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THREE

Beck

“ I want to fuck the Boston off you.”

Those words hung between Jolie and me like they were dangling on a fishing line. And while I waited for her to respond—to just say something—I could see the different stages of her thoughts.

The amusement from the idea that I wanted her to take me around Boston. The hint of desire at spending the next three nights in my bed. The shock that I’d so bluntly told her I wanted to fuck her.

I finished off my whiskey, and after I licked the wetness from my lips, I broke the silence with, “I told you, time is something I don’t have. Therefore, I don’t waste any when it comes to going after what I want. And right now, what I want is you.”

“Me …” She said the word as though she didn’t believe it.

That was where her unassuming style and softness came in, making her different from the short-haired blonde who had been eye-fucking me earlier, along with most of the other women I’d been with.

Jolie had absolutely no idea how beautiful she was.

But by the time I got on my flight to DC, she would know.

Because I had every intention of telling her.

“Yes.” I focused on her eyes, slowly gazing down toward her lips. “You.”

I couldn’t stop myself from touching her. If she didn’t want it, all she had to do was step away. But she didn’t do that when I put my empty glass down on a table and slipped my fingers around the back of her neck and tilted her face up. What she did instead was lean into me.

“We’re beyond single. We live on opposite sides of the country—you’re in school, and I travel for a living—so things start and end here.

” I took another step closer, leaving very little room between us.

“But while I’m here and when I’m not at practice, I want you to show me why you love this city.

And at night, I want to spend the evenings inside you.

Tasting you. Fucking devouring you.” I let her process that before I said, “The question is, do you want to spend this time with me?”

Her thoughts hadn’t calmed. I could still see them clear as day in her eyes. Eyes that were barely blinking as she looked at me.

“I …” Her lips stayed parted, her chest rising and falling so quickly.

“You what, Jolie?”

I swore a whole fucking minute passed before she answered, “I want that.”

“Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

She put her hand on my chest. “I just need to tell Ginger that I’m going. Give me a second.”

“I have to close out my tab. Meet me at the bar.”

My hand dropped from her neck, and I watched her go over to her friend, taking in the full view of that perfect fucking ass. While the two of them exchanged words, I went to the bar, catching the bartender’s attention to request my bill and signing the bottom of the receipt once he gave it to me.

Jolie was behind me when I turned around.

“Ready,” she said.

I moved our bodies together. “You don’t have a car, do you?”

She laughed. “I live in the city. I take public transit everywhere I go.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

I pulled out my phone, hit the screen several times, making sure the locations were correct, and said, “A car will be here in two minutes.”

As I shoved my cell in my pocket, I took her by the hand and led her outside, the cold winter air instantly causing her to shiver. I wrapped my arm around her while she zipped up her sweatshirt.

I tugged on the sleeve, rolling my goddamn eyes as I took in the black-and-gold colors—hopefully for the last time. “I can’t fucking wait to get this off you.”

“Because it’s my team’s sweatshirt?”

“That, yes. And because I really just want you naked.”

Her eyes widened, and I pulled her against the front of me, my hands going to her face.

I stared at her for several seconds before I spoke. “You’re surprised to hear me say that, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why?” She sounded hesitant. “Beck, I’m honestly the simplest gal there is. I go to class, I work, I study, I go to dive bars, and I party with my friends when time allows it. I have absolutely no idea why you want to spend these next three nights with me.”

The softness was growing—not hardening, but spreading across every facet of her. All that did was make my dick harder since there was nothing hotter to me than a woman who didn’t know her beauty.

“You don’t see what I see …” I whispered.

“Not at all.”

“There isn’t a part of you that doesn’t scream how fucking gorgeous you are.” I dived my hands into her wild web of red curls. “Starting with this hair, your face?—”

“My entire childhood, I was picked on for having this hair. I begged my parents to let me dye it so I could feel like the blondes and brunettes in my grade—hair color that didn’t make them stand out like mine did.

But my parents never allowed me to, they thought I should love the red.

So, I endured years and years of endless bullying. ”

I tightened my grip. “And now those same women would kill to have hair like yours.”

She gave me a half smile. “Who knows?”

