TYLER

After I bring the last box into my house, I kick the door closed with my foot and set it down on the floor by the stairs. Asking Kennedy to move in with me was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It was apparent that neither of us wanted to spend time apart, and with her work from home schedule and hockey in the off-season, it made sense for us to take the next step in our relationship.

I freaked out when things had first become serious between Kennedy and me even though I didn’t show it. Given my past relationship with Payton, I was so closed off and afraid to let anyone into my world, but Kennedy is nothing like Payton. That much I realized not long after I let her into my life and soon after my heart.

Kennedy walks down the steps, her legs the first thing I notice in the tight, black booty hugging shorts she has on with a pink tank top and sneakers. Now, I get this view every day. I am one lucky man.

“You okay?” Kennedy asks me as her feet hit the bottom landing.

“Never better.” I wrap my arms around her and lift her up, her shoes hitting me in the leg before I set her back down on the floor. “You have made me so happy, Ken.”

“Because I moved in?” She smiles and slips her arms around my neck. “You know you don’t have to thank me again.”

I lean down to meet her height, our lips almost touching. “You have no idea how happy you make me, baby. I thought I would be miserable the rest of my life until I met you. I was in a dark place a few months ago, especially after we lost our shot at the playoffs. Then you came along in your ridiculous outfits, somehow managing to make those clothes look sexy, and won me over in the process.”

“You fell right into my trap.” She giggles like a child. “But would you have liked me if I hadn’t played games with you?”

“I didn’t fall in love with your clothes, Ken, I fell in love with you.”

“I love you, too, Tyler,” she says against my lips.

Before I can speak another word, she parts my lips with her tongue, our kisses soft and passionate while also rough and aggressive. She sucks me in, makes me whole. With Kennedy, I feel alive again. After years of torturing myself and agonizing over Blake and Payton, Kennedy walks into my life unexpected, captures my heart and fills the void. Her kisses heal me, our loves consumes me. This woman is everything I ever wanted.

Kennedy breaks away from me first and whispers, “Tyler.”

“Yes,” I groan, still trying to catch my breath.

She smiles so wide it reaches up to her eyes. “Take me upstairs and make love to me.”

Holding her tighter, I plant a kiss on her cheek, taking in the sweet scent of her skin. “Whatever you say, boss.”

I lift Kennedy over my shoulder and keep moving until I reach my bedroom door. With all the excitement of Kennedy moving into my house, I had to put Roxie in the basement just so we could work without interruption. And she’s also not around to cock block me. She gets in the way of us every time I as much as kiss Kennedy on the forehead.

Kicking the door closed, I make way over to the bed and set Kennedy down on the comforter. She looks sexy with her blonde hair fanned out around her face, a sexy grin on her lips, and her legs open wide for me. I lean forward to strip her of her shorts and panties and throw them on the floor behind me, licking my lips at the sight of her wet pussy. She’s always ready for me.

I remove my shirt and then work on my jeans and boxers, leaving a pile of clothes behind me, as I get on the bed with Kennedy and position myself right between her legs. Taking my time, I push her shirt up and over her breasts, reaching behind her to unhook her bra.

She lifts her shirt over her head, and I help her out of it. Then, I strip her of her bra so I can suck on her nipple while I massage her other breast. Her tits are not big, more like just right, and fit perfectly in my hand. Just like Kennedy.

Leaving a trail of kisses from her breasts to her stomach, I slip two fingers inside her dripping wet pussy. There was a time when I needed to work through my pain and anger about the past. And Kennedy helped me work through my issues, closed the gaping hole that had left me hollow for so long.

“Tyler,” she moans as she comes, and after her body stops trembling, I pull back my fingers and ease inside her slow, giving her a few seconds to adjust to my size. Even after all these months together, she still makes a hissing sound as I enter her, biting down on her lip.

As I slide in and out of her, I pick up the pace and grip her hips, wanting to fuck her before I remember that she wants me to make love to her. Instead of fucking her hard, the way she likes it, I bend down to kiss her, allowing myself to get wrapped up in her kisses, keeping my movements steady.

“Tyler,” she whispers when our lips separate, scratching her nails down my arms, this time careful not to dig into my skin.

“That’s it, babe. Come for me,” I say, my voice low.

With a firm grip, I lift her leg up and over my shoulder and push further inside her. She strengthens the hold she has on my dick, a blush spreading from my cheeks to her chest, as her moans turn into screams and an intense orgasm rocks through her. I love watching her face as she unravels beneath me.

Now that she’s come, I pump faster, the sweat trickling down my forehead with each thrust. My body trembles one last time as I kiss her, slow and passionate, more sensual than normal because, for the first time, we made love instead of fucking, something I have never done before.

After I plant a few more kisses on her neck and chest, I slide out of her and roll onto my side of the bed. I smile at the thought. We have our own sides of the bed now.

“You are fucking amazing, Ken,” I say, resting her head on my chest. “My God, woman, you have no idea how much I love you.”

“I think I have an idea.” She chuckles to herself, her laughter shaking through me.

