Chapter 21
— Scout —
I hedged. “As in for a nap, or…?”
Remmy snickered and ran her hands up and down my torso. “When do you join your team?”
“Flying out to Baltimore tomorrow morning. I’ll head home soon to pack.” The plan to get me to Marylanddeveloped quicker than I’d expected, and Linney had arranged it all by the time I’d finished my gym session this morning.
Remmy flicked her hands under my t-shirt and smoothed her palms up my chest. “When’s the next home series?”
“Couple of months,” I grit out, easily succumbing to her touch. It re-lit my hunger for her without warning.
“That’s ages away.”
“I know.” I weighed her tits in my hands. “I’m going to miss these while I’m gone.”
“Thanks.”
My eyes flicked up to hers. “You won’t miss me?”
Ever headstrong, she jutted her chin and twisted her lips in thought. “Maybe your dick, but I won’t miss you uncovering my secrets.”
I scoffed wryly. “I don’t think anything could top you being a foot porn star.” A shadow passed behind her irises that I tried to interpret. “Don’t shut down,” I added in a rush. “Please. I’m still processing, but I’m not making fun of you. I promise.”
“I know,” she whispered.
Without another word passed between us, she undid my button and zipper, then dropped to her knees. I sucked in a sharp breath at the first swipe of her tongue over my dick’s pierced head, then hummed and wove my hand through her hair as she settled in. I only lasted a minute before I shifted her onto the bed and stripped off her clothing.
The room stayed silent aside from each sigh and murmur of pleasure as I pushed into her, her heels locked on my lower back. I covered her body with my own, kissing her deeply with two months of abstinence in mind.
She writhed under me, squeezed her eyes shut and gasped when the angle was just right. That’s where I focused, aiming to hit that same spot again and again until cries of pleasure fell from her parted lips with every thrust.
I gritted my teeth, willing her to hurry up and detonate, and thank Christ I didn’t have to cling to the edge for long. As soon as she started coming, I chased my final high. It came hot on the heels of hers, and I lay panting into her neck while her knees fell wide on either side of my hips.
I kissed the soft, heated skin under my lips while holding some of my weight off her. We stayed like that for long enough that I felt myself dozing. I’d happily stay like this for hours, but Remmy shattered the bliss without warning.
“I think we should stop seeing each other.”
The shock pulled me up onto one elbow. “What? You can’t be serious.”
Her expression remained carefully blank. “I am. Our worlds can’t mix, Scout. Imagine how your reputation would be ruined if this all came out. I don’t want that for you, and I’m not one to live by rules that restrict what I can and can’t do.”
My mouth opened, then snapped closed when no reply came. I searched her gaze constantly as I rallied to organize my rushing thoughts. I’d already thought I would never see her again after bursting into the women’s bathroom in Portland looking for Holly last year, then I lost her again after Beck and Mercedes’ wedding. The idea of it happening a third time left a burn under my sternum.
“No one will know,” I murmured, running my hand down her smooth cheek. The warmth from her skin seeped into my palm when I lingered. “Not about the FootFet . How will they ever find out?”
Her lying down accentuated the angles of her high cheekbones and narrow chin. The length of her raven hair fanned out across her pillows in dark waves. Goddamn she was beautiful.
As if reading my thoughts, she kissed the pad of my thumb as I tenderly brushed it across her plump lower lip. “People always find out. One way or another, sooner or later,” she whispered, then snorted bitterly. “Not even two nail cycles.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
Remmy simply looked at her hand before turning a wretched expression on me. “You finding out changes things, so we’d best call it a day, don’t you think?”
My chin tucked back, and a burst of dread heated my chest. “No, I don’t think. Me finding out changes nothing—not really—other than the fact that I now know how you make money.”
“Considering what I do, isn’t that enough for you to walk away?”
The dismay in her eyes gutted me.
“I mean, I don’t love it,” I admitted, “but I can’t ask you to change for me, Remmy, nor would I ever do so. If you were sleeping with people, then yeah, I’d probably walk away, but this is different.”
“I still sell my body for money.”
I shook her shoulder a little. “You sell videos of your body. Of your feet. Not the sacred parts that matter the most.”
Her lips moved against my thumb. “Such as?”
I cleared my throat and smoothed out her pout. “Your pussy. Your identity. Your soul.”
A noticeable sheen of moisture drifted across her lower lash line before she blinked it away. “I did it because I had to. I didn’t have much choice in the matter—I was desperate.”
My heart took a dive seeing the sincere, imploring angle of her eyebrows. I shook my head. “Sometimes we do things out of necessity in the moment. That doesn’t always define what type of person we are.”
