Page 25

CHAPTER 24

GRADY

I was never going to be able to watch Jaws again. It had always been a favorite but there was no way to unmarry the film from blowing a load now. And not just any load, one of the hardest orgasms I’d ever had without anyone even touching me. From the sound of Jill’s cry trapped in her throat, to the way her pussy had clamped around my fingers as she’d bucked against me. The minute I heard that ominous dun-dun…dun-dun from now on I was going to get an instant boner.

The napkins we’d gotten from the concession guy weren’t even close to enough to clean us up, and I felt bad Jill had to ride home with a wet spot on the back of her dress. She didn’t seem to mind though, her rosy cheeks and bright eyes flicking my way every few seconds as we drove home. She was still wearing that sly grin when I pulled up in front of her little cottage and hopped out to open her door.

“So,” she started, her eyes on the porch steps as she took them up. “If you never brought someone to a drive-in as a date . . .” she faded out, the question hanging between us.

I laughed, looking up at the stars as I remembered. “It was my freshman year of school. Lexi had been missing me, so when she and my folks flew out to Michigan for a visit that spring, I took her to one.” Glancing back over my shoulder at the truck, I shook my head. “No bed in the back that time though. Just a couple of lawn chairs and a truck I’d borrowed from a guy on the team who lived out there.”

“That’s really cute,” she said, her fingers playing with the bottom of her dress. “What did you see?”

“ Ghostbusters .”

She bit her lip. “You really do like the classics, don’t you?”

I huffed, climbing up the steps to stand in front of her. “I guess so. Maybe I’m old fashioned.”

“Or just old,” she quipped, her little smirk disappearing when I darted a hand out and grabbed a handful of her dress.

Her eyes went wide as I yanked her toward me. “Keep calling me old, Jilly-fish. See where it gets you.”

Her teeth dragged along her bottom lip, the thing so fucking enticing I was practically hard again. “Will it get me the chance to return the favor?” she whispered, her hand sliding down my stomach to where my semi was growing eagerly to meet her touch.

I took a step, and then another, backing Jill up until she was pressed to the front door. “For someone who’s not into sports, you sure like keeping score.”

Her expression bent into a pout. “I just don’t want to be the only one getting off here.”

I laughed, the gust of air blowing the hair from her forehead. “I’m pretty sure the stain on your dress is a clear enough indication that I’m doing just fine.”

“You know what I mean,” she groaned.

She was cute when she was frustrated. She was cute a lot of the time these days. But I particularly enjoyed her persistence in this area. Skimming both my hands down her arms, I closed my fingers around her wrists and raised them until they were pinned above her head. The hard points of her nipples heaved as her breathing kicked up.

“By the time we fuck, Jilly, you’re going to be begging for it.”

“What am I doing right now?” she bit out, exasperated.

Brushing my lips across hers, I pressed my hips into her so she could feel me again. “Right now, you’re asking nicely,” I cooed, tracing the shell of her ear with my tongue and feeling her shiver against me. “When you’re ready—” I gave her wrists a squeeze, watching her chest fill on another shaky breath—“you’re going to take every fucking inch of me, and I’m not going to stop fucking you until my name is the only word you can form with that pretty, smart mouth of yours.”

Jill swallowed, her eyes round saucers pinned to mine. I wanted this to be so good for her she’d never accept anything less. I wanted to shred any last doubt that asshole had put in her head because this woman in my arms was a fucking prize, and I wouldn’t stand for her to think otherwise for a single goddamn second.

“Understood?” I asked, canting my head to the side as she whispered a quick agreement. “Good.” When I let her wrists go, she leaned heavily into the door, watching me with lowered eyelids and a hunger I wanted to keep stoking. “Have fun tomorrow.”

At that Jill laughed, some of her senses returning. “Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be a blast.”

“I’ll be in Boston. But if you need me, you’ve got my number.”

Jill eyed me like that offer was unexpected. And maybe it was. I didn’t know how to tread the line of what we were doing here. But if she were my girl for real, that’s what I’d say. I’d want her to rely on me for whatever she needed. So, the same went for Jill, even if it was just for a couple of months.

“What’s in Boston?”

I almost laughed, but she wasn’t being sarcastic. “I’ve got to meet with my trainers and see the coaches for an update on my progress.” I shrugged, feeling a little more confident than I had last week about what I’d have to report. “I’ll skate around with the guys who are local.”

She nodded, her eyes scanning me as if she’d forgotten I was a professional athlete for a living. “I hope it goes well.”

“Thanks, gorgeous,” I said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. I went to pull back, but she didn’t let me go. Her hands slipped into my hair and she tugged me down as she deepened the kiss. I groaned, my cock surging back to life as her tongue stroked mine.

When she finally released me, her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Maybe we’ll both be begging,” she shot coyly.

I laughed as I let her go, watching her disappear into her house before I turned back for the truck. Little did she know me and my cock had been begging for weeks.

I’d made the drive from Holden Cove to Brighton, Massachusetts more times than I could count, but as I pulled into our practice facility I yawned, the ride feeling twice as long. A knock on my car window scared the shit out of me.

“Wake up,” AJ barked, his bushy eyebrows low as if he was actually pissed I’d be tired. I’d played with him for over four years now, and he was a good guy, and an incredible goalie, but I think I’d seen him smile less than a dozen times.

