24. Evren
Evren
M ick is quickly becoming my least favorite person in the world, almost rivaling Mert.
No matter what I do, say, or use to negotiate, he’s refusing to budge from his demand. He wants Stella on that jacket, or he won’t sign. I still can’t figure out if he’s trying to hurt Nina with that request or if he’s just making a business decision.
Either way, I have one last option to leverage, but that would involve using the fact that Nina’s his daughter and threatening to reveal that information, but I refuse to use Nina like that.
At every meeting, Ben appears confused by his father’s insistence, and I’m confident he doesn’t know that Nina’s his half sister.
I keep waiting for Ben to do something, to step in and go against his father, but he remains silent on each call.
It’s disappointing, his lack of a backbone .
“Do we have any new sponsor opportunities?” I ask Zeki. “In case Glam Pop falls through?”
“No, we’re still being stonewalled. It looks like the rumors Mert and Stonehaven spread are still keeping people away. The good news is that none of the other sponsors are pulling out.”
“That’s only because they’re bound by a contract. If we don’t find a new sponsor, I’m going to be forced to float the missing money myself.” No potential buyer will be interested in the team if they are missing a sponsor.
“Or…what if you scale back on your plans? Delay it by a year?”
“No.” That’s not an option. I pride myself on being innovative.
Most people only want to copy what competitors do and follow the easy path.
Or at least what they think is an easier path, but really, it’s more difficult to stand out when you’re like ten other companies.
“I refuse to have the team suffer because of my inability to close a deal.”
“You’re a good boss,” Zeki says. “And you don’t deserve this. Have you thought about addressing the rumors?”
“No one will believe me. It’s my word against theirs.”
“But shouldn’t you try? Or at least do some PR crisis management? I can work on that, if you want?”
“Please,” I say, still impressed that Zeki’s been stepping up for me at work. “I’m sorry I haven’t asked earlier, but how are you finding everything here? Do you like working for the team?”
“It’s okay, you’re going through a lot. And yeah, I think I’ve finally found my passion. I love helping out with the team.”
“Happy to hear,” I say, meaning it. “Do you want to come over for dinner?”
“No, I have an appointment to view an apartment.”
“To buy?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m excited. It’s downtown, near where I’m currently staying.”
“Have you told anne you’re moving here?”
“Not yet. How are things with you and Nina? Have you told anne about her?”
I snort. “Touché.”
He laughs and says his goodbyes. I’m so grateful that I’m finally getting to know him, really know him on a brother-to-brother level.
At seven thirty, I pull into the driveway with a bag of tacos for dinner. But when I enter, Nina’s not in the kitchen. Instead, I hear her cursing upstairs.
Following her voice, I find her in her room, a massive amount of fabric surrounding her and her sewing machine.
I knock on the door, and she jumps.
“Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s fine.” She turns back to her machine, frowning.
“What’s wrong?”
“The samples are all of different quality, even for the same fabric.” They arrived yesterday from the team’s supplier so she can choose what to use for each of her designs.
“What do you mean?” I come to her side to look at the fabric.
“This is what I got originally when I agreed to help you.” She holds up a piece of black cotton. “But this is what they sent yesterday. It’s a different color and rougher. That means they probably have batch-to-batch inconsistencies. That’d be a nightmare for producing a high-quality line.”
“So, what you need is a better supplier.”
She nods. “Yeah, more consistent and higher quality.”
“Good thing you’re dating someone who has connections to a country that is one of the biggest textile suppliers in the world. I also have a friend who could help.”
“Really?” Nina glances at me. “Can you introduce me in a video call?”
“Yes, but I have a better idea,” I say. “Let’s go to Türkiye in person.”
“What? We don’t have time for that.”
“We do.” I rub her shoulders. “We’re going to make sure you have the best apparel line in the NFL, and if that means getting fabric from the best country in the world, then so be it.”
She leans back into my touch, and tilts her head up so she can see me. “The best country in the world, huh?”
“Don’t you forget it.” I grin. “But honestly, it’ll save time by going in person. That way we don’t have to wait for samples and can see them right away.”
“Oh, fine. Take me to the best country in the world.”
I kiss her. I can’t help it. She’s irresistible when she pretends to be grumpy. Hell, she’s irresistible even when she is grumpy.
“Come,” I say, “take a break and eat dinner with me. I have tacos.”
“And let me guess, Elodie also told you they were my favorite?”
