CHAPTER 16 Liam Bradley
Closet
My three houseguests are all fighting fevers, so it’s inevitable when I wake up on Tuesday morning sweating with a headache and sore throat.
“I have a friend and her kids staying with me, and one was diagnosed with the flu.”
“Say no more, Liam. Even if you don’t have symptoms, I can prescribe prophylactic dosing. Are you in Chicago?” he asks.
“Yes, but I woke up with a fever of 101.6.”
“Symptoms just started this morning, then?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll treat it. Stay home, hydrate, and text me if your fever spikes or you develop any concerning symptoms. I’ll call in a prescription to your pharmacy on file. Does that work?”
“It does. Thanks.”
“I see in your file that you’re supposed to report next Monday, but that’s only if you’re fever-free for twenty-four hours. If you’re still symptomatic, you won’t be clear to travel.”
“Of course. I’ll let Coach know,” I say.
“You rest, Liam. If I have your permission, I can let him know.”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
“Get well. We’ll see you here, healthy, next week,” he says, and he cuts the call.
I toss my phone on the counter and take some ibuprofen since now I’m freezing cold, and I wrap the blanket draped over one of the arms of the couch around my shoulders while I wait for a Keurig to brew.
As it beeps that it’s ready, Penny saunters into the kitchen.
She just rolled out of bed, and she wears flannel pajamas that I’ve only ever seen women wear on television shows.
She’s pale but with red cheeks. She’s makeup-free with her hair matted down and part of it in a ponytail that the rest seems to have escaped from, and somehow, she’s still absolutely gorgeous.
“Oh, no,” she says, eyeing the blanket around my shoulders. “Not you, too.”
I nod. “Me, too. And good morning, gorgeous.”
She rolls her eyes. “I look like death personified. And good morning, handsome.”
“No, you don’t. How are you feeling?”
“Like I got run over with a truck carrying the flu virus.”
I twist my lips. “Same.”
She walks over and settles into my chest, and I wrap my arms—and the blanket—around her.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“It’s not your fault, Pen.”
“Yes, it is. If I wasn’t here with my kids, you wouldn’t be sick.”
“Then let’s look at the bright side. We’re all stuck here together until we’re fever-free for twenty-four hours.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “How’d you know that?”
“I talked to my team doctor this morning. He said I should stay home until then, and he sent a prescription to my pharmacy.”
“Lucky. I have to wait for a virtual visit to get mine.” She rolls her eyes.
“Perks of being a pro football player.”
“That coffee stinks,” she says, making a face.
“I thought you liked coffee,” I protest.
“I love coffee. Actually, and I’ve never told anyone this in my entire life, I always dreamed of owning a little coffee shop near the beach.
But then I got married and had kids and I don’t live by the beach.
” She pulls a face. “But when my stomach hurts and my throat hurts and my head hurts, I don’t want to even smell it. ”
“How about a joke about it?”
She narrows her eyes at me.
“Why did the coffee file a police report?”
“Why?” she asks.
“Because it was mugged.”
She offers an eyeroll with a half-hearted laugh, and I rub little circles on her back.
“My stomach is okay so far, and I figured the hot liquid would help with the throat,” I say. “And maybe the headache.”
“Caffeine isn’t known for curing headaches.”
I laugh and tick off the occasions when it actually is. “Hangovers, addiction to coffee…”
“Okay, okay,” she relents. “Can I grab a Gatorade?”
“Take anything you need.”
“I could spend the day snuggling, but since the boys are home another day…” she says, trailing off as she pulls out of my arms and heads toward the fridge to grab her drink.
“Let’s rest, but maybe if we’re feeling up to it, we can have a Mario Kart tournament later,” I suggest. “Or, better yet, since we’re all sick now, let’s veg on the couch and have a movie marathon.”
“Oh, love that idea. What movie?”
“I don’t know. What’s the best kids’ movie?”
“The boys love the Cars movies, the Lego movies, Sonic…”
“I haven’t seen the Lego movies,” I admit.
“Oh, you’re in for an absolute treat.”
“Yeah? You like them?” I ask.
“Who do you think got the kids into building Lego?”
I laugh. “You build Legos?”
“Uh-hum, excuse me, it’s Lego sets or Lego. Never Legos.” She rolls her eyes. “My prized possession is the Disney Lego Castle. I put it together myself.” She’s gloating proudly. “What about you? Are you a builder?”
“I was when I was a kid. I haven’t done a set in…oh, I don’t know. Twelve years, maybe? I guess football sort of took over my life at that point.” My Keurig beeps, and I grab the cup and fill it with cream and sugar.
“Well, time to get back into it. You can start small, maybe with one of the age-five sets your housekeeper picked out for Benji.” She winks at me with a gleam in her eye, and I laugh.
“Deal. But first…I need to go lie down,” I admit.
“I’m going to chug this Gatorade and sleep until the boys wake me up.”
“Moms don’t really get to be sick, do they?” I ask.
She pulls a totally sarcastic face. “Never.”
“I’m happy to take care of you while you take care of them.”
“But you have the man flu,” she protests. “Doesn’t that mean that, like, you can’t get out of bed for at least the next week and we’re on our own because it’s far worse for men than for anyone else in the house?”
I laugh. “Did your ex tell you that?”
She shrugs. “That’s been my experience.”
“Well, like you said before, I’m not like the others.”
