I gulp. Oh joy this is not what I need to hear and there is no way it’s true.
“Total hots. He couldn’t take his eyes off your lips,” Steph adds.
Damnit, she noticed too. I blush again for the second time today. “You both have it wrong. He’s not happy about me joining the team. I don’t even think he likes me.”
Candice completely ignores my statement and claps her hands. “This is going to be the best Pronghorns’ season yet.”
∞∞∞
Throughout dinner I avoid Candice’s eyes as much as possible because she keeps making kissy kissy faces whenever her brother isn’t looking. My cheeks are so hot from blushing I’m in a perpetual state of heat stroke. Candice couldn’t care less if her mom and dad see her antics. They smile indulgently at her and sympathetically at me.
Aiden is good at ignoring most of her lunacy, but I think that’s because he’s missing her actions that would make him the most uncomfortable. He’s also been quiet since returning to the table, and every so often our eyes lock. I haven’t caught him looking at my lips once.
“I have an idea,” Pamela says when we’re mostly finished with the wonderful meal. “Why don’t you move in here until you can find a permanent place to stay?”
I choke on my water. “Sorry, excuse me.” I wipe my mouth with a napkin, take a quick look at Aiden, who appears to be as stunned as I am, and answer. “I can’t do that, but thank you so much for the offer.”
“Hogwash. Look at the trouble you’ve already had. The media will haunt you this entire first season, fans can be great or a pain in the ass. There’s no middle ground with them, and no one would expect you to be here. Aiden’s never around during the season.”
“Because it’s too far to drive and we’re really busy starting tomorrow,” Aiden adds gruffly.
“If it’s too late for her to drive here, she can just stay at your place,” Candice adds. The girl’s a little devil in disguise.
“And how would that look, sister mine? The media gets ahold of that and both Jordan and I are toast.” He looks to me for backup and keeps talking. “I’ll help her find a place and I’ll make sure it’s somewhere safe that overzealous fans can’t get into. We leave for the White Sands training camp in a few days and she’ll be staying at the hotel with the rest of the team.”
Pamela grumbles a bit but she relents. Not so the devil child. She’s decided her brother and I make the perfect couple and it’s now her priority to see it happen. I don’t care how hot and bothered he leaves me, any relationship outside of friendship would be bad for us both. A girl can dream, though. First on my agenda after practice tomorrow is finding a sex shop where I can purchase a vibrator. I left my old faithful back in California and I’m feeling a definite need for some relief.
When the evening is over, Aiden’s family walks us out to his truck. Again, I’m struck by the beauty of the house and surroundings. This is exactly what I want when I settle down and am ready for a family. I really like Aiden’s family too and living here for the season wouldn’t be a hardship. Aiden’s right, though. We need to keep rumors to a minimum, and the drive to the stadium each day would be rough.
The ride back to my hotel room is silent for the first five minutes. Aiden hasn’t glanced at me since we took off, and his voice surprises me when he starts talking. “If anyone touches you for any reason without your consent, you need to tell me.”
Oh, boy. Aiden still has his panties in a wad over the douchebag at the convenience store. “Never happen,” I say and watch from the light of the dashboard as his fingers curl tightly around the steering wheel.
“It will happen,” he grinds out. “Coach Mitchel will know about this by now and we’ll be having a meeting to discuss it. The last thing you want is to bring Coach down on your head. Roger Morely, the special teams coach, is bad enough and he won’t be happy that he didn’t hear about this from you as soon as it happened.”
Aiden is making entirely too much of this. “I’ll inform Coach Morely if I have more problems.”
“And you’ll inform me.”
God, he’s such a control freak. I really don’t like being bullied and decide to keep my mouth shut in silent protest. He concentrates on driving and I doubt he notices. I, on the other hand, am overwhelmed by him. It’s his damn smell and it won’t stop wreaking havoc on my very in-tuned sexual awareness of him. He’s a womanizer if the media reports are to be believed and as a teammate he’s completely out of my acceptable list of male companions.
