“See something you like?”
“Yeah, sorry. You mentioned fucking your tits, and now it’s all I can think about. Did you mean it?”
My nipples harden. I guess I did. “Maybe not before breakfast, but yes.”
“Something to live for.” He winks and steps back. “I’m gonna shower. Joining me?”
“I think I’ll go back to my room. I need clothes anyway.”
“K.” He pauses, then grips my hip and yanks me forward until I’m flush against him. His mouth covers mine, and he kisses me hard before pulling back again. It feels so easy and simple and good. “Pick you up from the living room in thirty.”
We shower and get dressed separately, then head off in search of a restaurant with an outdoor patio since we brought Charli along.
“Are you nervous about camp?” I ask when our food comes. Development camp starts this week, and everything I’ve learned about it from working with Blythe and Reese is that it’s a grueling week for rookies.
“Yeah, but excited too.” He takes a bite of eggs and then breaks off a piece of bacon for Charli.
“No wonder she likes you so much,” I say.
“Girls like to be fed. Duh.” He breaks off another piece and holds it across the table for me.
“No thanks.”
He pops it into his mouth and leans back with a huge grin on his face. “I’ve got something else you can put in your mouth after breakfast.”
“Eww. I’m eating here.”
He busts up laughing. “I’m sorry. I can’t hold them in when they’re that easy.”
I roll my eyes. Yeah, I think Mav and I are going to be just fine going back to being just friends after this summer.
Tuesday morning Blythe gathers all the interns to work the first day of camp. She splits us up into different areas: check-in, lunchroom, floaters to walk the floor in case anyone has questions, and Reese even gets assigned to Coach Miller as a backup equipment runner. The camp is open to the public, so there are people at the ticket office and even working the concession stand.
“I’m starting to understand now why Blythe was running around frantic for the past two weeks,” I say to Quinn.
We’re placed on player check-in. They’re set to arrive by bus from the hotel any minute. Two long tables are pushed together, and we stand behind it, ready to cross off names and show them where to go for breakfast.
It’s quiet, and we’re standing around waiting, and then suddenly it’s chaos. A huddle of men stands in front of us, and Quinn and I check them off as fast as we can.
When Johnny shows up, my pulse jumps higher. He smiles and gets in the line next to mine. I feel his eyes on me as I check in Tyler Sharp and point him in the direction of the breakfast area with a goody bag.
“Johnny Maverick,” Quinn says as he steps up to the front of the line. “The party was boring after you two left Saturday. I never thought you’d be one to leave a party before it ended.”
He smiles, and I can feel how much he wants to look at me, but doesn’t. “Called it an early night.”
“Too bad. It was fun.” She holds out the goody bag.
“I had a good time too,” he says and finally slides his gaze to me. “Thanks.” He pauses. “Hey, Kota.”
I woke up next to him this morning, his big beefy arms trapping me in place and not letting me get up for the day until he did, and somehow he’s able to play it off like we haven’t seen each other all weekend.
I waggle my fingers. “Hey, Johnny. Good luck at camp this week.”
“Thanks. I had my Lucky Charms this morning.” His lips twitch with amusement. I’m pretty sure he’s referring to the multiple orgasms he gave me with his mouth, and heat pools in my stomach at the memory. He lifts the bag. “Later.”
25
Dakota
Wednesday morning is the same. Camp runs all day long, but after check-in, Quinn and I are able to go back to our desks.
I check my email and see that Lindsey, the Wildcats photographer who shot Maverick’s endorsement, has sent me proofs. I squeal as I open them. Hundreds of photo thumbnails fill the screen, and even before I click on one, I know they’re good.
I start at the beginning, laughing when I see the deer in headlights expression on Johnny’s face for the first twenty or so photos. Even stiff and unsmiling, he’s handsome. As the photos progress, I watch him relax and grow more comfortable.
Lindsey captured so many good ones, but the scenes where he’s in the shower are by far my favorite. His dark hair slicked back, smirk in place, holding the Maverick Hailstone body wash in one hand, the other sudsing himself up. I find the photo where his dark eyes cut through the camera, and I know it’s the one where he’s making eye contact with me. My whole body tingles. This should have been a freaking commercial. I’m buying it. All of it.
After I go through it twice on my own, I call Quinn over.
“Damn. The camera loves him.”
“I know. They’re so good. Even better than I hoped.”
“Nice job,” she says.
I’m a little thrown every time she gives me a compliment. “Thanks. Oh, hey, can you send me the behind-the-scenes footage you and Reese captured?”
Technically, all the endorsement contract asked for are photographs with the products and ad copy concepts. Still, I want to put together an entire social media campaign for them with the footage, if any of it’s usable.
They signed off on my photo-shoot concept, but they instructed me to focus on the products. Whatever that means.
“Yes. I went through all the photos and put my favorites in a folder. I’ll send everything, though, in case you have a different eye. Design isn’t really my thing.”
“Really?” I give her outfit a once-over. She looks like she’s wearing something straight out of a magazine.