Shoving my car door open and forcing him to move back, I sighed in aggravation. “Hello to you, too, asshole.”

He shook his head, looking me over like my black joggers and gray hoodie were offending him in some way. “At least you look better than the last time I saw you.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, retrieving my duffel from the backseat. The last time AJ had seen me I was still bandaged up and in a sling. My spirits had been as mangled as my shoulder and I was in a shit ton of pain. It was a relief to know I’d improved from that, I guess.

“How’s Maine?” he asked as we headed inside. We both waved at the social media managers as we went by, pausing our conversation until we’d passed them, since they were always filming our entrances.

“Good,” I said, my eyes on the floor. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to share.

“ Gentleman ,” Cooper Walton, our star right wing, announced as he stepped into the nearly empty locker room and looked around. “It’s good to be back.”

AJ and I rolled our eyes at the same time, and went back to unpacking our gear. Cooper normally took a locker on the other side of the room, but he sauntered over and dropped his bag with a dramatic thud.

“What’s the latest?” he asked, his head pinging back and forth between us.

“Nothing much,” AJ said flatly, turning to head for the bathroom without a second glance.

Cooper pivoted, giving me his full attention, though I could have done without it. I was tired from being out late, and still a little off after what had gone down with Jill. It wasn’t a bad off—more like being tilted off balance in the best kind of way. Today’s practice skate wasn’t the same as being back, and all things considered, I’d rather have woken up to Jill’s warm body pressed to mine instead of an alarm and three-hour drive.

“You good, Holloway?” he asked.

Despite my annoyance, I could hear the sincerity in his voice. Cooper wasn’t a bad guy, he was just a little over the top.

“Yeah,” I said, taking a seat on the bench. “Things have healed up nicely, and I’m getting back into the groove.” It felt less like a lie after the last few days.

He pulled his skates out, dropping them between us. “That’s great, man. Never doubted you’d make a kick ass recovery.”

His vote of confidence landed harder than I’d have anticipated, and I realized just how nervous I was. Not just to be getting looked over by the trainers, but to see how my teammates received me. It felt a lot like I’d bailed on them last season when they’d needed me, so Cooper’s warm smile struck a nerve I hadn’t known was so raw.

“Thanks, man.”

“Holloway,” Coach Blaise’s bark came from the doorway, and I bolted upright. “My office.”

“Yes, sir,” I said before he disappeared, grabbing for the sneakers I’d just taken off.

It had only been a few weeks since we’d all gone our separate ways, but Coach was sporting a fresh tan and his posture was noticeably more relaxed when I joined him in his office and closed the door. His place on the cape was doing him good.

“You been turning your sheets in on time?”

“Yeah, that’s all squared away now.” I hadn’t missed a week since Marco had last called to harass me about them. The numbers weren’t climbing as fast as I’d like, but there was improvement with every week that passed, and that was hopefully going to be good enough for them. Even if it wasn’t for me.

“And the outreach program, that going all right?”

I knew Blaise had a regular meeting with the marketing team, so I doubted he was unaware of how it was going. Still I appreciated that he wanted to hear it from me.

“It’s going better than expected. The audiences are packed every time and we’ve gotten consistent press coverage.”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair as he listened. “I heard there was a photo shoot. Something about the creative team being worried about the librarian?”

I dug my nails into my thighs, a flash of anger beating through me. “She’s great. We’re doing just fine.”

Something about the way he was watching me had me more on edge about this conversation than the one about my shoulder.

“You’re sure sticking with her is the best choice? That network special is making the execs froth at the mouth, so if there’s any hesitation around our participation being highlighted, let’s make a move now before it’s too late.”

No one hated talking about press shit more than Blaise, so I took it seriously that he was even mentioning this to me. But swapping Jill out for someone else wasn’t an option, not as far as I was concerned.

“She’s the only one I want to work with on it. We’ve got a rhythm now, and the creative team is going to get what they need.” I’d already sent them snippets from the last event and they’d eaten it up. So long as I could keep feeding them those little videos, we should be fine.

Tenting his fingers in front of his mouth, Blaise narrowed his eyes. I hardly had any opinions around this program when I first took it on, so I’m sure he was reading into my newfound adamance carefully.

“So long as they’re happy, fine.” He didn’t have to say it, but the message was clear; this ultimately wasn’t my decision. But me putting any weight behind Jill told him something. Hopefully we didn’t have to test how far I’d have to push back if they changed their mind.

Out on the ice, we only had a partial crew. Some of the practice players had shown up, so we skated around for a while. It felt good to be back on familiar ice. I needed to keep up my conditioning, but all things considered I felt okay. Physically.

Mentally I was on edge. No matter how many times I told myself it wasn’t anything to be worried about, it was obvious Coach was paying extra attention to Cooper. It was hard to miss the way he’d get special instructions and Coach smiled a hell of a lot more easily in his direction than he did mine.

In our drills, Cooper was given the lead time and time again. I started to feel like one of the practice squad instead of the team’s lead center. Foolishly, I’d never thought about it before, but Cooper could be angling for captain just as hard as me. And he hadn’t missed out on the last six games of last season.

By the time I got on the road to head back to Maine I was in a shitty mood. I could have stayed the night at my apartment in the North End, but I hopped on the highway as fast as I could once they’d cut us loose. The traffic was a nightmare, but it would be worth it to get back to where I could clear my head.

And back to the sexiest distraction on two legs.