Sidelined: A Sports Romance

by Violet Paige

  “Before I say anything or you say anything, I want you to know I planned this for you whether or not you made the troupe.”

  I nodded, speechless and shaky. I stumbled closer to him. I wanted to hear everything he had to say. I wasn’t about to interrupt this perfect moment.

  I lowered to the floor, taking his face between my hands. His gorgeous, chiseled face. The one that had me from night one. I looked into his gray eyes as the tears gathered at the corners of my lashes.

  “Don’t cry. I haven’t even started yet.” He cleared his throat.

  I laughed. “I’m sorry.”

  “Okay. This is what I want to say.” He kissed the center of my palm and held my hand against his cheek as if he needed my strength to get the words out.

  “It’s been an incredible year. We’ve had to face some of the hardest defeats in our careers. The Wranglers didn’t make it to the championship. You were fired from the Warriors. That entire media bullshit—that was all my fault.”

  “Hey, this isn’t sounding very positive.”

  He closed his eyes. “I’m going somewhere with this, I promise.” His eyes gazed into mine. “But despite all of the damn noise, we met. And it didn’t seem to matter that I had rules, or you had rules. We broke through all of them to be together.”

  I smiled. “We did.”

  “And when your training schedule picked up and mine slowed down, we figured it out.”

  I laughed. “Only because you used your bonus to buy an airplane to shuttle me back and forth to Austin. With an on-call pilot,” I added.

  “It worked, didn’t it?” His tone was serious.

  I nodded. “It did work.”

  It was probably the thing that kept us most grounded. With a quick twenty-minute commute, I didn’t feel as if we were ever far from each other. Once I was kicked off the Goddesses, I started traveling when the Wranglers traveled. Sam and I made sure we never spent more than three days apart. That was our new rule—and we’d never broken it.

  I realized he had done everything in his power to make me happy. He had built the studio the way I wanted. He had hired a physical therapist to complete my rehab. He had paired me with an astonishingly talented choreographer, despite all my protests. He did what he wanted to do, but it was all because he loved me.

  “You know that’s why I’m down on one knee right now. Because we work. We know how to make it work.” He held the ring closer to me. “I want our future to be together. Will you marry me, Natalia?”

  I took in the moment. The fire. The flickering candles. The flowers everywhere. And here we were at one of our most romantic spots, where we had spent an incredibly intimate night together. It was the night he let me soak in an enormous tub of overflowing bubbles. It was the night I had told him about my accident. It was the night I knew I was in love with him.

  I sighed. “Today is the day I’ve waited for since I fell.” I focused on the depths of his eyes. “And the only reason it happened is because of you. You made me put on those pointe shoes when I’d been scared to for months. You wouldn’t let me stop rehab. You gave me the best choreographer in the business.” I giggled. “And you bought me a plane.

  “Because of you, I made prima ballerina today. I have my dream back.” I looked down at the ring. I had been too consumed by his words to really notice it until now. Holy shit, it was the size of Texas.

  “So is that a yes?”

  I threw my arms around his neck. “In every language. In every way it’s possible to say it. It’s a yes.”

  His lips covered mine and I groaned from the intensity of his kiss. It was always like this with Sam. He always made my body feel fire and air at the same time. He made me feel protected and loved. And we were going to be together for the rest of our lives. I sucked at the corners of his mouth, lingering over his firm lips.

  “Try it on,” he whispered.

  “Oh right.” My body was already moving with his and flush with anticipation. I had forgotten about the ring.

  I held my left hand forward as he slipped it over my ring finger. It sparkled in the candlelight.

  “It’s perfect.” I admired the stone on my hand.

  “It’s big enough, isn’t it?” he asked.

  “Sam, are you kidding? It’s bigger than big.” I could feel the weight of the platinum circle my finger.

  “Good. I want everyone to know you’re my wife. That you belong to me.”

