Cuffs & Ballers: A Second Chance Sports Romance (Blitz)

by SJ Bishop

  "Oh God!" I cried out. I opened my eyes and saw a bright white aura surrounding Jax's taut golden skin. "Faster!"

  Jax fucked me hard and fast. His cock sank deeper into my hole. My pussy began to throb. I was so swollen inside that if I hadn't been so wet, Jax might not have been able to fit. His massive erection was already a tight squeeze. The friction between us was too explosive to stop now. I was a ticking time bomb about to go off.

  Jax rolled his hips forward once more, and this time the tremors that gripped my body wouldn't let go. They rolled through me like a thunderstorm. My mind went blank, and I let out a loud cry that could have rivaled the best porn movie out there. Jax's back muscles tightened. My hands dropped to his ass, grabbing the tight bronze skin and pushing it forward as he spilled into me. I relished in the heat from his orgasm as he filled me up.

  When it was over, he kissed me. His lips were warm and almost as wet as my pussy. I smiled against him and nuzzled his nose. He laid back on the mattress and closed his eyes, pulling me into the crook of his arm. A few minutes later, we were both asleep.

  27

  Jax

  Treena moaned softly next to me. I buried my head in her hair, inhaling her scent. She rolled over and opened her eyes.

  "Good morning," she purred.

  "Morning," I said softly back.

  "Want a shower?" she asked.

  "With you?" I teased her, making a face. "God no. Why would I want to do that?"

  She scrunched her brow and slapped my nose playfully before jumping naked out of bed. "Last one in has to make breakfast," she shouted over her shoulder.

  I scrambled out of bed, but she already had the water running.

  "Ha!" she said when I jumped in with her. "Beat you!" She let the water run over her head, soaking her hair. I picked up the shampoo.

  "Turn around."

  I began to lather her up, massaging her scalp as the hot water glistened over her bare skin. I rinsed her hair, unable to fight my growing erection. I pressed myself against her backside.

  "Jax," she said so softly that I almost couldn't hear her above the sound of the water. There was something in her voice that made me nervous. I stepped back, my erection shrinking. She turned around, her breasts pushing against my chest. Her shower was small. Even if we'd wanted distance, it was almost impossible in this confined space. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

  I exhaled a long breath. "For a minute, I thought you were gonna say last night was a huge mistake."

  "The only mistake was me pushing you away. I..." She shook her head, her eyes watery. "I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

  I pulled her into my arms, hugging her hard as the water beat down on us. Her mouth was moist and hot. The steam rose around us, enveloping us in its tropical cloud. Treena kissed my neck, and my erection resurfaced. My body was getting so worked up that I was surprised when my brain decided to jump in.

  "Wait a second," I said, pausing with my hand on her breast. My fingers absently rolled her nipple between them, wanting me to continue with what we'd just been doing. "What brought on this change? I mean... as much as I'd like to think I'm that good in bed, it can't just be last night."

  She hesitated. "It was something you said last night."

  I quickly wracked my brain, trying to remember everything I'd said and done. But everything except sex with Treena was a big blur. I'd started drinking early and hadn't stopped until I'd gotten to her apartment.

  "What did I say?" I asked, somewhat alarmed. Blackouts were always disconcerting. My head was starting to throb, and the reality of last night was setting in. I'd just blown my sober streak. Shit! Caden had already been planning a one-year sobriety celebration for me. A lump formed in the back of my throat when I realized I'd have to tell him the celebration was off.

  "You said that you were pretty sure Penny was having an affair with Mason."

  "That's right," I said. The excitement of showering with Treena had worn off. I pulled the shower curtain back and started drying off.

  "Well, that got me thinking. I realized that there was a lot to this case that I didn't know. Other suspects to consider." She paused, taking a breath. "You also said something else... about you and Emily."

  I straightened my back and handed her a towel. "Oh?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

  "Yes," she replied. I could see the cop wheels spinning in her head and sighed.

