by Ryan, Kaylee
“Yo, meet us at Harvey’s!” Jack calls out for him. Trent throws his arm in the air, giving him a thumbs up but doesn’t stop.
“Spill,” he says, placing me back on my feet but not letting me out of his hold.
“Nothing to spill. Great game,” I say, deflecting.
“Emma.”
“Landon.”
“Aubrey,” he says with a sly grin, his eyes watching for a response from me.
“I’ll fill you in at Harvey’s,” she offers and he smirks.
“Are your parents coming with us?” I ask him.
“No, they’re going to head back home. They have a couple hour drive ahead of them. They said to tell you goodbye. They called me a few minutes ago.”
I feel bad that I forgot to look for them. I was too flustered with everything that happened at the game. “Mom said we looked good up on the jumbotron.”
“Ugh,” I groan, resting my forehead against his chest. My head bounces from where his chest vibrates with his laughter.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, we’re sitting at several tables we pushed together to make a longer one in the middle of the private section of Harvey’s. The gang’s all here, according to Case. Harvey takes our drink orders and appetizers, and holy hell, these guys can eat. I shouldn’t be surprised at their size after the exertion a game takes out of them.
“Spill,” Landon says, turning in his chair to face me.
“It’s nothing.”
“Emma,” Aubrey says, her tone warning.
“Fine.” I roll my eyes dramatically and she sticks her tongue out at me. Time to rethink this best friend thing. “Just some woman about my age wanted to know if I was your girlfriend. I said yes and she walked away.”
“Emma!” Aubrey scolds.
“Fine. She said you could do better,” I mumble.
“Who was she? What did she look like?”
“She was just some woman in a Barker number eighteen jersey like hundreds of others who were at the game today.” I pull at the exact jersey from my chest to prove my point.
“You’re not like the others,” Landon insists.
“To them I am. I’m just some normal girl, just like them. Nobody knows my name, I don’t have famous parents, I don’t get paid millions of dollars a year, and I’m wearing the same shirt they’re wearing. So, yes, I’m just like them.”
“No. You’re. Not. You are mine. They are not. You have my heart. They do not. You, Emma, are everything they’re not. Don’t let some crazy cleat chaser get in your head. We talked about this.”
“We talked about the tabloids. I didn’t expect to be confronted at one of your games. Oh, and then there’s the drunk guy behind me.”
“What about him?” he asks, his voice is steely yet calm.
“Oh, after the woman left, he proceeded to bend over the seat and tell me that and I quote, ‘he would do me.’ Can you believe that?”
“I should have punched that fucker while I had the chance.”
“Right, and be in even more trouble with your coach?”
“A small fine, and it was worth it.” He leans over and presses his lips to my temple.
Thankfully, the conversation moves on from the crazy people I interacted with tonight. Luna invites Aubrey and me to her baby shower, and of course, Chance and Landon are tagging along. Something about if Trent gets to be there, so do they. But… it’s Trent’s baby. I didn’t try to reason with them. Next week is an away game, and the season is in full swing. I’ll see less and less of him, so I’ll take any time with him that I can get.
“You want to talk about the game?” Landon asks once we’re back at my place.
“No. It just shocked me I guess. I’m fine.”
“Are you, Em? Are you really fine? I won’t lose you over this.”
“Hey.” I reach out and place my hand on his leg where he sits facing me on the couch. “You’re not going to lose me. Where is this coming from?”
“I’ve seen it, Emma. I’ve seen the press tear couples, tear families apart, and they won’t do that to us. Next time call security and we’ll press charges.”
“Do you hear yourself right now? She didn’t do anything but give me her opinion, which she’s entitled to. It’s that pesky little thing called freedom of speech, sound familiar?”
“I get it, but harassing you, that’s out of the question.”
“Honestly, Landon, she was actually nice about it. She wasn’t mean, she didn’t yell. She just said it as if she was asking about the weather. It was strange as hell, but now that I look back on it, I’m glad she didn’t cause a scene. It could have been much worse. The drunk guys, they were just that… drunk and obnoxious. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have made a comment even without her. They were drunk. That’s what you do when you’re drunk. Act a fool. They didn’t hurt me or touch me. So get this losing me stuff out of your head.”
“I know it’s irrational. Trust me, I get it. But you haven’t seen it the way that I have… so many times. The tabloids, the cleat chasers, they tear couples apart, but that’s not us, Em. I won’t let that happen to us.”
“We’re good. I just wasn’t prepared for it, that’s all. Now I am. Next time, I’ll be ready with a comeback.”
“Come here.” He holds open his arms and I waste no time going to him, sitting on his lap and snuggling him close. “Much better,” he says over a yawn.
“Let’s get you to bed, Number Eighteen. You played one hell of a game, and even put on a half-time show. You have to be exhausted.”
“Ha ha, funny girl.” He kisses me softly before I pull away and stand.
“I’m going to lock up, head on to bed. I’m right behind you.” He disappears down my small hallway while I check the doors and turn off the lights. I grab his phone and charger out of his bag, and plug it in in the kitchen beside mine before making my way to the bedroom. I strip out of my clothes, not bothering with pajamas, and slide under the covers next to him.
