Team Player

by Adriana Locke

  Suddenly we're moving. It's my turn to laugh when I feel the counter behind me. Gripping my waist, he lifts me up and sits me on the edge before pulling his lips away again. Raising his hands, he cups either side of my face and looks at me.

  “God, I fucking missed you. These past two months have been torture, baby. If you ever spend so much as two minutes avoiding me again, I’m going to lose my shit.”

  I can’t help narrowing my eyes. “You’re the one who told me we were making a mistake,” I remind him.

  “How you took it is not at all what I meant to say,” he growls. “You make it sound like I said I didn’t want to be with you and nothing could be further from the truth.”

  "Well, that's what I heard," I admit. "To me, every word out of your mouth sounded an awful lot like someone who wanted to get as far away from me as possible."

  “What I was trying to say back then—apparently poorly—was that I didn’t think it was fair to you start a long distance relationship. You kept your virginity for a reason, and I didn't want to do anything to take away from how monumental that is. Making love and then being separated from you wasn't okay with me. You're young and in college and I'm—"

  I raise my hand between us and slap it over his mouth. "I swear if you say old I'm going to pitch a fit. The argument was ridiculous then, and I guarantee it'll be the one thing in this room that hasn't aged well if you say it again."

  He chuckles before nipping at my palm playfully so that I’ll remove my hand. “What I’m saying is that I want a lot from you, Leni. I needed you to have the option to wait, especially once I knew you were a virgin. Me living two hours away and you dealing with college douchebags hitting on you all the time wasn’t how I wanted us to start our relationship.”

  My eyes go wide at his use of the R-word.

  “Relationship?” I ask with an endless well of hope in my tone.

  “You see me here right now?” he asks.

  I nod.

  “I came home for you because I’m in love with you. Relationship is way too fucking tame a way to describe what I want us to share.”

  A huge smile breaks out on my face as I lean in closer. “I love you, too” I murmur.

  As his lips cover mine, I don't think I've ever been happier—until a dose of reality slaps me upside the head. Tearing my mouth from his, I grimace.

  “But what about the university? They made it very clear today that if anyone gets caught, shit will hit the fan. I don’t want you to lose your job!”

  “They can’t catch us doing what they already know about,” he says dryly.

  I cock my head and wrinkle my brown in confusion. “What?”

  "As soon as you ghosted out of here like a thief in the night I knew I needed to do whatever it took to move here permanently. I might've said it wrong, but the thought behind my words was right. Long distance relationships are hard, and I didn't want that for us. Two days after you left I heard about Coach Adams from Sam's dad. Mr. Lewis is tight with president Rothstein, so he didn't hesitate to sit in as a consultant on some of the legal aspects of the separation between the university and the coach. He put my name forward as a candidate and Rothstein and Dean Pritchard were immediately interested because I'm an alumni."

  He’s ever so gently rubbing his hands up and down my sides as he speaks, which is making it just a bit difficult to follow along.

  “I stretched the truth a little during my interview and told the dean that you and I have been together for a long time. I kept to the truth when I told him it’s so serious that we own a home together.”

  My eyes go wide with surprise. “You did?”

  "I knew it was the only way to get them on board. They needed to be aware that we aren't having some tawdry affair, and that settled it for them. If you were anything other than a senior, or if I were your teacher or coach, it would've been a harder sell. In the end, they made the exception because the cache of having a former member of the NFL who also happens to be an alum was too damn perfect for them to pass up. Rothstein asks that we keep it respectful and not flaunt the relationship on campus, but otherwise we're good to go."

  I can’t contain the shit-eating grin that is spreading across my face. Colin moved here for me—for us. Holy shit there's an us now. This is happening. We've said the words. We're in love, and now we're together.

  “So we’ll get to see each other a lot now that you’re home,” I say happily.

  "Hope so," he says with a strangled laugh, "since I'm thinking we'll be living together."

