Running his hands along his face and catching the sweat that was already rushing down his jaw, Markus sucked in a deep breath and looked around. All the guys were standing around, high-fiving and getting each other pumped for the game. Everyone was all smiles, excited to be back together after some of the guys had gone off to the Worlds. Jayden was being his normal, team-leader self, pumping everyone up and telling Odder that he was going to kill it.

Meanwhile, Markus was having a mini panic attack.

It was his first game.

His first NHL game.

Holy. Shit.

And his girdle was too tight. Fuck, he should loosen it, but he didn’t have time.

“You look like you’re about to shit yourself.”

Looking over at Vaughn, Markus nodded. “I think I already did, but my girdle is so tight, I can’t check.”

“Then loosen it!” he said as the roar of the crowd leaked into the hall where everyone was standing, rocking back and forth as they joked around. Nodding like an idiot, Markus dropped his stick and loosened his girdle the best he could with his shaky hands. Vaughn scoffed before saying, “Don’t worry man, you’ll do great. You’ve been murdering in practice.”

“Thanks,” he managed, but he hadn’t realized how much he had riding on this game.

Mekena had done her part. She was in, she was going to travel with the team, she was getting paid great, and she was excited. Markus, on the other hand, was freaking the fuck out. He had been fine the last couple days, but when he started to lace up his skates, it all began to dawn on him. The importance of this moment. If he wanted to be included in the apartment Mekena had selected the day before in the middle of the Gulch with a beautiful view of Nashville through nothing but glass windows, then he better get his shit together and kick ass in this game. He had to get signed. He wanted to start a life with her in the apartment that cost more a month than he had in his bank account, so really, there was no choice. He had to prove they should renew his contract with the Assassins.

When a slap came against his shoulder, he glanced up to see Lucas Brooks looking at him, a grin pulling at his lips. “I remember my first NHL game.”

Anderson scoffed with a gleam in his eye. “You can remember back that far? Wasn’t that the fifties?”

“No, twenties,” Titov said with a laugh.

“Actually, I think 1910,” Odder said, his English broken, but Markus understood him just fine.

Lucas didn’t laugh, though, he just ignored them, his eyes on Markus.

“As I was saying, I remember throwing up for hours in my helmet. So there’s that, and they replace them pretty quickly with new ones. But after a bit, you start getting the same one ’cause they can’t clean them out fast enough, and then you smell.”

“Oh, wow, thanks,” Markus somehow got out as Lucas grinned big before smacking him again just as the horn sounded, indicating the start of the pregame.

Markus swore he turned green.

With a loud whoop, Jayden said, “All right, boys! Let’s do this!”

When he started for the tunnel, Markus rushed to catch up since he was supposed to be behind Jayden, or maybe he was supposed to be behind Anderson. Shit! He should have paid attention. Soon he just fell into the line, and as he hit the ice, he heard it.

His name.

“And on defense, number 76, Markus Reeves.”

He was surprised he didn’t fall over at the roar of applause that followed his name, welcoming him to Nashville Assassins’ ice. When Jayden grinned back at him, Markus still felt like he was going to puke, but he was grinning. Big-time.

He had waited his whole life to get here.

As he lined up beside Jayden and Anderson, he looked around the arena. The place was sold out, welcoming the Assassins back after the long break for Worlds. He couldn’t see anyone he knew, but he knew his parents, River, Autumn, and Baylor were there. When he looked to where Mekena said her assigned spot was, he found her with her hand on her heart as she sang along to the national anthem. She wore her camera around her neck, and he was bummed that the Assassins camera strap he had ordered for her hadn’t come in before her first game. He had been really excited about it, but man, she looked good standing there, excitement pouring off her.

When she glanced back at him, he winked, and she smiled as she shook her head. She must have known he was trying to look cooler than he felt because soon she was laughing her butt off, before lifting her camera and taking a shot. When the lady finished singing, he put his helmet on and glared playfully at her as she mouthed, “Don’t puke.”

Sending her a dry look, he said, “Well, duh.”

