Chapter Fourteen
SAMMIE’S BACK PRESSED hard against the door, her shirt catching as she slid down it. She pressed her palms to her cheeks and let out a long, slow breath.
What had she just done?
As her words played on a loop, over and over, a tormenting melody, Sammie bit back a groan.
She stretched out her legs before her, arms falling to her sides as her head tilted back to rest against the guest room door.
She could hear faint footsteps approaching, stopping with the click of the restroom door that was closest to her room.
Coming on to Kieran like a mother fucking creature in heat wasn’t exactly a great way to hide her feelings.
Sammie had entered a fugue state the moment Kieran had begun to tease her. All thoughts left her brain except for those pertaining to what she wanted to do to him. The Sammie that had pinned him back against that porch railing? That wasn’t a Sammie who knew how to be chill and calm.
She’d hardly been able to keep her composure as she’d fled back into the house, exchanging quick goodbyes with Kenna and Kellan, a thank you and goodnight for Meredith.
And now Kieran was just down the hall, presumably getting ready for bed himself, and Sammie was sitting on the floor, basking in the horrors of the last five minutes.
There were those footsteps again, leaving the restroom, heading her way. Sammie couldn’t breathe, couldn’t talk herself into getting up and moving away from the door. So she was right there, so close, when those footsteps stopped on just the other side.
Sammie couldn’t tell what she wanted more, for Kieran to keep walking toward his own room next to hers, or for him to knock on the door that was currently the only thing holding her up.
A shaky breath whooshed out of Sammie as Kieran continued past. She heard the faint sound of his bedroom door clicking shut.
Sammie sat there a while longer, willing her heartbeat to slow, waiting for the tingling in her limbs to lessen.
There was still that low heat in her core, a fire she’d started outside that she’d so far failed to put out.
It simmered as she got up and crept out to the bathroom, readying herself for bed as quickly and quietly as possible.
Sammie sank onto her mattress, its small, brass frame creaking softly. She leaned back against the wall, knees pulled to her chest, clicking through the notifications she’d missed on her phone during dinner and the aftermath.
A text from Luz about what time they’d be starting work on Monday. Another text from Ivy asking for more updates on the house. Sammie had half a mind to tell her friend what she’d just done, commiserate over the fool she’d made of herself.
Do you want me to tell you that I’ve always been so good?
Had she fucking good-girled herself? Ivy would love that, would probably never let Sammie hear the end of it.
But then Kai’s suspicions crept back to the fore of Sammie’s mind.
The idea that Ivy wanted more than simple friendship from Sammie, its shape a wedge of fear driven into her chest. A fear that Ivy might not want to hear about any of this, that Sammie would only be hurting her—losing her—by bringing it up.
Still, she had Ivy’s text chain pulled up.
Their last exchange had been a video of the New York women’s team paired with a string of heart-eyed emojis from Ivy. And that gave Sammie an idea.
Sammie: So that player you mentioned, the one whose DMs you’re gonna slide into
Sammie: I met her. She’s a little scary, in a ‘step on me pls’ sort of way
Ivy: see, you get it!
The reply from her friend was immediate, nudging that spike of guilt further into Sammie’s chest. Maybe it had been a mistake to bring Kenna up.
Ivy would want to know how Sammie had met the Louisville player, which would inevitably lead their conversation back around to Sammie and Kieran and whatever the fuck was going on there.
Sammie tossed her phone away gently, running her hands through her hair as she leaned back against the wall. She was still so keyed up. Embers under her skin that radiated through her in waves.
It was the way Kieran had watched her as she’d leaned in, the way his eyes never left her face.
He hadn’t shied away from her, even as she had caged him in.
She could see it, his body’s response to her.
His eyes had widened, every breath sharp.
He’d met her stare with something close to a challenge.
Had Sammie made a mistake? Had she let too much of what she really felt seep through?
She knew she needed to keep her emotions in check.
But fuck, Kieran’s hair had still been barely damp from the quick shower he’d taken before dinner, his curls darker at the ends.
He’d smelled like citrus, bright and crisp.
He’d held her hand under the table, something Sammie was getting a little too used to.
And he’d met her stare as she’d pushed, as she’d toed the line of how far they should take things. There had been surprise in his gaze, sure, but there had also been a trust there, a confidence that Sammie had always admired in him.
Sexual attraction didn’t equal romance. Kieran was clear evidence of that. And it was painfully obvious that Sammie had always found him attractive.
What harm was there in letting that part of what she felt show?
Sammie pictured the look on his face as he’d watched her, his blown pupils and his flushed skin. Her breath hitched. Every inch of her felt too sensitive, a live wire ready to spark, when her phone buzzed with another message.
Kieran had made quick work of saying goodnight to the rest of the household. He’d had to, considering his dick was currently betraying him, pressing hard against the inside of his jeans.
Twice. He’d had to hide an erection from his family twice in one day.
His emotions were swirling fast, a mixture of lust, confusion, surprise. Maybe even a little admiration. He’d never seen that side of Sammie before this week, the confident, take-charge woman who’d pinned him the way she had.
And sure, the fact that he’d found that very attractive still didn’t mean he was feeling more for her romantically. A small voice whispered a warning in the back of his mind, a creeping worry that he and Sammie might not be on the same page. That he might only end up hurting her in the end.
His traitorous dick didn’t care.
Kieran had stopped outside of her room, just for a moment. But he’d known that if he had knocked, if Sammie had opened the door and let him in, they would take things further than he wanted with his parents just a few rooms away.