  Holy crap. He’s really, really serious about this. No hesitation at all.

  “Really?” I squeak, the excitement I’m feeling very apparent in my tone.

  “Yes, really. When you love someone you want them with you all of the time. That’s how I feel for you, Leni. Our future starts now. In fact, I have something to show you.”

  Lifting me from the counter he carries me through the kitchen and the living room and then up the stairs. The scent I noticed when I first walked in gets stronger as he goes up the stairs. I’ve only ever smelled something like this in a new home. I open my mouth to ask him what it is only to lose the train of thought entirely as he crests the top of the stairs and I see the hall, which has been freshly painted. The carpet is gone, replaced by beautiful espresso hardwood floor. The biggest shock is that where once there were two doors on the left side of the hall—one for his bedroom and one for mine—there’s now a set of double doors in the middle, where the wall for the bathroom used to be.

  “What did you do?” I whisper.

  He laughs as he comes to a stop in front of the double doors. “I made us a home, Little Bird. I knew neither of us was going to want to move into Nanny and Pop’s room—so I had some work done. This is our master and I turned what was their giant room into two smaller rooms. It worked out to be an even swap, space wise.”

  When he turns the handle to our bedroom—holy shit, Colin and I have a bedroom—my jaw drops. It’s absolutely positively perfect. The espresso floors are accented with a giant area rug that sits under a black four post king sized bed covered in the most gorgeous duvet set. The furniture and the linens are just some of the things I’ve been coveting at Pottery Barn for the last year. I sniffle at the same time I laugh because this tells me Lolo and Sam helped decorate. They know how much I love Pottery barn because I spent weeks shopping with them when they redid their house last year.

  “It’s perfect,” I murmur, my voice thick with emotion. “You did all this in eight weeks?”

  He snickers as he carries me through the room to a large barn-style door on the wall. When he slides it to the left, I find myself looking into the world's most stunning bathroom.

  “Not eight weeks, baby. It was five from beginning to end up here. They’ll be here next week to run the hardwood all throughout the downstairs as well but all the furniture and décor down there is on you. I think Lolo and Sam were ready to fucking strangle me having to guide me through it up here.”

  I giggle as he sets me down in the middle of the bath. Running to the glass shower wall, I let out a long sigh of contentment as I open the large door in the center. The massive bathtub takes up a large portion of the right side, but the entire left is dominated by showerheads on the ceiling and the walls. There's a long bench and tons of insets for shampoo, conditioner and body wash. This couldn't be more perfect. For years I've dreamt of having a separate wet room, and now, I have one. Looking my shoulder at Colin who has been assessing my reaction, I wiggle my eyebrows. "Get ready to spend a ton of time in here,” I tease.

  “I’ve been ready,” he answers huskily.

  I walk out of the wet room directly into his arms, hugging him tightly. Standing on my tiptoes, I rain kisses on his face. "You did really, really good."

  Chapter 8

  Elena- now

  "You keep doing that, and we won't make it into the closet," he says huskily.

  I'm all for clothes but if I'm picking up what he's putting d
own correctly I really, really want not to make it into the closet right now.

  "I'll take door number two," I say cheekily. "Show me. It's fine with me if we don't make it into the closet until much, much later."

  Colin laughs, grips me by the waist and lifts me up and off of my feet in one fluid movement. I laugh and wrap my legs around his torso as he carries me into the bedroom. Into our bedroom. As much as a part of me is screaming pinch yourself bitch, this can't be real life—I know down to my marrow that nothing has ever been more real. I've never been more grounded in reality even though my feet feel like they'll never touch the ground again.

  We both laugh when he rips the comforter before dramatically plopping me on our bed so that I bounce a little. "Mm," I grin, "comfy. I think I'm going to love this bed."

  Coming to the edge of the bed he stands between my legs before placing his hand behind my neck as he grins down at me. "I think you're going to love the things we do in this bed even more," he says. The promise in his voice makes my nipples hard.

