Loving The Game (Thirty-Something in the City - The Lunchtime Sorority Book 1)

by Bailie Hantam

  Tina held up her hand. “I’m on radiation pills. I may lose my hair. And if it doesn’t work I will lose my breasts.”

  Jill didn’t know what to do. “What do you need from me?”

  “Keep it between you and me.” Tina averted her gaze. “At least for now. My doctor is looking for treatment centers up here so I will have a support structure. That’s why I’ve been in town so often, and so long.”

  Jill and Tina sat for several moments in silence. Cancer. Her friend had cancer. A deadly disease that if it didn’t kill her would drag her body through hell before she was okay. She held Tina’s hand tight and bit back her tears. She needed to be strong, falling apart won’t do Tina any good.

  Something caught her attention on the television. Tyler shoved passed Russel on screen, muttering something she couldn’t make out. For one thing she couldn’t lip-read, but also the gum guard made it harder. In retaliation Russel pulled Tyler back and shouted something at him.

  Tina grabbed her hand. “Isn’t that the guy you had a fling with a few years back”

  Jill could only nod. Her only hope was that Tyler wasn’t stupid enough to get into a brawl with the idiot because of her. It really wasn’t worth it.

  Tyler threw the first punch, but that was all that was needed. The two men were a mess of limbs. Punches flew from both of them. Callum and the other captain rushed up to them, pulling the two men apart.

  When the referee ran up both Jill and Tina stood up. They both knew what was going to happen. Tyler didn’t even wait for the referee to confirm it. He walked off the field even before the referee pointed the red card at him. When the card got pointed at Russel he tried to protest but it was no use. Both men had to leave the field, with an automatic three game ban.

  Tina turned to Jill. “Shit just got real.”

  ***

  Tyler

  By the time the match ended, Tyler had showered and was sitting in the players’ lounge waiting for dressing down from Callum.

  The captain didn’t disappoint. He was still in his uniform and boots when he walked through the door to the players’ lounge. “You threw the first punch, so we cannot even protest.”

  Funny, Tyler thought the fact that he had walked off the field before the red card went up indicated that he had no intention of protesting. He knew what he had done. Measured the consequences and did it anyway.

  Tyler dragged his hands over his face. “I wasn’t going to just stand around while he called Jill a slut.”

  “Well that answers my next question.” Callum had his hands on hips.

  He raised an eyebrow. “What was your question?”

  Callum smiled. This one was not mischievous or cold. “Was it worth it. You have put everything on the line. Selectors will be around over the next few months for World Cup team selection. You cannot afford not to be on the field.

  It wasn’t just selection at jeopardy. He only got paid if he was on the field. His endorsements were dependent on him being on the field, in the news, being seen. But yes, it was worth it. Jill was everything. He couldn’t stand around and listen to her being disrespected. She was his to protect, to honor.

  He nodded and couldn’t help smiling despite the circumstances. “She’s totally worth it.”

  “Then take her out of the shadows.” Callum sat next to him. “Nothing says dirty little secret quite like a secret relationship. And if you love her, let her know.”

  It wasn’t that Tyler didn’t want to be open about what he had with Jill. He just didn’t know what she wanted. “I don’t know if she’s ready to go public. She’s my sister’s best friend. She’s an important part of our friendship circle. I would rather keep her as a friend, than risk losing her by pushing too hard too soon.”

  “I’ve known you since high school.” Callum leaned back in his chair. “We’ve been on rival teams. I have never seen you lose your cool on the field. Me? Yes. But you’re the calm one. If she’s got you this worked up then you need to talk to her.” He stood up. “And whatever the fuck you do, don’t make it a gender thing. Trust me on this.”

  Callum walked to the door. That last statement made Tyler smile. Alyssa, Callum’s ex-wife, was more Tyler’s friend than Callum. “Hey skipper?”

  “Yeah?” He turned back to Tyler.

  “When are you going to stop fucking around and get your wife back?”

