Scrambling (Out in the NFL Book 1)

by Lex Valentine

  “Fuck me, you tease! Get your tongue outta my ass and fuck me!” Evan begged.

  Reed lifted his head and laughed. “I was fucking you, but who am I to resist such pretty begging?” He picked up the lube and froze, staring at it. “Evan?” His voice came out in a slightly wobbly whisper and he looked up from the bottle to Evan with a question in his dark eyes.

  Evan tensed. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his heartbeat stumbling as fear licked at him.

  Reed drew a deep breath and held up the lube. Evan began to think he knew what was coming next. Excitement bubbled like champagne within him.

  “It’s been over a year since I was with anyone,” Reed confessed. “Dr. Kovacs sent me clean test results just about a month ago.”

  Evan’s breathing grew unsteady as his gaze met Reed’s. “The team doc tested me a couple months ago. I’m clean. And I haven’t been with anyone since a few months before that test.”

  They stared at each other in silence for a long moment. Then Reed groaned loudly.

  “I so want to go bare with you. I want it to just be you and me, no barriers.”

  Evan’s heartbeat went into triple overtime. “I want it to be just you and me too. I trust you, Reed. I’ve never trusted anyone when it comes to this, but I trust you.”

  Visibly shaking with emotion, Reed stared at Evan. “I trust you too. I always have. There will never be anyone else for me.”

  Nothing had ever felt as right as the words Evan heard himself speak next. “Then there’s no reason for us to ever use a condom again.”

  The expression on Reed’s face held a mixture of triumph and reverence. “I can’t wait to feel you.”

  Reed slathered the lube all over his straining cock. He pressed two wet fingers to Evan’s entrance, stroking the sensitive flesh. He pressed in, sinking both fingers deep inside the dark heat, the tips catching on the bump of Evan’s prostate.

  Heat flared within Evan, and he humped the mattress, rubbing his wet cock on the soft sheet. “More,” he groaned.

  Reed pulled his fingers free and gripped Evan’s hip. He thrust his pelvis against Evan’s buttocks, and the broad head of his cock found the wet entrance to Evan’s body.

  “Harder!” Evan pleaded. “Just fuck me already!”

  With a loud moan, Reed’s body came down on Evan’s, and his thick erection pushed Evan’s tight entrance open. They both cried out as the head of Reed’s cock popped past the ring of muscles. One long, smooth thrust later, Reed was buried balls-deep inside Evan’s tight ass.

  The burn took Evan’s breath away, but not in a bad way. He pushed out as Reed pulled back, preparing to thrust again. The second thrust had a silky, liquid quality to it, the burn dissipating in a rush of endorphins that pushed Evan directly into a state of euphoria. Reed’s thrusts grew steadily in power and speed, the head of his cock rubbing briskly over Evan’s prostate. Evan could feel the wet spot growing on the bed as his cock leaked a steady stream of precum, attesting to his high level of arousal.

  Passion burned hot between them. Reed fucked Evan hard but still managed to have a care for his broken leg. Sweat slicked their bodies, and in the glass of the photo on the nightstand Evan could see their reflection. Hard muscles rippled, skin gleamed in the low lamplight, and they moved in syncopated undulations that had them both panting and moaning with heightened awareness of each other and their growing ecstasy.

  When the rapture burst over them, bliss descending in a rush of sensation that exploded with them both almost in the same moment, they both cried out. Evan quivered as Reed’s cock filled him completely, the heat of his ejaculate spilling into Evan’s tight ass. Reed’s hand brushed against Evan’s cock, and it erupted, discharging his seed all over the sheet and Evan’s belly.

  They lay in stunned silence, their breathing the only sound in the room. Evan could feel Reed shaking where he lay draped over Evan’s hip and back. Something wet dripped down his spine, and for a moment Evan thought it was sweat, and then he heard Reed sniffle.

  “My God. I love you so completely.”

  The hushed words held a reverence that made Evan’s heart ache. Reed’s cock slipped from his tender hole, and Reed fit his body along Evan’s back. Light kisses rained down his spine.