Still giggling, she threw him a thumbs-up before blowing him a kiss. A sense of ease fell over him. He had wanted this for so long. Why was he freaking out? This was his moment to shine. To kick ass not only for the boys he was playing with but for that beautiful girl he loved. He wouldn’t ruin this. No, he’d own this moment.

“Don’t fuck up,” Jayden said, tapping his shin with his stick before digging his skates into the ice.

“Didn’t plan on it.”

“Good, let’s do this.”

He held his fist out, and Markus bumped his glove to it before he skated back into his spot. As the ref signaled the puck drop, Markus’s heart was pounding in his chest, rattling his ears as he waited. Keeping his feet moving, he watched as they lined up, and when the puck was won back to him, he passed it off to Jayden with ease. Jayden carried it before passing it hard up the side to where Vaughn was waiting, passing it to Titov, who was by the net. He shot, and the Devils’ goalie batted it away with ease. One of the defensemen stole it from Vaughn before sending it up to his forward, who was right beside Markus.

Lifting his stick, Markus stole it, sending it against the board behind the net to Jayden. He, in turn, passed it up to Anderson as Markus rushed off the ice, going into the door of the bench as the next defensemen team, Jordie and Karson, went over the boards. Sucking in breaths, he reached for a Gatorade bottle, squirting some into his mouth before being smacked on the shoulder.

“Great shift, Reeves,” Coach Baxter said into his ear. “Keep that shit up.”

When a grin spread over his lips, he looked over at Jayden, who nodded his head, a smug look on his face. “Hey, I didn’t suck.”

“You didn’t,” he laughed. “Told ya you’d do great.”

“I’m pretty sure you said ‘Don’t fuck up.’”

“I did. Same thing.”

Not sure what to say to that, Markus sucked down some more Gatorade as he watched his team on the ice. The Devils had come to play, wanting to win their first game back too, but the Assassins were relentless on the goalie, firing shots left and right. When Patrick Franklin sent it back to Jordie, he shot hard, going right through the five-hole of the goalie.

The place lost it.

Markus stood up with his team, and they all cheered loudly as the arena sang the fight song. The boys came toward them, smacking their hands in congratulations of a good shift. The scorer, Jordie, skated by, a big grin on his face while he pumped his fist in the air, smacking everyone’s hands as he yelled out, “Let’s do it again!”

Markus liked Jordie. He was a cool dude and he had the cutest little girl, but his wife, Kacey, was scary and hurt Markus. A lot. She was the best trainer he had ever had in his life, but he was pretty sure he could never do another burpee and live life happily.

Tapping his hand, Jordie shot him a grin before pointing to him. “You’re next, buddy.”

Markus laughed, but man, wouldn’t that be great. Hell, it didn’t even need to be today, it could be in a month and would still be the most amazing thing ever.

“Reeves, Sinclair, go,” Coach called. Pulling his head out of the scoring cloud, Markus hustled over the boards and jumped back, skating backward as he watched the play happening before him. Everyone was trickling shots at the goalie, hoping for another goal. Skating to the point, he waited. His adrenaline was running on high, his heart was basically coming out of his chest, and all he could think about was the possibility of scoring.

Damn Jordie.

Stupid, wanting to impress Mekena.

When the puck came toward him, he rushed to it, ready to pass it, but the same fucker he had lifted the stick on before lifted his stick and took off on a breakaway.

“Fuck!” he yelled, and then he dug in, digging deep to catch him. Boy, was he fast. When he went to shoot, Markus laid out, swinging his stick, praying he only got the puck and didn’t trip the guy. Thankfully, he did, and the crowd lost it as Jayden got the puck and sent it up to Anderson, who carried it in as Markus got back to his feet before he rushed back up the ice, getting the puck as it was passed back to him. He passed it to Jayden, who passed it back, and then he faked a shot, pulling the goalie to the left before passing it right onto the stick of Vaughn, who shot top shelf right over the goalie and into the back of the net.

Boom!

“Attaboy, Reeves!” Vaughn called back to him as they wrapped up in a hug.

“Great play, Reeves,” Anderson yelled, the volume of the crowd deafening.

“Way to go!”

Skating toward the bench after Vaughn, Markus tapped the gloves of his friends. As he rounded around, getting ready for the next puck drop, he looked to Mekena, but she wasn’t taking pictures. She was screaming her ass off.

