The Game (Carolina Connections Book 4)

by Sylvie Stewart

  I felt the gentle stroke of his finger parting me, and then he was circling my clitoris. My back arched up and he simultaneously bit my nipple. I yelped in surprise, pulling his hair and feeling his growl against my breast. He continued his ministrations, making me squirm and moan and probably say all sorts of unintelligible things. When he slid a finger inside me, I thought I was going to climax right then. But I needed him inside me. The need was urgent. It was primal.

  I began to push him away, but before he could misconstrue my intent, I muttered, “Gavin, I need you. Now.”

  He brought his eyes up to mine and they were liquid with lust and want. I knew mine were the same. He snatched up the condom packet, quickly opening it and rolling it on himself. I watched in a mix of fascination and impatience. And then he was on top of me again. My thighs parted of their own accord and he was pushing inside me. I moaned and let my hands slide down to his butt, urging him forward. I didn’t want gentleness or hesitation. I wanted him to take me. It was ridiculously animalistic, my desires in this moment, but I didn’t care. It felt too good and right.

  “Jesus, you’re so tight,” Gavin said on a groan. I wanted to tell him it was just because he was so…gifted. But it had been a long time for me, so he was probably right anyway. The delicious friction dissolved all rational thought, though, and I gave myself up to meeting the movements of his hips with my own.

  It. Was. Amazing.

  Just as I’d known it would be the first time he kissed me in that damn elevator.

  Our bodies joined over and over, and when he began to thrust harder, I made noises I’m sure I’d never made in my life. Then Gavin paused, drawing in deep breaths, sweat beading on his brow. He surprised me by quickly rolling us over so I was on top of him, our bodies never separating. I gave him a questioning look.

  “I don’t want you to get rug burn,” he said.

  The thought hadn’t even occurred to me, I had been so wrapped up in the sensations of our bodies lighting each other on fire. “What about you?” I asked, still breathless.

  He grinned. “Totally worth it for the view I’m getting right now.”

  I looked down, realizing that I was straddling his hips, my hands propped on his chest and my breasts bared. Any other day, any other moment, I would have been shy or embarrassed, but I wasn’t with Gavin. The only thing I felt was beautiful as his eyes drank me in and his hips pressed up into me. I bit my lip, this position seating him differently inside me.

  “God, I could look at you all day,” Gavin said, thrusting again, this time more forcefully.

  I moaned and began my own movements on top of him. Soon we were both panting again, and words were unnecessary. I could feel sweat dripping between my breasts and down my stomach. Strands of hair were stuck to my face and I didn’t care about anything but the feel of this man inside me. Our movements picked up speed until I felt my climax begin to form at the very bottom of my belly. It rushed down to where we were joined and then ran up my spine, causing me to arch and cry out. I couldn’t hold my rhythm through the overwhelming sensations, but Gavin continued to thrust into me, taking over for the both of us until I heard him grunt and curse, his own orgasm ripping through him.

  I finally collapsed in a heap on his chest, feeling our sweat mingling and wanting nothing but to stay exactly where I was until the end of time. Or at least until work on Monday.

  I felt Gavin’s hand stroke the back of my head, but I had no energy to reciprocate. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  An exhausted laugh bubbled from me and sounded against his bare chest.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” he chuckled lightly and the vibration caused my head to shake. Gavin ran both hands down my back and squeezed my butt. “Have I told you how much I love your ass?”

  “Right back at you,” I mumbled into his chest.

  “I know.”

  That cocky statement gave me the burst of energy I needed to raise my head a fraction and meet his eyes. “I see someone has a healthy ego.” I tried to scowl at him.

  He grinned. “Don’t think I didn’t catch you and Ari both checking my ass out the first time we met.”

  Oops.

  I just huffed and settled my cheek back onto his chest.

  He chuckled again, giving my butt one more squeeze before reaching between us. “Sorry, but I have to take care of this,” he said. I reluctantly rolled off him and watched him walk naked to the bathroom. I sighed.

