Chapter Thirty-Two
TOMMY
Ifeel like I’m fifteen again, staring at a girl sitting next to me while I have no clue what to do with myself. All I know is, I want to spend more than only a night with Jenna, but more than that, I want her to want me in her bed for more than just sex.
“Are we heading back to your place or my place?” I ask, gripping my steering wheel tight, hoping it will temper the cringe as it rips through me. Jesus, it’s like I’ve never spoken to the opposite sex before.
“I didn’t think orange cars would be your thing.” She smiles over at me.
Other than the streetlights lining Jack and Kendra’s block, the entire sky is pitch-black, and a shadow casts across Jenna’s profile as she looks at me.
“You’re right,” I reply with a smirk, gripping my steering wheel even tighter. “Ordinarily, they aren’t. This color was the only one on offer, and I needed to save money. The signing bonus from the Blades was shitty.”
She rolls her eyes, and I crank the engine to life.
“So, are we heading to your place or …” I begin repeating my previous question but trail off when I notice what’s got her distracted.
She shrugs and begins searching through the most recent playlists saved in the entertainment system. The second she scrolls to Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” her finger hovers over the track.
“That’s a personal favorite,” I say, heat starting to warm my car through and pinken her cheeks.
She crosses her legs, the fitted black dress she wore to the party tonight rising higher on her perfect thighs.
I can’t deny that I can still feel the animosity between us, but it’s gradually being devoured with an attraction that runs way deeper than lust. It’s formed in understanding and respect—a currency that means so much to us both as human beings.
Jenna hits play.
“The lyrics to this song”—she turns to face me in the black leather bucket seat—“it’s like they were written with you in mind.”
Not saying a word, but keeping my eyes pinned on hers, I hit the electric recline button on the side of my seat.
“Why don’t you come sit in my lap while we listen to it?” I suggest.
The corner of Jenna’s upper lip tips up. I can sense she really wants to accept my offer, but isn’t ready to forgive me just yet. I can’t say I blame her. The second her apartment door closed behind me that morning, I regretted my decision to leave.
“All right …” I blow out a breath and slide my seat back even further. “How about I sit in your lap?”
She snorts a laugh, and the sound lights me up like the fucking Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get a chance to speak with her again after the voicemail she left me, let alone hear her laugh.
“Tommy, you’re six foot five. I’m shocked you can even fit in this car, let alone climb into my lap.”
I tap my knee. “Best you come sit in mine then, yeah?”
She tussles with herself a little more, and I give her a second before she releases her safety belt and does as I asked.
I was half hard the second I laid eyes on her in Jack and Kendra’s apartment. And now that she’s perched in my lap, my arms wrapped around her waist from behind, I’m fighting with everything I have not to go off in my pants.
Her hair and perfume smell insane, making my mouth water. This girl is way out of my league, and I know it.
“Does Holt know you made a statement, clearing my name?” I ask, burying my face into the hairs at the back of her neck.
She sucks in a sharp breath, releasing it slowly. “No. Last I heard from him was via text. He said that karma had finally been served since you’d been dropped from the team.”
I move her hair to one side, pushing it over her left shoulder and exposing the sensitive pebbled flesh at the nape of her neck.
“You’re a special person, Jenna, and I meant what I said earlier—no one has ever stood up for me in the way you did.
You could’ve let my career burn and kept your mouth shut. ”
She turns her head to the side, watching me as I run my tongue from the base of her neck to just below her right ear.
“I want more with you.”
My declaration hangs in the silence of my car. I drove here tonight, determined to bring Jenna Miller back into my life. Did I expect to ask her for more than that? No. But this girl is like magic, drawing inner thoughts and feelings from me without uttering a word.
I take her hand in mine, intertwining our fingers together in her lap.
“You’ve always wanted a man to wrap his arms around you, no?”
She nods once, shallow puffs of breath steaming my windshield. The streets are busy tonight, but my windows are tinted, granting us all the privacy we need.
