Team Player

by Adriana Locke

  Storybook Village was a small-town version of an amusement park. The only ride was a little train Paul would start up when enough people were visiting, and it took you on a tour of the entire setup.

  Growing up, this was as good as going to a far-off country. There were peacocks and giraffes, a bear and a tiger. I could spend all day milling around, feeding the ducks handfuls of corn, then ending the day with a round of mini golf.

  “Nice to see you, Cross,” an older lady says as we enter the little check-in area.

  “How are you, Maggie?”

  “Good, honey. I’m good. What can I do for you?”

  “Two for a round of putt-putt,” he says, placing a twenty on the desk. “I’m gonna show this girl how it’s done, Mags.”

  “Whatever,” I scoff, picking out a pink ball. “He doesn’t know what’s about to hit him.”

  Maggie laughs candidly as she sorts through a bag of change. Handing Cross the difference, she tells us to grab our equipment and start through the door on the left.

  The afternoon sun is warm as we step into the golfing area, and a giant plastic giraffe greets us.

  “Do you remember when Peck tried to climb up the legs and get a picture taken on its back?” I laugh. “I thought old man Paul was going to have a heart attack.”

  “I forgot about that. Do you remember when Machlan tried to capture a peacock? And it trashed the hell out of his arm?” Cross laughs. “Apparently it was mating season and the male thought he was competition for his woman.”

  We exchange smiles as I set my ball on the little circle to start. One crack of the club and it misses the blade of a giant pinwheel, making it to the other side through a little tunnel. With one more putt, I’m in the cup.

  “Beat that,” I say, marking me down for two strokes.

  He takes his green ball and sets it on the tee. The club looks so tiny in his hands, and he almost bends in half to take a swing. Once he does, the ball rips through the tunnel, runs a circle around the rim of the cup, and sinks in.

  “Dammit.” Narrowing my eyes, I head to the second hole. “You got lucky.”

  Lining up my ball, I get into position to hit it. Before I do, I feel him behind me. My heart flutters in my chest like it has the wings of a butterfly. Holding my breath, I wait as I feel his proximity grow near, my body pulled to his like there’s an invisible wire connecting us, reeling me in.

  “You’re right,” he whispers, his breath hot against the shell of my ear. “I did get lucky.”

  Instinctively, I sag backward, my back resting against his chest. It takes about half a second for his arms to wrap around my waist, pulling me into him. His face finds the crook of my neck and he breathes in, the air trickling over my sensitive skin and making me shiver.

  The air is saturated with the scent of his cologne, infiltrating my senses and making me lightheaded. I grab his arms where they’re locked at my belly to steady myself. His forearms are roped, thick with muscle, his skin coarse against my fingers.

  A flood of emotions comes raring back. Suddenly, I’m reminded of the uncertainty of him staying out all night with Machlan, of being rumored to be with another girl every other Friday night, of him showing up late for everything and his failure to get a job.

  Cross sweeps the hair off the back of my neck and presses a soft kiss just above my shoulder.

  “Cross?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Can I trust you?”

  He presses another kiss to the same spot before raising his face and resting his chin on the top of my head. “You can never go by what someone says to that question, Kal. You have to go with your gut.”

  It’s the right answer, but it’s no help. I don’t know what in the world my gut is saying. I can hear my brain, feel my heart, experience the throb between my legs, but my gut? No clue.

  He moves slightly behind me, just enough so his hardness presses into my back. I gulp, the length rock solid as he stills.

  Everything picks up pace, my sensations overloading as I run my hands up his forearms and close my eyes. There’s not a thing about this moment that feels wrong or out of place, not one single thing that screams at me to stop or reconsider.

  “How dedicated are you to finishing this game of golf?” I ask, subtly pressing my ass against him.

  “All I want is a hole in one.”

  Spinning around, I catch the grin on his lips. “That’s a terrible line.”

  “Can’t win ’em all.” He laughs. “Ready to get out of here?”

