Hearts Penalty

by A. M. Williams

  Robin flipped her copper-colored hair over her shoulder and leaned forward. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to dinner with him?”

  I sighed. “Because of this right here.”

  Robin’s eyes widened. “Because of what?”

  I waved my hand in front of Robin. “You, this conversation. I knew you’d flip out and I honestly couldn’t handle it at that point.”

  Robin blinked at me. “So you didn’t tell me? Your best friend?”

  I reached up and started massaging my temples. I could feel a headache building. “Robin…” I started, before halting. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t really know what to expect. I needed to have a clear head while at dinner with him.”

  Robin tilted her head and her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “A clear head? What are you hiding from me?”

  I blinked at her and hoped that my guilt wasn’t written all over my face. I knew I needed to tell Robin, but I worried how she’d react to what I had to tell her.

  “Well…remember how I told you I played soccer in college?”

  Robin nodded. “Yeah. I can Google you and your name comes up pretty quickly as one of the best keepers to come out of the school. There’s a lot of talk about why you didn’t go pro as well. But continue.”

  I wanted to ask her about the pro talk, but that wasn’t the point of the conversation and I continued. “Dax went there too.”

  Robin nodded. “I knew that too.”

  When Robin said nothing else, I stared at her as I said, “He went there at the same time as me.”

  Robin didn’t react at first, her expression staying bland. I knew the exact moment Robin processed what I was saying because of the range of emotions passing over her face. Surprise and confusion were the main two emotions, which wasn’t surprising to me.

  “I… well… I don’t know what question to ask first. Did you know him?”

  I nodded. “Kinda. The men’s and women’s teams would hang out sometimes. I didn’t always join in, but he was usually there.”

  Robin’s mouth opened and closed a few times before she closed it with a snap. She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “Okay… I still think there’s something I’m missing here.”

  I looked to my left, and my eyes found the tiny window on that side of my office. It was one of the few outer rooms that allowed a view of something other than the soccer field. Unfortunately, it was just a parking lot that was empty, so it wasn’t like it offered me much in the way of distraction.

  “Pru. Seriously, what’s the big deal? A hot guy asked you out, you said yes, and it sounds like you enjoyed it. You even talked to the owner!”

  I sighed and looked back at my best friend. “When we were in college…”

  I filled Robin in on that fateful night. I would have laughed at Robin’s expressions as they ran the gambit from happy to sad, but it wasn’t really a laughing matter. I was still mad at myself for how I’d reacted, though I knew it was understandable. Most people would have freaked out if they woke up to something similar.

  “So, you almost banged, woke up to some chick shining his knob, ran, see him now, and he finally gets the chance to explain. And now you’re dating?”

  I nodded and shrugged at the same time. “Yes, to everything but the last one.”

  Robin tilted her head to the side. “I don’t agree. I think if you’ve already talked to the owner about seeing each other, then you’re dating. I mean, this dude has obviously carried a torch for you.”

  I shook my head. “No, he hasn’t.”

  Robin laughed. “Please. Girl, he has. I’ve seen him looking at you when you weren’t looking. I thought it was just some insta-attraction or something. But now to find out he was after you in college? That changes everything.”

  I didn’t want to admit that Robin was right, and that I was thinking along the same lines because that would be admitting that I’d been thinking about him.

  I’d been trying very hard to not let my thoughts become overrun by Dax. I had an offense to run and get ready to play their first game.

  “Before I leave, I just want it known for the record,” Robin said. I looked at her. “You are one lucky bitch and you better not keep shit like this from me again.”

  Before I could answer, a light knock sounded on the door.

  “I’ll leave you to deal with whatever this is, but you owe me dinner and drinks.”

  I nodded as Robin turned to open the door, revealing Dax on the other side.

  His eyes clashed with mine and my entire body felt like it was on fire. If just a look could do that, even after all this time, I worried what it would be like when we finally fell into bed.

  At this point, I knew it was useless to say if we fell into bed. It was inevitable now, a question of when, and I had a feeling that would be sooner rather than later.

  “Lover boy,” Robin said as she slid past Dax and disappeared from sight.

  Dax glanced after her before stepping into my office and closing the door behind him.

  “That went well, then?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “As well as can be. She’s a little mad at me, which I understand. So that was what her parting comment was about.”

  Dax nodded and slid his hands into his pockets. He looked tense and his gaze darted around my small office.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  He reached up and rubbed a hand along the back of his head before saying, “I wanted to see if you were up for dinner at my place tonight.”

  My brows rose to my hairline. “Your place? Already?”

  He shrugged and dropped his gaze to the floor. “I won’t be cooking. I planned to order some food. I want to take you somewhere nice, but I don’t want the paparazzi to get in your face either. I thought this might be a nice compromise so we can spend time together without people getting in our face.”

  My face softened, and it touched me that he had put that much thought into something like this.

  “Sure. Yeah, dinner at yours sounds great. Text me your address and I’ll drive myself there. What time?”

  “Six?”

  I nodded, and he smiled at me.