“This was put together by the sales lady,” she admits. She lifts a foot to show off her strappy sandals. “Right down to the shoes.”
“Cute,” I say.
“There. Sent,” she says after clicking a few buttons on her laptop. “I’m going to do a coffee run. Want anything?”
“I’ll go.” I stand and wave her off. I promised Maverick I’d stop by and let Charli out, since he will be at camp all day.
I do that first, spending a few extra minutes petting Charli. She’s a great midday boost. Then I stop at the coffee shop next door to the arena. I look through the photos Quinn sent while I wait for my order. I open the favorites folder first. She might think she doesn’t have a good eye for design, but so far, all the ones she selected are great options. They show off another side of Johnny that the professional photos don’t.
In one, he’s smiling while talking to the photographer as they both stare down at the display on the camera. In another, he’s high-fiving Reese. He’s good with people, and these photos show that. It humanizes him in a way the posed images don’t.
Next, I look through the folder with images that didn’t make the cut into the favorites. My body warms, and I don’t need a mirror to know I’m blushing as I click on a photo of Johnny and me. My hands work over his stomach, spreading the oil. He looks up at the ceiling with a pained look. My face isn’t visible, but I bet it matches his.
“Dakota?” the barista calls, and I can tell by her expression it isn’t the first time she’s tried to get my attention.
“Sorry.” I put away my phone and thank her for the coffees.
I spend all afternoon selecting images for the endorsement. I’ll be sending them everything we took, but I still take extra care to highlight my favorites and even recommend some behind-the-scenes ideas for their social media, which is not very exciting from what I’ve seen. Johnny has more followers on nearly all platforms than they do.
I take everything to Blythe’s office late after camp is over, and most everyone else is gone.
“Do you have a minute?”
“Yes.” She waves me in. “I was just looking over the photos from the Maverick ca
mpaign. You got some great content.”
“I know. I’m really excited about how it turned out. I put together a whole plan. Can I show you?”
She laughs lightly and indicates I should sit.
I walk her through all my ideas, talking a mile a minute. She listens, nodding along.
At the end, I take a breath. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s great, honestly. You made the most out of the limited time and resources available. The behind-the-scenes photos and videos alone should capture a lot of buzz. Send it over as is.”
“Really? It isn’t too much?” It’s way more than they asked for, but I couldn’t help myself. I want Johnny’s first endorsement to be amazing.
“Yeah, Dakota. Really. The worst they can do is not use some of it. More is better than not enough. Do you have the contact in their marketing department?”
“Yes.” I’ve already composed a dozen messages in my head to Linda Maine and played out her response back, which will hopefully include lots of exclamation marks and wild praise.
“Where are you scheduled tomorrow for camp?”
“I’m on concession duty.”
“I’m pulling you to work with me tomorrow. We’ve booked Lindsey and will be grabbing content all day long for the Wildcats’ social media pages.”
“Oh my gosh. That would be amazing.”
“Don’t thank me yet. It’s going to be a long day. Tomorrow afternoon they are going to the local library for story time. It’s a way for us to give back, and the guys get a small dose of the required community service.”
“That’s great.” My head is already spinning with the images of Johnny reading to small children. Swoon.
“Be here at seven,” she says. Her gaze drops to my shoes. “I guess I don’t have to tell you to wear comfortable shoes.”
I click my heels together. “Forever a Kansas girl in my ruby slippers.”
Before I head home, I send everything to Linda and cross my fingers and toes that she loves it.
I see Reese on my way out.
“Hey, how’s working with Coach?” I ask him.
“I think I ran more than the players.” He runs a hand along his forehead. His hair is disheveled, and his eyelids are droopy.
“Are you with him again tomorrow?”
“All week.”
“Wow. You must be doing something right.”
“Yeah.” He chuckles. “The other guy with me today had to see a medic for a twisted ankle.”
“Ouch.”
We push outside, and he salutes me as he walks toward the parking garage.
Reagan calls as I’m getting to the apartment. Johnny’s in the kitchen with an ice pack wrapped around his knee, shirtless (of course), and holding his phone to his ear.
“Why have you been avoiding my calls all week?” My best friend shouts in my ear. “And why did you decline the video chat? Where are you?”
I smile at Johnny and mouth Reagan, then sit on the couch while she continues to toss out questions to me without waiting for the answers.
“Well?” She pauses finally.
“I’m sorry. It’s camp week, and I’ve been working crazy hours.” I send her a request to start the video.
“You’re forgiven. How are you?” She lies on her stomach on her bed, and man, do I miss her. I’d love to be in Valley right now so that I could tell her all about the crazy weekend and every detail of my job. It isn’t the same over the phone.
I laugh at her quick mood change. That’s Reagan. Quick to get riled up but also quick to forgive.
“Good.” I glance at Maverick across the apartment. He’s holding the phone between his ear and shoulder and twisting off the top of a giant jug of protein powder. The muscles and veins in his forearms pop and flex. “Really good.”
Charli steps on my lap, waiting for me to pet her, which I do.
“Are you with Mav?”
