38. Emmy
THIRTY-EIGHT
“I’m soglad you’re here,” Piper loops her arm through mine as we ride the elevator up to Maverick’s apartment. “Team dinner is my favorite part of working for the Stars, and it’s not even an official thing.”
“I’ve come to the last six dinners,” I say. “And it’s really only for Riley’s meatballs.”
“In any other context, that might sound very different.” She giggles and rests her head on my shoulder. “What a wild week, huh?”
It’s been an exhausting whirlwind.
Maverick and Cole’s fight made headlines on the national news. It’s all every sports network can talk about, and SNL even did a parody of it over the weekend.
Social media has been flooded with comments from people trying to figure out what caused him to get involved in the first place, but no one’s gotten it right.
Maverick earned a two game suspension for an illegal check to the head, and he didn’t bother to negotiate the punishment with the union.
“I’m good,” I say. “I might have slipped an anonymous tip to the admins of the r/hockey thread on Reddit and given them proof of Cole acting like a sleazebag. It’s been fun to watch people drag him. I think the weirdest part about it all is now that I’ve seen him, it feels like a weight has been lifted. I don’t have to dread it because I’ve already crossed that hurdle, and everything else from here on out is going to be easy.”
“Liam told me some of the things that Cole said to you.” Piper takes my hand and squeezes tight. “He’s a vile creature, and if he ever plays another game in the NHL, I will make sure his name is desecrated on our broadcasts.”
“You’re the best. My feisty little fighter.” I kiss her cheek, and we stop outside Maverick’s door. “I didn’t know you and Liam talked.”
“We don’t,” she says, but her cheeks turn red. She busies herself with tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and fixing the hem of her skirt. “It was mentioned in passing.”
I hum and push down on the doorknob, leading us inside the busy penthouse.
Team dinner has become my favorite part of being on the Stars too.
I’ve played on a lot of different teams and seen a lot of different dynamics, and no one has the trust and cohesiveness that these guys do. It’s so evident those bonds have impacted their playing, and now we’re getting close to the All-Star Game with the best record the team has had in years.
“Half the girls are here,” Grant yells, and Connor and Ethan wave from the couch.
“Hey.” Hudson greets us and gives us each a quick one-armed hug. “Where are your other two?”
“Maven is on her way with Dallas, and Lexi isn’t coming. She has a date,” Piper says, and Riley looks up from his video game controller.
“A date?” he asks. “With who?”
“A guy she met at her Pilates class. She didn’t seem too excited about it, though,” I add when his face falls, and Piper and I exchange a look.
“Oh.” Riley glances back at the TV. “Good for her.”
“Anyone want a drink?” Hudson asks, and we walk into the kitchen where Maverick is busy setting up the line of food.
I haven’t seen him since we got home from our road trip, and my heart races at the sight of him.
He glances up from a veggie tray and smiles at me. There’s still a bruise on his cheek, just under his eye. His nose is still swollen, and his hair is a little longer than usual. There’s something about his features that tell me he’s exhausted, but he’s still gut-wrenchingly gorgeous.
God, I’ve missed him.
Not just his hands and his fingers and the corner of his mouth I like to kiss right before he comes.
I’ve missed him.
His jokes and his laugh and how he holds me close to his chest before we fall asleep. We’ve graduated to more regular sleepovers, and I’ve missed the way he looks in the early morning light with a pillow crease on his forehead. A little drop of drool on his cheek. Bleary eyes and wandering touches.
“Hey, Piper,” he says, and he walks around the corner of the island to give her a hug. He moves to me next, and when he wraps me in his arms, the weight on my shoulders eases.
I didn’t realize how much I needed him until he wasn’t there, and excitement sparks in my chest as he rests his hand on the small of my back and doesn’t pull away.
“Hi, Emmy girl,” he murmurs softly.
“Hi, pretty boy.”
“Did you have a good day?”
I nod into his shirt, the threadbare cotton that smells like cedar and apples and the hint of chocolate. “Better now.”
“Me too.”
I missed you. I missed you. I missed you.
