Dirty Tackle: A Football Romance (4 page)

“I have been, but I—” She said something else, but I didn’t catch it.

“It is impossible to talk here. C’mon,” I said as I slide my hands down her shoulders and cupped her hands in mine. “I promise to only do things you want me to do to you.” I gave her a wink and was relieved to see the mischievous smile cross her face. There she was; a hint of the Maddy I’d known when I was a kid. She was there underneath this slick, professional exterior that had “Do Not Touch” in red warning letters written all over it.

“Just for a few minutes. Then I have to go,” she said. She looked at her watch. “I have appointments early tomorrow.”

I wasn’t going to argue with her. For now, I was going to take her acceptance at face value and use the opportunity to get her alone. Talking was one of only many things that I wanted to do with her, and I was going to take everything that she’d give me.

I kept her close to my body as we exited the darkened bar. I wasn’t sure why I had thought this was the perfect place for a reunion. After barely one drink, my senses had been on fire wanting to touch her again. I wanted to break through the cool façade that she seemed to have cultivated in the years that we had been apart. I had so many questions for her, but I kept my mouth shut.

Instead, as we sat next to each other in the cab, I let my hands speak for me. I let my fingers fall on the exposed skin of her knee just below the hem of her very proper gray skirt. For a moment, I didn’t move. I was testing how far she’d let me go. So far, despite her telling me at every turn that it would be inappropriate, her body was telling me a completely different story than her words. I felt that same way the one night we spent together. A blazing hot scorching desire burned between us that usually ran the opposite of any logic or reason. That fire hadn’t diminished in any way from what I could tell.

After giving the Uber driver my address, I began to knead her soft skin. I heard her barely perceptible sigh, but otherwise, she was stiff as a board as she stared out the window. I could tell that she already regretted her earlier decision to give in, but I would make sure that she didn’t regret it later.
 

I wouldn’t have believed anyone if they had told me that morning that Madeline Thompson was going to walk back into my life. I would have told them that was crazy. When we parted ways, she had made it clear that things were over between us for good. Hell, they’d never even begun.
 

It still hurt. I had thought I was over all of that, but it still hurt a lot. Seeing her again had brought it back to the surface and made the pain fresh again.

I should have tried—to get in touch with her, to find her when I went home. But I knew back then she was going her own way, and I was going mine. She said the same thing right before I put her on that plane.

So when Coach Shaw announced that there was a new sports medicine physician joining the crew, I hadn’t even bothered turning around from my locker. It wasn’t until after I heard the low whistles of appreciation from the guys around me that I decided to check out what all the fuss was about.

They’d seen her picture, seen her taking the tour during her initiation into the practice.
 

And then, there she was, her picture on the brand new pamphlet. The girl who had gotten away. The girl I
let
get away, all those years ago. The team had passed the pamphlet around, admiring the picture of the new doctor. I guess it wasn’t often that we were treated to a smoking hot physician, but damn, there she was. Gorgeous, curvy, smirking smile. I wanted to yank the pamphlet away from everyone that day. She was
mine
. Definitely not anyone else.

“Doctor Thompson will be facilitating care here at Grimstone several days a week and will be part of the traveling team for away games. I don’t want to hear anything about you guys giving her a hard time. She’s here to make sure you’re in tip-top shape to play, which I didn’t need to remind you is the reason we’re paying you to begin with. Now let’s get to it.”

That was the day I knew I was going to find her. And I did, that very morning, right after my appointment.
 

Still beautiful, still perfect. Still far and away smarter and better than I was.

Would the fact that I was a multi-million dollar earning NFL receiver make me good enough for her?

Had I ever been?

I squashed those thoughts now, in the back seat of the Uber, as I let my hand slide up her thigh pushing the hem of her skirt with it. Maddy put her hand to cover mine. “Shane,” she said in a warning tone. “This is nice but—”

Putting my hand behind her neck, I pulled her lips to mine again. She barely had time to think about protesting. Nine years was a long time to deny myself of the pleasure of tasting her, and I intended to do it whenever possible from this point forward.

