31. Nica
31
NICA
My little fairytale was crumbling. I should’ve known it was too good to last. For almost three whole months, I’d been in a dream. Dream job, dream boyfriend, dream life in Seacrest.
And now? Pop! The bubble burst.
Bless Ryan. His clenched jaw did nothing to hide the anguish radiating from him. Green eyes glittered with the tears that slipped down his cheeks. My heart cracked even more to see him like this.
“What are we going to do?” I asked, totally ignoring his beach comment.
Ryan dropped his glasses on the entry table and walked toward me. He wiped his eyes and sat down beside us. Henrik shifted his head from my lap to Ryan’s for more pets. I swore the dog knew something was wrong. “We’re going to spend the next thirty-six hours or so in bed. And then I’m going to get on a plane to Oregon.”
I sat up straight. “Ryan. Wait. You are? What about me? What am I supposed to do?”
But my goalie got to his feet and hauled me into his arms. “Questions later, Trouble. I need you now.”
You have 36 hours left in the fairytale. I nearly called a time-out, but that thought hit me as his lips fit against mine. In my brain, I could see a huge hourglass. We could figure everything out later.
We began a marathon fuckfest in the kitchen. Ryan had never seemed restrained or hesitant with me, but he was a new level of unleashed suddenly. His teeth scraped my neck, my nipples, my thighs. His tongue danced across my clit, dipped into my pussy, and then teased my ass until I came, right there on the kitchen island. As soon as I stopped moaning, he hauled me to my feet, directing me to take off his clothes. I lay on the table with my head hanging off, mouth open to receive his cock. While he fucked my mouth, he fingered me. No matter how I squirmed or moaned with my mouth full, he did not stop touching me.
And, oh, the things he said. The filthy, reverent, bossy, wonderful things he said.
My eyes watered while I swallowed his come. I pressed my thighs together around his fingers, and he pulsed just to tease me. But the moment he pulled away from my mouth, I was in his arms again, headed to the bedroom.
To the mirror to watch us. Except this time, it was hard to watch and not want to cry. I turned my head away from my favorite vision. Ryan didn’t argue with that. He just kept kissing me, kept driving me into a heartbroken ecstasy.
We forgot about dinner. We fell asleep in each other’s arms, woke in the middle of the night, and right away resumed licking every inch of skin we could find. His words were softer then but no less perfect.
Pass out again. Wake up again. Hold each other again.
For the last time? I couldn’t process the questions yet. Instead, I buried my head into his chest. Very soon, I was straddling him, sliding down onto his cock again .
Ryan gripped my hips and helped me ride him. My vibrator was clenched in one of his hands, ready to switch on when he knew I needed it.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“For what?” I panted.
I heard the vibe switch on. “For being exactly who you are.”
The toy touched my clit, and I couldn’t talk anymore. All I could do was moan and whimper his name until I exploded all over him.
Ryan flipped me to my back and drove into me. “If I come inside you, is it a problem?”
I’d had my period just days before. I shook my head. “Fill me, baby. Come hard for me.”
His eyes flashed like a storm at sea. “Yeah? You want me to come in this pussy?”
“I do. I need you to.”
I would totally have your baby, Ryan Molloy. Someday. The thought didn’t have legs. It was just a hazy, lusty knowing deep inside me. Deep down, beyond worry and logistics, I knew I would love this man for a long fucking time.
Ryan grunted. I felt him tense in the way that told me he was close. He sat up on his knees and kept thrusting, so I reached between us and teased my finger just behind his balls. He threw his head back to the ceiling and groaned my name. I felt him pulse inside of me, and a feeling of intense connection wrapped around my heart.
He fell back against the pillows to catch his breath. I lay there until I felt his come leaking out of me, and then I rolled off the bed and hurried to the shower.
He joined me while I washed up. "What time is it?" My voice was husky with sleep and a hell of a lot of pheromones.
“Nearly noon.”
“Wow.”
“Come back to bed with me. We’ll eat in a while.”
“Let Henrik come snuggle with us.”
He smiled at my request. “Of course.”
I shut off the water, wrapped in my robe, and went to let him hold me again. Ryan opened the bedroom door and whistled. Then he lay with his chest to my back and stroked my arm. Neither of us slept.
“Can you refuse the trade?” I asked, knowing the answer thanks to Audrey.
“No.”
“Can anything be done?”
“Except relocate? Afraid not.”
“Okay.” I sighed and closed my eyes.
“Nica?”
“Hm?”
“I’m just going to say this. I don’t expect you to come with me.”
My eyes opened.
“Expect or want?” I whispered.
He tugged my arm, so I flipped to face him. “Expect, of course. Do I want you to come? Of course I do. But I don’t want to take you from your home or the team. I realize that I’m the only variable in your life that isn’t ideal suddenly. You have your life here. I respect that.”
“But. But. But what would I do without you?”
“Live your life,” he said patiently. “There’s a lot of it to live. And you can keep this house if you want. And the Tesla. No need for you to go through upheaval like that. Especially not with Vinny so close by.”
Vinny. My breath caught at the idea of leaving my brother. How could I go across the country when he was here?
Ryan saw the thought in my eyes. He nodded. “Exactly.”
“What if I want to come with you? What happens then?” I asked after a beat.
His fingertips traced my cheek. “Trouble, there’s only open doors for you in my life. But I think you should think hard about that. What that would look like. How different it would be to move like that. I’m worried you’d resent me for taking you away from everyone you know and love.”
“But I know and love you.”
He twisted his lips. “Indeed.”
My eyes burned. “And I do not want to lose you.”
Those fingertips cupped my face. “You couldn’t. We can be long distance. You can date if you want to, of course. But there’s summer, and I can fly you out to visit whenever you want.”
“I fucking hate that idea.”
“Yeah, me too,” he sighed.
“What about Henrik? This house? What happens to all that with you leaving tomorrow ?” A wall of panic threatened to crash down on me. Where would I live? How could I…
Ryan shrugged. “I can take him with me. Or you can keep him. He’ll be better off here with you. I can keep this mortgage, so you don’t have to move. And my neighbor will help you with Henrik.”
For some reason, this broke my heart more than anything else. Tears leaked out. “Ryan. How could you just leave us?”
I didn’t want to make it harder on him, but dammit. His eyes glittered. “I have to, baby. It’s the job. If I get traded, I gotta go. I don’t want to leave either of you. But I can keep you safe and comfortable here. Knowing that’s true is a huge comfort to me.”
Henrik chose that moment to leap onto the bed. He shuffled up to us with something in his mouth. With the blackout curtains darkening the room, I couldn’t see what it was. Ryan reached out and took the cloth from him. He stared at it and began to laugh, then handed it to me.
My butterfly panties from the first night.
“Henrik!” I exploded in weepy giggles. “How long have you had these? Oh my god, I can’t believe you, you little thief!”
Henrik tried to reclaim his prize, climbing on top of me to get to my hand. I stuffed them under the pillow and showed him my empty hands. “You’d think the toys I get you would be enough, you little monster.”
“Oh no,” Ryan chuckled. “They smell like you to him. They’re probably his favorite toy, and that’s why he’s been hiding them.”
I groaned. Henrik licked my face. He shoved his head under the pillow and stole the panties, then leapt off the bed and disappeared again.
Ryan wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. “Take care of him for me, yeah?”
“Of course I will,” I sighed. I buried my face in his chest and let him hold me. We had no answers. But I still had that knowing deep in my heart that told me we weren’t over.