It hadn’t been weird to talk to her after years of staying away. He had been expecting it to be because of their past relationship, but it was only awkward because of his expectation of it being so. Kristen had been completely professional, though when he’d said yes to the interview, she had let out a squeal of excitement. They spoke a few more times after that call, setting things up, and again, it hadn’t been awkward.
Kristen had always been fun to be with. She loved sports and it was easy to talk to her. His wife on the other hand, he hadn’t spoken to her the past week except for a few random texts that told him how much she missed him and that she was so tired—all the time. The tour was wiping her out. That’s all he got. Oh, and that she was going to squeeze in an overnight visit to her grandmother and wanted to Skype with him and the boys tomorrow morning.
Her busy schedule this week plus the time difference had made communicating difficult. To be honest, Ethan hadn’t made himself very available either. Sure, he had things to tell her, like this interview, but he normally didn’t tell her about this kind of stuff when she was on tour. She wouldn’t remember anyway. She could barely remember the city she was in, let alone his schedule.
Finding the escalators, he took them up to the third floor. Once there, he found the conference room and just stood outside of the door. His conscience nagged at him. This was just an interview, he argued with himself. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. Just part of the job, he told himself as he turned the knob and entered the room.
Letting the door close behind him, Ethan took in the scene all set up for this question and answer session. Equipment everywhere. A couple of bright lights focused on a miniature bleacher stand with three rows. He spotted the two black x’s on the metal benches. In the background there were banners with his likeness on them. Each one with a different stat, like the one with all his championships. He liked that one a lot.
His eyes moved around the room, zeroing in on the windows showcasing his adopted home of Indianapolis. He was about to check out the view when a movement to his right drew his attention.
Kristen.
“Hi, Ethan,” she said with a smile as she crossed the room towards him.
In her heels, Kristen stood over six feet tall with her wavy, waist-length, blonde hair cascading down her back. Tonight she wore a sharp blue dress that matched the blue in the Flash uniform. Up close, he saw how the blue in her dress brought out the blue in her blue-green eyes.
She certainly was very beautiful, but nothing like Mia. They were opposites in every way. Mia’s beauty stunned him every time he saw her.
Kristen leaned in for a quick one-arm hug. “Thanks for agreeing to this,” she said, indicating the room.
“Hey, not a problem,” he said instead of a greeting.
“Let’s get started,” she said, a warm grin still gracing her face.
Then he was assaulted by the crew who got him ready and eventually deposited him on the lower x and faced Kristen who sat on the row above him, her knees pointed at his stomach. He was now eye level with her.
“Ready?” she asked, nerves touching her movements.
“Yup. Are you?”
She laughed and the nerves seemed to disappear. “First big interview like this. On the field, it’s different. It’s in the moment. Here … not so much.”
“Hey. I’m that same person on the field as off.”
Her eyebrows rose up in doubt.
“Okay … I’m a little more intense on the field,” he added with a laugh. “This should be a piece of cake for you.”
“Thank you,” she said, a grateful smile on her lips. She nodded at someone from the crew and then took a deep breath and faced him.
Game time.
The interview went well. Kristen did a good job of mixing in the expected questions with the unexpected. She asked about his dominance the past five years and what he thought attributed to that. He couldn’t answer that. Having Mia in his life didn’t seem to be the appropriate answer.
Then Kristen threw him an unexpected spiral square in the chest—retirement, specifically his. He hadn’t really thought about it, but he guessed he should. He’d be forty-one this season. Retirement was coming sooner than later.
The time went by quickly and before he knew it, Kristen was thanking him for his time. As the crew started tearing down the set, Kristen came up to him. “Do you want to get a drink to toast your future retirement?” she asked with a gleam in her eye.
“Haha … very funny. I’m not retiring yet.”
“I was kidding about the retirement, but not about the drink.”
“Sure,” he said, walking out of the room with her. His wife wasn’t home. Luke and Allie were out of town this week with Kaitlyn. He was lonely. Something that he had felt way too often the past couple of years and he was tired of it.
They found a table in the crowded bar downstairs and sat down on the wooden stools. A waitress came and took their drink order and what seemed like with a snap of her fingers the drinks were in front of them.
“So, I said a toast … how about to a season just as great as the last five,” Kristen said, raising her glass.
“Sounds good. Thank you,” he said, clinking his drink with hers.
Talk then turned to his upcoming mini-camp and the new players he was excited to see. They drank and refills appeared pretty automatically and frequently.
Being with Kristen was easy, just like before. He could talk to her. He had fun. He laughed, something he hadn’t done much of lately and he really needed that.
Quite a few drinks in for the both of them, the atmosphere changed. There was still a whole lot of laughter, but there were also more casual touches. And as he drank more, he didn’t mind them, or the looks she gave him.
“How’s Witty?” she asked. Crew ‘Witty’ Witner had been Ethan’s center when he and Kristen had been going out, but he’d retired the year Mia came back into his life. He was one of the funniest men Ethan knew.
“He actually was just hired by Platte Pointe University to be their head coach.”
