I eat some more ice cream and then set it on the coffee table.
“Terrifying?”
“As a rookie, a lot of the veteran players talked to me about how to handle the spotlight and specifically relationships. They said there are going to be a lot of people that just want thetrophy”—I use air quotes—“of saying they hooked up with a professional hockey player. And then there were also the more ambitious types who would be looking to…you know, secure their future.”
Ellie gasps.“You’re talking about girls trying to get pregnant?” she asks with mild horror.
“Yep.” I pop thep, still in disbelief myself that those people exist.
“Is that…something you also dealt with?” Ellie looks distraught at that thought.
“Just once,” I clip out, not wanting to delve into that shit show. The only reason I left that condom in Ellie’s trash can the other day was knowing she didn’t know who I was yet. “So, yeah, as you can imagine, the hookups felt insincere and the other stuff was…paralyzing to think about. That’s when I decided I’dlisten to everyone’s advice and stick to mutual friends for any kind of romantic involvement.”
“I see,” Ellie says. She looks deep in thought.
I grab the ice cream and take one more bite, noticing how melted it all is now. I should put it in the freezer. I’m licking a drop off my lip when I notice Ellie track the movement with her eyes. That small glance shouldnotcause blood to rush to my dick the way it is.
“Do you want to watch another movie? You’ve earned enough cred to pick again,” she says, jiggling the remote in her hand.
I shake my head slowly in answer, deciding it’s my turn to look atherlips. They’re pink and a little swollen, probably from the spicy salsa earlier. They part just before she speaks.
“Oh,” she breathes, “something else then?”
She darts her tongue out over them and my resolvesnaps. I want to taste those lips again. I move my hand to her face and press my thumb into her plump bottom lip.Fuck.
I grab the remote from her and place that and the ice cream on the coffee table, freezer forgotten. I can buy her more next time. Because therewillbe a next time.
I lean over and gently bite her lower lip, giving in to temptation. I hold back a groan at her quick intake of breath. Releasing her and sitting back, I wait to see what Ellie wants.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MATT
My back hasn’t even touchedthe couch when Ellie scrambles out of her position and straddles my lap. I fail to stifle my groan this time as she rocks this way and that, getting settled right on top of my now aching cock. I instinctively grab her hips to still the movement.
Ellie looks down and squirms despite my grip on her. “I love your quads,” she muses.
“My quads?” I laugh.
“Mhm,” she hums as she looks back at me, her gaze above mine in this position. “Did you know your muscles here”—she rocks against my thighs again and looks down at them—“actually contain more mass than any other muscle group in your body? And the name is a misnomer now because they discovered it’s actually five muscles, not four. You must use yours a lot. Obviously.” She looks up and blushes, clearing her throat. “Can I kiss you now?”
So fucking cute.
I smile at her explanation and nod, eager for her lips on mine. We do get a lot of anatomy and physiology information from our trainers, but I’d let Ellie talk about it for hours just to listen to her voice.
“Whenever you want,” I tell her. And I mean it.
Ellie’s soft lips capture mine and I do my best to let her have control. She’s slightly tentative and extremely sweet and I force my hands to maintain their relatively relaxed position instead of squeezing her the way they want to. Her tongue dips into my mouth, and the taste of vanilla ice cream andherbreaks the control I had over myself. I grip her hips and pull them forward, my loose sweatpants hardly dulling the sensation of Ellie’s core moving over me.
I take over and move my hands from her hips to her waist, finally touching her bare skin. A shudder passes through me at the goose bumps my fingers run over. I break our mouths apart to pull her shirt over her head and then sit back to the most perfect sight in the world.
Ellie’s wearing a thin black cotton bra that cuts straight across her chest with tiny straps over her shoulders. Despite the enticing swell of her cleavage visible above the bra, my eyes catch on the large scar cutting across her collarbone and stay there. I remember seeing it last time and thinking it must have been a gnarly accident to leave such a prominent mark. I wonder?—
“Matt.”
My head jerks up at her voice.
“I know it’s kind of…hard to ignore, but can we not do the whole sad scar thing right now? I can tell you about it some other time.”
