“Oh my god,” she says through her fingers. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
I move closer to her and gently pull her hands away from her face, then pull her in for a hug.
“Do you think he could tell?” Her eyes are wide as she backs up just far enough to look up at me. “I mean, he obviously knows something was going on, but do you think he could see all the…” She makes a vague gesture to encompass the whole kitchen. “The place probably smells like sex. And I definitely look completely fucked.”
Hearing her say those words makes something hot and possessive take hold in my chest. Yeah, she does look completely fucked.
By me.
Her hair is a mess, her lips are swollen, there are hickeys and marks all over her neck, and she’s wearing nothing but my jersey.
Fuck, I love seeing her like this.
I pull her in close again so I can give her a kiss that turns out to be probably too deep and intense for the moment, but I can’t help myself.
“Yeah, you do,” I say, my own lips moving against hers. “You look thoroughly fucked, and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
She lets out a little whimper and kisses me back, sliding her hands from my chest to clasp them around my neck. My cock is already hard, more than ready to pick up where we left off.
But then she pulls back again, and I can see something shift as her expression becomes more serious.
“So,” she says quietly. “What now? Like, what happens next?”
After that kiss, my mind is still focused on one thing. “If we keep going like this, I’m gonna carry you upstairs and fuck you again.”
She lets out a surprised laugh that makes her look and sound so young and carefree, like the weight she usually carries has been lifted, at least for a few wonderful seconds.
But then her expression changes again, and I can see reality creeping back in.
“I’m not saying no to that idea, but that’s not what I meant.” She takes a breath and a half-step back, putting a little more space between us. “What are we going to do about other people? What are we going to say?”
I frown because I’m pretty sure I know what she’s getting at, but I still want to hear her say it out loud so I don’t misunderstand.
“What are we gonna say about what?”
“About us.” She gestures between the two of us. “About this. Do we tell people?”
“Oh.” I grin. “Right. I hadn’t thought about that yet.”
She bites her lip, and I can tell she’s working through something in her head. “Maybe it’s better if we don’t,” she saysslowly. “If we don’t let people know. Besides whatever Colin already thinks, obviously.”
That catches me off guard. “You want to keep this a secret?”
“Not a secret, exactly.” She takes a deep breath, then slowly exhales. “I just don’t want to confuse things for April. She’s finally starting to settle in here, and if she finds out we’re together and then things don’t work out, that’s going to be hard on her. And you’ve got your career to focus on. The team. The playoffs. The last thing you need is a distraction.”
I start to argue, to tell her she’s anything but a distraction, but she keeps going.
“Maybe it’s just easier if no one knows we’re hooking up. At least for now, until we figure out what this is and where it’s going.”
I don’t like it. The idea of keeping her hidden away like some kind of dirty secret sits wrong with me. But I can see the logic in what she’s saying, especially when it comes to April. The kid has been through enough upheaval in her life. She doesn’t need to get attached to the idea of her mom and me being together only to have it fall apart if things don’t work out.
And then there’s the media attention. If they get a whiff of a story like this, they’ll be relentless. I don’t give a shit about the extra attention on me—most of the reporters around here know it’ll be a cold day in hell before they get a quote out of me—but I don’t want to put Heather and April through that kind of hell.
So even though every instinct I have is jumping up and down and yelling at me to stake my claim and make sure the whole world knows she’s mine, I understand her concerns.
I pull her closer again and drop my voice low. We might have to keep things under wraps for now, but we can still have fun with it. “Is that what we’re doing? Hooking up?”
She flashes me a confident, flirtatious smile that sends a jolt of arousal right down to my cock.