  “You’re mine. I could never give you up,” Reed vowed, his voice quivering with the tears he’d just shed on Evan’s skin.

  “You don’t have to. You’re mine too, you know.” Evan sought to reassure his trembling lover.

  Reed hugged him close with one arm. “This is good.”

  Evan smiled even though Reed couldn’t see it. “I know.”

  After a quick trip to the bathroom on shaky legs, they returned to the bed, still feeling the aftershocks. Reed curled against Evan’s side, his hand on Evan’s chest, and his fingers teasing one nipple almost absently. Their thighs lay pressed together, and the heat of the contact gave Evan the sense that everything in his world was warm and perfect.

  His dreams had come true after all and were even more wonderful than he’d imagined. The simple beauty of Reed’s touch in the aftermath of their orgasms told him that this was where he belonged and this man was whom he had always belonged to. It was the life he’d been meant to live, without lies or secrets. Stripped bare both literally and emotionally, Evan realized how very lucky he was to have Reed and a relationship that had survived not only other relationships but the hardships of being out in the NFL.

  He and Reed had both had their careers in the NFL. They’d had the fame, fortune, and notoriety. They’d had their friendship through it all too, but now, they had more. They had the love they both deserved, and the future loomed like paradise before them.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Reed murmured, his hand still caressing Evan’s chest.

  Evan turned his head, and his gaze met Reed’s. “I’m just thinking about how amazing the future will be for us and how awesome I feel right now, lying here with you, no secrets, no lies between us.”

  “No clothes either.” Reed growled and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “I really like that part.”

  Evan chuckled. “Me too. And you have a shower big enough for us both. I’m looking forward to that once this damned cast comes off.”

  “I’m looking forward to you and me and no clothes for days on end. I need to show you how much I missed you when you were in Florida.”

  They both glanced at the wall of photos.

  Reed pressed a kiss to Evan’s chest. “I love you. You’ve made me so incredibly happy. Who would have thought that you could meet your soul mate on the PeeWee Football field?”

  Evan tightened his arm around Reed, holding him close. “We were born to be together. You can’t convince me otherwise.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of trying.” Reed’s hand drifted down to Evan’s ridged abdomen.

  “Uh-huh. You’re moving into dangerous territory there, Mr. Quarterback,” Evan warned as his cock stirred. “If your hands are going to move any lower, you better have a play to call.”

  Reed laughed, the sound filled with mischief. “I always have a play to call. Have you got the ball?”

  Evan slipped one hand between Reed’s thighs and cupped his taut sac. “You betcha,” he whispered in Reed’s ear.

  “I won’t scramble.”

  Reed’s firm words had Evan raising his eyebrows. Reed grinned at him.

  “I’m done running. Everything I want is right here.”

  Evan turned so his mouth hovered over Reed’s. “I never thought retirement would be like this. I’m so glad we got to be the first two openly gay players in the NFL, but I’m even more glad that we get to be the first two openly gay players to retire and live together.”

  “Get married.” Reed’s breathy voice conveyed his arousal, but Evan also couldn’t mistake the love in his eyes. “The first two to get married.”

  “Is that a proposal?”

  Reed’s hands stroked up Evan’s bare shoulder in a seductive caress, but the expression o
n his face was serious. “It’s a promise.”

  Evan took Reed’s mouth in a deep kiss that held love, lust, and commitment. After everything they’d been through, they had both come to the same path at the same time. Love had been the winning game ball, spinning through the air, tumbling until finally they caught it in the end zone together.

  The kids scattered, leaving Evan standing alone with the bags of equipment. He lugged them toward the parking lot and tossed them into the back of his SUV. Another SUV pulled up, a beautiful luxury model that made Evan’s look like a work truck, and a towheaded girl and dark-haired boy emerged. They ran to him and clutched him around the legs.

  “Daddy! You were supposed to wait for us! Did you forget we were coming?” the girl scolded him.

  “Nope,” he said and bent to swing her up into his arms. “Just think, next year you can play.”

  “When I’m six?” Melissa McAdam twined her arms around his neck holding him tightly.

