Playing for Hearts

by Debra Kayn

  “I want kids.” He pulled her tight against him and cupped her head. “Lying there playing with your little brother and sister made that dream come alive, because when I look at them, I see Tabby has your eyes, and Tyler…hell, the kid is trouble, just like you were growing up. I want to hold my little girl, and roughhouse with my son. I want to dry tears and bolster confidence, so they never doubt for one day they are worth my love.”

  “You can do that,” she said, closing her eyes, thankful that he was finally understanding what she’d seen in him from the beginning.

  “I’m scared to death I’ll fail.”

  She pulled her head back and gazed up at him. “I am too, but when you’re in my life, I can lean on you. I want you to lean on me too. Together, we’ll be okay.”

  He sighed. “We still have the problem with your job.”

  “One day at a time.” She stretched to her tiptoes and kissed him. “It’s our business. No one needs to know and if they find out, it’s okay. It’s a chance I’ll take.”

  “What happens if I’m doing the wrong thing or we screw up? I don’t want you to hate me for ruining your one big chance with the Seahawks.” He dropped his hands. “You know what? Never mind.”

  Her breath caught. “What do you mean?”

  “If you can trust me, I’ll trust that you’re telling me the truth and this arrangement is what you want,” he said.

  “We’ll be back together?” she asked, clasping her hands in front of her.

  “Yeah, honey, we’ll be back together.” He hooked her neck, bringing her forward. “I need you. I want you. I love you.”

  She closed her eyes and kissed him. Against his lips, she whispered, “I love you too.”

  He palmed her ass, and deepened the kiss. The stroke of his tongue created a wave of pleasure. She’d missed him last night, and never wanted to spend another night without him.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured, working his way along her jaw, her neck. “Couldn’t stand the hotel.”

  “Come home.” She arched her back, her nails digging into his shoulders.

  “Yeah,” he said on an exhale.

  His warm breath tickled her skin and she squirmed against him. “God, I want to—”

  “Angie? What are you doing with Gary?” Tyler said.

  She shrieked and jumped back, covering the base of her neck. Her heart beat wildly, and she looked between Tyler and Gary. Her brother looked at her curiously. Gary appeared proud of her flustered state.

  “Get your sister, sport. It’s time for ice cream.” Gary scooted Tyler out of the room.

  She rounded on Gary, smacking his arm as she opened the freezer and removed the ice cream again. Gary pinned her against the fridge, circling her waist with his arms. She softened. “Tonight, the kids are going to bed early, so you better wear them out after I load them up with ice cream.”

  “You’ll sleep with me once we get them to bed and they’re fast asleep?” he whispered, kissing her neck. “We could keep the blanket fort up, and hide away from your brother and sister.”

  She laughed, looking over her shoulder at him. “Is that why you built the granddaddy of all forts?”

  He let her go, laughing. “You’ll have to wait until tonight to find out.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Gary threw his helmet against the wall of the locker room, and followed Coach. The last botched tackle couldn’t have come at a worse time. First game of the season was two days away.

  “Got another one for you, Angie.” Coach slapped down a paper onto the table.

  Angie turned and gasped. Gary shrugged, winching.

  “What happened?” She swiped up the paper, scanning the lines. “Sit down, but don’t lie down until I loosen you up.”

  Coach slapped Gary’s ass and left. He plunked down on the table. Unconsciously, he’d avoided having his turn with Angie. He got all the massages he wanted at home, and being around her while with the team was asking for trouble.

  “Are you in much pain?” she asked when they were alone.

  He shook his head. “Clipped Maloney’s thigh and tweaked my left arm back. It’s sorta numb right now, but nothing’s torn or pulled. I know that much, so don’t write that down.”

  “Let me do my job and make that decision.” She moved around the table. “Let me help you get your pads off. Don’t lift your arms. I’ll cut away the shirt.”

  He sat motionless, letting her strip away his jersey. When the material fell away, he reached up to untie the front of his shoulder pads, and she stopped him.