  "You're not gonna let this go, are you?" I asked. She shook her head. I expelled a breath. "What exactly did I say?"

  "That you slept with Emily to get even with Penny for screwing Mason."

  I stepped out of the bathroom back into Treena's bedroom. "That about sums it up," I said, grabbing my pants off the floor. Fucking other women was the last thing I wanted to talk about with Treena right now.

  "We are talking about the same Emily, right? Emily Hope. The officer investigating your case with me."

  I nodded.

  Treena threw her hands up in the air. "How could you not tell me this before?" she asked. I looked up to see her eyes wide. She was still naked. Water ran down her body in tiny rivulets. I wondered if this was some sort of diversion tactic. It was almost impossible to walk away from her when she was standing there looking like that.

  "I didn't think it mattered," I said.

  "You didn't think it mattered?" she cried out, exasperated. "Jax, how could it not matter? You fucked Emily!"

  I looked pointedly at her. "You're not serious right now, are you?"

  Her cheeks colored. "You and I are a different situation," she said.

  I lifted an eyebrow. "How so?"

  Her cheeks puffed out slightly. She looked like a chipmunk. A wickedly cute chipmunk.

  "Because I'm not Emily," she snapped. "Besides, you and I have a history." Her cheeks had turned a deep crimson, and for a second, I saw a jealous girlfriend instead of a homicide detective. "You and Emily don't have a history, do you? I mean... you weren't, like, serious with her or anything? Were you?"

  "Jeez, Treena. It was a long time ago. It was nothing like that, okay? I was..." I pulled my shirt over my head. Treena was finally getting dressed. "We were only together a few times, alright? It didn't mean anything. I was mad at Penny for fucking Mason, so I went out to a bar and found someone to fuck too."

  "You said it happened a few times," she persisted. She was starting to irritate me now.

  "Yes, a few times." I paused, and she took the opportunity to pounce. Her detective brain in full swing now.

  "There's more, isn't there? You're not telling me something."

  "It's nothing," I said, trying to get around her. She was blocking the doorway out of her room. Every time I stepped left, she stepped left. If I stepped right, she stepped right. Finally, I wrapped my hands around her waist, picked her up, and set her back down on the other side of me, away from the door. She squealed as I made a beeline for it.

  "Jax!" she shouted, running after me. I was out of her room and searching for my shoes now. I sat on the edge of her couch, tying the laces on one of my sneakers. The other one was still hiding. Treena dropped into my lap, straddling me. She lowered her mouth to mine and pressed it firmly against me. I resisted at first, but her tongue had a magical way of working my lips apart. Before I knew it, we were rolling around together on her couch. When I came up for air, she batted her lashes at me.

  "So, what else do I need to know about you and Emily?" she asked. I couldn't help laughing.

  "You are devious, do you know that?"

  "Whatever it takes to get the job done."

  I sighed. "Okay. Emily was crazy about me. I didn't realize it at first. I thought we were just having fun. Then she started talking about marriage and kids and all this stuff. I wasn't even divorced from Penny yet. So I ended things."

  "How'd she take it?"

  "Not well," I admitted.

  She bit her lower lip, thinking. "I've gotta be at work soon," she said. "I need time to process this. Are you gonna be... um, okay?
"

  "You mean the drinking?" She nodded, still biting her lip. "Yeah. I think so." Though I had to admit, I wasn't at all certain. My mind was already trying to rationalize my picking up a fresh bottle of something on my way home. It had been a long time since I'd had any whiskey. "I'll call Caden," I told her.

  Satisfied, she went to the window and looked out. "You weren't followed here last night, were you? By reporters?"

  "I don't think so. I have a vague recollection of taking a bus here, hiding my bottle in a paper bag like a wino. I doubt any reporters would have been looking for me at a bus stop. And at that time of night, no one on a New York bus is gonna care who I am."

  "Do you need a ride home?" she asked.

  "Nah. I'll call a cab."

