43. Lance
forty-three
Lance
Present
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to check the message.
I smile at the screen, happy with the note from my agent, Charles Tinsely. Looks like my plan is already set in motion. I’ve been walking around with a pit in my stomach for weeks, and today I’m finally filling it. It’s time.
Charles: I checked your contract. It’s clear. Everything is a go. Story hits in an hour.
Thank you, Charles. You’re the best.
Charles: I know. But you boys are going to send me to an early grave with all your drama.
I bark a laugh reading his message. Charles acts as if he doesn’t love all the drama, but he totally does.
He’s a riot. The moment Cam introduced me to him, I knew he was good people.
I also knew I was going to sign him as my agent before the end of the meeting.
Before now, I’ve never asked him for anything but doing his job.
But I knew if I wanted my plan to work, I was going to need his help.
I highly doubt that. Thanks again. I owe you one.
Charles: It’s my job to help. Just don’t get yourself traded.
I’ll try not to.
I shove my phone back in my pocket, knock on Gwen’s apartment door, and wait. As much as I wanted to take Gwen home and stay the night, I didn’t. It was late, and I had some things I needed to do, so I dropped her off at her place after our date.
Gwen opens the door wearing only an oversized T-shirt. My T-shirt.
The sexy little thief.
A balloon of pride swells in my chest at the sight of her.
“Good morning.”
“Morning.” She yawns, her voice thick with sleep. “What are you doing here?”
“Just dropping you off some coffee.” I lift the tray of coffee cups up for her to see, and she grins. I point to each cup. “This is butterscotch, and that’s cinnamon bun.”
“This is so sweet, thank you. You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know, but I wanted to.”
Gwen lifts onto her toes and kisses me. “Want to come in?”
I’d give anything to be able to come inside, but I need to get my ducks in a row before all the dominoes fall.
“I wish I could, but I have a few meetings I need to take care of before practice.”
“Okay.”
I fight the urge to rub the piercing pain in my breastbone at the sight of her crestfallen face. I never want Gwen to doubt me. She has slowly become my reason for living.
I step into her space, forcing her into her apartment. I place the tray of coffees in my hand on the entry table and loop my arms around her back, pulling her close. Her head falls between her shoulders, and she stares up at me.
“Believe me when I say I want to stay. But if I do, I’ll never make it to my game. I’ll have you naked and moaning my name as you come around my cock all day long.”
At my confession, her pupils dilate and she licks her lips.
“You want that, don’t you?” I slide my hands down her back and grip her ass in my palms.
“I wouldn’t hate it,” she whispers.
“Come home with me tonight.” I don’t exactly ask, but when she smiles at my command, I know I’ve got her.
“I think I can make that work.”
“Think you can also come by the locker room real quick before my game and give me a good luck kiss?”
Amused, Gwen bites her lip and nods. “I can make that happen.”
I give her ass a playful squeeze. “I look forward to it.”
“I bet you do,” she says with a rasp that vibrates in her sexy throat and triggers my dick.
“Oh, I do. And so much more,” I whisper.
Her eyes turn a shade greener at the mention of more, triggering my heart to gallop and my chest to tighten. I can see the words swirling in her turquoise depths as easily as I can hear them in my head.
Right words. Wrong time.
I’ll need more than a few minutes before work to tell Gwen how I feel. I don’t want to just say the words; I want to show her. With my mouth, my hands, my cock. With every single part of me. I want her to feel loved.
“Can I get a kiss before I leave?” I ask, forging another plan for tonight.
“You can have as many kisses as you want, Mr. Taylor.” Gwen throws her arms around my shoulders and jumps into my arms.
My determination to give Gwen those three words grows stronger.
Tonight, I tell myself.
I hold her up by her butt as she slams her mouth to mine in an urgent kiss.
Our tongues battle, fighting for control. I concede, letting her take the lead. Her tongue curls around mine as she moans, and it’s a direct shot of lust to my dick.
She grinds her hips into my hard cock, and I shove her door closed, pushing her up against it. I almost break when the heat of her pussy sears me through the layers of our clothes.
We break apart, gasping for breath.
“Fuck it. I can be five minutes late. I want to watch you come on my cock.” I kiss a path down her neck as she grips my shoulders and swivels her hips.
“Lance,” she moans my name, and I almost come in my pants again.
I mentally squeeze the tip of my dick. I refuse to come anywhere but inside Gwen’s perfect cunt.
In her pussy is where my cum belongs.
I return my mouth to hers, swallowing every sexy sound she makes until she comes screaming my name into my mouth. Nothing ever tasted so good.
Icy fear makes my nuts shrivel and retract into my stomach as I approach Coach Anson’s office.