“What about your face? You can’t tell me anyone had anything to say about it, aside from how jealous they were that they didn’t look like you.”

“In ninth grade, I got called out by a classmate because I had come to school with barbeque sauce on my cheek. She thought it was from dinner the night before and I was this grimy kid who didn’t shower in the mornings—or ever.

But my mom made the very best barbeque ribs, and I had some for breakfast, and I missed a spot when I was wiping my mouth.

” She let out a shuddering breath. “From that point forward, my face wasn’t of interest to anyone.

I became the grimy kid who never washed. ”

She was so fucking adorable.

“Can I tell you something?” I leaned in, my lips inches from hers. “Hearing that only makes me want you more.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you telling me you’re the kind of guy who isn’t afraid of real moments?” I felt her take in some air. “Because that would make you a unicorn.”

“Why would you think real moments would bother me?”

She shrugged. “You’re Beck Weston.”

“And?”

“I don’t know … again, you’re Beck Weston.”

“And you think I’m a man who only seeks perfection?” I shook my head. “Shit, I’m far from that, Jolie. Listen to me. We all have real moments. Athletes especially. We’re under a microscope, and some of our most vulnerable experiences are caught on camera and blasted all over the internet.”

“You mean like the meme that exploded last week, showing you stretching on the ice?” She smiled.

I whistled out some air. “Like that, yeah.”

“You know the ladies were dying over that meme, right?”

“That’s what I heard.”

She moved her face back as though she wanted a better look at me. “How many hundreds of thousands of new followers did you gain from that?”

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t manage my social media.

I stay far away from those apps. If someone wants to say something to me, they can come say it to my face.

I don’t need to see their comments—not when they wouldn’t have the balls to voice any of that unless they were behind a screen of protection, like their phone or computer. ”

“The comments weren’t bad—at least not the ones I saw. They were quite the opposite actually. That one move you made turned on thousands and thousands of women.” She giggled.

“I get that some could find it hot. It does look like I’m trying to fuck the ice when I stretch.

But what those women don’t see or understand is the pain we get in our hips and groin and how those stretches are necessary—and while we look like we’re fucking, we’re actually groaning at how badly it hurts. ”

She lifted her shoulders. “I think I’d rather have that than throwing up on the bench, or having a bat in the cave, or having a questionable crumb on your cheek during a conference. Those are shiver-worthy situations.”

“But instances like those have happened too, I promise. They just haven’t gotten airtime.”

And hers had while she was in school, the bullying causing her to stay in her head, her thoughts eating away at her.

My sister, Eden, was the same way for entirely different reasons.

“Tell me something, Jolie. Were you one of those women who got turned on while you watched me stretch?”

Her face instantly became red.

I brought my mouth closer to hers, but I didn’t kiss her. “Answer me.”

“Yes, I was.”

I chuckled. “What did you think about when you saw that meme?”

Her shyness was showing. Her innocence.

I liked that.

“The same thing everyone else was thinking …”

Generic.

I needed her to use her words.

“Which was?” I pressed.

She bit her lip while she stared at me. “What it would feel like to be beneath you while you were doing that.”

I smiled. “You’re about to find out.” I turned my head toward the curb, seeing that the SUV had pulled up.

“But that’s not the only answer you’re going to get.

After these three nights, you’re going to know just what my body is capable of.

” My fingers, now on her sides, stretched toward the top of her ribs, her back arching from my touch.

“And how I’m going to make your body feel and all the different ways I’m going to make you scream—ways that will go far beyond ice-humping. ”

Her chest rose.

“Are you ready for that?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

Her chest didn’t lower, which told me she was holding her breath. “Beck, I’m so ready.”

“Good. The car is here.”

My hand moved to her lower back, and I walked her toward our ride, opening the door, where she climbed in first before I got in behind her.

As she was moving toward the other side of the back seat, I stopped her, positioning her in the middle so she wouldn’t be far. “I want you close.”

My arm slipped around her shoulders as the driver took off toward my hotel.

“What part of the city are you staying in?”

I took out my phone and showed her the screen where the name of the hotel was listed. “Whatever one this is.”

“Fancy.”

“You know the place?”