Chapter 17 #2
“Does it make you wonder what my tongue would feel like in other places?” He leaned in. “And remember, road trip buddies don’t lie to each other. That’s the code.”
“Fine,” she said helplessly. “I’ve only gotten two little tastes of you, and it’s not enough. Okay? Are you happy now?”
He tossed his cone in the garbage. With a flip of his baseball cap, he wrapped an arm around her back, tipped her low, and kissed her right there on the sidewalk, surrounded by tourists.
It was deep, wet, and hungry, and she couldn’t help throwing her arms around his neck. He tasted like vanilla ice cream, but instead of cold, his mouth was warm, soft, and tender.
She could live inside this kiss for the rest of her life and be happy.
Until someone from the town square called, “Get it, Romeo.”
She smiled against Decker’s mouth, and he lifted her. Keeping his arm around her shoulders, they carried on across the street, but with his hobble, they looked like two drunks colliding into each other, and they both laughed.
“You’re pushing your luck out here.” She straightened her shirt and tugged on her ponytail. “Someone's going to recognize you.”
“People are used to me being clean-cut. I rarely get noticed in the off season when I look like I crawled out of a cave.”
“Your poor ego.”
“It’s actually a relief not to be noticed.
People think I can’t see their phones aimed at me, and that because I’m a public figure, they can come to my table at a restaurant and ask for my autograph.
And they can. It’s not like I’m going to be a dick about it.
Especially when it’s a kid. I idolized my mentors, too.
But not having privacy’s a lot harder than you think. ”
“Which explains that resting grump face.”
He bent low and lifted her in a fireman’s hold.
“Stop it.” She let out a cry. “Watch your ankle, you nut.”
He smacked her bottom, sending an erotic thrill through her. “Someone needs a good pounding.”
“Excuse me?” But she was laughing too hard to fight. Her legs kicked, and her head bobbed, as he moved around the side of the inn and to the back entrance.
One hand cupping her ass, he used the other to open the door to the kitchen. It was late, so most of the staff was gone, and she quieted so the remaining people wouldn't notice them. In the vestibule of the staircase to the family apartment, he set her down and pushed her against the wall.
It was completely dark, save for a sliver of light under the door, so she couldn’t see him.
But she could feel his hard cock at her stomach, his mouth covering hers, and his tongue licking inside. His scent of fresh air, woodsmoke, and expensive soap filled her senses, stirring up a flurry of need. She could barely stand the aching throb between her legs.
When he cupped her ass, squeezed the cheeks, and hauled her up against him, he ignited a flash fire of lust, and she hitched a leg to grind against him for relief.
“I’m on birth control,” she managed to choke out.
“Fuck, Willa.” He set her down, spun her around, and placed her hands on the wall.
She couldn’t see him, but she felt his hot, vanilla breath on her neck, felt the sting of his teeth in her tendon, and the warmth of his hands on her belly as they skimmed up to cover her breasts.
He pushed them together, lowering the cups, and oh, God, the feel of his big hands scraping over her nipples, pinching them, had her ass pitching back to press against his cock.
“Now.” She could barely scrape out the words. “Need you now.”
A puff of breath at her cheek let her know how close he was. “What do you need exactly?” One hand smoothed down her skin, leaving a trail of sparks, and dipped under the waistband of her panties. “A little help here?” His finger slid into her, and she shuddered at the electric sensations.
“You think you could manage to put something bigger in there?”
He laughed next to her ear, nipping the lobe. “Fuck, yeah.” Cupping her chin, he angled her toward him, unerringly finding her mouth and kissing her hungrily. His hand moved between them, and a moment later, she heard the clunk of his belt buckle on the floor.
She unbuttoned her jeans and pulled them down, all while their tongues tangled and danced.
One hand gripped her hip, pulling her to him, while the other pressed between her shoulder blades to bend her.
The pressure of his cock entering her released a gush of excitement.
“Fuck, you’re so wet. I’ve got to…” He let out a huff of breath before sliding into her.
“Jesus, Willa. My god.” He filled her slowly, fully, and when their bodies joined, he trembled with restrained excitement.
She didn’t want restraint. She didn’t want discipline. She wanted him to go wild. So, she pitched forward and then back, the slam sending a shock of lust through her.
“You’re gonna make me come too fast.”
“Savor later. Fuck me now.”
With a punch of his hips, he let loose, fucking her so hard, she had to brace her hands on the wall.
This. This was what she’d always wanted to feel. That reckless, sloppy, desperate kind of sex, the one that made you feel unhinged. With each thrust, his cock ignited her nerve endings, making her sizzle, and wound her up to the breaking point.
When he lost his rhythm, and his moans turned guttural, she knew he was close.
He reached between her legs, but she didn’t need his help.
She was already there. Her skin prickled, she could barely catch her breath, and she lowered her head as her orgasm hit with a force that buckled her knees. Her head tipped back as she cried out.
He clamped a hand over her mouth as he drove into her, his thrusts turning tighter, harder, and then, their hips locked together as he muffled a groan into her neck.
His body folded over hers, and he held her tightly.
The searing connection forged a physical bond, and she'd never felt closer to anyone in her life.
As her body cooled and breathing evened out, she heard a clatter of dishes on the other side of the door and her dad’s footsteps in the living room above. She straightened, pulling up her panties and pants. He did the same, but he didn’t give her much room. He stayed as close as possible.
