Page 25 of Smut Lovers

Chapter Two

Finch

W hile most of my teammates were chilling in the lounge area of the hotel, I’d opted out.

I was tired, hungry, and really just needed some time by myself to decompress.

After being on the team for the past four years, my teammates were understanding and knew I wasn’t being standoffish or a rude dick.

They’d simply patted me on the back, told me they’d see me on the bus in the morning, and had gone on without me.

Which left me in peace to come to this quiet restaurant inside the hotel.

The steak and baked potato the waitress just set in front of me was sizzling, smelled so damn good my stomach rumbled, and just about made me drool.

I was starving . I knew the guys had ordered tacos and were vegging out, but I needed something more sustaining than tacos. This steak was going to hit the spot.

Lightning flashed outside the window I was sitting next to, lighting up the pouring rain beating against the glass.

Thunder rumbled right after, a sure sign the storm that’d been hovering in the area all day was now on top of us.

Looking away from the window, I focused back on my steak, reaching for the steak knife the waitress had left with me.

And just about jumped out of my fucking skin when someone slid the chair out across from me.

I snapped my head up, then blinked at Rafe fucking Botello, not sure if I was actually seeing him correctly.

Surely, I wasn’t hallucinating, was I? What the fuck was he doing here?

He should’ve been at his hotel with his teammates, resting up after the game or lamenting the end of his last season playing for Warner University since he was graduating in a few short weeks.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I finally managed to get out as he plopped his ass in the seat across from me.

A smirk tilted his lips. “Wanted to see you.” He inclined his head to my meal. “Eat. I won’t bother you.”

I scoffed but cut into my steak, nonetheless. I was too hungry to ignore my food any longer. “Your mere presence bothers me, Botello.”

He heaved a sigh and slouched in his chair a bit, crossing his arms over his chest. The fabric of his shirt stretched tight over his chest and biceps, and I almost choked on the bite of steak I’d just forked into my mouth.

Rafe Botello had no fucking right to look so damn good when he was such a cocky son of a bitch.

Why couldn’t the outside of him look the same as the inside?

“Your words wound me,” he drawled, but his eyes were glinting with mischief and amusement.

“You’re full of shit,” I shot back. “Seriously, go back to your hotel. If my teammates see you here, they’re going to rip you a fucking new one.”

He leaned in then, his striking green eyes burning brightly. “Worried about me, baby?”

I tightened my fingers around my fork and knife, then looked down at my food, pointedly ignoring him.

His chuckle was low, deep, and raspy, sending shivers down my spine.

My stomach tightened but not with nerves.

Fuck, I wanted him. How the hell was that possible when he was literally the biggest damn jerk I’d ever met in my life?

“I’m not your baby,” I snapped at him before shoving more food into my mouth.

I sucked in a sharp breath, damn near choking, when he suddenly hooked his finger under my chin and tilted my head back to look up at him.

Our eyes clashed, and my heartrate quickened, beating so hard against my chest bone, it hurt.

He licked his lips, and I swear to fuck, I thought my dick was going to tear a hole right through the seam of my sweats.

“You could be,” he rasped. “Season is over for me, Ackley. I can do whatever the fuck I want, and you’ve only got one more game, baby.”

“Are you…” My voice trailed off. I didn’t dare say it out loud. Because what if he and I weren’t operating on the same wavelength? I’d die of embarrassment if he didn’t mean what I thought he did.

“Am I what, Finch?” he asked, his voice dropping an octave.

“Propositioning you for sex? Fuck yeah, I am. I’ve been watching you for the past four fucking years.

At first, it was just because you’re such a damn good player, but by the end of your freshman season, I became obsessed .

” He cocked his head to the side the slightest bit.

“I’ve been a good boy, haven’t I, baby? I held myself back from you for four years. ”

Christ . I couldn’t think. All the blood was rushing south to my cock, making it harder and thicker. If he didn’t stop talking, I was going to drag him to the nearest dark corner and let him do whatever the fuck he wanted to me, no-sex rules or not.

“We don’t have sex during the season,” I managed to choke out.

Rafe grinned, and for a moment, I could’ve sworn I saw the devil in his smile. “You have one more game, baby. Just the championship game, and if you ask me, you’ve got that win already.” He stroked his thumb over my bottom lip. “Come on. Let me have you, Ackley. I’m fucking starving for you.”

We weren’t supposed to have sex during the season. At all. Not even if we only had one game left. That was one of our biggest rules.

But I’d been playing by the rules every fucking season. I kept up my grades. I did charity work with no complaints. I showed up for every workout session, every practice, and every game early , and in four years, I hadn’t missed any of them. Not even due to illness or injury.

Rafe saw the moment I made my decision. His grin turned downright feral, and he licked the top row of his teeth.

“Give me your room card, baby. I’ll get everything ready while you finish your meal. Then, you come up and get ready to be fucked.”

Jesus .

“Who said I was a bottom?” I asked, hating how strangled my voice sounded as I slipped the card holder out of my pocket and handed it to him. My room key was inside, and my room number was written on the inside pocket. “Maybe I’m a top.”

He laughed softly as he stood from the table.

Then, he braced a hand on the back of my chair and leaned in, pressing his lips to my ear.

I shivered, the scent of him intoxicating.

“Are you?” he murmured. When I swallowed thickly and managed to shake my head, he hummed, then sucked my earlobe into his mouth.

My moan—too long and too loud—shattered the quiet air.

I prayed it didn’t catch anyone’s attention.

“I didn’t think so, baby.” Standing back up straight, he cupped my cheek and brushed his thumb along my skin. “I’ll see you in a few.”

And then he was gone, striding out of the restaurant and into the hotel lobby so he could access the elevators like he owned the fucking place.