  I walked Treena to her car and kissed her goodbye just as the cab was pulling up. Once inside the car, I dialed Caden. His gruff voice answered after two rings.

  "Hey," I said.

  "Hey."

  We sat on the phone in silence for what felt like a full minute before I could find the words I needed. "I'm sorry. You were right. I'm out of control. I... I need help."

  Caden took a deep breath and let it out. "Thank God. I was worried you might not come to your senses until it was too late. I'll be over as soon as I can. Hang tight until then." He paused. "And Jax, don't do anything stupid."

  28

  Treena

  I stood outside Captain Murphy's door.

  "Open!" he called.

  I turned the knob and entered his mid-size office. He was sitting behind his massive desk; a picture of his daughter hung on the wall behind him. His head was bent low looking at some papers. He glanced up when I came in.

  "Walker," he barked. "What is it?" He didn't mince words.

  "Captain," I said, closing the door. I'd thought carefully about just how to approach him. I knew I couldn't go to Anderson with my suspicions. He was screwing my new main suspect in Penny's murder. But that didn't mean it would go over much better with Captain Murphy. Still, I had no one else to turn to just now.

  "Captain," I repeated. I clasped my hands together to hide the shaking. "New evidence has come to light in the Jax Ryder case."

  That got his attention. His head snapped up. "Did the DNA results come back?"

  "No, not yet."

  "Then what is it?" he asked, returning to his papers. For someone who was supposed to be in charge of an entire police department, he seemed rather disinterested in what I had to say.

  "Well, sir, it's a little delicate. It involves an officer."

  This time when his head snapped up, his body came with him. He rose from his chair, and I felt myself wanting to inch away from him. I forced my feet to stay planted where they were.

  "Explain yourself," Captain Murphy said. "What officer? Someone in this department?"

  I nodded. "Emily Hope."

  He scoffed, tossing the pen he was still holding onto the desk. "Emily Hope is a damned fine officer."

  "Yes, but I've become aware of a previous relationship she had with Jax Ryder. One that she failed to make me aware of when starting this investigation." My stomach churned slightly. I knew it was hypocritical of me to rat Emily out for not mentioning her relationship with Jax, but I had to make Captain Murphy understand the seriousness of this information.

  "You’d better watch yourself, Detective," Captain Murphy said. His eyes had turned to black slits, and his mouth was curled up in a grimace.

  "Sir, my suspicions are—"

  "You stop right there, Walker. I don't give a good goddamn fuck about suspicions. Not when it comes to pointing the finger at another cop. Before you start accusing people in your own department of committing a crime, you better damned well have something more than suspicion to back it up with. You don't come into this office again without hard evidence. Do you understand that?"

  "But, sir—"

  He grabbed a book off his desk and smacked it against the desktop, hard enough to rattle the oak and knock over an empty coffee cup. "You DO NOT mess with another cop unless you're sure you're right, you got that, Detective Walker?" He spat my name from his mouth like it left a bad taste there.

  "Got it, sir," I said, wishing now that I'd never come in here.

  "Officer Hope has a lot of friends in the department. She's a good person and an even better cop, so you watch what you say about her."

  I opened my mouth to speak, my question forming at the back of my throat even as my brain pled with me to stop. "If Officer Hope is so such a great cop and has so many friends, then why hasn't she made detective yet?"

  "Officer Hope is exactly where her friends want her, and if you want to have a future in this department, you'll drop this matter. Now." He took his seat and resumed leaning over his desk at whatever paperwork was currently consuming his time. I took that as my dismissal.

  I left the captain's office shaken, but I couldn't let anyone see that. Show no weakness. I saw Anderson through the glass door of the break room pouring a fresh cup of coffee. Instead of turning tail and running, I rolled my shoulders back and held my head high. I plastered a smile on my face that I wasn't feeling and approached him with what I hoped was a friendly manner.

  "Hi," I said, grabbing an empty mug. He looked up at me and blinked.

  "Hello," he replied.

