Scored

by Sloane Howell

  “He’s a bright kid. I’m sure you’ll get a ridiculous deal.”

  “Yep.” I whipped around to Luke. “I need to set up an appointment soon after that, if you have time? Talk about where to allocate a lot of it.”

  Luke was a financial planner and handled all of my investments. In most families it would be a poor idea, but our family was different, and Luke was actually overqualified to do it. I trusted him just as much as I trusted Ethan, and I counted myself fortunate for that. I knew a lot of guys who’d been fucked over when it came to money.

  I glanced around at the same house I grew up in as a kid. Pictures of us hung everywhere, mostly little league stuff and family portraits, though pictures of the grandkids were slowly edging us off the mantel, the way it should be.

  Nolan tugged at my pant leg. “Uncle Matty?”

  I scooped him up like he was a feather pillow and he wrapped his tiny arms around my neck.

  “What’s up, buddy?”

  He looked down at the ground. “We’re umm, we’re—” He glanced over at Luke, whose eyes widened and he mouthed, “It’s okay,” at Nolan.

  Why was Nolan afraid to ask me something? I adjusted my grip on him so that he was facing me.

  “Hey, little man. You can ask me anything you want. Anytime, okay?”

  Nolan smiled and his cheeks turned pink. He practically shook with excitement. Luke and Adrean smiled.

  “Mom and Dad said we could play baseball this year. And they said, umm…” He started to stumble over his words he spoke so fast.

  “What’d they say?” I tickled his ribs to try and slow him down a little.

  He laughed. “Can you help coach?”

  I glanced over and Adrean nodded at me. I turned back to my nephew. “I’ll have to travel some and be gone for some of my games.”

  Nolan stared at the ground again.

  “Hey, I wasn’t done yet.” I tilted his head back up with a finger. “But every day I am free, I will be there. Wouldn’t miss it for the world, kiddo.”

  “Really?”

  I held out my fist for him to bump—something I was quite proud of teaching him. He tapped my knuckles and we blew it up. “Really. I promise.”

  He squeezed me so tight I could barely breathe and I thought I might float into the clouds. It was going to be a damn good year. I loved kids, and the world stopped spinning when it came to my nephews.

  I set Nolan down and he squealed and ran off hollering at Ryan about the good news.

  Adrean and Mom both walked over to me with the look.

  Oh shit!

  I held my hands up in defense.

  Adrean raised her brows. “You’re going to tell us about this girl.”

  —

  “Not yet. I don’t want to scare her away.”

  We all sat around the large oak dining room table. Mom and Adrean’s jaws dropped open.

  Mom glared. “You need to tell her.”

  I glanced down under the table to my phone and hit Send on a message.

  Me: My family is grilling me about you. It’s brutal.

  “That better not be a cellphone at my table.”

  I glanced up and scoffed. “Of course not. I wouldn’t do something like that. Psh!”

  Luke faked a cough and laughed.

  “She’s right.” Adrean looked over to Mom. “She’s going to find out. It’s what we do.”

  “Mmm-hmm. And it’s not like it’s hard to find out about this one’s past.” Mom pointed her fork at me.

  Luke sat at the end of the table next to the boys, chuckling. Nobody was looking and I shot Luke the bird.

  “I saw that,” said Mom.

  Luke laughed harder.

  “You should be tested by Professor X.” I stared at her blankly.

  “You know I don’t understand your video game references.”

  My phone buzzed in my hand. I prayed Mom hadn’t heard it.

  She leaned over to cut Nolan another small slice of pizza. “I will take the battery out of that thing.”

  “Sorry.” I glanced down to read it anyway.

  Kelsey: Are they waterboarding you for answers?

  Me: Yes, it’s like Gitmo over here.

  Kelsey: LOL

  I looked up and Mom wasn’t in her seat.

  Oh shit!

  About the time I tried to shove my phone in my pocket it was snatched from my hand.

  “Hey!”

  Mom grabbed me by the ear—in a playful way. “I warned you.”