My perpetually wet panties while I’m around him mean nothing. I’m stronger than this attraction. I repeat that fact in my mind to convince myself.
Chapter Ten
Aiden
I’m barely holding onto my shit right now and it’s less than twelve hours until training camp begins. When I saw the video of the guy shoving Jordan, I lost my cool. I would feel the same way if it happened to my mother or sisters. That’s what sucks about Jordan thinking she can play football in the pros. While others will be finding a way to get her off the team, I’ll be protecting her or at least trying my damnedest. This can’t be happening. I have enough on my plate and she’s one huge distraction I don’t need.
There are so many things that haven’t been thought through in this situation. I wasn’t joking about her needing a psychologist. A team of bodyguards too.
I didn’t miss my sister’s antics during dinner either. The next time I go home I’m gluing all her car keys to the dresser in her room. I’m not too old to get my revenge. And Steph with her smug appraisal of my wandering eyes didn’t help matters.
Damn, I want inside Jordan’s pants so bad my cock is in permanent hard mode. Nothing about tonight’s dinner with my mother and sisters looking on was easy. Only Ty gave me any slack.
Jordan must feel the attraction. I would almost swear it’s a physical energy zapping back and forth between us. She gives very little away. The only positive is the side eye she occasionally throws at me. I wouldn’t include it in my appraisal of the situation but she quickly looks away when I catch her. God, those lips of hers draw my gaze every other second.
The truck cab is quiet after she refused to agree to inform me if she has more trouble. I’m still hot enough about the situation that I don’t even think to turn on music. We pull up to the hotel and thankfully the press is long gone. Doesn’t matter. They’re sneaky bastards and I’m not leaving this to chance. They’d have a field day with me dropping her off, so I drive around to the side of the hotel and park. I get out and walk around to open Jordan’s door and help her down.
“Thank you for taking me to your family’s home tonight and introducing me. I didn’t mean to appear ungrateful during the drive.” Her head’s tilted back and her lips draw my attention like they always do.
“Where’s your key?” I ask. She slips a key card out of her pocket. I nab it and grab her hand.
“What are you doing?” She pulls back slightly, but I have a firm grip and I give her a small jerk.
“I’m walking you to your room. Hurry,” I add with another slight tug. “I don’t trust that someone from the media isn’t skulking in the bushes.”
“Yeah and holding my hand will go over real well,” she huffs.
“Then hurry, so we don’t get caught.” Her hand is soft. A woman’s hand, not a football player’s hand. I can’t wrap my head around this woman being on my team.
She moves up beside me and keeps stride with my long legs. “You’re entirely too bossy,” she mutters.
I don’t deny it. She met my family. If I weren’t bossy, I’d never have survived my upbringing. I don’t give up her key card as I guide her to the elevator. She gives a firm tug and I finally release her hand. She pushes the button for the ninth floor without looking at me. She’s fidgety the entire ride up. I do my best not to stare at her lips again. Yeah, that’s a fail. I unlock her door when she stops at her room. She quickly ducks beneath my arm and steps inside. I follow her in. The words “good n
ight” are on my lips, I swear. Our eyes meet and slowly I lower my gaze to her pouty, begging to be kissed, sexy lips. The door closes behind me with a soft click and sexual tension fills the room. Jordan’s expression is steamy and everything inside me hopes I’m reading her signals correctly.
“This is such a bad idea,” I murmur as I pull her into my arms.
Her gorgeous lips halt a breath from mine. “It’s a horrible idea,” she responds breathlessly.
We stay like that for several seconds as I try to convince myself that I’ll regret what’s about to happen. I’m too damn old to be led around by my dick and I need to find some control. “Hell, just one taste,” I whisper. I lower my mouth to hers and lick her lips in a slow, wet sweep. The taste goes straight to my cock and an electrical pulse charges to my balls, completely bypassing my brain. She’s a cross between sex and the sweetest candy on the planet. It’s the damn lipstick, must be.
