Player: A Secret Baby Sports Romance (52 page)

“
L
ook
, I’m sorry you had to see that back th-”

“It’s fine.” Quinn’s arms are crossed over her chest, her face as stiff as her body and staring straight ahead as the elevator in our building slowly rises.

“Quinn, there’s a lot more to-”

“
Logan
, it’s
fine
, OK?” She snaps, her jaw tightening and her eyes still looking right in front of her.

The door opens at her floor, and she starts to step right past me when I stick my arm out, stopping her as I jam my thumb against the close door button. The elevator starts to rise and her face flashes fiercely as she whirls on me; “What the
fuck
are you-”

“You don’t get it, do you!” My voice is louder and harsher than I mean it to be, but it certainly gets her attention . Her eyes flash fire as she glares at me. The door opens to my floor, and Quinn shakes her head and makes to move past me again. I grab her by the wrists this time, shoving her back against the elevator door-well; “This little dance we got going on, darlin?” I’m close to her, so close that I can feel the heat of her breath across my lips and the heave of her breasts against my chest; “Well it’s gotta
stop
.”

“Well the sooner you get your fucking
hands
off of me, the sooner I’ll be all too happy for it to!”

She tries to yank her hands away from me but I hold her fast, the heat and the naked tension almost palatable in the air between us; “
Goddamnit
, Quinn! Will you just fucking listen to me for one
fucking
second! I’m trying to tell you tha-”

“Oh,
save me
, Logan,” Quinn cuts me off, rolling her eyes; “What is this, the part where you give me some sort of bullshit line about how you can’t get me out of my head?” She shakes her head in disgust; “Well it’s
not going to-
”

“If I can’t get you out of my head it’s because you’re the only fucking thing I
want
in my head!”

The hallway goes pin-drop silent but for the sounds of our breathing. Her eyes dance across mine in wild tango, her chest rising and falling quickly with the pounding of her pulse that I can feel in her wrists beneath my fingers. And I know if we say one more thing at all, the fire that’s barely being held back will engulf us both, and burn until there’s nothing left but her and I in this singular moment.

Her lips part, and as the word comes whispering from her lips, it’s all over; “
Logan-
”

My mouth crashes against hers, and she’s whimpering as she kisses me fiercely, her tongue eagerly sliding between my lips as I grab her ass and haul her into my arms.

I practically tear the sliding door off its track as we come crashing into my loft; her legs wrapped around my waist and her mouth attacking my neck. My hands are grabbing that sweet, tight and curvy ass of hers as I kick the door shut behind us and walk straight towards the only piece of furniture in the whole apartment. I toss her down onto the bed as we’re yanking our clothes off, barely able to tear our eyes away from each other. She skims off her shorts, letting me see all of her since we left her torn panties wherever I tossed them back at the hotel pool. I let my jeans drop and my cock spring out, I love the look of
need
in her eyes as she licks her lips when her eyes drop hungrily to my erection. It’s a move that would look outright slutty on any other girl in the world, but the way it looks on her just makes my pulse thud like a fucking jackhammer.

“On your fucking knees, darlin;
now
.” I growl at her, wrapping my hand around my cock and stepping towards the bed where she’s sprawled out.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re kind of a bossy fucking asshole?” She raises an eyebrow at me as a grin teases her lips.

“Anyone ever tell you you’ve got a dirty mouth, Doc?”

Her grin curls, looking downright wicked; “Oh you have
no
idea how dirty my mouth can get.”

Dear Lord, take me now.

She giggles at the look of shock I can’t even try to hide on my face at her words; “Actually, I don't think you could even
handle
it.”

She smirks again at my stunned silence; this girl is
incredible.

Before I can even come up with something snarky to say, she’s flipped around and sliding off the edge of the bed onto her knees. She’s looking up at me, her legs spread as she kneels on the floor, and I would literally give every cent I own for a camera right at this moment. She opens her mouth as she looks up at me, slowly sticking her tongue out and barely grazing the head of my cock with it.

Yeah, she’s right; there’s no
fucking way
I’m going to handle this.

