Love in Game (De La Fuente Family Book 6)

by Lexi Buchanan

  Quickly rolling us, I keep my hips away from the beautiful woman beneath me, and rest my forehead against hers. “It’s obvious to us both that I want you. I want you so much that I can’t see straight…I just don’t want to have one night with you only to go our separate ways tomorrow. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but in the very short time that I’ve known you, you’ve gotten under my skin.”

  I drop to my back beside her and smile when her delicate fingers intertwine with mine. Very slowly she brings her body closer and curls into my side, so I move my arm and hold her tightly against me again. I love her being in this position, so close and comfy.

  “I’ve never had sex before,” she whispers so softly that I barely hear her.

  My hand freezes at her words. “Have you done anything?” I ask, trying to act my age instead of jumping up and fist pumping the air at the fact that no other guy has laid a finger on her…at least I hope they haven’t.

  “Nothing.” She hides her face against my chest. “My brother is kind of an ass about that sort of thing when it involves me. But realistically, I’ve never been all that interested in finding out what all the fuss is about. Until you, no one made me want to.”

  Her admission has my dick trying to punch out of my jeans to get to her, but no matter how much I want to make love to her, nothing will happen tonight, regardless of what my body craves.

  “Are you going to deflower me?” she asks, her voice full of mischief.

  I burst out laughing at her question, which breaks some of the tension surrounding us. Lifting her closer, we lie face-to-face, our mouths mere inches apart.

  “Yes,” I answer honestly, “but not tonight. I want more than a night, and I don’t want to make love to you and then have to get on a plane home the following day. I want to be able to spend the whole day with you afterward. I want to have time to run you a bubble bath the morning after. I want to watch you dress before I feed you breakfast. Not necessarily in that order. Are you hearing me, Felicity? From this point forward, I’m yours. Only yours. And we will be together again soon. If we want something strongly enough, then we can make it happen.” I smile and kiss the tip of her nose before moving to her watery eyes.

  “I want that too.”

  “I sense a but in there.” I search her eyes with mine.

  She offers a small, sad smile. “I’m afraid that when I walk out of this hotel room that you’ll forget all about me.”

  I cup her head with my hands. “That won’t happen. I promise. We’re going to exchange numbers before I walk you back to your room.” Burying my face into her neck, I add, “Be mine Felicity, let me be yours, whichever way…just tell me I'm the only guy you’re going to be thinking about from now one."

  With her lack of experience, I’m terrified that I’m going to scare her away with my need for her, but I need to know that she’s going to be waiting for me. I need that assurance.

  “I promise, Kasey. Please just hold me while I sleep. I feel safe here with you.”

  Wrapping myself around her, I hold her close, wondering why she wouldn’t feel safe with her brother.

  1

  Kasey

  Kicking back on the porch swing at my family home, I admire the multi-colored fairy lights that cover the buildings surrounding the farmhouse. Watching my brother Diego dance with his bride, Rae, makes me long for what they have. As I try to suppress the yearning, a shy brunette comes to mind, along with anger. After the amazing night of talking and connecting that we’d shared, come morning she’d just completely disappeared, leaving an ache in my heart. Nothing in my life feels right anymore, and as for other women, I can’t look at another woman without craving what I lost, even though I know I never really had her.

  You’d think that after three months I’d be over her, but my heart had quickly become attached. Everything was so raw and pure, and I have a feeling that I won’t be forgetting about her anytime soon.

  Aiden and Sarah have been married two months now, and just like today, I’d wanted Felicity by my side to celebrate with my family. I was probably being an idiot, but at thirty-two I knew what I wanted, and that is Felicity. One way or another, I need to find her because this has gone on for long enough. Even if she really doesn’t want anything to do with me, I just need to make sure that she’s okay. It would kill me to leave her to someone else, but I’ll respect her wishes. I just need to know. To see her . . .

  “Kasey?”

  At the sharp call of my name, my head snaps up and my eyes land on Andie, Diego’s new stepdaughter.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  She rolls her eyes and sits next to me. “Other than the fact that I’m desperate for my bed and my feet are throbbing, nothing much.” She narrows her eyes. “But you on the other hand, keep avoiding me.” She raises a brow, almost daring me to dispute what she’s saying. “You know that I want to talk about Vegas, which is why I haven’t seen much of you lately. I want to know about the girl you disappeared with. She looked young.” There’s a judging edge to her voice that irritates me.

  I close my eyes and recline back with the image of Felicity in my mind. “She was young. Too young.”

  “Did you spend all night with her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Um, Kasey,” she starts with sensor in her voice.

  “Nothing sexual happened between us and even if it had, she was legal at least…you know I’m not a total jerk. We talked for most of the night and I seriously felt a connection with her.”

  “But?” she probes.

  “She’s nineteen, Andie. Shy. Innocent. So damn sweet and beautiful that I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but if she’s the one, then don’t you dare let her go,” she says fiercely.

  Surprised, I glance at Andie. “You talking from experience?”

  She blushes and looks away. “Not really.”

  “Now you’re lying to me. Who is he?” I poke her in the ribs, making her cringe and slap my hand away.