She shakes her head in wonder. “You sure aren’t. And I like it. A lot.”
I hide my smile behind my coffee cup, a little afraid to admit how her words make me feel.
We spend the week at my place. Dolores is an absolute angel as she leaves soup, medicine, and a variety of hydrating drinks on my doorstep so we don’t have to leave.
When we need some fresh air, we head out to the balcony.
The boys in particular love standing on the balcony as the wind whips by them, and it’s amusing to watch Penny out there with them.
“Not too close to the edge!”
“Sammy, the railing isn’t a toy!”
“Benji, get down!”
They’re perfectly safe up here, but seeing her in her element with them is nothing short of totally heartwarming.
All four of us are fever-free by Thursday, but Pen decides to keep the boys home Friday for good measure.
We spend the weekend watching both Lego movies on repeat along with The Lego Batman Movie, and she’s right…they’re an absolute treat.
We build Lego sets. We have build battles. We play Mario Kart. We bond in ways I never, ever expected to bond with someone else’s children.
And Penny…
Penny.
She’s making me not want to leave. That’s not something I ever thought I’d say, but spending all day every day with someone and her kids for five days bonds you in a way few other things can.
We’ve seen each other at our best, and now at some of our worst points, and it’s only making me like her more.
She’s an incredible mom. I didn’t have the best role model in that regard growing up, but I love seeing her in her element.
Like doesn’t seem strong enough of a word to really describe how I feel, but it isn’t love. Not yet. It’s too soon. But it feels like I could get there, and sometimes when I catch her eye across the room or when she shoots me a secret smile, I think that maybe she could get there, too.
We miss Ivy’s college graduation on Thursday since we’re all still contagious. I feel terrible, but I FaceTime her to congratulate her, and I spot Madden, Kennedy, Dex, and Ainsley there with her, so it’s not like she’s celebrating alone.
When Sunday rolls around, I’m reluctant to pack and get on the plane to stay in San Diego for the next six nights.
“We’ll be fine,” Penny assures me when she comes up to my room to help me pack after she gets the boys started on another round of Mario Kart.
“I know you will,” I say softly, and I walk across the room and pull her into my arms. “It’s been nice spending the week with you.”
Her eyes search mine. “I never thought staying home with the boys for an entire week would feel nice, but…it was. They really love you, Liam.”
I chuckle. “They’re great. Benji invited me to his end-of-the-year kindergarten promotion.”
Her face warms as a smile spreads across it. “See? He doesn’t just invite anyone.”
I chuckle. “They just like me for my climbing wall and game consoles.”
“Don’t forget the loft beds. Oh, and the snacks.”
“Right. Those too.”
“In all honesty, Liam, you’re great with them. You get down on the floor and play with them. You aren’t afraid to get silly with them. You’re giving them happy memories at a time that hasn’t been very happy, and I can’t thank you enough,” she says quietly. She presses her lips to mine.
I sigh into her kiss, and it comes out a little strangled.
She pulls back. “You okay?”
I nod. “Sorry. I just haven’t had the pleasure of seeing your naked body since Vegas, and I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, and I’m sorry. The fevers and not feeling good aren’t exactly an aphrodisiac, and I swear, it’s not normally like this. We’ve only all been sick at the same time maybe once before, and even then, it was just me and the boys.”
“Because Brent doesn’t get close enough to them?” I guess.
She presses her lips together and nods. “Exactly.”
“What a dick.”
“The most epically massive one,” she agrees.
“And not in a good way.”
She runs her hand over the hardness tenting my shorts. “Not in a good way at all.”
I shove my hips into her hand, and she closes her eyes and moans.
“You better stop that right now if you don’t want to get quietly fucked in my closet.”
Her eyes light up. “I could get quietly fucked in your closet?”
I nod. “And because I’ve had to wait an entire week, I’ll be extra quick about it, too.”
She giggles, but her voice is breathless when she says, “Fuck me in your closet. Now.”
Her wish is my command. I sweep her up into my arms and carry her to my closet. I lock the door for good measure, bend her over the bench I sit on when I’m putting on my shoes so her ass is up in the air for me, pull her shorts down, and slide my fingers into her cunt to check if she’s ready.
Oh, she’s ready.
I groan quietly, and then I yank my cock out, stroke it a few times, and slide it inside her.
She moans—loudly—and I shove my finger that was just in her cunt into her mouth to keep her quiet. She sucks on it while I fuck her, and the whole scene is too much for me. It’s been too long since we’ve done this, and it feels like it’s only going to take a few strokes before I lose it completely.
She whimpers, trying to stay quiet as I pound into her, and I pull my finger out of her mouth. “Oh, God, Liam,” she whisper-yells. “I’m going to come!”
Fuck, so am I. I don’t even have time to say the words as my body detonates. My cock twitches as I start to come, sending her into her own erratic climax, her body thrashing beneath me as I hold on to ride it out with her.
It’s brutal and quick, this sweet, stolen moment in my closet, and it tightens the connection we share, like we bonded in other ways this week and capped it off with this intense, intimate moment.
I pull out of her, and I tuck my cock back into my shorts as she pulls her pants back up. She turns around and pulls me down by my neck until our mouths connect, and she kisses me fiercely. Deeply. With feeling and emotion poured into it.
It gives me something to hang onto as I say goodbye for the next few days.