Chapter 11 #2
“Well, because we pulled the short straw when the hospital called CYS, she’s going to make fun little unannounced visits for the next month, which technically is her job, but you can bet your ass she’s gonna be searching for anything that might suggest we haven’t been one-hundred percent truthful about our relationship.
If she takes a tour of the house and finds all your stuff in one bedroom and mine in another, it’s game over.
We will have handed her the win—and Maisie and Austin—on a silver platter. Is that what you want?”
My swallow was audible. “No.”
It was crystal clear that I was in way over my head when it came to navigating the nuances of social services.
“Trust me, the last place I want to sleep is in your bed, but the kids have to come first, agreed?”
“Agreed,” I said on a deep exhale.
She marched across the open hallway that overlooked the foyer and living room, waltzing into the owner’s suite, which took up half the square footage of the second floor. I followed closely behind.
Arizona gave an appraising nod toward my California king-sized mattress. “Good. Lots of space.”
She was right about that. The oversized bed offered plenty of room for us to explore every position imaginable.
As if I wasn’t even there, she moved to inspect the walk-in closet.
“Gonna have to shift things around in here.” Her voice floated from the open door. “That’s an awful lot of suits.”
The league had eliminated the requirement that players wear suits when traveling or upon arrival for a game.
Some guys liked to make a personal statement with their game-day fits, but I kept it old school.
Ninety percent of my time at work was spent being a sweaty, smelly mess, so I kinda liked having an excuse to get cleaned up.
Arizona reemerged, her next destination being the ensuite. She paused on the threshold, placed a hand on her chest, and sighed.
“Damn, I almost forgot how gorgeous this bathroom is.”
I stepped up behind her, noting that the ivory marble had taken on a golden hue from the setting sun through the large windows.
“I cannot wait to get intimately acquainted with that tub,” she admitted, right as the doorbell rang.
“That’ll be the pizza.”
She gasped at the sound of my voice so close and spun around.
I couldn’t resist the temptation to take a peek at her breasts as they heaved against the tight-fitting fabric of her sheer blouse.
The lacy bra visible beneath was practically begging to be shredded by my teeth before I feasted on the creamy swells, teasing the nipples into sharp points and tugging on them until she screamed.
“Levi?” Her voice barely breached my muted hearing.
“Mmm?” My gaze was still firmly locked on her incredible tits.
I felt her pat my cheek. “Go take a cold shower. I’ll feed the kids.”
Arizona slipped past me, leaving the room, but her scent remained. As did the dull throbbing of my dick.
I was decidedly not enjoying my first brush with sexual frustration and denial.
Awareness prickled that I wasn’t alone, and I cracked one eye open to find wild, tangled chestnut hair in my face.
I smiled to myself. So much for Arizona keeping her distance in her sleep. We were both on my side of the bed, her back pressed flush to my chest.
Unable to help myself, I pressed my nose to the silky tresses set before me and inhaled deeply. One whiff of her floral shampoo and my hips began to move on their own, my hard cock rubbing against her ass.
Fuck, the friction felt like heaven.
The last thing I expected was for Arizona to rock back, a soft moan spilling into the morning air.
Holy fucking shit. Was this really happening? I mean, I knew I’d get her to cave at some point in the next year, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that would happen on day two.
Warning myself not to ruin it with an I told you so, I skimmed my hand up her thigh to settle on her hip, gripping the curve of it to hold her steady as we continued to writhe together in the dim light of dawn.
My cock was already leaking, the wetness seeping from my tip dampening the fabric of my boxer briefs.
If we kept this up for much longer, I wasn’t going to last when I finally slid inside her.
I groaned just thinking about the bliss that awaited me when her tight heat gripped my shaft, pulsing around it.
Lips dropping to her shoulder, I peppered hot, open-mouthed kisses to the silky-smooth skin there. Voice husky, I murmured, “God, I’ve wanted this for so long.”
The breathiest of whines came in response. I loved how needy she sounded.
Thrusting against her like my life depended on it, I moved my hand from her hip to her soft stomach. Her ab muscles contracted beneath my palm, and I spread my fingers wide enough that I could graze the underside of her breast with my thumb, the waistband of her sleep shorts with my pinky.
When I dared to dip beneath the fabric, she shivered in my arms.
Barely an inch away from paradise, I was so close I could practically taste it.
Hmm, that wasn’t a half-bad idea. A little appetizer before the main course.