“No way!” Kristen exclaimed. It was a small school but was known for producing quality football players. “He’s going to be a coach? How is anyone ever going to take his wise-ass seriously?”
“Did you say wide-ass?” Ethan asked, trying not to laugh.
“No!” she said, putting her hand to her mouth, trying to control the laughter, but it didn’t work and a loud burst bubbled out of her. She laughed so hard that she fell from her seat.
His side hurt from laughing so much, but it was a good hurt. He felt lighter than he had coming here.
Kristen attempted to get back on her stool again and they both chuckled when it didn’t happen. She turned towards him, her hand resting on his thigh. “Thanks, Ethan. This is probably my cue to go back to my room.”
He spun in his seat and faced her. She now stood in between his legs—eye level with him. And she stared at him with longing in those watery eyes. “Eth—” she said before placing both hands on his legs and leaning in to kiss him. The moment her lips touched his, he froze. He shouldn’t be doing this. He had Mia.
Sensing his uncertainty, Kristen pulled back just enough to speak. “I know you. I know you’re hurting, Eth. I can make it better. I’ve done it before. I can do it again,” she said before brushing her lips against his again. Her lips were more persuasive than he cared to admit and he found himself kissing her back, opening his mouth to her exploring tongue when he pictured the last time he saw his wife … with Todd’s hands on her ass and then that fucking dream he had with Todd fucking her.
His hands reached out and grabbed Kristen’s ass, bringing her closer to him. Her arms snaked around his neck, her large breasts pressed against his chest.
Ah, fuck, he thought when her stomach made contact with his hard dick. Things were getting out of control. Kristen pulled back, a smile on her face as her eyes raked all over him. She stepped away and turned towards the exit. Without a wor
d, just a flick of her eyes, she invited him up to her room.
Jumping off his stool, his head swimming with all the damn alcohol, he followed her.
He knew what he was doing. The same thing as his wife.
Mia
Indianapolis, June 2015
Mia finally returned home from her four-week long European tour. She’d been away from her sons for far too long and the desire to see them was overwhelming. Dropping her luggage in the foyer, she hurried up the stairs to see her babies. Well, not really babies. They easily weighed forty pounds each. Her boys were big, just like their father, she thought with a smile. She stopped in front of their door when it finally occurred to her that they were probably asleep. Checking her watch and doing the damn math in her head, she realized it was close to four in the morning, not the ten o’clock she thought it was.
Carefully opening the door to their shared room, she tiptoed to their beds. Her angels were sleeping peacefully. She’d missed them so much. They looked like they had grown and that made her sad. She had missed a lot lately. And now that her tour was over, she was determined to change that. She had lots of plans for her boys … as well as their father.
With a kiss to each of their precious foreheads, Mia left their room to head to her own. She frowned when she opened the door. It was dark and Ethan wasn’t up. Not that she had expected him to have been up, but it would have been nice. Sighing, she decided to get ready for bed and headed to the bathroom where she washed her face and brushed her teeth. She grabbed a long lavender nightgown from her dresser and slipped it on.
Absently reaching out to pick up her phone from the counter, she realized with a curse that it wasn’t there but in her jacket—down in the foyer. She crept out of the bathroom and crossed the sitting area, heading for the door when she heard her husband’s gruff voice, causing her heart to skip a beat.
“Get in bed, Mia.”
“I’ll be right back,” she called out, opening the door. Her body hummed in anticipation of being in his arms and she smiled. “Then I’ll be all yours.”
She heard him yell after her as she hurried down the steps. She’d deal with it when she returned to him. Locating her jacket on the floor with her phone resting snuggly in the pocket, she then raced back up to her husband. She had really missed him the past month while she’d been away … hell, even longer than that. And if what she thought was true, they’d be expecting another baby in the next eight months or so. God, she hoped it was true … that’s why she had changed her plans to come home earlier. She wanted to find out with him, share the news and joy with her husband. Maybe luck would be on her side if she did this together with him.
When she entered their bedroom, his bedside light was on and he was sitting up and didn’t appear happy with her. She knew that he didn’t like that she had been gone so much this year. While she’d been in Europe, as their time apart grew, so had his distance whenever she’d spoken to him. They needed to talk, reconnect, and she would start that now.
Her breath caught in her throat when he got out of bed and stalked to her, and it was expelled when he grabbed her arms hard and pulled her to him, the force of which made her phone slip from her hand and drop to the floor. He possessed her mouth in a fierce kiss. It was hard and full of need, hunger, and anger. Something was off but she didn’t know what. She turned in his arms, wanting to take him to the bed and calm things down, but he grabbed her again, holding her tight against his chest.
“Ethan?” she managed to say before his hand went between her legs. She cried out at his rough touch. Things had never been like this between them. Rough. Angry. And it alarmed her. Yet those fingers assaulting her pussy were also turning her on.
He guided her to the bed and pushed her to the mattress, face down. She attempted to get on her hands and knees and make her way to the pillows but the grip he had on her hips stopped her. His fingers dug hard into her flesh and she cried out, not from pleasure but pain. The comforter muffled her scream. She turned her head to the side to take a deep breath. That’s when she heard his loud, ragged breaths. He was fighting something in his head, she knew it. But what?
