The Brotherhood and several other bar patrons surrounded Tyler’s cousin as if he was the second coming. It was disgusting. Derek, who normally didn’t like being in the limelight, basked in their attention like Cougar lying in the one spot of sun streaming in the living room window. Sure, Derek oozed kindness and concern in nauseatingly high doses. Even worse, his sincerity attracted people in droves. He loved everybody, and everybody loved him. If his cousin had an enemy, Tyler hadn’t met him yet. He suspected Dare hadn’t either.
Even worse, his butthead cousin was telling stories about Tyler’s past escapades, stories which painted Tyler in a way-too flattering light and endangered his asshole reputation.
Insulated by the other defensive players, Murphy slouched in his chair and watched the entire scene with an eagle eye. No doubt the butthead filed every detail away for future ammunition to nail Tyler’s ass. Derek told him to cut Murphy some slack. The guy just wanted a Super Bowl ring before he retired.
Whatever.
Tyler frowned and flipped his chair around to concentrate on something more intriguing than his cousin’s bullshit, his teammates’ amusement, and the local residents’ hero worship of Dickwad Ramsey.
Propping his long legs on the chair next to him, Tyler watched Lavender’s fine ass while she bussed a couple tables. Damn, he loved that ass of hers, loved the feel of it as he held onto her while banging her brains out. His mind drifted to even better visions.
“So Harris, you ever play any sports other than football?”
Tyler’s feet landed on the floor with a bang. He snapped his head in Murphy’s direction, pissed the has-been linebacker interrupted his fantasy concerning Lavender, purple silk sheets, several plump strawberries, and a large can of whipped cream. “Huh?”
“He sure did, All-State in three sports. Coulda played in the majors if he’d wanted.” Derek inserted cheerfully.
“Why didn’t you?” Murphy probed, obviously looking for signs of weakness.
Tyler curled his lip into his baddest sneer. Murphy didn’t even lift one eyebrow. “Football was my passion.”
“Was being the operative word.” The bastard sneered right back.
Tyler cringed. He’d effed up. “I meant is my passion.”
“Too late now, fuckhead. Every one of us heard you with our own ears. Didn’t we, guys?”
The defensive players nodded, diving right into Murphy’s web of dissension. The offensive side looked everywhere but at Tyler. He’d dropped a notch in their eyes, thanks to their newest teammate.
Derek separated himself from the Brothers. With a heavy sigh, he interceded. “Gentlemen. Nothing good is going to come from picking sides. We’re all in this together.”
“Some of us are.” Murphy snorted, and Tyler itched to wipe that smug smile off his ugly mug.
Tyler rose to his full height. Planting his hands on the table, he leaned down and got in Murphy’s face. “Why don’t you fucking go to hell? This team did fine without you. We don’t need an asshole like you parading like he’s the fucking team savior. You wanna talk about try, fuckhead, we’ll talk about try. Tell me—just how many playoff games have you won in your way too long career? How many MVP awards? Why don’t you hang it up, and admit defeat, Murphy? Rather than ripping my team in half with your bullshit.” Tyler took a moment to glare at the defensive players, driving home the point that they were part of his team, not Murphy’s. The cowards looked everywhere but at Tyler.
For emphasis Tyler slammed his fist into the table, causing the Brothers to jump. Spinning around, he crossed the room before he turned the arrogant asshole into whale bait and threw his mutilated body in the Straits of Juan De Fuca. Some unfortunate sucker with crappy timing sat on Tyler’s favorite bar stool. One murderous glance sent the jerk diving for cover. Tyler swung a leg over the seat and stared at nothing.
“You could be nicer to him, you know. He’s just trying to figure out where he fits in with the team.” Lavender stood near his bar stool, an empty tray in one hand and a pitcher of beer in the other.
Tyler rubbed his sore knuckles and glowered at her. “I don’t do nice when it comes to assholes.” A predatory smile lit up his face. “But I could be convinced to be nice to you for a price.”
“Sorry, jock boy, I wouldn’t be interested if you were free.”