For him.

And he decided this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

 

 

The Assassins won.

Four to zero.

It was a great game, and Markus was on the high of his life. The locker room was full of happy chatter as they all sat in their own spots, rehydrating and wiping off the sweat from the game. The sounds of the people cheering were still loud, and Markus was pretty sure he’d never come down from this high. He felt good. He felt at home.

This was his home.

When Coach came in, everyone clapped as he went to the middle of the room, though not on the Assassins’ mascot since, apparently, there was some rule about not stepping on it. It was bad luck. So of course, when they told him that, Markus avoided it like the plague. Even when Jayden thought it would be funny to push him onto it.

He looked like Mr. Right trying to escape water.

“Great game, boys. We have some things to work on, more shots on goal, for one, but let’s give a round of applause to Reeves for some great playing tonight,” Baxter said, and soon the room was filled with applause and cheers as Markus swore he turned every shade of red. Which was probably funny-looking on his dark skin, but he wouldn’t know because he was beaming like a fool. This was everything he wanted, and to get the recognition was really great.

He couldn’t wait to tell Mekena.

“Great game, Odder. And Jayden, great leadership. I’m happy. Really happy,” Baxter finished with a nod. “Now for the fun stuff,” he said, and everyone groaned. Markus had no clue what was going on. “Reeves, because it’s your first game, and, Johansson, ’cause you scored two goals and it’s your turn.”

Markus looked to Jayden, who smiled. “What?”

“Media.”

“Oh, cool,” Markus said, but apparently, Vaughn did not think it was cool.

“Didn’t I just do it?”

“No, that was last season.”

Vaughn made a face and then shook his head. “Fucking hell,” he muttered before getting up and heading to the door.

In his underwear.

“You don’t want to put on pants?” Markus asked as he hurried to catch up with him.

“Nope,” he said simply as he walked down the hall with Markus on his heels. As much as he wanted to give the guy shit for walking around in just tight white boxers and his cup, he soon couldn’t speak. The lights of the media area blinded him, and when he saw the camera crew, his stomach flipped. Where was his excitement? Because now he was just nervous. What if he fucked up?

When he heard the intake of a female breath, he glanced past Vaughn, who looked more and more like he wanted to off himself, to a very hot chick who was maybe five foot. She was itty bitty with big blue eyes and short blond hair. She wore a dress like Mekena would wear, long-sleeved and to her knees, with high heels. She was the size Mekena used to be too, thick, almost like Elli. And boy, was she pretty. Strong jawline and long, lush eyelashes.

But she looked like she had been punched in the gut and wanted to be anywhere but there when her eyes settled on Vaughn. Markus swore he heard her mumble, “Fuck.”

“Let’s get this shit over with,” Vaughn muttered, crossing his arms as he towered over who Markus assumed was the broadcaster. He hadn’t met her yet, but she was holding a mic, and when she held it to her mouth, he figured he was right.

“Where are your pants? He has no pants on.”

“What, sweetheart? My cock distracting?”

She glared as some of the guys sputtered with laughter. “Considering half of that is the cup, I’m not the least bit distracted.”

Vaughn’s eyes narrowed, but Markus’s eyes were as big as saucers as they glared at each other.

Looking to the camera, the reporter grinned widely and said, “I’m Brie Soledad, here with Vaughn Johansson, who scored two goals tonight in the four to zero win over the Devils.” She spoke brightly and happily, unlike a few seconds before when she looked as if she wanted to gouge her eyeballs out. “Vaughn, great game. Sick shot over the goalie’s shoulder in the first. Can you walk us through the play?”

With a dry look, he bent down even more to make sure she didn’t have to reach and said, “I was in the right place at the right time, Reeves passed one hell of a pass, and I shot it in. Like I’m paid to do. Because I’m a hockey player, and that’s what we do.”

Markus pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. Brie, though, he could see that she wanted to smack Vaughn with the mic. “Yes, so, ugh…can you…walk us through the second goal?”

“I shot it really hard. It went in.”