“Yo, Taylor. What are you doing?” Cam yells from down the hall.
“Shh,” I hiss.
Cam frowns as I make a cursory glance around the room. Relief floods my system when I find no one paying me any attention.
Cam approaches and lowers his voice. “What’s going on?”
I suck in a deep breath. “There are photos of me and Gwen that are going to drop, so I wanted to warn Anson.”
“Gotcha.” Cam nods, pulling out his phone. “Don’t be scared. Anson’s all bark and no bite; I mean, if he didn’t kill me for secretly dating a teammate’s sister, you’ll be fine. He’s got our backs.”
“Teammate is not the same as the owner’s daughter,” I grumble.
He throws his head back and laughs as he grips my shoulder for balance.
“Shut up.”
“Sorry.” He chuckles, sobering up. “It’s not the same, but Anson will have your back. Just tell him you love her. He’s a softy at heart.”
My spine stiffens.
I knew I’d have to tell coach about me and Gwen, but I did not consider having to tell him I love Gwen before I told her myself.
This morning was the perfect opportunity. The words were there, right on the tip of my tongue, but I held them back. I thought how I said I love you mattered more than when.
I should have told her how I felt before I set my plan in motion.
“Fuck,” I grumble, running my hands over my face in frustration.
“Wait? You love her, right?” Cam asks, misconstruing my frustration.
I glare at him. “Of course I love her. She’s it for me. Knew it the moment I met her. She’s perfect. And there isn’t a chance in hell I’m giving her up.”
Cam grins. “Just tell that to Coach, and you’ll be fine.”
“Problem is, I didn’t tell Gwen.”
“It happens.”
“With you?”
“Me? Nah. Told Talia early. But my brothers?” He scoffs, nodding. “Yeah. Those dumb fucks held back, and it screwed them over. Luckily, it all worked out, so you’ll be fine.” He chuckles.
“That doesn’t inspire confidence.”
Cam smacks me on the back. “Too late now. Better get to it. We have a game tonight.”
I raise my hand to knock as Cam leans against the wall and taps something out on his phone. “What are you doing?”
He makes a face that screams duh. “Waiting. Gotta make sure you have backup, just in case.”
Backup?
I hope I don’t need backup.
Since I signed with the Evaders, I’ve never stepped a toe out of line. Until now. There is a possibility that what I tell Anson might piss him off so badly that his mustache will burst into flames.
“Thanks.”
Mustering up as much confidence as I can, I rap on the doorframe of my coach’s office.
“Come in,” Anson shouts.
As I open the door, Anson’s head pops up in surprise at my appearance.
“Hey, skip. Got a second?” I ask.
His shock morphs into suspicion as he leans back in his chair and narrows his eyes at me. The grizzled lines on his face deepen, and his left eyebrow twitches. Anson—who is in his late sixties, in excellent shape, and could easily kick my ass if he wanted to—stares me down.
Not flinching under his scrutinizing eye takes every ounce of control I’ve got, but I remain steady. On the outside.
Inside? My heart is pounding against my ribs like a gong.
Whatever Anson sees on my face makes him grumble under his breath. “Come in and close the door.”
I do as commanded, then take a seat in the uncomfortable old wooden chair across from him.
Anson cuts to the chase. “What did you do?”
Might as well match his energy. “I got married.”
“Congratulations. What does that have to do with me?”
A sheen of sweat breaks out on the back of my neck, and I stutter, “Well, uh, s-so my wife is linked to the team.”
“Linked? How so?”
Better to just rip off the band-aid.
“It’s Gwen, sir. I married Gwen. Ted’s daughter. And he doesn’t know.”
A thick, tension-filled silence falls over the room. It’s so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Like a thermometer, Anson’s face increasingly turns red.
“Ted’s daughter? What the fuck were you thinking?” he shouts.
“I was thinking that I love her, sir.” It’s a white lie. Only because I didn’t know I loved her then, but looking back, I was already in love with Gwen.
“What is wrong with you guys? First Cam and Romero’s sister. Then Romero’s sex tape scandal. Now this? Geez, kid. Do you want to be traded?”
“No, sir. But I’ll do anything to keep her, and if that means I have to leave the Evaders, then …” I don’t have to finish my sentence; Anson knows what I mean.
“Fuck.” Anson sighs, the red from his cheeks dissipating. “Let’s hope it doesn’t lead to that.”
I hope it doesn’t either. The last thing I want is to get traded to who-the-hell-knows where. But I knew the consequences when I volunteered to marry Gwen.
Inside my pocket, my phone chirps with an alert. Perfect timing.
“One more thing,” I add.
Anson’s lip curls up in disgust. “Fuck’s sake. What else?”