  Chuckling, her tone turns sad as she explains. “It doesn’t matter, nothing will ever come of it for me,” sighing she tries to sound more upbeat, “but unless you make contact with her, you’ll never know if she was meant to be the one for you.”

  “I’ve thought of nothing else.” I groan loudly.

  “Good.” She nods her head in approval.

  “When do you go back to school?” I ask, changing the subject.

  “Tomorrow afternoon,” Andie answers, but it sounds like it’s the last place she wants to be.

  “And?” I prompt.

  “There’s no and. I’m heading back to school and I’ll deal with my lonely existence there.”

  Frowning, I take her hand into mine. “You know you’re like a sister to me, Andie.” She nods, and I continue, “That means you can tell me anything and it will stay between us.”

  Smiling softly, she squeezes my hand before pulling hers free. “I know that, Kasey, just like I’m always here for you…it’s just not that easy to talk about what’s going on with me. To be honest there isn’t anything going on, which I guess is the problem.”

  “Now you’re not making a lick of sense,” I grumble.

  She laughs. “I know. Look, I’m going to change into my cowboy boots and then you can come back to the celebrations with me.”

  I smile. “Be quick.”

  She disappears inside the house and minutes later I’m joined by Dante and Emelia.

  I’m sure Emelia is going to cause bodily harm to my brother with all the fussing he’s doing over her. I kinda feel sorry for him. “Lighten up, bro,” I tease.

  Dante’s eyes narrow, but soften when he moves his gaze to Emelia, who sits next to me on the porch swing.

  “I keep telling him that, but it makes no difference,” Emelia says, placing her hands over her swollen belly.

  I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “He doesn’t want anything to happen to you, so quit grouching. I pers
onally would make the most out of it while you can, because you won’t always look like there’s a beach ball shoved up your dress.”

  Dante chokes on a laugh while Emelia glares at me before moving her narrowed-eyed stare to that of her husband.

  “Now, honey,” Dante says smoothly while he crouches at her feet. “I love you and the beach ball.” He kisses her stomach.

  “Hmm.” Emelia smirks. “In that case, I think you need to get us both to our room so that you can show me how much you love us.”

  I jump up. “Emelia!” I look between them, and add, “Should you be doing anything while you’re like that?” I wave my hands in front of her.

  “I’m pregnant, Kasey. I can assure you that everything still works just fine.” Emelia grins, knowing how uncomfortable she’s making me.

  “You know what, stop right there. I’m not even sure how this conversation went in that direction.” I sigh and let out a laugh of relief when Andie walks out onto the porch.

  “We’re going dancing.” I grab hold of Andie’s hand and pull her down the steps toward the dance floor, listening to Emelia and Dante laughing in our wake.

  A rush of longing hits and I know that no matter the outcome, I have to find Felicity.

  2

  Felicity

  Staring out of the twenty-first floor window across Lake Erie and I guess toward Detroit, all I see is Kasey’s sleeping form just before I dashed from the room. I hadn’t wanted to leave him like that and I’d been so tempted to leave my number for him, but in the end, I hadn’t.

  That night was the best in my life so far and I hadn’t wanted it to come to an end, but I’d made the mistake of checking my phone when I’d woken up wrapped around Kasey. I had forty-two missed calls from my brother, who had eventually settled for messaging me.

  Apparently, he’d been pissed at Bev, who he’d asked to keep an eye on me, not set me up with a guy. So that hadn’t gone down all too well, but at least it got rid of her. My only problem now is that Blake won’t let me out of his sight because he hadn’t been able to get hold of me that night in Vegas.

  My brother is now obsessed with keeping me close, which makes him angry as hell because it means that he can’t go whoring around with the guys. No matter what I tell him though, he won’t believe me about being rescued and spending the night talking to someone. He knows it was a guy and because he’s a horny asshole, he thinks all guys are the same as he is. Perhaps if I admitted to Kasey being older then maybe he’d get off my case, but I’m not sure anymore. I feel like I’m trapped with no way out.

  I jump at the sudden sound of chairs scraping along the floor as my brother and another member of his team push away from the conference table. Blake and his teammate, Roger, have been asked to be part of a charity calendar photo shoot that will take place in New York next week. It’s the only thing I’ve been interested in since getting home from Vegas, and even though I know New York is a huge city, I’m hoping that I can find Kasey. First though, I have to make sure that I’m included in the trip.

  If only I hadn’t panicked and left him the way that I did, I’d have a contact number for him, instead I’d been left with nothing but memories. I only have myself to blame. Even though it had been Blake who’d sent me into that panic, I could have woken Kasey up…said goodbye to him.

  “Felicity”—my brother wraps his arm around my neck—“this daydreaming has to stop.” He frowns, his eyes narrowing as he watches. “I’m beginning to think that you lied to me in Vegas.”

  My mouth snaps open to deny his allegations, only to have him slam a hand over my mouth. “Don’t lie to me, Sis. I’m not blind. Something more than what you told me happened.” He glares and fear trickles down my spine. I’ve never been afraid of him before, because he’s never given me cause, but there’s something wrong this time.

