“Always.”
Fuck my life.I threw my phone aside, wishing Brody were there with me. Only he could make me feel better, because after what happened, I knew my relationship with my parents had gone from bad to worse.
Chapter Five
Brody
A year and a half later
“You were awesome out there.” I trailed my fingers across Dev’s stubbled jaw.
He rolled over to face me. “Yeah. Just not awesome enough. Losing the Super Bowl by a field goal hurts like fucking hell.” A tiny curve kicked up the corner of his lips before he pouted and fluttered his lashes at me. “I need something to make me feel better. Something only the MVP of the Pro Bowl can give me.”
Only two weeks earlier, I’d played in the Pro Bowl and we’d won, 24-10. For my part, I’d caught two touchdowns and rushed for more than a hundred yards. Momma and Theo were in the stands, but I wished Dev could’ve been there as well. Players in the Super Bowl weren’t eligible for the Pro Bowl, so he was with his team, preparing for the big game.
In a flash I jumped him, my knees straddling his hips. “Yeah? What’ve you got in mind?” I leaned in and kissed him. “How’s that?”
A dramatic sigh filled the air, and Dev’s lips twitched. “Not bad. But other parts of me need kissing too. They’re feeling neglected.”
Normally after a game we were too beaten up and hurting to want sex, but we needed each other so badly, it didn’t matter. I gripped his stiff cock and took him deep, then lightly scraped my teeth against the hard shaft and tickled the slit. Dev groaned, hips bucking. I licked around the head. Salty precome slipped past my tongue, and I sucked harder, moving swiftly.
“God, Brody, I’ve missed you so damn much.” Dev thrashed back and forth on the pillow, green eyes hazy with lust. “Need you.”
“Mmm,” I moaned, loving those words, and cupped his sac, my fingers reaching past his taint to play along his crease. “Give it all to me.”
“Fuck, oh fuck,” Dev cried out and came, hips punching quick and fast. He shuddered and lay under me, trembling, chest heaving.
I swallowed the flood of come he pumped down my throat and licked my lips. “Beats the hell out of any champagne.”
Dev raised an arm, and I slid into the crook of his neck, tracing the tats with the tip of my tongue. I quivered when he gripped my dick. He expertly stroked me until I gasped and shot all over his hand. With his eyes pinned to mine, he licked each finger clean, then kissed me so I could taste myself in his warm mouth.
“I hate being separated.” Dev tugged me closer. “And having to hide this…us.”
I snuggled into his neck. “Me too, but there’s nothin’ we can do about it. At least for now. You just signed that big endorsement deal, and though companies say they’re supportive, it’s all bullshit talk.”
The light in his beautiful eyes dimmed. “I know. And it sucks balls.”
For almost four years now, Dev and I had found ways to be together, but it hadn’t been easy. Getting alone time had been virtually impossible—we were in separate cities, and life had only gotten more chaotic, more scheduled. Endorsements and required public appearances ate up precious free time when we could’ve been together. We lived for this, where we could steal quiet moments for only the two of us and be ourselves.
“You know…now that the season’s finished, it’s still warm by me at home.” I kissed Dev’s neck. “Why dontcha come and stay for a while? It wouldn’t look weird—everyone knows we’re friends. You’ve done it for a week or so other years. Just extend it. You’ve got a block of free time, and so do I.”
He played with my hair, twisting the strands around his fingers. “Yeah? That would be cool.”
“Unless you’ve got other plans…” The less than enthusiastic response got me thinking that maybe he wasn’t as all in as I was. No matter how much we texted during the course of a season, things could change. Living in New York, Dev had way more opportunities to meet other people—the bars and clubs could entice even a saint.
It wouldn’t be too hard for a devil.
“’Course not, you’re my one and only plan.”
Warmth flooded me at Dev’s words, and I rubbed my foot on his leg, loving all the scratchy hair against my skin. I ran a hand over his pecs and chest, the hard muscle like a rock beneath my fingers. The man was in peak physical condition, and I was hungry with desire, needing this time to reconnect with him after the months apart. To show him how much I wanted him. In return, his fingertips played along my jaw, tracing my mouth. We were starved for touch, and lying skin to skin was almost as good as having sex. We hadn’t left the bed in hours.
Dev sat up, propping himself up on the padded headboard. He’d booked a suite at a hotel, miles outside the game city, where it was less crowded. After giving the required interviews, he’d texted me his room number and left the door ajar. I’d become adept at pulling my cap low and not meeting people’s eyes, making it through the lobby unscathed.
“Then what’s the problem? We could spend the days fishin’ and swimmin’ before we gotta go to training camp. Just hangin’ out.”
“What about your mom and stepfather?”
I’d already thought it out. “Momma loves you, and Theo is a huge fan.” My lips twitched. “I think he’s a bigger fan of you than he is of me. Bring him a signed jersey or somethin’.”
