Personal Foul: A Quick Snap Novella

by Cala Riley

  Week 4

  Garrett

  I’m one of those odd guys who loves to run. There is something about the repetition that calms my mind. No music needed, just the sound of birds chirping and the occasional footsteps of someone else. Running outside comes with the risk of running into a football fan, but runners tend to stick to themselves. It probably helps that I go first thing in the morning as the sun is rising. I round a corner and see another runner in front of me. Tight black shorts, reflective yellow sports bra and running shoes. Her long black hair swinging back and forth.

  I’d know that body anywhere —Reagan.

  I speed up and watch her a little harder.

  I increase my pace a little more and come alongside her and fall into step with her. She puts a little space between us and does a double take when she realizes it’s me. Reagan trips but catches herself.

  “Holy shit, Stone! Don’t sneak up on a woman,” she huffs.

  I ignore her comment. “You like to run?”

  “No, I like to eat, and running is a necessary evil to keep my Irish ass in shape,” she deadpans, making me laugh.

  I peek over her shoulder at the ass in question. “Keep doing whatever you’ve been doing. You have an ass to kill for.”

  She raises a brow, but says nothing and we just run together. Approaching an opening, a rogue bunny comes out of nowhere and jets out in front of us. Reagan squeals and loses her footing. I grab her and spin, taking the brunt of the fall, Reagan sprawled out on top of me breathing hard.

  She pushes up and slaps my shoulder. “Why in the hell did you do that?”

  “Do what? Catch you?” I asked, surprised.

  “Yes,” she snaps. “You could have gotten hurt and then we would be fucked.”

  “I wasn’t going to let you fall, mi reina.”

  She groans, dropping her head onto my chest. I trail my hand up and down her spine. Reagan looks at my chest and clicks her lips. “These are new,” she whispers while staring at my chest tattoo. She looks lower and gasps before groaning, “You have your nipple pierced.”

  “Sweetheart, I need you to stop looking at me like that,” I warn.

  “Like what?”

  “Like you want me to kiss you, because goddamn, do I want to.”

  Reagan leans forward, her mouth hovering over mine, eyes on my lips. “Maybe it’s not a terrible idea.” She leans down and ghosts her lips over mine, not quite kissing.

  I put my hand on the back of her head and roll us, putting her under me, settling between her luscious thighs. I lean forward and ghost my lips over her neck. I bite her earlobe and lick it. “I want a date, Reagan, one date.”

  She lifts her hips, pushing into mine, breathing hard. “One?”

  “One.” I push my hips into hers, making her groan.

  “Okay, you win. One date.” She leans forward, licking my neck.

  I roll off her and lay next to her on the grass. “Public, we’re in public,” I remind both of us.

  “Holy shit,” she mumbles. “I just agreed to go on a date with you.”

  “You did,” I gloat. “Are you free tonight?”

  “I need to check my schedule.” She bites her lip. “But I think so.”

  “What time can I pick you up?” I stand up and hold my hand out for hers. She slides her hand into mine and I pull her up.

  “How about I meet you somewhere?”

  “That works for me. Give me your number and I’ll text you a time and address.”

  Reagan hands over her phone without question. I type in my digits before handing it back.

  “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  Reagan nods and heads towards the parking lot, finishing the loop we were running.

  “Come here often?”

  She quirks a brow. “Once a week. I like to switch it up.”

  “This is the second trail I’ve tried. Doesn’t seem too bad. And the view is awesome sometimes.”

  “It is.” We fall into silence. “So one nipple piercing…” She trails off.

  “Yeah, I got it done as a dare. Ended up liking it, so I kept it in. I keep meaning to have the other done to match.”

  “It was unexpected.” I look over at Reagan and see a slight blush on the apples of her cheeks.

  “I never want to be predictable,” I tease, making her laugh.

  “You are far from predictable, Garrett Stone.” She eyes my tattoo on my chest. “What’s up with that?”

