by Odette Stone
“My mom passed away when I was a teenager, so I moved to Germany to live with my dad.”
“Does he still live and work in Germany?”
“He passed away last year.”
Krista’s eyes widened in shock. “I didn’t know. How did he…?”
“Car accident.”
She thought about that. “That’s why you dropped out of hockey.”
I started to shove our empty takeout containers back into the bag. I didn’t understand it, but part of me wanted to talk about this. I just didn’t know how. “Yeah.”
She watched me. “Tell me.”
I focused on cleaning up. “It’s not like my dad and I were close. He was deployed a lot, and I spent most of my time in Germany at boarding school. Then when I graduated, I was with a team that wasn’t near where he lived.”
“He was your dad.”
He was, and despite the challenges of our relationship, I missed him. “Shortly after it happened, my first agent approached me after a game and made a lot of promises. I quit my team in Germany and followed him to North America against the advice of everyone.”
She spoke softly. “You just wanted to get away.”
I turned and looked at her, not surprised she got it. “Yup.”
She stared up at me with a question in her eyes. “How did you end up in Mexico? When it didn’t work out in North America, why didn’t you just go back to Germany?”
Everything there reminded me of him. Even the thought of going back there hurt. “Every time I got comfortable as a kid, every time I put down the smallest of roots, things got fucked up.”
“Which is why it looks like you’ve been living in your apartment for hours, not months.”
I shrugged. She got it. I didn’t need to say it.
She studied me. “I think you should buy your vehicle. I believe you’re going to be here for a while.”
No one craved that kind of stability more than I did. “Don’t jinx it.”
She smiled at me. “This is going to happen. Trust me.”
I moved closer to her, but I didn’t touch her. “Maybe we should celebrate.”
She hesitated for a long moment, but then she moved back. “We talked about this.”
“You talked about it.”
She bit her lip. “We can’t.”
I knew I could easily convince her otherwise, but I wanted her to want this as much as I did. I leaned back, away from her. “Are you done here? Want me to wait for you?”
Frustration crossed her face. “No, you go ahead.”
I stood up. “Okay.”
She didn’t look happy. “Thanks for dinner.”
I moved towards the door. “See you around.”
Mica stood beside me in the used-car lot. “You know, I was liking this arrangement where you made me a smoothie and I drove you to practice.”
I felt anxious as I stood looking at the second-hand Jeep. “You know how many bananas I was going through in a week?”
He thumped the hood of the Jeep. “This is a good deal. It barely has any mileage, and it’s still under warranty.”
I nodded. It was exactly what I was looking for, and I had enough cash to buy it outright, but still, I felt a lot of trepidation. “Maybe I should wait to get signed.”
“Maybe you need to let the hockey gods know you want to stay.”
I stood there, wondering if I was making a mistake.
He watched me. “What’s the problem?”
“I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Nothing this good can stay this good, can it?”
He shrugged and grinned. “Or it can keep getting better.”
The salesman approached. “What do you think?”
Mica grinned at him. “He’s going to take it.”
I stood beside my new vehicle and waited for Krista to come out of her office. She was talking on the phone a hundred miles a minute, but she stopped mid-sentence when she saw me.
“I’ll call you back.” She tossed her phone in her bag.
I watched as she walked slowly towards me, taking in my purchase.
She stepped into my space, but we didn’t touch. “What’s this?”
“Someone told me it’s okay to put down a few roots.”
Her expression remained serious. “They’re obviously very smart.”
I reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “And beautiful. You want to go for a ride?”
She hesitated. “I have a lot of work to do tonight.”
“Come on,” I cajoled. “You have to eat.”
She gave me a look. “Now it’s dinner?”
I opened the door for her. “Please?”
“Where are you taking me for dinner?”
“Someplace with a view.”
“I need alcohol.”
“That can be arranged.”
We drove down to White Rock and found a pub that served cold beer and hot food. They seated us next to an old-fashioned fireplace. I watched the firelight flicker over Krista’s animated expression as she told me a work story.
“You really like what you do, hey?”
She paused. “I love what I do.”
And I loved how passionate she became when she talked about it. “What do you love?”
“I love the intensity of it. I love the travel. I love helping athletes reach their greatest potential. It’s exciting to be part of that.”
Her phone rang between us. She looked at the number and then scowled.
I caught a glimpse of the name Eduard before she turned her ringer off and tossed the phone in her bag.
“Is that guy still bothering you?”
She shook her head. “Nope.”
He was still phoning her. I pushed her. “Why is he calling you?”
She leaned forward and touched my arm. “He’s harmless.”
I captured her fingers in my own and tugged her towards me until her mouth was against mine. “Let’s get out of here.”
She didn’t argue.
When we got back to our apartment building, I walked her to her door.
“Thanks for dinner,” she said after she unlocked her door.
“Thanks for celebrating with me.” I planted one hand on the door beside her head, making my intention of kissing her good-night clear.
