by Stella Rhys
I could get used to this view, I thought the first morning it happened. And every day since, I’d been doing exactly that.
Though Evie and I changed it up slightly this morning.
“And here I thought you were trying to get me to work on time for once,” Evie giggled, setting the blow dryer down as I got out of the shower and started kissing the back of her neck.
There had been no sex in the shower – I really was trying to get her to work on time since I had another surprise queued up for the morning – but all it took was one glimpse at her standing in front of the mirror and my self-control was done for.
“Just blame it on me when you get in,” I murmured as I unlatched her towel and let it drop to our feet.
“Trust me – they’re huge Empires fans, so I always do,” she smirked as she pressed two hands flat on the sink and arched her back for me.
I made sure to watch her in the mirror as I slid my cock into her pussy.
Christ.
The way her lips fell apart got me every single time.
I fucking loved that look on her face, and that raspy morning moan as I thrust deep inside her. I loved every last goddamned thing about Evie Larsen, and on this particular morning, I couldn’t stop thinking about that day down the line that I could call her Evie Maddox.
It wasn’t going to be quite yet.
But soon.
“So fucking beautiful, baby. Look at you,” I murmured as we locked eyes in the mirror, her lips curving in a grin as I let go of her heavy tits to watch them bounce in the reflection. I kept my stare pinned on her perfection as I rocked my hips into her, soaking in her every breath, her every bounce, her every sexy little sound.
I didn’t even remember carrying her into our bed. All I remembered were her honey waves spilled like silk all over my sheets as she came, taking me right with her.
“God... so late,” Evie giggled, eyeing the clock on my nightstand as we lay together in a hot, breathless fog. “But so... so worth it.”
I grinned at her words because they rang truer to me than she even knew.
Worth it were the unlikely words I’d used to close the chapter on my parents, Tim, Pattie, L.A. Everything. Before Evie, they felt like ugly scars I’d bear for the rest of my life, but now I just saw them as my stepping stones toward everything I needed.
I had lost a lot to my career, but it was nothing compared to what I had gained. Without my love of this game I wouldn’t have found the love of my life.
Turns out it wasn’t a fucking baseball, and I should have known because even during my happiest moments as a player, I’d still think about what the hell life would look like in fifteen years, when my arm had thrown its last pitch and my body could no longer play the game.
So I should’ve known the game wasn’t my everything. In reality, it was the woman who was giving me a family, a new lease on life and a reason to live off the field. For all that, I was prepared to give her the world at whatever cost.
But I needed the perfect moment to tell her that, and it wasn’t today.
That said I couldn’t hold in a small part of the surprise any longer.
“Drew, you unlocked the guest room?” Evie called as she made her way down the hall.
I had locked it as a joke the first night she came back, after I’d gotten her from her mom’s house in Belfield and brought her back to New York. She had instinctively gone to set her things down in the guest room, and I reminded her that that wasn’t where she slept anymore.
And since that day, whenever she was home, I kept that door locked.
But since the project had been officially finished late last night, while she’d been fast asleep, I left the door unlocked and open for her to discover on her way down the stairs to breakfast.
Three... two...
“Oh my God – Drew!”
I laughed the second I heard her reaction, and by the time I got down the hall, she was standing in the middle of the room, one hand thrust in her hair and the other covering her mouth.
“How...” She trailed off, tears replacing her words as she stood in what was formerly the guest room.
Now it was our nursery.
“Drew, when did you do all this?” she whispered as she floated over to the mobile hanging by the crib. The little moon and star shapes were made of her ticket stubs from all my games she’d gone to during that road trip out west. The moment she realized that, she turned around, flew into my arms around me and kissed me so hard I couldn’t answer her question.
But at this point she didn’t care.
“I love you,” she whispered,
“I love you so fucking much, Evie,” I said, knowing well that I meant those words more than any I’d ever spoken in my life.
The certainty made me almost want to laugh as I stood there with the full knowledge that I was holding the woman I was going to marry, in the room our child would be sleeping in within seven months. All the most important things in my world were right in this room, and life had never felt so good. Or simple.
I had to smirk as I thought about the total lack of content the tabloids were about to deal with. Drew Maddox Rubs Wife’s Feet Before Bed, Wakes Up First to Change Diapers.
“Why are you laughing to yourself right now?” Evie giggled up at me as I kissed her on the forehead.
“No idea. Too many things,” I grinned.
And it was the truth. I still didn’t have all the answers, but in Evie, I had my definition of love and trust. And if there was anything I knew for sure, it was that if I had her at my side, I had everything I needed.
Now, forever and always.
Epilogue
EVIE
Four Months Later
I had been standing for an entire inning now, and I couldn’t tell if I was squeezing Aly’s hand numb, or if she was squeezing mine numb. I was pretty sure it was even because we were equally nervous – she as a lifelong Empires fan, and me as the one person who knew just how badly Drew Maddox needed this win.
The stakes were high enough that I actually watched every second of the game instead of drifting off here and there to ogle how damned good my boyfriend looked on the mound.