My tongue traced the outline of her lips, and they opened for me even as a small moan escaped her lips. She ran hot and cold at the same time, just like I remembered. But just like I remembered too, it took the smallest of pushes to move her over the edge.

Her hand left mine, and I continued my exploration up the soft skin of her thigh even as our tongues danced. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. The only thing keeping me alive was the taste of Maddy’s tongue and the silkiness of her skin.
 

I barely heard the clearing of the throat from the front seat that signaled we had arrived at our destination. I hadn’t been paying the slightest bit of attention. I pulled away from Maddy just long enough to observe her slightly swollen lips. I couldn’t wait to see them wrapped around my cock.

Pushing a wad of bills through the window up front, I opened my door and helped her get out of the car and settled on the curb. Her cheeks were flushed as the cab pulled away, and she tried to straighten her skirt and her hair.

“You have to stop doing that,” she said avoiding my eyes.

“Why?” I asked. I gripped her chin and pulled her eyes up to meet mine. “I’ve missed you.” There. The words were out and in the open between us.

Her eyes widened. Then she sighed, but it sounded as if it was being dragged from the deepest parts of her soul. “I missed you too.”

Leaning down, this time, I dropped a simple soft kiss against her temple. She was skittish, and I had to take a beat to not drive her away. Time. I had nothing but time. “Then there’s no way I’m going to stop doing that.”
 

Taking her hand, I led her into the building. My condo was on the top floor. I nodded to the doorman as we swept past him. I wondered if she was thinking what I was thinking. Probably not, since my mind was going a million miles a minute bouncing from one topic to another.

Her legs. Those alone would require a year's worth of time to properly appreciate.

Her breasts. Heavy and warm and full. Just the kind of place where I could see spending all of my free time buried between them as I drove Maddy to the heights of ultimate pleasure.

Her eyes. They kept darting to me and then around the room, which reminded me that this was a far cry from where Maddy would have last found me. My thoughts settled here, which wasn’t the most welcome place by far.

As we waited for the elevator, I kept my hand on the small of her back. I felt her tremble every few moments, and I wondered if it was because she was as keyed up as I was or, if, for some crazy reason, she was afraid of me.

I smiled at her as I nodded toward our surroundings. “Not bad for a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, huh?”

Her expression was all seriousness. “You were always destined for big things, Shane. I knew that even if you didn’t.”

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped inside. I pressed the button for the top floor, turning over what Maddy had just said. It was a variation of the same song and dance she’d given me the last night we’d been together. Back then, I’d had nothing but my wits and my athletic ability to push me out of the small town of Rosewood where we had grown up, giving me a chance at making something of myself. After our one night together, I had grabbed on to that chance with both hands and never let go.

When the elevator doors slid open again, I let Maddy walk out in front of me. I passed her to unlock the door to my condo and held it open for her. She stepped inside and paused just on the other side of the threshold.
 

“Just one drink,” she said.

I had to keep it cool and not tip my hand too soon. I brushed my hand across her back to move her forward and felt her tremble again. I was more confident than ever that it was being close to me that was doing it to her. My fingers itched to find her warm, silky center between her thighs and see if she was just as excited as I thought she was for what was about to happen.

That was the thing that I had learned long ago in interacting with Maddy. She wasn’t the kind of girl who jumped into anything without giving things a good long think—it took her a whole year to sleep with me, and thats not counting four years of high school. I suppose that’s why she had ended up becoming a doctor. She was cool under pressure, reserved, and always did the right thing. What the hell she’d ever seen in me was a complete mystery, because I got pumped up when something went my way and even worse when it didn’t. I was gregarious with my friends and teammates, but if there was a wrong way to go about doing something, it seemed that was usually the path that I chose.

