The Goon

by Sara Hubbard

  His scent washes over me and leaves me breathless. His beautiful face makes me weak. Words can be empty. I’ve heard them before, and I’ve always believed them. Not because I knew without a doubt they were true, but because I wanted to believe them. With Michael, it feels different. His sincerity is undeniable.

  But then I remember the text and worry if he’ll call her back. I also worry how hard she’ll try to get between us.

  Chapter 21

  Michael and I don’t come out and say we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. But telling me we belong to each other is enough for me to assume. Over the next week, we see each other every day, and I stay at his place every night. Between games, practice, school, and teaching kids, he barely has enough time for himself, so him making such an effort to see me makes me fall even further for him. When I’m not with him, I use the time to really dig into school, and I multi-task by spending time in the library with Charlie since she’s always there. She’s working hard to keep her scholarship. She’s a smart cookie, but she works for everything she gets.

  Michael picks me up at the library today after his practice. He actually finishes on time. When I see his car roll up, I feel like someone is shining a light on me from the inside. I jog to his car, and he pushes open the door.

  When I climb in, he pulls me into his lap over the gear shift and hugs me close to his chest.

  “Wow. Did you miss me?” I ask.

  He plants a kiss on my lips, sweet and soft. When we break apart, his eyes study my face and they grow hungry. He touches his lips to mine again while fisting my hair. His tongue flicks out to roll with mine, and I melt against his body as desire stirs between my thighs. He awakens me further by sliding his hand up my leg to firmly cup my ass.

  “I want you so badly right now.”

  “Take me to your place,” I say.

  He groans and shifts underneath me, his cock springing to life to press against my sex. I rub against him and trail kisses from his mouth to his earlobe before lightly breathing in his ear and sucking on his lobe.

  A group of guys walk by and pound on the door, making me jump. Michael gets defensive, his jaw setting in a hard line as he cranes his neck to see who’s disturbing us. I see his fist curl, and I worry what he’ll do, but then we see Tate. His shoulders are shaking with laughter as he and his friends continue down the hill.

  “I should run them over,” Michael says, but the side of his lips quirk up.

  “They’re just bugging you.”

  He taps my ass and kisses me one last time. “You better get off me before I take you right here.”

  “And that would be bad because...?”

  He growls. “Woman, I don’t want anyone else seeing your naked body but me.”

  I slide over, making a point of rubbing against him one last time. He fills the crotch of his jeans so fully, his cock extends down along his thigh. I clear my throat.

  “You drive me crazy,” he says.

  “Good.”

  He adjusts himself again and sits up tall. “I hope this is gone soon,” he says as he drives away.

  “Why? You’re not taking me home?”

  “Not yet,” he says with a sigh. “I overcommitted this term. I’ve got something I have to do first, but I thought you could come with me.”

  “I’m up for anything.”

  He grins. Dirty little mind.

  “We just got to get your skates.”

  When he drives out to Tillerman Rink, I assume I’m about to have another practice. I haven’t had one with him in almost a week because I’ve gotten so much better.

  “I have to teach tonight,” he says as he pulls into the spot he always parks. None of the spots are assigned, but no one else seems to park here, which is curious. This spot is prime real estate, right up front near the entrance. “You’ve been worried about community service, so this should give you an idea of what to expect.”

  I’ve never spent much time around kids so it’ll be good practice. I’m also curious to see Michael with the kids. I imagine there will be things I can learn from him.

  “I’ll just go check in with them,” he says once we’re inside. “Meet you on the ice?”

  “Yeah.”

  His hand reaches out to take mine, and then he squeezes it lightly before his fingers slip free. I watch his ass dance in his jeans. It’s like they were sewn around him. A perfect fit. Each step has them swaying one bun at a time.

  I pass Mark’s mom on the way in. She eyes me, and though I smile, she ignores me. Instead, she flips her hair back and pouts. Another advantage of Michael taking me here tonight? Letting cougars like her know Michael’s taken. I want to believe my presence will dissuade her from hitting on him, but I somehow doubt that’ll be the case.