  “Depends on where we’re going.”

  His gaze drags down my body, blazing a trail as he works his way back up to my eyes. Licking his lips, he takes the club out of my hands. “My house is closer.”

  “What are we waiting for?”

  Kallie

  The door creaks as Cross twists the knob and presses it open. We enter, stepping into a little foyer that has dark hardwood floors and beige walls. He’s decorated the place sparsely, with few pictures and little else.

  “Live here long?” I ask, looking at the three little images framed near the doorway to the living room. There’s one of him and Machlan on their high school graduation day, another of him and the Gibson boys at Bluebird Hill in the middle of winter. The last one is of himself, one hand raised in the air at a boxing match. “I remember that,” I tell him, pointing to the last one. “You won by knockout.”

  “I did,” he says, placing a hand on my hip. “You were there, two rows up.”

  “You were so good. I’d never seen anything like that before. So controlled, so careful.”

  “So not like me every other minute of my life, huh?”

  Turning to see him, I cup his cheek in my hand. “That’s what confused me so much. You were so talented, so cautious. Then outside the ring, you were the opposite.”

  “In the ring,” he says, pulling his brows together, “someone cared. My trainer wouldn’t let me get by with crap or acting like an idiot, but outside of the ring, no one cared.”

  “I cared.”

  “Maybe a part of me thought you shouldn’t.”

  “Maybe…maybe I should’ve cared more.”

  “Oh, no,” he says, sweeping an arm under my legs and picking me up in a bridal carry. “We’re not going down that road.”

  He carries me with ease, a teasing grin on his face as we walk down a blank hallway and into a room at the end. There’s a huge bed with silver-grey blankets and more pillows than any one person should ever need. Instead of laying me down easily, he tosses me into the center. I bounce as I hit, sending a few pillows toppling to the floor.

  Everything smells like a mixture of his cologne and soap, a scent I could fall asleep and wake up to with no problem, a scent that reminds me of Cross. It’s a scent that warms my heart.

  His phone begins to ring and he pulls it from his pocket. After a quick glance, he holds the side until it stops and then tosses it on a dresser. A few seconds later, he’s stretched out his long frame beside me.

  “Was that important?” I ask as he rolls over on his side to look at me.

  “Nope. Nothing is more important than you in my bed right now.” One hand rests against my stomach, just below my breasts. He tenses his fingers and they press lightly into my skin. “I’m going to kiss you.”

  “It’s about freaking time,” I tease, my breath coming out in ragged heaps.

  “I’m warning you, because once I start, I don’t think I’ll be able or willing to stop. It’s a very slippery slope.”

  He’s giving me an out. I do a quick internal inventory, looking for a reason to get up and walk out. There’s nothing to warrant that, but there are a hundred reasons to reach over and wrap my hand along the back of his neck. I guide his head toward mine, and our lips touch.

  Immediately, every muscle in my body relaxes, every care in the world dissolving under his touch. His lips move tenderly, but there’s an undercurrent of possession that is undeniable. It’s freeing to be in his hold, to know t
hat it’s him guiding me, protecting me, because if there’s one thing about Cross I’ve never once felt unsure about, it’s that he’d never let anything happen to me.

  Being with other men was never like this. It was a mess of awkward touches, weird hang-ups, and a strange dance between the two of us that demonstrated how unsure, how wrong we were with one another.

  I lie on his bed, his body hovering over me, his lips kissing every thought and feeling into mine. Our mouths move together, mine opening, his tongue slipping right past my lips, as if this is the way things are supposed to be.

  Lifting the hem of his shirt, I drag it up and over his head. He breaks the kiss just long enough to let the fabric rush by then crashes his mouth to mine again. The silky strands of his hair glide through my fingers, the stubble on his cheeks roughing up my palms as I find every way possible to make contact with his body.

  The muscles of his back flex as he moves off me, the lines in his sides stretching as he climbs off the bed and to his feet. He grins salaciously, panting as hard as I am.