  “Ow!” I made a show of pawing at my ear for my nephews.

  They laughed like hyenas at my predicament.

  I stared over at them. “Traitors!”

  Mom walked over and set my phone on the island. “You can have it back after you do the dishes.”

  Luke fist-pumped at the end of the table.

  Asshole.

  “You’re going to help. So don’t think you’re off the hook down there.”

  Luke frowned.

  “Matt, you have to tell her.” Adrean leaned toward me. “If you like her.”

  “Can we stop discussing my love life at the table?”

  Mom and Adrean looked at each other and laughed, then looked back at me.

  I knew they were right, but fuck, I didn’t want to screw things up. It was too early. Kelsey would write me off for sure. Her walls would fly right back up and wouldn’t come down again.

  “She’s guarded, okay? If I tell her right now I won’t get a chance.”

  “Well, I like her already,” said Adrean.

  I gave her an inquisitive look.

  “Most girls just fawn all over you. This one’s making you work. That’s a good sign.”

  “Yep.” Mom nodded.

  “It’s complicated,” I grumbled.

  “I think we know how girls think a little better than you do.” Adrean took a bite of pizza. “But hey, by all means do it your way. We also love to say we told you so.”

  “What’s she do for a living?” Luke asked.

  “She works at a record store. Like one of those independent ones. Not corporate or anything like that.”

  “Ohh, she has a good taste in music?” Mom winked.

  “Very good. We went to a concert on our first date.”

  “Oh, I think that’s sweet. You did good there.” Adrean kept shoveling pizza into her mouth.

  “My niece hungry?” I looked down at her and laughed.

  Adrean shot me the finger. Mom didn’t say a word.

  “Seriously? I know you saw that.”

  “I saw nothing.” Mom kept grinning like she knew something I didn’t.

  “What is it?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. I just have a good feeling about this girl.”

  I hoped she was right.

  —

  I kissed my nephews good night and hugged Luke and Adrean. They took off to the minivan. Dad went off to do something in his office and I finished helping Mom clean up in the kitchen before plopping down with my phone on the couch.

  Me: Sorry, I got my phone taken away.

  Kelsey: Hah! You got in trouble.

  Me: Yep. I made it out alive, though.

  Kelsey: Do you have a big family?

  Me: I have an older brother. He’s married with twins and another on the way.

  Kelsey: You seem like you’d be a great uncle. How old are they?

  Me: Five-year-old boys. They asked me to coach their little league team.

  Kelsey: That’s adorable. Bet it made you happy.

  Me: It was pretty amazing. Not gonna lie. What’d you do tonight?

  Kelsey: Not much. Talked to Jenny for a bit and binge-watched some episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

  I pictured her sitting around on her couch in pajama pants.

  I bet she’s hot as fuck in pajama pants.

  My cock started to rise just thinking about it and my thoughts turned to the naughty side.

  Me: Bet you finished up what we started first, didn
’t you?

  Was that too forward? Fuck it. I wanted to know. The dots started bouncing around on the screen.

  Kelsey: That’s personal information that you’re not privy to.

  Me: So yes.

  Kelsey: You don’t know my life, Stallworth!

  I laughed. God, I wanted to see her again already.

  Me: Bet you said my name, too.

  Kelsey: Are you trying to make me blush via text message?

  Me: Not trying anything. Stating facts that have already taken place.

  Kelsey: Such a tease. And I was going to give you a play by play until you got all cocky about it. :)

  I groaned at her text and then checked the room to make sure nobody was around to hear it. My cock was at full mast and ready to sail around the world when I looked down.

  Me: I doubt it took very long, so probably not much to tell.

  I couldn’t help myself and I wasn’t lying.

  Kelsey: Guess we’ll never know.

  Me: That’s okay. I’d rather watch you get off in person.

  Kelsey: I don’t know what makes you think you can get me off so easily.

  I almost snort-laughed. If there was one thing I was better at than baseball, it would be getting Kelsey off with my tongue.

  Me: I think about my face between your thighs.

