CHAPTER 18
Paige
Sweat drips off my back, my nose, and even my fingertips as I transition into downward dog. I bite back a moan as my sore muscles protest.
“I regret suggesting this,” Layton whispers, her face as red as a firecracker. “I can’t do half the positions.”
“This is the last one.” My muscles relax into the movement, and I take a cleansing breath.
“Namaste.”
“Oh, thank you, Jesus.” Layton collapses on the mat in a heap of wet curls piled on top of her head and glistening skin while I finish my breathing exercise. “I thought yoga was supposed to be relaxing. It was in college.”
“That’s because you fell asleep ten minutes into it,” I remind her and grab my towel to wipe off most of the sweat. “Too bad they don’t have shower facilities here.”
“Yes, that’s how I want to end my humiliation—with communal showers with women who have bodies like Wonder Woman.”
I glance at Layton and frown. Looks like wedding crap has hit the fan. “Every woman is a wonder woman.”
“Every woman who is five-foot-nine and has legs for miles is a wonder woman. The rest of us are average.”
Like I can help how tall I am, I want to remind her. But this isn’t about me, and I love my best friend. This entire wedding has made her into something she’s never been, not in the twenty-two years I’ve known her.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as we make our way outside to Layton’s car. The cool November air hits us, and I shiver. My teeth start to chatter like it’s below zero instead of in the fifties, and I wrap my towel around my bare shoulders.
“My dress doesn’t fit.”
“So have it altered.”
“You can’t add to it, only subtract,” she says, clearly irritated. “We shouldn’t have had pizza and Pina coladas the other night.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
She gives me a look colder than the winter as she unlocks the doors. “Wait until we get home. I’ll try it on for you.”
“That will be fun.” I get in and buckle my seat belt while Layton does the same.
“Only if you think muffin tops go great with wedding dresses.”
“What’s really bothering you?” I ask as she pulls out of the parking lot.
Her jaw works. “I think Joe is seeing someone.”
“That rat bastard.”
“But I can’t accuse him of something I’m not sure about.” Her fingers flex on the steering wheel, and then she sighs. “I probably shouldn’t have listened to Vivvy, but she’s the biggest gossip with the most accurate dirt.”
My heart goes out to Layton. I know exactly how it feels to be cheated on and lied to, and before they come clean, they treat you like you’re crazy for thinking so poorly of them.
“Is there anyone you can trust who could find out if it’s true?” I ask. “I’d do it, but it would be completely obvious due to my foot connecting repeatedly with his junk.”
Layton snorts and makes a left onto the road that leads directly to our townhome. “I’d ask Kingston, but he’d use your tactics.”
As the oldest Price sibling, Kingston is the very definition of protective older brother. “Anyone else he wouldn’t suspect?”
“It would have to be a guy…” She eyes me. “You don’t think Dallas—”
“No. That would put him in an awkward position, especially considering he’s never met the guy.”
“But you’re dating now,” she points out, like I don’t know it’s been three weeks since we’ve gone exclusive. Or almost two months since we started seeing each other.
It feels surreal at times. Dallas also makes me feel good, sexy… desirable. When we’re together, there is nothing he wants more than to please me sexually and satisfy me as well. I can’t complain about anything, not the private dinners, the nights at his house… the ones at mine. We spend our time making love and watching Netflix. When he reviews film, as he calls it, I catch up on my reading or work on upcoming events at the Franklin-Hayes House.
We’re basically a couple. A real couple.
And it’s not scary at all.
“Earth to Paige.”
Oh, crap. She caught me daydreaming. “Let’s brainstorm who else we can ask.” I search my brain. “Not Nolan, because he’d spill his guts, and not Finley because…”
“Finley,” Layton finishes, then perks up. “I know the perfect guy to ask. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before, but luckily your sister’s name made me think of him.”
“Who?”
“Aiden McHugh. How can he not want to help his best friend’s little sister?”
I make a noise. “Because he’s Aiden.”
“Which is why Joe will never see it coming.”