Her eyes flash at me, and almost in slow motion, she’s slipping forward and wrapping those perfect, plump lips around my cock. Her mouth is amazing, and her tongue is like silk, and I’m slipping my fingers into her dark auburn hair and holding her to me. She’s slow and deliberate, her hands on my thighs and using just those lips and that
wild
tongue to bring me closer and closer to the edge, until I’m practically gasping for a breath of air as I pull her off of me.

She looks up at me with soft, pouty eyes, and it’s the sexiest look of disappointment in the history of the world; “Why’d you stop me?”

“Because I was about to fill that mouth with cum, that’s why.” I growl out.

I turn to look for a condom when I feel her fingers wrap around my length, and when I turn back round, she’s grinning wickedly up at me; “Good.” I groan as she sucks me back in, and it’s barely a minute later before I’m gasping out her name as I grab her by the hair and explode white heat into her mouth.

I’m seeing spots, trying to stop my bullet-train of a pulse from exploding out of my chest when she stands and grins at me. She gives me a saucy looking raise of her brow before she turns around and slowly bends over across the bed on her hands and knees. She turns to look coyly at me over her shoulder; “Now what was that about me being on my knees?”

Holy fucking shit, this girl is a Goddess.

And there’s something about the transformation in a matter of hours from good-girl, prim little Quinn Archer to this new sex-Goddess of a woman bent over on my bed in front of me basically begging me to fuck her from behind that has my cock back to rock hard in seconds. I finish tearing the condom out of it’s wrapper and roll a it on as I step up behind her and push the head against the silk of her opening. The way her moan sounds so soft and innocent in contrast with the forward, naughty way she’s just offered herself to me drives me
wild
, and I groan as I begin to push inside of her. My hands are on her hips, and she’s sliding back onto me as we both choke out gasps of pleasure as I slowly fill her all the way up.

And when we fuck, it’s raw and it’s animalistic, and it’s
incredible.
I’ve always said that fighting was the biggest high I’d ever had, and I do mean
including
sex. But that particular opinion shatters like a cheap imitation that night with her. This right here - this feeling of being one with Quinn Archer - is the highest I’ll ever be, and there’s something so real and right about it that the world slips away around us. She’s begging for it hard, and deep, and fast, and I’m giving her everything I have until I feel her seize up around me as the cooing moans drip from her lips. We both come crashing together, shuddering into each other as the world shatters around us and leaves us both breathless and gasping for air as we collapse onto the bed.

T
he boxing bag
hanging down from the ceiling in the middle of the room is the first thing I notice when I open my eyes. I’m still in Logan’s place. I’m also hardly the expert on the subject, but I feel like I at least know enough that “sleeping over” is pretty much top on the “not-to-do” checklist when it comes to casual hook-ups.

Of which I know
nothing
about, apparently.

Oh, shit. Shit-shit-shit-shit.

I should
not
have done that. What the hell was I even thinking? Drinks, skinny-dipping in a deserted rooftop pool? Did I actually
buy
all that crap? When I look back on the previous night, it just seems like some sort of cliched movie scene from some cookie-cutter romantic comedy, and there I was swallowing it hook, line, and sinker.

Hardly the only thing you swallowed last night
; the thought has me blushing bright crimson and biting my lip.

I mean whatever happened to that first time being a “one-time thing”? What happened to calling it a mistake that I was just going to push to a dark corner of my mind; one that I’d keep covered with an extra glass of wine or three at any family get-togethers where I’d have to be around him? Yeah, a one time thing; and here I’ve gone and done it again -
twice
.

I can feel Logan stirring behind me, the scruff of his chin brushing against the back of my neck as he absently kisses the skin there. The subtle movement is
perfect
, and at the same time, it’s terrifying; terrifying because of how damn
comfortable
it feels being in his arms with the familiarity of that kiss on my neck.

What
are we doing? Because as perfect and familiar as this feels, why does it also feel like some dirty little secret affair?

“Morning, gorgeous,” He mumbles, his arms pulling me tighter against his bare body. But I’m squeezing my eyes shut and trying to fight the swinging of my heart between wanting to let myself just sink into him or just jump out of this bed and run.

