28. Piper
PIPER
Friday morning arrived, and I was already awake before the alarm.
This was it: the final day of practice. The tournament was tomorrow, and I knew the “partners only” rule I’d set for Gideon and me had an expiration date I was dreading.
After sending Olive to Judy, I pulled on my lucky sports bra and headed to the club.
Gideon was already there, but instead of stretching, he was pacing the court like a caged animal.
“You okay?” I dropped my bag and grabbed my paddle.
“Just ready to get this started.” He looked me up and down, and heat flashed in his eyes. “You look good. That color suits you.”
So much for keeping things professional. “Gideon—”
“I know, I know. Just partners.” But he stepped closer anyway. “One more day, right?”
“One more day.”
During our warm-up, our eyes kept meeting. I was always the first to look away.
“Your backhand is looking killer,” he said after I ripped a cross-court shot.
“Thanks. Your drop shots are getting way more accurate,” he said, that grin spreading.
“Must be all that practice with my coach, Olive.”
I laughed, and some of the nervous energy eased. “She’s going to be insufferable if she makes that team tonight.”
“When she makes that team,” he corrected. “That kid’s got more determination than half the pros I know.”
We played for another thirty minutes, and when Lisa came by to run some drills, we moved as though there was an invisible bungee cord tethering us together.
We were reading each other’s minds like we’d been partners for years instead of days.
When Lisa lobbed a ball up high, I smashed it hard, my competitive mode activated, and hit her square in the bicep.
“Ouch.” Lisa winced. She rubbed her arm. “And with that, you two are ready.”
“Sorry, Lisa. Are you okay?” I jogged to the other side of the net, but Lisa held up her hand, stopping me. “I’m good. I’m proud of you.” She spread her arms wide and hugged me. “Go get ’em tomorrow. And give that man a chance.” She whispered the second part and left.
“Holy shit,” Gideon said. He was bent over, his hands on his knees. “That was fucking awesome.”
“Language,” I teased. I bent over to try to make space in my overstuffed gym bag. Olive’s paddle and badminton racket were shoved in along with my change of clothes and rain gear.
“Sorry, but that was fricking amazeballs. Is that better?”
“Not really.” I managed to zip up the bag with Gideon’s help.
“We’re going to destroy everyone tomorrow.” He stood and brushed his hands together.
“You think so?” I slung the bag over my shoulder.
“I know so.” He touched my hand. Just for a second, his thumb brushed across my knuckles. “We’re unstoppable, Piper.”
His touch sent a shiver to my toes, and it was almost one hundred degrees outside. I should have pulled away. Instead, I laced our fingers together.
“I’m so nervous,” I whispered.
“Don’t be. I’ll be there with you.” He didn’t let go of my hand.
Margie’s voice at the court door yanked us out of that moment. I jumped back from him, my hand tingling, and made a point of waving. “See you tomorrow, partner.”
Thunder grumbled in the distance, and everyone on the courts looked up. “That front wasn’t supposed to come in until this afternoon,” Gideon said.
A raindrop plopped, then sizzled as it hit the court. “We should go.” Gideon grabbed my hand, and I didn’t protest as the two of us ran through the open-air hallways, the lounge, and huddled under the canopy of the golf club bag drop.
“Where’s your car?” He had to shout to be heard above the rain that pummeled the canvas above us.
“I walked.” I shrugged and stepped into the downpour.
Gideon grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the monsoon. “I can walk. It’s not that far.”
“Wait here.” He shook his finger at me and jogged into the rain.
He turned. “Don’t you dare move.” He sprinted to his Escalade, and in seconds, he screeched to a stop in front of me.
Before I could open the passenger door, he appeared next to me, opened the door, took my bag, and tossed it into the back seat.
The interior was cool and smelled like expensive leather and his cologne. I buckled my seat belt and tried not to think about how close we were in the confined space.
“So, did you know we’re going to win tomorrow?” The windshield wipers thwacked on full speed, and the inside of the Escalade’s windshield started to steam up.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because we want it more than anyone else out there.” He turned into my driveway and put the car in park. “Because we’re a team.”
I turned to look at him, and the intensity in his eyes made my breath catch.
“Piper.”
“We agreed. Saturday.” My words didn’t echo what my body wanted.
“I know what we agreed.” He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “But I’m tired of pretending I don’t want you.”
His fingers lingered on my cheek, and I found myself leaning into his touch. “Gideon…”
“Tell me to stop, and I’ll stop.”
I should have. Should have reminded him about the tournament, about staying focused, about all the reasons this was a bad idea.
Instead, I leaned across the center console and kissed him.
He groaned against my mouth, one hand threading through my hair while the other cupped my face. I’d been thinking about this kiss all week, remembering how he tasted, how he felt against me.
This was better than I remembered.
His mouth was hot and demanding, and when his tongue swept against mine, a whimper escaped through my lips, and I leaned as far toward him as I could. I needed more contact, more of everything.
“Jesus.” His breath was hot against my lips. “I’ve been going crazy all week.”
“Me too.” I kissed him again, harder this time, and he responded by pulling me over the console. I rested in his lap, honeymoon-style.
We kissed like teenagers, desperate and clumsy, all urgency and heat. When his thumb brushed across my bottom lip, I bit it gently, and the sound he made sent a rush of warmth through my body, starting between my thighs.
“I should go,” I whispered, knowing my lips were brushing his eyes. His gym shorts were no match for his massive erection, a solid, hard line that pressed into my ass.
“You should.” His hand slid down my neck, his strong fingers tracing my collarbone.
