Page 31

Chapter Thirty-One

JACKSON

I wake up to the smell of coffee and something sweet—like cinnamon, vanilla, Ivy .

She’s standing at the counter in the little kitchen of her place, wearing a loose sweatshirt and leggings, her hair all messy, stirring a mug of coffee.

She looks so damn soft that my chest tightens.

She glances over and grins. “Morning, Coach.”

I stretch, rubbing a hand down my jaw as I walk toward her. “Morning, Emerald Girl.”

She rolls her eyes, but I see the way her lips twitch.

I move in behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist, pressing a slow, open-mouthed kiss against the side of her neck.

She tilts her head to the side. “Mmm. We have a whole day planned, you know.”

“I know.” I kiss lower. “But I also know we have time .”

She laughs. “Not if we want pancakes at the cafe. I don’t see you being able to make it quick this morning.”

“You’re right.” I sigh dramatically, pulling away. “But later? You’re mine.”

Her breath catches, and I see it—the heat in her gaze, the flush creeping up her neck.

Yeah. She’s already thinking about it.

By the time we get there, the town is already bustling.

Ivy walks ahead, weaving through the crowd, stopping at booths, greeting just about everyone she passes.

And, Jesus, she knows everyone. Parents, students, former students—they all light up when they see her.

“Miss Ivy was the best teacher I ever had!” A fifth grader grins up at her, shy but beaming.

I hang back, hands in my pockets, just watching. Watching the way she lights up while talking to an old vendor about local honey, snapping photos of the displays as if she wants to remember every little detail.

She turns suddenly, pressing a tiny cup of cider into my hand. “Here. Drink this.”

I take a sip. It’s warm, a little spiced. “Not bad.”

She smirks. “High praise.”

I chuckle, taking another sip.

Then, suddenly, someone gasps right next to us.

“Oh my Lord, you’re Coach Jackson Knox! ”

I exhale, already bracing.

Ivy’s face is absolutely delighted at my discomfort.

Before I know it, I’m getting introduced to about fifteen different people. Old ladies telling me how much they love football (sure they do), teenage boys asking for photos, a couple of guys clapping me on the back and telling me they “have a good feeling about the Stallions this year.”

I take it all in stride, shaking hands, keeping my answers short.

And Ivy?

Ivy is loving it.

I lean into her ear when we finally get a second alone. “You enjoying this?”

She grins. “Immensely.”

Before I can say anything else, a tiny, frail hand taps my arm. Miss June, all of five feet tall with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, looks up at me like I’m her next project.

“Jackson, dear, I was just telling the ladies the other day—I need a strong young man like you to help me bake a pie sometime. None of these boys around here know the first thing about making a proper crust.”

I blink, fighting a laugh. “Miss June, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t know the first thing about making a proper crust either.”

She pats my arm, unconcerned. “That’s perfect. I’ll teach you. You just come by when you have an afternoon free, and I’ll make sure you leave knowing how to bake a pie and with a full belly.”

“I appreciate the offer. I travel a lot, so I’ll have to get back to you on that one.”

I shake my head, amused as hell.

“You’re just Mr. Popular around here, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on,” I say, tugging Ivy toward the door. “Let’s get out of here before I have to start signing autographs.”

She laughs, linking her arm through mine. “Walk in the woods, then?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

The air is crisp but still just warm enough that we don’t need jackets this time of day. The leaves crunch under our feet as we step onto the dirt path, the trees arching overhead.

It’s quiet. Just the two of us.

And damn, I needed this. It’s so calming to be out here just with her.

Ivy sighs, stretching her arms overhead. “I love this time of year.”

I nod, watching her. “Yeah. It’s nice.”

She turns, walking backward in front of me. “That’s it? Just ‘nice’?”

I smirk. “Alright. Fine. It’s really nice.”

She laughs, tilting her head. “Good. Now come here.”

I raise a brow, slowing my steps. “Oh?”

She backs up into a tree, looking up at me with a look that makes my whole damn body tighten.

“I just realized,” she murmurs, “we never technically finished our ‘perfect Sunday’ itinerary.”

I step closer, placing my hands on either side of her head, pinning her between me and the tree. “You saying we need to check something off the list?”

She bites her lip, dragging her fingers up my chest. “Mmm. Maybe just one thing.”

I hum, pretending to think. “I seem to remember the last time we were in these woods…”

She blushes. “Maybe I just wanted to recreate a moment.”

I grin, leaning in, nipping at her lower lip. “What moment? I don’t recall any moment...”

She exhales, pressing her hips against mine. “You dick. You remember.”

“I don’t remember anything. You’re gonna have to help me.”

I cup her face, dragging her into a slow, deep kiss, my other hand sliding down to grip her ass under her dress.

She gasps softly, arching into me. “This ringing any bells?”

I trail kisses down her jaw. “It’s starting to be a little more familiar, yes. I’ve taken a lot of shots to the head in my player days though. You’re going to have to keep refreshing my memory.”

She tilts her head, offering me her neck. “Kiss me here. See if that triggers your memory.”

I groan, pulling her leg up around my waist. “We are so getting caught one of these days.”

She giggles, unzipping my shorts. “Then we better be quick.”

Challenge fucking accepted.

In a flash she’s on her knees on the bed of pine needles below us, just off the beaten path, her hand wrapped around my base, licking the sides of my dick.

Fuck. She wraps her lips around me and plunges her mouth onto my hard length, jutting her hollowed out cheeks back and forth on me. She’s getting way too good at this.

“Baby,” I groan, putting my hand in her hair. “This is so fucking good. You’re going to make me blow though if you keep this up.”

