“I could stay here forever,” he said.
We took our time, savoring each moment, in no rush to complete the journey. I studied his body as if I had an exam on it the next day, touching every part of him, coaxing him on in every motion he made.
The gentle build went on for longer than I could keep track. The afternoon sun had given way to the dying rays of sunset and then the dimness of twilight, but we remained joined in a blissful union.
He brushed a hair away from my forehead and kissed me tenderly on the lips.
If I hadn’t been in my body experiencing it, I would never have believed how such a slow and steady pace could lead to a climax of epic proportions. I felt it coming for over an hour, edging closer and closer, like the rising tides or the world’s slowest tsunami.
Every muscle in my body tensed in a burst of brilliant white heat.
“I’m there,” I announced, as if he wasn’t the master of reading my body and knowing exactly what he did to me.
“Me too,” he whispered in my ear just as I felt his cock pulse inside me, growing even larger as he came to his own climax.
Despite the leisurely pace, my breath came in gasps and sighs as the orgasm rocked its way through me, taking longer than any I had ever experienced in my life, drowning in its relentless pull as I let it consume me.
Finally, on the comedown, I took his face in both hands and kissed him deeply.
“I love you.”
I froze.
I couldn’t have said it.
I did.
He looked me in the eyes and bent his mouth to mine, reclaiming my lips as his own.
When he broke the kiss, he smiled.
“I love you, too.”
PRESENT
Another hour in the lobby, and I would go insane.
It had been six hours already, and they still wouldn’t let me in to see Travis.
“I’m sorry, but we can’t allow fans in to see Mr. King. Family and teammates only,” the receptionist had said.
The look she’d given me when I told her we were lovers was the most skeptical thing I’d ever seen.
I’d watched the game in Los Angeles, fuming at Tony, at Mr. Reynolds, at the league. My life had gone to shit, but at least I still had Travis. I hadn’t wanted to bother him with my problem until after his game—he didn’t need anything distracting him. When the altercation between him and Tony was broadcast on national TV, I’d hopped into a cab for the airport right then and there.
I’d missed the hit that might end his career.
By the time I got to the hospital, his teammates and coaches had already been and gone, according to the whispers I’d caught. He still hadn’t woken.
And they still won’t let me in to see him.
I seethed as I stared at the receptionist and thought about all the ways I could make her life hell.
Three men entered the hotel lobby. There had been groups in and out the entire time I’d been here, but something about these men caught my eye—a familiarity, as though I knew them from somewhere.
One said something in an aside to another, and both men grinned.
I started.
I know that grin.
I jumped to my feet and intercepted them.
“Excuse me, but are you Travis King’s brothers?”
They looked at me, three sets of eyes almost identical to the blue pair that owned my heart. It was like something out of a drifting daydream. Then they looked at each other and grinned.
The one with the most mature version of Travis’s face responded. “We are, but we don’t do interviews. I’m sorry. If you’d like to audition for a spot in my hotel room, however—”
“Hey, Connor, that’s not fair,” the youngest one said. “She was clearly looking at me.”
“Oh, shut up, Max,” said the third. “Have you even had sex? A woman like this would be wasted on you.”
Max laughed, unabashed. “Your room is right next to mine, Landon. You know the answer to that question.”
“For all I know, those noises are from porn,” Landon replied.
I cleared my throat. “I’m not sleeping with any of you, and I’m not a reporter. My name is Juliette, and I’m dating your brother, but the hospital staff won’t let me see him.”
“Yeah, okay,” Max said. “We’re not falling for that one.”
“Kind of a lame attempt to meet our brother, don’t you think?” Landon added.
I flushed. “I’m not some random fan! Why does everyone keep thinking that?”
Connor examined me with a careful eye. “Travis mentioned you. You’re Sexy, aren’t you?”
I nodded excitedly. “I am! That’s right.”
The younger two brothers looked quizzical, as though they couldn’t understand why I shut down their advances but got so excited when Connor called me sexy.
Connor turned to his brothers. “Juliette here is Travis’s spring break girl.”
All three looked at me with the same appraising stare.
“I see it now,” Landon said. “I can’t believe Travis found her again.”
“Don’t worry,” Connor said. “We’ll take you up with us.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. It had felt like I’d never get in to see Travis.
The brothers announced themselves to the receptionist and claimed me as their brother’s girlfriend. The look she gave me was pure venom, but I ignored it. Of course she’d be jealous of what I had.
Even though Travis is all I have.
I had no place at the school anymore, and Dr. Kent would be sure to prevent me from receiving a position with any other reputable researchers in the field. If Travis never woke up from this injury or was fundamentally changed, I’d have nothing. Feeling such dependency was unusual and unnatural for me.
I didn’t like it.
The four of us found our way to Travis’s room. A nurse sat at a desk outside. “You’re Mr. King’s family? He woke up half an hour ago. He’s allowed visitors, but please make sure you keep your voices down.”
