Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
AJ
AJ
I’m exhausted, so I’m going straight to bed. Let’s make plans for dinner one night this week.
I shoot the text off to Nicholas as I ride the elevator up to my floor, feeling anything but exhausted. There’s excitement, because after another win tonight, we’ve tied our series 2-2. And there’s the thrill of seeing McCabe again once Nicholas leaves.
I click over to my text thread with McCabe and read the messages we exchanged on the plane.
McCabe
You’re coming over tonight, yes?
AJ
Is that an invitation, or an assumption?
McCabe
Yes.
AJ
You’re getting a little cocky, assuming that I can’t go a night without you.
McCabe
If there’s one thing I am, it’s a realist.
AJ
Is that so? Maybe what you REALLY need is a night alone, then?
McCabe
Don’t threaten me, woman. I’ll text you when Nicholas and Nicole leave.
AJ
I’m too old for booty calls.
I threw the “old” part in there because maybe we both need the reminder that I’m much too old for him—yet another reason why we shouldn’t be thinking about anything long term.
McCabe
You’re not too old for anything. Stop that shit right now. And if you don’t come over after Nicholas leaves, I’ll just come over and drag you back to my place. Benefits of living across the hall.
AJ
How very caveman of you.
McCabe
You love every minute of it, don’t lie.
I wanted to argue with him about that, but he’s not wrong.
AJ
We’ll see how I’m feeling once I’m home. I might be tired.
McCabe
After a win like tonight’s? Not likely. But if you’re tired, we’ll sleep. I sleep better when you’re in my bed.
AJ
I’m not sleeping at your place when I live across the hall.
With my wrist feeling better each day, it’s not like I need his help to do simple things like getting dressed anymore. So there’s no excuse not to stay at my own place. Maybe I’ll let him give me another orgasm or two, because the one he gave me in the shower this morning feels like way too long ago, but I’m not spending the night. That screams relationship , and I keep telling him we can’t have that.
We can’t. I have to keep reminding myself too, because when I’m with him, I start wanting things I know are impossible.
McCabe
We’ll see about that.
When I walk into my apartment, Tabitha lifts her head and hisses at me, then goes back to sleeping on my couch. I just laugh, because she really is ornery.
The anticipation of knowing I’m going to see McCabe in private in only a few minutes, after a long day of having to act like there’s absolutely nothing going on between us, has all my senses heightened.
The whizzing of my suitcase wheels across the hardwood floor, the drag of clothes as I shed them and leave them on the floor of my bedroom, the pounding of my heart as I walk into my closet naked, trying to figure out what to wear over to his place...it has me feeling antsy, like I could crawl out of my skin. Normally, when I’m feeling like this, I pull out my very lifelike vibrator. Tonight, though, I have the real thing.
I never, ever thought I’d be the kind of person who could barely make it twelve hours without being railed by a well-endowed hockey player. Yet here I am.
I chuckle to myself as I glance in the full-length mirror. My body isn’t what it once was, but I’ve worked hard to maintain my physique. I can’t wait to get back to skating every morning. The first thing I’m asking the orthopedist when I see him in two days is how soon I can lace up my own skates. I’m not worried about falling and hurting myself on the ice, but I know my hand isn’t in any condition to tighten laces, and since no one else knows about my morning skating sessions, it’ll have to wait until I can do it myself.
I’ve just slipped on some satin sleep shorts and thrown a tank top on when his text comes through, letting me know that Nicholas and Nicole have left. I glance in the mirror again, taking in my wild eyes and the way my nipples are already hard from their contact with the fabric of the shirt. I’m so turned on I can barely stand it, and teasing him feels like a brilliant idea.
AJ
I fear I may need another minute.
McCabe
Why, what are you doing?
I slide my hand down the front of my shorts and find that I’m already soaked just thinking about him. After my hysterectomy, the doctor warned me that vaginal dryness might be a side effect. Turns out, all I needed was a hot younger guy to solve that problem for me.
McCabe
AJ?
What are you doing?
Collapsing back onto the ottoman in the middle of my small walk-in closet, I spread my legs wide so the fabric of the shorts doesn’t impede my access.
AJ
I’m so turned on I can hardly move. I need to take care of myself before I come over there.
McCabe
Walk across the hall right now, or I’m going to come bang your fucking door down.
Giggling to myself, I run my finger over my clit, knowing that it would feel better if he was doing it with his tongue, but suddenly, even waiting the thirty seconds it would take me to get to him feels impossible.
My phone rings with an incoming video call.
“What are you doing?” he all but growls when I hit the button to accept the call.
“I already told you.” My voice is breathless as my fingers swipe through the slickness between my legs and then circle my clit, lips parting on a gasp at the contact.
“Fucking hell, AJ,” he says with a sigh. “You look so hot right now. Pull the phone back. I want to see you touch yourself.”
I do as he says, not because I think it’s a good idea to be fingering myself on a video call, but because I’m so turned on, I’d do just about anything to take the edge off.
When I slide my fingers over my clit again, my entire abdomen clenches in longing. “God, I want you.”
“I’m right here. Get up and walk across the hallway, and I’ll take care of you.”
“But...” I lose my train of thought as my fingers move faster. I should have just gone over, because the pressure is building and my pussy is pulsing, and there’s an emptiness inside me I know he can fill. I’m too far along to stop now, though. “I...”
“Holy shit, woman,” he groans, then sets his phone on his bathroom counter, propped up so I can see him. “Do you want to see what this is doing to me? How my body is reacting to this torture?”
“Yesss.” The word is a hiss, and I close my eyes as I throw my head back while a wave of longing courses through me. When I open my eyes again, he’s standing with one hand braced on the counter in front of him, and his dick in his hand. The sight alone has my hips grinding up into my hand.
“This is what you do to me,” he says, sliding his hand up until it looks like he’s choking the swollen head of his cock. “You make me so hard I can’t fucking think straight.” As he strokes himself a few more times, I circle my clit harder and faster. “I want to be inside you right now. I always want to be inside you.” He growls out the last sentence like he’s mad about it. “Do you know how fucking hard it is to pretend like nothing’s going on between us when we’re working? Like at tonight’s game?” With his hand moving faster, he grunts out the question.
I lift one eyebrow as I watch the way he’s jerking himself off in quick, angry strokes. “Pretty hard, by the looks of it.”
“You should be here right now.” He circles the tip of his cock and slides his hand back down his shaft. “It’s like you’re punishing me...”
I dip two fingers inside myself and use the heel of my hand to rub against my clit with each stroke. “Ever heard of delayed gratification?” I’m teasing, but now that I’m this close, I’m frustrated with myself. I should have just gone over, because this would feel so much better if he was the one making me come.
“I’m going to teach you all about delayed gratification,” he grits out. “And trust me, it’ll feel like punishment, just like this does.”
I don’t know why the thought of that turns me on so much, but his words bring me so close to the precipice that I can practically taste my orgasm before it hits me—it’s a metallic tang on my tongue as goosebumps ripple across my skin.
My moan of pleasure has him encouraging me, telling me about his plans for my body. And the visions of him buried inside me, edging me toward release and then holding me back, has me tipping right over into ecstasy. He follows my lead, letting out a string of expletives mixed with my name as he comes into a hand towel he’s holding in front of himself.
And when I fully finish and lie back on my ottoman, my phone drops to the ground. I feel like I’m liquid. I’m completely unable to pull myself together.
Until his voice rings out, filling my entire closet with his growling demand. “Get. Your. Ass. Over. Here. Now.”