Derek

I exhale deeply as the SUV I’m in the back seat of disappears into the Denver Memorial Hospital parking garage, away from the flashing cameras and screaming reporters.

The security team had four identical black SUVs with tinted windows leave the parking garage of my hotel this morning at the same time, forcing the reporters to choose one to follow. The pack that chose the right one was manageable, and we were able to get in here pretty smoothly.

Today is about Matias. Somehow, word of his transplant leaked, and the media is whipped into a frenzy. I sent a security team to the farm for Erin so she can get here safely, and another for Matias’s family.

It took an extra couple of days for Matias to get cleared for the transplant, and I’ve felt like a caged beast every day. Not just so he can get this surgery behind him, but because it means I get to be with Erin for a few days.

I’ve missed her so deeply, I can feel it in my bones. We talk on the phone every day, but it’s not the same. I need to look into her sky-blue eyes and feel her in my arms again.

“Mr. Heaton.” The driver nods at me, holding the door open as I step out of the vehicle.

“Thanks, man.”

I run my hands down my shirt as I walk toward the elevator in the parking garage, hoping I look okay. I chose well-worn jeans, a blue-and-gray flannel, and my favorite hiking boots. These are the clothes I’m most comfortable in, and dressing up felt like overkill.

A woman wearing a hospital name tag meets us at the elevator.

“Welcome to Denver Memorial, Mr. Heaton,” she says warmly. “We’ve closed off this section of the parking garage to get you inside, and I’ll be taking you in through a staff tunnel. You’ll have a private waiting room once we get inside.”

I turn to Luther, the head of my new security team. “Make sure Erin’s team brings her there too, okay? And Matias’s family. I don’t want anyone taking photos of them either.”

“Yes, sir.”

I’m lost in my thoughts as we’re led through the tunnel and up to the floor where Matias’s surgery is taking place. It’s been a hell of a week.

Bryce’s cousin Oscar was arrested in Florida a few days ago. Fans of my team, pissed off that the team has a losing record this season with me out as quarterback, shared his photo far and wide until it became impossible for him to stay hidden anymore. A gas station clerk turned him in and asked my team if he can get a signed jersey. They’re sending him a lot more than that.

My return to the team is still up in the air, though. I’ve been hitting the gym hard when I’m not traveling, but I’ve lost strength and speed, and it won’t come back overnight. My coaches have been frank with me—they want me back as soon as I’m ready, but they don’t want me before then. There’s no way it’s happening this season.

That doesn’t bother me as much as it would’ve before the bunker. When I thought about my regrets down there, I never wished for a chance to set another record, win another Super Bowl, or even play another game. I’ve done all that.

I’ve been pushing myself so hard for so long that I’ve never considered doing anything else. Having anything else. But the more time that passes since I’ve seen Erin, the more certain I am that I’m ready for a life with more than just football in it.

Just football. Never thought I’d use those two words together. But the past few months have put things into perspective.

“Right here, Mr. Heaton,” the woman from the hospital says.

The spacious room has several couches, chairs, and tables. I don’t even consider sitting down. Instead, I walk up and down the tile floor, alone in the room as my security people wait outside the door.

It’s around twenty minutes before I hear the handle on the door turning, and my pulse pounds with the same excitement I used to feel at the start of a game.

It’s not Erin, though. More than a dozen people stream into the room, all with Matias’s dark hair and warm brown eyes. They’re all speaking Spanish, and I don’t understand a single word they’re saying until a woman cries out my name.

Suddenly, they’re all lining up to hug me and shake my hand. Their voices are animated and emotional, and I don’t have to speak their language to know they’re thanking me for helping Matias.

An older woman with gray hair pulled back in a tight bun cups my cheek and looks into my eyes, saying soft Spanish words to me that I wish I understood. Someone gestures at a chair and says, “Rosa,” encouraging her to sit down.

“Grandma Rosa?” I ask, arching my brows. I remember that name.

She nods happily and keeps patting my cheek.

“Matias…tamales,” I say, gesturing at my mouth with my hand and then rubbing my stomach.

“Ah!” Several people cry out and talk animatedly.

A man who looks a few years older than Matias walks into the room and comes over to me.

“Hi, I’m Diego, one of Matias’s brothers,” he says. “Sorry, it took me a while to find a parking spot or I would’ve been here sooner to translate.”

“Hey, I’m Derek.” I shake his hand heartily. “And don’t worry about it. We’re having a great time.”

His expression turns serious. “We can’t ever thank you enough for what you’ve done for our family.”

“It’s my pleasure.” I clap him on the shoulder.

He shakes his head. “I don’t think you understand…your agent…he hired an immigration attorney for us. He had a new washer and dryer sent to my parents, which they’ve never had. And Matias getting this transplant… We’re the kind of people who pay our way, but this is all stuff we can never repay.”

“I don’t want any repayment, ever. Matias talked about his family a lot down there, and how close you guys have always been. And I don’t have a lot of family myself, so if there’s anything I can do for him or any of you, consider it done. Matias is family to me now, and you guys are too.”

