“I’m in charge now, babe.”
“But Cash,” I whined, and then he pushed up on his knees, changing the angle.The pressure that had been building low in my belly exploded as he drove into me.
His relentlessness in hitting the exact right spot inside me shattered me, and I came apart screaming his name.With a grunt, he followed me over the edge, holding my hips off the bed for interminable seconds before he collapsed on top of me, squishing me into the mattress in the most delicious way.
Time disappeared as we lay there struggling to catch our breath.I drew lazy patterns on his skin as I sipped air.Though I couldn’t be sure, I had an idea my calves might be permanently locked around his waist.At last he tuned in that I needed to breathe, and he rolled me over on top of him.
“Mmm, I’m always ready to go after a game, but this”—he waved a hand between us—“this was off the charts.Fuck, Saylor.You wreck me every single time.”
The soft whisper of his voice shattered me a third time.This thing between us was supposed to be fun, a distraction from school and whatever, but after what we’d just done, I couldn’t escape the creeping sensation that I’d stepped into quicksand with no friendly vine or rope to grab onto to pull myself free.
From the moment I spotted him at that long-ago party at the SCR house, I’d sensed that Cash Donovan was dangerous.I’d decided to play with fire anyway, and now that I’d figured out exactly how dangerous he was, I was neck-deep in the quicksand of developing feelings and sinking fast.
His fingertips tracing up and down the middle of my spine made me shiver.“Hey, what are you thinking so hard about?”
“We’re still just having fun, right?”I asked into the crook of his neck.
“So damn much fun.”The slow slide of his fingertips stilled for a second.“Among other things.”
I pushed myself up on my elbow to look at him.Even with his eyes closed, the devil played in his smile.“Cash, I’m serious.”
He blinked open one eye.“Yeah?About damn time.”
“Argh!I mean we aren’t anything serious.”
Now he trained both eyes on me.
“Right?”
“The only playing I do is on the field.This”—he waved a hand between us—“I’m committed to.”Tugging me back down so my cheek rested on his chest, he added, “I’m patient enough to wait for you to figure out you’re committed, too.”
While I wanted to argue with him, assert myself, I also wanted to snuggle into the warm afterglow of the most mind-blowing sex of my life.That second part was exactly the reason I needed him to see sense.“We have wildly different dreams, wildly different goals.Plus, we’re really young.There’s no reason to tie each other down.”
Shifting so he could tuck me in even closer to his side, he asked, “Out of curiosity, have you ever asked your parents if they feel tied down?”
“Of course not.But even if I did, I already know the answer.”
“Mm-hmm.”
The noncommittal response along with the mesmerizing sensation of his calloused fingers gliding up and down my arm ticked me off, and my words came out harsher than I intended.
“They shared the same dream, and they have the same career in the same firm.Stop acting like a know-it-all.”
He kind of choked and cleared his throat.
“Are you laughing at me?”I planted my hand against his side and pushed, but he tightened his considerably bigger and stronger arm around me and kept me right where I was.
“No, babe.But has it occurred to you that maybe they supported each other’s dreams and goals?That maybe they’re still doing that?”
A conversation Mom and I had shared last Christmas flashed into my memory, deflating some of my pique.
“My parents met when my mom was a traveling nurse.Dad was finishing his MBA and working for a major trucking firm in SoCal.He’s now the CFO of that firm, while my mom is a pediatric nurse.”
“So your mom gave up her dream of travel to settle down for your dad’s dream of running a company.”My tone only emphasized my point.
“Not even close.Mom didn’t stop traveling until she became pregnant with me five years after they married.She lived and worked all over the US, even doing a three-month residency in the US Virgin Islands.”
“How did they stay together?”