  “Any requests?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “Nope. Surprise me.”

  “Okay, I can do that.”

  He stood there awkwardly for a few moments more before nodding to me and walking out of my office.

  That was only slightly awkward. I wondered if he was as worried about trying to date as I was because it meant potential issues down the line. But I wasn’t too worried about that right now.

  Instead, I was more worried about whether going to his house meant I should be ready for us to fall into bed together or not.

  I didn’t think he’d rush me, but I also believed in being prepared, so I knew I’d go home and prep myself just in case me and Dax ended up doing something besides eating.

  8

  Dinner with Dax was nothing like I expected. When he said he was ordering food, I assumed it would be from some fancy place that I couldn’t say the name of.

  Instead, he ordered us burgers from his favorite burger place, and we ate outside on his back patio overlooking the ocean.

  It was amazing and low-key and exactly what I needed.

  I needed to get over whatever preconceived notions I’d developed about him. He was surprising me left and right. And even more, I was regretting the way I’d reacted all those years ago.

  What if I hadn’t completely freaked out and let him say something to me? Would I have listened? Would things be different?

  “This is nice,” I said at a lull in our conversation.

  Dax smiled at me. “It is. Thank you for coming.”

  “Thank you for having me.”

  He reached across the table and grasped the hand laying there in his own and our fingers intertwined.

  This, weirdly enough, felt right. I knew I should fear it, but I didn’t. I was ready and couldn’t wait to see what the fu
ture held.

  There was still a part of me that worried what this could mean if things went south, but I was willing to try.

  A sultry song started playing from the speakers he had outside. He stood and tugged on my hand. “Dance with me?”

  My face heated, but I took his hand. “Warning you now. I’m not a dancer.”

  He smiled as he pulled me to him and tucked me into his arms. “I think I can handle that.”

  We slowly started swaying to the music, and I felt myself relaxing into his arms, not worried about my lack of dancing skills. I was more worried about how right it felt to be in his arms.

  Eventually, the song changed to another slow song. When that happened, Dax pulled back and tilted my face up to his.

  Our eyes met, and he seemed to search my face for something. A few beats later, he lowered his head and pressed his mouth against my own. It was tentative at first, feeling me out before he hauled me against him and slanted his mouth against mine more forcefully.

  I gasped when both his hands grabbed my ass, reminiscent of those years before, and he took advantage, slipping his tongue into my mouth.

  He kept one hand on my ass and the other moved up my body until it was on my breast.

  I’d put a button-up shell top on earlier, wanting to look dressy even though we’d be at his house. He was taking advantage of that, slowly unbuttoning my top while kissing the life out of me.

  He pulled back once he reached the bottom of my top and he groaned as his eyes took in my partially covered chest.

  I’d worn a lacy bra in black, and it did amazing things to my breasts. It seemed like Dax agreed because he bent down and rained kisses on my chest.

  I moaned low in my throat as his teeth nipped at my hard nipples through the fabric of my bra.

  “Bedroom?” he asked, pulling me from the haze he’d created.

  I could only nod.

  The next thing I knew, he’d swept me up into his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist while he carried me into the dark interior of his house.

  I pressed wet kisses along his neck as he carried me, and I could feel him twitch against me. I hoped like hell that tonight we’d go the distance and not stop after some heavy petting. I was certain I’d combust if he didn’t touch me or put his cock in me.

  He set me down on the edge of a bed. The urge to look around seized me, but I froze when I saw the look in Dax’s eyes. They held the promise of many pleasurable things. A shiver worked its way through my body as I imagined the things he could do to me.

  My eyes met his and while our gazes clashed, he reached behind his head and grasped the collar of his t-shirt, pulling it up and over.

  Dax had been hot in college, with all those muscles, and time hadn’t diminished that any. He was just as hot, hotter even, as he had been then.

  He had abs, and bulging muscles, and he was stalking closer to me.

  He leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to my lips before pulling back and pushing my shirt off my shoulders. I tossed it to the side while he reached behind me and unclasped my bra. I held it in front of my chest for a few moments, waiting to see if he would say or do anything.

  “If you don’t drop it, I’m ripping it off.”

  My eyes widened at his words, and I was quick to comply.

  His nostrils flared when he caught sight of my naked torso and in that moment, I felt beautiful and powerful. And it was all because a guy like Dax was obviously turned on by me.

  “Get rid of your pants,” he said as he reached for the fly on his own pants.

  I stood and made quick work of my pants and underwear. I tried to hide the smirk on my lips when I saw Dax freeze in removing his own pants to watch me remove my clothing.

  “Nuh uh, mister. Strip.”

  He jerked and finished removing his clothes.

  My breath caught in my throat as I got my first glimpse of a grown-up Dax naked. He was built like a god, and he was perfect in my mind.

  My eyes zeroed in on the erection bobbing in front of him. As I watched, he wrapped a hand around his length, and he slowly stroked.

  I shifted my weight from foot to foot, trying to keep myself from rubbing my thighs together in an attempt to ease the ache between them.

