Chapter 53
Chapter Fifty-Three
Callie
It’s been a week since Foster went to the bank. I’ve waited for him to talk to me about it and yet, nothing. It’s really none of my business what he was doing at the bank, so I feel like it’s not my place to ask, even though I wish he’d open up to me.
His inability to open up to me hasn’t dampened my craving for the man though.
We have our twenty-week appointment next week, but he’ll be gone this entire week, playing a back-to-back away series.
I can’t get comfortable in my bed. I’ve fallen asleep with Foster on the couch, but we’ve never broken the rule to never sleep in bed with each other. Even if I think joining him in his bed right now would do the trick, I won’t be the one to ask.
So I toss and turn, wishing my brain would turn off and let me sleep, but then the building alarm goes off again.
It hasn’t happened again in a while, and I haven’t heard anything about it since the night I met Cooper. I have no idea if the three guys ever met with Cooper after that night.
I open my bedroom door, and Foster is by the condo door, already slipping into his slides. “This shit has to stop.”
I step out of my bedroom and make it halfway across the condo before I think to turn back around and grab a sweatshirt. Although it’s hot outside, I want to cover myself up given what happened last time.
“I’ve got you.” As though he was prepared for this, Foster holds his Chicago Colts sweatshirt for me.
“Territorial much?” I snag it from his grasp.
“No more Grizzly shit.”
“Or Falcons?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head.
The alarm continues to blare.
Foster palms the back of his neck. “I gotta be on the bus early, so I hope this isn’t gonna take all night.”
As we leave the condo, the alarm stops, and when we reach the ground floor, we find Decker and Easton are already down there.
It’s complete déjà vu, except for Easton’s explanation as he jogs up the steps. “It was just some girl. She tried to use a crowbar to open the gate. Ruby saw her when she was closing up.”
I’m thankful we don’t have to wait for cops or Cooper at least.
“What can I say? I’m irresistible.” Easton grins.
“Good. See you fuckers in the morning.” Foster turns and holds the door open for me.
“Like the new merch, Callie.” Easton’s grin gets bigger.
Foster rolls his eyes, and we make our way back up to the condo, where he shuts the door and locks it. I take off the sweatshirt and hand it back to him.
He shakes his head. “Keep it.”
We stand in the foyer area, gazes locked and neither of us heading to our bedrooms.
I don’t feel like having sex, but I do want to be with him, even if it breaks all rules.
But when he doesn’t say anything, I see no point in continuing to stand here. “So, good night.” I wave like an idiot and head toward my room.
“I was thinking…”
I stop and circle back.
He says, “I mean, I’ll be gone for a week and…”
“Yeah…” I’ll miss you like crazy. Will you miss me too?
“Do you think… I mean…” He pushes both hands through his hair, then leaves his hands resting on the back of his head so his torso is stretched out. “I mean… I’ve never slept with a woman before. Like just slept. Do the lessons extend to that?”
My entire being lights up at the thought of sleeping with him for the entire night in his bed.
A small smile makes its way across my face. “I think I can help you out.”
He holds his arm out, signaling that I should head to his room first, so I do, Foster following.
“The first thing you should do is pull down the covers for her.”
He reaches past me and pulls the covers open. I slide in, scooting to the other side.
“Now you get in after her and pull the covers up over her.”
He does, the mattress dipping when his weight settles on it.
“Now turn around so you’re the big spoon, tugging her into your chest.”
He nuzzles close to me, wrapping his arm around my torso, and nudges me back so our bodies are aligned. “Like this?”
I lose my voice for a moment. “Perfect.”
We lie cocooned with one another, and if sleep wasn’t coming for me before, it’s definitely not coming now.
The faint scent of him is on the pillows, and with his warm, strong body wrapped around me, I’ve never felt safer than this moment.
His hand drifts to my stomach, running up and down over the swell of my belly.
“I never knew this would be so nice.” His voice is soft in my ear.
“Me neither,” I admit.
We lie there for a while, and I swear I feel his heartbeat against my back. I slide my feet up his legs and back down.
“Callie?” he whispers.
“Yeah?”
But he doesn’t say anything for another minute or two.
“Sleep.”
Utter disappointment hits me because I thought maybe he’d say something more heartfelt. Which is stupid because that’s not us, that’s not who we are. But sometimes… the way he looks at me, the way he touches me… it makes me think that maybe we are there or could be at least.
“Don’t go trying to throw your leg over mine or anything.” I try to use humor to cover my disappointment.
He chuckles. “Don’t press your ass into my dick… actually, feel free to do that.”
I chuckle then try to relax. My mind is still whirling that I’m in bed with him, in his arms, and eventually I hear his breathing even out.
Hours later, I awaken to a dark room, but a soft light comes through the edges of the curtains. I don’t want to move to see what time it is.
I’m still on my side, tucked under the blanket, Foster behind me. His chest is pressed to my back, his arm around my waist, his hand resting flat on my stomach as though he’s protecting the both of us. Did we really not move the entire night?
I should try to go back to sleep.