Markus nearly snorted with laughter, but he held it in as he shook his head. Brie kept on trudging. “Yes, and what a great shot. You are really an asset to this team, and the crowd was rocking tonight.”

“Because they’re the best fucking crowd in the NHL.”

When Markus heard the gasp, not from Brie but the staff, Markus sputtered with laughter. Taking the mental note not to cuss, Markus watched as Brie glared and said, “Wow, thanks so much. That’s all I’ve got with Vaughn Johansson. Stay tuned for star rookie, Markus Reeves.”

“We’re done? You don’t want to ask me anything else?”

“No.”

“Oh, darn, I enjoy this so much,” Vaughn said before walking away like he hadn’t just ruined that interview.

Bursting at the seams, Brie whipped around to another person in a suit. “Doesn’t he know that was live? He can’t do that! He ruins it every single time. I refuse to interview him anymore. He wasn’t even wearing pants!”

“You couldn’t see, it’s okay. We’ll talk to him. Get ready, we go back in two minutes.”

“He sexually harassed me!”

The guy gave her a level look. “And you sexually harassed him with the shot about his dick. Come on, Brie, just let it go. He’s the star of the team.”

“He’s a monster douche,” she muttered, shaking her head. Letting out a long breath, Brie looked to Markus, and he smiled as he waved.

“Hey! How’s it going?”

“Hi, ugh, sorry,” she said, holding her hand out. “I’m Brie Soledad. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

“So are you ready for this?”

“Yes, and I promise I’ll do better than he did.”

“Thank God,” she muttered before the guy with the camera started counting down. “Okay, this will be easy and painless.”

“Bring it on.”

Markus Reeves was ready for anything.

 

 

Markus told Mekena to meet him in Baylor’s box that was up in the club suites on the second floor of the arena. After looking for it for almost thirty minutes, she finally found it, and by the time she got there, she was annoyed. But when she knocked on the door and Baylor answered, a grin on her face, Mekena’s annoyance evaporated, especially when Baylor said, “What a game, right? Markus did great!”

That was her boyfriend Baylor was talking about, and the feeling of overwhelming pride was suffocating her.

“He did,” she gushed with a huge grin as she entered, Baylor shutting the door behind her. “I’m superproud and got some great shots.”

“Awesome. I can’t wait to see them. Did you get any of my man?”

“I did. I got his goal,” she said proudly since it was an awesome shot. Jayden had swung back, hitting the puck so hard that he shattered the blade of his stick, yet it had deflected off a Devils player and went in. It was a shit goal, lucky as all get-out, but he scored nonetheless. She got him shooting, which was awesome since all the debris from his stick was around him. Holding up her camera, she turned it on and found the picture, showing it to Baylor.

Baylor beamed. “Wow, that is awesome. Can you email me that? I want to frame it.”

“Of course,” Mekena said, but then she paused. “I have to make sure that’s allowed.”

Baylor laughed as she nodded. “Please do!”

When a hand came onto her shoulder, she looked over to see Jayden’s mom grinning at her. “Hey, Mekena, how was your first night?”

“It was great,” she gushed, smiling so hard her face hurt. “It was so awesome, except that little trolley thing they gave me to sit on. One wheel was busted, so when I tried to turn, it would go wonky, and I almost fell like three times.” She was answered with laughter as she rolled her eyes. “Finally, I kicked the thing to the side and went on my knees. They hurt,” she said, rubbing her knees in aggravation.

Stupid trolley.

Baylor waggled her eyebrows. “Wasn’t the first time, eh?”

“Baylor Irene!” Autumn scolded, and Baylor snickered as Mekena’s face burned.

“Sorry, Mom,” she said, but Mekena was pretty sure she wasn’t sorry.

“Are you waiting for Markus?” Autumn asked, changing the subject.

“Yes, ma’am. I think he said he had media.”

“He did. He did awesome too.”

“Crap, I missed it!” she said sadly, and Autumn waved her off. “I recorded it with my phone. I’ll send it to you.”

“Thanks! Did he do well?”

“He did wonderful.” Autumn beamed, like she was talking about her own boy. In a way, she was. Markus was hers, and she didn’t care who knew that.

