“A quarterback with a lame hand—that doesn’t seem like a good idea,” I tease, dragging my fingers through his sandy-blonde hair.
Miles grins. “I used my left hand.”
“Smart man.” I lean forward and press my lips against his. “I got an IUD.”
I feel his smile stretch wider against my mouth. “Hell yes. You mean I finally get to be inside your beautiful body?”
Miles begins walking toward my bedroom with me still wrapped around him, and I love that he seems as eager to have sex as I am.
“Yes, but we need to use condoms for about a week. I bought some today.”
He sets me on the bed and strips off his shirt. Miles has a gorgeous body, tall with lots of lean muscle. “You didn’t have condoms already?” he asks, pushing me back on the bed before kneeling and peppering my bare stomach with kisses.
“No, I-I’ve never had a use for them before.”
Miles pauses his affections and looks up at me with concerned green eyes. “You don’t usually use condoms?”
“No, I mean… I’ve never had sex before.”
His mouth gapes open, and the concern in his gaze morphs into alarm. “You’re a virgin?” When I nod, he stands and jams his fingers into his hair. I’m a little surprised at his response. I didn’t think it was that big a deal. “Jordie, honey, you’re twenty-three. How are you still a virgin?”
I gnaw my bottom lip, feeling more vulnerable than I have in a long while. “I’ve always been more focused on sports than dating. In highschool, I played on the boys’ team, and I saw them all as brothers and not, you know, romantically.” With a shrug, I add, “And in college I never found anyone I had much chemistry with like I do with you.”
Miles sits beside me and puts an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close so I can rest my head on his shoulder. The mood in the room seems to have shifted after my announcement, and I’m not sure how to feel about it.
With his nose buried in the top of my hair, he says, “First of all, I’m so happy you feel close enough to want me to be your first.”
“I feel abutcoming,” I say, earning me a chuckle from him. But it quickly fades into something more bitter as a resigned sigh leaves his lips.
“I’ve been traded, Jordie.”
I look up at him in surprise to find his face set in a grim expression. “To where?”
“Chicago.” His arm tightens around me. “I’m not happy about this, and I wanted to talk with you about it tonight.”
“So what does that mean for us?” I ask, my stomach sinking like a stone in a still pond.
“That’s what I wanted to discuss. Do you want to be in a long-distance relationship with me?” His eyes search my face. “I’ve checked our schedules, and they don’t exactly mesh up. I’ll be in Houston once this coming season, but you have an out-of-town game that weekend. And the Dragons will be in Chicago in October, so that will be the only time we get to see each other the entire season unless one of us flies to see the other during a bye week.”
I nod in understanding. “That’s not much. Practice all week and games every weekend. If you were still going to be in Fort Worth, we could at least have quick overnight trips.”
“I know,” he says, sounding as miserable as I feel. Miles lifts my chin and kisses me softly on the mouth. “I’ll do whatever you want, and if you decide you want to do the long-distance thing, I promise I’ll be faithful to you.”
My throat clogs. “That doesn’t seem fair to you.”
“Or to you,” he adds, scooting up the bed and pulling me along with him until we’re stretched out on our sides, facing each other. Westare at each other, mutual resignation shining in our eyes because we both know our brief relationship is on its last leg. “You know I’m crazy about you, right?”
“I’m crazy about you too,” I tell him. We’ve only been together a short while, so we’re definitely not to the love stage yet, but there’s a lot of affection between us. We have so much in common, and we both understand each other’s crazy schedules.
“And I’m very attracted to you. I think that much is obvious.” He takes my hand and places it over his cock, which is still hard as stone.
“Anotherbutcoming?” I ask wryly.
“I could make abutt comingjoke here, but I’m way too mature.” His cheeky levity lightens the sadness in my chest a bit. Miles rests his palm on the side of my face, his thumb stroking across my lips. “I want to make love to you more than anything, Jordie, but I’m not sure I can take your virginity and just fucking leave next week. That would be a total dick move.”
“I could make adick movejoke here,” I say, giving his erection a squeeze, and he laughs softly as it throbs in my hand.
“Please don’t take this as some kind of rejection, sweetheart. You are gorgeous, and you have the hottest little body I’ve ever seen. I’d love nothing more than to pull you under me and sink into you.” I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs with his hard swallow. “But then when I leave, I’ll feel like the biggest shithead in the world. Your first time should be with someone you actually see a future with.”
