Edge (16 page)

“Yeah, shit’s been bad with my dad,” I said. “What do you want?”

“Strawberry daiquiri, if they have them.”

I ordered the drinks and turned back to her. “Yeah, my dad caused a drunk driving accident a few weeks ago and I cut him off.”

“Is that what’s bothering you?”

I met her eyes and sighed. “No.”

“What’s up, then? I’ll keep it in confidence.”

I trusted Kate as much as Ryke, so I didn’t hesitate to tell her. “I met someone in Rockford.”

Her face lit up. “Luke! That’s great.”

“Yeah.”

“So why are you down about it?”

I shrugged. “Because it can’t work out. She’s the team trainer. I travel, she travels …”

“So you can’t see each other as much as you’d like. Neither do me and Ryke.”

“She also has a kid.” I passed the bartender a bill, took the drinks and handed hers over.

“Thanks.” She took a sip. “So her kid makes it hard for her to meet up and see you?”

I took a pull of the beer and rubbed the back of my neck, aggravated. Kate was oversimplifying things. “Not just that. I don’t want to screw something up when a kid’s in the picture. My track record with relationships isn’t so great.”

She tried to cover her smile by taking another sip of her drink. “What track record?”

“Exactly.”

“When was your last relationship?”

I thought about it. “Five years ago.”

“Are you wishing you could have a relationship with … what’s her name?”

“Dell. Adella.”

“Pretty. So are you?”

I rubbed my jaw line and sank into a seat at a table for two. I didn’t know how to answer her question.

“I already told you, we can’t.”

“All I asked is if you’re wishing it.”

I shrugged and threw back more of my beer. “I don’t know. I just miss her so much. I didn’t know it would be like this.”

“Is there something you aren’t telling me?” Kate lowered her brows and studied me. “Is she married or something?”

“Hell, no.”

“Then what’s your problem? She’s less than two hours away. If she can’t come to you, go to her.”

It sounded good, but … “I don’t want to lead her on. Make her think we can have something we can’t.”

A dark figure swept in behind Kate. Ryke wrapped his arms around her from behind. She broke out in a wide smile.

“Hi, baby.” He moved her long blonde hair aside and planted a kiss on her neck. She glowed, and I fought back an image of Dell sighing when I kissed her neck.

“Hey, asshole,” Ryke said, nodding at me.

I sat my half-finished beer on the table and stood up. “Hey. I’m leaving.”

“Didn’t you just get here?” he asked.

“Yep. Tell Swanson I said happy birthday.”

“Where are you going?”

“Rockford.” I met Kate’s eyes for just a second. I’d always thought women were best at complicating things, but she’d just made them look pretty fucking simple.

Dell

The guys were slowly filing out of the locker room, and I hoped they were going out to blow off steam. Tanner had called several of them unworthy of oxygen after tonight’s loss and even threatened to cut half the team and replace them with high school students. To say the guys were down was an understatement.

I rounded up the last of the dirty towels and found Mikey, who was organizing equipment.

“I’m throwing these in the wash,” I said, nodding at the laundry basket I held against my hip. He nodded and I headed down the concrete hallway to the boiler room where the washers and dryers were.

I was looking forward to an off day tomorrow. Kyler and I would get to enjoy our favorite Sunday rituals: pancakes and cartoons, a matinee and homemade pizza for dinner. I needed a day to focus only on him. The road schedule was wearing me down.

Luke’s team had a rare Saturday night off, I knew from the long glance I’d taken at their schedule, which was posted on a magnet in our locker room. What was he doing? Probably going out – he was a single 28-year-old man, after all. I swallowed against the bitter taste that rose in my throat when I imagined him kissing another woman. As if it would stop there. When my thoughts wandered to him saying another woman’s name right before he came, I slammed the laundry basket down on the concrete floor.

I had to stop thinking about him. This was going to drive me crazy. He was gone. It’d been three days since he’d even texted me. And the message had been about how many goals he’d scored at practice – it hadn’t exactly gotten my pulse pounding.

With a spin of a knob on the washing machine, a steady stream of water started flowing. I was reaching for the powdered soap when a hand wrapped around my waist. Taking in a sharp breath, I was about to scream when another hand slid over my mouth.

