Play Maker (17 page)

He opened his eyes and I found they were burning with desire. Just seeing the intensity in them almost made me come, but I wasn’t going to let myself until I pushed him to the edge. Taking his hands, I guided them to my tits. My nipples were aching for his touch, and when his thumbs caressed them, I moaned and threw my head back, my hips continuing to tease him.

Suddenly, he shifted beneath me, one hand wrapping around my back as he sat up, his cock going so deep inside me that I cried out with pleasure. I hooked my ankles behind his hips, continuing to ride him. I could see sweat forming on his temple as he clenched his jaw, clearly trying to maintain control. I wasn’t going to let him have it.

“For fucksakes,” he choked out, before lowering his mouth to my eager nipples.

I moaned, arching my back and thrusting my tits against his talented tongue. His hands cupped them, alternating his mouth between them, his thumb teasing the one his lips were neglecting. I could feel my orgasm building in my belly, but I wasn’t ready to come. Not without him.

But the rest of my body had a different idea, my hips especially. They undulated frantically, greedy and eager for release. James moved his hands to my ass, guiding me as I rode his cock harder and harder. His fingers dug into my hips and I could sense he was close. I knew I was.

“I’m going to come,” I moaned, my lips close to his mouth, hoping the dirty talk worked both ways. “I’m going to come so hard on your cock.”

It did. His rhythm became frantic and I could do nothing but hold on, my own orgasm finally hitting me like a wave. My body clenched around him and letting out a groan, he thrust deep inside of me one last time. Pleasure overcame my senses as he came, my name on his lips.

T
here was a very
good chance I would never get enough of this woman. That realization came to me as I gathered her into my arms, both of us naked and still catching our breath. I was not a guy who enjoyed the whole post-coital spooning thing, but I had to say, lying here, with her gorgeous curves pressed up against my very satisfied cock, had me reconsidering my previous aversion to it. Or maybe, as I was discovering, Nicole just seemed to be the exception to all my rules.

The fuck with rules. I pulled her closer, the scent of her, of peppermint and whiskey, surrounding me. Yep. I could die happy right now.

Of course, at that moment, my stomach rumbled.

“Really?” Nicole murmured, glancing over her shoulder at me. “You’re hungry again? We
just
ate.”

Damn, she was gorgeous, especially with her messy hair and just-been-fucked eyes. Even my exhausted cock stirred at the sight of her. She must have felt it because her eyes widened a little. Oh yeah, I was hungry again. But in more ways than one.

Before I could gear up for round two, though, my stomach gurgled again. I was hungry. And then Nicole’s stomach growled as well. She laughed and clamped her hand over it.

“Looks like I’m not the only one who’s hungry,” I teased her. Guess we had both burned off lunch with that vigorous workout of ours.

“What do we do?” she asked, purposely playing ignorant. We both knew exactly what was going to happen.

Reluctantly I pulled away from her warmth to grab the room service menu, but not before giving her a long, lingering kiss. A wonderful warmth spread through my chest and it wasn’t until I had ordered and climbed back in the bed that I realized where it had come from.

This was the first time Nicole hadn’t left after sex. She was still here, snuggling up against me, her blonde hair spread out across the pillow, her lips red and curved in a smile. There was no grabbing for her clothes or scrambling for her bag. No. She was just here, in my arms, like she belonged there.

The feeling of rightness surprised me.

Then Nicole lifted her head so abruptly that she almost clipped me in the chin.

“You’re retiring from soccer,” she said as if it had just sunk it.

“Football,” I corrected playfully. “But yes, that’s correct.”

“Why?”

I propped myself on my elbow. “Because, I want to leave when I’m ready. When I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished. And that’s where I’m at right now. I’ve done what I wanted to do.”

“And you’re going to work at a charity.”

I nodded. “I’m going to work
with
a charity. It’s called For Foster Kids,” I ran a hand through my hair, suddenly a little self-conscious.

“I think I’ve heard of them,” Nicole told me.

“They’re really great,” I smoothed my hand over her hip. “They have some amazing programs that I’m going to be involved with. As well as helping with fundraising. Though it’s the hands-on stuff that I’m most excited about.” I paused. “They actually want me to focus on their programs that help foster kids with special needs.”

Nicole’s eyes went wide and she sat up. “Really?”

“Yeah.” I leaned back against the pillows. “Apparently there were some photos taken the night of the game that ended up in the tabloids. Pictures of me and Mikey that I guess they thought were my attempts at image rehab.”

I watched her face and could tell she was trying to keep it neutral, but a bit of worry was visible.

“I told the charity he was a friend and not a prop,” I told her and saw her expression relax. “But I’m glad they want me to work with their special needs kids. Seeing how you are with Mikey showed me how important it is for them to have a support system.”