“No, you don’t.” I hold her tighter, never wanting to let her go. “You are it for me, babe.”

“I feel the same way, Tyler.” She scoots closer and hooks her leg around my thigh, burrowing her face in my chest. “This is home for me. Speaking of home, we should start working on the rest of my boxes. I have a lot of clothes and junk to go through.”

As she attempts to get up, I pull her back down and snuggle up against her. “Lay with me for a few more minutes before we have to do our adulting.”

“I have to unpack, and you have Donovan and your trainer coming over in an hour. You should take a shower, so you don’t stink of sex before they get here.”

I groan, annoyed I have to start training already, because it was nice to have some time off to myself, all of which I have spent with Kennedy. But the thought of getting in the shower with her makes me hard again.

I place her hand around my cock. “I have one more thing I need you to take care of before we have to act like adults.”

She peeks up at me, her hair sweat-matted to her forehead. “Now that you got me all filthy you should be a good boy and help me wash the dirt off.”

“Oh, baby,” I groan into her ear, lifting her up in the process. “You will pay for saying that.”

A broad smile crosses her lips. “Good. I’m counting on it.”

* * *

After two weeks of living with Kennedy, Donovan had convinced me it was time for a boys night. It had been months since we last chilled out at my house without women around. We sent Kennedy and Sydney to the spa together for whatever all-day treatments they wanted, followed by drinks and dinner at a restaurant in the city.

With the house to ourselves, we did what we would normally do and spread out on the large couches, the two of us fucking off, drinking beers, and watching a UFC fight on Pay-Per-View. This is part of our regular off-season ritual, our way to unwind before we get back to the grueling workouts, intense practices, and travelling all the time. Kennedy hasn’t been around for that part of my life. Living in this house alone while I am on the road will not be easy or her, but at least she’ll have Roxie around to keep her company while I am gone.

“Can you hand me another?” Donovan tries to reach for the six-pack on the coffee table and misses, too lazy to get up. Roxie jumps up and runs her long tongue down the length of his forearm. “Bad girl,” he tells her, wiping the slobber from his skin with a disgusted look on his face.

“Good girl,” I tell her, flashing a grin in Donovan’s direction that makes his mouth twist in anger. Then, I hold out my arm for Roxie to come over to me. At the sound of my voice, she’s at my side in an instant, her cold nose wetting my forearm as I pet her thick coat.

“Stop encouraging her.” Donovan sits up and opens two bottles of Heineken with the opener on the table. He passes a beer to me, waiting for me to tap his bottle before we both take a sip.

“She’s just a baby. You don’t have to be such an ass about it.”

His cell phone buzzes along the table, and before he can respond to me, he picks it up and glances at the text that came through. He sucks in a deep breath, holding it far too long before letting it out. “Fucking women,” he deadpans and drops the phone back to where he found it. “Sydney is giving me a fucking headache, man.”

“Is she still playing hard to get?”

Kennedy has told me all about Sydney’s games that she uses to bait men into doing what she wants though I am not so sure Donovan will hang around long enough and call her bluff. He has been complaining about her all week, at least one phone call per day bitching about something Sydney did that annoyed him.

Both Sydney and Kennedy think it’s hilarious, and as much as I want to tell him that Sydney is fucking with him, I had to choose between breaking my promise to Sydney or letting Donovan know he is being played. I haven’t said anything to him because I think she likes him, despite her rules and games that keep them apart.

“You have no idea, bro. This girl is like the Queen of Blue Balls. She’ll send me half naked pics along with a sex scene from her book or one she made up, which is fine with me. But I’ll get a pic with one nipple of an unknown woman—because who the fuck knows if they’re even her tits—and then I’ll get a few paragraphs of a story about the picture she sent. I’ve jerked off at least a twenty times to the pictures, and I haven’t even touched her yet. She’s weird and crazy, and I like her—”

“She likes you, too,” I interrupt, trying to throw him a bone since he seems so upset over Sydney. “Just go with it. She’s all about the head games and drama. If Kennedy pulled that shit with me, I doubt we would be where we are now, but if you like her, I would suggest sticking with it until she puts out.”

He takes a sip of his beer, chugging half of it down before he sinks back into the couch cushions. “Listen to you giving me advice about women. You think you’re an expert now that you have a live-in girlfriend.”

“Kennedy is more than some girl who lives with me, and you know it.”

Roxie nudges me at the sound of Kennedy’s name. She loves her, follows her everywhere when she’s home. I love that Roxie had taken so well to Kennedy from the start. It was one of the reasons I connected with Kennedy. Seeing her on the floor of my bedroom, her legs wide open and her pussy on display for me, as she loved my puppy instead of me, tugged at something inside me in more ways than one.

“Do you think you will marry this one? I honestly can’t believe you’re settling down after all the shit Payton put you through. I have been here through some pretty dark years with you I just don’t want to see you go down the same road again if this doesn’t work out with Kennedy.”

