False Start: A Football Romance (21 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Kiptyn             

This is not what I came here for. Fuck. Not that I'm complaining one single fucking bit. Not one day has gone by that I haven’t dreamed of being buried deep inside of her, but is it the right thing to do? She doesn’t even know . . .

All thought stops when she pushes me off her. She stands and shoves me down on her bed. I roll over, looking up at this beautiful fucking woman above me. Her tank top falls to the floor, quickly followed by the short booty shorts she slept in last night. I lie there unable to move, struck completely immobile by the most magnificent sight I've ever set eyes on.

My eyes wander to her stomach, and for a second, I think I can see a tiny bump there. Not enough to be noticeable unless, of course, you’re looking. It’s perfect, just like every other inch of her body. I try to sit up, but she shoves me back again.

Feisty. I like that.

Her hands grip my jeans and she pulls, taking my boxer briefs down with them. Leaving my jeans on the floor, she crawls her way back up my legs. She kisses up my thigh, trailing her soft, full lips across my skin, all the way up to my hip bones and across my stomach . . . then lower.

Lower.

Lower.

I can’t decide if I need to hold my breath or let it barrel rapidly out of my lungs. She sits back on her heels and gazes down at me. I wish I could read her mind. I’d pay anything to know what she’s thinking right now. Her hand replaces her lips, running along my chest, my abs. My breath catches when her hand reaches the short stubble of hair on my groin.

She reaches out and gently, almost reverently, runs her finger down the backside of my cock. It jumps the moment her cool skin touches it, and she laughs, low and sexy. Wrapping her hand around me, she pulls, stroking up and down.

My eyes slam shut as a tense groan of painful pleasure escapes me. She slows her rhythmic pumping just before I feel her breath puffing out against me. Her tongue slips out between her sexy lips and circles the head of my dick. I force my eyes open to see if this is real. I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven.

She glances up at me from under her lashes, watching my expression. She licks the head, leaving a trail of spit on it. My cock jumps again before she slides her mouth down, sucking me into her warm mouth. I feel her tongue still circling my dick inside her mouth, popping against the head of it each time she raises before lowering herself back down again.

Her hand wraps around me, stroking along in tune with her mouth. I feel my orgasm building in the base of my cock. My hands grip the sheets tightly. Sweat beads on my brow.

Her ass is poking up in the air, wiggling a bit. I watch for a minute, imagining pounding into her hard and fast from behind. She moans, taking more of me. There’s no way she can swallow all of it. No one ever has. It doesn’t stop her from trying, though. I can feel the back of her throat when she drops down, and I can’t take another second. I feel the orgasm start deep inside of me, racing through my veins.

My cock hardens even more.

I try to pull her off, not wanting to fill her mouth with my seed, but she keeps going, sucking harder and stroking me faster and faster, her tongue licking the head over and over.

The first wave crashes over me. My cock pulses, my seed shooting out, coating the back of her throat. She moans and swallows a mouthful before sucking more of me down again. I pulse again and again, filling her mouth. My body shudders, and I lie there stupefied. Never in my life have I had a blow job like that. I can't move. My heart is pounding in my chest at an alarming rate.

She licks the head one more time before kissing her way up my chest to my neck, my cheek, and my lips. I capture her, flipping her over on the bed below me, careful not to jostle the baby inside of her. My cock is already stirring, ready to slide deep inside her silken folds.

“Mmm, so sweet,” I say, kissing along her neck to the hollow spot at her shoulder.

“Make love to me, Kiptyn.”

Sweeter words have never been spoken. My lips never leave her when I slide into her, inch by slow, agonizing inch. She stretches around me, her sweet juices coating me, making it easier for me fit within her tight pussy. Her legs wrap around my waist, crossing across my back, pulling me farther inside. I can't wait another second.

I pull out until just the head is resting right inside of her, and then, taking a breath, I slam into her—hard. She cries out, not in pain, but in ecstasy. Pure fucking ecstasy. Her nails scrape my back as I pull in and out, slamming into her over and over. I feel her getting closer. She tightens around me, pulling me into her, demanding that I give her all of me, like I have a fucking choice. She is my master, and I, her willing servant.

“Yes. Yes. Yes.” Her cries fill the room, and then she shatters around me, pulling me over the edge with her.

“Oh, fuck,” I grind out as my seed fills her, shooting into the deepest, darkest crevices of her womb. I fall over on top of her, spent.

I don't know how long I lay there on top of her, with her hands drawing lazy circles across my back, before I move. I shouldn't have let this happen. I know better. I’m the worst kind of shit to come in here and take advantage of her while keeping something like this from her.

Shame consumes me. I hate myself at this moment, and the person I've become. Was getting my dick wet really that important?

Now that I lie here completely satisfied, I can answer with a clear mind. No, it wasn't that important. I wanted her, yeah, like I had never wanted another soul, but it was more than that. I needed her. I needed to touch her, hold and kiss her, and dammit, I wanted to make her feel something. I wanted her to feel something for me, only me, before I tell her the truth, and risk losing her again.