  Callum shook his head. “One battle at time. Let’s get your girl back first.”

  Before Callum reached the door, there was knock. Callum opened and Jill was standing in the doorway. “He’s all yours.”

  Jill pushed the door closed and stood against it. For someone who wore her heart on her sleeve and expressed everything on her mind, she was doing a good job if keep herself closed off. He stared at her. He had no idea what to say to her. Was she pissed at him? She really had no reason to be.

  He let out a long breath. “Can we just go home?”

  “Uhm, no.” She walked further into the room. “You’re needed at the press conference later. I’m however done for the day, so I’m going home.”

  What was she saying? “Jill, we came together, remember.”

  “In my car, yes.” She sat on the chair next to him. “Tina will be at both conferences, she’ll drive you to my place if you still want company after that.”

  That was probably for the best. The last thing he needed was to be in a car Jill was driving. He didn’t think his nerves could handle it. “I don’t see why I need to speak to the press.”

  Jill raised her brows. “Are you kidding me. You sucker punched an opponent. Everyone wants a piece of you.” She stood up, fire blazing in her eyes. “What the hell were you thinking. It’s a World Cup year. Why would you jeopardize your selection for that asshole. Not to mention that you’ve put the team’s chances of winning the provincial tournament in jeopardy. I just don’t get how in all the years you’ve been playing rugby you chose now to throw your first punch.”

  “Jill calm down.” She glared at him and he decided to change strategies. “You don’t know the things he was saying about you.”

  “I’m not stupid Ty.” She spun on her sexy little heel. “I can guess. Trust me, there is nothing he could’ve said about me that I haven’t heard before. He is not unique or original. He’s just a sexist asshole. But your reaction gave his words power.”

  “So I should just let him say what he wants to about you?”

  “I’m saying it’s not worth your career.” She wasn’t calming down. “I mean. So maybe getting onto the national side is not a priority for you. I don’t know. But you have match fees and endorsements to think about. Why would you risk that because I spent a mediocre weekend with a guy a few years back.”

  She was really good for his ego. He smiled at her. “Mediocre, hey? You said I was phenomenal.”

  She shook her head and smiled at him. “We are not talking about us now. We’re talking about your career. All of this is not worth the risk.”

  The fuck it wasn’t. He was all in with her. Maybe all he was, was a rugby player. But that couldn’t last forever. He could be more than that. He could take the next few weeks away from the field and see what else was out there. He could show her he could be more. And that it was all worth the risk.

  “Are you going to tell your boss about us?” He needed to know where she stood. Mary-Anne wouldn’t be happy, but maybe if Jill could show that their relationship wasn’t scandalous or gossip fodder, everything would be fine.

  Jill took a deep breath. “I’m going to have to. It won’t be long before someone sees something, and I would rather she hears it from me.”

  Tyler nodded. “Good. Because as soon as you’ve spoken to her, I’d like to make this public. I won’t have the press speculating about you when we can just be honest with them. We have nothing to hide.”

  Chapter 12

  Jill

  Jill buzzed Tyler in and stood with her back against her front door. He was on his way up. It was late and she w
as beginning to think he would just go straight home. They hadn’t spent a night apart since that first night, and she was getting used to having him around. Still, there was so much they needed to talk about.

  What was she to him? She’d be risking her career going public with their relationship. Or whatever it was that they had going. Mary-Ann wasn’t an unreasonable woman, but if Jill and Tyler were going to be fodder for gossip, there was no way she’d be trusted working with the media. That was one of the integral parts of working sports events. She’d be relegated to planning weddings.

  She’d just pulled out her sleeper couch and settled in to watch a movie. For the first time in a while she was wearing pajamas. With her hair in a loose bun and no makeup, she felt more herself than she had done since she got her promotion. The high maintenance lifestyle was exhausting. It would be tenfold if she was going out with Tyler.

  He was used to having glossy women at his side. She did a reasonable facsimile of it, but she couldn’t keep it up permanently.