I pull away. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah, we’re all good. I’m going to call the masses in here in a minute. You should grab a plate before everything gets picked over,” Maverick says.
“You all and your appetites.”
“Says the girl who eats three pints of ice cream a week,” Piper teases. “I swear our freezer is just a Ben and Jerry’s stash at this point.”
“Boys! Dinner’s ready!” Maverick yells, and there’s a stampede of feet.
“Dammit,” I curse, grabbing a plate and moving to the front of the line. “A little warning next time, Miller?”
“I gave you plenty of warning, Hartwell. I said a minute. You know how long that is, right?”
“Do you know how long that is?”
“I have excellent time management, and I haven’t had any recent complaints.” He pops a grape in his mouth and points to the charcuterie board. “No strawberries tonight, so you’re good to take whatever you want.”
There haven’t been strawberries since the first time I showed up all those weeks ago, and still, it does something to my insides when he tells me it’s all clear. It makes me feel gooey and warm and like a giggling teenager who has a crush on the hottest boy in school.
“Thanks,” I say, and Grant barrel rolls past me on the floor to cut in front of the line. “Watch out, Everett. I will step on you.”
“That’s not a threat, Emmy.” He grins and pops onto his feet, taking the slice of pizza I’m reaching for. “It would be an honor.”
“I don’t understand this game.” Piper groans and flops back on the couch, frustrated. “I’m passing the football but my other player isn’t scoring.”
“Because you also control the other player.” Liam folds his big hands over her smaller ones on the controller. “You have to switch between them.”
“Like this?” She moves the joystick forward and gasps when the player on the screen moves forward too. “I did it!”
“That’s great, Piper,” he tells her, and she beams up at him.
Maverick leans over, and his thigh presses into my knee. “Do you feel like we’re interrupting something by being here?” he murmurs, and I nod.
“I do. In ten seconds, I’m going to say that I need another drink. You’re going to offer to get me one, and we’ll leave them alone.”
“Why would I offer to get you a drink? You’ve gotten the last three all on your own,” he says, and I sigh.
“You’re not actually getting me a drink. It’s just to make them think you’re getting me one.”
“Oh.” His grin is wide, and he knocks his knuckles against mine in a fist bump. “Got it.”
I roll my eyes and smooth out my skirt. “I’m going to get another drink. I’ll be right back,” I announce.
“I’ll get it for you, m’lady,” Maverick says. “I need another water anyway.”
We head out of the living room and down the hall. Instead of turning for the kitchen, Maverick guides me toward his bedroom. We pass the floor-to-ceiling windows, and I see some of the guys out on the balcony enjoying an unseasonably warm late-January night. They’re laughing and playing a competitive game of cornhole that has Connor throwing a beanbag at Riley’s head and Hudson arguing about board placement.
God, I love these boys.
“You have the ultimate party apartment. Are you hiding an eighteen-hole putt putt course anywhere?” I ask.
“It’s on the roof. I haven’t shown you?” he jokes, and he opens his bedroom door.
“Not yet.” I pull him toward me, standing up on my toes so I can kiss him. He smiles against my mouth and cups the back of my head. “I really wanted to do that. I’ve missed you.”
“Fuck, I’ve missed you too.” He kicks the door closed with his foot and moves us toward the bed. “I’ve been so busy with disciplinary hearings and meeting with Coach to assure him I’m not turning into a raging lunatic on the ice. I’m sorry I’ve been so absent.”
“Just a regular lunatic,” I say, and he tosses me onto the mattress. “And I forgive you.”
“Sleepover tonight?” he asks, crawling over me and bending down to kiss my neck.
I sigh and lift my hips, desperate to feel more of him. “I can’t. I came with Piper, and she’ll think it’s suspicious if I stay. How about tomorrow night?”
“No can do. I have a tux fitting with Dallas and Reid for the wedding, then we’re grabbing dinner.”
“What about the tux you wore to the gala? You looked good in that.”
“Did I?” Maverick runs his hand up the inside of my thigh, and my nipples harden under my shirt. “Everyone knows you need a different tux for different occasions.”