I lift my right hand and slowly thread my fingers through her hair. I circle her waist with my left hand and pull her against the ache building in my cock. My fingers touch just a bit of bare, soft skin at her hip. Her hands clench my upper arms and she exhales when I stop licking her lips. I deepen the kiss, twirling my tongue as I gain entrance to the secrets she holds.
Her taste and scent fill me—she’s fresh air, dirty sex, and…all Jordan. This attraction started the first moment I laid eyes on her. That’s nothing new. There are plenty of women I’m attracted to at first glance. But this…what she’s doing to me is new. I want to lose control with her and that’s something I never do. This entire situation is screwed up and I’m about to make it worse.
I turn us so her back is to the door and I pull slightly away. Her lips are puffy and wet, smeared now with that damn pink lipstick. My thumb slides over the corner of her lips and I wipe a small bit away. I glance back into her eyes before the tip of her tongue pulls my attention lower. Her tongue travels slowly across her bottom lip before she bites it. I almost come in my fucking pants. My gaze flashes to hers. She has sleepy, sensual, bedroom eyes begging me to finish what I’ve started.
She starts to speak. I move my hand from her hair, cup her jaw, and run my thumb over her lips, stopping her. She licks the pad of my thumb. “You’re such a bad girl,” I growl. She bites my thumb, making me pull it away. Her lips draw mine again and her right leg moves up and she circles my hip. I grind against her so she feels exactly what she’s doing to me. I’m barely able to break the kiss long enough to whisper, “I should have told you to wear a goddamn skirt.”
“Do you have protection with you?” she whispers.
My heart hammers against my ribs. “Yes.”
“Take me against the door,” she orders. With a sensual smile, she drops her leg and peppers kisses on my lips and jaw while toeing off her sandals. At last her fingers move to the top of her jeans and she unzips them. I help pull them down and then lift her so she can kick the material aside. Her hands go to my shoulders and I press her back against the door again while lifting her up so her legs circle my waist. I skim my fingers down her side until I reach the top of her panties. They’re a white, sheer, barely-there material. My fingers slip beneath the silk. With a gentle bite to her lower lip, she opens for me again. At the same time, her slick, wet heat registers on my fingers while they slide between her thighs. I want a taste so fucking bad.
This is wrong. Very, very wrong.
I use my finger to circle the swollen wet lips of her pussy while stroking her tongue with mine. She lets out a disgruntled sigh and grinds against my hand. I smile into the kiss. Her smell reaches me. It’s beyond her taste. This is dirty and musky and so damn perfect I can’t think straight.
Her arms circle my neck and I’m able to reach down and fish out my wallet from my back pocket. I slide out one of the two condoms I keep there. This is accomplished while kissing her because I can’t make myself pull away. With her legs around my hips it isn’t easy but I somehow manage to unzip my shorts and pull myself out.
“Please,” she breathes into my mouth.
It’s such a simple word, but when she says it my cock grows impossibly harder. Every second it takes to get the condom on is a waste of our time. I mutter a curse because I need to feel my cock inside her heat. Hell.
She breaks the kiss when my dick presses for entry. She’s so damn tight. One of her hands runs up the back of my neck and she grabs my hair. Her teeth sink into my shoulder and I can’t help thrusting forward so I’m seated to the hilt. She’s wet and perfect and so damn hot. I rock her up and down on my cock while she makes small noises that drive me absolutely insane.
“Right there, right there,” she breathes urgently when I hit just the right spot. My balls constrict and my cock nearly explodes. I thought I got over the sixty-second orgasm as a teenager, but Jordan is testing my willpower to its fullest. She nips at my shoulder again and I know her teeth will leave bruises. I don’t give a fuck, I’ll take her marks any day. “Please,” she sighs.
I thrust my hips harder and her legs squeeze tighter. One of my hands splays over her ass to lock her against me. I use the other to grab her hair and tilt her head so our lips meet again. She clenches repeatedly around my cock and I feel her orgasm all the way to my soul. Small moans release into my mouth as she comes undone. After two more thrusts, I follow her into oblivion. The world around us stops as my balls unload and I fill her with everything I have.