“Love this, Em. Feeling you like this next to me.”
“I love it too.”
“Night, baby.”
“Night.” In the comfort of his embrace, I drift off to sleep.
Chapter 20
Landon
It’s Thursday morning, and when I say morning, I mean the sun isn’t even up yet. I’ve hardly slept at all. We have an away game in New York this weekend. The team flies out at two this afternoon. This is the first time in my career that I don’t want to go. Sure, there have been times I’ve dreaded the flight, but never this. I’m lying here with her in my arms, and the thought of not seeing her for four days is killing me.
I’m going to miss her.
I think back to all the times I gave my teammates shit when they would talk about missing their wives or girlfriends—Trent especially when he and Luna first got together. It was fun to get him all riled up, but now he just lets it roll. He doesn’t give a fuck what we say, and now I get it. I finally understand how he felt, how he feels leaving her behind. And to add to that, she’s pregnant. I don’t know how he does it.
I place a kiss to her bare shoulder and she stirs. “Landon?” Her voice is raspy with sleep.
“Hmm?”
“Why are you awake?”
“Just thinking.”
She rolls over to face me. The room is still dark so I can’t see her, but I can feel her gaze.
“Anything you want to talk about?”
“Not unless you want to hear me whine about missing you?”
“You’re gonna miss me?” she asks, her voice sugary sweet.
“Hey.” I lightly smack her ass. “You could at least pretend you’re going to miss me too.”
“I’m going to miss you. Who’s going to keep me warm at night?” I can hear in her tone of voice she’s teasing me, but the thought of another man getting to be with her like this, like we are in this moment amps up my worry. Things have been great, but I’ve been here. Can she do this? Is she really wil
ling to stick with me being gone all the time for my job? I love my job, football is who I am, but Emma, I love her too.
“That’s my job.” I pull her impossibly close. “Fuck, Em, why’d you have to go there?”
“Hey.” She wraps her arm around me and gently strokes my back with her soft hands. “I was just teasing. There’s no one but you.”
“I know that. It’s just even the thought of losing this, losing you to someone who can be here all the time, it guts me.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just teasing. Of course, I’m going to miss you. I miss you when you’re at practice and I’m at the shelter. I don’t know how I’m going to do with not seeing you for four days.”
“I’ll call you as much as I can.” I’m already thinking about staying held up in my room just so I can talk to her. I requested to room with Trent this time, he agreed. I don’t even want to be around the single guys on the road. It’s not the temptation, but the rumors. I want to stay as far away from that shit as I can. I don’t need the press posting anything that could shed me in a bad light while I’m on the road. This is going to be hard enough on our relationship without the added drama, and the rumors that the leaches bring.
“Don’t feel like you have to. I’ll be here waiting for you, and I’ll be watching you on Sunday.”
“Come with me.”
“You know I can’t do that. I can’t leave Aubrey alone at the shelter. Besides, I can’t just call her and ask for time off without notice. We’d need time to schedule volunteers.”
“I’ll pay for someone to come in and cover for you.”
“Thank you, but no.”
“I had a feeling you would say that.”
“It’s sweet, but you’re going to be away a lot. It’s not just this one weekend. This is our life and we need to learn to deal with it the best that we can. We need to get used to being apart.”
“You could quit and travel with me,” I offer. She thinks I’m kidding, but I’m dead serious.
“Then I’d be traveling alone. You have all your team stuff you have to do. I won’t get to see you much anyway.”
“I’ve never dreaded going away for a game until now.”
“Chin up, Number Eighteen,” she says playfully. I know she’s trying to lighten the mood. “I’ll be here holding down the home front.”
Her words spark an idea. A crazy one, but it makes me feel better. “Stay at my place while I’m gone.”
“What? That’s crazy. Why would I do that when I have a perfectly good home right here, you know, the bed you’re sleeping in?”
“I know whose bed I’m in. I just want to know you’re there. That you’re in my space, in my bed even if I’m not in it with you.”
“Okay. If it means that much to you, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you.” Moving in, I press my lips to hers. Softly, reverently, as I try my best to show her what she means to me.
Everything.
My hands roam over her hip and up her side. I palm her breasts, running the pad of my thumb over her nipple. We slept naked last night. I wanted her body next to mine. I wanted to feel her skin, memorize the feeling. Turns out that was a good idea, because now clothes are not a factor.
My lips travel to her neck, and she tilts her head, giving me the space I need to devour her. “Lie back,” I say, moving to hover over her. She’s now on her back, and I can feast on her. Take my time showing her what she means to me, show her how much I’m going to miss her.
Settled between her thighs, my cock throbs as it rests against her belly. Staying on course, I capture a hard nipple in my mouth, nipping, sucking and licking, driving her crazy, all while tweaking the other with my thumb and forefinger. I don’t have enough hands. I want to touch her everywhere.
Her breath hitches in her chest when I take her nipple between my teeth. With kisses between the valley of her breasts, my mouth moves to the other, and my hand takes over gently caressing the one I’m no longer soothing with my tongue.