  "Kiss me," I say, just loud enough for him to be able to hear.

  "Always," he answers before swooping in and doing just that.

  Again, the way this man kisses is a form of art. I lose myself in it completely, many minutes passing as we learn each other all over again. Kissing Colin is like coming home and walking through fire. When he lifts his head and breaks the kiss, I'm breathing like someone who just ran a 5k. I start to pout but quickly stop when he tugs at the hem of my shirt before he starts pulling it up. Raising my arms up I let out a happy sound when he pulls it over my head before tossing it toward the end of the bed. Crouching down, he pulls off my Converse and my ankle socks before standing.

  His eyes blaze with unchecked desire as he takes in my periwinkle pushup bra. "You're so gorgeous," he groans. "Did you know that ever since the summer we went to the beach at the end of your freshman year I've been fucking obsessed with you?"

  Approximately eight trillion butterflies take flight in my stomach. "Really?"

  He looks into my eyes as he nods. "You're without compare, Leni. One day you were just as you'd always been. The next, you were everything. It scared the ever-loving fuck out of me at first because of the age difference. Now I just love you too much to care," he admits as he traces circles over my stomach with his right index finger.

  I lift my hand to reach out and cover his. "I love you too. So, so much."

  The rest of my clothes and then his are peeled away layer by layer between soul deep kisses that mean more than any words ever could. When I get my first look at Colin naked, I lose my breath. Clothed he's spectacular. Naked, he's a god. If I were an artist, I'd paint pictures or chisel his likeness out of marble. When he spreads my legs and starts trailing kisses down my naked body, I feel combustible. The first time he did this I didn't know what to expect. Now that I know how good his mouth feels on me, I can hardly wait to retake the ride.

  The first swipe of his tongue against my center has me arching my back and crying out his name. "Fucking love the taste of you," he growls as he slowly pushes a finger inside. A few minutes later he adds another. I feel stretched and full with just the two fingers, but I know that in a few minutes I'll be feeling a hell of a lot more than that.

  He's playing with me now—getting me to the point where I'm about to come before he backs off and leaves me wanting more and I'm so turned on it hurts. By the fifth time he does it, I'm ready to explode.

  "Please," I beg on a keening wail. "Make me come."

  I hear him groan as he swirls his tongue over my clit faster, applying the perfect amount of pressure. My body races toward ecstasy as I chant, "don't stop, don't stop, don't you dare stop."

  When he comes up over me without letting me come, I let out a harsh sound. "Please, please," I beg.

  Settling between my legs, he rubs his cock back and forth against my clit. "You want to come, Leni?"

  I nod, the movement frantic. "Yes," I whimper.

  He stops the back and forth movement to grip his cock and place it at my entrance. Feeling him there, knowing he's about to be inside me is heady stuff. I grasp his shoulders and look into his eyes as he slowly moves forward. My eyes go wide as I feel him making his way in.

  "Start making circles on your clit," he rasps.

  My hand is a little shaky as I reach between us to do it. All of his work has left me slippery and desperate for release, which means I'm more focused on that than the impending pain.

  "Elena," he groans as he sinks deeper. "Fuck, Leni."

  I move my fingers faster, clenching around him as he moves his hands to my waist. "Now," he growls.

  When he surges forward, I lose my breath for a second or two before I gasp for air. Keeping one hand on my hip, he slides the other between us and takes over rubbing my clit. With my hands-free, I grip his back and hold on as he starts rocking in and out. The feeling of him so deep and so full inside of me is like nothing I ever could have anticipated.

  Soon the bed is rocking beneath us as he picks up speed, his fingers and his cock working together to make me insane. "Colin," I gasp as he pumps deeper and harder. "Oh, fuuuck," I whimper. "Like that. Right thereeeeee!"

  The way it feels to come with him inside of me is indescribably good, but it gets even better when he yells my name and finds his release. The heat of his cum is so intense that it makes my orgasm stronger. "Fucking so good," he groans as he jerks inside of me.