Diego nods, his eyes welling with emotion. “He’s always been a great kid.”

I see a flash of blond hair, and I say, “Excuse me, I think I see someone I’ve been waiting for.”

The closer I get to her, the harder my pulse pounds. She’s getting mobbed with hugs from Matias’s family, smiling as they squeeze her and say things she obviously doesn’t understand any better than I did.

Holy shit, she’s beautiful. It’s the first time I’ve seen her wearing anything but the red tank top and jean shorts she had on in the bunker, and I liked that outfit enough to take it off time and time again, but now…

She’s wearing dark skinny jeans and a gray T-shirt with three-quarter-length sleeves that has my team logo on it. Seeing her in it makes me a little dizzy with wanting. Her hair falls over her shoulders in golden waves, and she has a little makeup on.

That’s my girl.

It keeps running through my head as she finally turns her attention to me. Erin is the woman I never expected to find and never plan to let go.

We move toward each other at the same time, both of us running until we meet in the middle, and I sweep her up into a mighty embrace that takes her feet off the floor.

She smells like heaven—a light, slightly floral scent I’ll never be able to get enough of. I bury my face in her soft hair and breathe her in.

“You shaved,” she whispers in my ear.

When she kisses my bare cheek, my pants immediately fit a little tighter in the crotch. I’d pay an obscene amount of money for a private room with a bed right now.

Matias’s family is tittering and awwing at our display of affection. Erin laughs as I kiss her softly and then set her feet back on the ground.

Grandma Rosa walks over to us and cups Erin’s cheek the same way she did mine.

“Babe, this is Grandma Rosa,” I say. “The one who makes the great tamales.”

Erin lights up and hugs her. Even though it would be nice to have her alone right now, it feels right to share this time with Matias’s family. They’re a warm bunch. For now, just having Erin back in my sight again is enough.

When Erin walks into the suite I booked us at the boutique hotel, she sighs happily when she sees the mountain view.

“It’s perfect.” She turns to look at me with a joyous grin.

“Best view I’ve ever seen.” My gaze is entirely on her.

Matias’s transplant went well. We got to see him briefly afterward, which made all three of us emotional. He was prepared to die in the bunker, and I think he’s still shocked to have made it. But also, grateful.

I walk up behind Erin as she’s watching the sunset out the wall of windows. Our suite is on the hotel’s top floor, where we can see the amazing views, but no one can see in.

“I missed this,” Erin says as I wrap my arms around her, sliding my hand beneath her shirt and across her stomach.

She tips her head back to rest against my shoulder.

“We can stay here as long as you want.” I kiss her temple and then move down to her jawline.

A sound in the distance jolts me back to reality. Helicopter blades.

“We need to close the curtains,” I say quickly.

Erin helps me darken the room by drawing the long curtains across the wall closed.

“What’s that about?” she asks.

“News helicopters.”

“Oh, nice. The photos they got of us leaving the hospital weren’t enough?”

I laugh humorlessly. “Not even close.”

“Sounds like an even better reason to hole up here.”

I pull her back into my arms. “What will we do with ourselves, though? No chessboard in sight.”

When she gives me a knowing smile, I’m a goner. I pull her shirt off over her head, needing to feel her soft, warm skin as I kiss her. She tugs on my clothes in return, and we somehow manage to get over to the bed while undressing each other.

I reach down to my discarded jeans and pull a roll of condoms from the pocket. The roll drops open, revealing a strip of seven condoms.

“Wow.” Erin arches her brows. “Someone’s feeling pretty confident.”

“It’s not confidence,” I admit. “It’s…you.”

“Oh, Derek.”

Every time she says those words, I’m instantly rock hard, and this time’s no exception. I love the way she looks down at my cock and then licks her lips.

I want to go slow and worship her the way I’ve been fantasizing about for months. But when she wraps her hand around my thick cock, her eyes hooded and sexy, I lose it.

We’re all hands and mouths, moans and groans as we tumble to the bed together. We already know each other’s bodies so well, but there’s a charge of excitement in the air over this being our first time having full-on sex.

Erin wraps her legs around me, and I groan deeply, unable to wait another second. I tear open a condom, roll it on, and bury myself deep inside her.

“Oh my God,” she cries. “More.”

The desperation in her tone drives me, and I thrust myself all the way in, bringing a cry of pleasure from her throat.

“Fuck, babe.” I bury my face against her neck and throat. “You feel amazing.”

Erin’s not a passive partner—she’s grinding against me, her strong legs wrapped around my midsection as we fuck with all the pent-up desire of the past few months.

She comes first—hard and long. I love the way she tells me not to stop, but it’s all I can do to hold on.

When I finally let myself come, it’s like a fucking freight train. I groan as the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had passes through me like an electrical current.

“Fuck,” I gasp.

“Yeah.” Erin is breathless as I roll off her, and she looks over at me and smiles. “So, that’s what we’ve been missing.”

“Lots of making up to do.”

“Ready when you are,” she says sweetly.

“Give me a minute.” I put the back of my hand over my forehead and look over at her. “And then it’s on.”