  I crawled into his lap. “I do belong to you.” I pressed my forehead to his. “I’ll always belong to you.”

  His arms circled my waist and I pressed my lips to his. I’d never been this happy. I’d never felt such love and warmth.

  “And what about you?” I teased. “How big a ring do you want?”

  He looked at me. “I have to wear a ring? I’ve got this one.” He held up his right hand, showing off his national championship ring from last year.

  I nodded. “Oh yes. Not during the game, of course. Or practices. I understand that. But I want everyone to know you are this ballerina’s husband.”

  He tugged at the back of my hair, dragging his lips over my throat. My breath quickened. I loved how it felt when he held me in his arms. When he directed my movements. When he created the dance between us. I was ready to burst into flames thinking about his next step. How he would position my body. How it would feel when we were taking each other, owning each other, promising ourselves to each other with a new commitment between us.

  “If the ballerina wants me to wear a ring, I’ll wear it,” he growled behind my ear, kissing my skin roughly. I shivered.

  “Yes, I want you to wear a ring.” I bit my lower lips as he pushed the shirt off my shoulder.

  “Deal.” His hands skidded under my shirt, pushing my bra over my head with it.

  He grinned widely. “You know what I’m going to do now?”

  I licked my lips. I could only hope. “What?”

  “Fuck you with nothing but that diamond on.”

  I sighed as he picked me up from the floor and carried me to the bed. I watched silently as he peeled my pants over my legs, doing exactly what he promised. Was this happening? Was I engaged to a man who I had given my body to so freely, my heart tumbling quickly after?

  Sam threw his shirt on the floor and I eyed him hungrily as he stepped out of his jeans. This man was going to be my husband. The father of my children. My life.

  We would decide everything together. Our lives would forever be entwined.

  I looked into his wickedly handsome eyes as he crawled on top of me.

  “We’re getting married,” I whispered.

  “We are.” He lowered his tongue to my breast and flicked the tip over my nipple. I arched toward him. “You’re going to be my wife.”

  “Ohh,” I moaned. I’d never realized what a sexy word wife was in English.

  He sucked it into his mouth and I felt the deep coiling in my belly start to tighten. My hips began to move.

  He kissed me, as he settled between my legs. I was soaking with want and need. With a thirst I’d never had for him before. I wanted my fiancé to melt into my skin. Get lost with me in our desire. Climb and crawl against each other until we couldn’t breathe anymore. I wanted the friction of his skin, and the smell of his sweat to cover me. I wanted all of his cock inside of me, making me his, owning me in a new way.

  With Sam, my body was free and beautiful. We fed each other’s need for raw and primal energy. We matched each other’s steps. Pushed each other’s stamina. Took what we wanted, and gave each other everything.

  He hovered over me as I dug my heels against the firmness of his ass. He was torturing me with his cock, gliding it back and forth against my clit. I whimpered for his release.

  “You know I want you, Sam.” I panted.

  “And I’ve never wanted you this much,” he groaned.

  I tempted him with a gentle rocking motion, trying to draw him inside.

  He kissed me. “Does it drive you crazy if I
do this?” He barely pushed into me.

  “Oh, God, oui.” I tried even harder this time, but he was stronger than I was.

  “Or this.” He eased at my entrance then jerked away.

  “I can’t.” My head rolled to the side. “I want you too much.”

  The ache inside was deep and hollow, tearing at me from all angles. I was blinded with a delirious and frantic craving. I could only hear the desperate beat of my heart. Feel the desire consume me from within. Time and space had left me and my body yearned for fullness. I wanted the satisfaction of Sam pushing inside me. I wanted the heat and the dirty words that would spring from our mouths. I needed him to move me and push me. Show me what my body could do for him. How I could make him whole again.

  “Tell me,” he demanded. His eyes flared with cockiness as he bit his lip. “Tell me how you want me to fuck you. Tell me to fuck you the rest of your life. Tell me to fuck you slow and deep.”