We ride out the euphoria until our bodies are replete. I kiss her gently before lifting my gaze to hers. Wild hair, smeared lipstick, and swollen lips. Beautiful and so damn sexy. I could do this all over again right now.
“We’re so screwed,” she whispers, breaking the spell.
“We are.” I won’t lie. What just happened shouldn’t have. My cock stirs and by the look on her face she feels it too because her eyelids lower and the same dreamy expression from earlier crosses her face again. No, this can’t happen again no matter how bad I want it. Can it?
“Please let me down,” she says gruffly. We’re both on the same page at least.
I lift her enough to slide my dick out and then lower her until her feet touch the carpet. Her cheeks are rosy and I hope it’s exertion and not embarrassment. There’s nothing shameful about what just happened. I steady her when she bends to pick up her pants. She stands and glances at me. I kiss her cheek. “This will be okay.”
Her expression changes and her hazel eyes go cold. “Like the entire team won’t know tomorrow,” she replies testily. She is sexy as hell but when you add the fire that just entered her eyes, it takes things to another level entirely.
“Hey,” I lean my forehead against hers. “They won’t. This is between you and me.” I hope the certainty in my eyes convinces her. What happened between us is not something I’ll share with anyone. I release her, remove the condom, and lift up my boxer briefs and shorts. She’s watching me while licking her damn lower lip. “God, don’t do that,” I say as I work to zip myself into the confines of my shorts. She doesn’t put on her pants, she just uses them to cover her lower half. They show more than they hide and it’s incredibly cute. I carry the condom into the bathroom, toss it into the trash can, and walk back out.
“Leave, please.”
I stare while wondering if I heard her correctly. She holds her ground, not giving an inch. “We should talk,” I say in a dumb attempt to prolong whatever this is.
“No, you should leave. I need to clean up and go to bed. Tomorrow is a really big day for me.”
I can’t argue with that, but walking away is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. So we fucked. I’ve been in this situation plenty of times and never felt the need to talk. Her key card and my wallet are on the floor. I place the card on a side table, slip the wallet back into my pocket, and walk out exactly as the lady requests.
Chapter Eleven
Jordan
I can’t believe I’m this stupid. Aiden is a player in more ways than one and I’ve just ruined any chanc
e I have of gaining respect from the team. Me and my damn crush. It doesn’t help that I met his family and loved them. I’m an idiot and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it now.
I take my time in the shower and wash off Aiden’s scent. When I pick my dirty clothes off the bathroom floor, his smell permeates the material. If there was an incinerator handy, I’d chuck them in. I toss the clothes into a plastic hotel dry cleaning bag instead, stuffing the thing into the depths of my suitcase. I crawl into bed, set the alarm, and do my best to sleep.
My phone alarm goes off at three-thirty the next morning. I calculate I slept all of two hours. During the long night staring at the ceiling, I reviewed everywhere I went wrong with Aiden. Even knowing how detrimental it was to my career, I found it impossible to keep my thoughts away from the things that felt so damn right. Like every place he touched me.
“Argh,” I say into the quiet room.
I grab a fruit bowl from the small fridge and add hot water to a container of instant oatmeal I picked up on my return from the airport. My plan is to jog to the stadium for my first day of practice as a Pronghorn. I put my hair in a ponytail and pull a baseball cap low over my eyes. Everything I need will be at the stadium in my very own cubby. I don’t bother checking out front, I’ve learned my lesson and I’m leaving through the side entrance. I’m startled when I open the door and Aiden is leaning against his truck exactly as he was yesterday. He’s scrumptious and my insides go mushy at the sight of him.
“What are you doing?” I demand in a throaty voice because he’s catching me off guard and I can’t quite hide what the sight of him does to me. He’s the last person I want to see this morning. Liar, liar pants on fire, I silently chant in my head. His smug expression doesn’t help. My mind flashes to his firm ass and I want to sink my fingernails into his taut glutes. I also want to peek beneath his tight shirt and see the marks from my teeth I know are there.
Goal (Completion #6) Page 6