I hadn’t meant to get so heavy and earnest all of a sudden, but I didn’t regret it. Because it was true. There were lots of reasons I considered Nicole to be so extraordinary. Her dedication towards her brother was only one such reason.

Her smile was a little watery, but before she could say anything there was a knock.

“Room service,” came a voice from the other side of the door.

I pulled on my jeans and retrieved our second serving of waffles that day. Nicole grabbed a robe and we had a picnic on the bed, just like we had done a few days ago. These waffles smelled amazing, and I was pretty sure that the competition back at Roscoe’s had been rigged, but I wasn’t going to complain. In fact, I was pretty sure that this moment, right now, was damn near perfect. A gorgeous woman, great waffles, what more could a man ask for?

Before Nicole could take a bite, I reached over and snagged the cherry from the top of her dish.

“Hey!” She tried to grab it away from me, but I popped it into my mouth before she could. She crossed her arms. “Your loss,” she informed me. “Though, I thought you of all people would be interested in what I could do with a cherry stem.”

My cock stirred. There was no way I was missing this. Without a word, I handed the cherry from my waffle over.

Grinning, she popped it in her mouth and I could see her jaw working. After a few seconds, she parted her lips and revealed a cherry stem tied in a perfect knot sitting on her tongue.

“Fuck,” I groaned, my cock fully awake now.

She put the stem on the plate, next to her waffle and picked up her fork and knife. “I chew a lot of gum,” she reminded me. “My tongue is well exercised.”

I just stared at her for a moment before reaching over and grabbing the plate of waffles. With my own plate in my other hand, I walked over to the dresser and put them down. When I turned, she was sitting there, her utensils still raised, a wicked quirk to her eyebrow.

“You can’t expect me to just sit and eat after doing that,” I informed her.

She glanced down, where my cock was straining against my jeans’ zipper and casually put down her fork and knife.

“I suppose waffles can wait.” She grinned and beckoned me with a single finger. I was on her before my pants hit the floor. Oh yeah. I was never going to get enough of this woman.

I
had never been so
happy. For the first time since I was a kid, someone was taking care of me. And that someone was sexy as hell with an accent that made me melt each time he said my name. And other much less innocent things.

On the surface, not much in my life had changed over the past few weeks. I still worked my usual long hours at the bar, still spent my days off with my brother and Maya, but now James was there. And he found ways to make every day a little easier and a whole lot better. After work he’d be there. Sometimes to drive me home, sometimes to take me upstairs and make love to me until I couldn’t see straight. He was completely respectful of my schedule and when I said I had to be home to put Mikey to bed, he took me home. Though I had been trying my best to let my mom take on more responsibility when it came to Mikey and his routine. Already, I could see that it was making a difference in their relationship. My mom began to anticipate Mikey’s needs and he started teaching her about Doctor Who.

Even my mom liked James. At first she kept checking the tabloids, looking for our names or our pictures, but she hadn’t been able to find anything. Somehow, we were left alone. I never saw a photographer of any sort. James didn’t say anything, but I knew that he must have done something to keep them off our tail. And I appreciated that. Because from what I had gathered about the way he’d been living in London, he was rarely left alone in that way.

But things were quiet and good. All of us were happier.

It might not have been fair to attribute all of that to James, but he was making a difference in our lives, especially with the thoughtful gifts he enjoyed giving. He arranged for a service to pick up our laundry each week so I didn’t have to spend the entire morning of my days off at the laundromat. He bought Mikey a new TV so he could see the characters in the video game more clearly and he got my mom the brand new cleaning supplies that she had been putting off buying for her business so she could help me pay rent.

He took us to the movies – not the cheapo theater that we always went to that only showed movies that came out years ago, but to a brand new 3-D movie at the Arclight Dome, where he bought Mikey soda and candy and enormous buckets of popcorn. I didn’t care where we went to the movies or if the popcorn was stale. I just cared that someone was sitting next to me and holding my hand. That was the best part.

Actually, the best part was all the kissing. When I woke up in the morning, tangled in his arms, he kissed me. When he dropped me off at home early in the morning or late at night, he kissed me. When I saw him before work and after work, he kissed me. And sometimes in the middle of conversations, he would just lean over and kiss me. I felt each kiss throughout my entire body, warmth spreading from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, which curled in my shoes when he took my face in his hands and slanted his lips against mine, his tongue teasing mine.

And after a while, I felt that warmth even when he wasn’t kissing me. Just thinking of him would be enough to do it. I knew then that I was in trouble. That this felt a little too much like love. I knew that was impossible because despite how wonderful everything was going, we had only known each other a few weeks.

