Chapter 33
Teddy
I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening to me.
I was smiling—really smiling—and softening in places I usually kept locked down, my stomach fluttering in a way that had nothing to do with the game as Connor interacted with the little girl.
I couldn’t hear a word they said, but I didn’t need to.
The sign she held up, his number scrawled across it and surrounded by hearts, Connor’s face as he took it in.
The way something in him shifted. It was enough to send me spinning.
I wondered if he understood the impact he’d just had on her.
If he ever stopped to consider the weight his presence carried in rooms like this, where admiration sat so close to belief.
Sometimes that kind of attention could feel heavy, like expectation pressing down on your shoulders.
But it was a gift too. The chance to inspire, to make space, to show someone what was possible.
I had no doubt he’d lit something inside her just by being himself.
And the picture was clear in my mind—years from now, me settled somewhere quieter, watching her on a screen as she stepped into the space I’d once held. It was hope blooming deep in my belly and the drive of wanting the future of rugby to be easier for the next generation of women.
And he was somehow weaving himself into that. God, this was inconvenient, extremely inconvenient. Because the last thing I needed was attention… and the sudden, overwhelming urge to run across the room, launch myself at him, and see if he’d catch me… That wasn’t a sensible thought at all.
“We’re all going to grab drinks at Pour Decisions. You in, Cap?” Lola asked, nudging my shoulder, breaking my trance.
I tore my eyes away and looked around at my team. “Have a drink for me? I’m beat.” It wasn’t a lie; last night’s activities left me tired, and I craved my bed.
Lola nodded. “You know where we are if you change your mind.”
Micah was in a meeting with Coach Em right now, and the others left with Lola. So, I took the opportunity to sneak off quietly, inhaling as soon as I stepped outside into the warm spring air and found my car.
The drive back to my place wasn’t long, but it gave me enough time to plan my evening.
I’d eat my chicken Caesar salad I’d made earlier, settle in front of the TV, and rot until my eyes grew heavy.
There wasn’t much a rot session couldn’t cure.
I quickly texted Natalie about the tickets she wanted, when a knock at the door startled me.
I frowned, glancing at the clock before padding over on barefoot and opening the door.
After today’s win, Connor was the last person I expected to see standing in the hallway.
His hair was damp, darker than usual, like he’d just showered.
He’d changed out of his kit, sweatshirt clinging slightly at the collar, skin still pink from heat and steam.
He smelled clean, like soap and his cologne, and the sight of him there knocked the breath straight out of me.
“Hey,” he said, with a smile that didn’t help the lack of oxygen.
“Hi,” I managed, fingers tightening around the doorframe. “What are you doing here?”
He shifted his weight, a crooked smile tugging at his mouth. “I was on my way home and thought… I won today.” Stepping into my space, his fingers pressed against my stomach, moving me backward. “And I needed to make sure that I repeated everything I did to get that win.”
My belly flipped as we stepped back together into my apartment, and he kicked the door shut with his foot.
“You’re not playing for another seven days, though.” It was a weak point to make, since my body was screaming for him to stay.
“Then I guess I’ll be eating your pussy every single night until my next game, sunshine.”
I practically swallowed my tongue. How could this man go from being the one person who pissed me off, to now being the one I wanted to invite inside my house? “You’re serious,” I said with disbelief, even as my core clenched.
“Oh, I’m very serious about eating you out and making you scream.” He leaned in to press a kiss on my forehead and my body tingled. “In fact, I think I need to start now.”
Taking my hand, he threaded his fingers through mine like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Connor,” I started, but wasn’t actually sure what I meant to say.
A slow and knowing smirk bloomed as he backed me toward the wall with nothing but his presence. One hand braced beside my head, the other settling at my hip. His forehead dipped to mine, noses brushing, his breath warm against my mouth.
“You can tell me to stop,” he said quietly.
I didn’t because I was a boneless heap of mass already, and he’d barely touched me.
He kissed me, a simple caress of his lips against mine.
It shouldn’t have undone me as much as it had, but I was pliant in his hands when they wrapped around my body, curling like a snake around a tree.
