Laney
I SLEPT WITH Kam.
I knew it was inevitable. I knew what I was doing when I suggested coming to the cabin, but I couldn’t resist him anymore. I barreled straight through the forbidden door, and there’s no going back now.
I clean up after lunch, throwing the paper plates away and wiping the counter. The first batch of Reubens went into the garbage, obviously. The second batch was made with no interruptions. Thank God. I needed a breather. I needed to process everything that just happened, and I knew one sexual advance from Kam and we would be in the same predicament all over again. I feel hyperaware of everything now, as if my body flipped a switch and Kam is the electricity running through my veins.
“Hey, Laney,” Kam comes bounding down the stairs. “Look what I found.” He smiles brightly flipping a football in the air.
“The extension to your hand?” I ask flippantly.
He chuckles. “How’s your arm, Lemon?”
“Rusty,” I admit as I throw the sponge back in the sink.
“Well, let’s see what we can do about that.” He spanks me on the ass arrogantly as he walks by and straight out the front door.
I follow him outside, and for a few, wistful moments, I watch as he palms the ball expertly with a look of elation on his face. Kam personifies the term ‘love of football.’
“C’mon, Lemon!” He tosses the ball to me while I stand on the front porch of the house. “Let’s have a catch.”
“I haven’t thrown a football in a long time,” I inform him, walking down the stairs holding the ball.
“That’s okay. You had a great teacher.” He grins shamelessly. “It’s as easy as riding a bike.”
“Says the professional quarterback.” I flip the football around, reacquainting myself with the leather.
“I’m not pro yet.” Kam puts is hands on his hips. His T-shirt pulling tightly across his chest, outlining the sculpted muscles. The same muscles that were just pressed up against me. That body makes me forget how to freakin’ think.
“Soon enough.” I place my fingers between the laces, the way Kam taught me, and launch the ball at him. It actually spirals pretty nicely, but my aim could use a little work. He needed to take a step to the side in order to catch it.
“Not bad, Lemon. Not bad at all.” He smiles brightly as he throws it back. His spiral is way prettier than mine.
“Maybe it is like riding a bike.” We lob the ball back and forth. I lost count how many times Kam and I did this when we were together. Just hung out and watched the sunset over the lake while throwing the football around. It was so simple, yet meant everything.
“Lots of things we used to do are just like riding a bike,” he insinuates.
I catch the ball then flutter my eyes. But I can’t deny he’s right. Our chemistry is still off the charts, maybe even hotter now than it was before. I actually get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. Thinking about how he touched me, and kissed and completely overtook me.
I fire the football back at him.
“Geez, Laney.” He catches it in the crook of his arm. “That one had some power behind it.”
I actually giggle like a little girl. What the fuck is wrong with me? The control Kam has over my panties is ridiculous.
“So, do you have any idea what team is going to draft you?” It’s time to change the subject to something safer. Something that will let me hold on to my self-respect a little while longer.
“There are rumors Seattle is going to draft me.”
“Seattle? Wow. They’re a really good team.”
“Yup.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a really good player. The best player. Why wouldn’t they want you?”
“Because they already have the best quarterback in the league.” He sighs.
“So, what does that mean?”
“It means no playing time for me.”
“Oh?” I frown, catching the ball.
“Yeah, second string sucks.”
“Well, maybe you’ll get scooped up by someone else first. They can’t be the only team interested in you.”
“They aren’t, but they have first pick. So, if they want me, then that’s where I’ll end up.”
“Too bad the draft doesn’t work the other way around.” I throw the football then roll my shoulder. It’s starting to hurt.
“Too bad.” He laughs, tossing it back.
“Well . . .” I rest the football against my thigh. “If you do end up in Seattle, just make sure to buy a parka and lots of umbrellas,” I joke.
“Anything else you recommend before I’m exiled to the state with the highest suicide rate?”
“Yeah.” I laugh. “A trade.”
“Smartass.” Kam rushes me and I try to run. But he’s too fast and tackles before I make it two feet.
“Kam!” I squeal as he takes me down to the ground.
“What?” He pins me beneath him.
“Quarterbacks aren’t supposed to tackle.”
“In special circumstances they can.”
“And you interpreted me just standing there minding my own business as a special circumstance?”
“In those little shorts holding a football? Yeah.” He leans in and kisses me. I swear I melt; my body just softens right underneath his.
We don’t do anything but kiss. Kam’s hands keeping a firm grip on my wrists as his tongue goes exploring. He’s not aggressive or overbearing, but there’s enough force to make me succumb. To make me surrender and revel in the warmth of his mouth. I yank my wrists free just so I can wrap my arms around him. Just so I can get a little bit closer. We lie on the ground kissing, caressing, and stroking until we are panting and the sunlight is fading away.
“Kam,” I murmur, nearly ripping off his shirt. I don’t care that we’re outside on the bare ground. I don’t care that we have no blanket and there are owls hooting in the trees above us. The only thing I care about it is getting closer to Kam. As close as we were in the kitchen. As close as humanly possible.
“We have to go inside, Lemon.”
“Why?” I suck on his neck and grind against him.
“Because . . . oh, shit, Laney.” He grabs my hip and squeezes firmly.
“We’ve had sex under the stars before.” I try to persuade him.
“We also had protection.”
“I’m on the pill,” I hastily reply.
Kam pauses, looking down at me dumbfounded. “No condom?”