But that’s impossible with the weight of him against me, the heat of his body turning my thoughts to wanting something I can’t have.
His breathing is even. I’m the only one fretting about us being in bed and not having sex.
For a few minutes, I relish the quiet and safety of being in his arms. I don’t want fear to leak into this moment—I just want to enjoy it for however long I get.
Foster stirs behind me, his fingers flexing over my belly. With his touch, my spine straightens, and my breath catches from that familiar twinge of excitement when we want one another.
Foster’s mouth brushes the back of my neck, the exact place he knows I love.
He moans, and I tilt my head to the side, giving him more skin to explore so he knows I’m in.
His exhale is warm against my skin, and his arm tightens around my waist as he slides even closer.
I didn’t think there was more space to fill between us, but he found it.
“Tell me if you want me to stop.” His voice is low and sleepy.
I shake my head. “Don’t stop.”
All it takes is my permission.
His mouth finds my neck again, and he kisses me slower this time. He kisses the same spot twice as his fingers run up and down my side, purposely teasing me.
It’s the gentlest kind of ruin.
I press back into him before I can overthink it, and when my ass hits his dick, a guttural groan escapes him. Getting him to make noises that tell me how much he enjoys being with me is so addictive.
His lips graze my ear. “You feel so warm… so nice. I like waking up with you.”
A sharp ache pierces my heart, and I almost laugh at how unfair this situation is. How much I want to change the game on him and hope he’s on board.
Because this… this isn’t lust or co-parents getting closer and becoming friends. We’ve fallen in love. And it was so easy to do that I’m still shocked. I tried to deny it as long as I could, but I’ve fallen in love with Foster Davis, and I’m pretty sure he’s fallen in love with me.
It was the quiet kind of falling, so it sneaked up on me. One day he was a hot guy to have sex with, then he was my friend, and now I want him to be so much more.
I turn in his arms carefully, shifting until I’m facing him. In the dim light, his eyes still find mine.
His hand cups my cheek, thumb sliding once along my jaw as if he’s committing it to memory. “I don’t want to go.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
It’s only a week. We’ve gone through longer stints during our time together. This shouldn’t be a big thing.
His forehead rests against mine for a beat, and it’s so tender that my throat burns with my unsaid confession. Foster lowers his head, and his lips meet mine.
It’s slow. No frenzy or panic. As though he’s savoring me and putting all his emotions into our kiss. My hands rest on his shoulders, then his back, pulling him closer, desperate to hold on to this moment in case I never get it again.
He shifts over me, the mattress dipping, the blanket tangling around our legs. He hovers over me, careful to keep his weight off my belly and pausing to look over my face, staring into my eyes as if asking permission.
I nod, unable to find my voice but wanting him so much.
He slowly undresses us both, then kisses me again and again, each one less hurried than the last, as if he doesn’t have to leave to meet the team soon.
His hand slides into mine, threading our fingers together, and it pulls me out of my head and back into my body, back into him.
I want this.
I want him.
The only sounds in the room are our breathing, the soft shift of the sheets, the small noises from each of us.
Foster’s mouth leaves mine only long enough for him to whisper, “God, Callie.” He slides into me, slow and sure.
My heart stutters because this feels different. This is new. The slower pace. The unbroken eye contact. The trust between us.
“Foster…” I manage, my voice barely working.
His eyes hold mine, clear and honest. “You are… amazing. You’re everything.”
The fear, the loneliness, the part of me that always expects to be the only one who wants more breaks at his words, and my chest opens up to expose my heart, inviting him in.
“You are…”
He kisses me before I can finish my thought.
Then there’s no more talking.
He touches me as if I’m precious. There’s no pressure. No invisible finish line. No panic flaring through me. I’m completely lost in him.
Just him moving inside me, as though we’re learning each other in a completely new way. His hands are linked with mine, holding them over my head, clenching and unclenching our fingers together.
My orgasm comes slowly, like a rolling wave before it crests and crashes. When I come, it’s not hard or crushing, but a feeling of euphoria wrapping around me, and I know I’ll never have this with anyone else.
He comes right after me, with a quiet moan and my name whispered in a tone holding so much awe and adoration. I stare at him, losing myself in his blue eyes. He unhooks our hands, and I cup his cheeks, overcome with emotion.
“I love you,” I whisper.
Foster opens his mouth then shuts it. He blinks, and that dreamy expression he had a moment ago vanishes, replaced with fear I haven’t seen in months.
“Ah…” He slips out of me and catapults off the bed as if I’m contagious. “I forgot I have to get to the clubhouse early for the bus to the airport. Shit, what time is it?” He checks his phone.
I sit up in bed. “Foster,” I say, but he’s scrambling around the room. “I know it’s scary, but—”
“I’ll call you from the road, but I gotta go.” He throws on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, shoving stuff into his bag.
“Foster…”
He leans over the bed and kisses me briefly on the cheek. “I’ll call you.”
Then he’s out the door, and the condo grows quiet as I lie in his bed naked and embarrassed, tears welling in my eyes.
Which is stupid, because I knew how this would end all along. I only have myself to blame.