“Concentrate on getting your team to win games next year,” I tell him, and trace his lips with my finger. “Because that’s the only thing you’ve lost.”
I reach up and pull him in for another kiss.
Chapter 38
Avery
I wake to the sound of voices somewhere in the distance. My eyes open slowly, reluctantly. I was in such a good sleep. The best I’d had in four weeks, after we eventually made it up to the guest room. We still have a lot to talk about, but it was late and we were both drained emotionally and physically. So we both just fell into the king-sized bed and drifted off.
I look over at her now, on the pillow beside mine, curled up on her side, facing away from me. I roll from my back to my side, inching closer to her until my body is pressed against her gently and I can feel nothing but her warm, soft skin against mine. I reach over and lightly lift her hair, scooping it up and pushing it over her shoulder, so I can kiss her there.
I know last night was sex—great sex—but I don’t know if it was breakup sex or makeup sex. Or if it was just angry, confused, undefined sex. Half of me—the lower half—is hoping we will do it again before we figure it out. But my brain tells me that wouldn’t be the best idea, especially with those voices downstairs. Sebastian is home, and the last thing he would appreciate is listening to me pound his sister into the headboard.
She stirs beside me, eyes fluttering open. Her face is expressionless at first, while she pulls herself into consciousness. I graze her shoulder with my lips again. She blinks and then…she smiles. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” I reply, and watch her shift so she’s on her back, looking up at me with those incredible blue eyes. “Seb’s home.”
She pauses, listening. “Oh. Sounds like he brought Shayne.”
“We should probably get up,” I say, brushing the hair back from her forehead. “Go say hello and everything.”
“As long as he doesn’t talk with his fists again,” she replies softly, and reaches up to run a hand over my jaw. I flinch when she gets to the tender part, which I’m sure is some shade of purple or blue by now. “He’s a jerk.”
“He was defending you,” I reply. “Something I should have done. To the media.”
She looks at me for a few seconds with serious eyes and then sighs. “You couldn’t defend something I didn’t tell you about.”
“Yeah, I could have,” I argue as she sits up, taking the sheets with her, leaving my torso exposed. I prop myself on my elbows and look up at her. “It didn’t matter if it was true or not; you were the person I loved and I could have just said that. Instead I reverted into the shell of a person I’d been hiding behind for years. The person I hate.”
She stares at me, her eyes wide and her teeth biting into her lower lip. I can’t read her expression. It’s not sad or mad, but it still makes me nervous. “What?” I prompt anxiously.
There’s a knock at the door. “Stephanie?Est tu là?”
I know enough French to know he is asking if she is in there.
“Oui.”
“Est-ce que tu peux venir en bas donc je ne drois pas lui frapper un autre fois?”
He says it too quickly for me to understand, but whatever he said makes Stephanie frown, her nose scrunching up and her eyes narrowing on the closed door. She looks at me. “He just said we need to come downstairs or he’ll hit you again.”
I roll my eyes.
“Be down in a sec,” she calls back to her brother and adds, “And you’ll be lucky if I don’t hit you.”
I smile at that, impulsively grab the back of her head and kiss her. It’s my normal, savage, dominant takeover of her mouth. I can’t help it. The slightest touch of this woman makes every single primal urge and instinct kick into overdrive. I climb up on my knees and cradle her head as I lean into her, my tongue pushing into her mouth as my body pushes her back onto the mattress. She lets the sheets drop and her hands slide into my hair roughly, tugging and scratching as they go, sending ripples of pleasure straight down my spine to my dick, which is rock-hard. She fucking makes me insane and insatiable.
Her bare legs part as her back hits the mattress and I settle in between them. “We really should go downstairs,” she whispers breathlessly into the kiss before pulling her lips from mine. I start kissing her neck instead. “He’ll hear us.”
“I can be quiet,” I promise, skimming the tip of my tongue along her collarbone.
“I can’t,” she replies. “Besides…we weren’t careful last night.”
I look up at her and kiss her lips softly. “I know.”
“You didn’t even ask if I was on birth control,” she murmurs, her eyes darting away from mine.
“I assumed you were.”
