by Abbi Hemp
“You must be Heidi.”
“I am.”
“Jamie’s had good things to say about you. Thanks for coming to dinner on such short notice.” She turned to me. “Tony here never comes and sees us anymore.”
“I’ve been busy. Football isn’t easy.” I glanced into the dining room. “Where’s Dad at?”
“He’s in the living room reading on that Kindle thingie you bought for him.”
“Great. I thought he would enjoy it.”
“You two are spending the night, right?” Mom asked while looking at Heidi.
My future wife looked in my direction.
“I think Heidi has to go back tonight,” I said.
“No, it’s fine. We can stay.”
“Great,” Mom said before I could say anything else. “It’s settled. You two can have his old room.”
“Let me introduce you to my father,” I said, nodding toward the doorway.
As Heidi walked over, Jamie and Mom began talking about something. We headed into the living room where we found my father in his brown recliner with more duct tape showing than leather.
“Hey, Dad,” I said as we stopped to the left of him.
“Tony,” he said, setting his Kindle in his lap. “Who is this beauty you’ve brought with you?”
Heidi turned on the charm, smiling and offering her hand to my father. He made a big production of kissing the back of her hand.
“Still reading those romance books, huh?” I teased him.
“Don’t you worry about what I’m reading, boy.”
I grinned. The old man had his flaws, but I loved him.
“You must be Heidi.”
“I am.”
Dad stood, offering his hand.
“Nice to meet you. Maybe you’ll be the one to make my son a respectable man.”
“About that, Dad…”
“We’re getting married,” Heidi blurted out.
My father nodded his head with no expression.
“That’s good. I’m going to finish this book before dinner. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Come on, Heidi. I’ll take you upstairs and show you my room.”
She smiled.
“Talk about feeling like a teenager again,” she whispered on our way upstairs.
I chuckled, satisfied we were making the right choice. No other two people on the planet were as well made for each other as us.
The rest of the evening went better than expected. We paid Rummy after dinner. Dad won, but Heidi came in a very close second.
By the time we retired upstairs to my room, I knew our life would keep getting better even if we’d lost so much money.
“You still awake?” she asked next to me in the bed.
“Twice in a day?” I asked, rolling over to face her.
“No, but I’ve been thinking…”
Her voice trailed off.
“Yeah?”
She stared into my eyes, our faces inches away from each other.
“Thanks for sharing your family with me.”
“Our family,” I corrected.
We kissed. Our lips met and bliss followed.
THIRTY-FIVE
Heidi
Even after having dinner with Tony’s parents, I didn’t feel as safe or in control as I had before losing basically all the money I’d won in the lottery.
Tony had proposed to me before we had lost the money. Would he change his mind? Could I trust him to take care of me? That wasn’t his job.
I took a deep breath and stared across the huge living room of my nearly empty house. With the money gone, I would have to sell and hope I didn’t lose much.
What was I thinking? No matter what I did, I would lose. The money and my financial security were both gone. There was nothing I could do about it.
Hopelessness took hold as I sat on the expensive leather couch I’d bought for my new home. It would have to be sold too. And I damn sure wouldn’t get much.
I fought back the tears as I thought about my next move. Before I lost it completely, I got my phone and called Tony. He answered on the third ring.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, it’s me. You got a minute?”
“Not really. It’s crazy here.”
“Okay…”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Can I come see you? I need a family right now.”
“Yeah, come down to the stadium. You should be able to find me right away.”
“I’m on my way.”
“See you soon. Love you.”
He ended the call before I could say anything else, but it was okay. Going to see him would help break me out of my funk. Seeing him at the stadium would remind me of how great of a man I’d found.
On the drive downtown, I played the radio loud to drown out my self-doubts and fears. Would losing my fancy car make that much of a difference in my life? Could I go on without money in the bank?
By the time I reached the stadium, I’d worked myself up again. Nearly in tears, I approached the player’s entrance to the stadium. Before I got to the door, I saw Jessica, dressed in a mini-skirt, standing nearby.
She ducked behind a car, but I’d seen her. I walked over, my Starter jacket whipping in the wind. When I reached where she’d dropped down, I saw her crouched on the cement and leaning against the fender.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“You didn’t see me here, okay? I don’t want to start any trouble.”
My brow furrowed, I stared at her, wondering what to do or say.
“Are you okay?” I asked, offering my hand.
She took it and got to her feet, looking around the parking lot.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ugly Stan. He’s probably watching right now.”
“He’s here? At the stadium?”
“Yeah. He’s up in his private suite, I think. Please don’t say you saw me, okay? I’m supposed to be inside the stadium, but I got locked out. He’s going to be pissed.”
She sobbed, still glancing around defensively.