“Sorry I’m not up to date on all my tux wearing rules.”
“So no sleepover tonight or tomorrow night? Guess that means I’ll have to have you right now.”
“With everyone outside?”
“Would that be okay?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “But I’m not sure I can be quiet.”
His eyes sparkle with mischief, and he hooks his thumb in the waistband of my underwear. He drags the red thong down my legs and holds it in front of me. “I know how to fix that. Open your mouth.”
I inhale sharply, understanding the meaning. My lips part, and he pushes the lace in my mouth, patting my cheek when I clamp down on the underwear.
“There you go,” he says. “You look perfect, Emmy girl.” I squirm at the praise, and he scoots down my body. Maverick pauses at my chest, that wicked gleam still behind his gaze. “Hold up your shirt, baby. Let me see those pretty tits.”
My hands shake as I lift my shirt to my chin. A wave of pleasure starts to build low in my belly, an awareness that anyone could walk in at any time and see me like this—half naked, wet. Already trembling on the sheets at the thought of what’s to come.
He tugs on my bra, the cups pushing my breasts up and into his mouth. His tongue laps at my nipple and he hums against my sensitive skin, making me moan around the thong.
No man has appreciated my body like Maverick does. There’s no race to get to the final product; he likes to take his time and savor every inch.
He’s turned me on by touching parts I’ve never thought were sexy before—my shoulder blades. My calf. The time he got me off just by using a vibrator on my chest and stomach. He’s meticulous on the ice and even more meticulous in bed. When he knows I don’t like something, he tries something new, not stopping until I’m a proud owner of three new orgasms.
I’ve been naked in front of him dozens of times, but when he moves from my chest to my skirt, hiking the denim up to my waist and leaving me exposed on his bed like his own personal plaything, white-hot heat rolls through me.
“I can’t take my time with you like I want,” Maverick says, and he lies on his stomach between my legs. “If we spend too long in here, someone’s bound to find us.” He spreads me open with his thumbs, and I try to close my knees, embarrassed. “None of that, baby. Let me look. It’s been too long, and I want to see your perfect pussy up close.” He rubs the inside of my thigh, and when I relax, his grin is proud. “There you go. That’s my girl.”
I hate not being able to talk to him, but I love getting to watch him. His pupils are blown wide and his cheeks are pink. He lets out a soft groan that matches my own when he gently presses two fingers inside of me, the thumb of his other hand working my clit in slow, lazy circles.
“That feel good?” he rasps, and I nod. “You can be as loud as you want, Emmy. They’re not going to hear.”
I sink into the sensation of him. Of the curl of his fingers and when he adds a third. The surprise when he lifts my hips and presses his thumb between my ass cheeks, a spot he’s started to really, really like. One of the guys laughs outside the window, and a jolt goes through me like I’ve been electrocuted.
“You liked that,” Maverick says with awe. “The way you just clenched around my fingers—I can’t wait to feel that around my cock.”
I whine when he swirls his tongue and I groan when he buries it inside me, replacing his fingers and sending me to the brink of ecstasy faster than I’ve ever gotten there before. I reach down and tug on his hair, warning him that I’m close, and he looks up at me with sharp eyes.
“I’m not stopping,” he says. “I’m not stopping until I taste every drop of you.” His palm slides across my stomach, pressing down, and I lift my hips again, grinding into him. “That’s it, Emmy girl. All the way for me, baby.”
I tip over the edge, a free fall that has me groaning so loud, my throat goes dry. My eyes prick with tears and my legs spasm, and I ride the high until my mind goes blank.
When I come back to earth, Maverick touches my cheek. “Get on your knees,” he says. “All fours, facing the window.”
It takes me a second to get in position, my brain slow to catch up to the rest of my body. I lean forward, my elbows against the crisp sheets and my ass in the air. Maverick runs his hand along my curves and rumbles out an appreciative hum. He parts my cheeks and kisses the left then the right, and my face burns bright red.
“Your ass is next,” he says, voicing something I’ve been dreaming about myself. “We’ll work up to it, but I’ve been wanting to fuck you there since the first day I saw you in those skin tight leggings of yours.”
