The morning sun burst over the horizon, slanting bright rays into the bedroom. My heart was bursting. I woke, filled with joy and happiness. I was with Cam in his apartment, but this time in Foxborough, Massachusetts, hometown of the New England Minutemen football team! There was Gloria’s Secret lingerie strewn around the room. I’d teased him with it the night before.

I rolled to my side to study his handsome, sleeping face, but his eyes fluttered open.

“I love waking up to you,” I said.

“Mmm, me too. I could get used to this.” He shifted so he could look in my eyes. “I missed you.”

The smile he gave me made my breathing quicken, and I smiled back. “How much did you miss me?

“Oh, baby, a lot. Tons.” The words were almost a growl and the sound twisted something low inside me. He brushed the hair from my face.

“Show me,” I said.

He shifted again and pinned my body under his, our mouths crashing together. Then his mouth was against my ear and he said, “I want you to sleep in my bed forever, surrounded by my scent. When I’m lying in bed at night, in some hotel room for an away game, I want to know the same sheets I had wrapped around me are touching your body when I can’t.”

A hot shiver ran through me and he made a sound in the back of his throat as he pulled back. He stared at me for a moment, the hunger in his eyes having nothing to do with food and I could feel his cock pressing against me, already rock hard. I ran my tongue along my bottom lip and his eyes flashed fire.

He kissed me again, mimicking what I’d just done, running his tongue across, first the lower, then upper. Only then did he press his tongue against the seam of my lips. I opened my mouth and tasted him. He kissed me slow and deep, letting me enjoy the sweetness.

“Now,” he said as he broke the kiss, “I’m going to taste you.”

Lips and tongue moved across my skin, feathering kisses across my collarbone, sending shivers of anticipation through me. I reached out and let my fingers caress his thigh. His muscles twitched beneath my fingers and it made me smile.

“Oooo, that’s good.” My eyelids fluttered as his mouth was suddenly on my stomach, and I wanted him to go lower. The tip of his tongue teased at my belly button before he made a trail over my skin up to my breasts. My hands curled into fists. Damn, he was intent on teasing me, first. My entire body was on fire, his tongue hot against my already overheated flesh as he circled my nipples. He moved so slowly that it was all I could do not to claw my fingers into his hair and put him where I wanted him.

Then his lips closed over my nipple and I cried out, my back arching as he began to suck. I moaned as he skillfully used his teeth, lips and tongue to build the pressure deep inside me. I was so close. For a moment, I thought I’d climax just from his mouth on my nipples, but then he stopped, and I whimpered in protest.

He chuckled as he licked his way back down my body. The laughter, deep and rough, the kind of laugh a man makes when he’s pleased with how his woman has responded to his touch.

I wasn’t entirely sure when I’d started to beg him, only at some point, I was saying, “please” over and over again until his mouth found my aching clit. It only took the firm pressure of his tongue, and I cried out again.

Then, with a quick flick, I came. But my orgasm didn’t stop him. He plunged his tongue inside me and I surrendered, too far gone to wonder if the neighbors had heard me.

My eyelids were still fluttering as I felt his mouth leave me and his body brushed over mine. He slid up so that we were face to face, and bent his head to kiss me.

With his body curled over mine, he pressed his mouth against my ear. “I’m going to fuck you now.”

His words made me shiver.

“I’m going to fuck you until you scream. Then I’ll know every time I’m away, you’ll remember what it felt like to have me inside you.”

Then he was pushing inside me, parting my wet folds, and I was his. All his.

I barely recognized the sound that burst from my mouth as my arms and legs quivered. Then he pushed into me deeper and came with a long, satisfied groan, his hot breath beating against the side of my neck.

He collapsed on top of me, bodies still connected, as we rode the waves of pleasure still washing over us. Carefully, he rolled off and pulled me into the crook of his arm. I wiggled up next to him, my head on his chest, wishing we could enjoy a lazy morning in bed. But we couldn’t. Not today. Today was special. It was the first game of the season and he needed to get out of this bed and get going.

I patted his solid chest. “You better get up. It’s game day.”

His head snapped to the bedside clock. “You’re right. I was awake before the alarm. I’m too excited.”

He popped up to a sitting position and I moved with him. “Did you get any sleep?”

“Barely,” he said, heading for the bathroom.

I scooted in the bed so my back was against the headboard and pillows, pulling the sheet up around me. As I heard the shower water run, I remembered how I got here. It’d been a long trip since that first night I met Cam. Jade was in jail now, never to be a threat to me again; and I had moved in with Cam in his new apartment. I’d researched the colleges nearby, and would start classes toward my Theatre Arts degree in the spring semester, once football season was over. I wanted to be here for Cam, to focus on him and our relationship. And knowing Jade was gone, I’d finally, kicked that negative, self-doubting voice out of my head. The future with Cam looked brighter than ever.

