11. Tate
My body is trained to wake up before the sun, so it’s no surprise when I stir awake a few hours later, still holding Liana in my arms. This woman took my virginity. I know it’s cliché, but I wouldn’t mind if she were the only person I ever slept with.
I don’t want to move. I don’t want to move her. I want this moment to last forever. Or at least another minute or so.
Today is guaranteed to be hectic. In about an hour, we’ll head to the team bus, then fly back to Orlando where we’ll begin prepping for next weekend’s game. An hour’s not a huge amount of time. I still have to pack. I’m sure Liana has to do the same… in her room down the hall.
For the moment, I allow myself to relish this. I breathe in the scent of her hair. I try to commit the softness of her skin to memory because I honestly don’t know if this was anything more than a one-night stand. The thought absolutely wrecks me.
Given what I know about Liana, which isn’t much, the notion is real. Liana doesn’t date football players. She said she likes me, but maybe that was just for last night. What happens when we leave this room?
There’s only one way to find out.
I plant a kiss on her forehead, stroking her long brown hair behind her ear. “Mornin’.”
She sighs into my chest. “Is it even morning?” she asks. “I can’t see a thing.”
I scoot up on the pillow. “The clock says so. Who am I to argue with a clock?”
“Just a big dumb football player,” she jokes.
“You do know I graduated summa cum laude with an engineering degree.”
She winces. “This might deflate your ego a bit, but I didn’t memorize your Wikipedia page.”
“My ego is intact.” I squeeze her into me.
“And other things are inflated,” she says, a smile in her voice.
Her fingers trace the outline of my abs, then tickle my hip bone before following one side of the V down. She takes my shaft in her hand and slowly strokes it as she presses her lips on my collarbone.
“Do we have time?”
“I’m not sure we do.” I eye the digital clock.
“I can be quick if you can.”
“I don’t want to be quick.” It’s a lie. I want to be inside her again. Feel her pussy throb around my cock. But even more, I want her. Not for just the moment.
She tries to mount me, her legs easing across my thighs. I stop her by gripping her waist and scooping her across the bed.
“I want to see you tonight in Orlando,” I say. “I want to take our time.”
“You mean like get to know each other?”
“Well, that too. But actually I meant I want to strip you down and put my mouth on every part of your body. I want to claim you with my tongue, which is actually kind of sore this morning, like a muscle after a good pump.”
“It got one hell of a workout last night.” Her fingers move up to my chest. “You’re sure you’re not up for more?”
“You know I’m up for it,” I quip. “But I’m sure it can wait a few hours. That’s if you want to come over tonight…”
“I think I can make that happen,” she says. “Assuming Not Mal isn’t finished with her tweaking.”
“Ha.”
“I’m serious. What happens when you two meet?”
“Probably nothing,” I say.
“But you like her.”
“And I like you.” I shrug and try to deflect. “I don’t really know Not Mal. I don’t even know her real name. She might have a boyfriend.”
“She might not. And she might be disappointed if you have a girlfriend.”
“I thought you didn’t date football players.”
“Oh, right. Shit.” She bolts upright in the bed, then turns on the lamp on the nightstand. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
“What?”
“I need to go back to my room. I need to get my stuff. Oh, shit! Shit! What if someone sees me going out of your room? I can’t—I can’t be seen like that, Tate. The whole team will lose all respect for me. You understand? Tell me you understand.”
“I understand,” I say, holding my hands up defensively. “Calm down.”
She holds her eyes shut. “You know those words have the opposite effect, right?”
“I see that now.”
I watch Liana scramble around the room, spotting stray articles of clothing and collecting them in her fist. She’s still naked from the bottom up, wearing only the black thong. The memory of sliding it down her legs sends a new shot of longing into my cock.
But it’s not the thong that’s drawing my gaze. Her exposed breasts sway with each movement. They’re even more perfect than I remember. It takes everything in me not to lunge out of bed, wraps my arms around her, and drag her back with me like I’m some sort of caveman.
Instead, I help. I fish her lacy bra from between the sheets and toss it to her, praying she’ll put it on and put me out of this misery.
As she dresses, I get out of bed and find my travel clothes. “I can go out in the hallway and check if the coast is clear.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’ll work.” She starts getting dressed. “Then we’re both out there for someone to see. I don’t know how to hide this.”
“Hide what?”
“This.” She points to her face, and I have no clue what she’s talking about. “If someone sees me right now, they’re going to see straight through me. They’ll know I just had the best sex of my life?—”
“Wait, really?”
“Yes.” She puts a finger to my chest. “Not just that. They’ll see I’m smitten.”
“Smitten?”
“It’s a word.”
“I know the word.”
“Just, let’s figure something out.”
I nod, but my brain isn’t firing on all cylinders. It’ll work better when I’ve had some coffee. Ding!
“I can go get a coffee downstairs,” I say. “I’ll text you when the coast is clear.”
“That’s better,” she allows.
“I just need your number.”
Liana struggles a moment. “You don’t have it?”
I shake my head. “It’s been all emails.”
“Right.” She sighs through her nose. “Then email me the coast is clear.”
She practically pushes me out of the room, barely giving me enough time to find my slides before I’m tossed into the hallway like it’s me doing the walk of shame. I wander to the elevators, typing an email to her, telling her the coast is, in fact, clear.
As the elevator doors ding open, I hear my room door slam. That’s when I realize I’ve left without my room key. I shrug it off, knowing I can get another from the concierge.
In the lobby, there are the tell-tale signs an NFL team is staying here. Security keeps a gaggle of fans away. A few of my teammates are wandering around—some at the desk, a few are lounging in chairs, staring at their phones, already ready to leave, and a few others are in workout gear heading to and from the hotel gym.
I find several others in the dining area eating breakfast. Standing ahead of me in the line for coffee is the MVP himself, Jake Lawson. He shoots me a quick wink.
“I see you’re in one piece this morning.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means a few of us had bets whether Liana was going to chew you up and spit you back out.”
A memory of her not spitting last night flashes inside my head.
“I know she’s hot and everything, but people don’t normally get engaged on the first date.” Jake flashes his pearly whites. “Have you checked your social? It’s all over my feed.”
“I’m sure Devin told you that was a misunderstanding. Tell him thanks, by the way.”
“Just an assistant doing what assistants do.” Jake thinks people going out of their way is normal behavior. I know better.
Jake lowers his voice. “You know, speaking of social media, I heard some things this morning.”
“About?”
“Osprey_Informant.” Jake puts an empty cup to the carafe. “The GM thinks he knows who she really is. You’re never going to believe it.”
“Who?”
“I already said you’re not going to believe. Hell, I don’t either. But the GM was looking into her emails this morning for proof. If he finds it, I doubt she’ll fly back with us.”
“Who, Jake?”
“And here we thought she was a good person, always putting the team’s interest first.”
“Who, Jake? Who are you talking about?”
The way he’s not saying her name tells me everything I need to know.
“She really charmed you last night, huh?”
The urge to punch him washes over me. I’m caught in two minds. Part of me wants to run up the stairs, knock on her hotel room door, and beg for an explanation. The more pragmatic side wins out. If this is truly a misunderstanding, then I’ll see Liana later on the flight home. Tonight, she can put my mind at ease in several ways.
By the time I get coffee and a new room key, then head upstairs, there’s a maid down the hall already cleaning out Liana’s room.
I walk by to see the room is deserted. Liana’s gone. I don’t even have her number, just her Osprey email account, which she’ll surely be locked out of soon if not already. I want so badly for this to be a misunderstanding. But with the flip of a switch—a vacuum cleaner’s to be precise—my hope dies away.