Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
ETHAN
I walked off the field beside Alex who was in a piss poor mood because we’d lost. On one shot.
It was his first missed block of the season, and I knew he was mentally attacking himself over it.
I stayed quiet because I’d known Alex long enough to know he wasn’t a fan of pep talks.
I wasn’t any happier than he was, but I could be a tad more circumspect about the whole thing.
Way I saw it, we were better off losing at least once before we headed into the playoffs.
I’d seen plenty of teams get cocky if they stayed undefeated during the regular season.
I caught the bottle of water tossed my way as we walked by the bench and glanced up toward the team box.
It was impossible for me to actually see Zoe in there, but I liked knowing she was here.
Now that my focus on the pitch was turned off, all I could think about was rushing through a shower to see her.
I’d taken things a tad too far with my teasing earlier. I’d had a fucking cock stand in the locker room over it. Thank God no one happened to be around to see it.
Alex got tugged away from me for those bloody after game interviews.
I might be part of our team’s starting lineup, but I didn’t mind at all playing a less central role than Alex or Liam.
I knew Coach would chide me and remind me every player was part of a bigger puzzle.
Yet, I also knew how the media saw it. Right now, they wanted to probe Alex’s goalkeeper mind about the shot that slipped past his fingertips.
If you asked me, they should check with the defender who was tripped by an offensive player on the other team, which kept him from blocking the shot.
I knew they’d get to that, but Alex would still have to discuss how he felt. Fuck that.
With my mood not the high of winning, I was more restless than usual to see Zoe.
Well, nothing was usual with her. When I wasn’t at practice or playing a game, she was parked in my brain.
I hurried through my shower, deflecting every naughty thought that sauntered through.
I might have no shame about how much I loved women, but I’d never had to deal with worrying about getting a cock stand in the locker room.
It had never even crossed my mind. My mind was on a tear though.
Ever since I’d asked Zoe not to wear any panties, it was all I could think about if I had a spare moment.
I hadn’t had a chance to see her before the game, so I had no idea if she’d worn the skirt I’d desperately wanted her to wear.
You should know, I’d never asked a woman to wear anything specific for me.
In fact, I’d never thought much about what a woman wore. With Zoe, I noticed everything.
I threw on my clothes snagged my phone to check it on my way to find Zoe. Only to discover a text from her first.
I saved myself the bother.
For a beat, I was confused. Saved herself the bother?
Of what? Then, I recalled my last text telling her to save herself the bother of wearing panties.
Fuck me. That’s all it took, and blood shot straight to my groin.
Zoe had me wrapped around her finger, and she had no idea how much power she had over me.
I was almost running down the hall when I heard my name. I spun back to see Tristan behind me. He caught up to me in seconds.
“What’s the rush, mate?” he asked.
I had too much pride to admit I’d been running to find Zoe as fast as I could, so I shrugged.
“Liam’s rounding us up for dinner. He thinks Alex needs a few beers,” Tristan continued.
Bloody hell. I couldn’t bow out of that.
We often got together after games. Usually, I was an easy yes.
But I wanted to see Zoe. Now. And I didn’t want company.
I was formulating some kind of excuse when I heard my name and glanced to where I’d been running to see Zoe walking between Olivia and Harper.
She was wearing that black skirt that swung around her knees with tall black boots.
Fuck me. Now I knew she had nothing on underneath that skirt, and all I wanted was to find a place where I could bend her over and sink inside of her.
Instead, I was in the stadium hallway and voices were coming our way from the other side as well.
I did some fast talk in my mind to get my cock back to half-mast. That was as good as I could get for now.
Next thing I knew, we were moving as a group toward a diner nearby.
Harper had announced Alex liked the place, so that’s where we were going.
Zoe walked beside me, and it took every ounce of restraint I had not to slide my hand down over her bottom.
If I did that, I didn’t think I could control myself.
I made do with holding onto her hand as if my life depended on it.
She seemed unaffected and chatted graciously with Harper and Olivia about something they must’ve started talking about before.
I had no idea what it was because I was busy trying not to have a cock stand.
I was usually the master of fun and games and never one to lose control, but I could barely keep my shit together around Zoe.
I breathed a sigh of relief once we were seated in the diner in a giant booth in the corner with Zoe pushed up beside me.