  Then there was the big problem. Neither her nor Tyler had been able to sustain a relationship before. She moved on before things could get heavy. And Tyler… well, she didn’t know what his issues were but it was probably boredom. What if they didn’t work out. What if one of them cheated. She didn’t think she could handle the fall-out from that.

  Her doorbell rang, causing her to jump away from the door. She took a deep breath. She opened the door, and there he stood. Towering over her. Jill stepped aside without saying a word and Tyler walked in.

  “I just—” he started looking at his hand. “I was going to ask Tina to drop me at home. I didn’t want to wake you. But I just—”

  “You just needed a distraction,” Jill finished for him. No doubt he’d been put through the ringer by both the press and team management. “Would you like something to drink?”

  Tyler looked around the room. “I left it in Tina’s car,” he said.

  Jill raised a brow at him. “What?”

  “The tequila.” he said. “I figured it’s been a long time since I got shit faced. And I have no obligations for the next few weeks. So…”

  “You came here to get drunk.” Okay. That she could live with. Was that what couples did? Get drunk together when one was having a shitty day? She didn’t think drinking would help any, though. She walked over to her kitchen and put some water in the kettle. “Let’s just chill out tonight. Maybe we get drunk tomorrow. Coffee?”

  “Yes,” he said. Tyler moved further into the living room. She watched as he took the scene in. “Sorry, did I interrupt something? Am I sleeping on the couch?”

  What was he thinking. If she intended for him to sleep on the couch, she would’ve just told him to go home. “No,” she said trying to keep her voice even. “I was about to watch a movie.”

  “Mind if I stay?” Tyler moved on to one of her mismatched armchairs. “I just need…”

  “A distraction.” She finished again, a small smile on her lips. “We’ve covered this already.”

  Tyler stood and walked to the kitchen. Jill turned her back and reached up to get a pack of microwave popcorn. The mix of his body wash and masculinity tickled her nose a moment before his hands rested on her waist.

  “That’s not why I’m here.” His arms encircled her waist, holding her close to him. “I just don’t want to be alone.”

  Jill turned around. Almost smack against his chest. She splayed her hands on the hard muscle beneath his hoodie. “Then let me make popcorn and coffee and we can watch that movie.”

  He released her and Jill continued making busy work in the kitchen.

  Fifteen minutes later, they were both settled on the pull out couch and Jill pressed play. They each lounged on their own side of the couch, not touching. It would be boring if it didn’t feel so damn intimate and comfortable.

  About halfway through the movie Tyler sat up and grabbed the popcorn bowl from between the two of them.

  He held it in his arm and continued munching, eyes fixed on the screen.

  “Hey,” Jill protested. “I wasn’t done with that.”

  She tried to grab the bowl and over-shot her grip a bit. Popcorn flew everywhere. “You spilled my popcorn.” The mock pout Tyler flashed her was at once adorable and sexy.

  She picked up a few kernels that had landed around her and flung it at him. “You stole them from me,” she giggled. She picked up a few more. “Here have some more.”

  In a flash he had grabbed hold of her and pinned her down onto the couch. All humor gone from those blue eyes. “This is not what I’m here for,” he said. His mouth said one thing, his eyes another.

  It may not be what drove him there, but it was what he needed.

  “Yet here we are.” Jill lifted her head up, drawing her lips closer to his. If she all she was, was an extended distraction, she would need to deal with that. But he wanted to go public, so that had to mean something. Right. “Flip us over.”

  He raised a brow but released her hands and did as she asked. She brushed his lips gently, teasing him. When he didn’t retreat, she repeated. Tyler fisted one hand in her hair and deepened the kiss pushing his tongue past her lips. The slight sting on her scalp lit up her entire body.

  All thoughts of Tyler’s motives disappeared as her hands ran up the expanse of his torso. She lifted his shirt. He helped her by pulling it over his head. She’d spent too much time in the past week imagining what she was about to do. How would he react? How he would taste? Her body warred between taking what she wanted and wanting to pleasure him. She kissed down to his neck, licking the vein that always made him crazy. His hands tightened on her ass, pushing her heat onto his erection.