“You didn’t say that last night or this morning.” He inhaled a whiff of her perfume. His brain fell into a fog. Some of his anger fell away. “I was really nice to you.”
“We don’t even like each other. Remember?” The gleam in her brown eyes promised untold pleasures. She ran a finger across his lips. He cleared his suddenly parched throat.
Oh yeah, he remembered. In fact, last night had been filled with tons of dislike. “How about we practice being enemies some more tonight?”
“Sorry. Not unless you agree to be nicer to him.”
Damn, she was a frigging tough negotiator. “What do I get out of it?”
“Besides team unity?”
He rolled his eyes. “Fat chance that’ll happen as long as both of us are breathing.”
“What do you want?” Lavender put a finger under his chin and pulled his face close, real close. He could smell mint gum on her breath.
“I’m a greedy bastard. I want a lot.” He did want a lot. He wanted something unexplainable, something unfathomable to his asshole self-programming. Yet, he wanted it. He didn’t know what the hell it was, but he’d know it when he got there. He also knew Lavender might be his best ticket to that destination.
The truth slammed him to the ground harder than a tackle by a three hundred pound lineman.
She could help him find the missing piece of his empty life. Somehow she’d been dropped on him when he needed what she had to give. He hated to go all Zen on himself, but he believed in intuition and instincts. They’d served him well over his football career. Without them, he’d be just another quarterback instead of a future Hall-of-Famer with two Super Bowl rings and a few more left in him. At least he hoped there was gas left in that tank.
He met her brown eyes and recognized a kindred spirit, someone who hid pain behind a brash exterior, just like he did. He looked away, uncomfortable with what he was feeling.
Last night she’d seen him at his most vulnerable. She’d sidestepped past his asshole front and right into his soul. That didn’t set well with him.
Sex. This thing between them had to remain about sex and only sex. He craved her body. Her sassy attitude challenged him. Her imaginative approach to sex made him harder than a bronzed penis. But it stopped there.
It had to stop there.
* * * * *
Lavender watched Tyler as he bent over his iPhone and texted some anonymous person. Anonymous to her, obviously not to him. A smidgen of jealousy settled in her stomach.
Tyler looked up and caught her staring. She flinched, fearing he’d read her face. Try as she might, she couldn’t save herself and look away. Only when he held his phone up for her to see the screen did she avert her gaze to the phone. He’d been texting his mom.
He knew. He knew she’d been jealous. Just like he’d been yesterday almost to the point of losing control. In order to be jealous a person needed to care at least a little.
She glanced back at him. He locked gazes with her. His blue eyes burned so intense and powerful, she fell back a step. Something between them shifted and leaned off kilter, teetering and unbalanced. They crossed an invisible emotional boundary, stuck a toe in water beyond their comfort zones.
Lavender shook off her crazy thoughts. She shoved them out of her mind and away from the temptation to want something more out of this relationship, the temptation to consider there’d ever be something more.
She didn’t believe in love. She’d seen its effects as it turned her mother into a bitter woman and removed her once-beloved father from her life. She’d suffered its effects each time she’d allowed herself to fall for the wrong guy. No thank you. She didn’t need that shit.
Leave love to the dreamers and fools. She was no fool.
Tyler was a jock. While she’d admit not all jocks were bad, Tyler was one of the bad ones. He wore his cockiness and attitude for all to see. Besides, Tyler shared some of the same traits as her father, good and bad. They loved sports, were married to the game, and any woman in their lives would always take a backseat to their sport of choice, be it basketball, football, or baseball, or even ping pong. A jock lived for the game. Even after he quit playing, he coached or announced. Whatever he chose to do, the sport dragged him away from home, leaving behind the ones he professed to love—not the way to a successful marriage and certainly not a great way to raise kids with an absentee father.
She knew. She’d lived that story. She’d never willingly live it again. She wouldn’t wait at home for her husband to return from practice and a night of analyzing game film, just to see him for a few minutes each day. Then he’d be up at 6 a.m. and back to the practice facility to start the process all over again.
