“Hey, buddy,” I croon, scratching him behind the ears. “You have fun with Maya? She give you lots of belly rubs?”
He wags his tail in response and curls up between my feet as I lean against the counter. Am I jealous that my dog has spent more nights with the girl I’m falling for than I have? Definitely. Do I love the way Maya mumbles about how a grown man being cute with dogs is obnoxiously attractive? Abso-fucking-lutely.
When she refuses to let me take care of the injury myself, I hop onto the bathroom counter and let her play doctor. This is not how I thought my nurse fantasy would play out, but beggars can’t be choosers. She lightly presses the cloth against my cheek, and I suck in a sharp breath. It’s been a few hours since my fight with DeVries, but my face may take a little longer to recover than my ego.
“What are you doing back so early?” Maya stands directly between my thighs. If she noticed, she’d back away, surely, but I’m not going to be the one to bring attention to it. “You said your flight was tomorrow morning. It’s the middle of the night.”
“I decided to come back earlier.”
She runs her free hand through her adorable bedhead. “Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. You could have called or texted so I didn’t think I was being abducted, you know.”
I snort. I never would have guessed she’d give Logan a run for his money in the drama department, yet here we are. “Sorry. I honestly wasn’t thinking. I booked a red-eye back home the moment the game ended.”
More like the moment Coach Henderson was done handing me my ass in the locker room.
Motioning to Goose, who’s lying happily on my bathmat, Maya says, “Goose begged me to turn the game on, so we watched.”
“Told you so.”
“Mm-hmm.” Maya gently pulls the now-stained washcloth away from my cheek. “Let me take a look at you.”
“You don’t need to use my injury as an excuse to check me out.”
“If your narcissism has returned, then you must be okay,” she says with a smirk.
I sit stock-still as she skims her fingers over the bruise on my cheek. She ghosts them against my skin like a whisper, equal parts tantalizing and caring. When she nears my mouth, she stops. “You cut your lip.”
“Still works just fine.” I cover her hand with my own and brush my mouth against her palm in a sweet kiss. “See?”
She sucks in a startled breath. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?” I wrap my legs around her, and as I hoped, she loses her balance just a little, forcing her to place her hands on my chest to catch herself. “I’m happy to more thoroughly demonstrate.”
Her lips part, but she doesn’t say a word.
Taking the opening, I gently press a kiss to her exposed collarbone. Slowly, I give every inch of her neck attention, relishing the way her chest rises and falls in rapid succession. I swirl my tongue over her pulse point, spurred on by how fast her heart is beating.
“Cole,” she murmurs as I nip beneath her chin.
Pulling back, I meet her gaze. “Hmm? Something you want?”
She nibbles on her bottom lip, as if warring with herself. But before I can tease her further, she arches forward and slams her lips to mine. There’s no hesitancy in the way she kisses me. Like I could float away at any moment, and she needs to tether us together.
The room is warm and electric, the air radiating with the demolition of the sexual tension we’ve spent months ignoring. I slip my tongue between her lips, eager to taste her, and devour her mouth like I’ve been wanting—no,needing—to for so long. Her small hands roam over my back, exploring the planes of muscle, pulling me tighter against her. There’s no hiding how hard I am, and by the way she rolls her hips against mine, desperate for friction, she’s not the least bit put off by it.
Not one to deny Maya anything she desires, I toy with the waistband of her underwear, dragging my finger back and forth over her soft skin, eliciting a shudder from her. When I slip my hand in to cup her warmth, it’s a goddamn miracle I don’t come right there and then.
“Already so warm and wet for me, baby,” I praise, nipping lightly on her lower lip. “You want me to make you come?”
“Yes,” she mewls.
“Hmm. Well, I want to take you on a date. Do we have a deal?”
“Are you negotiating an orgasm for a date?” She rears back, her jaw unhinging. “Seriously?”
“What can I say?” I brush my thumb lightly against her clit and she jerks at the contact. “ThatNegotiating for Dummiesbook you recommended taught me a lot.”
She laughs, but when I brush against her entrance to tease an answer from her, she lets out a long, low moan. God, I could listen to that noise every day. She’s unbelievably responsive as I push inside her, twisting my fingers until I hit that spot that makes her throw her head back and gasp. Maya drags her hand through my hair and tugs, the sharp sting making my cock twitch in my pants.