“Only if you’re hell-bent on using one. Then I understand.”
“You trust me that much?”
I simply nod. “I shouldn’t?”
“You definitely should.” He hauls me up. “But if we’re going raw, I don’t want it to be some two-cent fuck in the dirt.”
“Oh? That doesn’t sound so bad to me.”
“Lemon,” Kam scoffs amused. “We can roll around in the mud tomorrow. Tonight, I want dinner, then dessert, and then you.”
“In that exact order?” I rub up against him.
He inhales a collective breath. “Yes.”
“Fine.” I can hold out if he can.
I think.
“Good.” He smiles boldly. “Now get in the kitchen and start cooking, woman.”
“What!” My voice elevates three octaves as Kam takes off toward the house, laughing. “You better run!”
I spoon a serving of lemon chicken onto each of our plates and have chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. Kam said he wanted dinner and dessert before me, so I’m giving him exactly what he asked for—while wearing nothing but one of his T-shirts. No bra, no panties, no nothing. He’s watched me cook like a starving animal for the last hour, and I know he’s craving more than just food. We both are.
I place the plates on the small kitchen table and go to take a seat when Kam tugs on my arm. “Where are you going?”
“Um, to sit.” I point at my chair.
He shakes his head. “You sit with me.” He pulls me onto his lap. This is hazardous on so many levels, but I love it. Kam cuts up all the chicken and asparagus on his plate, then proceeds to start feeding me and himself, alternating forkfuls of food back and forth between the two of us. The simple dinner I expected has turned into something flirtatious and playful.
“Kam.” I giggle as he teases me with the food, pulling the fork back just as I go to take a bite. He’s getting way too much enjoyment out of seeing me squirm.
The timer dings on the oven, alerting me the cookies are done. If he wants to tease, then I can tease.
I slip on the oven mitts and bend over provocatively as I pull the cookie sheet out, giving him an eyeful while he sits at the table.
“Shit, Lemon,” I hear him mutter. I smile to myself. By the time I place the cookies on the stove and remove the heat-resistant gloves, Kam has me by the waist with his face buried in the nape of my neck.
“I think I’m done with dinner.”
“What about dessert?”
“You are dessert.” He spins me around and kisses me forcefully. I have no problem being dessert, especially if Kam is the one indulging in me. “Bedroom, now.” He starts to back me out of the kitchen.
“Your celebrity status has made you very bossy,” I quip.
“It has nothing to do with my celebrity status,” he says between eager kisses.
“What does it have to do with, then?” I ask as he pushes me down onto the mattress.
“The fact that I want every inch of your body all to myself. Right. Now.” He pulls off his T-shirt and I nearly expire. I know we had sex already, and it was, well, words can barely describe it. But it was so fast and furious, I didn’t get a chance to take him all in. Now that we are taking our time, relatively, I get to appreciate one of my favorite things about Kam—his abs. And all I can say is holy mother. Kam has always had an incredible body—tall, lean, and muscled—but the person standing in front of me now is a transformed man. He’s double the size he was in high school, his shoulders are broader, his arms are bigger, and his stomach is shredded. I think I might be drooling.
“Like what you see, Lemon?” Kam asks as he crawls on top of me completely naked.
How do I answer without my voice cracking?
I nod zealously.
“Good, because I like what I see, too.” He yanks my T-shirt up and over my head.
I hand myself over to Kam as he explores my body with his mouth. He takes his time tracing the curves of my hips and the dip of my stomach. I know there should be foreplay, and I’m all for taking whatever pleasure Kam has to give me, but right now, this second, I just want him. I couldn’t be more aroused or more ready.
“Kam,” I plead as he licks my neck and massages my breast. “Please.”
“Please, what?” he rasps.
“Please . . . I just want you.” I slip my hand between his legs and rub his erection. God, I sound so needy, but I’m dying to be with him. Plain and simple.
“You know all you have to do is ask,” he groans, nestling himself between my legs. “Or beg. I don’t mind begging either.”
“This isn’t a time for jokes.” I wrap my legs around him as he rocks against me; the feeling of skin on skin is indescribable.
“Who’s joking?” He sinks inside me, and my body and mind nearly split in two.
“Shit.” I arch underneath him, trying to get as close as physically possible.
“Fuck, I know, you feel so good.” He surges his hips and traps me in his arms. The sensations passing between us are all-consuming, and soon we’re caught up in an unstoppable cadence of longing, hunger, and desire.
As I get closer to the breaking point, I pop my eyes open to find Kam watching me. His lustful, hooded gaze is so poignant; a lump of emotion gets caught in my throat.
“You are so fucking amazing, Laney.” He thrusts harder, deeper. “How did I ever let you go?”
I feel tears threaten as my arousal tingles in my core. “You weren’t the only one who let go.” I hold on tighter, burying my face in his neck as my breathing quickens and I find my release. For those few, short, enrapturing seconds, I belong solely to Kam and regret every moment we ever spent apart.
I’m left quivering in his arms as he stills inside me, his fevered skin matching the temperature of my own.
I’m feeling way too many things at once; too many conflicting emotions all battling to take control. The loudest and most pronounced? Love. The love that’s always been there. It almost breaks my heart.
I close my eyes and breathe in Kam’s masculine scent. I don’t want to think about what tomorrow has in store for us. Tonight, I just want to pretend the different directions our lives are heading in, aren’t going to inevitably tear us apart.