Once dressed, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “What’re we doing?” she whispered, her tone almost a plea.
“I don’t know. But we’re not gonna stop.” Gently, he tipped her chin. “I can’t, Willa. I just can’t get enough of you.”
The glass doors of the Anti-Gravity Center slid shut behind him with a soft hiss, and for a moment, Decker just stood there, letting the mountain air cool the sweat at the back of his neck. He breathed in the fresh-cut grass, taking in the stark mountains that reared up in jagged spires.
He shifted his weight, testing the ankle inside the brace. It had been ten days since the injury, and it still felt tight. A little tender if he twisted it wrong. But the swelling was down, and he could bear weight without that electric stab that had lit up his leg the first few days.
“Right on schedule,” the therapist had said.
That was good, but on schedule didn’t feel fast enough.
He'd missed installs, reads, chemistry…all the things a quarterback lived on.
The ride he’d ordered was already idling at the curb, so he headed down the walkway, the boot forcing a stiff, careful stride. Once inside, the driver asked, “Where to, boss?”
“Wild Rose Inn.” He buckled up, inhaling the faint smell of fried food.
The driver gave a nod. “You got it.”
Decker closed his eyes for a second and let his head rest against the seat.
He’d rolled straight from rehab into one of the center’s conference rooms for the team’s install meeting.
Laptop open, camera on, playbook beside him.
The offensive coordinator had talked through protections while the quarterback room nodded along.
After, he’d had his first nanny interview. The memory of the woman’s tight smile jerked his eyelids open. “She’s the best in the business,” his manager had promised. “You’re lucky she’s available. Been working as a nanny for twenty years.”
And sure, Decker could see that. Her résumé was flawless. She’d said all the right things.
Until he’d told a story about the rocks. And she’d said, “There’s a time and a place for imagination. Don’t worry. I’ve been around a lot of three-year-olds.”
What did she mean? He didn’t want anyone crushing Birdie’s spirit.
He wished Willa had been on the video call with him. Maybe she’d have had a different impression. The driver turned onto 191 and had to brake for the line of cars. Summer brought a million tourists to the valley.
His eyes closed again, and this time, his mind delivered Willa.
Damn.
He fell into the memory of the night before. The total darkness of the stairwell had heightened his other senses. Or maybe it was just her.
She made him feral.
But she was right to ask what they were doing. Hooking up while they were both in town was one thing. They were two adults with great chemistry.
But this is so much more.
He’d never felt this way for anyone.
He’d sure as hell never fucked anyone raw.
The thing was, he liked her. There was no one he wanted to spend time with more than her.
But he had a world of trouble heading his way, and once this little break was over, they’d go back to their real worlds and hit the ground running. There was no room for a relationship. Especially not a long-distance one.
Yet, even as he voiced the reasonable and rational reality of the situation, everything in his body rebelled. The idea of walking away from her made him restless and uneasy. He'd come to need her.
Not the sex—her.
Just to get out of his head, he scrolled sports news on his phone. Lots of training camp updates, projections for the upcoming season.
And then, his gaze snagged on his name.
“And in LA, there's still no sign of starting quarterback Decker McKenna.”
He sat up straighter.
“Sources say the team expects him back soon, but any delay raises questions about timing, chemistry, and whether he’ll be sharp enough to chase that single-season passing record.”
What the fuck?
I’ll be fucking sharp enough.
Tomorrow, he’d start passing. One of his brothers would help him out.
And you can bet your ass I’ll beat that record.
He swiped the screen, silencing the sports world. Nothing they said was out of line. He wrestled with all he was missing out on.
Of course, he’d stay sharp. But he couldn’t build chemistry from a thousand miles away.
He needed to talk to Zach. He found his mentor’s name in Recent Calls and tapped the screen.
The line rang as they crawled through town.
Workers were busy setting up Wild West Days.
White tents, folding tables, wooden crates, and bales of hay were lined up at the perimeter of the square.
A crew was stringing lights across the street.
He was glad he could help Willa with the pies. She wouldn’t want to miss out on a tradition like that.
The line clicked. “Hey, man,” Zach said. “What’s up?”
“Not much.” That was an understatement.
“You get your rehab in this morning?”
“Dude, I’m an hour ahead of you. I’ve already had my workout, the install meeting, and met with two nannies.”
Zach chuckled. “That’s what I want to hear. So, how’s the ankle?”
“On schedule. Swelling’s down.”
“Good, good. You ice it yet?”
“Yep. During the meeting.” Warmth spread through him. Zach had invested in him the moment they’d met at football camp in eleventh grade, and he'd never let up. He cared.
“All good news. Sounds like you can get back sooner than you thought.”
He supposed he could. “But first, I’ve got to get things lined up for Birdie.”
Talking it through with Zach was good. No one had greater focus or discipline than the GOAT. It was what had drawn Decker in the first time they’d met when he was seventeen at a quarterback camp in Arizona.
He could still see Zach walking the line of nervous high school kids, stopping in front of him. Just standing there for a second, studying him. “You ever relax?” he’d asked.
Decker hadn’t known what to say to that.
Zach had tugged the cap off his own head and settled it on Decker’s. “Good. Hold onto that energy. That’s how you’ll be great.”
That same cap was on Decker’s head right then.
“Thing is,” Zach said, “your backup's looking good out there.” He paused. “You want to get on top of that.”