Perfect. Tristan was across from me, his perceptive gaze flicking from me to Zoe, but he didn’t tease.
In fact, he ended up being distracted by Daisy who was mashed between him and Olivia.
I distantly wondered what was up with them, but didn’t think much of it.
Daisy was plenty beautiful with her blonde hair, wide brown eyes and curves that went of forever.
At one time, I’d had it in my head I should go after her.
But there was no spark there. In fact, Daisy had announced I felt like the brother she never had.
Seeing as she felt like a fifth sister to me, we’d laughed about it and stayed friends ever since.
Once drinks were served and conversation was meandering, I couldn’t resist sliding my hand between Zoe’s thighs.
I bit back a grin when I heard her breath hitch.
Good. She could suffer as much as me. It’s not that I doubted her when she implied she hadn’t worn her panties, but I was still jolted when I pushed the soft fabric of her skirt out of the way and discovered she definitely was not wearing any. The inside of her thighs were damp.
Nudging her knees apart just barely, I stroked a finger through her folds.
I expected her to resist, but she didn’t.
The feel of her got me so hard, I almost stopped.
Almost. With us tucked in the corner and the table completely hiding anything my hands were doing, I set out to tease her.
It was additionally convenient to have her skirt shielding my hand from anyone who happened to look down at her lap.
“Eh, well, Ethan’s the one who got that speeding ticket,” Liam said, his eyes catching mine with a wink.
I knew I’d better manage to converse or the fact I was trying to drive Zoe wild might become obvious.
“I wasn’t going that fast,” I countered with a grin. I honestly had no fucking clue what Liam was talking about. But I had gotten a few speeding tickets in my lifetime, so I could play along.
Olivia pursed her lips and nudged Liam with her elbow. “Stop deflecting. I bet you got more speeding tickets than Ethan. My point was our car insurance went up again because you got another ticket. That’s all,” she said with a low laugh and a roll of her eyes.
“Right luv. I was just trying to say I’m not the only bloke who speeds,” Liam said with another grin thrown my way.
I shrugged just as I sank a finger knuckle deep into Zoe.
Liam said something else, and I managed an answer.
I was relieved when he turned his attention to Tristan and chided him for spending too much time studying.
I glanced to Zoe and saw her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink.
I loved when she flushed because her freckles stood out then.
Her channel throbbed around my finger, and I beat back the urge to make her come right there.
I wanted to, bloody hell did I want to, but more than that I wanted to tease her to madness.
Dinner carried on. I occasionally toyed with Zoe—stretching her and savoring her slick heat on my fingers.
I teased light circles around her clit with my thumb and loved how flushed she was.
Every so often, her breath would catch. At some point, she reached down and tried to nudge my hand away.
This was in the midst of a light-hearted argument between Daisy and Tristan.
When I felt her hand against mine, I grabbed it and held it still. I knew she wouldn’t want it to be obvious and start wrestling me right here at the table. I leaned over, just close enough so only she could hear me.
“I want you to touch yourself.”
Her eyes whipped to me and away. “We’re in public. No,” she whispered fiercely.
I scanned the table. No one was paying a bit of attention to us. The waiter had arrived and was stacking empty plates. Liam was jabbering on about something, Alex looked plain tired, and Tristan was caught up in whatever he was talking about with Daisy. In short, we might as well have been alone.
Zoe’s pulse fluttered in her neck, and her breath came in short little pants. Even though she’d just tried to dissuade me, she didn’t move her hand away.
“You are so fucking wet. I bet you played with yourself earlier,” I murmured.
I was out of my fucking mind, and I didn’t even care. I wanted to know she was as lost and adrift in this madness as I was.
I forced myself to drag my fingers out of her.
It was almost painful, but I managed. I glanced to her.
The sight of her flushed cheeks and the knowledge of how wet she was had me hard as a rock.
What she did next nearly made me lose it.
I felt her hand shift and her finger slide through her folds.
She bit her lip and a little sigh escaped.
She quickly moved her hand away and glanced to me.
“I can’t. I’m too close,” she murmured.
“Too close to what?”
She glared at me. I looked away to scan the table again. Alex was getting up and saying something to Liam.
“To what?” I repeated.
“Oh my God. You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she said with a huff.
Then, she pushed my hand away and snapped her knees together.
Oh yes. Game on.