“Landon,” she says breathily. Her hands are buried in my hair and her chest is rapidly rising and falling.
“Yeah, baby?” My voice is thick with my desire for her.
“S-Stop teasing me,” she pants.
Letting her nipple fall from my mouth with an audible pop, my lips head south. “Not teasing. Enjoying you? Yes. Loving you? Hell, yes.” I trace a path with my tongue over her quivering stomach, and I don’t stop until I reach her pussy. I kiss just above where I know she wants me. Hell, from the grip she has on my hair and the sounds she’s making, it might be a need at this point.
“Four days,” I say tenderly. “Four days without you, freckles.” I’m done talking. It’s time to show her. Moving further down the bed, I position her legs over my shoulders, kissing her inner thigh. My index finger glides through her pussy. She’s wet and ready, but I need more time.
“Please,” she begs, her hand grappling for my hair to hold on as my mouth hovers over her clit. “Oh, God,” she breathes when she feels my hot breath.
With my tongue, I make small circles, causing her hips to rise off the bed and her grip on my hair tightens. Her need only fuels my desire. Pulling away, I blow gently on her sensitive bud, and she squirms beneath me. I’m salivating. I can’t tell if it’s her or me that’s coating my chin.
“Mmm,” I hum.
“D-Don’t stop, please,” she pleads.
One hand works up to her breast to play with her nipple, while the other slides one then two fingers inside her. In tandem, my tongue and my fingers fuck her. She’s pulling on my hair. Her grip is firm, and her moans of pleasure have precum leaking from my cock. I need her to come.
Now.
My tongue presses harder, flicking her clit like it’s my job while my fingers piston inside her. Her walls begin to quiver, telling me she’s close. I’m ready to come with her taste on my tongue and from feeling her body’s reaction to me. I fight it as I bring her over the edge. She cries out as her body convulses and I drink her in. Everything she gives me, I take.
When her body finally relaxes into the mattress and her hands fall beside her on the bed, I slowly slide my fingers out of her, licking them clean. Carefully, I remove her legs from over my shoulders and resume the same path I took earlier—trailing kisses up her body until I reach her lips. She kisses me back without abandon, her tongue battling with mine.
Ripping my mouth away, she whimpers. I reach over into the nightstand and grab a condom, tearing it open with my teeth and sliding it over my cock.
“Hurry,” she murmurs.
Not needing to be told twice, I position myself at her entrance and slide home. Nothing has ever felt more like home than being connected with her like this. Nothing ever will. Lowering my weight onto her, careful not to crush her, I take my time pushing in and pulling out. Over and over, I slowly make love to her. It’s perfect because all I want to do is slow down time. I want this night to last forever.
“You okay?” she whispers. The room is starting to lighten as day breaks, and I can see her eyes watching me with worry.
“I’m perfect.” A few more lazy strokes are all it takes for me to lose my control as I come inside her. I still and then relax, sated. “I’m sorry.” I kiss her nose. “That was supposed to last a hell of a lot longer.”
She giggles. “It was torture. You teased me. But everything about this moment is faultless. I wouldn’t change it for anything. This is how we should always say goodbye.”
“Why did you have to mention that?”
“Because I need to get up and get moving to get to work, and you have to pack.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“Of course, you do. It’s going to suck, but, Landon, you love this game. Football is your life, so you’re going to miss me. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“I don’t know that I could grow any fonder of you than I already am.”
“Come on you. Let’s shower.” Tossing off the cove
r, she climbs out of bed, and I watch her until she disappears into the bathroom.
Fond of her indeed.
* * *
We landed in New York about two hours ago, checked into our rooms and now here we are in the conference room, eating our catered meal, one that is mandatory. Coach Neil thinks that it promotes team bonding or some shit. He’s right. I’m just bitter because I could be in my room talking to Emma.
“Arm’s looking good,” a deep voice rumbles from beside me. Turning, I see the team owner, Joseph Stamper, taking the seat next to mine.
“Thanks.” I grab my water and take a long drink. “Team’s tight.” I’m sure he’s about to tip my ass about climbing the wall to get to Emma. I paid my fine though, so we should be able to move on.
He nods. “We’re off to a great start. Speaking of starts, I didn’t realize you were seeing anyone until the press reported it at the pet adoption, and then there was your stunt at the game last week. Lots of good feedback from the shelter adoption.”
I can’t help it. I grin. “Emma.” Even I can hear the fondness in my voice when it comes to her.
“You know we had to fine you for that, but the team has had a lot of positive press from your little show. I have to ask, what caused you to climb in the stands? What couldn’t wait until after the game?”
I shrug. “She looked upset.” I’m waiting for his reprimand that never comes.
“You’re telling me that because she looked like she was upset, you climbed the wall, ignored your coach when he yelled for you, and knew you were going to be fined, but you did it anyway?”
“Yep.”
He surprises me when he clamps a hand on my shoulder. “She’s lucky to have you.”
“Just the opposite in fact. I’m lucky to have her.”
“She looks familiar.”
“Emma Deaton.” I give him her full name. Everyone already knows at this point.