  I’m on my skates, holding the wooden boards near the player’s benches, when the kids file in. I hop up and lean over to unlatch the door and open it so they don’t have to.

  “Thanks,” says a little guy whose jersey and equipment are so big his face looks like it’s been shrunk. The rest don’t even look at me. Michael is the last to come out. He gives me a winning smile and nods in the direction he’s skating to get me to follow.

  “All right, everyone. Take a knee.” He fingers the whistle around his neck.

  The players all crouch down with one knee to the ice. I look around, and they’re all wearing knee pads, but I follow the crowd. All the boys start laughing at me as I awkwardly find my way down.

  Michael shakes his head. “I didn’t mean you, but okay.”

  Sigh. When I push myself up, the ice has already soaked through my jeans at the knee. I wipe off some slush.

  “I’d like you all to meet Emily. She’s going to be helping some other kids to skate in the new year so she’s here to see how we do things.”

  “She can’t teach hockey. She’s a girl,” says one boy.

  I prop my hands on my hips. “You’re right I can’t teach hockey. But not because I’m a girl. Because I suck at hockey.”

  They all start to laugh.

  “You can’t be worse than Mark.”

  The boy I met weeks ago groans and goes from kneeling to sitting on his bum. “Who cares?” he says with a sigh.

  Poor guy. His mom sits tall on the benches. Her lipstick is so red I can see it from here. Does she have any idea what she’s doing to her son? Why can’t she just let him do something he wants? It reminds me of my mom putting me in pageants as a kid. I had no time for that. And instead of doing ballet to a classical song at one of the competitions, I changed it to Eminem’s “Shake That.” The looks from the mothers when I went from a grand jeté to twerking was priceless. But hey, I was twelve and defiant. Something tells me Mark doesn’t have the chutzpah to stand up to his mom like that.

  “Listen guys, girls can do anything they want. There are some pretty amazing female hockey players, and they could all give you a run for your money.”

  The guys grumble, but they don’t argue with Michael. He may not be intimidating or scary here, just a sweet guy with an easy-going temperament, but some of them might have seen him play, and if that isn’t enough to pay attention and be respectful, then I don’t know what is.

  “Is she your girlfriend?” one boy teases, and they all laugh.

  I look at him, smiling. Will he say it out loud now? I’d actually like to hear it. I notice Mark’s mom glaring at me.

  “She sure is. Isn’t she pretty?” He winks at me, and all the boys start gagging. Cute Mark with the evil mother nods. “All right, enough of the chatter. Let’s get warmed up.”

  Since I’ve gotten better at skating, I try my best to keep up with their warmup and only when they start suicides do I lose my balance and show them how much of a newbie I really am. I surprise myself by lasting, though. And when they start to scrimmage at the end, they let me play on one of their teams. The kids are pretty good, but you can tell they’re still novices so I’m not a huge burden to them. With me, the numbers on the teams are even. I alm
ost get a goal, too. The next time I manage to get near the net, I pass it to Mark who misses it but turns around and slaps it again. The goalie tries to block it, but it somehow manages to go through his knees.

  I jump up cheering, almost falling on my ass. Our team surrounds him, slapping his shoulder to congratulate him. The smile on his face is priceless. He’s so proud, and so am I for helping. I check to see if his mother saw it so she can congratulate him later, but she’s on her phone. Grrr.

  When training is over, Mark slows beside me on his way to the bench. “Thanks for the pass, Ms. Emily.”

  “You’re welcome! I’m just glad my aim was good enough to get it over to you.”

  “It was a good pass.”

  “It was a good goal.”

  He beams again, and I pat his shoulder as he gets off and walks on the rubber matting in his skates. I’m about to leave the ice too, but Michael takes my hand to stop and pull me back. He gets in close, sucking me into his orbit where his gravitational pull is unquestionable. No girl would be strong enough to walk away. If they even wanted to.