During the regular season, it was definitely a problem.
I usually sat in a suite behind home plate with Aly and Emmett, and despite having the game right in front of me – and seats most people would kill for – I generally just hawked the TV broadcast on the flat screen, waiting for those close-ups of Drew’s green eyes framed between the bill of his cap and his glove.
They were just so damned gorgeous and every time I saw them, I touched my belly to ask the little one a silent question.
Do you have his eyes or mine? No pressure at all. I’m just curious. But I kind of hope you have his.
That was usually how it went, but there was no ogling today. Because this was crunch time.
Game 7 of the World Series. Bottom of the ninth. Empires up 4-2 with one on, two outs and the count at three and two.
I literally had no idea what any of these numbers meant at the beginning of the summer, and if I had to be completely honest, I still sometimes cheered prematurely and needed to ask Aly why something wasn’t considered an out.
But tonight, I knew exactly what was happening – not just because this was the biggest game in Drew’s life but because my man had already made history.
It wasn’t common for pitchers to go nine innings in even a regular season game, but in the final game of the World Series, nine innings later, Drew was still on the mound – sore, aching, but still locked in beast mode and striking out batters on ninety-five mile-per-hour fastballs.
He was still laboring, and now he was only one out away from winning it all.
“Omigod, omigod, here we go, here we go,” Aly whispered as Drew wound up for his next pitch. As he delivered, she gripped my hand so tight her engagement ring crushed my fingers, but I didn’t even register the pain till I saw the swing and heard the crack of the bat.
> Fuck.
There was a collective gasp in the stadium followed by utter silence as fifty thousand pairs of eyes flew to follow the ball of white that soared high in the sky, eventually landed foul in the seats.
Then came the collective exhale.
“Oh God, thank God,” I squeaked as the stadium returned to a buzz in anticipation of the next pitch.
“Come on, come on, I can’t take this stress anymore,” Aly breathed, squeezing my hand as we both bounced on our toes.
“Me neither, and I’m feeling very left out,” Emmett hissed on her right, to which we both went shh because Drew was getting into position again, preparing for another wind-up on hopefully the final pitch of the season.
Okay, maybe I was lying about the lack of ogling, because God he looked so damned tall and powerful on that mound. I held my breath as I watched that long body turn to wind up for the next pitch.
But just before its release, I felt a little twitch that I knew wasn’t butterflies in my stomach.
It was the first little kick in my belly.
My mouth fell open just as Drew launched an absolute rocket to home plate. I saw the big, healthy swing just as I heard the ball hitting leather.
And for a second, time stood still.
It slowed before me as I stood there, savoring every aspect of this one incredible moment. The roar of the stadium. My hand in Aly’s. Drew’s pumping fist.
And our baby kicking once more to celebrate the win.
“Oh my God – yesss!”
Aly and Emmett’s raucous cheers brought me back to Earth, and before I knew it, I was laughing, crying and screaming my face off with them as well as everyone around us.
Because Drew Maddox and the New York Empires were World Champions.
It was absolute chaos, but in the best possible way, and just when I thought I was out of tears, the mob of Empires finally started climbing off of Drew.
And by the time I spotted him in the crowd of white jerseys, he was already headed my way.
The second our frantic, wet eyes locked he mouthed I love you, and the next thing I knew, I was in his arms, his cap flipped backwards as he kissed me so deeply my knees went weak.
“I love you,” I whispered back between his kisses, too far over the moon to care about all the cameramen and big, crazy-looking cameras surrounding us.
I was so in love with the man holding me in his strong arms, and I was so overjoyed for his joy. I felt it welling inside him as he held me tight, kissing me so sweetly as I brought his palm down to my belly.
“He kicked right before your last pitch,” I whispered excitedly once we’d caught our breaths enough to speak.
Well, I certainly did. It took another second for Drew, especially after processing the words that I said. Cupping my face, he gazed down at my belly before looking into my eyes.
“He?” he repeated breathlessly, his eyes crinkling as he smiled wide. “You know something I don’t know?”
“I found out today,” I grinned, laughing with surprise as Drew scaled the fence into the front row seats and knelt right down before my stomach. With the crowd roaring around us, I couldn’t hear the smiling words he spoke to our son, but I didn’t need to. I chalked it up as their first father-son pep talk, and I couldn’t think of a better time for it.
The cameras flashed like crazy as Drew knelt before my little bump, and I giggled with Aly, especially as Drew bumped fists with Emmett before giving our little one the last word and rising again to his feet.
“Listen, Evie,” he murmured close to me, thousands of eyes upon us.
“Yeah?” I giggled.
“There are a lot of people watching us right now.”
“Yes. More than ever. Cameras too.”
“Yeah. Thought so,” Drew smirked close to my lips. “Should probably wait till later to ask this but fuck it,” he murmured, taking my left hand in both of his and kissing me softly as he wiggled the ring off my finger.