  “Like what you see?” he asked, still leisurely stroking his dick.

  I nodded and stepped closer. When I was close enough to touch, I made a split-second decision and dropped to my knees. Dax’s eyes widened at me on the floor in front of him.

  Before he could say anything, I pulled the tip of his cock into my mouth and sucked while bringing a hand up to caress his balls.

  “Fuck,” he said as a breath hissed out between his teeth.

  I kept my eyes on him as I slowly slid my lips up and down his length while also teasing his balls.

  “If you don’t stop, I’ll blow my load right now.”

  As tempting as that was, I stopped because I wouldn’t be okay with anything other than his cock inside me when he came.

  I released him with a pop and smiled. “Something wrong?”

  He hauled me to my feet and kissed me harshly before walking us back toward the bed. “You know what’s wrong.”

  He gently pushed me and I fell back onto the bed, crawling backward until my head was on the pillows by the headboard. “I couldn’t help myself.”

  Dax said nothing as he followed me. Instead of covering me with his body, he spread my legs and dove between them, startling me with his furious pace.

  He was eating me like he was a dying man and I was his last meal. His tongue was everywhere and two of his fingers were inside me, brushing against my walls, helping to push me to a peak.

  I was right there on the edge of falling when Dax stopped and pulled back. He smirked at me while I gaped at him.

  “You’re coming on my cock,” he said as he reached into his nightstand and grabbed a condom. He quickly opened it and rolled it on before lining himself up with my center.

  My legs shook from anticipation, and the orgasm he denied me. I was certain it would only take him a few strokes to send me flying.

  I felt the head of his dick at my entrance, but instead of pushing inside, he ran it up and down my slit, putting pressure on my clit, making me throb everywhere, before moving back down and pushing his way in.

  We both sighed once he was fully seated inside me. Dax leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips before pulling his hips back and pushing back inside me.

  We both moaned.

  He was filling me so deliciously. I felt like I was being stretched just the right amount and his cock seemed like it was made for me.

  Sex, even though we’d only just started, had never felt like this before.

  Dax moved slowly, stoking my fire with every stroke.

  “Fuck,” he said after several strokes. “I don’t know if I can keep this pace up.”

  “Then don’t,” I said. “Fuck me.”

  His eyes widened, and he stopped moving before rearing up and sitting back on his calves.

  He moved his legs some and then he bent over me slightly, moving my legs so they were farther up my body before leaning down to place his hands on the bed, folding me somewhat in half.

  The angle was already different enough that it felt like he was deeper inside me than before.

  He pulled back and slammed back in, setting a quick pace this time. Our flesh slapped together, and a low keening was coming from me continuously. Dax was grunting, and his eyes were trained on where we were connected.

  I lifted my head and looked down to see his dick moving in and out of me, glistening with my juices.

  It was too much. The noise. The visual. The feeling. My back arched, and my orgasm ripped through my body. My entire body felt like a live wire and the pleasure never seemed to end.

  “Jesus Christ,” Dax ground out as my walls clutched at him.

  He snapped his hips a few more times before groaning as he swelled within me, capturing his own release.
/>
  We were both breathing heavy and my limbs felt like they were made of lead. I wasn’t sure I could move at this point.

  Dax pulled away, and I shivered at the sudden cold that creeped in now that he wasn’t over me.

  I rolled my head to the side and watched as he walked into the bathroom to dispose of the condom and wash his hands before padding back across the room to slide onto the bed beside me.

  He pulled the covers down, and I worked to get underneath them with him.

  I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t bring myself to voice them just yet. They could wait. I’d just had what was admittedly the best sex of my life and I didn’t want to ruin the mood by asking a potentially asinine question.

  Instead, I curled up against Dax’s side and let myself relax as he ran his fingers through my hair.

  I fell asleep and was certain I heard him say, “I’m never letting you go.”

  9

  Things were going well for me and Dax. Almost too well, if I stopped to think about it too much.

  But I tried not to because it was just inviting disaster. I was finally over that fateful night when we were in college and I was happy to move on to more pleasurable pursuits.

  Like being in bed with Dax and enjoying everything he offered.

  I’d never had so much sex in my life.

  That was one reason I had stuck behind to work through some things long after the players and other coaches had left.

  I normally stayed on top of my paperwork, but with the inclusion of Dax into my life, I was quickly discovering that I would let the paperwork slide so I could get some time with him.

  It was a frightening thought.

  I’d never let anyone come between me and my coaching before. What made Dax so special?

  I knew it wasn’t his magic dick, that was for sure. Though it was pretty magical. It had to be his personality because when I was with him, I felt lighter.

  A knock sounded on my door, and my brow furrowed. I thought everyone else had left, so I called out for the person to enter.

  It was the owner, Bill.

  I smiled. “Hey, what brings you down here?”

  He smiled and sank into the chair across from me. “I saw there was a car outside when I stopped by to sign some paperwork. I thought it was yours, so I thought I’d come down and see why you were here so late.”