“Except that he looked like he was going to puke,” Baylor teased and Mekena grinned.

“Did you see him before the game? He was green.”

Baylor laughed from her gut. “I know, right? I was all the way up here, and I saw it!”

Autumn rolled her eyes. “I think he did great, y’all leave him be. Hey, Yolanda, didn’t Markus do amazing tonight?”

Mekena froze as she slowly turned to where Autumn was looking, to find River with Markus’s parents. Her stomach dropped, and her eyes widened as they took her in. As before, the judgmental look was in their eyes, and she almost could hear them calling her white trash all over again.

She remembered being so excited to meet them. Her first real boyfriend’s parents, but that ended in a fiery crash when they decided she wasn’t good enough for Markus. She’d never forget the hate in their eyes or the words they spoke. Never in her life had she been so disrespected.

“Oh, yes, my baby did amazing! Surely, he’ll sign with them. Don’t you think, Lamar?”

“Of course, he will. He is awesome,” Markus’s father said as River nodded.

“I would be very surprised if he didn’t,” River added, holding Dawson in his arms as he slept quietly. “He played hard tonight.”

But no one could pay attention to the sweet baby, not when the tension in the air was as thick as a sheet of ice. Swallowing hard, Mekena looked from Yolanda to Lamar, who were both watching her. Almost challenging her. She hadn’t ever met two more frustrating people than Markus’s parents. They were so obsessed with each other and their restaurant that they didn’t even see the gem of a man they had as a son. From what Markus had told her, his grandfather was the one who raised him, and Mekena wished like hell he was there rather than these two.

But above all that, Mekena knew better than to ignore them. Her mother had raised a sweet Southern girl.

And a whore. But that was another matter Mekena really didn’t need to think about right now. Not when her stomach was in knots with the fear of being embarrassed in front of Baylor and her family. Clearing her throat, she said, “It’s good to see you both, Mr. and Mrs. Reeves.”

Yolanda smiled pleasantly, which was really odd since Mekena hadn’t ever seen the woman smile. She was tall like Markus, thick in all the right spots, with beautiful long black hair and caramel eyes. She looked like a sweet woman, but she was the one who had called Mekena white trash first and suggested he date a charming black girl from their church. Lamar, on the other hand, looked grumpy and was taller than his wife and son. He had a darker complexion and dark brown eyes, but Markus looked a lot like him. Handsome.

Mekena had liked Lamar when she first met him, but then he got behind Yolanda and it went to shit fast. But apparently, they had all forgotten about that. With a wide smile, Lamar said, “Great to see you, Mekena. Markus told us you’d be up here to meet us. We’re hoping you’re free for dinner?”

Shit. Did Markus want to go to dinner? Stuttering, she said, “If Markus isn’t too tired, that would be nice.”

“He said he wants to as long as you’re okay with it. We hope you are.”

She was going to kill him! How was he going to put that on her? Before she could answer, though, Dawson let out one hell of a screech that almost caused River to drop him as he ran to Baylor for help. Autumn rushed to help too, and just like that, Mekena was alone with Yolanda and Lamar.

Fucking fabulous.

Looking back to Lamar, she didn’t know what to say, and she sure as hell didn’t want to be alone with them. “Um, yeah—”

But before she could finish, Lamar moved closer, his eyes burning into hers. “Listen, we need to fix this, okay? I have gone over a year without hearing from my son, and when we wanted to visit him in Florida, he ignored us. That is not okay with us. I know we have made some mistakes, that maybe we haven’t been the best parents, but I refuse to allow some disagreement between us and you to keep us from our son.”

Mekena blinked as Yolanda bit out, “We love our son. He means the world to us, and we are so proud of him. Yes, we may have said some things to you that were a little wrong, but we did it because we love him and he deserves the world. Not some girl we thought would hold him back from his dreams. We were obviously wrong.”

“So before he comes up here, I want this fixed,” Lamar demanded, his eyes serious.

Mekena stared at them, her eyes narrowing as she looked from one to the other. Before, she knew she would have walked away crying. She wouldn’t have said anything, just agreed. But that was before she too went all those months without Markus. While she understood their concerns and could even understand why they thought she wasn’t the one for Markus, especially with all the money-hungry people out there, they had no right to disrespect her. She was nice to them, and she never gave them any reason to assume she would ruin his dreams.