  She continued kissing down his body, loving the way his muscles tensed under her tongue and lips. She followed the trail of hair down his abs, before reaching into his sweat pants and freeing his hard-on. But she wasn’t going there quite yet. Her mouth moved across his hips and lower torso, his body bucking. She sucked the sensitive skin over his hip, drawing the flesh between her teeth and sucking for just a moment too long. She sat up and admired the little purple mark she left on his body.

  “Did you just give me a hickey?”

  Jill nodded, not taking her eyes off his cock. She licked her lips. “Problem?”

  “Keep looking at me like that, you can mark me anyway you want.”

  She didn’t need any further encouragement. She licked his cock from root to tip. His hands once again found her hair. She looked up at him, desire and anticipation in his eyes.

  Jill swirled her tongue around the tip, hearing his breath hitch as his other hand gripped the fabric of the couch. Slowly, she took him into her mouth. He was big. Bigger than anyone else she’d been with. She relaxed her throat and took all of him.

  His head fell back and his body bucked up. She kept one hand on his torso to keep him down. Just as slowly she pulled back, savoring the way his body tensed under her. In no time she found a slow rhythm. He looked up again, watching her. When he hardened in her mouth, she cupped his balls.

  Without warning, he pulled her up and pushed her on to her back.

  She licked her lips. “I wasn’t done.”

  He pulled at the hem of her shirt. “I need to be inside you.”

  Once her shirt was off, he got up.

  That was not what Jill expected. “Where are you going?”

  He looked at her as if it was obvious. “Need to get a condom.”

  Jill swallowed. She didn’t want time to think. “I’m on the pill.”

  He looked at her, and she couldn’t make out his expression. “Are you sure? I’ve never—”

  She nodded. “Neither have I. And yes, I’m sure.”

  There was no hesitation as he moved back over and settled between her legs. He pushed her back down, staring at her body.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” he growled.

  The words made her feel sexy, and she instinctively arched her back, giving him a better view.

/>   Tyler took one breast into his mouth, and a moan escaped her lips. His tongue flicked her nipple, while his hand found her other breast.

  She managed to force her hand between them, pushing it under the waistband of the sweatpants he’d pulled back up to get the condom. She gripped him, causing a low growl to escape his lips.

  He gripped her hand. “I think we’ve established that I am already on edge.”

  He moved her hand and trailed kissed from her ribs to the waist of her pajama pants. Without looking up he pulled off her pants and panties together as if they were just a nuisance.

  He continued kissing her around her lower belly and thighs. Everywhere except where she wanted him. He tortured her, getting so very close and then retreating again,

  “Tyler,” she moaned

  Finally, his tongue brushed her clit and then all to quickly moved away, causing her to whimper.

  Two fingers moved inside her as his tongue continued to flick over that sweet spot. The sensations building up. Reality had shifted and all she could concentrate on was what Tyler was doing to her.

  “Tyler. More.”

  His hand moved faster. Her body undulated against his mouth. And then all was lost. A ringing in ears as body stiffened and tightened. The sensations overwhelming her as she gripped the fabric and went over the edge.

  As her breathing evened out she barely had time to register Tyler moving back up. Him spreading her wide, her legs dangling on his forearms, and entered her with one hard thrust.

  He moved slowly inside her. The sensation of him filling her up every time he pushed back had her chasing another orgasm in no time.

  She arched her hips up as he grabbed her waist, allowing him to get even deeper. His thrusts got deeper and faster. Jill grabbed the fabric of the couch, twisting it in hands. She forced herself to keep looking at him. He liked it and she wanted to watch him.

  “I love making you cum.” His movements became more erratic, his grip on her thighs tighter.

  On a loud growl, Tyler thrust harder. Once, twice more. Jill clenched around him. Her nails dug into his back as they both went over together.