“When was the last time you had a boyfriend, Jenna?” My voice is just as breathy, my heart working overtime to pump oxygen to vital organs. I’ve never felt so lightheaded.
“A while ago,” she replies.
I kiss the underside of her jaw. “I’ve never had a girlfriend. Ever.”
She nods like this isn’t news to her.
“But I want to try with you. My heart hasn’t left me with another choice. I think it set out hating you because, deep down, you’ve had this hold over it, and that’s not something that’s ever happened. Not with any other girl.”
Casually, I trail my other hand across her upper thigh, stopping when I reach the high split in her dress, and I dip my fingers beneath the material. Her skin is soft and hot, reacting with every inch I take toward her apex.
When I reach her pussy, her flimsy excuse for a thong is already drenched, and I part my thighs wider, taking her thighs wider too.
“I get it if you don’t want to put a label on us yet. Maybe it’s too soon, or maybe you’re still pissed at me for everything I’ve done.”
I push my fingers beneath her panties and slide two through her. “But at least let me touch you and take you out like you’re mine.”
I enter her with a single finger, and she throws her head back into my shoulder, moaning toward the roof of my car.
Pride swells in my chest. I did that to her.
“Tommy, if you hurt me one more fucking time, I will unleash my brother on you.”
I’d laugh if I didn’t think she was serious. Holt Miller is a fucking fly-half tank.
Withdrawing my finger slowly, I push it back inside her, and she moans again. Then I add a second and pump her carefully. I know she’ll make a mess of us both and likely my seat.
Good.
Leaning forward, I whisper into the shell of her ear, smiling the whole time, “With the way I’m starting to feel about you, Jenna, I’ll annihilate myself before your brother even gets a look in. You’re fully under my skin, penetrating my bones.”
“You see …” She sucks in a sharp breath and releases it when I curl my fingers and find her front wall. “This is the Tommy I like—the one who makes me feel special.”
When I withdraw my fingers and bring them to my mouth to taste, Jenna turns in my lap to watch the way I lick her clean from my hand.
“Let me take you back to my place tonight. You can stay all day tomorrow. I might be back on the team, but we don’t have a practice.”
“I hate spending all day in bed,” she replies, running her finger across my bottom lip. “I like to be active.”
“Okay,” I reply. Pushing my fingers back inside her heat. “We can do something tomorrow, but only if you agree to this one thing.”
She looks suspicious, and my heart rate picks up.
“Agree to date me,” I say quietly. “Before I let myself go any further with you, I need to know that you won’t mess around with other guys.” I close my eyes and wish away thoughts of Jenna in another man’s bed. “Date me and give me one last chance to be the man I know I can be for you.”
I stroke inside her pussy, and she pins her bottom lip between her teeth as she clamps her thighs around my hand, slowly coming all over my fingers.
“I’m mad with myself each time I give in to you, Tommy. You don’t deserve any more pieces of me.”
I nod and massage her swollen clit with the pad of my thumb. “I know I don’t,” I whisper. “But you also saw the real me the other night, and I want to show you more of him. Only you, Jenna. He’s desperate to share his bed and bring you morning coffee.”
I can see the way she melts at my words, along with a flicker of hesitancy as my girl battles inside her head.
“Let’s go back to your place,” I suggest, hooking a finger under her chin before pressing my lips against hers. “Your place, your bed, your rules.”
She kisses me back, and hope blooms in my chest.
“Okay,” Jenna whispers against my mouth. “I’ll give you one more chance.”
I smile like I just won the fucking lotto or something.
“But,” she scolds, holding up a finger between us, “I need more time to think about what I want between us.” Her face softens, eyes darting between mine.
“I like you—a lot. I can’t lie and say that I don’t, despite everything that has gone down.
But I’ll be dammed if I roll over and let you call all the shots when I’m still waiting for you to show me exactly why I keep letting you back into my life. ”
With one more kiss against her lips, I retract my hand and lick her from my finger for a second time.
“You just got yourself a deal, Miss Miller.”