Page 23

K ENDALL

Nash hasn’t called or texted in four days since he held to his promise and ruined me for any other man. Not that I expected him to. He told me it was a once and done deal, yet his parting words, “Challenge accepted,” give me hope we’ll have a repeat.

A repeat without changing a thing. I loved the dirty words. The fiery passion. The teasing. The orgasms. The way he stretched my mouth and my pussy. It was the most perfect night of sex I’ve had in my entire life, and it was all over in less than an hour.

Driving home and curling around my pillow that night, I thought it was the perfect situation. Explosive sex that wasn’t too quick or too drawn out, then sleep in the comfort of my own room.

But the past few nights, sleep hasn’t come easy. I crave Nash’s touches too much and had to resort to Dido. He’d been doing the job perfectly fine for the past year, but after experiencing Nash, the vibrating toy no longer got the job done.

“Kendall, Rowan just pulled in,” my mom calls from the bottom of the stairs.

I unplug my curling iron, check my reflection in the mirror one more time, then grab my coat and hurry down the stairs.

“The game won’t be over until after seven, and the girls and I will probably go out after. Don’t wait up.” I give her and Dani a hug before hurrying out the door and climbing in the passenger seat of Rowan’s car. “Thanks for being the DD tonight,” I say as I buckle up.

“Not that you ever drink much, especially on a Sunday night.” Rowan backs out of my driveway and heads toward the stadium. She gives me a side eye and grins. “You smell good. Love the hair too.”

“Aw, thanks, Row. You hitting on me?”

“Are you hoping someone wearing the same number stretched across your boobs hits on you later?”

She can’t see my jersey with my winter coat covering it. But she knows. “The number covers my entire torso, not just my boobs, perv.”

Rowan snorts. “You suck at evading.”

“And the jersey doesn’t stretch. It’s actually loose on me.”

“Easier to take off?”

“I wish.”

I haven’t told her about having sex with Nash. She still thinks it’s a fantasy of mine, and I hate that I haven’t told the girls yet. Part of me wants to live in this private bubble of me and Nash, and the other part is worried that the bubble is a figment of my imagination.

If we are a one-and-done thing, I need to not let my head get caught up in the fantasy of what could have been.

Not that I want anything real with Nash.

Just sex. Lots of sex. If I talk about what happened between us, and nothing ever happens again, I’m afraid Rowan and Riley will see right through me and call me on my bullshit.

That they’ll see I might possibly have feelings for Nash. I’m mostly-somewhat sure the feelings are purely sexual, but in case they’re not, the more I talk about him and the mind-blowing sex we shared, the more I’ll get caught up in the fantasy that there’s possibly something more between us.

All I want right now is more sex between us. I’m not looking for a relationship, and neither is he. Besides, even if I thought I wanted a relationship, my head and heart are nowhere near to trusting again.

But I really, really, really want lots of sex with Nash.

So if it’s just sex, I should be able to talk about it with Row, right?

“I had sex with Nash.”

“I knew it!” Rowan slams her palm against the steering wheel and giggles. “He’s been eye fucking you for weeks.”

“He has not.”

“Please.” She snorts.

“It’s just sex. I’m one million percent not ready for a relationship, and he isn’t either. He’s the most private person I’ve ever met. Even if I was ready, he’s not the one for me.”

I don’t need to explain why. After Jason and the two-timing life he led, I have zero tolerance for secrets. Which makes my situation with Nash hypocritical. But this time I’m in on the secret. I think.

I’m sure there are plenty of skeletons in his closet, but having a secret wife and family on the side isn’t one of them.

In the two years we were together, I never met any of Jason’s friends or family. That should have been a red flag from the start. At least I can say I’ve met Nash’s parents and daughter. There could be an ex-wife somewhere out there, but at least I know she’s not part of the picture anymore.

“Wow. No kissing and telling? This is unlike you. Do you have regrets?”

“Kind of the opposite. I think about fucking him morning, noon, and night.”

“Fucking him morning, noon, and night or thinking about him morning, noon, and night?”

“Yes. Yes to all of it.”

“Wow. You’re in deep. You never let a guy monopolize your head so much.”

“It doesn’t help that I spend all day with his daughter.”

“True. So are you guys...?”

“I don’t know, Row. He agreed to a friends-with-benefits thing, but before we got going the other night, he said something about it being only one time. But before I left, I sort of challenged him to give me three orgasms in one hour again, and he said, ‘Challenge accepted.’”

