Thank You For Loving Me

by Lori Ryan

  Devlin elbowed him. He just laughed. Where had that jealous streak come from?

  Lily picked up the headband with wiggling penises that Maggie had abandoned on the table and put it on her head. “Dance, dance, dance!” she shouted, grabbing Max’s hand. She jumped up and down, the lighted penises bouncing above her head.

  “Lil, you have to take those things off before I’ll go out there,” Max said.

  Devlin quirked a brow. “I think Max should have to wear them.”

  “Oooo.” Lily rubbed her hands together.

  “Yes! Yes!” Kayleigh and Lily chanted in unison while Devlin grinned.

  “Absolutely.” Shawn smiled.

  “No! Hell no,” Max said, holding up a hand, as if he could stop them. “Come on Shawn, help me out. Men stick together.”

  Shawn shook his head. “Sorry, man, but my vote is for the Dick Head to wear dicks on his head.”

  Everyone burst into laughter, everyone except Max.

  “Screw all of you,” he growled.

  Shawn reached up and removed the head band from Lily’s head.

  “Put on the dicks! Put on the dicks!” Kayleigh chanted as she clapped to the beat of the music. Soon they all joined in, cheering and chanting.

  Other patrons stared at the circus unfolding in front of them.

  Devlin wasn’t sure what got into her. One minute, she was strategizing how to get away from Max and all the temptation he brought with him, and the next, she was teasing him. She took the headband and slipped it onto her own head before tilting her head up to look at Max. “Come on, you big baby.”

  Max snarled and let out a low growl. He leaned in close, whispering low against her ear. “I’m no baby. And if I remember correctly, you know damned well just how much of a grown-assed man I am.”

  Devlin drew in a deep steadying breath.

  Mistake.

  Instead of calming her sexual appetite, another shiver of desire racked her body as Max’s rich, very male scent invaded her senses. Images of him as he lowered himself over her flashed through her mind. Memories that weren’t just images of their night together. These flashbacks were physical, visceral, affecting her as if he were running his fingertips across her skin even now.

  “See, you do remember.” He chuckled as he slipped the headband off her head and placed it on his, nearly busting the plastic he was so huge. “Now, I believe the challenge was extended to me.” He touched the tip of his finger to his broad chest. “And as everyone here knows, I never turn down a challenge.”

  Devlin cocked her head and laughed. “Obviously, Dick Head.”

  “That’s dicks, plural.” Max pointed to the two penises bouncing above his head.

  “Max!” someone shouted behind them. “Max Sumner!”

  Max turned and a flash of cameras lit the area.

  “Ah, shit,” he groaned.

  “Seems like Mr. NFL Player of the Year just got caught wearing dicks on his head.” Shawn laughed. “That shit will go viral in like…” He glanced down at his phone then lifted it to take his own shaming picture. “As soon as I can post this.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Max warned.

  “Done!” Shawn shouted as he held up his phone to show his picture already posted to social media.

  “I’m going to kill you.” Max stepped toward Shawn. The two had been working together recently and seemed to be growing close, but Devlin wasn’t at all sure their friendship could tolerate penis pics online.

  Sensing imminent homicide, she grabbed Max’s beefy arm and yanked him toward the dance floor. “Let’s go, Dick Head, before you really do kill him.”

  Max shot Shawn a middle finger as they walked away. More flashes went off.

  Devlin had never stopped to think of Max Sumner as a celebrity, but his illustrious career in the NFL mixed with his playboy ways had put him in the spotlight a lot. Being out of the country most of the year, the stories never reached Devlin. Until now.

  Getting involved with Max lost even more appeal. Anonymity was not only part of her business, she’d made it part of her life. She had no interest in being at the center of attention.

  “On second thought,” Devlin said, releasing his arm.

  “Oh, hell no, shorty, if I go down, you’re going down with me.”

  Devlin had never considered herself short but staring up at this hulk of a man she felt short now, and petite, and vulnerable. Whenever Devlin felt vulnerable, she turned to humor as a shield.

  She quirked a brow. “You go down, Max?”

  “Someone could get hurt.” He leaned closer. “But maybe later, if you’re lucky, I’ll go down.”

