Page 25 of Sweet Temptation (Love & Legacy #1)

LUCKY

W e all stand in the locker room, amped and ready to go as Coach moves in front of the team.

His lucky hat, tattered and sun-bleached, sits on his head, almost out of place next to the dark black Kings polo he’s donning today.

But none of that matters as he looks around the room.

“Last week is gone. It doesn’t matter. Winning last week doesn’t mean a damn thing today .

For the next sixty minutes of football, you and the men next to you on that field are all that matters.

One inch at a time. One play at a time. One game at a time. ”

He looks around at each of us as every man in the room hangs silently on every word.

The energy surrounding us is a living, breathing thing, building like a pressure cooker, threatening to explode.

“You’ve got to be ready to fight for that inch.

To fight for that play. You’ve got to look at the guy next to you out there and be ready to fight, side by side—claw your way down field, side by side—and be willing to leave it all out there and know you gave everything you’ve got for this game.

For this team.” He waits as the team gets louder.

Everyone yelling their agreement. Their excitement.

“For this family.” If you reach out, you can touch the energy now, it’s so goddamned strong. “For these Kings all around you. And what do Kings do, gentlemen?”

That’s it. That’s when it explodes. That’s when Coach wins us over.

“Kings don’t just win games. Kings build legacies.

” He takes a step back, like he always does as he reminds us of the words of his father.

“This is another step in building your legacy, gentlemen. This is your kingdom. This is your game. This is your team. You want the perfect season? You want the dream ending? One game down, men. Twenty more to go to get yourselves that ring. Go fucking win it. Take what’s yours. Leave your mark.”

And with that, we all raise our helmets.

“Kings on three.”

“Kings,” echoes around the locker room as we all run out to the tunnel, ready to destroy Green Bay.

“ G reat fucking game, man.” Camden drops down next to me. A towel wrapped around his waist and his head in his hands. “I thought we were gonna lose it there for a minute. Nice pick. Seriously.”

“Thanks.” I run the towel over my hair, hiding my face. No doubt, I look like a kid who just touched his first tit, I’m smiling so big right now. My first pick that I ran in for a touchdown, and it was our first home game of the season. Now that’s a good fucking feeling.

“You got plans tonight, Camden?” Linc asks from my other side. “My family is doing dinner.”

“Thanks for the offer, man. But I can’t. I gotta get home.” He throws his suit pants on and grabs his shirt.

“You got a girl waiting for you, Monroe?” I ask as I get dressed, anxious to see my own girl.

“Yeah, she’s two months old, and her nanny is about a hundred and two. You want to switch places, Beneventi?”

Fuck.

“You’ve got a kid?” Leave it to Linc to state the obvious. Not that I’m not shocked to hear it too. “Since when?”

I cringe, and Camden stares at him, probably wondering if he’s taken too many hits to his head. “Yeah, man. For about two months now.” He grabs his wallet from the shelf and checks his phone. “Life is fucked up and changes fast. Words of wisdom for the day. See you guys tomorrow.”

I wait for Camden to walk away before I smack the back of Linc’s head. “Did you seriously ask him how long he’d been a dad after he said he had a two-month-old kid?”

“Shit. I guess I did.” He shrugs and slides his shirt on. “Come on, man, don’t bust my balls. We just won. And now I get to watch you get your balls busted at dinner. It’s a great fucking day.”

I think about Lexie upstairs, hopefully in my fucking jersey, and yeah... it’s a great fucking day.

L exie is waiting upstairs when I make my way up there, and possession roars in my chest when my girl smiles at me with my number on the front of her jersey and what I know is my name stretched across her back.

This woman is everything, whether she believes it or not, and I’ll spend my last fucking breath making sure she knows it, if that’s what it takes.

“Lucky,” she squeals and throws herself at me. Her arms circle my neck, and her legs wrap around my waist as I catch her with one hand and smile like I just won the Super Bowl. “That was amazing. I can’t believe you ran that fifty-five yards for a touchdown.”

And she knows football.

She’s fucking perfect.

She kisses my cheek, and her father clears his throat.

Nothing like pissing Cooper Sinclair off before we even get to dinner.

I put Lexie down and offer Cooper my hand. He looks at me like he’d rather chew his hand off first. “Let’s go before we’re late.”