  My cock strained so hard against my zipper I thought I might have an outline of it on my shaft. There was nothing in the world I wanted more at that moment than to fuck an orgasm or fifty out of Kelsey Martin. The first would be a rough, dirty little romp. Then I’d take my time with the second and make it intimate—slow and romantic with lots of foreplay. After that I’d spoon her all night long with one of her amazing breasts cupped in my hand.

  Kelsey: God, I don’t think you know how dangerous that dirty mouth of yours is. Seriously. It should be against the law.

  Me: It’s a weapon of mass destruction. Leaves your panties in ruins.

  Kelsey: It’d be true if I were wearing any.

  I bit my knuckle, hard, and read the last line of her text about twenty times in five seconds.

  Me: Your dirty talk is pretty on point yourself.

  Kelsey: It’s not my fault you ruined the ones I had on earlier and I was too lazy to grab new ones.

  Me: Yeah, well, I don’t believe you. I think you left them on to try and re-create the moment exactly how it happened.

  I could practically feel her squirming on her couch when she looked at her phone.

  Kelsey: Guess you’ll never find out. :)

  Me: Guess so.

  I waited a few moments and no response. I needed to change the subject anyway, because I had a problem.

  Me: So I have to go out of town for a week. I meant to tell you earlier and just got caught up in conversation.

  Kelsey: What for?

  Me: I’m flying out to watch my buddy play football in Green Bay.

  Kelsey: Oh, okay. Well, have fun.

  God, I wanted to cancel so bad but I’d promised him, and Ethan had already backed out to do wedding shit. I always kept my promises, even when a super-hot, funny, perfect girl came along. I couldn’t take her with me, as much as I wanted to. It was kind of “guy time” and she had to work.

  Judging by Kelsey’s reaction she wasn’t super thrilled about it, either. We’d just started to really click and I didn’t want to be presumptuous, but I’m sure she wondered if there would be other women there, not to mention the inevitable women that would come up and want autographs and pictures. I decided to set her mind at ease, even if she wasn’t worried about those things.

  Me: I really want to invite you, but it’s kind of a guys-only type of thing, and I know you have to work.

  Kelsey: I didn’t expect you to invite me to go on a trip.

  Me: I know, it’s not that. I want you to go. I’m not explaining this very well.

  Kelsey: Well, spit it out, Stallworth.

  I laughed.

  Me: You can text or call me any hour of the day or night and I wouldn’t be upset about it. Is that better?

  Kelsey: Maybe :)

  Me: I’m going to try something new here if you’ll bear with me a bit, okay?

  Kelsey: Intrigued. Okay…

  Me: I really want to see you before I go. But instead of just telling you it’s going to happen, I’m going to ask if it’s okay.

  Kelsey: Well, I appreciate you finally asking me. And yes, I would like to see you, too.

  Me: Sounds awesome.

  Kelsey: Okay, just text or call when you get up. I’m about to head to bed.

  I glanced up to the clock; I hadn’t realized it was almost ten. I shrugged it off. She wasn’t a night owl—a small surprise, but far from a deal-breaker.

  Me: Okay, good night.

  Kelsey: Night.

  Mom walked into the living room. “All right, I’m about to head to bed.”

  I glanced to Kelsey’s messages and then back to Mom with a weird look. “Huh?”

  “I said I’m about to go to bed. Everything okay?”

  I tried not to think the eerie Freudian thoughts that temporarily ran through my mind.

  “Everything’s good. I’m gonna head home.”

  I stood up and gave her a hug, thankful that my cock had given me a bit of a reprieve from his earlier state of being.

  Mom put a hand on my shoulder. “Just be honest with her. Dating you isn’t like dating an ordinary guy. She needs to know that.”

  “I will.” I just didn’t say when.

  I started toward the door.

  “I love you.”

  I turned back. “Love you, too, Mama.”

  Chapter 8

  “You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off you.”

  —Frankie Valli

  Kelsey Martin

  What in the hell?

