Callan
I tap my foot impatiently as I listen to Coach Harriger walk through the game plan for tomorrow, his voice echoing off the walls of the hotel conference room.
Las Vegas has a strong defense, and it’s important we’re all on the same page.
Once he explains the slight shift in routes the receivers need to make, we line up and start slowly moving through the plays.
The staff have already taped lines on the floor, and I force myself to care as I drop back into the pocket out of shotgun formation.
I scan, as if reading the defense, looking for Pitty wide, like I’m supposed to do.
Unfortunately, part of my attention—too much of my attention—is on Charlotte.
I want a repeat of the last away game so bad, but I also know Nan’s comments hurt her.
Not that Nan is wrong. Charlotte is using me, just not in the clandestine, use-me-for-my-money-and-fame way that Nan’s always been worried about when it comes to women.
Is it even being used if you’ve consented to it? What about if it doesn’t quite feel like a simple agreement anymore?
“Yessir.” Fuck. I push the two women in my life out of my mind, focusing on the one thing that has always been a constant for me—football.
We continue the walkthrough, finally finishing a little after nine.
A few of the rookies bemoan the fact we don’t have enough time to go out and hit up The Strip, but the team knows what it’s doing.
We’re at least twenty-five miles from the heart of Sin City, and the last thing they were going to do was give a bunch of twentysomething-year-old millionaires a chance to make bad decisions the night before a game.
This isn’t basketball, and it’s not 2007.
My heart rate increases with each passing floor as I ride the elevator to my room, the knot in my stomach tightening.
I know I need to talk to Charlotte about Nan.
I do. But it makes my life easier if Nan’s not Charlotte’s biggest fan.
Unfortunately, the ball of nausea that settles in my gut every time I think about how hurt Charlotte was suggests I might be wrong.
Maybe we should bring Nan in on the fake-dating scheme.
Though, when she hears I’m not technically getting anything out of it, she’s going to have a lot of thoughts.
Thoughts I’m not particularly interested in hearing.
Maybe I can explain to her that I’m getting an amazing friend, roommate, and occasionally mind-blowing sex out of it.
Right. Nan will love that.
I scan my key card and push into the room. The shower is running, and suddenly, my body is begging me to forget about the drama between Nan and Charlotte and let myself have the one thing I’ve wanted since our last away game: Charlotte.
I stare at the black handle on the sliding door to the bathroom. I definitely shouldn’t go in there.
But also, a nice warm shower and Charlotte’s naked body? That’s exactly what I need.
I open the door, taking in the way her water-darkened hair runs down her slender back, pointing me toward her round ass with the two dimples above it. I trace the slope of her upper legs, down her calves, and back up again before forcing myself to say, “Room for one more?”
Charlotte lets out a squeak and whirls to face me. The shower door is one clear pane of glass, and I can see every perfect inch of the woman who is starting to mean so much to me. My pulse quickens, my body going on high alert. Fuck, I’ve wanted this.
“Jesus. You scared the shit out of me.” Her gaze meets mine, the swirling browns and greens of her hazel eyes bright with interest.
I smile before letting my eyes lower again, taking in the expanse of her front.
So fucking beautiful.
The smirk she sends my way tells me she knows exactly what’s going through my mind as I unabashedly check her out. A privilege I’m not sure I’m entitled to, but one I will take advantage of until she explicitly takes it away from me.
After a moment, she lifts an eyebrow. “Are you getting in?”
My body hardens at the invitation. “Are you sure it’s okay?”
She pats the wall. “It’s a little tight, but I can think of some creative ways to make sure we fit.” Her smile is wide, and there is a look of desperation in her eyes that suggests maybe, just maybe, she wants this as much as I do.
Every ounce of blood in my body flows directly to my cock as I quickly pull off my clothes, throwing them onto the floor.
“You usually this excited to get clean?” Her gaze tracks my dick as I join her in the heat of the shower.
I lean toward her, never breaking eye contact. “I’m far more interested in getting dirty.”
Charlotte’s head tips back as she laughs at the corny line, the long column of her throat mesmerizing as droplets of water race down its slope.
“Why do I find you more attractive when you say dumb things like that?” Charlotte slides toward the wall, letting me under the stream with her.
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her against me, my cock pressing into her firm belly. “You find me attractive, Princess?”