She lifted her chin to look up at me. I took that as consent.
I ducked my head down and captured her mouth with my own. I kissed her long and hard until I heard her moan. I grabbed her ass, loving the feel of it in my hands.
She squeaked. “The neighbors.”
I opened the door to her apartment and backed her in, not lifting my mouth from hers. She put her arms around my neck and then, before she could change her mind, I lifted her into my arms and carried her towards her bedroom.
I walked through the bedroom and into the bathroom.
She ripped her mouth from mine. “What are you doing?”
“I want to shower with you.” I set her on her feet and yanked my T-shirt over my head. “Come on, get naked.”
She didn’t move, so I spun her around so we both faced the mirror.
I drank in the sight of her. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“Have you looked at your own reflection?”
I knew I was acting like a savage, but I couldn’t seem to slow down. I pushed her skirt up over her hips and yanked her panties down. She gasped when I teased a finger between her folds. She felt like wet satin. “God you feel good.”
Her eyes were closed as my fingers explored, pushing high into her. I needed to fuck her.
I stepped back and watched as she opened her eyes. She had a slightly dazed expression on her face. I undid my pants and pushed them down, exposing my raging hard-on.
“You’re getting into the shower with me, with or without your clothes on. Your choice.”
She stood with a bemused expression on her face as I turned on the water of the shower, running it until it was hot. I watched with satisfaction as
she started to unbutton her blouse.
I stepped under the warm spray and leisurely soaped myself down while she removed her clothes and stepped in after me.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her under the spray.
“Levi,” she protested.
I slicked her wet hair back off her face. “You have the most amazing hair.”
Her gaze dropped down to my body and lingered on my cock, which was thick and hard.
“Get on your knees,” I instructed her.
Something flashed in her eyes. Without breaking eye contact, she slowly lowered herself until her face was in front of my arousal.
“Grab my dick.”
I bared my teeth when she wrapped one hand around the base of my member.
“Now slide that gorgeous mouth around my cock.”
She inched closer, and without breaking eye contact, she opened those luscious lips and slowly sucked me into her mouth. I pressed one hand against the cold tiles and worked not to embarrass myself with a moan. Her mouth felt like fucking heaven.
She would never admit it, but Krista liked it when I got bossy. “Oh yeah, beautiful, just like that. Take me into your mouth. As far as you can go.”
She sucked more of me into her mouth. I could feel her tongue swirl along the length of me. My hips jerked towards her face, and a deep groan sounded from the base of my throat.
I looked down at her, loving how she stared up at me while her head bobbed so she could slowly fuck me with her mouth.
I wanted to see her face better, so I used one hand to gently push her wet hair off her face. She pulled back slightly so she could suck and swirl her tongue over the top of my cock. Her eyes never left my face.
I was breathing hard, and I felt my lip curl as I stared down at her. I had to concentrate not to blow my load down the back of her throat.
Then she did something that shot pure energy up my spine.
“Jesus.” I tipped my head back.
She sucked a bit harder, nearly making me lose control.
I yanked her off her knees and spun her around so her face was against the cool tile of the shower.
She gave a breathless laugh when I kicked one of her legs out, spreading her open to me.
I grabbed my dick and guided it until it was butting against her core.
She was breathing as hard as I was.
“You like it when my cock is filling your mouth?”
She pushed her hips back, trying to entice me with her wet pussy. “Levi.”
I wanted her to beg. “Your mouth was made to suck on my cock. Just like this pussy was made to be fucked.”
She gasped and leaned her forehead against the tile. “Please.”
“Please what?” I teased her with my words. “Tell me what you want.”
She moaned hard. “Levi, now, please.”
“You missed fucking me, didn’t you?” I slid my cock along the length of her folds, careful not to slide into her.
She stubbornly shook her head. “No. Not at all.”
“You sure?” I reached around and circled her clit with the tip of my finger. It felt as swollen and aroused as my dick. “Because you sure seem like you want something now.”
“Fuck me already,” she begged.
I grabbed her hips and, without any warning, pushed my cock deep into her soft, velvet pussy.
“Oh yes,” she cried.
I gathered her long, wet hair in my hand and then started to ride her wild. Fast, furious. Intense.
Savage, uninhibited noises were coming out of her. Dirty, hot words were coming out of me.
“You like it when I’m deep inside of you?”
“How many times today did you think about my cock?”
“You know this is all you can think about.”
She came with a scream and then clung to the shower walls while I steadily fucked her from behind. It didn’t take long before I was bucking wildly and coming hard and fast inside of her. I wrapped my arms around her trembling body and kissed her gently on the temple.
“That was the appetizer. Get ready for the main course.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Krista
Someone was pounding on the door in my dream, and I woke up to Levi standing in the middle of my bedroom, pulling on his pants over his naked body. The pounding continued.
“What’s going on?” I clutched the covers to my chest like some hand-wringing virgin, which was laughable considering what I had let Levi do to me the night before.