“Mmm,” she moans, looking up at me as she takes me deeper. She’s almost freaking deepthroating me.

“Ivy,” I mutter. “I need you to stand up. Before I explode down your throat. Because I need more right now.”

She does, and I pull her dress up and grip Ivy’s hips. Lifting her up, I press her back tight against the rough bark. Letting go of one leg, she brings it down to the ground for balance, and with my free hand I slide her panties to the side, my rock hard cock teasing her soaked entrance.

“Fuck yeah, Ivy,” I grin, dragging my lips along her jaw. “You get wet from being on your knees for me in the forest?”

“Yeah. I’m always wet for you, Jackson.” She grins and whimpers, pushing her hips back, trying to take me.

I slide my hands up toward her breasts—I swear they’re a tiny bit fuller every day now—and caress them under her bra, but so fucking full of need. Sliding her bra off, I take her dress all the way off, too, and the reveal of her skin in the wilderness makes me feel like a wild animal in front his his prey.

I rip off my shirt so she can slide her hand down my chest. Leaning down, I palm one of her breasts and take her nipple in my mouth, making her moan.

Fuck.

Then I grip her tighter, holding her steady but careful of the baby.

Holding her back up with both hands, I press her into the tree and work my way inside her, inch by tight inch.

She cries out, arching her back, her fingers clawing at the bark.

Oh, fuck.

I groan, my forehead pressing against her shoulder.

“Jesus, baby,” she moans. “You’re like a lumberjack.”

“Oh I can be your lumberjack, Ivy.”

Her walls pulse around me, trying to take me, trying to adjust.

She pants, shivering. “You’re so fucking big.”

I grin, dark and satisfied.

“Yeah? You like that?”

“Yes.”

I pull out almost completely before slamming back in.

She cries out, her whole body jerking forward.

I catch her, holding her still as I pound into her, owning her, making sure she feels every single inch.

“This pussy’s mine,” I growl, wrapping her hair around my fist, tilting her head back.

She moans, wrecked. “Yes—God—Jackson.”

The way she’s clenching around me is driving me fucking insane.

“Tell me how much you love it, baby,” I demand, gripping her ass, pulling her into my thrusts.

“I love it,” she gasps, her voice breaking. “I love it so much. Jackson, I?—”

She’s close. I can feel it.

We lock eyes.

And she shatters.

Her whole body convulses, her legs shaking, her head dropping.

Fuck.

I pull out, and before she can catch her breath, I lay her down carefully on her back on the bed of fallen leaves.

I hover over her, staring down at her flushed face.

“So goddamn pretty,” I murmur, brushing her hair back.

She blinks up at me, her chest rising and falling fast.

“Take me like this,” she whispers.

I groan, guiding myself back inside her, sinking in deep.

I swear I see stars.

I bury my face in her neck, thrusting slowly, deep, making her feel me.

She gasps, arching into me.

I groan against her skin.

“You feel that, baby?” I rasp, grinding my hips, making sure she takes every inch. “Feel how deep I am?”

She whimpers, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

“You were made for me,” I whisper, kissing the corner of her lips, rolling my hips in slow, devastating strokes.

She shivers, her fingers gripping my back.

“Oh, fuck me baby,” she gasps, her voice breaking. “Just like that.”

I take her mouth, kissing her deep as I thrust, her moans swallowed by my lips.

My hand slides up, cupping her breast, squeezing gently, feeling the soft swell of her growing body.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I murmur against her skin. “Carrying my baby.”

Her breath hitches.

I don’t even think.

I just grip her chin, force her to look at me.

“Ivy,” I rasp, my cock throbbing, my balls tightening.

She looks up at me with those big green eyes. Her voice is low.“Come inside me. Please. I want it. Give me what I want, Jackson.”

And I fucking lose it .

I drive into her, groaning her name, holding her tight. She locks her legs around me and grabs my ass as I spill inside her, my whole body shaking, my forehead dropping against hers.

We stay like that.

Tangled.

Breathless.

Completely fucking wrecked.

I press lazy kisses along her jaw, down her neck, over her collarbone.

She sighs, soft and content, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.

My heart pounds.

I’m so screwed.

Because this ?

It’s not just sex. It’s so much more.

It’s her .

And I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.

We’re a mess by the time we make it back onto the trail, her hair wild, my shirt wrinkled as hell.

Ivy presses her forehead to my arm, laughing. “We’re so going to hell.”

I chuckle, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Worth it.”

She sighs happily. “Yeah. Definitely worth it.”

We keep walking, the sun filtering through the trees, the town somewhere in the distance.

And then—just as we round a bend—there they are.

An older couple, probably in their seventies, strolling hand in hand, taking in the fresh autumn air like they’ve been doing this for decades.

They smile warmly at us. Ivy stiffens beside me, but she plasters on a bright, innocent smile and waves like we didn’t just defile nature twenty feet back.

I do the same, throwing in a respectful head nod, like a man who hasn’t just been deep inside their scenic forest.

The old man nods back. “Beautiful day for a walk, isn’t it?”

“Sure is,” I reply, fighting a smirk.

The couple ambles past, and as soon as they’re out of earshot, Ivy shoves me. “Oh my God. Do you think they know?”

I bite back a laugh. “I think they suspect. And I think we just ruined their favorite hiking spot.”

Her jaw drops. “We did not!”

I grin. “Fine. Maybe we just…added to the legend.”

She groans, smacking a hand over her face as we keep walking, her laughter mingling with mine.

And I don’t know how the hell this happened.

But right now?

I don’t want to be anywhere else.

But I know this weekend has to end.

And then it’s back to business, tomorrow morning.

We’ve got games to win.

And all I’ve got on my mind is her.

And this.