I was just about to roll her over so I could bury my face between her thighs when her whole body tensed.
“Levi?”
My fingers flexed, keeping her in place while I continued to dry hump her from behind. “Yeah, baby?”
There was a shriek, then cool air rushed over my heated skin when the covers were wrenched away.
Blinking, it took a minute for my lust-soaked brain to process that Arizona’s hot little body was no longer pressed against mine. Instead, she stood five feet away from the bed, her fists clenched by her sides as she visibly trembled.
“What the fuck, Levi?” she screamed.
My hand found my dick, squeezing to relieve the ache. “Right, not a morning person. I forgot.” Though an orgasm was sure to turn her attitude around.
A disbelieving huff sounded. “Are you kidding me right now? You think I’m this upset because of the time of day?”
“We could play the guessing game all day, so why don’t you just tell me what’s got your panties in a twist. Not that you’re wearing any from what I could tell.” Smirking, I winked.
“That!” Arizona pointed a shaking finger in my direction. “I told you no sex, and you just decided to take what you wanted anyway?”
My brows drew down, thoroughly confused. “What are you talking about? You were grinding that tight little ass against me and moaning like a porn star.”
She threw her arms wide. “I was sleeping, for God’s sake!”
“Must’ve been one hell of a dream,” I muttered under my breath.
If looks could kill, I would be six feet under.
Arizona opened her mouth, likely to continue tearing me a new asshole for unknowingly groping her while she was asleep—which, yeah, my bad, but again, how was I supposed to know?—but her lips slammed shut suddenly, and she sniffed the air.
“Do you smell that?”
I pulled in a breath through my nose. “Smells like eggs.” With both of the adults in the house currently in this room, I asked, “Does your kid know how to cook?”
She shook her head slowly. “No, does yours?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know? I just met her!”
Almost as if on cue, the smoke alarm went off, and both of us took off running, practically tripping over each other in our rush down the stairs.
I skidded into the kitchen on Arizona’s heels just in time to catch Austin tossing something containing dancing flames into the sink and turning on the faucet.
“What in the world is going on in here?” Arizona shouted over the incessant beeping coming from the ceiling. “Are you trying to burn the house down?”
I jumped into action, opening the nearest window and grabbing a hand towel to wave at the smoke alarm. Within thirty seconds, it mercifully quieted, and in the newfound silence, I was able to hear Maisie’s sniffles.
“I-I’m sorry,” she blubbered. “It’s all my fault.”
Crossing the distance between us, I put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay.”
Arizona sighed, remorse written across her features. “Honey, we were more scared than mad. Why don’t you tell us what happened?”
Maisie gestured toward a small appliance plugged in on the counter.
“With the crutches, it’s hard to do things that require both hands, so I was going to do scrambled eggs on the stove and make pancakes in the air fryer.
It must not have ever been used because when I turned it on to preheat, I didn’t realize there was a piece of cardboard in the basket, and it caught on fire.
” Her chest heaved on a hiccup. “I just wanted to do something nice for everyone on my first morning.”
Her intentions were so pure that my heart swelled.
I gave her a gentle squeeze. “Accidents happen. And thankfully, it looks like Austin managed the situation quickly.”
“That was extremely thoughtful, Maisie.” Arizona gave her a reassuring smile. “But the next time you want to cook, maybe it’s best if one of the adults is in the room to supervise.”
My daughter nodded. “Yeah, okay.” She turned to the stove. “I have lots of pancake batter. Can you help make them on the griddle while I finish the eggs?”
“Of course.”
Maisie pulled out of my arms to join Arizona at the stove, the two of them working together to finish cooking breakfast.
Austin sidled up next to me. “Um, Levi?”
Not taking my eyes off the picture-perfect display of domesticity I never thought I wanted, I replied, “Yeah?”
“So, you’re probably not used to living with girls, but you can’t come downstairs in just your underwear. And you gotta take care of the morning wood situation first.”
My gaze snapped down, noting the prominent bulge in my boxer briefs, and I dragged a hand down my face. Jesus Christ, had Maisie seen?
Face heating, I gave him a pat on the back. “Thanks for the pro tip.”
“Us guys gotta look out for each other.”
“That we do.” I nudged his shoulder before slipping out of the kitchen to throw on sweats.
The first morning had gotten off to a rough start, but I had faith it would only get better from here.