Cam appeared in the bathroom doorway, his tall, athletic frame like a statue of a Greek god. Even first thing in the morning, he was sexy as hell, pure temptation wearing a muted blue shirt, rolled up to the elbows. His charm was irresistible, magnetic, with that magical mysterious pull that defies explanation, the kind a person you find only once in a lifetime. And boy was I lucky. I’d found him!

“You look damn hot, sweetie. Is that what you wear to a game? The cheerleaders will be all over you,” I teased as I got up to get dressed.

“I’ll change at the locker room, silly.” He pointed to his team-issued duffle bag, packed and ready near the dresser. “Besides, I probably won’t play this first game, but I’m happy with that. But you never know what could happen. It’s a gamble. The quarterback could get injured, and I could get put in the game.”

“I hate to say, I hope he gets injured, but…” I shrugged. “Are you bummed AJ won't be at the game to see you play?”

“He has his games back in Austin and I’m not there to see him play, either. But hey, our lives have changed. He has to finish his senior year.”

I pulled on the jeans I’d picked out to wear to the game.

“Did he tell you his dad finally bought him a new car?” he said.

“What? Did he just get it? I thought his dad was making him wait until graduation.”

“Yup. After Mr. Thorpe heard what happened to us over spring break, he changed his mind. AJ has a new Mustang, 5.0 convertible. Cherry red.” He wiggled his brows. “A proper chick magnet. I convinced him to get that model.”

After reuniting at Jade’s arrest, AJ and Phoebe/Sheree started dating over the summer while I was still in Austin. Although Sheree was older than AJ, they seemed to fit well together, and Cam loved to tease AJ about the age difference, throwing around words like “cougar” and “jail bait” even though neither term really applied. I estimated she was two to four years older than AJ, but I didn’t know for sure.

“I bet I know something about AJ you don’t,” I said. Pausing a moment, I continued, “AJ’s thinking about going into law enforcement.”

“You’re kidding! AJ, in law enforcement? What about his parent’s business, Gloria’s Secret? Who wouldn’t want to hang out with the Heavenly Beings all day?” He laughed.

“He’s so impressed with Sheree, or maybe he’s so in love with her, that he’s considering going into law enforcement and moving to be near her after graduation.”

Finished dressing, Cam snagged his duffle bag and we headed to the kitchen. I’d promised to make him a big breakfast before his game. He’d need it to get through the day.

“Wow, that’s crazy. But good for him,” Cam said. “He finally figured out what he wants to do with his life.”

“He told me he wants to see the world, not just live in his hometown and go into the family business.”

“Yeah, forget the family business. He should piss off his dad and do what he really wants with his life. Like me. I pissed off my mom so bad she sent Lisa to break us up.”

We both laughed. I was good with that. I’d also cleared all the jealous Lisa thoughts out of my brain too.

“Well, you certainly can give AJ advice about relationships. Ours turned out pretty fantastic.” I took out the skillet and placed it on the stove to start the bacon.

Cam reached into the fridge for the orange juice and paused. “It was a gamble, going for my dream, and I almost didn’t make it. But it was worth every second.” He closed the fridge door and kissed me.

“Oh, and by the way, I have a surprise for you, too.” He took a drink of juice straight from the carton and I rolled my eyes.

“AJ told me his dad was so impressed with your photos on that promotional pajama shoot, his company wants to use you in some of their other lingerie ads. Whaddaya think?”

I put a hand on my hip and let my weight drop to one foot. “Well...I don’t think my life could get any freaking better.”

I smiled and kissed Cam. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now we’d better get moving. I have a game today!”

We finished breakfast and Cam rushed off to the stadium for the first day of the fall football season with the New England Minutemen. I joined him later, about an hour before the game started, sitting in the stands. But my seat wasn’t just any old seat among the thousands at the Minutemen’s stadium. Because I was Cam’s girlfriend, I sat in a VIP section with the players’ wives and other girlfriends.

The excitement was building and the game was about to start. I had met a few wives and girlfriends when I first moved here to live with Cam, but now I’d have more time to get to know them.

As we took our seats, I flashed back to something Cam had said earlier this morning.

It’s a gamble.

His words seemed truer than ever. It was a gamble when I jumped in the back of Cam’s car. It was a gamble to put aside my college and follow Cam in his career, but the future was looking bright.

I looked around and my heart warmed. I saw faces of women I was sure I’d call friends, and I felt special to be included with the wives.

The thought dangled in my mind.

Wife.

I would like that.

One day, I hoped I’d be one of the wives too. Nothing would make me happier than to be the wife of Cam Landsborough, NFL quarterback.