I was helpless to resist when he kissed me harder and chased my tongue with his.
And when I finally raked my nails through his scalp, I found the sound I’d been waiting for.
Primal relief, a guttural groan that I needed from him.
I swallowed it greedily as he led us to my bedroom, blindly swatting at the walls, lips constantly embraced.
It was a push and pull of our bodies, fighting for dominance over one another that made us both wild and breathless.
He tore away with a curse, eyes hooded and fixed on my lips. “I love it when you get like this,” he said.
I moved closer to my bed, my calves hitting the mattress. “Like what?”
He followed, nibbling on the lip I wanted in my mouth.
A shadow of hair framing his jaw made him look darker somehow.
“Reckless. Flushed.” As he stepped between my legs, I leaned back without thinking, letting him slot himself there.
His hands went to the waistband of my pants, thumbs hooking in before he tugged them down just enough to reveal the pink satin beneath.
His breath stalled, shoulders locked, and his tongue drew a line across his lips as though he was remembering the taste of me.
Something feral had just snapped awake inside him.
Unmistakable heat rolled off him in waves, his gaze dragging over me like he wanted to devour every inch. “And wet,” he growled.
The mattress dipped beneath his weight as he leaned over me, until I was pressed into the sheets, his body bracketing mine. One hand planted beside my shoulder, and the other stayed firm at my hip, holding me there like he’d decided I wasn’t going anywhere.
His face hovered close, eyes dragging over me with open hunger, his breath hitting warm against my mouth. Our bodies met and every cell within me wanted to lean into it—the tension in his arms, the way his jaw stayed tight, the anaconda in his pants pushing against my core.
He dipped his head, breath skimming over my skin, as he got to his knees.
Every muscle of mine pulled tight at memories of last night.
“Jaysus,” he muttered in that lilted accent of his, more to himself than to me but I liked it all the same because it was like he’d lost the thread of whatever restraint he’d come in with.
His forehead pressed to my stomach for a beat, shoulders rising with a slow inhale, and when he looked back up at me, there was nothing playful left in his expression—only unapologetic desire.
My pulse danced at the sight.
He made me feel as though I was the only thing left in the world he cared about touching, tasting, claiming. The possibility of it rolled through me, creating tiny sparks all over.
“Look at you,” he murmured, gaze dropping lower, darkening, and I thought he might say something else, but he didn’t.
There was a hint of vulnerability in his voice that caught me off guard.
As though it wasn’t about the fact that I was practically soaking my panties for him, but more.
I bit down on my lip as his hand slid up my side, spreading wide over my ribs, thumb tracing the faint rise and fall of my breath like he was feeling me exist beneath his palm.
Heat rose inside me like a wave as he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the satin, the sensation ripping a moan from my throat as my body surged toward him.
I curled instinctively, chasing the contact, my hands tangling in his hair as if the feeling would go deeper just by holding on. “Connor—” My voice broke on his name,
The pull in my stomach tightened, coiling hard and fast, my thighs drawing closer around him until two fingers crept inside the material covering my pussy and roughly pushed inside me.
His wrist flexed, curling upward with deliberate intent, dragging his fingers back and driving them forward again.
Every place I’d been holding myself tight gave way at once, tension spilling outward instead of pulling me inward, my spine bowing as I yielded completely.
It was as though a bright light was beaming out of me.
I was powerful and alive and the energy surged through my veins, radiant and consuming.
My hips lifted to meet him, hands scrambling for purchase in the sheets as he moved his fingers, spreading them across my stomach to hold me there.
My body had forgotten how to do anything except chase the next second of him.
Thighs shaking, I let the feeling carry me, trusting it, trusting him, trusting the way my body knew exactly what it wanted.
For once, there was no need to control it.
Connor swore quietly under his breath. His mouth was everywhere, nibbling at my hip, kissing my thighs, and still I needed more. “You’re so close, I can feel it,” he murmured. “Such a good fucking girl for me.” The praise sent a fresh rush of heat through me.