by Lindsay Becs
I nod slowly, taking in the information she just gave me. “Don’t let him go. If anyone comes in interested in him, tell them he’s spoken for. Can you do that for me?”
She stares at me a moment with pursed lips. “If you promise you won’t make that dog miss out on a good home, yes.”
My fist knocks on the counter. “Thank you,” I say excitedly. “I want to surprise Juniper with him. Don’t say anything to her, and if she asks about adopting him herself, tell her no.”
“I don’t like lies, Troy. But I like you enough.” Suzette gives me another disapproving look. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“I won’t. Swear. And if nothing else, I’ll keep him myself. He’ll have a home. I promise.”
“He better,” she says pointedly.
“Give me a week, two tops, to get everything sorted.”
She nods, still not looking convinced of me or what I’m proposing to her.
With a little pep in my step and excited about the surprise I’m about to give my girl, I take off in a jog to her place a few blocks away. Knocking on her door, I wait for her to open it. When she does, I push inside, wrapping my arms around her and pressing my lips to hers the second I see her.
“Hello to you too,” she says through a smile with her lips still touching mine. “Has it been that long?”
Pulling back a little so I can look at her, needing to see her full face, I soak her in. “I love you,” I say simply.
Those three little words that have such big meaning. There’s nothing simple about them, but it feels so simple to say them to her. I’ve never said that to any other woman before. I’ve never felt this way for any other woman before. Just her. Only Juniper.
I swallow nervously as she stares back at me. Her eyes widened at first when the words fell from my lips and cascaded over her. The way she’s looking up at me isn’t surprise anymore, not really nerves either.
A small smile begins to tug on her lips and quickly spreads across her cheeks until she’s smiling so big it splits her beautiful face with its glow. “I love you too.”
My eyes blink slowly before opening and staring back at her once more, my own smile growing to match hers. Leaning forward, I take her mouth with mine, kissing her deeply.
“I love you,” I say again, this time letting it fall from my mouth and pour straight into hers, letting her swallow my words down.
Our kiss intensifies with passion and feelings that we both are wanting to show each other. Her teeth sink into my bottom lip and tug before her tongue licks, soothing the sting she left. I return the favor, sucking her lip into my mouth, letting my teeth glide across the flesh as I pull back.
It doesn’t take long for me to lift her up and her legs to wrap around my hips, finding their rightful place where they fit so perfectly. Both of us in gym clothes makes the friction between us heightened as I push her against my hardening dick.
“I need a shower,” I admit against her neck, which is tipped to the side.
“I guess we’re having shower sex then because we aren’t stopping this,” she says, reaching down to remove her shirt and sports bra in the same motion. I groan when her tits, now free, press against me. Even through my shirt, I love the feel of her naked chest against me.
Setting her on her feet, we walk to the bathroom, where she turns on the shower before stepping out of her leggings. It takes me a second to stop staring at her before I blink out of my haze and strip myself of my own clothes.
When she leans into the shower to check the temperature of the water, I can’t keep from touching her for another second. I press my cock between her ass cheeks, my arms wrapping around her waist to keep her there. My hand slides down, and I run my finger through her already wet center, earning me a moan from her.
“Everything about you feels so good all the time. I think you’re a magical unicorn or something,” she says breathily, standing up. Her arms go back around my neck, her head tipping back, and she kisses the underside of my chin.
Not wanting to let go of her, I pick her up off her feet and step inside the shower, now steaming. My hands slide up her stretched-out body and cup her breasts. Her full, perfect tits fill my large hands as I massage them before playing with her nipples.
When she rubs her ass up and down on my cock, I reach for the bottle of body wash, pouring some in my hand. I rub the soap around her breasts, up her arms, down her body. She steps away from me, and I frown at the small distance between us. Smirking at me, she mimics my actions and pours soap into her hands and begins to wash my body. When she gets to my dick, she slowly slides her hand up and down, purposefully working me up.
With a growl, I pull her against me to stop her hand. That’s just not going to do this time. With a chuckle, she steps away again, pulling the shower wand down and rinsing off both of us. When she places the wand back on its hook, I grab her once again, hoisting her up my waist.
She climbs up my body, both of us ready and wanting the same thing. Lining us up, the head of my cock at her entrance, she begins to slowly slide down my body. My grip on her ass tightens when she bottoms out, filled with me.
I pull her up and down slowly several times, my hands loving the feel of being full of her ass as I do. My finger hedges on her other hole, and her body tightens at first when I breech it before she relaxes and lets me push my digit in past the first knuckle.
“Oh fuck, Troy,” she moans loudly. “I always said that was an exit only but fuuuuck…” I chuckle at her response, pulling her up my cock again with my finger still inside her. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” she chants as I hold her. I slowly move my finger as my hips begin to piston in and out of her. Her teeth bite into my shoulder while her hands cling to my neck, her greedy moans making me ready to spill inside her.
“Baby, I’m gonna come. Are you close?” I ask her, wanting her to have a release before I have to pull out. I’m inside her bare, and although she’s on the pill, we’ve always used double protection.