  She blushed, remembering the escapades. God, that was so unlike her to be shy.

  He leaned in closer. “And so will you.”

  Quadruple shit.

  Chapter Two

  The lively, obnoxious and ever-growing bachelorette party stumbled into the great hall of the Crawford Hotel in downtown Denver, better known as LoDo. The area was known for its rich historical significance, including the hotel. The Crawford was built within Denver’s iconic Union Station, utilizing some of the building’s original architecture. The train station was over one hundred years old and still operating so the architecture was incredible.

  It was also lost on the group. The gaggle of semi-drunken women erupted in fits of giggles that echoed through the mezzanine and pounded in Max’s head like a drum.

  “That way to our room!” Lily shouted, pointing in the air at no place in particular.

  Every head in the lobby turned to stare at them which, luckily, wasn’t many since it was nearly two in the morning.

  “I’m sooo tired,” Lily sighed, leaning against Kayleigh.

  “Did you guys get a room?” Maggie asked Ben.

  All the men stared blankly.

  “I’ll take that as a no.” Kayleigh laughed.

  Great. If they were going to have a place to sleep tonight, he had to be the brains behind this idiot adventure. But he was getting more than one room. No way in hell was he sharing a room with anyone other than Devlin.

  “We actually have a suite,” Elle said. “There’s enough room for all of us.”

  Emmett shook his head and pulled Elle tight to his side. “Uh-uh, baby. I got us a room.” He grinned at the other guys in a message that clearly said they were on their own.

  “How many bedrooms are there in the suite?” Shawn asked.

  “Two bedrooms,” Kayleigh said, “but the suite sleeps,” she paused, counting on her fingers. “eight!” She put her arm around Maggie. “Nothing but the best for our girl.”

  Max quickly did the math and let his eyes find Devlin’s. “I’m getting my own room. There’s no way I’m sleeping with any of these idiots.” He threw a thumb toward the men.

  “Okay, so let’s see,” Elle took charge. “Ben and Maggie, you get the master room because, well,” her eyes lit with amusement, “because. There are two beds.”

  Kayleigh held up a hand. “Hell no. None of us can share that. There’s no frigging way I’m sleeping in the same room with you two if you’re going be knockin’ uglies all night.”

  “Knockin’ uglies?” Max laughed.

  “Yeah,” Kayleigh smiled. “Ridin’ the skin boat to tuna town, boppin’ the bologna pony, burying the boner, slappin’—”

  Elle covered Kayleigh’s mouth with her hand. “Stop!”

  Max roared with laughter. “I think you’re my new best friend, Kayleigh Montgomery.”

  Kayleigh pushed Elle’s hand away and took a bow.

  Ben stared at Kayleigh. “I think you might actually be crasser than my brother,” he said, nodding toward Max. “If that’s possible.”

  Max mimicked Kayleigh and bent into a low bow. “I take that as a compliment, brother dearest.”

  “Wait, so where does that put the rest of you?” Maggie asked.

  “And I’ll leave you all to it,” Max said, walking toward the front desk to get a room. With any luck,
he wouldn’t be in it alone.

  “Meet up with you for breakfast, say eight?” Maggie hollered.

  Max glanced over his shoulder. Devlin stared at him, her eyes wide with what? Disappointment? God, he hoped so. He had a plan—a trap of sorts—and she was walking right into it.

  “Make it ten,” Max said. “I’m a late riser.”

  “That’s not what I heard,” Kayleigh yelled, her voice echoing through the mezzanine.

  The group burst into laughter.

  “I think I love you, Kayleigh Montgomery,” Max yelled back as he turned to make his way to the front desk.

  “Ahh, that’s what they all say, as they walk away.” Kayleigh laughed. “And that’s doctor Kayleigh Montgomery to you.” As the town’s veterinarian, she spoke the truth.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he saluted her. “Doctor.”

  “Hey Max,” Maggie called out as he approached the front desk. “I think they stop serving breakfast at nine.”

  “Actually,” the receptionist said, looking at Max across the counter, “we have a Sunday brunch that lasts until one.”