“It’s okay,” I said, putting my hand on her arm to calm her down.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because,” she snapped. “Those gifts you got me aren’t gonna cut it. I need my money too.”
“You didn’t hear?” I asked.
“Hear what?”
I frowned.
“All my money is gone.”
“What?”
Her eyes widened.
“Yeah. Tony and I invested our money together, but the guy turned out to a con artist.”
“Baby girl…”
She put her arms around me and squeezed tightly.
“I’m fine,” I said, patting her back. “Tony proposed to me. We’re getting married.”
“Congratulations,” she said, full of joy.
Her smile soon faded as I heard Ugly Stan’s voice call out, “Hey, whore. Come here already.”
My anger boiled over at the sound of his voice. I saw him approaching and walked over, ready to read him the riot act for being at the stadium with his shady shit.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“None of your damned business, sweetheart.”
He stepped to the side, but I blocked his path.
“You better get out of my way and let me punish my whore,” he growled, looking past me.
“That’s not going to happen,” I said.
“Look, bitch…”
In the distance, I saw a news crew making their way toward one of the stadium entrances.
“Over here,” I called out, waving my arms. “You gotta see this pimp at the stadium!”
“Shut up,” Ugly Stan hissed, looking over his shoulder.
A bearded man carrying a tripod with a large television camera attached looked over.
“You heard me,” I shouted. “Modern day pimping over here. I need help.”
The man moved toward us.
“Fucking bitch,” Ugly Stan said as he lifted his arm.
When he slapped me across the face, it didn’t register at first.
Had he really just assaulted me? With witnesses?
“Help,” I screamed. “He’s attacking me.”
The man with the camera and two women with him rushed over.
Ugly Stan took a step, but I kicked his foot to the left, tripping him.
He fell to the cement, cursing like a drunken sailor who spends his entire paycheck in a night.
“What’s going on over here?” the man with the camera asked.
“He attacked me,” I said, adding. “He’s running escorts out of the stadium.”
Tony might be upset for me bringing bad publicity to the team, but something had to be said to protect Jessica and the other women like her. I might have been one of them.
“She’s fucking lying,” Ugly Stan said, standing up.
The cameraman had his equipment going, pointing it at the aging strip club owner.
“His name is Ugly Stan,” I said.
“And who are you?” he asked, pointing the camera in my direction.
“Heidi Flannagan. Soon to be Heidi Cassano.”
“Wait, you’re marrying Tony Cassano?” one of the women asked, stepping forward.
“You fucking bitch,” Ugly Stan said, lunging for me.
I stepped aside. He lost his balance and tumbled to the cement again.
Tony walked up as Ugly Stan got to his feet, fuming more than ever.
“What’s going on out here?” he asked, stopping next to me.
“Is the news true?” the woman asked, motioning for the cameraman to capture the moment.
“What news?” he asked.
“I’m simply a season ticket holder,” Ugly Stan said, pushing his way in front of Tony.
“Watch it, man,” Tony said.
“Go talk to Harris. He’ll tell you what’s up.” Ugly Stan turned to the female reporter who had been doing the talking. “As I was saying…”
“It’s true,” Jessica interrupted, walking forward. “He hired me to sell my body here at the stadium. I’m not proud of it, but there’s no jobs. I got to feed myself.”
“You better shut-up,” Ugly Stan said, reaching back to hit her.
Tony grabbed his arm, which set the strip owner club off.
He growled and made the mistake of trying to wrestle Tony.
My fiancé parried then counterattacked, sending the older man to the ground.
“You getting this?” the reporter asked gleefully.
“Can we cut the camera off?” I asked.
“Are you really his fiancé or one of the escorts?”
“She’s my fiancé,” Tony shouted as he came to my defense. “You need to watch your mouth around her. Get it?”
“Are you threatening the press? There have been many rumors and speculation about your temper. Are you really the person behind this tail-for-sale at the stadium?”
Tony reached out and placed his palm over the camera lens, pushing it down.
“Come on, Heidi. We’re going inside.”
“What about Jessica?” I asked as Tony walked away.
“Bring her with you.”
I grabbed Jessica’s hand and double-stepped after Tony. We caught up to him before getting to the player’s entrance. The cameraman and two other journalists followed us.
They were stopped by the steel door slamming shut.
“I’m sorry,” Jessica said, sobbing.
Tony frowned, shaking his head as he looked at me holding her.
“I’m sorry too,” I said. “When I started talking, I thought it would be good to change the subject to us getting married, something good instead of whatever Ugly Stan was doing.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tony said. “It’s not your fault. Coach isn’t going to like it, but there’s nothing we can do to change the past.”
“I should take her to my house. Do you think it’s safe?”
“Wait a bit,” he said. “I’d feel safer if you slept at my house tonight.”