  When he was out of sight, I looked around, taking in the Scrabble board and our discarded glasses from the drinks we’d shared. Then I looked down at myself. I had streaks of pink on my skin from the abrasion of his stubble, and a few darker marks on my thighs that I knew were the result of our exertions. I vaguely wondered if my face showed any evidence. I sighed again, reveling in the foreign feeling of being well and truly sexed up. Gavin’s touch was still on my skin, even though he wasn’t even in the room.

  It occurred to me that maybe I should regret getting caught up in the moment. It certainly wasn’t anything I’d ever done before. But I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything other than giddiness, satiation, and a good measure of exhaustion.

  Gavin returned, still gloriously naked, his lean muscular frame making me feel not quite as tired as I’d been a moment before. “What time is Jay coming home?” he asked.

  Oh God! I’d been so wrapped up in the awesome sex I hadn’t been paying any attention to the time. I snatched my shirt up before grabbing my phone and checking the time. My pulse slowed a fraction. It was only ten-thirty. “I don’t think he’ll be back for another couple hours,” I said.

  “Good,” Gavin said before bending down and pulling me up by my hands. He walked backwards to the hall, dragging me with him.

  “Wait!” I protested.

  “No. We can clean up the game later.” He practically pouted.

  “Fine, but I’m not leaving our underwear out here for Jay and Ponch to see.”

  He glanced back at the floor, taking in my discarded bra and underwear as well as the rest of our clothes. “Point taken.”

  He quickly swiped up all our clothes in one hand and then pulled me down the hall to my bedroom.

  I followed willingly, a huge smile on my face. It looked like Emerson Scott had finally cut loose.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Me and Tom Cruise

  GAVIN

  I sang along to Japandroids all the way home, like fucking Jerry Maguire, ignoring any strange looks I received and just feeling sheer contentment from my night with Emmy.

  Last night would go down as possibly the best night of my life. The vision of her gorgeous body straddling me with her flushed face and heavy-lidded eyes would be burned on my brain for an eternity. The fact that she took unabashed pleasure in each new sensation and seemed almost surprised as her body responded did things for my ego, I must admit. And, as much as I despised the mere thought of her with any other man, I had to wonder what kinds of idiots she’d been dating.

  I may have been the younger one in this relationship—yes, relationship—but I was clearly the more experienced. Emerson Scott was an undiscovered treasure and I couldn’t wait to help her explore all the incredible things we could do together.

  After our second round last night—in her bed this time—I was in desperate need of a shower. I couldn’t coax Emmy to join me, something I’d have to work on for next time. Instead, she washed our clothes since we’d have to wear our uniforms again for the semi-final game, and I had nothing else to wear anyway. We heard Jay wander in eventually, and Emmy went out to talk to him. I stayed in the bedroom, figuring Jay wanted to see my naked ass about as much as I wanted him to. Ponch’s voice was also audible, giving me double the reason to stay put. Eventually, Emmy came back to bed and we fell asleep, her back to me and my arm around her, my hand staking claim to her right breast, just as it should be.

  When I got home, Brett was nowhere to be found so I assumed he’d gotten an invitation to crash at Ginger’s
the night before. I grabbed a soda and got down to work, trying to complete an assignment that was due by midnight. The game wasn’t until three o’clock so I had some time.

  I heard the front door open and slam shut about an hour later, then the sounds of cursing filtered up the stairs and I decided to investigate. I found Brett with his head in the refrigerator, muttering something unintelligible.

  “Hey, man,” I said, startling him and causing him to smack his head on the bottom of the freezer.

  “Shit,” he said, turning around with a hand on his head.

  “Sorry. I figured you saw my Jeep.” I wanted to laugh but he looked like he’d been through the ringer.

  “Must have missed it,” he grumbled, pulling a beer out of the fridge and closing the door.

  I looked at my watch purposefully. “Um, a bit early, isn’t it?” My brows raised in question.

  He unscrewed the cap and tossed it toward the trash can, missing as usual. “Not after the night I had.”