“Shh,” a familiar voice said. “It’s me, baby.”

I craned my head to find Luke’s cool blue eyes looking down at me. The hand on my waist slid beneath my shirt and he caressed my midriff with his long fingers. He slid his other hand away from my mouth and turned me to face him.

The sweet, longing expression I remembered from our last time together was gone. His blazing eyes made me feel like a sheep being stalked by a wolf. So why did that create a flutter that started in my stomach and dropped down between my thighs?

He looked almost angry as he ran a thumb over my jawline, studying me. He moved his hand back into my hair and grabbed a handful, pulling it to tip my face up to his.

My lips parted slightly and he descended, devouring my mouth with his. He pushed my body against the washing machine with his, and the force of the hit only added to my arousal.

My muffled moan into his mouth seemed to incite him further. His tongue tangled with mine and I reached, not caring where my hands landed. I gripped the hard lines of his waist, finding it all resistance. There wasn’t anything extra there for my fingers to sink into.

One of his hands was still pulling my hair –
damn
, that felt good, and he made short work of pulling down my yoga pants and panties in one motion with the other hand.

Someone could’ve walked into the boiler room at any moment, but I didn’t care. This was all that mattered. He wasn’t moaning another woman’s name; he was here, with me. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t care, either.

He flipped me around roughly and my palms hit the top of the washing machine. I froze for the second he spent unzipping his own pants, not wanting anything to interrupt this state of bliss. I knew what was coming, and I was practically shaking with desire.

The rip of a foil wrapper made me widen my legs a little more.

“You want me?” he asked, his voice hot against my ear.

“Yes.” I barely got the word out, I was so overwhelmed by how much I wanted him.

Wrapping a powerful arm around my chest, he gripped my shoulder with one hand and shoved inside me with so much force I cried out. He fucked me with deep, hard thrusts, breathing hard and grunting into my hair.

The sensations were overwhelming. His strong body driving into mine with such force had me on the edge of an orgasm already. And knowing he wanted me – not a random from a bar, but
me
, made me dizzy with satisfaction.

I wrapped my fingers around the back of the washing machine, needing something to brace myself with as he fucked me hard and fast. I’d just taken hold when he spun me around again. His eyes had softened a little, and he lifted me by the waist and sat me on the washing machine.

My lips tingled with soreness from his rough kiss, and he leaned in and kissed me tenderly, easing the sting. He worked my pants the rest of the way down and I kicked off my shoes so he could get them off.

He pushed my thighs apart and pulled my ass toward him. When he pushed himself back into me, we moaned together at the sensation. He filled me completely, and I knew any other man would be a disappointment after him.

His thrusts were just as deep, but slower now. He kissed me again, soft and sweet, and then pulled back to watch my face. With a quick motion, he pulled the t-shirt over my head, his eyes flashing when he took in my black satin bra.

As satisfaction built in me, he moved faster, knowing exactly what I wanted and when. I slid a hand into the back of his hair and grasped it between my fingers. His eyelids dropped closed for a second and I knew he liked it.

“Luke,” I said, his name coming out in a gasp. “Oh, God. Don’t stop.”

“I won’t stop, baby.” His voice was low and sexy. “I drove here just to make you come. Do you like having my cock in you?”

“Yes.”

He reached around to my back and unfastened my bra, pulling it off and letting it fall to the floor. I leaned back on my hands and met his thrusts with my own.

“Jesus, baby,” he muttered. “You’re so fucking hot. I love watching those little tits bounce.”

His words made it impossible to hold on. I let my head fall back as I came hard, moaning loudly as he gripped my ass and held it tight, fucking the last of my orgasm out of me. But he didn’t set me back on the washing machine; he drove himself into me hard one last time and I felt his release coursing into me. His ragged exhale was laced with a groan; his eyes glazed with satisfaction.

My body fell slack, and Luke wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him. The sound of the spinning washing machine was all I heard for a few seconds as I relished the feel of his chest rising and falling against mine.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, pulling my face back to look at him.

A couple seconds of silence passed before he spoke. “I don’t know.”