  His voice is low and husky. His smiling face is inches from mine. “I fucking adore you,” he says. The stands are clearing, and no one is watching. He gives me a slap on the ass.

  “Ditto.”

  He touches my face and sighs. “Fuck. I gotta go before I get another hard-on.”

  “That would be bad.”

  “You don’t say.”

  I change out of my skates and back into my heeled boots. The entrance is busy with kids leaving with their parents while I wait for Michael.

  When Mark finally approaches, he’s still smiling. What a cutie. Girls are going to love him if his mother doesn’t ruin him. Unruly red hair and cheeks full of freckles. If he grows tall, his weight should even out, and he’ll be a looker. I might dislike his mother, but she’s beautiful, so his genes already have a fighting chance.

  “Bye, Ms. Emily!”

  “Later, Mark.”

  Michael comes out about fifteen minutes later. He jogs up to me, his skates over his shoulder. “Sorry, Blondie. Had to put some things away.”

  “I could have helped.”

  “Nah, you’re a guest.” He wraps an arm around me as he escorts me out.

  Gus is by the door, waiting for us stragglers to leave. We say good-night, and he locks up after us.

  “You were awesome out there,” Michael says.

  “Yeah?” My cheeks heat, and though it embarrasses me, I’m encouraged to have him say it.

  He squeezes his arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek. “Mark was so proud of himself. He might even be excited to come back next week.”

  “I’m glad. It was a lot of fun. If you’d asked me to do that six months ago, I would have said I’d rather have a colonoscopy, but I liked it. You know, I don’t think the placement is going to be bad. I might actually be looking forward to it now…as long as the kids don’t hate me.”

  “Not possible.”

  “We’ll see, I guess.”

  I climb into the car, and Michael starts it up. The heaters are loud as they blow on my face on high. I turn them down and relax in my seat, a little sore from the exercise tonight. I really worked hard to play well, and I’m proud I held my own.

  I let out a yawn. “I should go home. I have class early in the morning.”

  He drives straight, not taking the turn off to the university. I point a finger at the road, but he shakes his head.

  “I can’t stay every night.” I want to, but I don’t want his roomies to complain about me.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t live there.”

  “And?”

  I shake my head at him, laughing. “And nothing.”

  “That’s right. And nothing,” he says with a wink.

  Tate is home when we get there. He’s making out with a girl on the couch, and the girl looks positively embarrassed when we catch them. He doesn’t introduce us, and Michael doesn’t ask. It strikes me as kind of rude and a little odd, so I ask him about it on the way up the stairs.

  “If he doesn’t introduce us, then she’s not sticking around,” Michael explains.

  “What do you mean?”

  He grins at me with raised eyebrows.

  “Booty call?”

  “He has a lot of them.”

  “Really?”

  “Uh huh.” He opens his door and waits for me to go in first.

  “What about Greg?” I’ve only met him once, and he doesn’t say a whole lot. As for the army guy, Jeff, I haven’t met him at all. I guess he’s not back for another month.

  “Greg? Uh…no.”

  “Why do you say it like that?”

  “He prefers cock.”

  “Oh? Really?”

  “Speaking of cock…” he says, pulling me into his arms.

  “My favorite subject.” I lower my hand in between us and slide it, palm side up, into his jeans. I grab the length of him. He tips his head forward and closes his eyes as he releases a low moan. I stroke him to the tip and feel his wetness before smearing it over his length. With increased speed, I pump him, feeling my muscles clench between my thighs. Sometimes I think I could get off on the sounds he makes when I touch him.

  I let go of his cock and unzip his jeans. They fall to his ankles with a crumple. My hands palm his ass while he fists the top of my jeans and yanks me in tight against him. I raise my arms to his shoulders while he undoes my pants then one of his hands quickly dives under my panties to part my lips. He thrusts one finger inside roughly, then two. I beg him for more.