  “Sunday brunch,” Max yelled back. “See you downstairs at the restaurant at ten.” Max turned back to the receptionist.

  She smiled broadly. Too bad her smile didn’t have nearly the effect on his body that Devlin’s did.

  “May I help you, sir?” she asked. Jesus, had she actually fluttered her eyes?

  Max studied the young woman. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a tight bun which accentuated cat-like eyes. The corners tipped at the edges and the color reminded him of dark emeralds.

  There was no mistaking the smile on her face. She was willing, and able, in more ways than one.

  Max gave her one of his best panty-melting smiles, knowing he needed her help in securing a room, but his mind strayed to the dark-haired temptress he’d just walked away from. Would Devlin follow him? “Yes, I’d like to book a room.”

  “Of course.” She began clicking on her keyboard but every few seconds her eyes would cut up to meet his, a small smirk quirking the side of her lips. “How many, sir?” The way she said sir left no doubt in anyone’s mind what she had in mind.

  She was beautiful and sexy as hell but oddly enough, Max felt no stirring in his jeans. He glanced over at Devlin who stood with the group but watched him intently.

  Her gauzy, peasant-style top hung off one shoulder, revealing smooth tanned skin. Her blouse was white, and standing there in the bright light of the hotel lobby, he could just make out the silhouette of her breasts. Christ, that got his monster stirring. Had she been braless the entire night? And why the hell hadn’t he noticed earlier? And what the hell was she doing wearing that shirt to—

  “Excuse me, sir, how many beds?” the woman asked.

  “Two,” Max finally answered. One to screw in, one to sleep in, he thought.

  “We only have the LoDo suite available, Mr. Sumner.”

  Max turned back toward the husky voice of the desk clerk. She knew him. It wasn’t completely unheard of for a woman. Denver was a football town and a lot of their fans were chicks. It helped that he had posed three times for the Hot Jocks and Big Cocks calendar.

  “I’m afraid it’s rather expensive, given the time of evening.”

  Max glanced down at her name tag. “Nonsense, Marissa.” Max chuckled.

  She gave an innocent shrug and another one of those smiles that said she would be willing to share one of the suite rooms with him.

  “It’s only,” Max glanced up at the wall which held clocks from all around the world, “two in the morning. I would think you’d be trying to pawn that suite off on anyone who would take it.”

  The woman glanced up at the clocks and turned back to Max.

  “Or are you trying to charge me on Tokyo time?” He asked with a wink. There was no fucking way he was sharing a room with those chicks and Shawn.

  The woman laughed, a deep, throaty, sexy laugh that Max found mildly irritating. Not like Devlin’s laugh. Devlin’s laugh wasn’t sexy at all. In fact, some would call it hyena-like, but it was full of life, and genuine. She was genuine. That was one of the things he liked about her most.

  “That’s fine, I’ll take the suite,” Max said. Thanks to an illustrious career in the NFL, he could afford the finer things in life.

  He thought about his mother. Her business, her future, hell, the entire mountain his family had grown up on was in real jeopardy of being foreclosed on if they couldn’t meet the terms of the monstrous loan she and his father had taken out before his untimely death. It pissed the shit out of him that she refused to accept his money to save her hotel. The Lodge at Canyon Creek was his mother’s dream. And his brothers’ constant source of worry.

  His mother and father had leveraged the family land on Canyon Creek Mountain, taking out an enormous loan to finance the lodge after running a smaller bed and breakfast for many years. When Max’s father had died from a heart attack it became clear she was in over her head so he and his brothers had come back home to help save her dream.

  “I’ll just need your driver’s license and credit card,” the receptionist said.

  Max pulled out his wallet.

  The woman darted her eyes around as if looking for spies. “Oh, you know what,” she waved her hand in the air, “never mind. I know who you are. I mean everyone knows who you are. Max Sumner.” Her hand covered her heart and he swore he saw stars in her eyes.

  What the fuck?

  “My sister bought your calendar one year.” Her gaze wandered up and down his chest and Max felt molested, and mildly offended for some strange reason. Usually he liked it when hot chicks ogled him.

  “Did you get the room, honey lips?” A familiar voice spoke beside him.