She cleared her throat. “I completely agree that it is not okay for parents and children not to talk. But when said parents call the girl he loves ‘white trash,’ what is he supposed to do? I understand you have your own issues, and maybe you feel I’m not good enough for him, maybe you thought I was with him for the money or whatever else, but I wasn’t. I am with him because I love him and he loves me.”

“We didn’t realize that before, and we apologize for what we said,” Yolanda said, her eyes dark and narrowed. While Mekena wanted to believe her words, she didn’t, but she wouldn’t hold it against Markus’s mother. Her own bitter issues were her own. All Mekena cared about was Markus.

“I hope you can accept our apology and understand that it won’t happen again. I think we all have Markus in mind on this, and I feel we should all get along for him,” Lamar added, and Mekena nodded.

“I have no problem letting go of what happened and moving forward with you two, but I will not be disrespected,” she said sternly. She couldn’t believe how confident and strong she sounded. She was fighting for what she wanted. She wanted to be respected. She demanded it.

“We completely understand that,” Lamar added with a nod, and Yolanda did the same.

“We just have to get to know you. We judged you too early. You’re obviously a very successful girl. River said you’re the photographer for the Assassins.”

“I am,” she said proudly. “And I’ll travel with the team, so Markus and I won’t be apart. It will be great.”

Yolanda smiled. “As long as they sign him.”

“They will,” Mekena said proudly.

“I like the way you think,” Lamar said, cupping her shoulder with a smile, and she smiled back. “There’s my boy!”

They walked past Mekena as she turned, seeing Markus enter the room with Jayden behind him. He looked adorable, recently showered with his purple Assassins tee tucked into his jogging pants. He wore an Assassins hat low on his head, but she could see his eyes and they were right on her. His parents went to hug him, but he held up his hands. “One second.” Moving past them, which they did not like at all, he came to Mekena, wrapping her up in his arms, kissing her jaw as his hat pressed into her head. “You good?” he whispered, and she nodded, nuzzling her nose in his freshly washed neck.

“Great.”

“Were they nice? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take that long,” he said, and when she opened her eyes, his parents were watching them, displeasure on their faces.

“Everything is great,” she said as they parted. “I’m so proud of you.”

His eyes were lit up, his grin unstoppable as he held her gaze. “Thanks.”

“You were amazing.”

“I was,” he said matter-of-factly, cocky as all hell, and God, she loved him. When he added in the wink, she grinned.

“I love you.”

“I love you,” he said, kissing her hard on the lips. “Let me go say hi.”

“Go,” she said, kissing him once more, but instead of walking away, he took her hand and brought her with him. At that moment, she realized they were facing his parents as a team.

Just like they would do everything else in life.

 

 

Moving her hand up and down Markus’s chest, she exhaled loudly as the Nashville skyline sparkled in the windows of their apartment. God, she loved this apartment. When she first saw it, the white interior with the all-glass walls, she was completely in love. And when Markus loved it too, it was a done deal. She didn’t want to look anywhere else. The floors were dark hardwood and beautiful, but the place was empty. No furniture because they had nothing but suitcases, but that was fine. They were happy, and they would add to the apartment day-by-day, making it theirs.

Markus’s hand moved along her hip, rubbing it softly as his lips dusted her hair, and she felt so damn good.

“I hate this bed.”

“I know,” she laughed, looking up at him, her chin resting against his chest.

He had a lazy smile on his face, and she knew she mirrored him. Which was surprising after the night they had. Dinner with his parents had gone really well. They were very nice and kind of sucked up to her in front of Markus. But Mekena wasn’t stupid; she knew they hated her. But she didn’t care. She only cared what Markus thought, and he loved her completely. After coming home, she decided to show him how much she cared for him and made love to him on the very uncomfortable air mattress they both now decided was the bane of their existence. Especially when they were rocking it so hard, the air kept coming out.

“I mean, I don’t hate what we did, because holy shit, that was awesome, but I hate this bed.”