“Cooper,” Carys snaps, but he ignores her warning and presses a hand to the small of her back and guides her out of the box.

“Oh, this is going to go well,” I laugh as Lexie turns ten shades of red.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what his problem is.” She doesn’t because I’ve never told her. And I don’t plan on changing that now.

“It’s fine, baby.” I run my hand over her hair and tug her head back. “Any chance I could get you to wear this every day?”

She presses up on her toes and skims her lips over my ears. “Wait until you see what I’m wearing underneath it.”

“It’s not nice to tease me, Lexie.” I pull her against me so she can feel exactly what she’s doing to me already, and my girl giggles. “You think this is funny? Your dad already hates me, and I’m going to have a hard-on during dinner. That’s just great.” I smack her ass, and she jumps with a smile.

“How about, if you make it through dinner, I’ll take everything off except the jersey once we get home?”

Perfect fucking woman.

C ooper doesn’t get any better at dinner.

Not that I expected him to.

In his eyes, I was already reckless with Lexie once.

He doesn’t trust me.

We’re going to have it out at some point. We have to. Because I don’t plan on going anywhere, no matter how big of a dick he decides to be. Carys sits next to me when Lexie goes outside to help her father grill.

Divide and conquer, I guess.

This just keeps getting better.

“That was a great game, Lucky. You played so well.” She’s trying. I’ll give her that.

“Thanks, Carys. It was a good one. The team really came together tonight. Declan should be happy.” I look around her for any sign of Lexie, but she’s still outside.

I’ve known Cooper and Carys my whole life.

But this is the first time I’m sitting down with them as my girlfriend’s parents, and I’m not even sure she’d call herself that just yet.

I would because she abso-fucking-lutely is my girlfriend.

If that’s even a strong enough word for how I feel.

Pretty sure anything stronger would have her heading for the hills.

“So... You and Lexie. That’s, well, that’s a... new?” I’m not sure if she’s trying to ask me or tell me, but it definitely comes out as a question.

“It doesn’t really feel like it. It feels old. Comfortable. Like it was always supposed to be this.” I’m positive I said too much until she smiles at me with tears in her eyes.

“You know she pushes people away.” This tiny woman sits tall, daring me to not listen to what she has to say. The importance of it radiates off her in waves, and I take notice. “Don’t let her, Lucky.”

“I don’t plan on it. She doesn’t scare me,” I promise her, and she looks through the window at Linc, Lexie, and Cooper. A sad smile on her face where there should be happiness. “You okay, Carys?”

“It’s hard to sit by and watch someone you love make the same mistakes you made, and I’m worried that’s what my daughter is about to do.” She stands and takes my hand. “Come on. Let’s go see if they want any help outside.”

“Pretty sure Cooper would rather cook me than let me help him.” I want to laugh, but I don’t. It’s still Lexie’s parents, and I need at least one of them to like me.

“Let me worry about Cooper. The only person you need to worry about is our girl.”

Damn, I like the sound of that.

Our girl.

And when we step outside, and she turns that beautiful smile my way, I know I’ll do everything I can to make sure she’s mine.

“ T hat wasn’t too bad,” I tell Lexie as we walk inside our house alone after dinner. Linc said not to wait up. Works for me.

“Not too bad? Do you like root canals too? That was painful,” she tells me as she pulls me in behind her and kicks off her sneakers, then pops the top button on her shorts. “But you definitely earned yourself a reward for putting up with my dad’s snarky comments all night.”

“Oh yeah?” I reach for her, but she smacks my hand away and lowers her zipper, then leans on the wall as she slides out of her jean shorts, leaving her in my jersey and whatever she’s hiding under there. “What kind of reward, dolcezza ?”

She tugs her arms inside the sleeves and wiggles around until she’s pulling a satin pink bra out of one sleeve and holds it up between us. “You know, I thought about you when I got dressed today.”

“Tell me...” I growl as I step closer, careful not to touch. Not yet.

“About whether you’d like silk or satin, or nothing at all.” Her smile is blinding as she reaches for my belt. “I have more lingerie than any woman could ever need, but you’re the only man I’ve ever worn any of it for, Lucky. Just you.” She drops the bra with an oops , and I swear she’s killing me.