I should have never touched her phone. I should have left it alone in my car and brought it to her today, and maybe things would have played out the same way and everything would be fine, except I wouldn't know about the baby. I might not have ever known, and she could have destroyed it, leaving me none the wiser. No, what I did was wrong, and I knew I'd pay for violating her trust, but it was the only thing I could do.

Chapter Eighteen

Skila

“Sky . . . baby, I have to tell you something, and I know it's going to be hard to hear, but hear me out, ok?” Kiptyn says, kissing along my jaw.

I don't like the way that sounds. My heart rate increases, worrying at what he’s going to say. “I kept something from you. I know it wasn't right. I meant to tell you, but then one thing led to another, and then . . .” he trails off.

I think we both know what happened. I sit up in the bed, wrapping the sheet around my chest. For some reason, sitting here completely naked feels wrong. I need to hide myself, shield some part of me from whatever truth he thinks he needs to tell me.

“Ok. What is it?” I ask. There’s no point it drawing it out any longer. Let's get it out there and move on. One thought keeps circling in my head.
Please don't say there is someone else. Please.
I know, it sounds so petty and trivial, but I can't imagine him touching and holding another person the way he just did me. Everything about it felt right.

It was perfect.

“I um . . . I listened to your voicemail on your phone. Lisa had called, and I answered to let her know I had it, and then when I set it up on the counter, I must have pressed the button on accident . . .” he trails off again, hanging his head in shame.

I know I should be upset. A normal person would probably be flipping out, screaming and shouting about violations of privacy and all that, but I don't really care. I can deal with this. The crushing weight on my chest lifts, and I smile at him, relieved.

“It’s ok. It was an accident, Kip. Don't worry about it,” I say, but he isn't finished yet.

I think back. There's nothing in my phone that I need to hide, so what did he see or think he saw that has him so worried? I don't understand.

“The doctor had called,” he says, reminding me of the voicemail I ignored when he knocked on the door.

Shit. What is it?

“And . . . is everything ok? Did they say something bad? Am I ok? What is it, Kiptyn? Tell me.”

I'm frantic now. I jump from the bed, pulling the sheet with me, and run to the kitchen. Snatching my purse off the counter, I dump its contents, searching for my cell. Kiptyn stands behind me, pulling my arms back, forcing me to turn and look at him. He’s pulled his pants back on and slipped his shirt over his head. It’s inside out, but I don’t think he cares right now.

“You’re fine, baby. It wasn't bad news,” he says, and I can tell he feels bad for making me think it was something else.

I lean my head against his chest, listening to the gentle beat of his heart before angling my head up and asking, “Then what? What are you not telling me, Kip?”

He releases an anguished sigh. “You're pregnant.” I hear the words. They echo over and over in my head.

Pregnant.

A baby.

I can't be. I need to have sex to get pregnant, and I haven’t. Not once. Not since . . . Camryn. Oh my God.
No, no, no.
I think back to the last few months—the sickness, my wild emotions, my pickiness. Even Lisa had commented on it.

I.

Am.

Pregnant.

The room tilts, and shades come down, down, down over my eyes as I fall to the ground unconscious.

Chapter Nineteen

Kiptyn

Son of a bitch, she fainted. I didn't expect that. I don’t know what to do. I gently lay her against the carpet and grab her cell from the counter. I’ve never dealt with a pregnant girl before. Is fainting normal? I have no fucking clue. Hitting the
call
button, I dial Lisa’s number. She answers on the first ring.

“You can thank me later, babe,” she laughs into the phone.

I need to remember to actually thank her when this is all said and done. If it hadn't been for her, then I doubt I'd be standing here now. She’d answered early this morning when I called to ask what kind of coffee Skila liked, and then she’d vacated the premises when I showed up so that I could work my magic. Of course, it had cost me a hundred bucks, but I wasn't complaining. I’d gladly pay ten times as much for just one minute with her.

“Lisa, it’s Kip. Skila fainted, and I don’t know what to do. Should I call an ambulance? Fuck.”

“Skila what? I’m almost there. Just wait.” She hangs up the phone, and not even a minute later, I hear her shutting the front door.

“Over here,” I call out to her. She rounds the corner and takes in the scene.

“What the hell happened?” she asks, bending down next to Skila and calling out her name.

“I don’t know. I mean, we were talking, and then all of a sudden, she hit the ground.”

“What the hell did you say to her? I swear to God, I don't care who the fuck you are or how much money you have, if you break her heart, I'll make you pay.”

“It wasn't like that. I . . .” I stumble over the words, not wanting to tell her how I fucked up. “She’s pregnant.”

Her gaze snaps to mine, and I watch as the words replay in her mind. “Pregnant?” For a second, I worry she’s going to faint too, but then she stands and walks to the kitchen. Grabbing a cloth from the drawer by the stove, she wets it and brings it back over, running it against Skila's forehead.

“That explains a lot,” she says, and I wonder what she’s referring to, but I don't ask because Skila is coming around.

She looks up at me, surprised. “Are you okay?” I ask her, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah, what happened?” she asks, and then she immediately remembers. I can tell. Her head snaps up. Her eyes question me. I nod my head.

