THE MAN. THE GAME. THE BABY. (A Knight Brothers Novel) (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)

by London Casey

  “You’re calling me about that?”

  “Would you rather me in jail?”

  “I’ll admit, it was nice to see you in jail.”

  “The thing is… I always get out. I always get my way.”

  “Not this time,” Willow said. “I tried to quit once and Ted told me no. But this is going to be bad. I can’t do it anymore, Roman. I have no idea who you are and I can’t help you because of that. I’m sorry I didn’t answer my phone. I haven’t been feeling well and I was taking a bath.”

  “You naked in water…”

  “To answer your question, Roman, no. I don’t like the date guy. Okay? I asked him out so he would be a distraction from you. But you fucked that up for me. And I’m pretty sure my job is going to be fucked up too.”

  “That’s all I needed to hear.”

  I hung up on Willow.

  I know, it probably pissed her off. Hell, maybe she cried even. That was fine.

  I had something in mind for her.

  I had calls to make. Plans to arrange.

  One thing about me, I knew how to be strategic. When I’m at the line and I call a play, it doesn’t always go like in practice. Shit happens. You need to adapt and do it fast. When me and a receiver can hook up without talking, they call it chemistry. I call it skill. It’s me knowing what the receiver is capable of and how I can bring it out in them.

  Willow wasn’t a football player. She was a beautiful woman. She was as hidden as me.

  She wanted a date? She wanted me to open?

  “Be careful what you wish for, sweetie… I’ll change your life forever…”

  (Willow)

  My phone rang right after I threw up.

  Again.

  Not my phone ringing, but my stomach issues.

  It was getting pretty bad now. I kept a garbage can next to my bed. And each time I threw up, I looked to the nightstand and wondered about the pregnancy test. Scarlett hadn’t brought it up to me but I saw it in her eyes. The more I didn’t talk about it the more it probably proved to her that I might have a situation going on. I stopped taking my pill too, because… whatever. I still hadn’t gotten my period. I didn’t want to look at a calendar and I didn’t want to believe it had been weeks since my period.

  Hearing Roman’s voice quickly soothed me, telling me that my issues were still stress related. I had nowhere to turn to. If Jay decided to fire me, I would lose my job, lose Roman, and I would be back to square one in life. Yeah, Scarlett wouldn’t toss me out of the apartment and I loved her for that. But I was used to taking care of myself. Not relying on others. And definitely not trying to lean against a man. And of all men, fucking Roman Knight. The worst of the worst. Yet in some ways he was the best of the best.

  I was on the phone with him for two minutes before he hung up on me. Right after I told him I didn’t like Trevor and that Trevor was merely a distraction from him. Again, I offered a little sliver of myself and he took advantage of it.

  My mind raced back to that day in the locker room. Taking off my skirt, climbing up on his beautiful cock, and riding him. That’s when I started to feel a connection. I had attempted to sever the connection but Roman pursued it. I wasn’t sure what sick game he was playing, but it was working.

  I was sick.

  I touched my stomach and groaned.

  I had been up too late and slept in too much.

  Scarlett knocked on the door and came into my room. She had paint on her hands, streaks on her cheeks like a warrior ready for battle, and her hair was a mess.

  “Coffee?” she asked.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Oh, no. You threw up again.”

  “Yeah. I talked to Roman. He has that effect on me.”

  “Or maybe…”

  “Coffee,” I said.

  Scarlett didn’t leave the room. She walked to my bed and sat down.

  “I don’t know what you’re going through,” she said. “Whatever it is, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine the pressure of work and dealing with a guy like Roman. But something tells me that you’re getting your own out of it.”

  I looked at Scarlett and opened my mouth.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “I’d do the same. I’ve done the same. My goodness… you put me in a room with Roman alone and I’d be naked in a minute.”

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  Scarlett pointed to the nightstand. “But if there is something going on, you need to know. For your health. And maybe the health of…”

  “Don’t say it,” I whispered. “I’ll figure it out. I could use that coffee though.”

  “Okay,” Scarlett said.

  She got to the door and I yelled out, “This is all just stress, Scarlett.”

  She smiled at me. “You keep telling yourself that, Willow.”

  It was stress. Nothing but stress. My feelings for Roman were out of control. It was like a fantasy thing. Like falling for a singer or something and knowing he’s unattainable. This would be over soon.

  There would be nothing but a memory left. And maybe a baby.

  I took the rest of the day off. I hadn’t heard from anyone and when I tried to call Ted, he told me everything was quiet and that he was busy. I looked up all the files I could on Roman and saw the massive case that had been built against him. From a legal perspective, it didn’t matter. He did dumb shit and got out of it. His money was more powerful than the justice system. Big shock. But from a professional level… it looked bad.

  Maybe I could make a deal with him. If he stayed on the practice field and didn’t do anything else, I’d stand there naked.

  It made me laugh, as though I were actually beautiful. The women he could have. The women he could buy. It was like a menu for Roman. Anything he wanted was his. I was merely just another piece of whatever puzzle he was trying to build.