“Thought about wearing nothing under my clothes, but let’s face it. You make me far too excited for that.”

“Lexie...” I warn, already hanging on by a thread. “Baby, are you wet for me?”

She nods and presses her soft lips to the hollow of my throat.

Fuck .

“Watching you out there today. Having you with me tonight. Being next to you and not being able to touch you. It was like you were teasing me all day without even trying. You want me in nothing but this jersey? Your jersey?”

“Yes” is ripped from my fucking chest like a prayer.

She shimmies pink silk panties down her legs and tucks them in my pants pocket while I force myself to remain steady. This is her show, and I like watching it. I fucking love that she feels comfortable enough with me to let herself do what she wants—and take what she fucking wants.

With shaking fingers, she tugs at my black dress shirt and laughs as the buttons scatter to the floor. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“I’ll buy a new shirt for every day of the week if it makes you happy, Lex.”

She nibbles her pouty lower lip, and I feel my control slipping. “You should never wear a shirt, Lucky. Covering up your chest is such a crime.”

She presses a kiss against my jaw before ghosting her lips over mine.

It’s like she struck a match, and we’re both watching it burn, waiting to see who moves first. “I want you so fucking bad, Lexie.”

“I’m standing in front of you, wearing your name, your number, and your jersey, Lucky. I’m not sure there’s much more of me to have.”

“I want it all, dolcezza . Every last piece of you,” I groan, and she presses her lips to my chest, and any amount of control I thought I had left vanishes along with all the oxygen in the room. “Fuck, I want you.”

“Then take me, please. Show me, Lucky,” she begs, and I wrap my hand around her head and take her lips in a punishing kiss, my tongue stroking hers. Our bodies pressed together. No room left between us.

It’s frenzied and messy and fucking incredible.

My hands slide down her body and under the jersey, gripping her bare ass and kneading her soft skin. I lift her as she wraps her arms around me and tightens her knees at my hips. The heat of her pussy presses against my cock, making it hard to think.

I spin us around and press her back against the wall, too fucking desperate to get her upstairs.

Lexie pushes my shirt off my shoulders and runs her warm hands down my back, pulling me closer as she kisses me again, her tongue sweeping into my mouth in hot, frantic strokes. “I need you, Lucky. Now. Tomorrow. God. Always. I just need you.”

Her words rip through me like a fucking sacred oath.

I grab my wallet from my pants and yank out a condom before she shoves my pants down and fists my dick.

She teases me, taking the tip inside her body with no condom and hissing, “God, I want you raw, Lucky.”

“Are you on the pill, baby?” Fuck... As much as I want that too, one of us has to think about protection.

“No. But just this once?—”

I sheath myself before she can finish her sentence. “Get on the pill, Lex, and I’ll fuck you raw all day, every day. But I’m not doing anything that could hurt you, baby.”

She calls out as I drag my tongue down her delicate neck and bite down on the crease of her shoulder as I drive into her, burying myself inside her.

Drowning in her as she clings to me.

Lexie’s tight pussy chokes my cock, and we both still, frozen.

Silent.

Lost in the connection between us.

Lost in her.

Electricity arcs and soars between us as the flames around us suck all the oxygen from the room.

Lightning pulls at the base of my spine, urging me to move.

To take. To give. To possess.

I’ve never known anything like it before. “Tell me you’re okay, Lex.”

“Fuck me, Lucky,” she demands as her nails score my skin, snapping what was left of my control and unleashing a need I can’t explain.

My muscles contract with every snap of my hips as I take her harder. Deeper.

“Mine, Lex. You are mine.”

She nods her head. “Yours, Lucky,” she moans. “I’m so close.”

I set a hungry rhythm, and my dick fucking weeps with the vice-like grip she’s got on me as I step away from the wall.

With her ass in my hands, Lexie bounces in my arms as I pound into her over and over.

Her body already shaking as she cries out.

When I hear her whimper, my heart pounds a drumbeat against my chest. “I’m never letting you go, Lex.”

“Never,” she pants, thready and on the edge.

Close. So damn close.

“Fuck, baby. Give me what I want. Soak my cock, Alexis.”

Lexie’s orgasm hits hard and fast, pushing me over with her as white-hot blistering heat explodes at the base of my spine, and I come with her name a fucking benediction on my lips.