Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
*KEN DOLL HAS CHANGED THE NAME OF THE GROUP TO ‘OPERATION GET SUTTON AND EZRA BACK TOGETHER’*
KEN DOLL: It’s planning time gentlemen.
WEBBY: Back together? Didn’t they JUST get together? What did I miss?
MACKEY: That explains why Z looks like someone killed his dog.
CAP: I knew you two dating was a bad idea.
KEN DOLL: Listen, Cap, that’s not exactly helpful right now. Z is hurting and he needs support, not chastisement.
ME: I’m fine.
KEN DOLL: No you’re not! I can hear your sad indie music from my room. Let us help you come up with a plan to get her back.
WEBBY: Why did they break up in the first place?
MACKEY: No fraternization rule.
CAP: It’s there for a reason.
KEN DOLL: It’s only a spoken rule, though. It’s not in our contracts. I don’t know about Sutton’s, but ours doesn’t have anything legally binding that says we’re not allowed to date another staff member.
KEN DOLL: Mackey, ask Grant if he’s got anything in his contract.
MACKEY: Why would I ask him that?
KEN DOLL: You two seem to be friends, and I don’t know him that well.
ME:I don’t need anyone’s help, okay? Just leave Sutton alone and respect our decisions.
WEBBY: I don’t know, man… you seem pretty down. If we can help, you should let us.
CAP: Especially if it means you’ll start playing better.
ME: Respectfully Cap, fuck you.
KEN DOLL: …
ME: Just stay out of it Ken.
KEN DOLL: Fine, but I’m going to complain the whole time. I can’t listen to these sad guitars much longer.
I’m playing like shit, and everyone on the team is getting pissed at me for it. Coach looks like he wants to break my kneecaps so I’ll at least have an excuse for my sucky playing.
Hell, maybe he should. Physical pain would be better than the soul deep ache I feel.
It’s been two excruciating weeks of polite, work-friendly interactions with Sutton.
I’ve gone to pottery class hoping she shows up, and morosely finished the mugs we started together.
I glazed them a pretty sage green color to match the trinket dish, and cereal bowl we already finished.
I got to take them home Wednesday, and they sit on my counter as a sad reminder that I’ll never be close to her again.
I considered smashing them to pieces or giving them away, but I can’t bear to part with them before she’s even seen them. I thought about wrapping them up and putting it on her doorstep, but I don’t know what she would do with them, or if it would hurt her.
We’re playing an away game in South Carolina, and she didn’t sit with me on the way here, saying she needed to discuss something with Melanie, but the terrible liar she is, it only proved what I knew all along: she’s avoiding me.
I watched her the whole plane ride, tempted to get up from my seat when he hit a patch of turbulence and watched her face twist with anxiety.
I’m chalking up the fact I’ve missed so many passes and tackle opportunities to not having the same routine we’ve had for any other game, and not the fact my heart feels like it’s a crumbled mess.
The one small glimmer of hope I have is she’s still wearing the necklace I gave her, which means at the very least, she doesn’t feel nothing for me.
As the scrum starts, Webby tosses the ball in the middle and both teams fight to get it out on their side. Our team gets the ball out on our side, and Webby grabs it, starting the attack. He passes it to me. I try to find an opening, but I can’t, so I pass it to our full-back, Lindsey.
After I pass the ball, I’m so distracted, I forget to move forward and don’t see their blindside flanker barreling toward me until he’s sweeping my ankles, taking me down.
I didn’t expect him to hit me since I didn’t have the ball, and my torso twists the opposite direction of my legs and I land on my shoulder so hard I swear I hear the tendons stretching.
Fuck, that hurts.
The ref blows the whistle and Doc rushes over with Sutton in tow, her eyes wide and full of worry.
“Ms. Brady, take him to the exam room and see if he’s dislocated his shoulder,” Doc instructs.
Coach helps me stand, scanning me for additional injuries. “You’re benched the rest of the game, Gentry.”
“Coach, I’m fine.”
“We’ll let Ms. Brady determine if you are, physically at least, but the way you’ve been playing says you need a break. Don’t argue or I’ll make you do extra lateral hops for the next week.”
“Yes, Coach.”
Feeling dejected and frustrated, I follow Sutton inside the facilities, letting her lead the way to the Sun Devils’ exam room. They must reserve this one for the visiting team because other than a few file boxes, a filing cabinet, desk, and exam table, there’s not much else in here.
“Sit up on the table, please,” Sutton instructs.
The silence between us is heavy as I do what she says, and she starts checking the mobility of my shoulder, asking if it hurts when she lifts it up or twists it this way and that.
My answers are short and stilted, because she’s too close.
If I breathe too deeply, I know any resolve still hanging by a thread will snap, and I’ll beg her to give me another chance.
Or worse. I’ll tell her how much I love her, and how terrible the past two weeks without her have been.
It kills me, but I don’t want to hurt her more.
When she’s done running her tests, she rifles around in her bag and procures two pain relievers.
“You’ll be sore tomorrow and for the next few days, but you should be able to get some relief with pain killers. If you’re still feeling sore by Tuesday, we may need to get an x-ray or ultrasound to see if there’s more damage.”
Twisting the cap off of a bottle of water, she hands it to me, along with the pills. Our hands brush as I grab it, and she pulls away like she’s been shocked, clearing her throat and turning away from me.
“I can show you some stretches to do if you’d like, but I’d recommend a hot shower as soon as you get back to the hotel.”
“Sutton.”
“Or maybe you can use the hotel hot tub.”
“Sutton.”
“I’m sure you’re upset about Coach pulling you from the second half because you’re itching to play, but I think—”
“I don’t give a fuck about the game.”
“Oh.”
“That’s all you’re going to say? Two weeks of silence, of avoiding me, and all you can say is ‘oh’?”