“It will work out, and we are nowhere near the marriage stage, but it will happen when the time is right.” My confidence shines through as I say the words. There is no way I am letting Kennedy slip away from me. “From the first time I met her, I just had this feeling. You know what I mean?” I smile at the thought of our first encounter.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He kicks his feet up on the table in front of him and takes a swig from his bottle. “Sydney is fucking killing me. She has me doing all sorts of stupid shit for her but still hasn’t let me kiss her.”

His gaze shifts to the massive flat screen hung on the wall and to the fighters that are giving each other a run for their money. The men are so evenly matched that it’s a battle of skill and wits and the kind of matchup I like to see.

“Kennedy says she’s like the master of manipulation. If you play your cards right with Sydney, I’m sure it will all pay off in the long run.”

“It better.” His voice is so deep and loud it sounds like a growl. “That woman is driving my insane. My balls can’t take much more of her mind tricks.”

Donovan jumps up from the couch, attracting the attention of Roxie, as he throws his hands in the air, yelling at the TV screen. One fighter has the other in a chokehold, his opponent’s face changing from a shade of pink to red within seconds.

Roxie hops up on Donovan’s thick thigh, clawing at his jeans with each outburst he makes. He has money on a few of the fights tonight, and while I could care less who wins this match, I sit up and cheer on the man who’s winning the fight to show my team spirit.

“C’mere, girl,” I say to Roxie, snapping my fingers to get her to come over to me. Pointing at the ground, I tell her to sit, and she does as I ask, always good at following my orders.

“Yes!” Donovan punches the air with excitement as the fight ends and the referee announces the winner by knockout. “Dude, I had ten G’s riding on him to win.”

“Congrats, bro.” I lean down to pet Roxie, looking up at Donovan who’s standing in front of the table, his eyes pointed at the TV. “It’s your turn to buy the pizza so get to it now that you have all this money.”

He turns around, pushing his hands to his hips with a smirk already on his lips. “Get out of here. I bought the last two.”

“House rules,” I tell him, my tone serious. “You won money, so you have to pay for the food.”

Before he can answer, his phone vibrates along the wood, causing Roxie to get up from her spot on the floor at my feet to see who’s messaging him. It must be Sydney by the look on his face. Except for this time, he doesn’t look so pissed off. In fact, he seems happier than he was over winning money from the fight.

“Tonight is the night,” he says to me, licking his lips as he stares down at his screen. “You should see this picture Sydney just sent me. She is going to be the death of me.”

“She will give in. A woman like Sydney wouldn’t send a pic of herself in a bra to a guy she doesn’t want to fuck.”

He shoves his phone into his pocket and leans down to grab his keys from the table, Roxie licking him in the process. This time he doesn’t even care that he has her slobber on his arm, too focused on getting the hell out of my house.

“She says Kennedy should be home any minute. I’m heading over to Sydney’s place…hopefully for the night.” He pulls his wallet from his pocket, checking for condoms and finding a few of them tucked inside. Letting out a sigh of relief, he slips it back into his pocket and pets Roxie one last time before he walks over to me and holds out his hand.

I stand, shaking his hand and pulling him into me in the process. “Good luck.”

He chuckles. “Thanks. I need it with Sydney. Who the hell knows what she has in mind after the torture she put me through last night.”

As I walk him out of the living room and into the hallway, the front door swings open with a very wet Kennedy standing in the entryway. Soaked in water, she stands there, rubbing her hands down her side to get the chill from her body. The weather has been warm, but the storms have been a nightmare the last few days with the heat wave that has rolled through the area.

Donovan says hello to Kennedy and leaves with a wave of his hand and a good-bye in passing as he closes the door behind him, in a rush to get over the bridge to see Sydney.

“My hair,” she says, sobbing, “it looked perfect when I left Sydney’s apartment…and now it’s ruined.”

“You look beautiful, baby, as always.” I take her in my arms, aware that her hair is now stuck to her head in clumps and her mascara is running down her cheeks, but she is still the most gorgeous woman I have ever met.

“Look at me,” she whines, which is so unlike her that I wonder why she’s so upset over her hair.

Holding her at an arm’s-length, I stare into her watery blue eyes. “Did something happen tonight with Sydney?

“No, we had an awesome time.” She frowns for a second and then perks up. “How could I not? It’s Sydney. I’m just pissed about my hair and makeup. I wanted you to see it before I hopped in the shower and the storm took care of that for me. Now, I look like a wet dog.”

“Oh, you answer to dog now,” I say to Roxie as she wags her tail, hitting me in the leg in the process.

“Apparently,” Kennedy says, laughing. She reaches down to pet Roxie on the head with a smile. “Did you miss me, baby dog?” Sinking down to the floor, Kennedy hugs Roxie, allowing her to lick her face as she kisses her on the head.

As I watch them in action, so many emotions race through me all at once. I spent years mourning the life I used to have, the life I wanted and could not hold onto, but everything has changed since I met Kennedy.

She has made my house a home, has become part of my family, and some day, I want to make her my wife. Just seeing how she treats Roxie, I know she will make a good mother and an excellent wife. I never thought I would find happiness again, and I sure as hell didn’t expect to fall in love.