  I look down and point. “Obviously the year I was born.” I move to the cross. “A good Catholic bad boy can never have too many holy inspired tattoos.” Then lastly I point out. “Mi vida loca, my crazy life. Pretty fitting considering my life is anything but normal.” I shrug.

  “They suit you,” she murmurs.

  I watch her grab her keys out of a little pocket on the inside of her shorts by her hip.

  “Well, thank you for walking me to my car.”

  “My pleasure. See you tonight?”

  “Tonight.” She nods. I lean in and kiss her cheek.

  “Drive safe, mi reina.” I step back and watch her slide into her car, waiting until she locks the doors before walking over to mine.

  “Time to pull out the big guns, Stone.”

  Reagan

  I walk down the stairs, and I hear laughter coming from the kitchen, so I head that way. I lean against the doorway and watch my three favorite men; Nick, Dad, and Pops. Nick turns towards me, his eyes lighting up and he heads my way. I hold my arms out for him and he comes right in, squeezing me tight.

  “Hey Ma,” he murmurs against my shoulder.

  “Hey sweetheart.” I kiss the crown of his head.

  He steps back and takes his seat at the kitchen island next to Pops.

  “Well, don’t you look like a pretty little thing,” Pops teases, making me roll my eyes.

  “Does this mean guy’s night is” —Dad fake gasps in outrage— “actually guy’s night?” All three guys falling into a fit of laughter.

  “That would be a first,” Nick teases.

  “You think you’re so funny,” I deadpan.

  “Where are you going all dressed up?” Pops asks while tossing a grape in his mouth.

  I look down at my clothes. “Really, this is dressed up? I’m in jeans and a nice shirt.”

  “Ma, it’s after five and you’re in real people clothes. Usually as soon as you get home, you strip into ‘something more comfortable.’” Nick air quotes, making his grandfather and great-grandfather laugh.

  “You heading out tonight?” Dad asks.

  “Yeah, I’m having dinner with a friend.” I shrug.

  Pops perks up. “A guy friend?”

  “If you must know, yes.”

  “Interesting.” He smirks.

  “Whatever,” I mumble, grabbing my purse off the island. “Don’t stay up too late,” I remind Nick before kissing his forehead.

  “Ma,” he whines, pulling away.

  “Don’t worry, we got him,” Dad says gently, pulling me in for a hug and kissing my head.

  “Everything is under control,” Pops reassures me before also giving me a hug and a kiss.

  “I won’t be late,” I call over my shoulder, heading out of the kitchen.

  “Stay out as late as you want,” Pops yells teasingly.

  I drive towards the address Garrett sent me and try to keep my nerves at bay. How I ended up agreeing to a date with him is beyond me.

  Lies. It was abs, tattoos, and a nipple piercing.

  “Your destination is on the right.”

  My navigation system is indicating an apartment building is my destination.

  “That sneak,” I mutter under my breath while I find a parking spot.

  I pull up his text message.

  Me: here.

  Stone: Come on up. 900

  Me: Seriously?

  Stone: Don’t make me come down there.

  I walk over to the open elevator and hit floor 9, instantly the doors close and
I go up. I watch the numbers tick by.

  You only owe him one date, the angel on my right shoulder reminds me gently.

  Yeah, but we all know you want more than one date with him, preferably naked, the devil on my left teases.

  “I’m going crazy,” I mumble to myself. The elevator dings and the doors open. “Now or never.” I step out and see there are only two doors on this floor, going to number 900, knocking softly.

  Garrett swings the door open. “Took you long enough,” he teases.

  “I thought you said you were taking me out?” I sass back.

  “Did I though? I thought I only asked for one date, never mentioned any specifics.” He smirks and heads towards his kitchen. I follow behind and take in his open floor plan. The place is all white and black, nothing of personality, so not his style, but it smells divine.

  “You better feed me on this date. I get cranky when I’m hungry,” I remind him as I run my hand along the counter.

  “Don’t worry, I will feed you.”