My phone chimes from the floor next to the bed, distracting me from the moment, but I ignore it and begin to shift towards him; “Logan, I- I mean, we-”

My cell goes off again, and I frown and turn back to grab it off the floor and peer at the text on the screen:

“I’m downstairs- Buzz me up! Let’s get brunch.”

It’s
Reagan
. My
sister
is downstairs probably trying to buzz my apartment, which I can’t hear because I’m naked in bed with her fucking
brother-in-law
.

“Oh,
shit!
” I’m bolting out of his arms and sliding out of the bed, looking wildly around for my clothes and trying to ignore the fact that I’m naked.

“Hang on,” He says sleepily, “I’ll walk you-”

“No, Logan, I have to get out of here.” I snap.

“OK, OK, relax, Doc-”

“
Now
, Logan.” I huff out quickly, yanking my shorts on and looking under the bed for my shirt.

“You know, for the girl who doesn’t do flings, you’re starting to get pretty good at this whole hit it and quit it thing, Quinn.”

I jerk my head up to see the dry smile on his face; “That’s- that’s not what I-” I shake my head; “I mean it’s no big deal, I just don’t-”

“So how about we just invite Reagan up for some breakfast then.”

He plucks my phone off the bed, and I shriek and snatch it back out of his hands; “Don’t you
dare!
” He gives me a thin smirk before his eyes narrow and he looks away.

“Wait, Logan, I didn’t-”

“Yeah, Doc, I get it.”

“I just mean she can’t-”

“She can’t know about this
lurid
little secret; I
get it
, Quinn.”

I’m dressed, but I’m just standing there across the bed from him, not really sure what I’m waiting for. Closure? Release? Affirmation that me running out the second we wake up and not talking about what happened doesn’t just make this whole thing even more messed up?

“Logan-”

My phone rings again in my hand and I wince. Logan just slides out of bed and pads across the loft to the bathroom, where he slams the door shut behind him.

* * *

“
H
ey
, you ok?”

I’m walking through the Union Square Farmer’s Market with Reagan, picking over strawberries and trying to drag my mind away from what happened back in Logan’s apartment. I’m also trying to concentrate on whatever my sister is talking about. Clearly, I’m failing.

“Uh, yeah,” I shake my head and pop a strawberry into my mouth; “Yeah, I’m fine I guess.”

Reagan arches a brow at me with a sisterly look I know all too well; “Bullshit.”

“You know, you’re starting to swear as much as your husband, Ray.” I stick my tongue out at her; “You two
are
going to have to quit talking like sailors when the baby comes along you know; “ I say, nodding at the small bulge in her stomach.

“Oh, give me a break; I happen to like my husband’s dirty mouth,” Reagan says with a wicked little wink, and I blush. Of course she doesn’t know that I’m
actually
blushing for a
different
reason concerning that particular dirty word-play.

Anyone ever tell you you’ve got a dirty mouth, Doc?

OK, yeah,
that
needs to get the hell out of my head
right
now.

“You’re distracted.”

“Hmm?” I try and look as innocent as possible, which is hard with thoughts of Logan’s cock throbbing through my head and the guilty blush across my cheeks.

“Is it work? No, wait,” Reagan peers into my face with a little grin; “It’s a
guy
, isn’t it.”

Crap.

“Nope.”

“
Quinn
.”

“Hmm?” My sister has this big shit-eating grin on her face and I look at her nervously; “
What
?”

“
Uh,
Quinn you have a
giant
hickey on your neck.”

The flush hits my face like a heatwave, and I cringe and look away as she laughs; “Well
well
! Cool as a cucumber Quinn is all turned around because of a
guy
! Do I need to save this date for posterity or something?”

I roll my eyes, trying to will the color away from my cheeks; “It’s not
like
that.”

“Well, then dish; what
is
it like?”

Forbidden? Off-limits? Wrong? Incredibly hot and the best sex I’ve ever had in my life?

“He’s- he's someone I shouldn't be with; like at all.”

Reagan rolls her eyes; “Well you’re talking to the right girl, you know. We’re in
my
wheelhouse now!”

O
h you have no freaking idea how right you are, Ray
, I want to say. But of course I don’t.