  I ended up on the edge of my bed, wearing jeans and a hoodie, just staring at the nightstand. Yeah, I had done as much thinking as I could with all this. I opened the drawer and grabbed the pregnancy test. I slipped it into my hoodie pocket and snuck out of my room as though I was a teenager living at home. I just didn’t want to give Scarlett the satisfaction of seeing me listening to her.

  In the bathroom I opened the test and did what I had to do. Hovering over the toilet, watching to make sure I did everything right. What a fucking situation to be in. Because of Roman. Because I was supposed to distract him and keep him out of trouble. Which I did. For the most part.

  When I finished I put the test on the bathroom sink and watched it.

  Nothing happened.

  Doesn’t it take a few minutes?

  Yeah, that’s right.

  Staring was only going to drive me crazy.

  I stood in the doorway to the bathroom and chewed on my bottom lip.

  In my mind I started to count the seconds.

  For the last half minute, I counted down. Yeah, I was probably early, but whatever. There had to be something there to see soon.

  Five… four… three… two… one…

  A pounding at the front door made me jump.

  Scarlett climbed off the couch and went to the door. She looked into the peephole.

  “No way,” she said.

  “What?” I asked.

  Scarlett opened the door and backed up. She looked at me. “I think this is for you.”

  Roman stood there, holding a single red rose.

  I was in complete shock for a few seconds. He oozed sex and looked so rough and bad standing there in a t-shirt and jeans. We stared at each other from our distance. I stepped back into the bathroom and then saw Scarlett appear.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  I reached back and grabbed the pregnancy test from the sink and kept it behind my back.

  “Nothing. I didn’t know he was coming. I look like shit.”

  “First, you never look like shit,” Scarlett said. “Second, you should talk to him. Figure out whatever this all is.”

  I no
dded. “Give us some privacy?”

  “Sure, but if he ends up naked, I’m coming to see.”

  I slowly opened the top drawer under the sink and dropped the pregnancy test there. I managed to do it without calling attention to myself.

  Scarlett went into her room and I walked to the front door.

  “Do you give all your lawyers a rose?” I asked.

  “No, just really fat checks,” he said. “This is only for you, sweetie.”

  I took the rose. “Is this an apology?”

  “No. Not at all. You’re a lawyer. You’re my lawyer. You’re getting paid a ton of money to keep my ass out of jail.”

  “Which I did,” I said. “Since you’re free to bother me right now.”

  “More than bother you. I’m stealing you.”

  He was lightening fast, grabbed my waist and pulling me out of the apartment. My body collided with his. His rock hard muscles set me on fire. His grip was tight on my waist and I stared up at him.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  “I ruined your date on purpose,” Roman admitted. “The second I heard you were out with someone, I felt my head ready to explode. I wanted to hurt someone. Not you, sweetie. But I know that if you ever gave yourself to someone else, it wouldn’t be the same. You’ll never have another person who can do what I can.”

  “Oh, I think there are plenty of people out there who can cost me my job,” I said with grin.

  Roman touched my cheek. “Cute. You ready to go?”

  “Go? Are you kidding me?”

  “No. Car’s outside. We’re leaving right now.”

  “For what?”

  Roman brushed his lips against mine. We were crossing barriers again. I was letting him. I wanted him.

  “I’m going to show you what it’s like to have a real date,” he whispered to me.

  Before I could talk, he kissed me… and in Roman style, it was the kind of kiss you’d save for the end of a date, but he did it at the beginning.

  (Roman)

  A date?

  I didn’t do that shit. My version of a date was a woman on my bed, ass in the air, hands curled around the sheets, begging for more. If she was good enough she could spend the night. If she was really good, I’d have her hang around the next morning and show her the shower, a cup of coffee, and then the door.

  Willow was different. I told myself I owed her something greater.

  So this was it.

  A few calls and a few favors got me everything I needed.

  I drove to a little Italian place. A little bit of a hidden gem in the city, not really big enough to accommodate its popularity, meaning it was fully booked all the time. But I swung my muscles a little and made sure not only did I get a spot for me and Willow…

  “Here we are,” I said.

  “It looks closed,” she said.

  “Exactly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I shut it down. For you.”

  “You shut this place down? Isn’t it booked up for months?”

  “I’m Roman,” I whispered. “I always get what I want.”

  The look on her face right then and there made it all worth it. This was definitely a new thing for me but I never backed down from a challenge. The challenge was not only getting Willow closer to me but also letting myself get closer to her.

  I held her hand as we walked into the restaurant. A man waited for us and was quick to shut the door, lock it, and guard the door. The restaurant was empty and I let Willow pick any table she wanted. She picked a corner booth, which for some reason seemed to fit her personality.

  The owner of the place, Anthony, came to the table to greet us.

  “Mr. Knight.”

  “Roman,” I said.

  “Roman.”

  “This is Willow,” I said.

  “The beautiful Willow,” Anthony said. “Anything you want, we will freshly prepare it.”

  “How much did you pay for this?” Willow asked me.

  “It cost less than my legal fees,” I said with a grin. “What do you want to eat, sweetie?”

  “Is it wrong to just want pizza?”

  “No,” I said. “This is your night.”