  “Hey!” Roger shoves him. “You’re scaring her, man. Let her breathe. What’s gotten into you?”

  Blake inhales through his nose before turning to his friend, who backs away slightly when he gets a look at the anger washing over Blake’s face.

  It seems to take a lot, but my brother slowly eases away and brushes a few loose strands of hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry, Felicity. I hate seeing you looking so damn lonely.”

  “If you’d let her date then she wouldn’t be so lonely,” Roger drawls and quickly takes a few more steps back. “I’ll see you both downstairs.” He dashes from the room, having lightened my mood slightly.

  I grin at Blake and instead of pushing him away for frightening me, I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him hard. “I love you, big brother.”

  His arms come around my back and as he holds me close, I admit, “You scared me. Please don’t do that again.”

  Pausing, he kisses the top of my head and squeezes me tight. “I’m sorry. I’m an asshole, but we’ve lost everyone important in our lives and now we only have each other. I can’t lose you, Felicity.”

  I sigh into him feeling a nervous flutter in my stomach. “You’ll always be my big brother, just please let me breathe, okay? Sometimes you smother me and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

  Blake stays silent while we continue to hold each other. He’ll be thinking over what I’ve just said because it’s the most heartfelt conversation that we’ve had in recent years. It’s something that I’ve always avoided, but feeling so melancholy from missing my chance with Kasey has me being more open with my brother. I just hope he listens.

  “You’re coming to New York with me.”

  “What?” I tip my head up to hold his gaze.

  He smiles and drops a kiss to my forehead. “I can see how controlling I’ve been with you but I only wanted to protect you from assholes like me.” He grins. “I want you to come to New York with us, and once I’m done shooting the calendar, we’ll do some sightseeing.” He backs away and holding his hand out, wiggles his fingers. “C’mon, Sis.”

  I smile, wondering what he’s planning, but take his hand. He keeps hold until we get to the car where Roger is waiting for us. I shake my head when I climb inside because my brother is oblivious to the attention he draws just by walking through the reception area of the sports building.

  “You two sorted?” Roger asks, a brow raised.

  Blake climbs into the car behind me and grins when we make eye contact. “I think so.” He waits to see if I disagree, but I don’t. I give him an answering smile. “She’s coming to New York with us, so no damn flirting with her.”

  Roger laughs, and for once, ignores Blake’s dark glare. “We all know she’s off limits. Hell, most of the team feel like she’s their little sis as well, so cool it man.”

  My brother plays for the Cleveland Flyers, an NHL team, and what Roger says is the truth. At least the guys who were already on the team when Blake first joined the Flyers treat me like a sister. The newer guys soon get told that it’s hands off. How the heck my brother expects me to meet anyone I don’t know, but then again, that’s probably why he does it—to keep me away from all his horny teammates. They’re the only guys I tend to hang around.

  The only man that I’ve ever had such a deep connection with probably now thinks that everything about me was a lie.

  “You’re daydreaming again,” Blake observes.

  Glancing at him, I see his lids are narrowed and I know what’s coming. “Did you lie to me about Vegas?” I’ll give him one thing, he’s consistent.

  I let out an exasperated breath, my anger at his pigheadedness rising. “You know what happened. I mean Bev told you I went off with a guy,” I snarl. “As you know, she left out the part about the guy she sent over because apparently I wanted to play with him.”

  Refusing to look at him, I face the window as the driver moves through the Cleveland traffic, but I have more to say, “If the man that I met that night hadn’t rescued me, then I don’t know what that drunken asshole would have done. He really scared me. The man who rescued me was kind and caring. I enjoyed talking to him. Beca
use that’s all we did…talk.” I turn and get in my brother’s face. “Just because you would have gotten your dick out, doesn’t mean that everyone else is the same. We talked and then fell asleep, and then I left when I got all your messages and missed calls.” I fold my arms across my chest, really annoyed with him, and add, “If you weren’t my brother, I’d have reported you for being a crazy stalker.”

  Roger bursts out laughing, but shuts up pretty quickly when he realizes I’m being serious. “Shit,” he curses.

  I feel Blake breathing heavily in frustration next to me. “Bev is history,” he admits, which snaps my attention to him. “No one treats you like shit and gets away with it. I hate that you needed me and I wasn’t there.” He shakes his head in anger.

  Blinking a few times, I ask, “You finally accept that he really did help me, and didn’t get into my pants?”

  Roger sighs, and when I notice Blake’s gaze flicker over my shoulder, I know his friend is waiting for his answer as well. Everyone knows what a short fuse Blake has when it comes to me.

  Finally, he answers, “Yeah. I believe you. You can’t lie for shit.”

  Obviously I can, otherwise he’d have known that I was lying about not knowing the name of the man who I’m missing like crazy.

  3

  Kasey

  Every inch of my body throbs after the rigorous workout that Coach has just put us through. I know I’ve slacked off a little recently because of family weddings, but fuck, he knows how to get me where it hurts.

  I spent more time on my ass than my feet for the first time in forever, and that pisses me off. What pisses me off all the more is that it wouldn’t have happened if my head was focused on the ice instead of the young brunette who seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth.