, where are you going?”

  “Practice. Big game this weekend.”

  “Oh yeah,” she said, not believing that she forgot about it. “Exciting!”

  “I’m not looking forward to playing their defense. Last time we played them, I got sacked four times
and I can’t even tell you the number of times I got knocked down. So lots of preparations for me the next few days.”

  She frowned and he frowned back. “The season is almost over. Then I’ll be at your beck and call,” he said, trying to pacify her. “I want you to check out of here today.”

  “What? Why?” she stammered in shock.

  “No need for you to be here when you can stay at the house.”

  Whoa. Now that was a big step. Though it was part of her ultimate plan, it just seemed so sudden. Was it the right move?

  “Ethan . . .”

  He tossed her his house keys. “The security code is still the same. I want you there when I get home.”

  It appeared it wasn’t up for discussion.

  “Ethan . . .” she said yet again, wanting him to slow down.

  “Oh, one more thing. Will you come to the game on Saturday? I want you there.”

  She nodded, speechless.

  He smiled widely, buckling his belt. “Great. I’ll take care of getting you in there today.” He leaned down and kissed her hard and fast. “Okay. I’m running late. I love you! See you tonight!”

  “Bye!” she said. What the hell had just happened? It was like a tornado just came at her and uprooted her life. Nothing she could really do about it now. Guess she’d better pack. They could talk more about it later tonight.

  She hoped.

  Mia

  Mia entered the box and looked around. So many people, faces she vaguely remembered, but couldn’t pull any details from her brain to go with them. She wished she could sit with Luke, but he was busy tonight, doing his job.

  I hate being social, she thought as she escaped out of the box to the seats. She quickly found out she wasn’t as alone as she had hoped. The owner of the Flash, Reed Michaels, stood facing the field, surveying his kingdom. Mia had met him a few times while she had been engaged to Ethan.

  He turned towards her and a smile instantly came to his face. “Mia! So the rumors are true!” he said, hugging her. She looked at him in disbelief.

  “What rumors?” she asked, trying to keep her cool. She had been so wrapped up in getting her life in order that she’d been very lax on news about her. With her focus on Ethan these past few weeks, she had barely checked her email or her social media sites. She really hoped it wasn’t anything big . . .

  He laughed boisterously. “That you were here. What? Are there others?”

  “Probably,” she replied, laughing it off.

  “What brings you here tonight?”

  “Supporting my favorite quarterback,” she admitted, absolutely loving those words.

  Reed smiled at her knowingly. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said, squeezing her arm. Off in the distance, Mia saw some lady trying to gain his attention. Well, she hoped it was Reed she wanted and not her.

  “It looks like someone wants to talk to you,” she said, nodding her head in the direction of the woman.

  He followed Mia’s line of sight and sighed. “Please sit with me during the game. I’d like to catch up. It’s been awhile,” he asked before darting away.

  The goddamn owner’s box, Ethan? she thought. Are you trying to torture me?

  Mia walked down to the railing and looked over the field. This was something she needed a photo of. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she took a picture of the teams warming up, Ethan front and center. While snapping a few more shots, Mia thought about what Reed said about the rumors that she was at the game.

  Normally, she tried to stay far away from the press and paparazzi, but tonight she decided to feed the rumors. Opening the Twitter app, Mia posted her photo saying, “Guess where I am?”

  Might as well get it out there, she thought, observing the over sixty-five thousand fans, screaming, cheering with excitement. The noise levels were insane and the game hadn’t even started. She was happy to finally be a part of this. With her schedule and her time apart from Ethan, she’d never been to a championship game. Hell, she’d really only been to a handful of his games.

  She turned around to take a seat and spotted Luke in the doorway. When he saw her, his face lit up with his wicked smile. He negotiated his way through the crowded box interior and quickly embraced her.

  “Hi! I didn’t think I would see you at all,” she said after kissing his cheek.

  “Are you kidding? I wasn’t going to miss this. This is why I have employees and a cell phone.”

  “I get to sit by your boss, at his request.”

  “Reed?”

  She lifted her eyebrows, then nodded. “Yep.”

  Luke laughed and made to leave. “You’re on your own.”

  “Oh, no, you don’t! You will sit with me and you will like it!” she thundered, taking his arm and dragging him to their seats. He went with her like a good boy and they joked around for a few minutes until Reed returned.

  “Almost game time,” Reed exclaimed. Luke got up and shook his hand.

  “Sit,” Mia ordered Luke. “Hope you don’t mind, Reed. I haven’t seen much of my best friend lately.”

  “Luke, it looks like you’ve been owned.”

  “Yeah, well, Mia has a habit of getting her way,” Luke said, sitting back down, leaving her in between the two men.

  The box was loud, everybody chattering before the start of the game. While Luke and Reed talked around her, Mia focused on the field . . . and Ethan.

  In her very biased opinion, Ethan looked glorious, god-like even, as he stood at the 50-yard line for the coin toss.

  The Flash lost the toss and the Boston Storm elected to kick off to start the game. After the toss, her phone vibrated. She glanced down and saw a message from Allie. “Hi—I see you on TV.”

  Oh crap, she thought, hiding her phone like she hoped to hide herself. The network must have seen her post and knew she was here. Fuck. She didn’t think that plan all the way through.

  The singing of the National Anthem diverted her attention, especially when Reed leaned over and said she should be singing it.

  Mia shook her head. “No, I don’t have the voice for that.” Both Luke and Reed raised their eyebrows in disbelief. She knew she probably could sing it, but not at this point in her life. It wasn’t something she wanted to do . . . yet.

  The game started with a roar as the Storm kicked off the ball. They were a very physical team and their hits on the Flash had her on the edge of her seat. The Boston defense was rushing Ethan like mad. She was so nervous they were going to sack him and she absolutely hated when he got hit.

  Finally it was half-time and the Flash were up by ten. Luke had left about fifteen minutes before the first half ended. Everyone else got up to chat and do their thing, but Mia stayed where she was, by her anti-social self. She took out her phone and decided to text Allie back.

  Allie

  March 13, 2011 924 PM

  So how much have I been on TV tonight?

  A lot! Especially when Ethan got tackled or he threw for a touchdown. Also . . . there is a little speculation as to why you are at the game.

  So it begins . . .

  It does. But worth it.

  Totally. I’m very happy.

  That’s because you belong with him.

  I do!

  I see you texting me and smiling. Dork!

  Mia laughed and shook her head. She stood up and pocketed her phone before heading to the bathroom, deciding to hole up in there until the game started back up. The Flash started the second half with a 49-yard kick-off return. They eventually scored but the Storm responded with a touchdown of their own.

  The Flash held their lead well into the fourth quarter, but with one minute remaining, Boston scored a touchdown, reducing the lead to three. All the Flash had to do was kneel down twice and they would be the UFL Champions.

  But they never got a chance. A fumble by the kickoff returner and the Storm scored off his mistake, taking a four-point lead.

  “Oh fuck!” Mia cursed, her head falling into her hands. The volume in the st
adium went silent as the stunned crowd watched their championship hopes slip away.

  The Flash fielded the kickoff at the twelve yard line the next time around. Fifty seconds to get the ball down the field plus they had two timeouts. Ethan could do this!

  “Come on, Ethan!” she willed over and over.

  First play, a quick eleven-yard pass to the tight-end who smartly ran out of bounds to stop the clock. The next play was a twenty-six-yard pass down the middle of the field and Ethan quickly called a timeout.

  Mia felt like she was going to vomit. She was that nervous for him.

  After the timeout, it was another pass, but it was incomplete. Twenty-two seconds left.

  “I can’t handle this!” she exclaimed, her hands covering her mouth.

  Next pass was batted away so that left it third and ten with twelve seconds left.

  With the snap, the defense rushed Ethan. He scrambled away, still looking, searching for a receiver. From up in the box, they could see the entire field and she yelled when she saw the open man running towards the end zone. “Oh my God! Downfield! Ethan! Downfield!”

  He saw it too and launched it. She held her breath as the ball sailed through the air. And when number 87 caught it and turned to the end zone, Mia started screaming. He crossed into the end zone just as the clock ticked down to zero.

  Touchdown!

  Reed excitedly hugged her. The crowd went fucking wild. Everyone was cheering loudly, jumping up and down. The noise levels far surpassed her concerts.

  Ethan raced down the field to join the celebration. Eventually they kicked the extra point and then the real celebration began. Confetti streamed from the rafters, littering the stadium field below.

  Mia soaked in the moment, her eyes trained on Ethan as he celebrated with his teammates. She was so damn proud of him.

  She wanted to hug him . . . well, more than that actually, but a hug would do for now. But as she stood watching the festivities, she didn’t know what to do. Should she wait here? Go down to the field? Her dilemma was solved when Luke came to get her. Mia followed him down the back way to the field.