“So… close…” she pants. I move my finger faster to match the pace of my hips, and that does it. My baby yells my name as she quivers and shakes in my arms.
Moving my hands to her hips, I begin to pull out but she stops me with a look of lust, drunk on her gorgeous face. My eyes stay on her hooded ones, pressing her back to the shower wall, the different angle making us groan together in the pleasurable feeling of our joined bodies. It takes only a few breaths and pumps of my hips for me to empty inside of her, growling through my release.
My forehead lands on hers, my eyes closed now. “I love you,” I tell her again, not opening my eyes as I press my lips to hers.
Carefully, I help her on her feet. “Shit, my legs are shaking,” she says with a laugh.
We both wash up for a second time before stepping out of the shower. We spend the rest of the day in bed, parts of it clothed but most parts not.
Guess I got more cardio in today than I was planning.
11
My heart says chocolate and wine but my jeans say, for the love of God woman, eat a salad.
JUNIPER
“What are you ordering?” I ask Bianca from behind my menu.
“I’m thinking about the paella. What are you thinking?”
“Debating if I want a salad or not,” I grumble.
She slowly lowers the menu that was shielding her face, and I see her stare at me in question from over the top of mine. “You okay?”
With a heavy sigh, I put my menu on the table, leaning back into the cushy leather chair I’m sitting in. “Really, I just want to drown in wine tonight and feel sorry for myself.”
“What’s going on? Everything alright with Troy?”
“Yeah,” I begin, lifting my still nearly full wine glass and taking a sip. “We’re fine. We’ve just hardly seen each other since the season officially kicked off. We knew it was coming and that it’d be hard with both of our schedules, but it still sucks.” Putting my lips to my glass again, I tilt it back, this time
taking a healthy gulp instead of a respectful sip.
“When’s the last time you saw him?” she asks, taking a sip of her own drink.
“Two weeks ago,” I say with pursed lips, leaning my head in my hand with my elbow on the table, another bad-manners taboo. “And the worst part is he hasn’t even had his official first game of the season. It’s all the preseason crap that we’re in the midst of.”
“I did hear your NASCAR episode,” she says with a chuckle.
I groan, raising my other elbow to the table to hold my head as it begins to feel even heavier. “I’ve worked so hard to get here, all while avoiding golf, tennis and NASCAR. Until this year.” I rub my eyes and look at my friend. “It was so bad, B. I couldn’t think of anything to say but ‘Oh, look they’re going around the same corner again.’”
“Can’t say it was your best one yet…”
“It was fucking horrible, Bianca. You can say it. I know the truth.”
She makes the motion of zipping her lips shut, a first for her in our friendship I might add. “When are you seeing each other again?” she asks after the waiter come to take our order.
This question makes me smile. “His first game is this week, and his family is coming. I guess it’s what they always do. He wants me to meet all of them and then come to his game.”
“Meeting the fam, huh? That’s a big step.”
“I guess. He’s already met Sunny. Can’t be any worse than that.”
“You going to work during his game?” she asks, looking amused.
“I thought about it.” I pause when our food is set in front of us, smelling delicious. “I don’t think that’s fair though, especially to his family. I’ll do one of his games at some point, but I don’t think it’s right to do this one. Come to think of it, I don’t even know if I can go otherwise. It’s in my contract to avoid all sporting events unless I’m working.”
She gives me a look like I just spit in her delicious paella. “You have to be kidding me. You can’t go watch your boyfriend’s game because you might learn something? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
I lift a shoulder as I take another bite of the best rice dish I’ve ever eaten. “Maybe, but it’s what I signed up for. It’s my job.”
After finishing dinner and our bottle of wine, I said bye to Bianca as she hugged me and assured me she was there if I needed her for anything. She really was my best friend and the shoulder I leaned on most.
Finding Troy’s number in my recent contacts, I press on his name and wait. He answers as I’m exiting my Uber in front of my building. “I was just thinking about you,” his rough sleepy voice says.
“Oh, yeah?” I ask with a smile. “Tell me about your day,” I add, making my way inside and to my apartment. Walking in, I go straight for the wine rack and pull a cab from it. I listen as he tells me about practice and the team as I pour myself another large serving of wine and take it into my bedroom.
He asks about my dinner with Bianca and I update him, leaving out my complaining about not seeing him much lately. I have him on speaker as I undress from the day and pull on one of his T-shirts I have here. It makes me feel closer to him when the soft cotton slides down my naked body and wraps me in the lingering smell of him.
“Are you nervous to meet my family?” he asks as I crawl into my bed and pull the cover over my legs.
“I don’t think so. I’m more nervous of what they’ll think of my job and that I can’t be there at your game.” I say it like he knows, like this is common knowledge, but it’s not. Not really. I briefly said I might not be able to go when he first asked about the weekend.
There’s a pause between us. Silence that lasts too long and I know he’s upset. “You can’t be there?” he finally asks after what feels like an eternity.
I swallow down a gulp of wine, along with the guilt I feel. “No,” I say quietly. “I asked Connie, and she said it’s a breach of contract if I attend a game without the purpose of work. I could do that—work while I’m there watching you—but that doesn’t seem right to you or your family. Especially not for the first game of the season.” He stays quiet again, and I want to crawl through the phone so I can see him. “I’m sorry, Troy.”