“Someone’s at the door.” He bent down to kiss me long and hard. “Just wait here.”
He disappeared out of my bedroom before I even realized he was answering my door. I scrambled out of bed to pull on my robe, listening as Levi opened the door.
Then I heard Mica’s voice. He sounded bitchy as fuck. “Don’t you answer the phone?”
“I turn my phone off at night.” Levi didn’t sound impressed either. “What’s the problem?”
“Where’s Krista?”
“You want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Why don’t you start? You can tell me about your secret marriage to her.”
I swear my heart stopped beating. How did Mica know that? Did Brian tell someone? Had someone investigated us? I strode down the hallway and came around the corner. “How do you know that, Mica?”
Mica stood there in a hooded sweatshirt. His hair was disheveled. “Oh, so now you two are hooking up for real? Or have you been doing this the entire time? Because you sure had me fooled.”
I could tell that Mica was upset, and I would deal with his feelings afterwards, but right now I needed to know how the fuck Mica knew our most guarded secret. “How did you find out about our marriage?”
Mica gave both of us a look. “Some video has been released to the media, and someone reached out to Mark Ashford to validate. He called Charlie. You should know my wife has been busting ass trying to find you two.”
“This is not happening,” I said, feeling dizzy. “What video?”
Mica shrugged. “Mark told Charlie that he received video proof that you were married.”
I covered my mouth. “Oh my god.”
Levi put his hands on his hips. He spoke in a surprisingly calm voice. “Thanks for making the effort to come find us. I appreciate it.”
Mica nodded at him.
I looked at Mica. “Have you seen the video?”
He shook his head. “Only Mark Ashford has seen it.”
Fight or flight. Those were my two options. I wanted more than anything to flee, to run and hide from this tornado barreling towards me, but I needed to face this head-on.
I felt like I was operating in slow motion. I looked at Levi. What was on this video? How had it been released to the media? How incriminating was it? I felt twelve years of work and effort come crashing down around me. My stomach was churning, and I felt like I was going to be sick. “I don’t know what to do.”
Levi wrapped me in a warm hug. “We need to go see Mark. Both of us.”
I wanted to crawl back into my bed so he could hold me indefinitely. I didn’t want to talk to Mark. “Don’t make me.”
Mica’s tone softened. “Do you guys need a ride to the stadium? It’s on my way.”
It was a peace offering that Levi accepted. “Thanks. We’ll be down shortly.”
Mica disappeared, but I remained standing there, paralyzed. “I’m freaking out.”
Levi hugged me again, and this time he kissed my forehead. “You need to get dressed. You have fifteen minutes.”
I sank further into his arms. I didn’t want to face what was shaping up to be the worst day of my life. “Okay.”
“Are you ready?”
“Not really, but let’s go.”
After the fastest two-minute shower of my life, I put my hair into a tight chignon and put on a long-sleeved turtleneck dress that revealed nothing but still looked professional. I matched that with high-heeled boots, heavy eye makeup, and lipstick. My bo
dy felt wobbly from lack of sleep and the previous night’s mind-altering sex.
This is why I should never break the rules. It was supposed to be one night with no one the wiser, but I had decided to push my luck and keep on sleeping with him. Now fate was punishing me by blowing up my secret for the entire world. I had no idea what was on the videotape, but it obviously confirmed this marriage, which, from a PR perspective, looked really bad. We’d kept it a secret, after all.
Only when I was walking across the lobby of my building did I find the courage to call Mark.
“Krista.”
“I’m on my way to you, Mark.”
There was a long pause. “This video is incriminating.”
I swallowed. “I don’t know what’s on it.”
“I’ll let you watch it yourself.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
I hung up, opened the back door of Mica’s SUV, and found Levi sitting in the back.
It was a nice gesture on his part to give me the front seat, but right now, I wanted to be closer to him.
I motioned with my head for him to move over, and I climbed in beside him.
Mica looked at both of us in the rearview mirror, but he didn’t speak. I looked at my phone. Twelve missed calls from Charlie, three missed calls from Mark, and twenty-six calls from unknown numbers.
I tossed my phone into my purse. Whatever was on that video, it was bad.
I couldn’t even bring myself to look at Levi. I wasn’t sure if he realized how rough the next few days were going to be.
Mica pulled into the stadium and looked over his shoulder at me. “I’m going to take care of Nadia so Charlie can get to the office. She said you’d need the help today.”
“Tell her thank you with all my heart.”
Levi reached over and squeezed my fingers.
Mica gave me a grim look. He knew what we faced. “You’ve got this.”
Julie met us at the front doors. She walked us through the office, and four members of Mark’s media team were already there. They went completely silent as we walked through.
“That’s unnerving,” said Levi under his breath.
Julie led us to a private conference room. She handed me a remote control. “Mark thought the two of you would like to view this privately before you speak to him.”