  My nipples hardened and tingled. My clit pulsed and my core quivered into a pool of lava. He had me where he wanted me. He had me wanting him. Needing him.

  He let the head of his cock slide through my slick folds once again until I was raging with animal thirst for him.

  I locked on his eyes. “All of it, Sam. Please. All of it. With this ring, fuck me with only this ring on, because I’m yours and only yours. And don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

  His mouth crushed over mine as he soared inside me a piercing thrust.

  “Oh, God,” I rocked toward the ceiling to meet him.

  The slower and deeper he moved, the more I felt as if we were lost together in an ocean. Our bodies, drowning in each other, spinning and colliding through waves and peaks. Lulling to catch our breaths before the tide tumbled over us and we washed back out to sea.

  “Forever, Natalia,” he whispered in my ear.

  I could only nod in agreement as my fiancé plummeted me into an abyss of love and ecstasy. Pleasures that only existed between us. Sinful, dirty moves that we loved to perfect. He threw my ankles over his shoulders while he reached for a stack of pillows, wedging them under my bottom.

  He grinned. “So fucking deep,” he promised. He kissed my calf, licking and sucking on my skin while I pushed against the headboard with my palms.

  “Oh, Sam.”

  He always knew what the next step should be—how to send me into a rip current of erotic sensation. His thumb pressed lightly at first and then circled rhythmically over my swollen clit. I thrashed under his touch, clinging to his cock, whimpering his name, reveling in the pureness of what his body could do to mine.

  My eyes flew open as the orgasm crashed into me. He drove harder and faster, making sure we rode this one together. My ring banged against the headboard, but we kept going. Fighting the tide and the current. Holding on for life while our bodies were tossed in endless pleasure. With one final thrust, Sam plunged into me and I felt his release as his body tensed before he lowered his lips to mine and kissed the hell out of me.

  “Oh my God.” I breathed heavily. I traced the dragon on his arm.

  He kissed my collarbone. “You’re fucking incredible. How did I get so lucky?”

  “You?” I couldn’t catch my breath. We had outdone ourselves.

  He tucked me against his arm. “Is it okay if we sleep some before dinner?” he asked. “And I brought two bottles of champagne.”

  “Two?”

  He nodded over my head. “One for the audition and one for the engagement.” He sounded drowsy.

  “Naked nap, yes.” I closed my eyes in my fiancé’s arms and fell asleep to the sounds of the lake waves hitting the shore.

  Epilogue

  Sam

  I sat on the stoop of the cottage and held the fresh cup of coffee between my hands. I ran to the office to pick up one for Natalia while she slept. I didn’t want to wake her, so I waited here instead and watched the birds fly over the lake.

  The lake was peaceful in the morning. We needed this time together. Time before we announced our engagement. Time before Natalia began rehearsals with the troupe. And for me, time before I had to start spring training. It was only a few weeks away.

  I took another sip and thought about what was in front of us. I thought about my season and how far I’d come with the Wranglers. We may not have won back-to-back titles, but I had outperformed my rookie statistics. If it hadn’t been for Natalia though, I don’t know if it would have happened.

  Maddie had screwed me over. I was convinced that I’d never date another woman during football season because of her. That was until I met Natalia. She was patient with me when no one else would have put up with my shit.

  She shared herself so willingly, so easily, that I trusted her. It was the trust I needed to get over the fear that she’d leave. I was terrified she’d walk out like Maddie did. And it was the fear that got in my head—not the woman. It was the fear that distracted me. The fear that kept me off focus. I was a fucking idiot. I had trust issues and didn’t know it. I could have lost the best thing that happened to me because of it.

  I heard the door creak and I turned around.

  “Good morning.” She smiled. The sheet was draped around her shoulders. Fuck. She was still naked. “Can I join you?”

  I scooted to the side. “I got coffee for you.” I handed her the cup as she settled in next to me.