  “Why do you still have clothes on?” I ask, running my eyes down his tanned, taut skin.

  “Why do you?”

  I flinch for one brief moment, waiting for the fear I have of getting naked in front of another person to kick in. At that exact second, when I feel the niggle of embarrassment start to work its way in, Cross decides to smile—not the sexy one, the one that makes me want to take off my clothes because my libido is running wild, the other one…the shy one, the one that builds me up in a way that makes me want to be with him. They are two very different things.

  Lifting my hips, I skim my shorts down my legs and kick them off. They sail through the air then he catches them with one hand.

  “Best answer ever,” he says, tossing them to the floor.

  “I didn’t think you’d mind, but you still have your pants on, and that’s a problem.”

  His chest rumbles with a chuckle as he works his pants and boxers down his body one glorious inch at a time. “It’s gonna be a big problem.”

  I see what he means.

  He palms his cock in his hand, the tip of it almost reaching his belly button. It’s swollen, ready for me, a bead of pre-cum sitting at the top as he squeezes the shaft.

  “It’s a good thing,” I begin, twisting around on the bed so my feet aren’t dangling off the end, “I’m a good problem solver.”

  The mattress dips with his weight, my skin burning as his swipes against it. He sits back on his knees at my feet and looks down at me. “Promise me one thing.”

  “What’s that?” I ask, my heart pounding in my chest. The way he looks at me steals my breath, knots my stomach into a bundle of emotions I can’t begin to unravel right now. It’s as if he’s not just seeing my body, or my anticipation of his next move. He’s seeing me in a way that’s bare and has nothing to do with a lack of fabric on my body.

  “You’ll stay with me for a while tonight.”

  “Why?”

  He plants his hands on either side of me, leaning down just enough so his chest touches the peaks of my nipples. “Because holding you in my arms is my favorite part.”

  “Oh, Cross,” I whisper, my heart melting on the spot.

  Wrapping my legs around his waist, I press my lips to his. He nips at my bottom lip, tugging it between his teeth. I can’t stop the moan that escapes my throat as I tilt my hips up to his.

  His cock is at my opening, teasing me. It dips in, parting me with its girth before slipping back out again. He does this over and over, swiping at my swollen clit with each pass. His hands cup my breasts, kneading them in his coarse palms.

  “I want to touch every inch of you,” he whispers, sliding his hands up my chest and across my collarbone. “I need every piece of you to remember it belongs to me.”

  I whimper, trying to move as he slides into me.

  “You’ve always been mine, Kallie girl, just like I’ve always been yours.”

  “Yes,” I eek out. “Gah!”

  He slides inside me, almost like he teased himself too long, like he couldn’t wait a second longer to get inside me.

  “I’m glad I didn’t bother asking if you were ready,” he says, closing his eyes as he sinks into me again. “So…damn…wet.”

  His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat, a low guttural groan originating somewhere deep inside. I could almost get off just watching him enjoy me.

  Dropping my knees wider, I roll my head to the side to allow him to bury his head in the crook of my neck. “You are so sexy,” he whispers through gritted teeth.

  “Go deeper,” I pant, locking my heels around him. It puts me in a position I know he loves, an angle I know he can’t resist.

  “God,” he groans, thrusting harder. “This feels so good.”

  “So good.”

  He kisses me at every possible point, doing just as he promised—touching me in every place he can. He holds my shoulders, pinches a nipple, cups the side of my face, the outside of my thigh, making every possible connection he can between us.

  Up, up, up I go, pulled into a swirling state of bliss between the friction of his cock and the sweet words he whispers in my ear. It’s a heady mix, a complicated yet simple combination that is as irresistible as he is.

  “Cross,” I pant, my legs shaking with the impending climax. “I can’t…you…”

  My eyes squeeze shut with the force of the eruption that’s starting to build in the bottom of my belly. Like a slow-burning fire, the heat rolls out to the tops of my thighs, into my chest before radiating into my toes and the top of my head.