“Ethan?” she called out again.
Her thoughts were stalled when she felt him slowly pushing up her nightgown, exposing her bottom to him. His hands spanned her ass and stalled, then his fingers pressed into the soft tissue. A tickle of fear raced through her body. The bed gave as he knelt behind her, his hands still gripping her ass, squeezing each globe hard, making Mia cringe at the pain.
He spread her apart with his thumbs and slid inside of her and she groaned loudly. After weeks of no sex with him, he was finally moving inside of her. She tried not to think about the fact that they had never had sex like this before. With Luke, yes. With Tom, yes. With Josh, yes. But never with Ethan. She didn’t know what to think, but her body responded. The fear disappeared and the pleasure steadily increased. Four weeks without him. She needed him, even like this.
He pounded her relentlessly, his hips slamming hard into her ass. His movements fast and furious, her orgasm came quickly—surprising her. She collapsed on the bed from the powerful explosion, her legs weak. He stopped and turned her over. She spider-crawled further up the bed and he was right there with her. Pushing her shirt higher, he exposed her breasts and captured one of the nipples in his mouth, making her scream at how good it felt. She pulled at his waist, wanting, needing him inside of her again.
“Please!” she begged him. He looked up from her breast.
“You want me?” he asked gruffly. She heard the doubt. Why was there doubt in his voice?
“Always,” she answered. “Come to me, Ethan.”
He left her breast and settled himself between her legs. She tried to sit up to face him, to kiss him, but he knocked her back to the bed, his hands near her collarbone, his fingers digging into the soft skin around her neck. He pushed himself inside of her and fucked her hard, his hands not leaving her body. Again, her body betrayed her, she was on the edge, just waiting for him to bang her over it.
“Can’t you feel how much I want you? God, I missed you so much,” she moaned as she felt another orgasm course through her. Knocking his hands aside, Mia pulled his head down to hers and she kissed him with all the love she had in her. “Come for me, Ethan,” she said, against his lips. “Please.”
With a loud, tortured groan, he came inside her. He stayed still for a short moment before he quickly rolled over to her side. She wasn’t taking this dismissal. It’d been weeks since she’d seen him.
She moved quick and straddled his waist, looking down at him. “What’s wrong, Ethan?” she asked, her hands resting on his shoulders. He was about to open his mouth but she interrupted him. She knew what he was going to say. “And don’t say ‘nothing.’ I’m not blind.”
His mouth snapped shut and he actually glared at her. Her instincts were screaming at her that something major was wrong. If only they could tell her what it was …
“I know it’s not nothing,” she said, moving her hands to cup his face.
“I’m just glad you’re back. That’s all,” he said, looking anywhere except her face. Oh, God! He’s lying to me!
“You liar!” she hissed. “That’s not how you greet me when you miss me and you know it!”
“Stop pushing, Mia,” he said, clearly frustrated.
She swung her leg over him and sat on her side of the bed, staring at him, not believing that he’d blatantly lied to her like that. She feared whatever it was that was so obviously bothering him.
“It’s late. Come to sleep,” he said, opening his arm to her. She knew she wouldn’t sleep. Her body was wired. She needed out of here. Now.
“I’m actually wide awake. Still on Paris time.”
He dropped his arm and rolled over. “Whatever. I’m exhausted.”
His easy dismissal was hard to take. Nice welcome home, she thought miserably.
“I guess I’ll leave then,” she said, feeling hurt. He’d fucked her
and wanted her gone. It wasn’t like he’d never fucked her before, but never like this—so distant, so cruel.
She got off the bed and took a few steps before looking back at him. He already seemed to be asleep. Taking a deep breath, she left the bedroom, picking her phone up off the floor on the way. She closed the door and headed downstairs to the kitchen.
Her mind worked hard to process what just happened and she panicked at what she kept thinking. It couldn’t be true. He would not do this to her. He couldn’t. Not again. The last time he was distant like this, he’d chosen another woman over her.
No. She was overreacting. She needed to talk this out. Get another opinion. What she needed was Luke. Quickly dialing his number, Mia waited for him to pick up. She was a little surprised when Allie answered his phone.
“Mia, why are you calling?” she asked, sounding like she had been sleeping.
“Get your husband,” Mia demanded.
“You realize you’re in Indy and not Paris and that it’s five in the morning?”
“I do.”
“Mia.”
“Please, Allie,” she begged, her voice breaking.
“Mia, what happened?”
“I don’t know yet. Get me Luke, please?”
She heard Allie wake Luke and he grumbled about the ungodly hour.
“Mia, what’s wrong?”
“Can you meet me for a run in a little bit?”
“You called to go running?” he asked, exasperated.
“No, I called to talk, but I can’t here.”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
He sighed and she imagined him rubbing his hands over his tired face. “I don’t like the sound of this.”
“I don’t like thinking what I’m thinking. It scares me.”
“Okay. Fifteen minutes outside of my house.”
“Fifteen minutes,” she paused a long moment before continuing. “Thank you, Luke. And tell Allie I’m sorry for waking her.”
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