  I leaned back against the counter and watched him down half the beer. “What the hell happened? I thought you’d be with Ginger.”

  He laughed mirthlessly. “Yeah, Ginger,” he responded, his voice dripping with scorn. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and I refrained from telling him about the drops he’d spilled in his sort-of-beard.

  This did not sound good. “What happened?” I asked again.

  Brett took another swig. “She dragged me out to Limelight with some of her friends last night. I drove, of course, so I was dead-ass sober.”

  I cringed at that. A sober Brett at a dance club was tantamount to a nun at a strip club.

  “Turns out, some of her other friends—guy friends—were meeting us there. She got wasted and I caught her on the dance floor with some asshole’s tongue down her throat. I tried to get out of there, but she followed me outside saying it was no big deal. That she and this guy are just fuck buddies.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. I tried to walk away, but she started crying and shit. You know I can’t handle that.”

  I nodded. Girl tears are Brett’s kryptonite. “You drove her home, didn’t you?” I had to ask.

  “Of course I did. Have you met me?!”

  I suppressed my chuckle as best I could.

  “But that isn’t even the worst of it.”

  I was beginning to think I might need my own beer if there was more to this train wreck.

  “She puked in my fucking car!”

  Oh, shit.

  “And then I had to help her up to her apartment and hold her goddamned hair back while the demons escaped. Her roommate wasn’t home and I didn’t want to leave her in case she choked or something, so I fell asleep on her fucking hallway floor.”

  “Jesus, man. That sucks.” There really wasn’t much else to say. “So, where have you been all morning?”

  He drained the rest of his beer and slammed the bottle down on the counter. “Some asshole parked me in, so I had to wait for him to move his car. Then I went and paid a fortune to get the damn car detailed. I had to drive with the windows down and my hand over my mouth.” He looked at me. “I’m fucking done with women. At least the young ones. Does Emmy have any friends?” he asked.

  I laughed. “Well, you’ve met Ari, but I don’t think she’d make your life any easier.”

  He shook his head. “She’s hot, but no way, man. I don’t need that kind of crazy in my life.” I had to agree.

  “Maybe you should go it alone for a while,” I suggested.

  He scratched his beard. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Then he threw his chin out. “How about you? Any luck with Emmy last night?”

  I couldn’t help the shit-eating grin that overtook my face.

  Brett nodded and smiled back. “Well done, my friend. I like her.”

  “I do too,” was all I said in return, but I was thinking my feelings ran deeper than like. How much deeper, I wasn’t sure yet, but I was looking forward to finding out.

  And there was no reason I couldn’t keep my eye out for a nice girl for Brett along the way. He could use some nice in his life. Damn, if I wasn’t feeling like one cheerful son of a bitch.

  “Go! Go! Go!” I kept yelling as Emmy rounded second base. I was standing by third and waving her forward, confident she could make it. Her foot hit the base seconds before the third baseman in blue caught the ball. The ump made the safe call and I grinned widely. “Way to go, Ace!” She smiled that gorgeous smile at me and bent to catch her breath, her hands resting on her knees. We were only up by one and Emmy’s hard-hit grounder that landed her on third base was exactly what we needed.

  “Go, red!” I heard Ari yell from the stands. I glanced over and almost laughed at the look on Brett’s face as Ari stood on the seat and cheered. He shook his head and then dropped it in his hand. I’d talked him into coming to the game, figuring it might bring him out of his foul mood, but I was afraid Ari was just a little too far toward crazy to help cheer him up. Luckily, he and Jay had been talking most of the game, so at least he was distracted.

  I made my way toward the backstop and watched our next batter step up to the plate. It was that damn Craig guy. He swung at a drop pitch and missed before catching a piece of a fastball and taking off for first. Everyone on our bench and in the stands yelled out as Emmy took off for home, running like a bat out of hell and crossing the plate. She turned my way and hardly paused before running and launching herself at me, her legs circling my waist and her arms snaking around my neck as I caught her.