  “Yes. You have to be six to play,” he reminded her.

  She stared at him with blue eyes that Reed said looked just like Evan’s. Her lips pursed, and then she said, “When can Luke play?”

  Reed walked up to them and reached down to pick up the little boy. Evan leaned over and brushed a kiss to the boy’s cheek and then Reed’s.

  “Luke can play when he’s six. Since you’re a year older, you get to play before him,” Reed told her.

  “But he’s almost as big as me,” she pointed out.

  Evan exchanged an amused look with Reed. “Doesn’t matter. The rules say you have to be six to play.”

  “But you play with us,” she pouted.

  “That’s different, Sunshine. It’s just the four of us when we play. You can’t play on the PeeWee team with the other kids until you’re six. So you have to wait a year, and Luke has to wait two,” Reed explained patiently.

  They’d been having the discussion at least once a week ever since Evan had started coaching their neighborhood PeeWee Football team. Melissa was keen to play football. Her brother, Luke, wanted to play too, but he wasn’t nearly as impatient as his sister.

  “I hate waiting, Papa.” She sighed dramatically, her eyes on Reed.

  He flicked her rosy cheek with his fingertip. “I know, baby girl. But the rules are the rules. Coach won’t let us break them, will you, Coach?” He smiled at Evan, heat and love evident in the movement of his lips.

  Heart pounding in reaction, Evan smiled back. His life had come full circle back to the place where he’d met Reed as a child. After everything they’d been through, they’d arrived at a place where love thrived honestly and without inhibition. They’d been married since the year before Melissa’s birth, about six months after Evan had come home from Florida with a broken leg and a heart filled with doubts.

  Not long after they’d married, they’d found a surrogate who’d agreed to carry two children for them. Evan had won the coin toss, and his sperm had been used first. Melissa Jane McAdam was almost exactly eighteen months older than her brother, Lucas John McAdam. Luke’s birth certificate listed Reed Matthews McAdam as his father since Reed had legally changed his name when he and Evan had married. The name change had been Reed’s idea. He’d told Evan he wanted to belong only to him and wanted them to be a family with just one name.

  Reed still ran the Sterling Hotels, and Evan coached football at the local community college near the house they’d purchased in Orange County. This year had been his first year coaching the little kids of the PeeWee league. Ever since he’d taken on that job, Melissa had been pestering him about when she could play. Evan had to admit the little girl already showed signs of having a great throwing arm.

  Evan smiled at her and set her down. “Nope, not gonna break the rules for you, but I will take the football out so you and I and Luke and Papa can play a little before dinner. What do you say?”

  Melissa whooped and dashed around to the rear of the SUV. Evan opened it and took out a football which he tossed to her. She grabbed it, tucked it under her arm, and took off for the field, Luke hot on her heels. Reed laughed and caught him around the waist as he shut the back of the truck.

  “She’s on fire. Look at her go. She could outrun the Stars’ quarterback, I think,” he said with a grin.

  Evan wrapped his arms around Reed and kissed him hard on the lips. “She’s her Papa’s girl. She was born scrambling, I think.”

  “I think you’re right, although I’m not sure how that happened since the ability to play football isn’t genetic, and she and I don’t share any genes.”

  “She’s the sunshine of your life. That’s how it happened. You spoil her rotten,” Evan declared. He started to walk toward the field, but Reed held him back a moment.

  “You’re my sun, that’s how she became my sunshine. I would do anything for you, her, and Luke. You’ve made all my dreams come true.”

  Reed’s dark eyes glowed with emotion, and Evan’s heart turned over. “You gave me back my dreams when I thought they were lost forever,” he replied. “I love you, Reed.”

  Hard arms came around Evan, and Reed’s voice whispered in his ear, “I love you too, Evan. And I mean that in every way possible. You’re my best friend, my oldest friend, my lover, my partner, and my husband. You’re everything to me.”

  Their mouths met in a kiss that sizzled and threatened to make them both not fit for public viewing. Fortunately, they were interrupted by a voice yelling, “Heads up!” as a football came spinning toward them.