  “Thank god.”

  “Wait, you like seafood, right?”

  “Yeah…” I drawl.

  “Good, otherwise I would have had to scrap dinner and come up with something else.” He relaxes, walks over to me and takes my hand. Pulling me towards a dining room table filled with food.

  “Where did you get all this?” I ask, amazed.

  “I made it.” He shrugs, pulling out a chair for me.

  “You made me dinner?”

  “I did. I figured if I only have one shot with you, I should go all out.”

  I sit down and he pushes my chair in for me. “Thank you.”

  “Of course, sangria?”

  “Yes, please.” He pours two glasses and sets one in front of me and one in front of his plate.

  “So what do we have?”

  “Seafood paella, with shrimp, mussels, and chorizo. Then I made an instapot flan.” He cringes. “If you ever meet my mother’s side and tell them I made you flan in an instapot, I will deny it until I’m blue in the face.”

  I giggle. “No mention of instapot, got it.”

  I hold my glass out to him. “Cheers.”

  He taps his to mine. “Cheers. Dig in, I hope you love it.”

  I put some paella on my plate, making sure I get a little bit of everything and take a bite. The burst of flavor surprising me, making me moan. I open my eyes and see Garrett staring at me, fork halfway to his mouth. “What?”

  “Mi reina, if you want this evening to be PG, you can’t make noises like that,” he warns.

  I can feel my cheeks heating. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be, I’m not.”

  “This is delicious. Who taught you how to make it?”

  “I can’t really say it was one specific person. All the women in my family took the time to make sure I could hold my own in the kitchen. That way they wouldn’t worry about me starving to death and being an ocean away.” He shrugs.

  “That’s sweet,” I say softly.

  “I’ll tell them you said so.” He smirks.

  “So, I take it this place was already furnished before you moved in?”

  “A little obvious, huh?”

  “Just a little,” I tease, taking another bite.

  Garrett takes a sip of his water next to his sangria. “When I left New England, I needed a fresh start, so I only brought what I needed and got rid of the rest.”

  “I get that.” I nod. “Sometimes we all need a fresh start.”

  Sometime during our conversation, we both clean our plates.

  “Would you like anymore?”

  “No, thank you. It was seriously delicious though. You didn’t have to go through all the trouble.”

  “Yes I did, reina,” he says with a heated look. “How about you refill your glass of sangria and go sit on the couch while I get this cleaned up?”

  “I’ll take your glass for you.”

  “Sounds good.” We both stand and head our separate ways. I set our glasses down on the coffee table and look around. I spot a canvas print of turquoise water and sandy beach.

  “That’s Peñíscola, Spain.” He says, walking out of the kitchen.

  “That’s where your mother’s from, right?”

  “It is. That’s what home looks like.”

  I look back at the photo. “It’s breathtaking,” I whisper.

  “I’ll have to take you sometime.”

  “Or I could take myself.” I smirk, making him laugh.

  “Touché.”

  Garrett sits on the couch, one arm over the back, legs spread. He rests his other arm on the armrest and rubs his bottom lip.

  Why is that so sexy?

  “Come sit,” he rasps.

  “I don’t have time for a relationship,” I blurt out.

  “No?”

  “No. I work too much and travel all the time. When I’m not working, my family comes first. You probably want a woman who will be in the stands at every opportunity and that won’t be me.”

  “So what do you propose we do about this?”

  “Friends with benefits?” I offer.

  Garrett stares at me for a moment. “Okay.”

  “Okay? That easy?”

  Garrett stands up, walking towards me. Once to me, he pulls me into him, weaving one hand into my hair and griping my hip with the other. “Make no mistake, I want you, Reagan. I’ll wear you down.” He ghosts his lips over my jaw. “Slowly but surely I’ll convince you that you want me as much as I want you.” His lips are so close to mine. “The question is, are you willing to keep an open mind as to where this will go?”