However, that didn’t mean they had to be on their best behavior…
Safe in his childhood bedroom, with its too-small bed and shelf full of old comic books, Kieran slipped out of his clothes.
He felt hot, too hot, his skin still burning from the things Sammie had said to him.
In nothing but his boxer briefs, Kieran sank onto his bed, scooting backward until his back hit the wall.
His cock still pressed against the fabric of his briefs, harder now that he was alone and thinking about Sammie’s form towering before him.
The way her arms had flexed as she’d gripped the railing, the way her hair had fallen forward, framing her face.
Her eyes like an electric storm holding him in place.
Kieran needed to go to sleep, he knew that. They had an early morning and a long drive back to the city ahead of them.
Against his better judgement, Kieran fired off a text to Sammie.
Then, slowly, he freed himself from his briefs, letting out a relieved breath as he did so.
Kieran: I have an idea.
Kieran: If you’re as wound up as I am right now.
Sammie: …
Sammie: Shoot
Kieran: Touch yourself. Record it. I’ll do the same. We can edit them together.
Sammie: Okay
Sammie’s teeth sank into her bottom lip, choking off the sound of a moan as her hand sank into her underwear.
She pretended the calluses on her palm weren’t her own, that they were from spiking a volleyball and training weights and not from her job.
She was hyper aware of her phone, propped just so, recording her every movement.
Her fingers circled her clit, tempting, teasing, as her other hand splayed across her stomach, pushing her sleep shirt up to pinch one of her nipples.
Kieran was a room away, a hand wrapped around his cock, and somehow that knowledge made what she was doing feel more intense. What she wanted most in that moment was just out of reach, but Sammie had never had a problem satisfying herself.
She fought back another moan as she dipped her fingers into her pussy, her palm keeping pressure on her clit, rubbing slow and steady. A shiver ran through her as she pushed into herself again, her head falling back, thunking lightly against the wall.
Sammie froze. Her pussy clenched around her fingers, begging for more. But Kieran was in the room on the other side of the wall.
Had he heard her? He knew what she was up to. He’d told her to do this.
The thought sent another wave of pleasure rocking through her. If he pressed an ear to the wall, could he hear her breathing? Every unsteady gasp of air that she was sucking in. Every small whine that she let escape.
A coil of heat began to burn hotter in Sammie as she continued, her fingers plunging back into her wet cunt, chasing the relief she knew was coming.
Spit slicked his palm as Kieran pumped his dick. His abdomen clenched tight at each slow, leisurely pull. He didn’t let himself think about what he was doing, didn’t let himself focus on anything but the picture of those stormy eyes searing into him.
One day, soon, it wouldn’t be his own fingers wrapped around his cock. Kieran imagined himself being held down by strong arms, thick thighs bracketing his waist as long fingers teased him. The tattoo on her leg writhing with every shift of her hips.
Sammie, on full display for him.
He knew he would have to keep a lid on these desires. But alone, in his room? Kieran could lose himself in the idea of her, the idea that she could pin him down and wreck him.
His hips bucked, seeking more. Every breath was fire in his lungs. He was getting close to that edge, his hand twisting around the head of his cock over and over. Kieran could feel it, could tell that he only had moments left.
A slight thump sounded out, a light vibration shooting through the wall. Kieran froze.
Sammie was there, right there on the other side of that wall.
His dick throbbed, aching for attention.
Sammie was right there, next to him, fingering herself, and they were separated by nothing more than thin slabs of drywall.
Kieran nearly came at the realization.
His jaw clenched tight, his teeth grinding as he pumped himself again.
His hairline was wet, sweat sticking his curls to the edge of his face.
Sammie was right there, and fuck, Kieran couldn’t help but wonder if she could hear him.
Couldn’t help but picture her eyes on him once again, watching as he pleasured himself.
Telling him exactly what she wanted to see him do.
“Fuck.” Kieran bit the word out, one hand tangled in his sheets, knuckles white as he continued to rut into his other hand. It was Sammie’s eyes that he saw, pinning him in place as he came, making a mess over his palm and stomach.
Kieran lost all sense of time, of his surroundings, floating on the aftermath of his orgasm.
He wished there wasn’t a wall between them. The thought slammed into Kieran, an unexpected realization that he didn’t know what to do with.
It was just sex, this thing they were doing. No strings attached. A business transaction, nothing more.
So why did he want Sammie here, in his bed, in his arms, once the sex was over?
Sammie thought she heard something, the whisper of a voice on the other side of that wall.
It sent a sharp wave of pleasure through her.
The pressure on her clit was nearly too much; the delay of her orgasm as she slowed her rhythm, lightly trailing her fingers along her entrance, had tears stinging her eyes.
She was drawing it all out, waiting for something she didn’t understand. Wishing she wasn’t alone in this room, wishing it wasn’t her hands teasing her most sensitive places.
A light moan finally escaped her as she pushed her fingers back into her soaked cunt.
Her other hand slid down, rubbing circles over her clit.
Sammie choked on a ragged breath as an orgasm shook through her, her toes curling in her socks, her head falling back against the wall again as her lips parted on a silent sob.
She kept up the motions of her fingers as tremors rocked her, until it all became too much, until her legs nearly shook and her cheeks were wet.
Sammie focused on her breathing, letting her mind empty of everything except how she felt, the pleasure still slipping through her veins, tickling under her skin. Her heart beat loudly, a constant thump, thump, thump that tethered her to her body.
She had come picturing Kieran beneath her. His hands, his body giving her the pleasure she’d been chasing. Her feelings were muddied, her emotions a whirlpool of desire and confusion.
But one thing was clear. Sammie was gone, so goddamn far gone for him.