  “Our pizza is carefully crafted and baked the way pizza was meant to be baked. We first…”

  “Anthony,” I said. “Tell your chef to make the best damn pizza of his life. Bring us a bottle of something and don’t talk to us for the rest of the night.”

  I hated to be a dick, but I wasn’t in the mood to be sold anything else. The ungodly money I had spent to do this granted me that.

  “This is insane,” Willow said. “I look like hell.”

  “You look beautiful.”

  Willow pulled her hands from the table. “So what is this? I mean, the gesture is romantic as anything, but what is it? One second you’re ready to cut me out of your life and now this? And all because I went on a date?”

  “I’m not going to lose you.”

  “Lose me? Who said you had me?”

  I leaned forward. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve had you from the moment we’ve met.”

  “That’s confident.”

  “That’s the truth.”

  Willow then leaned forward. She tried to be defiant and it only made her more stunning.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Roman. I was paid to let you act like that. So your focus would be on me.”

  “Wow. Well, then you’re the most expensive lady of the night I’ve ever had.”

  Her eyes went wide. I goddamn knew I was crossing the line.

  She looked around the table. Either for a glass of water to throw in my face or maybe a knife to stab me with.

  “I hate you,” she said.

  “Is this how you act on all your dates? No wonder you’re single.”

  Willow gasped. “Fuck you.”

  She slid out of the booth. I managed to grab her. “Hey. You’re not leaving.”

  “I’m going to the women’s room.”

  “Going to put on some makeup?”

  “Going to convince myself in the mirror to quit and move out of state. To get away from you.”

  She then hurried away.

  I watched her. Her ass tight against her jeans, hopping left to right, making my dick throb.

  To get away from you.

  Get away from me?

  There was no getting away from me.

  I grabbed the table and pulled myself from the booth.

  I looked at the restrooms and grinned.

  Willow had made a big mistake. Tempting me and then ending up in the only place where we were in private in the restaurant.

  What the fuck did she think I was going to do next?

  (Willow)

  What the fuck am I doing here?

  Roman was Roman. There would never be anything else but that. He paid to have a normally busy restaurant shut down so he could take me out. Never just a normal date, right? He had to go crazy with it. He oozed with romance and a lingering jealousy that I had gone out with someone else. All of it turned me on but scared me too because of what it all meant.

  I was falling for him bad. I was pretty sure I loved him.

  If he felt the same for me…

  I heard the door squeak as it opened.

  I stood and cleared my throat, acting as though the restaurant had other patrons and some other woman had come into the bathroom.

  It was just me and Roman though.

  By the time my mind processed that, Roman was already standing behind me.

  Towering over me, his chiseled face, intense eyes, everything about him screaming for me and tempting my deepest desires.

  “This is the women’s room,” I said.

  His hands reached out and touched my waist. “I don’t give a fuck.”

  He slid around and opened my jeans. I grabbed for the edge of the long sink and felt the heat rush to my face and between my thighs. His right hand cut down into my panties, touching my soft
skin. His left hand moved up my hoodie and tank top until he cupped my breast. Forcing me to stand tall, I leaned against him and watched his hand in the reflection of the mirror.

  When his fingertips touched me, I jumped.

  “Easy,” he whispered. “Easy.”

  I put my head back and turned, smelling his skin. “Roman…”

  That’s when he put his mouth to mine. I didn’t need to finish my sentence, he just knew what I needed. I reached up and back, touching his face and hair.

  His fingertips were against me, opening my sex, thrusting into me. My legs instantly tensed from the pressure. His two fingers were thicker than most other guys I had been with. He eased himself deep and then curled, twisting his fingers, hitting a deep, sensitive area.

  I whimpered as his tongue explored my mouth. I had been broken open again, my wetness gushing freely.

  As his fingers exited me, he pressed them against my sensitive clit. He twisted his fingers, just once, and I felt myself already beginning to mount with climax.

  “Fuck,” I groaned.

  “That’s next,” Roman said.

  His hands then moved fast, stripping my jeans and panties down to my knees. I leaned forward a little and thrust back at him, feeling his fingers touch my ass and cut between my cheeks, down and around, gently massaging my pussy, keeping me ready and teetering on the brink of orgasm.

  I gritted my teeth and took a shaky breath.

  I wanted to scream.

  I wanted to fucking scream his name.

  I heard the sound of his zipper come undone and shuddered.

  He was going to fuck me right here in the bathroom.

  As though he could read my mine he nodded.

  His hand moved from between my legs to my left hip. He grabbed me and pulled, lining his cock up to me. His hand then slid around and he touched my clit again. I groaned and felt myself unable to hold back.

  The second his cock started to force its way into me, I reached climax. He wasn’t even halfway in when I lowered my head and whimpered, fully losing it.

  “Goddamn,” Roman growled as both of his hands were now at my waist.

  He thrust and pulled back, working with the throbs of my insides, working my pleasure like nobody had ever done before. For the most selfish asshole man I’d ever met, he was selfless when it came to sex. My legs felt rubbery and I swore I was going to collapse to the bathroom floor.

  “Look in the mirror at me,” Roman ordered.