I never lacked for anything these last couple of years since being drafted by Washington. I suppose it had to do with feeling as if I was making up for lost time in my childhood. It was a common theme discussed with my shrink, although I preferred to think of it as I was finally living life on my terms and by my rules.

I let Maddy move deeper into the condo. There were plaques on the walls displaying my various accomplishments from Brooks University—that is, after Maddy left. I was good at what I did and I knew it, but I wasn’t an ass about it. It was just a fact. I wondered if she had ever bothered to watch me play since I joined the team. I wondered if, before last week, Maddy had ever really given me a thought at all.

I watched her move, graceful and slow. It was as if she was trying to absorb minute details about me as she explored my place, which no doubt she was. Her fingers ran along the back of the leather couch as she finally stood in the center of my living room staring out at the dazzling view of the skyline beyond the floor to ceiling windows.
 

“This place is amazing, Shane,” she finally said.

“Thanks. It looks even better with you in it,” I said. I caught her gaze and moved toward her. I had never been able to resist this woman. Nine years ago, I’d been a bumbling idiot when it came to the fairer sex. I’d like to think that with as much practice as I’d had since then, I was the complete opposite now.

I stopped just a hairbreadth away from her. I could see that her breath quickened at my proximity, and her eyes widened even as she craned up her neck to look up at me. I didn’t touch her, though. Not yet. I wanted her to ask for it. I wanted to hear her say my name in a begging tone that gave no question that she wanted—no, needed—a release that only I could give to her. This was going to be a slow, tortuous adventure of exploration and desire for us tonight. I would make sure that she had no question left in her mind of what we could have if only she’d let down her walls and let me in.

“What do you want from me?” The question seemed to slip from her lips. It felt heavy and weighted in the air between us.

I reached up and brushed the pad of my thumb across her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed, and they opened ever so slightly. If I wanted to, I could push my thumb between those coral colored lips, and I’d bet money that she’d wrap her tongue around it so fast that she could have me on my knees in zero point two seconds. The balance of power between us was so delicate; it could shift that fast.

That’s why I had to keep my brain in the game. Maddy had always had the power to be my complete and utter undoing.
 

“I told you. I missed you,” I said, finally answering her question. I lifted my thumb from her lips and now let my fingertips glide across the plane of her cheek. Her dusky toned skin was so beautiful. It shone in ebony flickers as the lights of the skyline seemed to slide across her face. “I missed seeing your face. I missed hearing you laugh. I missed our hour's long conversations where you filled my head with all that nonsense that I had a bright future.”

“That was all true,” she whispered. “Anyone with eyes could see how talented you were on the field. You were the only one who didn’t believe it.”

There had been a reason for that. There one other person in my life with as much influence as Maddy had continually told me back that I was nothing but a worthless piece of shit. It had been a mantra that had threatened to seep into my psyche, curl up, and fester there as truth. Maddy had been the counter to it, but even she hadn’t been able to completely wipe it away.

“There were a lot of things I believed back then,” I said as I settled my hand against her collarbone. I let my hand lay flat so that my palm rested above her heart. I could feel her heartbeat racing just underneath my fingertips. As always, Maddy was playing it cool, but her body gave her away. “Like I was good enough to get the girl. But I’d been wrong about that, hadn’t I?”

Her eyes fell downward away from mine. “That was a long time ago,” she said. “Why dredge that up now?”

I let my hand fall to my side. “Right.” I moved around her to the bar and pulled down two highball glasses from the shelf above it. There was a scotch sitting there as well that I had been saving for a special occasion. Maddy had ordered a scotch neat at the bar. Surprised the shit out of me, but if there was one thing I greatly admired, it was a woman who wasn’t afraid of the hard stuff.

I opened the bottle and poured the amber liquid into the glasses. Then I turned and found Maddy had perched herself on the bench of the grand piano sitting next to the doors that led out onto the balcony. “Do you still play?” she asked with a soft smile.