Lance
thirty
Present
My arms rip through the water as I push myself through another lap across the pool. I couldn’t even tell you how many laps I’ve swum. Coach is going to kick my ass if I show up to the stadium tired and sore, but I can’t seem to stop.
I had a hard time falling asleep after learning why Gwen left. As I lay in bed beside her, I couldn’t help but feel cheated out of time with her. We could have been together this entire time.
If I hadn’t let my bruised ego get in the way and left like I did, I would have been there when she returned. Or if my annoying friends hadn’t prevented me from seeing her number, I would have called her sooner.
I wasted months being mad at her for nothing.
As I reach the pool wall, I tuck my chin, dive under, and roll into a flip turn. Pushing off the wall, I kick my feet and cut through the water again.
On the next turn, I twist to breathe, and a flash of curly golden hair catches my eye.
Gwen.
As quickly as I can, I close the distance between us. I come up for air and whip off my goggles, chucking them to the side where she sits at the edge of the pool, bare legs crossed, and wearing an Evaders sweatshirt that looks an awful lot like mine.
She looks good in my clothes. Too good.
Pushing my thoughts back into the gutter, where they belong, I stand and shake off the water in my hair, splashing her in the process.
“Ah, stop. It’s cold.” Gwen laughs, covering her face with her hands.
“It’s not so bad once you get used to it.” I reach my wet hand out and grip her ankle. Her skin is warm to the touch, but my chilly hand makes goosebumps erupt across her silky skin.
She squeals and scoots back from the pool’s edge. “You’re freezing. How long have you been out here?”
“A while. Most days, I come out here and do a few laps,” I tell her, knowing full well it’s going to be every day when she stays over.
Dropping my head back, I run my hands over my hair, wringing out the water. It’s gotten longer than I’m used to. When I was a kid, I didn’t have a choice; it was a buzz cut or bust. My father would drag my brother and me out to the garage, and he’d run a pair of clippers over our heads. No fuss.
Gwen’s eyes are firmly on my chest as I glance at her. She digs her teeth into her bottom lip as her gaze roams from my chest to my lower abs. My little witch is checking me out.
The cocky devil on my shoulder preens at her hungry perusal. She can deny her attraction all she wants. Won’t take away the fact that she still wants me as badly as I want her. And fucking hell, do I want her.
Agreeing with me, my cock jerks to attention beneath the water.
I clear my throat. “Keep looking at me like that, and you’ll be in this pool with no guarantee that I’ll be able to control myself.”
Her aqua eyes jump to my face as a pink flush tints her cheeks. “I-I wasn’t.”
It’s going to be fun seeing how long it will take for her to break.
“No need to lie. It’s okay to ogle your husband while he’s wet and half naked,” I tease.
Gwen’s jaw drops open for a full five seconds before she leans forward and splashes a handful of water in my face, making me sputter. “Shut up.”
Wiping the water off my face, I narrow my eyes at her. “You’ve done it now.”
“Done what?” She leans back on her hands and smirks at me.
I dive forward, grip her around her waist, and tug.
Gwen screams, “Ohmigod, don’t you dare.”
“I dare, Wife.” She fights me as I pull her closer to the edge. In a quick move, I wrap my arms around her lower back and haul her flush against my chest, soaking her sweatshirt.
“Don’t do it, Lance.” Her toes skim the water as I lift her up, but somehow the spider monkey jumps and wraps her legs around my torso and her arms around my neck.
Her breasts press into my face, and her hot pussy burns my chest as she holds on tight.
Like a horny teenager, I pop a full-on boner at having her in my arms.
Fuck.
I think my dick needs another cold reminder to calm the hell down.
“You know I can fall back and take us both under water, right?” I ask, placing my hands under her butt and taking a step back, deeper into the middle of the pool.
Her short nails dig into the back of my head as she looks down at me in terror. “Please don’t dunk me. It takes forever to dry my hair.”
The last thing I want to do is make Gwen’s life harder. I want to take care of her. Make her want me like she did that night. Break down her walls and burrow my way under her skin, like she did mine.
“Can’t have you wasting time on your hair before work.” With her still wrapped around my body, I make my way to the pool steps and climb out of the water.
She cups my scruffy cheeks in her palms. “Thank you.”
The relieved look on her face is like a gut punch. Has no one ever put her needs first?
“You’re welcome.” The overwhelming desire to keep her in my arms has me walking to the small deck that sits outside the master bedroom, just to hold her for a minute longer. “You should get dressed; breakfast is on the way.”
“You ordered food?”
I nod, stopping beside the small, bistro-style table and chairs that I use for reading. “I wanted your first morning here to be special.”