“Three orgasms? One hour? Again ?” Rowan screeches, and she’s not one to screech.

“Right? How can I not think about that twenty-four-seven?”

“Has he mentioned anything since?”

“Kinda hard when he’s ghosting me.”

“Ouch.”

“Mhm.”

Ten minutes later, she pulls into the stadium and into a VIP lot Walker hooked us up with so we can avoid the bottleneck of traffic after the game. It’s not so bad by the time we leave anyway since we wait around with Riley. Unless it’s an eight o’clock game, we usually go out after.

Nash has only recently started going out with the guys, and the tiny black lace thong and matching bra set I’m wearing hopes he joins us tonight.

Rowan and I walk across the parking lot and spot Riley. “Can we keep this under wraps for now? At least until I figure out if we’re a friends-with-benny thing or a once and done thing. I don’t want it to be awkward with Riley and Walker.”

“Of course. But she’ll be upset if she hears about you two from someone else.”

“I highly doubt Nash is the kiss and tell kind of guy.”

“No, but the way he looks at you makes it obvious what he wants to do to you.”

“Maybe. Or maybe now that he got his fill, he’ll move on.”

THE REVS WIN. IT WAS an ugly win, with both teams not playing their best, but a win is a win. Jackson and Taylor stick around to congratulate Walker, but they leave shortly after since Taylor has a case he needs to get back to. Such is the life of a lawyer.

Since Nash made a game saving interception with seconds to spare, he’ll have to stick around longer to talk to the media. I don’t wait to see if he’s joining us at Whiskey Buckle and Rowan and I take off as soon as the group starts to disperse.

I’m two drinks in—very unlike me on a Sunday night—when my bladder decides to break the seal. I have successfully kept my back to the group of Revolutions players congregated around three tables for the past hour and have remained focused solely on Rowan and Mindy, Darius’s wife.

Riley’s been bouncing between girl chat and being by her husband’s side.

“I gotta pee. Anyone need a refill? I’ll stop at the bar on my way back.”

They all shake their heads. “I remember when nine o’clock on a Sunday was early.”

Mindy laughs. “Kids sure do age you fast.”

“What’s our excuse then?” Riley giggles.

“You’re in that disgusting honeymoon stage and want to be sober while you shag your husband twenty times a day,” I grumble.

“Even though my best friend is right...” Riley gives me a knowing smile. “I still have a ways to go before I catch up to Kendall’s level of sex.”

“Easy, girl,” I bite back my teasing snarl.

To be fair, Riley and I met during my ho-bag stage.

Pre-Jason, I dressed more provocatively and fooled around with more guys than I could count.

While we were together, I was one hundred percent faithful to Jason, then I returned to my ho- bag stage for a few months before I realized I had too much self-respect to cheapen myself simply because I was betrayed by an asshole.

Granted, my ho-bag stage was mild compared to most people’s. I’m mostly talk. Lots of flirting, some serious groping, and more blow jobs than I’m proud of, but I didn’t spread my legs for anyone and everyone like most assumed.

Including Nash.

I flip Riley off with a smile and work my way through the crowd to the bathroom.

Whiskey Buckle isn’t a high-end bar but it’s not a hole-in-the-wall either.

The bigger bathrooms are full, so I work my way to the back where there are three private bathrooms. A perk of hanging with the team is having bathroom connections.

I do my business and check out my reflection while I wash my hands. My cheeks are pink from the two cranberry vodkas I’ve had and I run my fingers through my hair and tame the frizz around my face.

The bold, blue fifty-six on my torso pops out against the white jersey, and I turn to check out my ass, but my eyes lift to the name across my shoulder blades. Humphries .

It was obvious when Nash arrived twenty minutes ago. Rowan has the worst poker face in the history of the world. Being a bad liar is a good trait though, especially since I was hosed for two years by the best liar in the history of the world.

I take my tinted lip gloss out of my back pocket and apply a coat to my lips. Not that anyone but the girls have looked at me all night. We’re shielded in a corner to avoid losers trying to pick us up. Not that Darius or Walker would allow any man in a ten foot radius of their wives.

Nash hasn’t come over to us, nor has he texted me since the three orgasms. It’s time I accept what happened was once-and-done. I’m okay with that. It’s not like I’m looking for a relationship or even half-interested in going out on a date. But sex? Damn. I miss sex.

I miss sex with Nash even more. With a heavy sigh, I unlock the door and pull. It only opens a crack before someone pushes their way through, and I stumble back.

Nash fills the doorway, then slams and locks the door behind him.