Sex she needed, and sex Tyler Harris provided. The man redefined insatiable. She didn’t need to love anything else about him. Keep it simple and physical, that was the plan. She’d deviated from that path lately, time to walk the straight and narrow, no detours, and not cross any emotional borders.
Lavender headed behind the bar, Tyler hot on her heels. He backed her up against the counter. His hips pressed against hers.
“You’re making me crazy. I can’t get enough of you. All day long, I think about having sex with you. I wake in the middle of the night and think about it some more.”
“You’ve been getting your fill.” Lavender slid out from the counter and grabbed a bar rag to wipe the tables.
“I can never get my fill.” His blue eyes turned midnight black. A lock of dark hair fell over one side of his forehead. She wanted to touch it, brush it back. He shoved his fingers through his hair, pushing it off his face. He cornered her again, cutting off her escape route.
“Your team’s watching.”
“Yeah, so? I’ll get rid of them.” Ty strode across the room, tossed the house keys at his cousin. They exchanged a few words. A few seconds later, the guys filed out the door, but not before Derek winked at her over his shoulder.
Zach hesitated, as if ready to go another round with Tyler. Instead, he turned his attention on her. He tossed a broad grin in her direction. “Hey, Lav, honey, when you get tired of this pussy and want a real man, give me a call.”
Tyler growled, but Lavender stepped between them and smiled sweetly at the man. “I’ll be sure to do that, Zach.”
Zach kissed her cheek, lingering a little longer than necessary. Then he, too, followed the rest of his teammates on the door.
Tyler stood near the doorway, hands fisted, legs spread apart, as if debating whether or not to go after Zach.
“Drop it, Ty. He’s trying to get to you, and you let him.”
Frowning, Tyler turned back to her. “Yeah, I know, but you won’t be calling him.”
She considered taking exception to his order but decided to drop it. “So, you’ve chased them all out, now what did you have in mind?”
“I have a lot in mind. Dare told me to go to your house, said he doesn’t want to be kept awake all night.”
“You told him we’d make noise?”
“I didn’t need to. He knows me. Let’s get out of here. Your bed’s waiting.”
“My bed? I had something more daring in mind.”
Tyler grinned, always game for sex in unusual places. “Tell me.”
“It’s your turn. Come up with something.”
He ran his thumb across his lips. “Yeah. I have just the place.” He nodded and starting putting glasses in the dishwasher. The sooner they cleaned up, the sooner they could get naked.
“For wild, monkey sex?”
“Oh yeah. I love how your mind works.”
Lavender leaned forward and milked his erection through his jeans. “I bet it’s not my mind you love.”
“Oh, baby, you have that right. Minds are overrated. Give me an X-rated body any day or night.”
A second later, Tyler hopped behind the wheel of her car. They sped down the road to an unknown destination.
* * * * *
Tyler drove easily, maintaining an aura of nonchalance. To be honest, he didn’t know where the hell he was going. He figured he’d drive until he got there. Sex in an elevator was out. He didn’t think there were any on the entire island. A back alley didn’t do it for him because of the dumpster smell. Plus, it seemed pretty damn tacky. He craved something more. He struggled for the right word, but the only word that came to mind was romantic. Being romantic was so not him. Yet, he kept coming back to the word, a foreign—yet intriguing—concept.
A full moon shone in the clear night sky. He pictured Lavender’s naked skin illuminated by the soft light of the moon. Unseasonably warm weather and windless conditions resulted in temps in the balmy low sixties. Sex outside would be in the realm of comfortable possibilities. Not that he and Lavender couldn’t generate enough heat to be comfortable in below-freezing temperatures.
Purple Lady didn’t make it easy on him or his rough-and-ready cock. She stroked him through his jeans, making it damn hard for him to concentrate on his driving. He skidded around one corner a little too fast. His distracted driving didn’t deter her. She unbuttoned the top button on his jeans and slid down the zipper. He raised his hips to give her easier access, even as he bared his teeth and bit back a primal groan.
Her hand slid inside his jeans. She cupped his balls, squeezing lightly.