He lay on the hospital bed with an IV plugged into his arm. An ashen gray tone to his cheeks made him look unwell, but his eyes were open and alert.
“Geez, bro,” Max said. “Did they have to pull you back from the dead or something?”
Landon thwacked him on the side of the head. “Have a little respect. It’s not every day you wake up in the hospital from chasing your dreams.”
I said nothing at all, struck by Travis’s eyes on my own.
“Juliette,” he said. His voice was raspy—not the sexy, low voice he had when he spoke into my ear as we played, but the rusty voice of a man who hadn’t used it for a while.
“Come on, boys, let’s give them privacy,” Connor said.
The brothers filed out of the room, closing the door behind them.
I rushed up to Travis and put my arms around him. “Is this okay? How do you feel?”
“I’m still a little woozy, and everything’s a bit blurry, but I think I’m okay. I haven’t been awake long enough or tried to do enough to know for sure.”
As he spoke, his voice mellowed out and regained its normal luster.
“Please, Juliette, can you tell me one thing?”
I held him close. “Anything.”
“Did we win the game?”
I looked at him, incredulous. “You don’t know?”
He shook his head and then grimaced. “Ow. Remind me not to shake my head. No, the nurse out there isn’t a football fan, so she couldn’t tell me. All I know is that I was taken out in the first half and we were up by two touchdowns. Anything could happen from that point on. I only just woke up again and haven’t talked to anyone besides the nurse and a doctor.”
“Los Angeles was up by three touchdowns, actually. The throw you got hit on was caught for a touchdown. The offense wasn’t able to score for the rest of the game, and the defense had their hands full struggling to keep Portland contained, but they held on. You did it, Travis.”
His loud whoop echoed in the room, and I could tell he regretted it the instant it left his lips.
The door cracked open, and the nurse poked her head in.
“Shh! No loud noises, remember?”
“Sorry,” Travis mumbled, the pained look still on his face. “I won’t forget again.”
“Congratulations,” I told him and sat on the edge of the bed so I could rest my head on his shoulder and draw small circles on his chest.
His arm came around me and hugged me to him. “Thank you, Sexy. It’s a dream come true. Not that I ever wanted it to come about like this.”
“What’s next?” I asked.
He patted my shoulder. “If you were watching the game, then you know I found out what Tony did to you. I have an idea about how to fix that.”
I sat up to look at him. “You do?”
He nodded. “I do. But the most important thing is that I love you, Juliette. I never stopped loving you.”
I closed the distance between us to kiss him fully on the lips.
“I love you too, Travis. So much. And I don’t want anything to come between us ever again.”
Chapter 24
~Travis~
PAST
The sun rose behind us, lighting the blue waters of the Gulf coast in a dazzling array of sparkles as the rays of light broke and shattered on the waves.
Sexy sat in my lap, resting against my chest as we watched the tide roll in.
We hadn’t slept. There would be time for that on the plane. I refused to let my final hours with the only woman I’d ever loved be lost to unconsciousness.
We hadn’t spoken in hours. We didn’t need to. There was little left to say, and the comfort between us was so high that just being nestled against each other was enough.
We hadn’t acknowledged how close to the end we were.
My phone beeped.
It was the alarm I’d set for the last possible moment we could wait before packing our stuff to head to the airport. Sexy had already moved her things over from her room so she could ride to the airport with me.
“That’s it,” I said.
She didn’t move.
Is she asleep?
But no, her finger moved, running loops on my chest.
“Sexy.”
“I heard you. I just can’t believe it’s over.”
“I know. I feel as though we’ve been together for years. Not a week.”
She nodded and sighed. “We knew this would come.”
It didn’t make it any easier.
“Come home with me.”
“What?” She looked up at me. “I have classes tomorrow, Cocky.”
I held her closer. “Transfer. You’re in your freshman year—it shouldn’t be that difficult. We can be together if you come and live with me.”
She put her hand on my cheek.
“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it. I’ve laid awake running through the pros and cons for more hours than I’d like to admit.”
“And?” A spark jumped in my chest that was snuffed out by her next words.
“I can’t. I picked my school because it’s the best of the best in my field. It has the most prestigious programs and distinguished professors and researchers. If I want to go anywhere in my career, I need to stay there.”
I sank back into the chair.
“It was worth a shot.”
She hugged me tight. “I know. Let’s go. We have to leave. As much as I want to miss the flight and have an excuse to stay a little longer, I can’t afford to.”
With a last look over the beach that held so many fond memories for the two of us, I nodded.
“Let’s do it.”
PRESENT
The door to the conference room opened. Dr. Kent walked in, eyes narrowed as he looked at Juliette and widening as they met my own.
“Professor, please sit,” Juliette said beside me.