“I didn’t mean that. I just like your sense of humor. And talking to you while you drive me places. And when you bring Nerds Clusters and share them with me. And I suppose you’re pretty good-looking. Not really my type. Too muscular.” She pretends to shiver. “Muscles are gross.”
“Well-known fact.” The tension that has been building inside me for weeks is suddenly gone, like it escaped on my last exhale. “I find you more attractive when you start talking at high speeds with no end in sight.”
She pushes against my chest. “You do not.”
I lean down and kiss the end of her nose. “I do. I like knowing what’s going on in your brilliant mind.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “There are some things I can’t tell you.” It’s almost a whisper, and it makes me want to protect her. To tell her it’s okay.
I shrug. “Because I’m technically your employee? Or because you don’t want me to know?”
She meets my gaze again. “The first. There’s nothing about me I wouldn’t tell you.”
I trace the outer edge of her ear. “So, when I fuck you in this shower, you’re going to let me hear every thought? No biting your tongue to keep anything in?”
She shivers despite the warm water hitting both of us. “There are lots of thoughts I have that don’t deserve to see the light of day.”
I stroke her arm. “Disagree.” I wait until she’s looking me in the eye. “I want them all, Princess.”
“You don’t want to hear me thinking about when the last time I shaved my legs was, or if I need to add another Pilates class to my weekly schedule because my stomach is jiggling.”
Gently, I nudge her shoulder, turning her to face the wall so I can plant kisses down the side of her neck.
My body curves around hers, our height difference stark as I bend to reach her flesh.
“I want those, too.” I trace my hands over her hips and across her stomach.
“Because then I can tell you how much I love the way your body looks. And how much I could give two shits less about how hairy your legs are. Mine are assuredly hairier.”
She tilts her head to the side, leaning against me. “You’re a man. I think we’d all need to be worried if I had hairier legs.”
I nibble on her earlobe. “Charlotte?”
“Yeah?” She peeks over her shoulder.
“Can we please stop talking about hairy legs so I can fuck you against this wall?” Even if we keep talking about Charlotte’s shaving needs, my cock is going to be buried deep within her soon. I need her.
Instead of answering, she thrusts her hips just slightly, pressing into my cock.
“That’s it, Princess.”
I pull her earlobe into my mouth again, sucking as I slip my hand along the lines of her hip and down her stomach until my middle finger parts her. Casually, I circle her clit, making light, slow circles I hope are torturing her as much as she’s torturing me.
“Why does that feel so good? God, it’s so nice to be with a man who knows how to use his hands. Mmmm.”
She starts talking, and fuck, if my chest doesn’t expand at the impact of her words. At the trust she’s giving me by letting go of her control. I won’t ever take for granted the gift she’s giving me by letting me know her thoughts.
I add a second finger, and she drops her head back, leaning against my chest as I continue the tantalizingly slow circles.
Shifting slightly, I block her now-exposed face from the soft spray of the shower before moving my second hand to her nipple.
I pinch the dark pink nub, salivating at the thought of having it in my mouth, of playing with it with my tongue.
Letting out a light moan at the thought, I roll it gently between my fingers as Charlotte’s blown pupils meet my gaze.
“Oh, I’m so close. I know I shouldn’t be, but fuck, I’ve been wanting this.”
I drop her nipple to spank her gently. “You should’ve told me, Princess.”
“Didn’t want you to think I was too needy.” Her voice is breathy. “You’re already doing so much for me. And you didn’t say anything. So, I didn’t say anything. I thought maybe you didn’t want it—”
I press my lips to hers. Wishing I had slightly more blood in my brain to formulate an answer.
Instead, she gets the truth. “I didn’t want to pressure you into anything, either.
Felt like it was safer to wait. Not one minute went by that I didn’t want to be doing this with you.
Fuck, I’ve been waiting for this fucking trip because I knew the rules. I should’ve said something.”
I want to kick my own ass for letting uncertainty and fear get between us.
She pulls my face toward her and kisses me deeply, her tongue tangling with mine, the mint of her toothpaste still fresh.
When we finally come up for air, she says, “I should’ve said something, too.
But now that we both know for certain we want this, all the time, can you please, for the love of all things holy, get inside of me. ”
“Not until you come on my fingers, Princess,” I whisper into her ear. “It’ll be both of our punishment for waiting so long to do this.”