“And what about Jessica?”
“I have that mother-in-law suite.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
He nodded confidently, so calm and in control. It was one of the many reasons I loved him.
“We need to go talk to Coach and let him know what Harris was up to with that Ugly Stan character. Are you willing to tell the truth?”
Jessica nodded, sniffling as her tears dried up.
“Let’s go,” Tony said.
Jessica and I followed him down a hallway. He stopped and turned abruptly.
“You know what? Let’s not talk to him right now. He’s been in a mood all day. I’ll take you to get your clothes and stuff then we’ll go back to my place and call it a night.”
“Thank you so much,” Jessica said.
“Good plan. I love you, Tony.”
He gave me a quick peck on the lips.
“Let’s get going.”
I didn’t care why he’d changed his mind about talking to his coach. After all the craziness and my roller-coaster of emotions, I looked forward to going to his house and relaxing.
THIRTY-SIX
Heidi
Tony walked out of the door leading to the mother-in-law suite connected to the back of the house.
He stopped in front of me and put his strong, firm hands on my waist in the way I loved.
“Thanks for doing this for her,” I said.
“She’s your family from what you’ve told me.”
I took a deep breath. He kissed me.
“Is she okay?”
He shrugged.
“She’s your friend, but I guess?”
“I should check on her.”
“She said she’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I’m taking you upstairs.”
“Another great plan.”
“I’m the master of plans.”
“You sure are.”
I giggled, so in love with him.
We made our way to his bedroom. I still had some clothes at my house, but we’d moved a lot of them to his walk-in closet. I’d teased him about it only being half-full of clothes.
“I feel like such an idiot,” I said after he shut the door to the bedroom.
“You’re not an idiot,” he said, walking over to the bed and sitting down.
“I’m going to lose so much money on my house.”
“Come here.”
He patted the mattress next to him.
I slowly walked over, kicking off my shoes.
“Your carpet is so soft.”
“Something else is ready to get hard.”
“You are a horny teenager,” I teased, stopping between his legs.
I put my hands on his thighs, rubbing them, loving the firmness and strength.
“This has been a crazy day,” he said.
“Do you think your coach is going to be upset when he finds out?”
“Maybe he won’t find out. I mean, were those really journalists or just some bloggers or something?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky for once.”
“I feel lucky right now.”
He pulled me closer, resting his head against my chest. I ran my fingers through his hair. When he slipped a hand under my shirt, I inhaled sharply.
I took the shirt off while standing in front of him. He watched intently as the rest of my clothes came off. We didn’t break eye contact the entire time.
“You have too many clothes on,” I said.
As he stood, I stepped back, watching as he undressed.
“Slower. More sensual.”
He grinned then dropped his jeans to the floor and stepped out of them.
I moved forward, wrapping my arms around his hot, hard body.
My head on his chest, he stroked my back. I felt safe.
And loved. So loved for once in my life.<
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I pulled back and stared into his eyes.
We kissed. His lips were so soft.
And wet. Like me. Oh, my.
His hands on my ass, cupping.
The feeling of his skin against mine.
All sense of time stopped as our tongues met.
He bent and took a nipple in his mouth, sucking gently.
I moved to the bed, sitting down on the edge.
After joining me, I crawled toward the center.
More kisses and moans getting more real.
His hands are all over me. I am safe.
He is my home. No more alone.
I flip on my back, and he crawls between my legs.
The feel of his weight on me made me wetter.
He slipped his condom covered cock in me.
Fast. Deep. Eyes looking into mine.
I love this man. So much.
His touch and thrusts sped up.
Oh, the intensity of his love.
In and out, his perfectly curved cock fills me, completes me, brings me to the edge.
His piercing hazel eyes are staring into mine, focused like laser beams. I feel the heat.
The sheets are wet, moist with our love, but I do not care in that moment. Only him.
His thrusts split me open, bring me to heights of pleasure I’ve not felt before.
I am an open door he comes through with wild and reckless abandon.
He is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. Until we’re old.
The notion of growing old and the rest of life’s ridiculousness are all thrown out the window in my mind as our two bodies merge into one momentarily. So good.
He fucks me so good, and I love it. The humor and compassion are all extras, part of the complete package. Tony was the man of my dreams in reality.
I stared into his eyes as he switched up his angle of entry, driving me crazy. My thoughts flew away. He was inside me. That was all that mattered.
My orgasm crept up, leaving me blissfully unaware until the friction of his cock sliding in and out took me over the edge. I cried out.
His face changed, features even more firm and pronounced, as he groaned a few seconds after me. I felt him coming. I saw it too.
He kissed me then pulled out and collapsed next to my body on the bed. I rolled on my side and tossed my arm over his waist, those perfectly proportioned abs of steel.