  “Cross!”

  He pounds me into harder, his breath whispering over my skin with each push. He mutters something under his breath, but I can’t make it out over my moans.

  My body falls apart around him, my mind reeling with an influx of sensations. I feel him tense, his body shifting on top of me before he enters me hard and holds the position with the tip of his cock at the back of my pussy.

  As he slips it back out and milks his orgasm, he flutters his eyes open. Instead of the lust I saw a few minutes ago, all I see now is something different, something soft…something I want to hold on to for a very long time.

  He presses a soft kiss to my lips before pulling out and settling on the bed beside me. Pulling me into him, he nestles his face into my hair.

  “I know you need to get up,” he whispers, kissing a spot just above my ear. “But give me a few seconds first, okay?”

  As I drift off to sleep, I keep reminding myself to get up and go to the bathroom, but I don’t. This feels too good.

  Chapter 8

  Kallie

  “That glow says everything I need to know.” Nora laughs, sitting down across from me at Carlson’s.

  “You don’t know anything.”

  “Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t slept with Cross.”

  I grab a menu and hold it vertically between us in hopes of covering my blushed cheeks. It’s not that there’s anything to be embarrassed about, but it seems like it was so expected and I just caved.

  How could I not?

  I set myself up for this by going home from the golf course with him. It’s absolutely what I wanted. Yet, now that I crawled out of his bed this morning after staying with him all night and got a few cups of caffeine in me, both the soreness between my legs and a hint of concern are becoming evident.

  Nora laughs from the other side. “So I was right. Go on, say it.”

  The menu drops to the table. “Of course you’re right, but that squeal”—I point a finger in her direction—“is not necessary.”

  “Oh, yes it is! This is almost as good as Justin and Britney getting back together. It’s the natural progression of things, the way they’re supposed to be. How can I not celebrate this?”

  “You realize you’re essentially celebrating my orgasms, right?”

  “Plural?” She throws her head back. “Of course plural. Fucking asshole.” While I lau
gh at her reaction, she takes moment to recover. “So, I’m assuming he’s better than before.”

  “He was always my best. No matter what, he was the bar I measured everyone else up to, you know? But now…it’s like that’s not the same person.”

  Nora’s eyes grow wide as she gulps for effect.

  “He’s patient now, almost…tender? He kisses me and—”

  “No more.” Nora’s hands are an inch away from her ears, mock trying to block out my recant of last night.

  “What?” I giggle.

  “I have to see him every Friday night at Crave. I don’t want to be looking at him thinking of the way he kisses you in private time and all that. It would be weird.”

  Veronica comes out of nowhere and leans against the table. She pretends not to have overheard us for a minute and then, like the small-town business owner she is, she gives in. “You and Cross are together now, huh?”

  “No,” I say as Nora says, “Yes.”

  Veronica laughs. “I remember the two of you dating. You were always so cute, this big tough guy and a sweet little girl.”

  “Yeah, well, we aren’t together,” I say, looking at Nora pointedly. “We’re feeling things out, I guess.”

  “I’d say you felt it out.” Nora tosses me a wink. “You’re fighting the universe here, Kal. You and Cross are supposed to be together, having beautiful little babies. You can’t fight it forever.”

  “I’d say she’s right. I saw how he was looking at you yesterday,” Veronica chimes in. “But I’m glad to hear you aren’t together right now, not officially, anyway.” She looks down at her notepad and takes an ink pen out of her pocket like she just didn’t say that.

  Avoiding Nora’s eyes and swallowing past the lump in my throat, I try to look unaffected. There’s zero doubt she’s toying with me, seeing if I’ll take the bait she just dropped. I wish I could ignore it and continue on with my order and my day, but I’m not strong enough for that. “Why do you say that?”

  “No big deal,” she says, giving me a fake laugh. “He was just through the drive-through a few minutes ago with that Megan, and we all know that girl’s reputation.”