While I had no experience in this situation, I had my own daily battles. Actions I knew weren’t the right ones but ones I couldn’t not do. A compulsion. Actions that overtook my mind despite knowing I shouldn’t.
Remmy smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re sounding wise, Ace.”
I smirked and gazed down at her, swiping a wayward strand of hair off her temple. “So wise. You should listen to me.”
She snorted subtly. “I’d prefer not to.”
“In this case, I’d like you to,” I said softly.
There was no forcing a woman like Remmy. No putting her under a thumb and expecting her not to push back with everything she had—even if it was just to prove that she wouldn't conform.
Looking at her made my belly flip in a good way. The more she stayed in my world, the more I wanted her there. More often. And for longer.
The longer she stared at me without blinking, the more unease tickled across the back of my neck. I willed her not to deny me from seeing her again.
“If I hadn’t just found out about that—” I thumbed toward the spare room “—would you have told me it’s over today?”
Her gaze refocused from their zoned-out stare, and she blinked a few times. “No.” A little head shake accompanied her admission.
“Then I don’t see what difference it makes. Come see me halfway between now and our next home series.”
“Where will that be?”
“Not sure yet, but when I get the team schedule, I’ll let you know.” I rolled off her while making sure the condom didn’t leak on her white bedspread.
Remmy eyed me, considering for a few long moments. “Okay.”
I paused mid-stand as an excited pang shot through my chest. “Really?”
She snickered and rolled off the bed. “Yeah, really. If you’re good.”
“You know I’m good.”
“You’re sufficient.”
The devilish little tug at the corner of her mouth lit my fuse. “Honey, I make the word sufficient meow .” Throwing my arms wide with the tied condom unceremoniously dangling in one hand, I took a step back and puffed my chest as if defending my manhood. “There’s literally nothing insufficient about me.”
Remmy’s rich, melodious laughter filled her room, then increased when I grumbled, “ insufficient ” again on the way to her en suite.
Joining me, Remmy smoothed her warm hands up and down my back as I washed my hands. “Calm your six-pack, Ace. And don’t pout.” She laughed again. “You’re too easy to tease.”
I pouted—in a manly way. “I’m not.”
A little sparkle lit her irises, but before she had the chance to retort, I spun and took her face in my hands, then peppered kisses all over her smile. “I do need to get going. But you’ll come see me?”
Light fingertips grazed across my flanks, making me shiver involuntarily. “I think I could manage that.”
“I can pay for your flight—that’s no problem.”
Remmy snorted louder and added condescending little pats to my bare chest. The light slapping sound continued while she drawled, “Thanks, Ace. But I can more than cover those.”
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly as my eyes darted around her room. “Oh yeah. Right. Of course. That’s cool. I mean… yup.”
A shit-eating grin spread across Remmy’s face, reciprocating the amusement in her eyes. “Don’t get weird.”
My voice pitched, and I pressed a hand to my chest. “Me? Weird.” I scoffed. “I’m as cool as a cucumber.”
“You’re really not.” Remmy called over her shoulder. She reached for her clothes, reminding me to re-dress too. “You wanna stick around for dinner, or do you need to go?”
“I need to get going,” I said, emerging from the neck hole of my t-shirt. “I’ll call you later?”
“If you want.”
“Oh, I want.”
She tried, and failed, to appear nonchalant about the offer, but I saw the little hint of a smile before she bent to step into her shorts.
After dragging my fingers through my hair a couple of times, then patting down my pockets to make sure I had my phone, wallet, and keys, I reached for her once she’d fully dressed.
Wrapping her in my arms and securing her to my chest tricked me into thinking she belonged in that very spot from here on out. My reluctance to let her go increased as the seconds ticked by. It was too early to call forevers, but the thought of leaving her for a couple of months had me holding her tighter.
Eventually, Remmy unlooped her arms from around my shoulders and took a hold of my face. “I thought you were going?”
“I am,” I murmured, gaze fixated on her mouth.
The mouth that smiled. The mouth that drew closer without being coaxed. The mouth that kissed me in a way that stole the air from my lungs. I was hooked. Completely and utterly hooked on her.
She broke away and shook my face a little. “Go, Ace. Call me later.”
Stunned and dumbed, I managed a nod, then stole one last departing kiss before turning.
I felt her behind me, following me through her apartment to the front door. Once outside, I turned back one last time to see her leaning on the door frame wearing a lazy smile.
“See you later, honey.”
“Bye,” she whispered, barely audible, but the breathed word hung in my head until I finally fell asleep later that night.