  I jumped up from the couch where I’d dozed off, still wearing my jeans just like Matt had guessed.

  Ugh.

  I’d watched his car leave the parking lot earlier in the day and immediately sprawled out on the couch with my hand between my legs. And he was right. I’d been so worked up it took me all of three seconds to get myself off, over my jeans. How was that even possible?

  I rubbed my eyes and walked over to the door. I opened it with the chain still latched so that there was about a two-inch gap between me and whoever was on the other side.

  I hadn’t even looked up, as I was used to young twenty-somethings knocking on my door at all hours of the night searching for the neighbors who lived directly above me. Their apartment was party central it seemed. Annoying was putting it mildly, but I had been their age once and swore I’d never be the dick who called the cops and scolded kids for having a good time.

  “You need to go up one more floor. They live above me.” I started to close the door on them without even looking.

  “Knew you still had the jeans on.”

  What the hell?

  I blinked a couple of times and saw a pair of hungry blue eyes peeking through. My body realized what was happening before my mind, and a wave of tingles funneled straight down between my legs.

  “Wh-what time is it?”

  “Two.”

  “In the morning?”

  “I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”

  A smile formed on my face.

  “You gonna let me in, or what?”

  I started to gather my wits about me. “I don’t know. What are you going to do to me? Am I in danger?”

  “I’m going to finish what I started earlier, with my mouth this time.”

  Awake.

  So fucking awake.

  His words were like a shot of amphetamine.

  I quickly shut the door and unlatched the chain. His hands couldn’t be on my body fast enough. I’d gotten myself off three times thinking about him doing all sorts of things to me and it never came close to what he’d accomplished with one hand over my pants.

  I yanked the door open.

 
I jumped when he barreled through the entrance and he caught me in midair like we’d choreographed it and rehearsed a thousand times. Both of his hands gripped my ass firmly.

  God, his hands were perfect, strong. Our lips collided and Matt kicked the door shut behind him without missing a beat. It was the sexiest fucking thing I’d ever seen in my life.

  Our tongues swirled and intertwined as we pawed at each other, each desperately seeking out the other like we’d been kept apart for years.

  “Bedroom?” Matt growled.

  I shot a hand back in the general direction of the hallway where my room was, not giving a damn what kind of mess would greet us. Only one thought persisted in my mind—Matt’s mouth belonged on me at all times.

  He carried me down the hallway like I was weightless. I didn’t want to escape his grasp, but there was no way I could’ve if I’d tried. He sucked his way down my neck and bit down when he got to my collarbone.

  “Jesus.” My breaths came rapid and labored. He hit every spot just right and the bite sent me through the roof.

  We crashed onto the bed and he smothered me in a furious kiss. I dug my heels into his ass and pulled my body up to his thick, hard cock, longing for any bit of friction. When I found it my eyes rolled back into my head and I moaned. Matt pinned my hands above my head and sucked down my throat.

  “I’ve been waiting for this all fucking night,” he growled in my ear.

  I couldn’t breathe—couldn’t do anything but grind my clit against his hard length.

  He released my hands and gripped the waist of my pants. “I was jealous of your fingers, getting to touch what I wanted.”

  “Jesus,” I moaned.

  I arched my ass and he pulled my pants down to my knees and then freed them from each foot. He leaned down and our lips met once more. Within seconds my breasts were exposed and my shirt was bunched up around my neck. Both of his hands kneaded my soft flesh and he squeezed both of my nipples simultaneously. I gasped and clawed at his back, latching on to anything I could grab hold of in the frenzy.

  “God, I can’t wait to watch you come all over my face.”

  His words sucked the air from my lungs. Matt was rough and strong and goddamn—he just did it for me. My fingers raked through his hair and I dug my nails into his scalp when he sucked hard on one of my breasts.

  “Oh God.”

  He glanced up to my face just as I looked down and his blue-eyed stare showed me every naughty thing he wanted to do to my body. I swear I felt him smile when he bit down on my nipple. A moan echoed off the wall and I squeezed his mussed up hair tighter between my fingers.