  Max glanced down and watched as Devlin slipped an arm into his, cuddling up next to him like they were together.

  He bit his cheek to keep from bursting into laughter. “Oh, yes, lamb chop, I did.” He reached down and kissed the top of her head. “But I’m afraid they don’t have all the porn channels you like.”

  Without missing a beat, Devlin delivered a perfect line as a seasoned actress might. “Oh, that’s okay, sweet ’ems, I only ask for them because sometimes I know it’s hard for you to uh,” she glanced down at his dick, “get the old soldier up.” She turned to look at the clerk. “If you know what I mean.” Then she drew her fingers across her lips in a zipping motion, twisting them as if asking the woman to hold his secret of impotency.

  Max didn’t know whether to bow at Devlin’s feet or strangle her.

  “Oh, um,” the receptionist sputtered a cough, “um, certainly. I understand.” She busied herself, clicking away at the keyboard. “Let me, um, just get your key card, Mr. Sumner.”

  “Please, call him Maxwell.” Devlin rubbed his chest. “Mr. Sumner is so formal. Of course, I call him—”

  Max pressed his hand to Devlin’s lips. “Let’s keep our pet names private, huh, sugar tits?” Max felt Devlin’s smile against his hand as she nodded. Yeah, this girl was a wild cat but he was going to have fun taming her.

  Chapter Three

  Devlin curled up on the sofa of Maggie’s suite as she watched everyone try to sort out rooms and sleeping arrangements. The whole thing gave her a headache. She almost wished she’d taken Max up on his offer to spend the night in his plush king-sized bed.

  The ping of an incoming text drew her from her thoughts. She pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced down at the screen

  STUD MUFFIN: Call me.

  Devlin laughed at Max’s nickname. He’d listed himself as Stud Muffin when programming his number into her phone weeks earlier.

  “It’s like a real-life circus.” someone said beside her.

  Devlin glanced up and saw Shawn standing next to her. “Uh, what is?”

  Shawn plopped down beside her, nodding to the mildly-controlled chaos as their friends shuffled about the suite, carting suitcases and pillows from room to room. “Crazy town.” He no
dded behind him.

  “Oh, yeah, totally.”

  “I told them I’ll sleep on the floor,” he said.

  “No need. I’ll sleep here,” Devlin pointed to the love seat they were sitting on. “That way you can have the fold-out sofa bed. Kayleigh and Lily can share the other bedroom since it only has one bed.”

  Shawn extended his long legs across the coffee table. “No, I can’t make you sleep on a loveseat. It’s too small. You take the sofa bed.”

  Devlin laughed and looked at his legs. “Shawn, you’re like six-two. There’s no way you can fit on this thing, and the floor of a hotel room is—” She shivered just thinking of the gunk on hotel carpet.

  Shawn laughed. “I’m six-three actually.” He splayed his large hands along the back of the love seat as if taking measurements and Devlin was struck by the fact that he should have been as tempting to her as Max was. Sadly, he wasn’t.

  “You’re probably right.” He glanced at Devlin. “You sure you don’t mind?”

  “Nah,” she shook her head. “I’ve slept in worse places.” And she had. Her job as a photo journalist meant she’d slept in cramped quarters, sometimes outside, most of her life. Her career was worth it. And staying out of Max Sumner’s bed would be worth one night on a loveseat.

  Devlin watched as Shawn’s gaze tracked Lily as she wandered around the suite.

  “Can I ask you something?” Devlin said.

  Shawn stood and removed the cushions from the sofa opposite them. “Sure.”

  “What happened between you and Lily? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking. Why does she always seem so upset with you?”

  Shawn watched Lily for a long moment then turned back toward Devlin, his eyes filled with sorrow and regret, two things Devlin knew all too well. “It’s a long story, Devlin.”

  She nodded. “I understand.” And she did. He wouldn’t want to share that story with just anyone. “Here, let me help.” Devlin stood but Shawn motioned her away.

  “Nah, I’ve got it. You stay put. I’ll find us some blankets.” He pulled on the handle that drew the bed up and out of the couch bottom with ease and the double sized mattress sprang to life.