“Pregnant?” she asks out loud, hoping that I misunderstood.

“Yes, baby. You’re going to be a mommy.” Tears fill her eyes, and I feel like shit. I should have known. She doesn't want this. She doesn't want a kid.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. How the hell am I going to convince her to keep something she doesn't want? Should I? I don’t know what to do anymore. It seems every decision I make is the wrong one.

She tries to sit up, so I help her, pulling her to her feet. Lisa wraps her arms around her—consoling her, congratulating her, I have no fucking clue. Skila reaches for her phone, and I hand it to her. I watch as she puts it to her ear and plays the message for herself. Tears stream down her beautiful face, and my heart cracks open.

I can’t stand here and see this. I can’t watch her heart break because she’s pregnant with my nephew, the one and only thing left in this world that carries a part of my brother in him or her. I turn, and for the first time since meeting her, I walk away.

I don’t make it far before Lisa comes barreling out the door. She looks like a momma cat protecting her young the way she charges me. Her hand snakes out, slapping me across the side of the head.

“What the fuck is your problem?” she yells. Someone down the hall pops their head out the door and watches for a minute before losing interest and going back inside.

“MY PROBLEM?” I scream back at her. I can't believe this shit.

“Yeah, asshole, your problem. I thought you cared about her. I thought you wanted to be with her. What’s wrong? Find out she's knocked up and decide it ain't worth your time?” I swear, if she had been a man in that moment, I would have knocked the shit out of her.

“No one—and I mean no one—talks about her that way. I don't give a fuck if you are her best friend. She deserves better than that,” I yell into her face.

Temporarily stunned, she doesn't reply right away. “Then what the hell are you doing running away?” she asks.

My face is red. I can feel the blood rushing to the surface. “You saw her. She's upset. She's fucking crying. She doesn't want the baby,” I reply.

“Are you kidding me?” she asks, her voice a mixture of shock and incredulity, and for the first time, I wonder if maybe I was wrong.

Maybe I misinterpreted the way Skila was acting, but I saw her reaction. I saw her tears, and for fuck’s sake, she fainted, fucking flat out fainted when I told her. I'm not wrong. I can't be. Lisa isn’t done laying into me yet. I'd like to just walk away, but call me a sucker, because I want to hear what she has to say.

“Men are truly some of the most stupid, pigheaded bastards in the world,” she mumbles to herself, running her hands through her hair and walking in circles, pacing back and forth.

“She was
CRYING
because her emotions are running wild. How can you even think Skila wouldn't want the baby? Do you know her at all? All she's ever wanted is to be a mother, but the doctors told her she wouldn't ever be able to carry one. She had a bad accident horseback riding several years ago, and the surgery destroyed her insides. Of course she wants the baby.”

Every word she says hits me harder than the last. How many times am I going to fuck up before I learn my lesson, before I stop and think shit through instead of just acting out?

“Fuck.” I have nothing else to say. That one word completely covers it all. I feel like a complete ass. I wish I could rewind time fifteen minutes and do it all over again.

“Yeah, fuck. Now take your sorry ass back in there and try not to fuck up this time.”

Go back? I can’t go back. Can I?
Will she even talk to me? I mean—I don't question it anymore, not that I can with her best friend standing here with her hands on her hips. She looks like a pit bull, ready to attack. I walk back into the apartment.

Skila is sitting on the kitchen counter with one hand over her belly, the other still holding onto the phone. She looks lost and afraid, yet the touch on her stomach is light and reverent. She holds her hand against her, almost like she’s afraid to move it, that if she did, the baby would disappear. Walking up to her, I wrap my arms around her and kiss her.

Slowly, she comes back to life in my arms and responds to my touch. I kiss her again and again, apologizing for every mistake I've made and every mistake I’m sure I’ll make in the future. I don't touch her anywhere but her mouth. I don't try to pull her sheet off or run my hands down her body. I just kiss her. Five minutes, twenty, two, I don't know how much time passes before she pulls back and lays her head against my chest.

“I’m going to be a Mommy,” she whispers into my shirt.

“I know, Sky. I know, and I have no doubt you will be fucking amazing, and I hope . . . if you’ll have me, that I’ll get to be a daddy. I know you haven’t known me long at all, and from what I know of you and Camryn, you have no reason to trust any of us Price fools, but I want to do right by you and the baby. I can’t explain why. Even before I knew you were pregnant, I was drawn to you. You’re different, baby. You make me want to be a better person than the mess of a man I have been these last few months—hell, these last few years. I’ve never felt this way before. I don’t know what it is or what to do with it right now, but I want to spend my days by your side trying to figure it out.” She tenses in my arms and lifts her head, searching my eyes for the truth. I gaze back at her and rub my hand against her small baby bump.

“Will you, Sky? Will you let me be this little bugger’s daddy?” I ask her. She nods her head, and the smile that crosses her face steals my breath away. I can’t believe how fucking lucky I am. I lift her, sheet and all, and carry her back to her room, where I spend the next hour making sweet love to her.