Chapter 39
CHAPTER
THIRTY-NINE
MAISIE
I’m at the arena to pick up some T-shirts that the Hellcats athletic department had made for the upcoming fundraiser event with their sponsors on them.
Just a quick stop, I tell myself, between English lit and my library sciences class.
So quick that I didn’t even tell Wilder I would be here.
After last week’s impromptu “meeting” with the whistle while on a video call, I also told myself that as exciting as that was, I am going to be on my best behavior and make sure that he is too.
I don’t actually want anyone to find out about us sneaking around. And that was a little too risky.
Yes, it’s a tiny bit thrilling to imagine someone discovering us while he’s doing dirty things to me, but that really happening is a whole different scenario. A very bad one.
It’s more just the thought of it that got me hot. The possibility.
I’m walking down the eerily quiet hallway at the arena, looking down at my phone at a text that Lennon sent with a picture of her and Saint doing a face mask. Saint Devereaux doing a freaking face mask… clearly on the floor, letting her step all over him kind of down bad for his woman.
Cute.
Suddenly, a hand slides over my mouth, and before I can even scream, I’m being yanked inside a darkened room.
My heart is beating so hard I feel like I might throw up or faint. Or both.
Everything inside is so dark that I can’t see anything, just pitch-black nothingness.
I freeze in fear… but then I get a whiff of what’s quickly becoming one of my favorite smells. His familiar, warm, woodsy, masculine scent envelops me, and instantly, my panic subsides.
I feel heat along my back as he steps closer, and then I feel lips brushing against the shell of my ear. “Not sure if I should be worried or turned the fuck on that you didn’t seem the least bit scared.”
God, his voice is like velvet whispered against my skin, the words low and hoarse as they caress me.
It’s been a few days since I’ve seen him, and I had no idea that I’d miss him this way. It’s impossible not to when I feel like I come alive the second he’s close.
“Mmm. Maybe a bit of both?” I respond with a grin, the words breathless.
His chuckle ghosts along the back of my neck.
“Then you’ve got the self-awareness of a fucking cat, baby.
” His lips press along my skin right at the curve, and a shiver sprints down my spine.
“And clearly, I’m turned on by it.” I feel the press of his hips against me, and he’s hard and thick against my lower back.
Baby.
I’m not sure he even meant to call me that the first time it happened, but once he did… it’s like he can’t go back now.
I don’t want to go back.
Some girls may think that baby is too generic or boring, but it’s the best word in the world when it’s about you and comes from the man’s mouth that you’re obsessed with.
A man that you’re maaaaybe beginning to have a small crush on.
Even though you know you absolutely shouldn’t.
Hearing him call me baby in that rough yet softer tone that feels like it’s reserved just for me makes my heart feel like it’s going to burst out of its cage inside my chest.
“You didn’t even hear me come up behind you,” he adds. “Somebody could snatch you up.”
I shrug. “You know, I did read a book a few nights ago about a guy who chases her through the woods and does very depraved things to her once he catches her.”
Wilder’s groan vibrates against my skin. “Fucking hell, Maisie. Don’t tell me that shit. You want to be chased around in the dark, that what I’m hearing?”
“Mmmm. I dunno. Maybe?” I giggle, turning around to face him.
Even though I can’t see him, I want to touch him, feel the stubble that’s dusted on his jaw because I’m sure he hasn’t shaved.
I lift my hands to his face and find exactly that.
God, I want to feel it between my thighs.
“Just saying that there are an ungodly number of tabs in that one.”
Speaking of… he did just drag me into what I’m guessing is a freaking closet in the middle of the day. “Wait, how did you even know I was here? At the arena today.”
“Saw you walking down the hallway when I went to grab my phone from my desk. I have practice in a few.”
The rough scrape of his palms curves around my hips as he pulls me even closer until I’m flush with the front of him.
I can’t see him, but I feel everything.
Almost like all of my other senses are heightened since I’m not able to rely on my sight.
His large hands feel hot and heavy on my waist, his breath warm, ghosting across my lips.
And God, he smells so good that my head swims.
“So y-you decided to kidnap me into a broom closet?” I can hardly get the words out because he leans forward and presses his lips against my throat, followed by the scrape of his teeth.
“Not a broom closet.”
I blow out an exhale. The man is infuriating, and if he stops touching me right now, I might actually die. “An office. Conference room. Whatever, it’s not like I can actually see anything. What if someone saw us?”
He pauses his pursuit of hot, wet, open-mouthed kisses on my neck only to grunt. “Don’t give a fuck.”
I doubt that’s the truth, but I know how easy it is to get caught up in the moment. Just like we were in his office that day.
Feeling around for him in the dark, I trail my fingers along his jaw and grasp it in my hands as I pull his mouth to mine and kiss him, tracing the expanse of his bottom lip with my tongue.
A deep, guttural groan slips out of him, and I smile against his lips.
I love hearing the effect I have on him.
Suddenly, I’m off the ground, his hands curved beneath my ass as he lifts me into his arms. My legs wrap around his waist on instinct, and my fingers fist in his hair. His tongue slides into my mouth as he deepens the kiss.
This man kisses me the same way he fucks me.
Deliberate, commanding. Consuming.
My toes curl in the soles of my shoes, and I’m fully aware of the needy sounds that are coming out of my mouth when he pulls away, dropping his lips to the space behind my ear that has me shivering.
“Need to go to practice,” he murmurs.
I shake my head. “No, just stay in here and make out with me. They won’t miss you.”
His low laugh vibrates against my skin. Another press of his lips. “You’re right. They can practice without a coach.”
“Exactly. Glad we’re on the same page.”
I sigh when he places me on my feet again and gives me another kiss, this one far too quick, and I silently wish we could pretend for just a few more stolen minutes.
“Go. Go do hot coach things. I might stop by practice for a few minutes so I can watch.”
Wilder laughs. I’m convinced he’s got the best laugh in the world, and every time he does… which is not often, it makes my stomach dip and my heart feel like it’s suddenly out of sync.
I’m still getting to know this new playful, almost light side of him, and I want to savor it. Bottle it up. Save it for the next time he’s his usual closed-off, emotionally stunted self.
“Next time someone drags you into a closet, gonna need you to put up a fight, or at least pretend to be scared.” His voice is further away now, and I already miss the heat of him.
“Maybe. But it was kind of fun sneaking around and making out with you in a closet. Bye, Coach.”
He’s still chuckling as he opens the door and steps out, leaving me with my heart doing that stupid pitter-patter that only seems to happen around him, and that’s starting to make me believe I might be in trouble.
Wilder is the trouble that I never saw coming.