But I had gotten used to having him around. I was used to being in the kitchen, making dinner, while Mikey and James played video games in the other room. I could hear them cheering and slapping high fives and they both sounded like they were having so much fun. I wasn’t the only one who had been exceptionally happy these past few weeks – Mikey had become very attached to James and loved spending time with him. They would gather around Mikey’s computer together, looking up shortcuts and Easter eggs for the Lego Dimension games. James had even convinced Mikey to try out a few of the non-Doctor Who expansion packs, which had completely surprised me.

And today had been a great day. We had gone for a hike with Maya, who tried to get all of us to try her new juice recipe—something with beets and broccoli. James was the first one brave enough to give it a shot, though I saw how quickly he managed to hide his initial reaction and praise Maya for how “fresh” it tasted. Mikey was less diplomatic and told her it tasted like dirt. But that was pretty much how he reacted to any of her health food favorites. I knew she never took it personally. Besides, it did taste a little like dirt.

After the hike, we had gone for a ride around Los Angeles in James’ car. Mikey loved the convertible, especially when we could go fast with the top down. I thought it would be a good idea to show James more of the town he was going to live in. Most of his team had headed back to London, though a few had decided to stay on an extended vacation, which is what James told them he was doing as well.

No one knew about his plans to retire and stay in Los Angeles, except for me and Ethan. I hadn’t even told Mikey or Maya or my mom. I figured I could wait until after he made the official announcement when he finalized things with the charity. I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up just in case things changed. Including my own.

It was a beautiful day. Perfect Los Angeles weather, sunny, but not too hot, with a nice breeze ruffling the trees lining the narrow road that led up to Griffith Observatory. It was one of Mikey’s favorite places in the city and one we went to whenever we had the chance. James had never been, and I saw his eyes widen as he took in the gleaming domed building on the hill.

“That’s not even the best part,” I told him, a thrill going through me as he linked his fingers with mine. I loved how my hand felt in his. Small and protected. Safe.

Mikey had grabbed his other hand and we both dragged him to where the Observatory overlooked the entire city. There were a few places in Los Angeles you could go for a view like this, but this was my absolute favorite. The sky was a clear, sparkling blue and you could just make out a thin sliver of the Pacific Ocean on the horizon. I couldn’t have wished for a better day to look out on my hometown.

James let out a low whistle. “That’s some view,” he said softly.

“Best view in the city,” I told him, turning to give him a smile.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he smoothed a lock of hair away from my face, his eyes never leaving mine. “My view right now might beat them all.”

I felt myself blush, something I had been doing more and more lately. But how could I help it when he said things like that?

“So, Mikey,” James turned to my brother. “What’s your favorite part of the city?”

Mikey scrunched up his nose as he thought about it. “The ocean,” he finally said.

This surprised me. We hadn’t gone to the ocean in a while – it was an all-day kind of thing and I just hadn’t had the time. But I also hadn’t known that Mikey was so fond of it. Then again, I had never asked him the kind of questions that James did. He had a real knack for communicating with my brother.

That now-familiar warmth spread through me.

“The beach, huh?” James leaned on the cement wall around the Observatory. “I like the beach too,” he told Mikey and then glanced up at me. “In fact, I was thinking I’d start looking for a house in that area.”

My eyebrows shot up. I knew that James hadn’t planned to live in the hotel for the duration of his time here, but this was the first I had heard of his plans to put down real roots. Buying a house was a big deal. Especially in Los Angeles, where the cost was astronomical. Especially by the beach.

I tried to keep my expression neutral. “I’m sure there are some very nice houses available,” I said, thinking of how far he would have to come to visit us on the east side. My heart sank a little. Most people who lived in Los Angeles proper considered traveling to neighborhoods like Venice and Santa Monica as inconvenient as traveling to the moon. And vice versa. No doubt the thrill James took in driving his convertible down PCH would fade after a few afternoons stuck in traffic. No doubt his visits would become less and less frequent. Not that I could tell him that. Because I didn’t blame him for wanting to live in those beautiful neighborhoods. Hell, if I had his kind of money that’s exactly where I would be looking too.

“I bet you’ll find something really lovely,” I told him, trying to be positive. He didn’t promise you anything, I reminded myself. This is still new. It’s still fresh. Who knows what his plans are.

“I was hoping you’d come with to look at a few of them,” James said, completely surprising me. He glanced over at Mikey, who was now on his phone reading some of the Doctor Who subreddits. “Mikey too.”

“Why?” I asked, more bluntly then I had intended.

James grinned at me. “Because I want to find a place that both of you like, of course,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I could only stare at him.

“Don’t look so surprised.” He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against him, dropping a kiss on my forehead. “I’m crazy about you.”

And just like that, I fell, completely, utterly, head over heels in love with James Martin.