I freeze. She knows we’re roommates now, but not about everything else that’s happened recently. “Uhh, yeah.”
“He’s on the phone with the guys.” I can hear Adam’s voice in the background and then Johnny’s response from the other room.
“What have you been up to?” I ask her.
“Just hanging out with Adam mostly.” She smiles. I can’t see her boyfriend, but his hand comes over and pats her ass and then rests there casually.
“You two are adorable.”
“Have you done any more online dating?”
“No. I haven’t even opened the app,” I say honestly.
“What about…” Her eyes widen.
I bite the corner of my lip and glance to the kitchen. Johnny and I haven’t mentioned telling our friends, but I can’t imagine he’d care if I tell Reagan. She must be able to read it on my face.
“Nooo?!” Her head pops up. “Really?”
“Shhh.” I hold my finger up to my lips. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Oh my god,” she squeals.
“It’s been the wildest week,” I say.
“I’ll bet.”
Friday morning, Johnny and I head over to the arena together. He holds my hand as we go down the elevator, swinging it playfully and scrolling on his phone. “I heard you sent over the endorsement stuff. Hugh was happy with what you got.”
“What about the Maverick Company?” I pull out my phone to see if Linda responded. She didn’t.
“I assume they approved it. Hugh forwarded me an image and text that they want me to post on my accounts teasing the launch date.” He tips his phone for me to see, and I take it, eager to see what they are using. They went with one of my favorites from the first shoot before he got under the shower. He’s holding up the deodorant with a half smile that somehow comes off as confident and humble at the same time.
“That’s it? Just one image? I sent hundreds. What about the behind-the-scenes stuff?”
“I don’t know.” He pockets his phone. “Maybe they’re going to send more closer to the launch date.”
I’m quiet as we step out into the lobby. I have an unsettling feeling that they weren’t as happy with the shoot as I was.
“Are you okay?” he asks, shooting me a side-glance.
“Yeah.” I shake my head. “Of course. I’m glad they’re happy. I just thought they’d use more of the content. We got that image in the first thirty minutes.”
He stops and tugs me closer to drop a kiss on my lips. I look around, but we’re alone.
“Whatever they decided to use or not use is more about me than you. You did an amazing job.”
“Yeah, so good they didn’t use it,” I mumble. “I told you that you should have gotten someone with more experience.”
He laughs, the shake of his chest loosening the pit in my stomach. He tilts up my chin and forces me to look at him. “My slam piece has mad skills. Don’t be hating on her.”
“Oh my god.” I smack his chest.
He laughs. “That’s better.”
“I don’t think you can call me your slam piece when we haven’t slammed.”
“Could change that right now. I’ve got two minutes.”
I roll my eyes and start toward the door.
“Orgasm buddy?”
I don’t answer, and he keeps going. “Personal assistant?”
26
Johnny
Coach divides us up into four teams to scrimmage. All week the guys and I have been looking forward to it. The workouts and the drills were necessary, but this is where it’ll be decided. Everyone wants to prove they deserve to be here and no one more than me.
My team is resting while two others play. I catch Dakota and Blythe at the media bench with the photographer from my shoot, Lindsey. The stands are filled with people today, more than have been here all week. Diehards, mostly, who want to see what the future of the team looks like.
Statistically, most of us will end up in Iowa, where we’ll continue to duke it out and try to impress the coaches to get our shot.
> A couple of these guys I played against just a month ago at the Frozen Four. Morris from Waterville would like nothing more than to embarrass me and send me packing if his pissed-off stares all week are anything to go on. He’s a great player, and I think he has a decent shot at staying. Either way, there’s a good chance we’re going to be teammates one day, so hopefully, a little shoving on the ice will make him feel better about the loss I helped deal at the college championships.
Coach blows the whistle. “Green and black teams. You’re up.”
“White and red, hit the bench.”
I skate out and take a knee. Assistant Coach Peters puts us in our positions to start. Some of us will have to switch from where we’re most comfortable, and that’s kind of the purpose of this week. Yesterday we had to skate on one leg for thirty minutes, then switch for the next thirty minutes. Discovering weaknesses and knowing what to work on this week and beyond will, in the long run, make us all better pro players. Still, everyone wants to look good for the coaches and media watching our every move.
After getting our assignments, I skate into position, passing Dakota as I do. Lindsey and Blythe are looking elsewhere, and I can’t help but wink at my girl as I do. I run my hand along my stick suggestively, and she rolls her eyes. I love doing dumb shit to make her laugh.
This week has been… honestly, even better than I could have imagined. And I imagined in vivid, pornographic detail. I had my own reservations about our relationship changing (not enough to stop myself, mind you), but the only thing that’s changed is I get to feel her up and watch her orgasm on the regular.
I’m dying to have sex with her, but even if it’s just handies and dry humping for the next month, it’s going to be the best summer ever.
After scrimmaging, we hit the showers, then lunch, and then load up on the bus for our required community service gig.
Dakota’s coming with us, and I pass her at the front of the bus, tugging the end of her red hair as I go.
Wild Love (Campus Nights Book 4) Page 16