“It’s your job. I can’t be mad about it.”
“But you’re still upset.”
“Hell yeah, I am. I want my girl to be there in the stands wearing my jersey with my name and number on her back. I want to see you with my family, cheering me on.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again, feeling deflated.
“I’m going to go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he says gruffly.
“Troy, please don’t hang up like this. Not when you’re mad.”
“I’m not mad, Ip,” he concedes, using the new nickname I love, making my heart swoon and hurt all at the same time.
“Don’t lie to me. Talk to me,” I beg.
I hear him take in a deep breath. “I just need time to think about it. I know it’s not your choice. I’m not mad at you; I’m mad at the situation, and that’s not your fault.”
“We’re okay, then?”
“Of course, babe. I just… I’m disappointed.”
Tears fill my eyes. “Me too,” I whisper into the phone.
“I love you, and this doesn’t change that, okay?”
“Okay,” I say, knowing I have to believe and trust him. “I love you too.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow and get a solid plan for the weekend, alright?”
“Okay.”
And with that, we say goodbye, and I drown my sadness and my own disappointment in the rest of the bottle of red beside me.
“And what is it you do, Juniper?” Michael, Troy’s dad, asks me.
His dad, mom, stepdad and brother are all here. We decided to keep it easy and low-key and stay at Troy’s place for the afternoon before we head to dinner. It also gives me time to run away if need be.
My eyes find Troy’s, and he gives me a nod with a grin to go ahead and tell them. “I uh… I host my own podcast,” I say, chickening out of saying the entire truth just yet.
“Tell them the name of it…” Troy pushes, and he’s lucky his family is here because I’d flip him off otherwise.
“Go Sports!” I say, looking down and scratching at my arm.
“No shit?” Troy’s dad says with a lift in his voice. “I love your show. That NASCAR episode though…”
I hold up a hand to him. “Don’t even say anything. I’m well aware of the bad idea that was. Not mine, by the way.”
He chuckles, leaning back on the sofa. I take him in, and it’s then I see so much of Troy. It brings a smile to my face. Likewise, turning to look at his mom, Grace, I see where Troy got his dimples from. She’s beautiful and quiet and feminine, such a contrast to Troy’s father’s large build and booming personality.
“Toy!” Sam, Troy’s little brother calls, not able to pronounce the ‘R’ in his name. “Catch!” he yells as he throws a small football to his idol, no question about that.
We have a great afternoon, and his parents are so nice, as is his stepdad. When we arrive at the restaurant for dinner, Troy doesn’t let go of my hand. Smiling up at him, I understand everything he’s saying without words.
We’re good.
He understands.
He missed me too.
Dinner continues much like the afternoon, with easy-flowing conversation and stories about Troy as a kid and a teenager. They ask me more questions too, getting to know me better. When it’s time to say goodbye, they all hug their son before heading to their hotel, and we wave as they walk away.
“Your mom looked upset that I wouldn’t be at your game tomorrow.”
He lifts a shoulder in indifference, but he won’t look at me. “She’ll get over it.”
“Troy,” I say his name, needing his attention. “I’m sorry.”
His big hands cup my face. “Stop apologizing. I’m over it, and it’s going to be fine. I’ll see you after.�
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We climb into the back of the SUV to take us home, and I lean against his side. “I wish I could be there.”
“You can make it up to me afterward,” he says, pulling my chin up to look at him. He captures my mouth with his for a searing kiss.
“I can do that.” I smile.
He kisses me more until we reach my building. I can’t stay with him tonight. He needs a good night’s sleep to be ready and focused tomorrow.
“Good luck, babe.” I smile at him, not ready to let go of his hand or leave him just yet.
“If we win tomorrow, I’m coming for my prize.”
“Winner’s choice,” I say, wagging my brows.
“Fucking tease,” he groans.
I smack one last kiss on him before saying goodbye for real and walking inside. I still wish I could be there for him, but I’m glad we’re at a place of understanding. He’s not pushing me to do something I can’t, and he’s not holding it against me either. I can’t say many other men in his shoes would do the same.
I arrive at Forever Grey the next afternoon, determined to keep my mind clear of Troy and his game, but reality is I can’t stop thinking about either. I’m hoping a walk with my favorite pup will help me through the rest of the afternoon.
“Hey, Suzette!” I call, walking in and straight back to where Brutus usually is. But he’s not there, and my heart drops. “Where’s Brutus?”
“He’s been adopted,” she answers simply.
“When? I just walked him last week,” I say, feeling panicked as tears fill my eyes. I’m such an emotional wreck today, in all kinds of ways.
“New owner did the paperwork a while ago but needed some time to work out the logistics; otherwise he would have gone to your mom’s several months ago.”
I think about what she’s said. He was here a long time. I should have just adopted him myself and worked everything out later.
Disappointed, I don’t let it keep me from taking two dogs with me for a jog. Bianca is away with Dex this weekend, so it’s just me this time. Guess even she knew it would be better to keep her distance today.