He frowned. “Juliette, I’m afraid I don’t see what I’m doing here. You knew what the consequences would be if you ruined the study, and I will not go back on my word. You are a bright student and a hard worker, but the fact remains that you and your libido tanked the most important football concussion study ever to be approved.”
“Please, Dr. Kent,” I cut in. I could feel Juliette’s anger rising beside me, but her retort would be counterproductive. “Take a seat. I promise you that you’ll want to be here for this meeting.”
The door opened again.
“Ah, Mr. Reynolds, I presume,” I said. “I’ve heard so much about you. You must know who I am, of course?”
The suited lawyer looked suspiciously around the room. “Of course, Mr. King. What’s going on? Where’s Tony?”
I gestured to the remaining seat at the table. “Please, take a seat. Tony won’t be joining us, but he was gracious enough to arrange this meeting for me.”
The lawyer sat at the table, folding his hands before him.
“Let me come out and say it,” I began. “I want Dr. Kent’s concussion study reinstated. All of it, including the data. And since I know the team didn’t bother swapping out the equipment for the championship game, I want the data from that game and my injury included.”
Dr. Kent laughed. “Trust me, Travis, I want that as much as you do, but this snake and the league won’t change their mind with a simple request. It’s a lost cause.”
I looked at the researcher. “If the study is brought back, will you take Juliette back on board and put her on track to get her PhD?”
The man frowned and looked between us. “I would. She made a poor error in judgment, but I’m willing to look past that if the league rescinds its retraction of the study data and permissions and the publication ban. I know them, though, and all this is a waste of time. Just look at his face. He’s waiting for his chance to jump down your throat.”
No sooner had Dr. Kent finished talking than Mr. Reynolds spoke. “Mr. King, you don’t have any right to make these negotiations or ask the league to do anything related to the study. You had no part in the contract under discussion, and you are not affected by the results of the study ban. Your player contract stands alone and apart.”
The professor humphed in a way reminiscent of, “I told you so.”
I stared at the lawyer and leaned forward. It was a small table—my large frame drew threateningly close to his.
“You think I have no bargaining chips, but you’re wrong.”
Mr. Reynolds’ lips drew tight into a thin line. “The league’s mind is made up on this matter, Mr. King, and there’s nothing you can say or do that will change that. It’s over.”
I smacked my fist on the table. The whole thing jumped off the ground by a few inches, and the crash echoed around the room.
“It’s over when I say it’s over.”
Neither man was willing to speak into the silence that followed.
I leaned back into my chair and dropped the bomb I’d been sitting on.
“I’ve chosen to retire, and that will go one of two ways.”
Mr. Reynolds looked like someone had shot his cat.
“Consecutive concussions have already taken more of a toll on me than I thought possible. Dr. Kent’s study is necessary, and it’s a travesty that the league is more concerned about its profits than the health of its players.”
Juliette’s hand found mine under the table and squeezed it. We’d worked together on what phrasing was best.
“If the study data is released back to Dr. Kent, and he’s allowed to perform his analysis and publish the results, then I will retire quietly, citing injuries, other interests, and the wish to end my career at the top, even at such a young age.”
Mr. Reynolds cleared his throat. “And what’s the other option?”
“If the league doesn’t change its mind, then I will arrange interviews with every major news network in the country, going on a tour with one goal—to persuade Americans that the league is deceiving the country and their players, denying t
he science behind health risks and squashing any evidence to the contrary. I will be on every late night talk show, every morning show, every airwave until the message hits home. I will personally talk to as many Americans as possible to ask them to boycott anything to do with the league. I will make sure every single person in this country knows why I left the game.”
I smiled at the stricken look on the lawyer’s face. “How do you think the country will take it when the league’s reigning season MVP and playoffs MVP pulls every string at his disposal to hurt the league in every way he can?”
I spread my hands wide. “Which of the two scenarios do you really think will damage the league more?”
Chapter 25
~Juliette~
PAST
My flight left an hour before Cocky’s did.
The airport was small, and they departed from the same terminal, so we could go through security together and find a small table together for one last game of cards.
“I’m sorry I ruined your bet,” I said. “But I like to think you had more and better sex because of it.”
He pulled me close. “That is true. But it wasn’t the sex I enjoyed the most.”
All morning, my heart had alternated between skipping beats and speeding up as though I were sprinting.
“I’ll miss you. I think, for the rest of my life.”
His eyes were a clear blue.
“I know I will never be satisfied without you.”
Tears rose to my eyes, and I fought to keep them from spilling over.
“It’s time. They’ve probably already started boarding my flight.”
We walked the short distance to the gate hand-in-hand. The line was almost completely gone—I’d be the last passenger on the plane.
I put my arms around Cocky for what may be the final time of my life.
“I guess this is goodbye.”
He pulled me close, and we kissed deeply. It was the most bittersweet thing I’d ever tasted, but I couldn’t get enough.
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