  “Fuck it,” I mutter under my breath, closing the gap between us and kissing him. He lets me lead for a split second before taking over. The kiss is all-consuming. I gasp when he pulls my head back, kneading my ass. His tongue dueling with mine. “More,” I demand.

  Garrett slowly bites my lip before letting go, stepping back from me. “No.”

  “No?” I repeat, not quite understanding what he’s saying.

  “I would love nothing more than to strip you bare and take you right here and right now, but like I already said, Reagan, I’m playing for keeps.”

  “So you’re holding out on me?” I ask harshly, still trying to catch my breath.

  “For now. Don’t worry, mi reina, you’ll get the goods.” He rubs his lip, fire still in his eyes.

  “God, you’re a dick!” I growl.

  “A dick you want.” He smirks. He holds out his hand. “Come on mi reina, it’s late, you should probably head home.”

  I look at my watch and see it’s already after nine. “You’re right. We both have to work tomorrow.”

  We walk into the entry and I pick up my purse from the table before turning back to Garrett. “Thank you for dinner.”

  “Anytime.”

  I lick my lips, stepping into Garrett, pulling his head down and kissing him. He backs me into the door, caging me in with his body. Who knows how long he kisses me before backing away.

  “You’ll be the death of me, mi reina.”

  “All is fair in love and war, and this is war,” I tease.

  “Nah, this won’t be war, this will be love.” Garrett winks. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Chapter 5

  Week 5

  Reagan

  Garrett walks into my office wearing nothing but those tight ass football pants.

  “Mi reina. Ready to be treated like a queen?”

  My heart is racing in my chest.

  “We can’t. This is my office.”

  He walks around the desk, pulling me up into his arms. He presses me against his chest. His very obvious erection pressing against me.

  “No one is here. We won’t get caught. I can’t wait. I have to have you.”

  I look down to see his pants gone.

  “Where are your pants?”

  “What pants?”

  He picks me up, placing me on my desk. Then
he grinds against me. I arch my back, moaning like a damn whore.

  “Fuck, I’m going to come if you don’t stop all those noises.” He presses a kiss to my neck.

  “I can’t help it. You make me feel so good. Fuck me, Garrett. Fuck me hard.”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  Within seconds I’m naked, his hard length pressing against my soaking wet core.

  “Tell me you want it, reina.”

  “I want it. Fuck me.”

  He thrusts into me hard, ripping a moan from my throat. He wraps one hand around my neck and into my hair, tugging it as his other hand uses my hip to help him piston inside of me.

  It doesn’t take long before I feel that high.

  “I’m coming. Fuck, Garrett.”

  I wake up gasping, fingers between my legs. I groan. “Seriously?” I sit up and slide out of bed. I walk into the bathroom and turn the shower on. Cold. I look into the mirror. “Did you really have to have a wet fucking dream about him of all people?”

  Yeah, but what a dream it was.

  I step into the shower and shiver, letting the icy water hit my back before turning it to hot. I stare at the showerhead and contemplate using it to take the ache away. I turn away from the showerhead and start washing my hair.

  “I hope he’s as turned on as I am,” I mutter to myself while running conditioner through my hair.

  For the past week, Garrett has kept it PG. He has been giving me small touches here and there. A lingering hand on my back when he walks me to my car. A press of a kiss to my cheek before he has to go to practice.

  He has been nothing but a perfect gentleman.

  I know what he wants. He wants a second date. Then a third. Maybe even a fourth.

  I can’t date though. Oh, but I wouldn’t mind rolling in the sheets with the guy.

  Him and his stupid rules. I wish he was the same guy I knew in college. Hell, the same guy from New England. Then maybe he could fuck me and move on. Give me that “O” I’m chasing, then go away.

  That’s not who he claims to be anymore, though.

  Maybe I’m not trying hard enough.

  I think back to my outfits and the way I’ve acted around him. He’s only seen me dressed up the once. Even then, it was conservative. Similarly, my actions have been just as conservative. He hasn’t seen me go full hussy on his ass.