I wasn’t fully sure what was happening, but I looked down, a stunning new diamond had replaced the one I’d worn since the summer. It was a similar size to the first – just princess cut this time around – but somehow it was so many million times more beautiful, and it snatched my breath straight away.
Because this time, I knew the man I loved had chosen it.
“Will you marry me, Evie?” Drew whispered his question with a wicked little on his lips.
Fresh tears sprung to my eyes as I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him again, giving him the answer he’d already known for awhile now.
“Baby, you know I will.”
The End
The Irresistible Series
Thank you so much for reading Hothead! If you enjoyed Drew and Evie’s story, be sure to check out the rest of the Irresistible Series on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!
SWEET SPOT - Lukas and Lia
BAD BOSS - Julian and Sara
DIRTY DEEDS - Emmett and Aly
Acknowledgments
This is the part of the book where I like to pretend I know what it’s like to unexpectedly win an Oscar, because good Lord, it is so hard to think of all the names I need to thank. There are so many kind, witty, incredible people whose support I could not do this without.
To the readers, you are everything to me. Your excitement for my stories and characters lifts me like nothing else can. You have made my dream career come true, so thank you SO much for that.
To the amazing bloggers - what would I do without you? You are honestly my heroes.
My rockstars at GMB, my love for you ladies cannot be put into words.
Thank you Vivian Monir for a fire ass cover, again, and thank you Bex Harper for everything you do for me. Thank you Mandy for injecting daily sunshine into my life, and Ali for putting up with my occasional nonsense.
Thank you to my best friend in the world, Sasha.
And to my boo. You’re too good to me.
Last but not least, thank you, Ratula. Woman. You are my favorite, and I would be lost without you and all your Jax-interrupted voicemails.
CONTACT STELLA
Facebook: stellarhysbooks
Twitter: @stellarhys
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Also Available By Stella Rhys
IN TOO DEEP
TOO FAR GONE (IN TOO DEEP #2)
HAVOC
DAMAGE (HAVOC #2)
DARE ME
WRONG
EX GAMES
SWEET SPOT (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 1)
BAD BOSS (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 2)
DIRTY DEEDS (IRRESISTIBLE BOOK 3)
Turn the page for a preview from DIRTY DEEDS!
DIRTY DEEDS
PROLOGUE
ALY
I tried to see what others saw in him.
I’m sure the height hit them first. Six feet and two inches of pure athletic muscle was bound to grab attention. I got that.
I got that the stupid thing he did with his hair made all the girls and even teachers swoon. Of course, I wasn’t convinced he didn’t know exactly what he was doing there. I mean who honestly ran both hands slooowly through their hair in the middle of talking to someone? It was ridiculously sensual – especially when it always left his hair so perfectly tousled, like he’d just rolled out of bed.
Then there was his voice. Low and kind of gravelly. The dark hair, light eyes combo – that was a thing too. I got that.
But I just couldn’t get past what a prick the kid was. Our dads were best friends, and having grown up with Emmett Hoult, I couldn’t see the appeal that everyone saw. All I could see was what they couldn’t.
When the world looked at Emmett, they saw confident, devilish, sexy.
I saw cocky, spoiled, arrogant. Your typical all-American jock.
I saw the kid I was forced to spend every weekend and vacation of my childhood with – the one that Xeroxed the worst photos he could find in my family albums, just so he could tack them all
over my crush’s locker.
I saw the kid who got away with literally everything, no matter who I complained to. Teachers, coaches, even the school principal looked at me as a nuisance. A thorn in their side. All they wanted was to adore Emmett Hoult in peace – to be completely charmed by his playful, laid back nature. The last thing they wanted was to have to acknowledge me, the surly buzzkill whose griping would get him undoubtedly pulled from practice, something the football team “just couldn’t afford.”
Even my parents defended his every move.
“It’s just a sibling rivalry,” Mom would brush it off. “You grew up together. You’re practically family. But give it a few years, Aly, and I’m sure you’ll get on great.”
Right. I gave it a few years, and all Emmett did was get worse.
In high school, all it took was one evening of his mom comparing his bad friends, bad grades or bad behavior to mine, and I’d wind up paying for it with a week of torture at school.
His teammates snickered at me in the halls. He spread the nickname “Baldy” when I botched my haircut sophomore year. By the time I was a junior, I was down to just three friends who didn’t worship him or use me to get close to him, and he told me – “just for shits and giggles” – that he’d hook up with every one of them so I’d have no allies left to gripe to.
And he did precisely that.
In short, with very little effort involved, Emmett Hoult took over my entire life.
At home, Dad raved nonstop about his athletic achievements. At school, he ruled every last hallway and classroom. Even at night, in the privacy of my bedroom, I couldn’t escape the constant texts from friends he’d “mysteriously” ghosted. They sobbed for me to help figure out what went wrong, or begged me to subtly bring them up to Emmett when we saw each other that weekend. They didn’t seem to realize he’d never hang out with them again – that he only hooked up with them to get under my skin. He didn’t even remember most of their names.