“The tournament—”
“Fuck the tournament.” His mouth found that spot just below my ear that made me shiver. “I want you, Piper. I want you so damn much I can barely think straight.”
Those words were what shattered my control. I grabbed the front of his shirt and kissed him again, pouring all of my frustration into him. He responded, one hand tangling in my ponytail while the other traced my nipple through my sports bra.
Could I still consider it my lucky bra? The rain beat the top of his SUV like a ball bearing had been dropped from the sky. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I extracted myself from his lap and flopped into the passenger seat, struggling to get my feet back beneath me.
Gideon had an amused look on his face. And a massive fucking hard-on.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Pipes.” His voice sounded strained.
I got out of the SUV and was immediately soaked, squealing a rushed “Bye” before sprinting for the stairs. He didn’t drive away until I was inside.
Inside, I stripped out of my soaking wet clothes and grabbed a terry cloth robe from the bathroom.
My hair was completely saturated, and I pulled the hair tie, releasing my ponytail.
I had an hour before I had to be at work, and then it was Olive’s tryouts.
I knew I had made the right decision getting out of that car, but why didn’t it feel like it?
After combing out my hair, I turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up. Someone banged on the door. I turned off the shower and wondered if I was hearing things. Maybe the storm had knocked some of the patio furniture against the glass?
Bang, bang, bang.
Nope, it was someone knocking on my door. I peeked around the corner, hoping that it would be Gideon.
It was.
I yanked open the door. Gideon was completely and utterly soaked. Rivulets of rain ran down his face, his hair plastered to his head. He held up my gym bag. “Olive needs her racket for tonight,” he panted.
I looked past him. “Where is your car?”
He shrugged. “When I saw the bag, I grabbed it and ran. I didn’t think.”
“Come inside,” I managed to rasp at the same time I kissed him.
He answered by crushing his mouth to mine.
This kiss was different from the ones in the car.
It was hungrier, more desperate, more…him.
His hands roamed over my robe and quickly found the tie.
When the terry cloth fell open, his hands skimmed my waist, then squeezed my ass.
My legs quivered. “Gideon,” I moaned and arched into his touch.
“You’re so beautiful.” His mouth was on my neck, kissing a path to my collarbone.
I gasped and threaded my fingers through his hair, holding him to me.
“Your turn.” I tugged at his soaking wet shirt.
He helped me pull it off, and then it was my turn to stare. He was even better than I remembered.
He kissed me again, deeper this time, and I lost myself in the feel of his skin against mine.
His hands slid down my back, and when he lifted me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist, just like I wanted to do the first day we practiced together.
He carried me toward the couch, never breaking the kiss, and set me down gently.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered, his lips brushing the lobe of my ear. Every nerve in my body was on alert, writhing with every one of his touches.
“You. Just you.”
He kissed me again, slower this time but no less intense.
“Gideon,” I breathed.
His fingers splayed on my lower belly, and I ached to feel them between my legs. Then reality crashed back in. Tomorrow. The tournament. Everything we’d worked for.
“Wait,” I gasped.
He froze immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“I… We…” I couldn’t form a coherent sentence. I wanted it, I wanted him. Why was I going to stop something that felt so goddamn incredible?
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” I covered my face with my hands. “The tournament is tomorrow, and I need to be focused, and this is going to mess with my head, and—”
He gently pulled my hands away from my face. “Hey. Look at me.I’m going to stop us now.”
“What?” I sat up and wrapped the robe around my body. “Why?”
He picked up the ends of the robe’s tie and knotted it around my waist. “Hockey players are a superstitious bunch. I never considered myself one of them, but I’m starting to realize that I am just like them, in my own way.”
This was interesting. “What do you mean?” I adjusted the collar of the robe. Gideon leaned his elbow on the back of the sofa. Drops of rain still shimmered on his tanned skin.
“I don’t fuck before a game.”
His bluntness made me blink. “O-kay.”
“Sorry.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Some guys think that, you know, getting off drains your strength, so they don’t come within twenty-four hours of a game.”
“And why are you telling me this?” I was entertained by this quirky side of this serious man.
“Tomorrow is an important game. It’s probably a good idea if I preserve my strength.” He ran his index finger down my skin next to the lapel of the open robe. “Because if I start with you now, Piper, I’m not going to have anything left in me tomorrow.”
My breath caught. I wanted him more than anything now.
“Well.” I moved his hand from where it had left a trail of goose bumps down my chest and closed the robe tightly around my throat.
Then I rested my hand on the bottom of his rock-hard cock.
His massive dick was at full attention, the loose fabric of his shorts allowing it to sit vertically against his lower abs.
“I’ll do the same. I won’t come until tomorrow either. ”
He groaned. “It doesn’t work for women.” He pushed me onto the sofa, ripped open the tie, and put his lips where I’d wanted his hand a few minutes earlier, between my legs.
It didn’t take long. His mouth and lips brought me to the brink of an orgasm, but when he slipped one, then two of his thick fingers inside me, I crested.
Bunching the cushions of the sofa into a crushing grip, I dropped my head back and let the warmth and intensity of the orgasm rip through my body in three separate waves.
“Oh, Gideon.” I moaned and grabbed fistfuls of his hair as my body let out its last shudder.
He crawled up my body, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he kissed me. “Piper?” he whispered.
“Mmm?” I couldn’t form words just yet.
“We’re going to win tomorrow.”
“H-h-h-how can you be so sure?” I managed to stammer.
“Because after we do, I get to have all of you.”