  “Let me,” she whispered.

  Angie stood between his knees, her fingers taking their sweet time. This close to her, he reacted.

  “You smell good,” he said.

  She smiled, glancing at him. “Ah, shucks, that’s what all the stinky players tell me.”

  “Better not be,” he muttered.

  She laughed softly. “Jealous?”

  “From day one.” He put his hands on her hips and dragged her closer.

  “Gary.” Her voice warned him.

  He scanned the locker room and smiled. There was an hour left of practice. Unless someone had to use the john or were injured and looking for Angie, they were alone.

  “Come here,” he said.

  “I’m right here.” She spread the front of his pads and wiggled them down his arms, then paused to look at him. “What?”

  “Kiss me.” He held her arms, bringing her hands to the front of him. “Before someone comes in here and ruins my fantasy.”

  She gave him a quick peck. “Fantasy?” she said on a laugh.

  “Hell, yeah.” He dragged her back for a real kiss. “You. Me. The table. Maybe the shower afterward. You wearing my jersey, and nothing else…”

  “Stop.” She quivered. “We can’t.”

  “What? The girl who swore to me she loved the idea of keeping us secret is too chicken to fool around behind everyone’s back?” He leaned back to look her in the eyes. “Brawk…”

  “I am not.” She stepped away and pointed. “I think you’re loose enough that we can get started on your massage. Lie down.”

  “No, ma’am.” He grinned, sliding off the table and backing her across the room. “In all my daydreams, it was me calling the shots, not you. You wouldn’t believe what I had you doing…and you loved it.”

  She kept retreating, staying one foot away from him. “I did?”

  “Yeah.” He closed the distance and took her to the wall. He pressed into her. “Of course, in my head, I wasn’t wearing a damn cup in my jockstrap and covered in sweat.”

  She giggled as he kissed her neck. “Is that what I’m feeling?”

  He grunted his answer. If he were home right now, he’d have her flat on her back and be inside of her.

  But he wasn’t home. He was in the locker room.

  He ran his hands down the side of her, around to her ass, and lifted, ignoring the weakness in his arm. Propping his leg between her thighs, he held her higher to trace the open V of her shirt with his lips.

  “Your shoulder,” she panted.

  “Can’t feel a thing.” He spoke against her skin, and she must’ve liked it because she shuddered.

  He tugged at the bottom of her shirt, pulling it free from her pants. Her quick intake of air urged him on. He wanted nothing more than to put his mouth on her. Taste her excitement, the desire, the wicked sense of getting away with something they both know could burn them in the end.

  She groaned. He swept the cup of her bra down and exposed her perky breast. His lips covered the tight peak, and he drew his tongue over it in tender licks. Her nipple tightened and he moaned when her fingers sank into his hair, holding him there.

  Blindly, he sucked as if at any moment, someone would steal his chance with Angie. He couldn’t get enough of her.

  Her weight pressed against his thigh, and she moved her hips. He damned his pants with the thin padding, the cramped size of his athletic cup, and all the clothes Angie h
ad on. But if he couldn’t have her fully, he’d give her the next best thing.

  He trailed his hand down the front of her stomach, spanning the soft curve. She sucked in her breath, and he slipped inside her jeans, and found the wetness he knew would be there. She clung to his shoulders, and he lifted his head, capturing her mouth. She rode his fingers, his leg, and he showed her with his tongue what he’d like to be doing.

  Wild and crazed, she moaned. He stroked, circled, and filled her, never missing a beat. He wanted her to come fast and furious, the same way he was feeling. Raw need pushed him on. His toes dug into the soles of his cleats, and his balls ached in pleasure.

  “That’s it, honey.” He leaned his forehead against the top of her head. “Come for me.”

  She nodded. Her fingernails dug into his ribs and she lifted her gaze, locking on to him. The powerful trip of having her eyes on him, trusting him, and coming undone by him almost had him losing control himself.