Giggling, she nodded as she nibbled on his pec. “The new bedroom suite will be here tomorrow.”

“Thank God,” he muttered, sliding his hand up her back and into her hair. “I love what we’re doing here.”

“What, in bed?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, and out of it.”

“I do too,” she agreed, kissing his pec.

“I love you, Mekena.”

“I love you,” she answered as he kissed her lips softly before lying back down and exhaling hard. He’d had a long night, kicked ass on the ice, dealt with his parents, and then rocked her world. “I’m surprised you’re awake.”

He scoffed. “I’m keyed up. Tonight was amazing.”

“It was. I’m so proud of my sexy star rookie,” she gushed, and he grinned at her.

“I couldn’t believe how great tonight went. I mean, I played my best on that ice. I was at home.”

“You were.”

“It was everything I dreamed of.”

“It was awesome. Really awesome. That play you made, sprawled out on the ice, I held my breath!”

“Yeah, I was scared I’d get a penalty.”

She smiled. “I could have gotten a sexy shot of you sitting in the box.”

“That would have been great on the wall.”

“Yeah, we could start a collage. We should do that.”

“As long as we do one of you falling off the trolley, I’m down.”

“Done.”

He laughed as she smiled happily, closing her eyes while she listened to the sound of his heartbeat. Seconds passed, and she swore she fell more in love with him. As she listened to the thudding in his chest, she had almost fallen asleep when he said, “My parents weren’t too bad.”

“No, they were nice,” she answered, opening her eyes as she swirled her fingers along his belly button.

“I think they like you.”

She scoffed. “They hate me, but they don’t want to lose you.”

“No one could hate you.”

She smiled as she sat up, looking down at him. “See, I thought that too, but then I met your parents and figured it didn’t hold true with them.”

Tangling his fingers in her hair, he smiled. “Well, I love you, and I don’t care that they don’t like you. Because I’m not in love with you for them, but for me.”

“I feel the same way,” she said before crashing her lips to his. “So we’re good.”

Throwing her leg over his waist, she straddled him as he took ahold of her ass, kissing her hard on the lips. “We’re more than good,” he said cheekily. She held her breath as she started to move against him, his cock coming alive beneath her. Eyeing her, he groaned out loudly. “What in the world are you doing?”

“I think you know,” she said breathlessly as his eyes shut and his fingers dug into her hips. “Or maybe I need to teach you. Ha, me the teacher. Yeah, right,” she laughed and grinned.

“Yeah, because the teacher would know that I just got done and can’t go again.”

“Apparently, your friend doesn’t know that,” she said as she took him in her grasp, his hard girth heavy in her hand.

“He’s an overachiever,” he joked, and Mekena smiled before directing him inside of her. “Whoa, babe, condom. I’ve never done it without a condom.”

“I’m on the pill,” she muttered as she sank down on him, groaning his name.

Unable to breathe, he asked, “When did you do that?”

“When I was like sixteen,” she said, trying to figure out how she was going to move with his huge cock inside of her like this. She felt like she was stuck in place, but then his hands were at her hips, guiding her up and down on him.

“Sixteen?”

“Period issues,” she answered as she moved, her butt smacking his thighs with each motion up and down.

“That’s a really hot thing to talk about during sex.”

“I know. You asked.”

“You could have lied.”

“Fine, I was a huge whore when I was a teenager, slept with everyone.”

He paused, giving her a dry look. “Period issues, it is.”

Grinning, she held on to his chest as she moved up and down on him, his cock going so deep she was sure he was in her throat. It felt so damn good, so damn filling as she rode him, her clit rubbing against him with each motion. She felt her own release building, but before she could get there, he rolled them over, pulling her legs back until her knees hit the bed and then he started to pound into her. Each thrust brought a cry from her lips, but God, it was great. She hadn’t realized how much she was going to love sex until she was with him. Finally with him. She had dreamed of this, read novel after novel, but nothing could compare to the true connection between two people like they had.

It was pure perfection.

She loved him.

Completely.

