Page 49

Especially when it came to a woman like Mia.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the way her thick thighs felt pressed up against my ears. Her soft whimpers that led to a loud cry as she came around my fingers.
For an entire week, I vacillated between kicking myself for giving in and wishing I could call her over and add gasoline to this fire we started.
I put her underwear in my suitcase, knowing I couldn’t leave them at home. I’d want her while I was away just as badly as I needed her here. At least what little piece of her I could have.
With my bag packed, I went out to the garage, threw my bags in the bed of my truck, and took off toward the private airport the team used for out-of-town games. Within an hour or so, I’d parked and a golf cart had come to pick me up. It brought me and a few teammates to the terminal so we could go through security and board the plane waiting for us on the tarmac.
I climbed the boarding stairs behind a few other guys on the team and found Milo sitting next to an open seat, Krew in the row ahead of him.
“Hey,” I said, sliding past Milo to get the window seat. I reached ahead and clapped Krew’s shoulder. He was already in game mode, listening to something on massive over-the-ear headphones, a neck pillow resting on his shoulders.
He smiled up at me, then was back in the zone, eyes closed, head bobbing to his music.
“Ready for the game?” Milo asked me.
I nodded. “You?”
He nodded too. We’d watched hours of game film of the Brentwood Badgers over the last week. We knew they were especially strong on defense, and Milo and I had done dozens of drills with the other linemen to make sure we were ready for the pressure.
“Your family coming?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I know Mama Kent will be there though, waving that sign,” I teased.
His mom attended every game, wearing his jersey and waving a sign that said THAT’S MY BOY #54. She’d raised himas a single mom working multiple jobs, and now that he’d gone pro, he’d paid off her house and made sure she wouldn’t have to work so hard another day in her life.
“I’m gonna tell her you were pokin’ fun, and then she won’t bring any cookies for you after the game.”
“I take it back,” I said with a chuckle. “It’s cool how she’s there for you.”
He nodded, settling back in his seat as more of our teammates boarded around us. “Mia’s not coming?”
I shook my head.
“Why the hell not?”
“She’s got work to do,” I said simply, reaching into my bag for a set of headphones.
“Don’t they make computers with internet these days? Mobile phones too?” He shrugged. “I bet she could work just as well for a couple days from a fancy hotel in California as she could in Dallas.”
The words brought an unexpected spark of hope to my chest... It was a terrible idea that would just blur the lines between us more.
And yet...
I’d never gone to a website and booked a plane ticket faster.
29
MIA
I was in the office,working on a report to share in my next meeting with one of Griffen Industries’ biggest investors and sipping on a sparkling water with lime when Ford’s message came through.
Relieved for the distraction from one of the more tedious parts of my work, I picked up my phone and stared in shock at the first message.
It was a screenshot of a boarding pass... for a first-class flight to Brentwood, California.
Then another message appeared on the screen.