  Then her eyelids fluttered, and her whole body shuddered. Her thighs squeezed his leg, and she sagged forward, resting on his chest as her orgasm rocked her. He slid his hand out of her jeans, lowered his leg, and held on to her.

  A door swooshed in the distance. She jolted, swaying on her feet. He stepped back, keeping a hand on her back.

  “Okay?” He kissed her quickly, grinning.

  She pushed him away. “Go, go, go…get on the table.”

  He lumbered off, uncomfortable and hard as a rock. His butt hit the table at the same time John walked into the room. Gary rolled his shoulder and lifted his chin.

  “How’s the player?” John asked Angie.

  She’d somehow grabbed a paper towel when he turned his back, and wadded it up into a ball, tossing it into the wastebasket. “Stiff.”

  Gary choked, and went into a fit of coughing.

  Angie and John stared at him. He waved his hand and shook his head. “I’m fine…”

  She’d pay for that remark when they got home. He’d take her two, three times and make her beg for mercy.

  “Go ahead and suit down, go home. Ice your shoulder tonight and heat it thoroughly before the game on Sunday.” John walked over and raised his arm, while prodding around on Gary’s back. “You’re more tense than I’d hoped after being manipulated by Angie’s therapy. I’m putting you down for an appointment with the doctor, so be here an hour early pre-game.”

  “Shit,” he muttered. “I’m fine.”

  John’s head remained tilted toward the clipboard, but he raised his gaze. “I’ll be the judge of that on Sunday.”

  Gary rubbed his forearm across his chin. Tomorrow, he’d take it easy, lie around, do some easy stretching, and keep himself limber. He’d be ready for the game. He was starting defense. He wouldn’t let the team down.

  While John conversed with Angie, Gary stripped down and walked into the showers. A full on cold shower shocked him to his senses, left his shoulder throbbing, his teeth chattering, and his dick limp.

  He couldn’t continue this path if he expected to play a successful season.

  Chapter Twenty

  Still shaken from her night terror, Angie stood in front of the window watching the sun rise over the city. She’d lain in bed until she grew too antsy and needed to get up, knowing she shouldn’t bother Gary when he needed his sleep before the big game. As much as she’d tried, her mind wouldn’t shut down.

  Yesterday, she’d stepped over the line. What she and Gary did together in the locker room during practice was not wrong. It was right. Perfect.

  But fooling everyone, especially John, who trusted her to do her job, was causing her more stress than she would have imagined. Despite her family’s opinion, and Gary’s determination that she fulfill all two years of her contract, she knew in her heart that what she really wanted was him.

  She valued her skills and would love to keep the job, but what was one short-term job compared to a lifetime of happiness with the man she loved. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the thrill that shot through her. She loved him.

  He was her friend. Her confident. Her biggest supporter. Most of all, he was the perfect lover, and he made her want to do everything right. Including coming clean to everyone in their lives, because it was the right thing to do.

  “Honey?”

  She turned around, but stayed by the window. “Morning.”

  He rose up on his elbows. His mouth softened and his eyes heated. She cupped her elbows in her hands. She’d never get used to that look. If someone asked her what love looked like, she’d describe the way he gazed at her. As if she couldn’t do anything wrong.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said.

  She smiled and walked to the bed, sitting on the edge and smoothing the hair off his forehead. “You make me feel beautiful.”

  He pulled her down beside him, cradling her in his arm. She laid her head on his chest. Warm from sleep, he comforted her in a way nothing else did.

  “What were you thinking?” he asked.

  She wasn’t ready to discuss her decision, so she shared the other thing that had kept her up half the night. “What my mom went through was horrible.”

  “Yeah, it was,” he whispered.

  She traced the shape of a heart on his chest, over his left pectoral muscle. “It wasn’t my fault she died,” she whispered back.

  He stiffened and pushed her shoulders up, so she’d look at him. “Have you believed differently this whole time?”

  She nodded.