“Oh, yeah, baby, keep that up, and we’ll screw right here on the double-white line.”
Her soft laughter touched his heart. Damn, he loved the sound of her voice whether it was soft, sexy, sassy, or demanding.
Rounding a corner on the two-lane road, Tyler spotted a sign indicating the entrance to a county park. He grinned and slowed down the car. Rescued at last.
“Here?” Lavender’s fingers froze between his legs. She stared into the dark woods at the side of the road.
“Why not, Vinnie?” Hell, any place was a good place for sex, especially with Lavender.
“The park is closed for the night.” His bold little vixen turned into a shy, proper lady. He knew better. She was anything but proper. With a slight tremble, she pushed her red hair off her face and stared out the window.
A little thing like a locked gate never stopped Tyler. He pulled off the side of the road and parked the car. “You got a blanket in this thing?”
“In the backseat.”
“Grab it and let’s go.” He didn’t want to keep his boy waiting. It’d been patient for way too long. He unfolded his long legs from the driver’s seat and hopped out, checking his wallet for a condom and found three. He couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face. His dick twitched, reminding him to get back to the matter at hand.
Lavender hung back. “Tyler. Are you sure? What if someone comes along?”
“Then we’ll give them a show, won’t we?”
“This is so not a good idea.”
“This is an excellent idea. Since when are you a coward?”
She glanced nervously at the gate and twisted that damn ring. “I’m not. It’s just—”
“Get the blanket.”
He expected her to balk at the authoritarian tone of his voice. She didn’t. Good thing. She’d had her turn being the boss. Lavender grabbed the blanket from the backseat and followed Tyler. He stood near the gate and waited for her. He hooked his arm over her shoulders and guided her down the dark path.
Lavender stumbled, but he caught her, hugging her to his side. “Do you have any clue where you’re going?”
“Nope. I’m not one to hang out in parks.”
“This is such a bad idea.”
“I like this idea. Great outdoors. Communing with nature. All that crap.”
“You can’t be that horny. Let’s go home, or at least to
the car.”
“I’m in a perpetual state of horniness.” He might be horny, but he loved the anticipation, the craving, the torture of wanting something, and yet controlling his lust until it finally exploded like the grand finale in a fireworks display.
She sighed as if he’d asked her to work a double-shift or something. Little faker, she wanted this as bad as he did.
“Watch your step, baby.” Tyler stepped over a log, and she clung to him. He liked that. A lot. Rarely did Lavender depend on anyone, so even a small gesture like this one made him feel needed. He liked the feeling.
The path opened up into a clearing. He stopped at the edge of a patch of grass near a picnic table. Beyond the grass, a steep, rocky bank dropped down to the waters of the Straits of Juan De Fuca. Yeah, this was the place. Taking the blanket from Lavender, he spread it out on the tabletop.
“A picnic table?” She stepped back as if ready to flee. Not a chance in hell would he let her disappear on him.
“What’s wrong with a picnic table?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re worried about doing it here? Hell, we’ve done it in my truck.”
“I know, but there were windows to steam up and protect us from others watching us.”
“Vinnie, no one is around. The park is closed. We have it all to ourselves.” He lowered his voice a notch, cajoling her. “Don’t you crave the forbidden, the possibility we could get caught. Doesn’t that turn you on?”
She lifted her face to his and dug those sexy red fingernails into his arm. “Yes. A little.”
He rubbed his cheek against hers, tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, finding that spot which drove her beyond sanity. She gripped his arm harder and turned her head to seek out his lips. He covered her mouth with his, sucked on her tongue, applied perfect pressure calculated to drive a female crazy. Oddly, the only female he cared about driving crazy happened to be his purple lady.
Panting, she drew back and looked up at him. Way up. She was such a petite little thing. The determination in her chocolate eyes weakened his football-damaged knees, while his dick jerked inside his unzipped jeans. “Just screw me. Anywhere. I don’t care. Just bury your big guy inside me and drive down the field.”
Forward Passes (Seattle Lumberjacks) Page 18