“I’ll never reveal my source.” I tug on her hand, and she follows me. “Or should I say sources.”
“Cute, as if anyone knows me well besides Elodie.”
“What about Aria and Stella?”
“We’re friends, but I haven’t even known them for a year.”
I plate up the tacos for us and she asks, “What about you? Who are your best friends?”
“I don’t have any, well, maybe, except for Zeki.”
“None?”
“Mert was like a brother to me, but you know how that ended. I guess it’s been difficult for me to trust that people won’t turn on me.”
“Is that why you keep your distance from Hunter and the rest of the team?”
“That and I’m their boss at the end of the day. I don’t want to get too close when I may have to fire or trade them.”
“That sounds so lonely.”
I lift a shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. I guess I’m not the type of person to have many friends, anyway.”
“And I think you’re selling yourself short. Hunter, Jake, and the rest of that group are there, waiting for you to accept their constant invitations.”
“How do you know about the invitations?”
Nina laughs. “It looks like Elodie is having a problem keeping her mouth shut since getting married.”
“That’s fine, as long as she keeps telling me all your secrets.”
“Ah-ha, you just confirmed that she’s your source. I’m going to ban her from telling you anything else.”
“That’s only acceptable,” I say, “if you tell me everything about you instead.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. I want to know it all, from the small things to the big things.”
“But there isn’t much to tell.”
“Humor me.”
And then she goes on to do just that, revealing how she helped make the costumes for a school play when she was in high school and loved it.
That she held on to the bit of hope that even in her small town she could perhaps find a way to do her passion.
How she and Elodie were the outcasts in the town, and people would make fun of her constantly because of her mom and ill-fitting clothes.
How she hates cucumbers but loves carrots.
How she gets angry when she’s overheated and hates having cold feet in the night.
I eat her words up, committing them to memory.
Learning everything there is about Nina is quickly becoming my new obsession.
I wake up to Nina’s head on my chest, my arm draped over her hip. Slowly I shift her so she’s lying on her back. Sliding down her body, I nudge her legs open, nuzzling her inner thigh, making a trail of licks and kisses toward my destination.
“What are you doing?” she mumbles, her words barely more than a drowsy slur. Eyes half-lidded, she gazes at me in a way that makes me believe she’s still somewhere between dreaming and reality.
“Enjoying my breakfast,” I say, hooking her leg over my shoulder. “And I’m starving.”
Instead of diving into her like I want to, I take it slow. I lick and kiss her everywhere except her clit and slit. She shifts and grabs my hair, pushing me down.
“Needy, are we?” I ask. “Do you need your morning orgasm as much as I need to give it to you?”
“Shh, less talking and more…” She waves a hand toward her pussy, and I chuckle.
“Oh, you want me to eat you out?” I blow on her clit.
She lifts her hips. “Yes, I need you.”
I grin, loving that she wants me as much as I want her. Inserting a finger, I alternate between sucking and flicking her clit until she’s writhing for more. More that I’m happy to give her. Climbing back up her body, I rub my dick over her dripping pussy and thrust inside.
“Ahh,” Nina screams. “I need you hard and fast…”
“Whatever my good little cum slut wants, she gets,” I say, loving the way her eyes light up when I say that to her.
Loving the way she clenches around my dick, strangling it.
I set a brutal pace and send her right over the edge.
Her body tightens, and she thrusts her head back as her orgasm barrels into her.
When she’s finished pulsing around me, I continue pounding into her, chasing my own release. She holds on for the ride and spurs me on.
I capture her lips with my own, claiming her in every way, as my own orgasm overtakes me. When I come down from my high, I drop my head to her shoulder and say, “You’re so fucking amazing.”
“No, you are. I take back everything I said about your ability to please a woman.”
I chuckle and?—
The front door slams shuts, and I shoot off Nina, grabbing the pepper spray in the side table. No one is allowed in the house besides the approved list of people security has. Is it Zeki? Elodie? Another intruder?
I place my fingers to my lips to indicate that Nina needs to stay quiet. She nods, eyes wide with fear.
“Evren? Nerdesin ?”
I relax, recognizing that it’s just my mom. Wait, my mom? I freeze. My cock, my mouth, and my fingers are covered in Nina and my mom is here ? It doesn’t matter that I’m an adult and have a sex life, my mom doesn’t need to know that.
“Who’s here?” Nina whispers.