  “Aw, honey.” He pulled her back tight to his chest. “I had no idea…”

  “I never told anyone. Not even Drew.” She rubbed her cheek against him, snuggling closer. “I know she had cancer. The doctors were blunt on what would happen, the different stages we could expect. Even Mom prepared me for her leaving us. I can’t even say I was surprised to wake up that night and find her already gone. But when I tried to breathe life into her, and I was pushing on her chest, praying with everything I had that I could bring her back just long enough to tell her I loved her…that girl, that daughter, that sister, believed I’d failed everyone.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “It was her time, unfortunately. There was nothing you could’ve done. She was ready to go and be at peace, and tired from the strain of fighting the cancer.”

  “I know. I think I’ve finally accepted that it was selfish to keep her any longer. I’d never want her to suffer,” she said. “I have you to thank for that.”

  “Me?”

  She moistened her lips. “I asked my mom one time what love felt like, and she told me it was every emotion a human could experience at extreme levels. You laugh louder, you cry harder, you get angry easier, and you love deeper. Until you’ve experienced them all on the same person, it would never be true love.”

  “I like that.” He smoothed the hair off her cheek.

  “So, I’ve come to the conclusion, Mr. Big Guy Satchel, that I love you.” She moved up and kissed him on the lips. “You’ve given it all to me and more.”

  “I love you too. Always have and will forever.” He kissed her harder.

  He stroked her back. She saw the questions in his eyes. The ones she wasn’t ready to answer or hear. He controlled everything they did, but the decision she had to make would come from her without anyone’s help. Her mom would be proud of her, because what she didn’t tell Gary was the best advice of all.

  Her mom told her when she found the man that would wrap her heart in the safety of his hands, she should do anything in her power never to lose that gift. She didn’t plan on losing Gary. Ever.

  She kissed him again, and he responded. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the heat that flooded her body.

  His hands worked their way up under the shirt of Gary’s that she wore and she went willingly, her body shaping to his. Each stroke of his tongue gave way to her pulse racing.

  Wanting began in her head, moved to her chest, and settled low in her belly and spiraled out in all directions. Her breasts, tender to
the touch, ached. Her sex throbbed in the telling combination of tension and dampness.

  He cupped her rear, bringing her on top of him. His fingers were warm against her bare skin, moving deliberately across her ribs, then taking the weight of her breasts. Everything about his attention to her body was exactly what she craved. His thumbs brushed her sensitive nipples. She arched her back and moaned.

  He raised up on his elbows, taking her right nipple in his mouth. He drew waves of pleasure from deep inside of her. The rush of heat and wetness between her legs increased and she reached between them to enclose his length in her hand.

  She had to hold on, because they were both moving. Her rocking. Him taking more of her breast in his mouth. She found it difficult to breathe.

  Gary rolled her over onto her back, him on top of her, face to face. He lowered himself so he could kiss her breasts again. Then he put his hand on her belly. Her legs relaxed, opening herself up to his fingers.

  He slipped between the folds of skin and found her swollen center.

  God, he was good with his hands.

  He circled, teased, around and around, moving lightly but determined. Barely skimming the exact spot she needed. She raised her hands and grabbed the headboard, shuddering as his touch came faster, harder, more precise.

  He shifted, taking her mouth with his. The sweep of his tongue, the roughness of his unshaven jaw, and the intensity of his concentration won out and her self-control left.

  She opened her legs wider and arched her hips. Her orgasm hovered out of reach.

  He read her mind, and only left her long enough to snag a condom off the nightstand, apply the protection, and return to her. Then he was in her, filling her, taking her deeper than he’d ever been. She hung on to his arms planted on each side of her head.

  Tension built and she orgasmed a second before he did. Both of them locked in each other’s arms, her pleasure squeezing him, making him shudder. If she thought loving Gary was the best feeling in the world, she was wrong. Having Gary inside of her, loving her, giving her everything, was the best freaking gift he could give her.