  “Thank you.” I watched as she inhaled the steam. “It’s so quiet this morning.”

  “The opposite of last night.” I winked.

  She whipped around. “Holy shit.”

  “What?” I followed her eyes.

  “Our windows were open?”

  “Yeah. I wanted to hear the lake. I might need to jog back to the office for a refill.”

  “The entire time? The windows were open since we got here?”

  “So I aired out the place? It was stuffy. There’s not a single person here. And you’re the one sitting outside practically naked.”

  “No one except the little old couple in the office.”

  I laughed loudly. “Now you’re modest?”

  She smacked me on the chest. “Do you think they heard us?”

  “Have you tried to have a conversation with them? They both wear hearing aids. I think your double sex life is still safe.” I winked at her.

  “It’s not a double life.” She pursed her lips together.

  I kissed her on the cheek. She was cute when she was pissed at me. “So, how does the rock feel this morning?”

  She extended her hand and her frown was replaced with a beautiful smile. “Unreal.”

  “I’ve had that ring for two months, trying to decide when the right time to propose was.”

  “Two months?” She studied the rainbows bouncing around the porch.

  “I thought it might be at the Super Bowl.” I didn’t want to think about what a punch to the gut our season was. “But I knew that wasn’t the right time, even if we had made it.”

  “And how did you know yesterday was it? What if they had rejected me and I was a crying mess? Would you have still done it?”

  “That wasn’t going to happen. There was no way they weren’t going to offer you the position. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked the past few months. You’ve thrown everything into ballet. You were meant for this, Natalia.”

  She pressed a sweet kiss to my mouth. “I think I was meant for something else too.”

  My eyebrows rose.

  “For you. I’m meant for you.”

  There was an instant pang between my ribs. I had done a lot of wrong things in my life. I’d made some shitty decisions and paid the price. But I didn’t know what I did to deserve this woman. This woman who could take me to my knees and then send me higher than a fucking kite. This woman who made dirty seem right, and love seem even better.

  I had gone down on one knee yesterday, praying like a little kid that she’d say yes. That she’d join me in this crazy life I had. That she’d put up with my bad habits and my insane schedule
. That she’d overlook the microscope I lived under as a celebrity. That she’d embrace my culture and realize we’d never live in Paris. That more than anything she would accept how much I loved her and wanted to protect her. I’d never had instincts like this to cherish someone. It felt natural to want to keep her close. I wanted her to be safe and happy, and nothing was more important.

  She sighed over my shoulder. “How long do we get to stay this time?” she asked.

  “I might have checked with the troupe ahead of time.”

  “Oh?”

  I nodded. “Sure did. And you have about ten days before they need you in Austin. So what if we spend three or four days here?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Sound good?” I already knew the answer before she said anything. Her face was elated.

  “It’s the best engagement present ever.”

  “It gives us some time before everyone finds out. Before the media circus begins.” I was dreading that part, but it came with the territory of being a professional athlete.

  “I thought maybe when everyone found out we were dating the fascination would have been over.”

  I shook my head. “Have you seen you?” I eyed the dip at her breasts where the sheet was starting to come undone. “They will never want to stop taking pictures of you. I don’t think they care about me so much anymore.”

  She giggled. “Not true. I see how the girls look at you.”

  “Jealous?”

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “Maybe a little.”

  I grabbed the edge of the sheet to test how tightly she was holding. It fell off her shoulders.

  “Sam,” she warned me.

  I licked my lips. I wasn’t going to stop there. Natalia was mine. My fiancée. My love. My life. And soon she would be my wife. I had to make the most of this honeymoon preview.

  “If you don’t want that little couple to see what I do to make those sounds come from your gorgeous lips, you better get inside.”

  “You wouldn’t.” She looked incredulous.

  “Wouldn’t I?” I winked.

  She scampered up the stairs, gathering the sheet around her waist, and ran inside with laughter. I dropped my coffee and pounced after her.