His angry look was back, and I was suddenly aware of my nakedness. He stepped back to pull his pants up and I slid down from the washing machine and dressed quickly.

Luke paced a few steps and then turned back to face me. “I can’t stay. But we can go get dinner before I go back if you want.”

Standoffishness from a guy who had been inside me less than five minutes ago? This was awkward.

“Um, no, I need to get home to Kyler.”

He nodded. Was that relief I saw on his face? Had he driven an hour and a half to get laid and then drive home? Apparently so, though he could’ve found a willing woman within five minutes of his home.

“Okay, so …” He walked over to me and planted a quick kiss on my lips. “See ya.”

“Yeah, okay.”

I was bewildered as he left the boiler room. What in the actual fuck had just happened? I hadn’t felt this way – like a cheap lay — in years. Back when I was in college, I’d thought this was the way it was supposed to be.

But now I knew that not having a man in my life was better than feeling this way. My confusion turned to anger as I flung open the top of the washing machine and dumped the basket of sweaty towels in.

I wanted to chase him down the hallway and confront him. But that would only add to the drama. No, the way to end this extended dalliance was to say nothing. I wouldn’t answer his calls or texts anymore. He’d have to find a new woman to tell how many goals he scored at practice and have hot sex with.

Damn. Sometimes doing the right thing really sucked.

Luke

I’d done a lot of things side by side with Ryke, but this was the first time we’d chopped onions and peppers together. We were at his kitchen island, doing the prep work for chicken fajitas while Kate sat at the table feeding AJ a bottle.

“You getting all emotional on me?” Ryke asked.

“Fuck you. It’s the onions.” I wiped my sleeve across my eyes.

“Sure it is. I love you too, man.”

I blew out a breath, deciding to dive right in since Melody was in her play room and I could use all the words I wouldn’t say in front of her.

“I did something kind of stupid.”

Ryke turned to Kate and gave a half-laugh, half-snort. “That means he fucked up on an epic scale.”

She glared at him. “Let him talk.”

I gave him a look that said I knew who was boss in their marriage - not him.

“So spill your fucking guts,” he said, agitated.

“I went there Saturday night. They had a game, so I caught the end of it and then found Kate when she was starting some laundry.”

“And?” Kate prodded. “Did you guys talk?”

I shuffled a foot on the floor. “Not really …”

“Just come out with it,” Ryke said. “Kate’s used to straightforward, trust me.”

“I fucked her up against the washing machine.”

Kate’s face twisted with uncertainty. “That’s … fine. It’d been a while since you’d seen each other. Women like men who … know what they want.”

Ryke walked over and kissed her, pulling away with a growling sound. “Women like men who bend them over and fuck them into tomorrow. That’s what she means.”

Kate’s cheeks pinked, reminding me of Dell.

“The sex was good,” I said. “We both loved it. It was after that I fucked up.”

“What happened?” Kate asked.

“I pretty much just left.”

“Oh, shit,” Ryke muttered. “You fucked her and then just left?”

“I told her we could go get dinner if she wanted. She said no, so I left.”

Kate’s eyes were wide with disbelief. “What did you say when you left?”

I didn’t want to say it, but they were my friends. “See ya.”

Ryke laughed so hard he doubled over behind Kate, who was looking at me with a mix of shock and pity.

“
See ya
?” she repeated. “Luke …”

“I know.” I rubbed my jaw line, frustrated. “It was a dick move. But I froze. I couldn’t tell her any of the things I should’ve said. When we were … fucking … I was all filled with
feelings
.”

Kate gave me a dirty look. “You’re supposed to be filled with feelings.”

“Not when you’re banging,” Ryke cut in.

“Right.” I nodded in agreement.

“But you know she’s not just a cheap lay,” Kate said. “You knew there were feelings.”

“Not like this.”

“He’s in love with her.” Ryke’s words made Kate and I both turn to face him.

“I think you’re right,” she said.

“That can’t be.” I shook my head. “Being in love feels good, and this … I’m pent up and pissed off and can’t even think straight.”

“Bet you thought about saying it while you were fucking her.” Ryke spoke with confidence, arms crossed across his chest.