I consider her choice. “I have to admit that it’s unexpected.” I nod my head. “I say go for it.”
Parking the car in front of our townhome, she turns to me and smiles widely. “Don’t worry about my dress. I look damn good in it.”
“The muffin top makes it extra delicious looking?” I smack my lips and make an hourglass figure in the air with my hands.
“Har-har. Don’t quit your day job, Owens… or your daydreaming about Dallas.”
* * *
“He said yes,” Layton sang out as she danced into the living room. “Aiden agreed to help me.”
“Did you have to promise your firstborn?” I put my attention back on the television, watching as Dallas narrowly misses getting tackled and scores by the skin of his teeth or tips of his toes. Whatever. My heart jumps in my throat every time he hits the field. When they show his face while listing his stats. When he’s chatting with Aiden on the sidelines or getting into the game with growly faces and big hand gestures, my heart is going faster than an entire flock of bird wings.
“No, he said if Joe was cheating on me, I’d owe him a night.”
My head whips to her. “A night of what?”
She blushes. “A night of me.”
“And you agreed?” I’m horrified, not because of the sex, but rather the extortionist who wants it from her. “Why?”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” she says tightly. “My wedding is less than three weeks away, Paige. I don’t want be jilted at the altar, or worse, find out after we’ve said our vows.”
I jump up from the sofa and grab her in a hug. “I’m sorry you’re having to go through this.”
“Me too, but at least you’re happy.”
Taking a step back, I let go of her. Layton’s eyes shine with sincerity. “It feels weird at times.”
“You’re weird.” She plops down on the sofa. “Why are you watching football?”
Guess she doesn’t want to talk anymore, and I have to respect that. “Because Dallas is playing.”
She grins slyly. “Does this mean you’re in lahve with him?”
My heart stutters, then quickly recovers as my brain reminds me that great sex, easy banter, and an exclusive relationship doesn’t equal love. “I’m only in lahve with this white cheddar popcorn.” I grab the bowl and shove it in her lap. “Stuff your face.”
Grabbing a handful, she pops it in her mouth. “Who has possession of the ball?”
“I’m pretty sure they’re all possessed to let themselves be tackled.”
“Pretty sure that’s not the goal.”
“Yet… it keeps happening, and they know it’s part of the game.”
“In other words, you have no idea.” She shoves the bowl back. “There’s no shame in not being able to play the game. Just admit it, Owens.”
“Are you seriously bragging about knowing more than I do about this, Price?”
“Anyone who’s watched a game longer than five seconds knows more than you do.”
I start to argue, but then shrug. She’s right. “Whatever. I’m trying to be a good girlfriend and learn. Plus, Dallas said he’d give me a pearl necklace tomorrow night if I can list all the guys who tackle him tonight. So here I am, taking notes.” I hold up my phone and shake it.
Layton slaps my arm, her hand resting there. “He’s buying you jewelry? We can be twins. Finally.”
Blood rushes to my cheeks. I should have phrased that differently. “Ahhhh. I don’t think that’s what he meant by a pearl necklace.”
She blinks at me, her nose scrunching. “What other kind is there?”
Apparently, Layton’s not up on sex slang and Joe’s never given her a third strand of pearls. “Oh, freshwater. Um… Mississippi pearls… so many places.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a new necklace, silly. You don’t have to explain that to me.” She fingers the double strand around her neck. “It’ll take a little getting used to, but eventually, when they warm to the same temperature as your skin, you won’t even notice them.”
“Good to know.” I’m fairly certain Dallas won’t allow me not to notice him marking my skin. Since I’ve never had someone do it, and I’m not sure if he was even serious or just talking dirty, I’m open to … learning more.
Layton lays her head on my shoulder. “I really am happy for you. My bestie deserves a good man.”
I squeeze her hand. “So does mine.”
I hope to God Joe’s not cheating on her and not just because Aiden wants a piece of her if he is.
* * *
“Thirty-seven.”
Thrust.
“Forty-two”
Another thrust. I’m dying. I’m so dying with pleasure.
“Eight-nine.”