“What do you want me to say, Ezra? We agreed—”
“No, you agreed. You didn’t ask me what I wanted. You made the decision you thought was right, and I went along with it because I’d do anything for you.”
“What would you have decided we do, then? It’s not like we were actually dating, anyway. We had sex, we kissed, it wasn’t a big deal.” The way she won’t meet my eyes tells me she’s lying.
“Not a big deal?” I jump to my feet and crowd her against the desk she’s standing by. “Look me in the eyes and say that again, Sutton.”
She knows that I know she’s lying, and the way she shifts from foot to foot and wrings her hands together confirms it. “Tell me it wasn’t a big deal.”
She takes a deep breath, blinking up at me through her dark lashes. She opens her mouth, then closes it again, like she can’t push the lie past her lips.
“That’s what I thought. You can’t tell me, because it is a big deal.
I’ve been out of my mind the last two weeks without you.
I miss you, Sutton. I miss your laugh, I miss watching you teach yoga, I miss you making fun of me when I fuck up at pottery class.
I miss cooking with you, and pretending I don’t like the classical music you always play.
I miss knowing that even if practice is brutal and Coach is on my ass, I’ll be able to talk to you after, and it’ll brighten my whole day. ”
Her bottom lip wobbles and a sheen of tears glasses over her hazel eyes. “I miss you too. I haven’t been eating, or sleeping well, and all I wanted to do was go to your place and ask you to hold me, but…” She sounds so broken and I hate it. “What are we supposed to do, Ezra?”
She falls into my chest, wrapping her arms around me.
“I don’t know yet, baby, but if you give me a chance, we can figure it out together.”
“I’m scared.”
“I am too.”
After a few minutes just holding each other she sucks in a deep breath and looks up at me, “Okay, let’s figure it out together.”
I bend down and press my lips against hers quickly, gently, only intending for it to be a brief, silent promise.
A vow that I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her.
But as soon as our lips touch, it seems to unlock something in both of us, and the gentle kiss turns frantic.
Two weeks of pent up tension turns the kiss needy and demanding.
Sutton grips the back of my neck, pressing herself against me harder, and my cock stirs to life at feeling the softness of her body against me again after so long. My hands wind around her waist and grip her ass, wanting to be as close to her as possible.
“We’ve got to stop now or I won’t be able to let you leave without fucking you,” I mumble into her mouth.
Sutton breaks our kiss to look up at me with glassy eyes and flushed cheeks. “Can you be fast?”
“What?”
“It’s been so long, Ezra. Everyone is distracted by the game, no one will be coming down here. I need you.” She grips my wrist and guides my hand to the waistband of her pants.
I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one’s coming as I slide my fingers under her panties to find her pussy, already soaking wet. The groan I let out is almost pained when I find her clit swollen and ready for me.
“Are you sure about this?”
“I need you now. I’m sure, please.”
There’s a lot about Sutton’s sexual preferences I don’t know, but even in my wildest fantasies, I never pictured her begging me to fuck her during half-time at work.
“Bend over the exam table. This is going to be fast.”
She follows my directions, pulling her pants and panties down and bending over the table, giving me a delicious view of her heart shaped ass.
I crouch down so my face is level with her pussy, giving her a few licks. I wish I could spend more time down here, but we’re in a time crunch. I’ll make it up to her later. I spit on her pussy and she lets out a soft moan as I stand and pull myself out of my shorts.
Shit.
“I don’t have a condom.”
“I have an IUD, and I was tested before I started with the team. All my tests were negative, and I know yours are too, so please. Fuck me, Ezra. And don’t ask me if I’m sure again, because I am. I want this—I want you.”
“Fuck, okay. This is going to be even shorter than I anticipated then, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.” I spit in my hand and coat myself, even though she’s wet enough to probably not need it.
The first inch inside her bare, is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, and I swear I almost come immediately.
“Jesus fucking Christ, you’re so hot and tight.” I grit my teeth and slide in until her ass is flush with my hips, and I have to clench my ass so I don’t come before she does.
I pull out and push back in, building up to a steady rhythm that has us both moaning. Recalling her interest in hair pulling, I grip the silky strands of her ponytail and give it a slight tug. The action has her pussy clenching around me like a vise, and I pick up my pace.
“I’ve fucking missed you, baby. I never want to go that long without seeing you again, you hear me?”
“Yes, fuck.”
“Promise me. Say you’re mine, Sutt.”
“I promise, I’m yours.”
“That’s right, and I’m yours, now come on my cock while I fill up your pussy. I want you dripping with me the rest of the game.”
“Ezra, fuck!” Her pussy spasms as I slam inside her one last time, painting her walls with my release.
I fall forward, peppering kisses on her shoulder as we come down.
When I’ve finally caught my breath, I pull out of her and grab a handful of paper towels to start wiping up the mess between her thighs.
When I’m done, I wipe myself down and pull up my pants.
My cock is still half-hard, ready to go again and again to make up for the last two weeks.
“What happened to me dripping with you the rest of the game?” She teases as she stands and pulls up her pants.
“Heat of the moment. I don’t want you to be self-conscious when you go back out there.” I place a kiss on her lips. “But it’s good to know you’re into it.”
“Did you mean it, when you said you’re mine?” She sounds so vulnerable and unsure, and I hate it.
“I’ve been yours for years, I was just waiting for you to notice.”
“What—nevermind. I meant it, too. I don’t know where we go from here, but I know the last two weeks have been terrible, and I can’t do it anymore. Promise me everything will be okay.”
Even though I can’t be sure, because I can’t tell the future, I feel in my gut that as long as Sutton and I are together, everything will work out how it’s supposed to.
Even if it means things are difficult, I know in the end things will work out, so I say, “I promise.”