I nod, a frantic bob of my head that has him laughing and brushing his lips against the back of my neck. I hear the glide of his sweatpants down his legs and I look over my shoulder, finding Maverick with his hand wrapped around his cock.
I love seeing him like this; so close to letting go and losing control. Hunger in his eyes and flushed skin. Disheveled but sharp determination to his movements.
He brushes the head of his cock against my clit, dragging it across my entrance without pushing inside. I whimper and rock back to him, asking for what I want.
“Needy thing,” he laughs, and his grip on my hips is rough.
I take a steadying breath knowing what comes next, but I’m still not prepared for the way he slides inside of me. The feeling of fullness and the stretch to accommodate his thick length.
Maverick gives me a second to adjust, and when I reach behind me to run my nails down his thigh, he sinks all the way into me.
“Fuck,” he exhales. “Look how well you take me, Emmy girl.”
His hips snap into mine with quick thrusts, and I match his rhythm and intensity. We move like we’ve done this a thousand times, anticipating each other’s needs before we ask for them.
Maverick brings his hand to my throat, that delicious pressure settling around my windpipe. I tip my head back, and he presses a kiss to my forehead.
“This isn’t going to last long. One week without you, and it feels like I haven’t fucked before in my life.” He bends over me, his bodyweight heavy on my back, and his hand moves to my clit. “I want you to scream when you come this time, Emmy. Can you do that for me?”
I nod, that swell building again. I know Maverick won’t let himself finish first, the selfless bastard, and I want to get him there almost as much as I want to get there myself. I bite down on the lace and close my eyes, the stimulation too much.
Our bodies work in unison. Sweat rolling down his chest and clinging to my back. A mouth on my shoulder and a thumb pressing into where I’m most sensitive. It’s frantic, both of us knowing we’re working on borrowed time.
The second orgasm rushes up my spine, a blaze of fire on my skin. I scream, not because he told me to, but because it feels so fucking good, and I almost collapse on the mattress.
Maverick follows me, five more thrusts before I feel the warmth of his release deep inside me. The jerk of his legs and the long, low groan from the back of his throat.
“Emmy,” he says. “God. You’re going to take it all, aren’t you?”
I do.
Every drop, including the cum that trails down my leg. He wipes his fingers through it then presses it back into me, an intimacy I’ve neverexperienced before.
With gentle care he rubs my shoulders and rolls me onto my back. He massages my cheek and my mouth opens willingly. Maverick pulls the underwear out and kisses me like there’s no tomorrow.
“Hi,” I whisper, and his eyes twinkle.
“Hi,” he whispers back, and his nose brushes against mine. “Are you okay?”
I nod, something warm and fuzzy pressing against my ribs with his quiet consideration. “Never better.”
“Good. I don’t want to, but I should clean you up.”
“Yeah.” I yawn and stretch my arms above my head. “I really don’t want the guys to see me like this.”
“Absolutely not. My eyes only.” He scoots off the bed and holds out his hand. “You want to take a shower?”
“I think that would make what we did in here really obvious.” I smile and fix my clothes. “Can I have my underwear back, please?”
“Nope.” He jumps into his sweatpants and shoves the lace in one of his pockets. “It’s mine now.”
“You can’t keep stealing my underwear, Miller. I’m not going to have any left soon.”
“That’s the point, isn’t it?” He grins. “Question of the day?”
“Asking me to come up with questions after you’ve fucked me isn’t fair. I can’t think straight.” I groan and stand up, my legs a little wobbly. “We’re going with the bare minimum tonight: does pineapple belong on pizza?”
“Fuck, no,” he answers right away. “Please tell me you agree.”
“I do. What’s your question?”
“What’s the best popsicle flavor?”
“Wow. We’re all over the place tonight.” I laugh and make sure my skirt is buttoned. “Orange.”
“Incorrect. Grape is where it’s at.”
“You are so weird,” I say, and I walk toward the bathroom door to clean up.
“You love it,” Maverick tosses back, and for one terrifying second, I think I might.