“So close, baby. Who else?” Dallas asks as he continues to use his cock to reward me for paying attention to the game. “One more. That’s it.”
I rack my brain, but the things he’s doing to me make me so very stupid. “Sixty-nine?”
He grunts. “Close enough.” He pulls out and rips off his condom, but instead of coming on my chest like he promised, he dives between my legs, feasting on me like I’m his reward for playing so well tonight. He slips a finger in my ass and another in my pussy. Before I can take another breath, he latches onto my clit and sucks.
I scream his name, my hips bucking and my fingers digging into his head to hold on for dear life. When I focus on him, he’s looking at me with a fierceness in his eyes.
“Push your tits together.”
I comply and he lunges forward, stroking his cock until he groans and his warm come splashes on my breasts.
“Damn, that’s hot.” He smirks a little and cleans me up. Like before, he was prepared and kept a towel on the bed. “Next time, I’ll buy you real jewelry.”
“Could you make it real pearls? Because I don’t want to have to explain what you really did to me tonight to Layton when she asks to see my new pearl necklace.”
He freezes, then throws his head back and laughs. “You told her what I had planned tonight?”
“It kind of came out, and I was looking forward to trying something new.”
His eyes grow hooded. “I’m the first to mark you.”
“This body is… was semen free.”
“Now it’s all mine.”
I crook my finger at him. “Come here, caveman.”
He lays down beside me. “I missed you.”
“Don’t go to so many away games.” I kiss him, lingering over his mouth because I love the way it feels moving with mine. “My bed and yours gets so lonely when we’re not in it together.”
“You could always travel and meet me.”
“Nope. Not happening.”
His eyes flash with annoyance. “You could wait for me in my room or I could come to you.”
“I have to be careful enough when I drive here. No way will I take a chance in a city I don’t know.”
“You sure are stubborn.”
“I don’t want to be part of your doll world.”
His mouth twists. “Don’t recall asking you to be.”
“And I don’t… ugh. I don’t want to fight, especially after sex.”
“Not my favorite thing to do after sex either.”
I push him back and straddle his lap. His eyes go right to my boobs while his hands come to rest on my hips. “Can you give me more time? I’m not ready to tell everyone.”
“I said I’d play by your rules,” he says roughly.
“You aren’t happy with them.”
“It’s kinda hard to turn down women without a good explanation.”
I blink twice. “You had to turn down women last night?”
“I turn down women all the time, bright eyes. However, it would be nice to offer up a good reason for my rejection.”
“‘No, but thank you’ isn’t enough?”
He eyes me. “It’s not kind, and a lot of ladies don’t take it the right way. They get their feelings hurt.”
“Not to be ugly, but I don’t care about their feelings.”
“I’m not asking you to.” He lets go of my hip and scrubs his face. “But I am asking you to consider what they say about me on social media when I do turn them down. Rumors start.”
“What kind of rumors?” I whisper.
“That I’m gay. That I’m dating the celebrity it-girl of the day. That I can’t perform.” He exhales. “The first two don’t bother me. Neither are insults in my view, but the last one… the last one chaps my ass because it always comes back to the field.”
Well, crap. I can’t get mad at him for that. It’s his career that could be affected. Finley told me enough times that it’s not always what is said, but what’s implied.
Taking a chance, I press my breasts against his mouthwatering chest. “Then tell them the truth. That you are dating someone, but she values her privacy. And if push comes to shove, you can say my name is Amelia—that’s my middle name.”
“You’d do that for me?” He shakes his head in amazement. “Do I actually mean that much to you that you’re willing to go a little public?”
I’m not in love with him. I’m so not, but this feels a lot like what someone in love would do. I can’t admit that, though. I don’t even know if it’s true or it’s the fact that Dallas isn’t a lying, cheating asshole that makes him entirely loveable.
But not the real deal.
Not true love.
We’re not Elizabeth and Darcy. I’m not prideful, and he’s not prejudiced against me.
I run my fingers across his stubble-roughened jaw. “I’d do almost anything for my boyfriend.”