  When it's over, he stays inside me for another minute or two, kissing along my next and murmuring about how much he loves me before pulling out. The feeling of losing him is not my favorite. Lying down at my side he pulls me into his arms and kisses me softly. "That was the best I've ever felt," he says. "Fucking loved coming inside you, Leni. Know I'm putting it all out there, but I have to tell you, I can't wait to fill you up when you aren't on birth control."

  My eyes widen in surprise. "You want to have a baby?"

  "Yeah," he answers with a grin. "About four second after you graduate I'm going to start begging you to let me knock you up. Fuck," he laughs. "Even thinking of you pregnant is making me hard again."

  My smile has to be big enough to be visible from space. "Kids," I murmur.

  "The whole nine yards, baby. We're going all the way."

  Yes. Yes, we are.

  Chapter 9

  Elena

  I get three steps inside the front door before I hear an exaggerated cough. Looking toward the couch, I'm not surprised to find Miles lounging on it.

  "Lucy, you've got some ‘splainin to do."

  "Um, what do you mean?"

  "Don't play dumb. My antenna went up the second I got the text from you at ten last night letting me know you were spending the night at the house. That you're prancing in here just after dawn wearing a hoodie that's for someone much, much taller than you—someone with a penis I'm guessing—is a dead giveaway."

  So much for sneaking in and avoiding this conversation until later, after I've loaded up on coffee. Colin and I were up on and off all night, touching, talking… and making love two more times. I've never been happier but I'm exhausted, and I admit that I'm anxious about having this conversation with Miles. If he's mad about my misleading him for so long, I don't know what I'll do. Letting out a long sigh, I brace for the coming inquisition.

  "Well—"

  "And what stands out for me about this deviation from your normal pattern of behavior," he continues, completely ignoring my attempt to speak, "is that Colin's home. Well, that and the fact that the hoodie you're wearing is from his previous university. Anything you want to say about that?"

  The jig. Is. Up. Without hesitating another second, I haul ass across the room and plop down on the couch next to Miles.

  "Don't be mad," I say pleadingly.

  He shakes his head, tosses an arm over my shoulders, and kicks his feet up on the coffee table. "I'm not mad, I'm relieved. You have any idea how many times over the years I've tried to get you to admit you were crush
in' on Findlay? Probably hundreds. I'll give you credit—you played it so cool that I started to doubt what I'd been able to see with my own eyes. Doubted it so much that I was half convinced you were secretly in love with me and just couldn't say it. Talk about a fuckin' nightmare, E. I love you to death, but I couldn't lay pipe in you."

  I shudder and make a gagging noise as I slap my hand down on his leg. "Love you sooo much it's borderline ridiculous— but if your p ever even tried to come near my v, I'd die. Incest is not best. I don't even care that technically we're not related—you're the only brother I'll ever have. And also the only one I'll ever want, too," I throw in for good measure.

  He throws his head back and laughs. "Kiss ass. I'll forgive you on one condition."

  I'm no fool. His conditions are always crap, and I know it. "How much is it going to cost me?" I ask suspiciously.

  "It's free. My laundry hampers are overflowing, and they've got your name all over them."

  I love Miles, but my god it’s annoying how much he hates doing his wash. He's got four giant hampers in his closet—the fact that he's saying they're overflowing means there's like six hampers worth of laundry. Total pain in the ass but if it gets him to forgive me for being a tool, I'll drag it to the Laundromat and have it all finished in less than two hours.

  "Just confirming—once I do the laundry you'll forgive me for being a dummy?"

  "If that laundry is clean, folded and put away, I'll write the whole thing off. But from now on no more secrets. Ever."

  "None," I vow.

  Miles holds out his free hand, pinky extended. Lifting my right hand, I chuckle as we pinky swear.

  "Now I'm going to put it to the test," he announces. "You still a virgin?"