When he came, he came hard, his moan so loud as he fell on top of her and just lay there, gasping for breath. He gathered her up in his arms as he kissed her sloppily on the lips. He was throbbing inside of her, her own body shaking as she clung to him, needing his arms around her. She nuzzled her nose into his chest as she swallowed.

“Your dick is really big.”

He paused and then started laughing really hard. They shook the bed so much, she was sure they’d have no air in it. “Usually, guys like when a girl says that. But when you say it, I know you mean it, and you’re not trying to boost my ego. For some reason, that makes me laugh.”

“You were basically fucking my brain.” Still laughing, he lay on his back, sliding out of her as she shook her head. “I’m pretty sure I forgot my name.”

“Mine, your name is mine,” he said then, kissing her nose as he reached over for a glass of water.

Still gasping for breath, she watched the muscles in his back. “Was it like this with other people? Or is it just ’cause you’re my only that I feel like this?”

He paused before looking over at her and falling onto his back. “What do you mean?”

She smiled. “I mean that you take my breath away every single time we do this. I get so excited, and I swear I could come for hours from just having you in me. I feel so connected to you. So perfect. Is it always like that?”

His lips quirked before he rolled to his side, cupping her face. “No, sometimes, it’s pointless and bad. Sometimes, it’s hot but no connection. Never in my life have I had sex with someone and just felt empty when I left them. That’s how it is with you. I get out of you, and I want so bad to get back in there and live there. It’s actually borderline psycho, but I don’t care. I love it. You, I love you.”

Giggling, she smacked him as he smiled. “It’s perfect.”

“It is,” he agreed as her phone sounded. Making a face, he asked, “Who the hell is texting you this late? It’s three in the morning.”

She wasn’t sure, but it made her smile. “My other boyfriend.” He glared and she laughed. “Jeez, jealous.”

“Yes.”

“Why? I’m yours!”

“With someone else texting you! I knew you were too hot to stay mine.”

Laughing harder than she should, she wrapped her body around him as she kissed his nose. “I’m only yours.”

“Yeah, don’t forget,” he said laughing, reaching over her for her phone. When she smacked his butt, he cried out. But then his grin was gone as he looked at her phone, all the playfulness disappearing as his eyes darkened.

“Markus?” She took the phone to see that the message was from Skylar. “What the hell?” she asked, opening the text to a screenshot of Claire’s Instagram with a picture of Markus and Mekena at Lucy’s wedding with the caption: True love.

Under the picture, the text read:

Skylar: Jesus, really? You’re with him? He fucked me, Mekena. How stupid can you be? He’s a sleaze. He’s going to break your heart. Hell, let him come around me and he’ll fuck me again. You’re so stupid. Maybe you’re the one on drugs cause something is clouding your brain not to see he is a fucking douche. You just wait, you’ll be crying to me in a week’s time.

Biting on her lip, Mekena rolled her eyes before shutting off her phone and placing it on the floor. “I need to change my number.”

When she looked over to Markus, even in the dark she could see his face was grim while he stared up at the ceiling. “What did I do to her, Mekena? Like, why does she hate me so much? To keep trying to hurt us?”

“Because I love you,” she answered, rolling over and wrapping her leg around him. “Misery loves company, and we’re happy, so she wants to ruin that.”

Cuddling her into his side, he kissed her head. “Well, fuck her. We have each other.”

“You got that right, and I’m happy, Markus,” she said. “I really am, and I don’t believe anything she says.”

He smiled as he nodded. “Good.”

“Are you okay?”

He cupped her face, kissing her nose. “Yeah, I am. I’ve got a plan. I’m not letting her ruin that. I will get over this, I will be good, and I will love you for the rest of my life. No matter what.”

And for once, she didn’t question that statement. She believed him as she stared down into his eyes. They held nothing but promise and honesty. He was living by his plan, and she was so unbelievably proud of him. She didn’t want Skylar to ruin them. She had done that once, and Mekena wouldn’t let her do it again. She wanted to rise above it all and love him, unconditionally.

With a grin on her face, she reached up and kissed him. “I’m here for you,” she said against his lips, looking into his eyes. She hoped he saw how much she loved and cared for him. As he cupped her ass, holding her close, she whispered, “Always here for you.”

“And that’s all I need.”