  I watched as he held the sugar pourer over his mug for a full thirty seconds. He must've dumped about a half cup of sugar into his mug. The man had a serious sweet tooth. "Can I grab some of that?" I asked, reaching my hand out for the sugar.

  He pushed the container toward me, and I filled my own mug. "Maybe I should make a mug for Emily too. How does she like it?" I asked him, feigning innocence with the question. Really, I was just waiting for the right opportunity to question him. I knew I couldn't tell Anderson my suspicions, but maybe I could get some answers out of him without him knowing I was asking any questions.

  "How should I know?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

  "Oh, my bad. I thought you and Emily were pretty close. That's all."

  "What makes you think that?"

  "Just something she said," I shrugged. "About an old boyfriend who she is still hung up on." Anderson's face turned crimson. The creamer that he'd been holding in his hand burst, spraying his face with white.

  "She didn't say that," he muttered, looking at me with darkening eyes.

  Suddenly it occurred to me that Emily might not be my only new suspect.

  "Sure she did. Didn't she recently break up with someone? I thought it might be you, but I guess I was mistaken."

  Anderson's eyes were two pools of black.

  "Sorry if I upset you," I continued. "I guess it must've been a bad break up, huh? I don't suppose you know—"

  "Why are you asking so many questions about Emily?" he demanded.

  "I was just making conversation," I replied. "You and I got off on the wrong foot when I started. I thought maybe—"

  "Well, stop. Whatever it is you're thinking or doing. Just stop." He brushed past me, leaving his coffee on the counter. I watched him stop at Emily's desk. Her head snapped toward me, and I wanted to crawl into a hole. Shit. I was an idiot. What if Captain Murphy said something to Anderson now, too? I was making more enemies here than friends.

  Emily stomped into the break room and shut the door. "Why are you asking Keith about me?" she said. "What's this crap about an old boyfriend?"

  "I was just trying to get to know him better," I said. "Both of you." She stared hard at me.

  "You know about me and Jax, don't you?"

  There was no point in denying it. "Yes. I do."

  "Well, unless you want me to start spouting off about the two of you, I'd keep my mouth shut." Her face was flushed, and I could see droplets of spittle flying out of her mouth. I stepped back so they wouldn't hit me, and suddenly, the world started to spin.

  "Treena?" Emily asked. "Treena?"

  But it was too late. The world was spinning, and there was nothing I could do t
o stop it. I just hoped I didn't crack a tooth when I hit the floor. Then the lights went out, and I stopped thinking altogether.

  29

  Jax

  I opened my front door, surprised to see Coach standing there. "Coach Allen," I said.

  "You can call me Greg," he told me as I swung the door wide for him. He stepped into my house and shook off his jacket. "Were you expecting someone else?" he asked when he registered my perplexed expression.

  "Caden Scott," I told him. "He said he'd drop by today."

  "From the New England Patriots?"

  "The one and the same."

  "I forgot the two of you were friends. It's good you've got a support system around you right now. That's one of the things that brings me here, actually."

  We made our way into my living room. I gave Coach the comfy sofa and took the chair opposite him.

  "I just wanted to check up on you," he said after I'd offered him something to drink. He took a bottle of water. "See how you're holding up."

  "Thanks, Coach, I appreciate that."

  "I told you, when we're not on the field, you can call me Greg."

  I shook my head, smiling. "I don't think I can. 'Coach' is sort of ingrained into me, you know?"

  He smiled and took a sip of his water. "Whatever works for you then. So tell me, how's it going? Any progress on your case?"

  "My lawyer's working round the clock. From the little he's told me, he's hired some private investigators to look into things. I don't think Geoffrey trusts the cops to do their job."

  Coach looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean 'from the little he's told you?' Doesn't he tell you everything? I'm pretty sure if it were me on trial, I'd want details. Does he even have any other suspects right now that they can pin Penny's murder on?" He cringed. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I just meant, you know, is there anyone else he feels might have done it?"