“That’s so sweet. Thank you.” She unfolds her legs from around my chest and slides down my body and the length of my stiff cock. The bastard has completely forgotten about the cold pool and is hot and ready to go.
“Is that …?” Gwen gasps, her eyes comically wide. She’s frozen on the spot, and my cock stays hard and pressed against her stomach.
“Sorry. Kind of has a mind of his own right now.” I wince, a touch embarrassed that I can’t control myself when I’m around her.
“How … how is that possible?” She stutters, glancing down and pointing at my crotch.
“My understanding is that, when aroused, the increased blood flow raises the staff, so to speak.” I chuckle.
She rolls her eyes at me. “I know how erections work. I just want to know why you have one right now.”
Can I just point out that she still hasn’t stepped back and has my cock pressed against her body, only six inches away from her perky and fuckable tits?
“You’re kidding, right?” I scoff. I tick off one finger at a time. “You’re hot as fuck. You’re wearing my sweatshirt. I know what it feels like to be inside you. To kiss you. Taste you. And my dick is still touching you. What do you expect? Of course I’m going to be hard.”
For you. But I keep that part to myself.
Gwen jumps back, covering her face with her hands. “Ohmigod. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I reach for the towel draped over the chair, run it over my body, and tie it around my waist. I pry Gwen’s hands from her face. “You can look now; I covered it up.”
Sort of.
She peeks down and then barks a laugh. “That is not covered up.”
“Are you going to get ready for breakfast, or are you going to keep staring at my cock all day?”
The smile on her morphs into a scowl. “I wasn’t staring until you poked me with it, so this is all your fault.”
Why does she have to say shit like that? Because now all I want to do is poke her with my cock.
Fuck.
This is going to be the longest and hardest five days of my life.
“So, how is this going to work?” Gwen asks as she licks donut glaze off her index finger.
Jerking off in the shower did nothing for me because my boner problem is back.
Every little thing Gwen does is sexy, and she doesn’t even know it.
The way her lips wrap around her thumb has me choking on my saliva. I rip my eyes away from her sexy, pink mouth and face the coffee pot, then count until my cock feels semi-deflated.
“How is what going to work?” I ask, pouring myself a cup of coffee, distracting myself from other ways I’d love Gwen to use her mouth, and none of them are PG.
“At work? How are we going to hide our …” She pauses, forcing me to turn around and face her. Her gaze is off into the distance as she searches for the right word. “Relationship?”
“Why would we hide our relationship? We’re married.” I blow on the surface of the coffee-filled mug.
“Shouldn’t we fill out paperwork with HR or something first?” she asks, grabbing another donut from the box.
I wasn’t sure what Gwen liked to eat for breakfast, but I know she has a soft spot for donuts, so I ordered a dozen from the same café we met at, along with some fruit and yogurt, just to cover all my bases.
“I already took care of it.” I lean back against the counter and take a sip of coffee.
“What do you mean, you took care of it?” She glares at me.
I wondered when this conversation was going to come up. My little witch is ten steps behind, but I have no problem waiting for her to catch up.
“I disclosed our relationship to the proper channels before we got married.”
I’m not sure paying the janitor to slip a back-dated and signed relationship consent form into our files is considered the proper channels, but it is what it is.
“You did what?” The blood drains from her face as she places hands on the counter for balance.
I place my coffee on the counter and make my way around to her. I turn her to face me and place my hands on her shoulders. Her mouth opens and closes like that of a floundering fish.
“Breathe, Gwen, breathe.” Doing as I asked, she sucks in a ragged breath. When she’s steady, I continue, “I have a friend in the front office who helped me place backdated forms in our HR files.”
“You did? What friend?” she asks.
“I did. We’re covered,” I answer, ignoring her second question. As much as I want to tell Gwen about the janitor, I can’t.
At least not yet. We need more time together, and I need more time to get her to see what’s right in front of her—me.
“Do you trust me?” I ask, rubbing my hands up and down her arms.
The blue-green streaks in her irises flicker as she stares up at me. Whatever she sees has her nodding. “Yes, I trust you.”
Her trust makes my chest swell with hope.
I might be able to pull off my plan. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman. I know that now. I just have to prove it to her.
“Thank you.” I cup her face in my palms and run my thumbs over her cheeks. “I promise, I won’t let you down. I’ve got this, okay?”
I probably shouldn’t make such a promise. Our plan could backfire. I could lose my spot on the Evaders roster. And yet, I couldn’t give a fuck.
When I hold Gwen, I never want to let go. Nico was right; some things are more important than baseball. For me, that something just might be her.
She wraps her arms around my waist and drops her chin to my chest, melting into me. “Okay.”
I lean down and press a tender kiss to Gwen’s forehead, lingering for a second longer than I should, before we separate and get ready for work, where the real work begins.