  He walks forward, backing me up until the wall is against my back. He removes his fingers from my sweet spot and takes off my shirt. With both hands, he yanks down my bra and lowers himself to his knees to attack my breasts, lashing my nipples and tasting me with his tongue. I moan in delight and squirm against him, needing him deep inside of me. He never lets me have him quickly, though. He likes me to beg. He needs it. Just like my body needs him.

  Sweet kisses trail along my collar bone and up my neck, each one wet and firm. I try to reach for his length to guide him to my center, but he takes my shoulders and spins me around. With his hands on my ass, he presses down on my back, so I’m bent over, my face and hands against the wall. Two massive, warm hands cup my ass and squeeze hard. He knows how to walk the line between pleasure and pain, and I’m surprised I like it a little rougher than I thought it did. Sometimes I like it rougher.

  His fingers tease me first, then his cock, rubbing against my entrance in slow circles. I buck and push back, wanting him deep inside of me, but he holds me firm, commanding me to stay put. I’m not the kind of girl to obey a man, but when we’re naked, I submit, and letting him take control is the sexiest and most freeing thing I’ve ever found myself doing.

  “Please,” I beg him, “now.”

  “No,” he says. His puts the tip in and pulls it out, then he grinds against my ass and I whimper. Close to the edge of pain from my dripping desire, I ask again. I feel his body slide over mine as he gets back on his knees and then I cry out loudly when he drags his tongue between my lips. My legs get weak and it’s hard to stand. I wobble, my eyes rolling back in my head. “I can’t stay upright when you touch me like that.”

  He doesn’t care. He keeps going, and electricity explodes in my core and radiates through my body. I gasp and shudder, and only then does he stand and help me to stay on my feet. I turn around into his waiting arms, and he scoops me up to carry me to the bed. He holds me close and tight, as if I’m breakable, and presses a long kiss to my forehead before laying me on the bed.

  I hold out my hands, welcoming him, and he climbs on top of me. I’m not sure I can handle anymore, but I want him inside of me as much as I need air to breathe. With a knee, he guides his path between my legs and his cock pushes against my entrance as I squirm, anxiously awaiting the aftershocks sex will bring me. He reaches out for a condom on the nightstand and quickly pulls it on. H
e slides in deep, stretching me, and my body falls apart like a wall crumbling after an explosion. He pumps into me over and over, harder and faster, until I call out his name. Only then does he find his release.

  Chapter 22

  We lay in bed, him on his back and me cuddled into his armpit. I play with the fine hairs on his chest, tickling him. He keeps pushing my hand away, but I keep going back for more.

  “Woman,” he says, “stop it or I’ll have to punish you.”

  “Promise?” I say, smirking.

  He pulls me closer. “It was really nice having you skate with me and the kids last night. I liked it. A lot.” His voice is a little hoarse this morning. The sun breaks through the shades and streams lines of light onto the bed.

  “Maybe I’ll come again.”

  “I like the sound of that.” He waggles his eyebrows.

  “You’re so dirty-minded.”

  I slap his chest and he chuckles at me.

  “I’m surprised you have time to fit in teaching with your schedule,” I say.

  “I make time for things that matter, which is why you’re in my bed right now.” He kisses me tenderly.

  He’s so cheesy. I pretend to hate it, but secretly, I love it.

  “You have a way with them. You’re like their superhero. You say something and they snap to.”

  “They roll their eyes and humor me.”

  “No, you’re wrong. They respect you.” I let out a quick yawn. “I was thinking…”

  “Uh oh.”

  I punch him in the stomach, and he lets out a whoosh of air before laughing at me. “Like I said, I was thinking…I’ve never known what I wanted to do with my life. All my friends went to university after school so I went, too. I take courses for the sake of taking them, without any thought to what they’ll do for me. When I graduate in two years, I have no idea what I want to do, let alone what I’ll be qualified for. Sometimes I think I’ll end up working in a fast food restaurant making minimum wage.”