  Reed caught the ball easily and pressed it against Evan’s chest. “Come on, Dad. Time for you to bend over in front of me.”

  They walked over to where Melissa and Luke waited on the field. “I do that every night,” Evan murmured wickedly.

  A rude sound came from Reed. “Do not. Half those nights it’s me in that position.”

  “You love it.”

  They exchanged an amused glance filled with sexual awareness.

  “I do,” Reed replied. “But only with you. Now, bend over and call the play, Dad.”

  “Anything you say, Papa. But remember, the little dark-haired replica of you is a mean tackle. He’ll grab your ankles if you’re not quick enough.” Evan winked at him as he took the football and got into position on the line of scrimmage.

  “I’m not scrambling. I’ve got a sandy-haired wide receiver who will take this ball off my hands so I don’t have to run.”

  “Daddy!”

  “Papa!”

  Their two children yelled at them to stop yakking and start playing, so Evan bent and Reed called out the play. Evan snapped the ball into Reed’s waiting hands and turned to watch him toss the ball to Melissa who took off down the field with Luke in pursuit. And then Reed tackled him to the ground, landing on top of him, their groins grinding together.

  “Intentional roughness!” Evan said, laughing.

  Reed kissed him. “No way. Touchdown. I’ve scored.”

  “We both scored.”

  “You’re just saying that ’cause you’re my best friend.” Reed wriggled atop Evan, pushing his crotch tighter against Evan’s.

  “No, I’m saying it ’cause I love you.”

  With their gazes locked and heat spiraling between them, their mouths so close they breathed each other’s breaths, Reed grinned like the winning quarterback he was.

  “Best. Game. Ever.”

  Evan pulled Reed closer and kissed him. After all, he thought, everyone was entitled to a little celebration in the end zone after a win.

  Author’s Note

  The adage that it takes a village seems so trite these days, but it is nonetheless true. Back when I got the first germ of an idea about a pair of football players who were “Out in the NFL” there was William Neale. He was an amazing friend. He heard me out when I needed a sounding board. I mean, here I am, a female writing about the NFL, writing about gay men, about gay men in the NFL. Seriously, what the hell was I thinking?

  According to Bill, I was thinking
like a writer. I had an idea. I got input about that idea and I brought the idea to fruition. Bill told me right off the bat that I could do this. He said that writers write, they create. It doesn’t matter what your gender is or what your subject matter is. He told me that the only thing that mattered was the will to create and be true to your own vision. I did that with this book. I did it not only because I had this idea that just would not die in my brain, but because Bill believed in me. Because of his steadfast belief, I came to see that despite my initial doubts, I really did believe in myself when it came to this book.

  Bill’s death hit me hard. We had just been talking about seeing each other in Albuquerque for GRL. He had even paid my entrance fee to ensure I’d be there to meet him! Oh, the tears I cried when I learned of his passing. I was so angry with fate. But it lit a fire under me to finish this book one way or the other. It was as much for Bill as it was for me.

  ZAM and KC listened to all my mental aches with this book. Tara did too even though it was far too angsty for her to read. ;) They gave me shoulders to cry on and propped me up emotionally through much of this book. I couldn’t have finished without our monthly Saturday morning breakfast meetings.

  When it came to the technical, I wanted my brother Tom, but his health was a bit shaky and I didn’t want to bother him. However, everything Tom ever taught me about the NFL was dug out of my memory banks. Thank God, he lived and breathed football and could talk about it for hours because that left me with a crapton of memories and information. But I did get bogged down a few times and that’s when my coworker at the mortuary, Michael Casey, let me pick his brain. He’d drop by my desk and say things like, “The Draft. On ESPN. This weekend. Watch it!” So I did, and I asked him questions after and kept asking him questions until the book was done.

  And then there’s Louie. Lou has been my constant companion for writing since my very first published book when he was a kitten. When I had a desk, he would sleep under it, on my slippers, while I typed. I don’t think I could write a book without The Lou. He’s the only thing that soothes my high blood pressure! Literally. He’s the best cat BFF ever.