  “Damn, woman!” I smiled at her and she dipped her head to plant a hard kiss on my mouth. I squeezed her one last time and she hopped down. It surprised the hell out of me that she’d been so publicly affectionate, but I wasn’t going to complain. I looked over to see that Craig was safely on first and we were now up by two runs. There was a championship in our near future. The blue team still had one more turn at bat, but I was confident we could keep our lead.

  “Way to go, Emerson!” I heard Jay cheering for his sister. She waved at him and went to take her place on the bench. I stayed where I was and enjoyed the view from behind.

  A tiny paralegal named Tracy was up next and I reminded her to keep her elbow up and assume a good stance. She couldn’t bat for shit, but her height made her strike zone narrower than an apple peel so she got walked almost every damn time. This time was no different and she sashayed her way to first, making everybody laugh, while Craig advanced to second. Unfortunately, our next batter struck out, turning the inning over. I grabbed my glove and walked out to the mound.

  When I turned back around, I noticed more people had shown up, and most of them were watching us from behind the team benches. Some wore gray shirts while the rest wore yellow. Thomas Wheeler and the other managing partners greeted a few of the newcomers and I remembered that the other semi-final game was being played right after ours. Whoever won that game would go up against us at the championship next weekend. That was, if I did my job right.

  I didn’t think much of it as I threw a few warm-up pitches to our catcher, a funny guy named Pete. But when I happened to turn and see Emmy in her position at left field, it was impossible not to notice she’d lost most of the color in her face. She just stood there, staring in the direction of the opposing bench. I glanced that way and saw one of the new arrivals—an older man dressed in a gray team shirt—beckoning with his hand for her to come over. When I looked back at Emmy, I could see she was mouthing something to him, but I couldn’t make it out. Who the hell was that guy? By the look on Emmy’s face, he wasn’t just some random weirdo, that was for sure. I wanted to send her a questioning look, but she wasn’t facing my way and the bottom of the ninth was about to start. I needed to focus on the win and then I could find out what the hell was going on.

  “Well done, Mr. Monroe!” Thomas Wheeler clapped me on the shoulder and shook my hand. “We certainly couldn’t have done it without you.”

  I returned his shake and his s
mile. “Thank you, but you’ve got to stop calling me Mr. Monroe. I keep looking for my dad when you say that.”

  He chuckled but didn’t call me Gavin. Instead, he moved on to shake more hands. A few other teammates came up for high fives or handshakes, and Brett wandered over as well. I hadn’t seen Emmy since the end of the game and I was looking forward to a celebratory kiss at the very least. “Hey, man, have you seen Emmy?”

  He shook his head. “No, sorry. I was talking to Jay. That kid is something.”

  I nodded. “No kidding. Now you see why I can’t shut up about him.” I craned my neck, looking around for my girl.

  “Anyway, good game. I’m taking off so I’ll catch you later,” Brett said.

  “Thanks for coming,” I returned as I gathered up our gear. “I’ll probably be back late, if at all.”

  He grinned and shook his head, offering a wave before heading for the parking lot.

  Where in the hell had Emmy gone? Then I remembered that guy. Shit. I filtered my way through the milling crowd and finally spotted her as I dropped our gear in the backseat of my Jeep. She was standing in the parking lot next to a silver BMW, talking intensely with the older guy in the gray shirt. I started to head their way and then paused. They seemed to be arguing. He had his hands on his hips and Emmy’s arms were crossed over her chest. He leaned down to say something and she threw her arms out to her sides before turning from him and stalking back toward the field. She swiped a hand under one eye and then the other. I felt my blood begin to boil. Whoever this asshole was, he’d just made her cry. I was still a good forty feet away and she hadn’t seen me yet. My gaze shifted past her and to the man I was considering throat punching. But he wasn’t watching Emmy’s retreating back. His eyes were shooting daggers at me. I didn’t even know this guy. What could I possibly have done to piss him off so badly? I returned the glare out of principle and after several seconds, he just shook his head and turned to his car.