“
So
, spill it! Why is this such a bad thing?” Reagan frowns; “Oh, God, this isn’t another workplace thing like with Andrew, is it?”

“Uh, no.” I swallow heavily and look away to avoid her look, but I know she catches me anyways.

“Quinn-”

“Ok! Yeah,
sort of
.”

Reagan’s eyes go wide as she grins at me; “At Archer? Is he like your boss or something” She makes a dramatic face as she pokes me in the arm; “
Ooo,
so
scandalous
, girl!”

“Sort of? Not
really
I guess.”

More like just plain bossy?

My younger sister waves her hand as if brushing something away; “Oh, who cares then? I say go for it; I mean
how long
ago
was Andy?”

We’ve moved on from the strawberries towards a stand selling cutesy “farm-style” kitchen utensils; “Uh, well, I also sort of live with him.”

It spills from my mouth before I can stop it, and Reagan about drops the wooden salad bowl she’s looking at as she turns to stare at me with her jaw on the ground; “
What?!
”

“No! No, not like-! I mean, he
lives
in my building.” I stammer, feeling more and more flustered the further down this rabbit hole we get.

“
Ooooh!
” Reagan shakes her head at me; “Well, yeah I guess that would make things complicated.”

Tell me about it,
I think glumly, dropping my gaze to the ground.

She seems to see the fall in my face though; “Well, is he worth it?”

I shrug.

“Is he worth
you
?”

I hope so? On both accounts?

* * *

“
L
ook
, what are you doing now?”

We’re back from the farmer’s market in the lobby of my building, arms full of organic produce. I laugh; “Making salad for the next thirty-seven meals?”

Reagan giggles; “Look, let’s just drop this stuff off and go get brunch and mimosas or something.”

I make a face at her; “
Mimosas
, preggo lady?”

She rolls her eyes again, “I meant for
you
, doofus; you look like you could use one. I’ll just stick to orange juice and as many sugary breakfast carbs as they’ll let me eat.”

I laugh; “Sounds worth watching, but I actually need to catch up on some stuff for the new proj-”

And just then, the elevator lobby-door next to us decides to ding open, and without a second’s warning, Logan Dempsey walks right off and
right
into us. I briefly wonder what the odds of a sinkhole occurring at that very moment in that very spot are.

Reagan blinks; “
Logan
?” She looks at him quizzically; “What are you
doing
here?”

His face looks pretty much exactly how I’m sure mine does - frozen in absolute shock -  but he manages to catch himself faster than me, standing there rooted to the spot; “Oh, I- uh, I live here.” He swallows; “I mean, I keep a place here. It’s a temporary thing.”

“Oh!” Reagan frowns, looking confused before she turns my way; “Quinn, why didn’t you
tell me
that Logan-”

I know it’s over when I can feel the heat just
pulsing
from my face; “
Oh,
” She finishes, giving me a strange little grin before turning back to him with a smile; “Oh
you
live here!”

“Uh, yeah, sort of.” His eyes dart to mine over Reagan’s shoulders, and I can see the flash of something in them; “Just a temporary space really while they're working on re-doing my penthouse.”

“Oh,
right
, of course!” Reagan turns back and looks pointedly at me, before she turns back to Logan; “Well, Logan, whoever she was, I hope you’ve got her locked back up now.”

He frowns; “Excuse me?”

“The jungle girl who gave you those crazy hickies on your neck!” Reagan grins, clearly relishing this moment while I just want to melt through the floor right there. Even stone-cold Logan looks totally flustered, and even borderline
blushing
as he laughs nervously. He brings a hand up to rub the marks on his neck, and it wouldn’t take a forensic team to figure out that they pretty much exactly match the size of my lips.

He forces out a chuckle; “Oh, yeah, that.”

The lobby of the building is
so
awkwardly silent for a solid ten seconds that I actually start to wonder if just running back out the door would be as horribly embarrassing a plan as it sounds.

“So, I’ll, uh- I’ll see you at the meeting tonight, Quinn.” Logan finally says quickly, his eyes darting across my face.

“Uh, yep; uh-huh.”

He opens his mouth as if to say something more, but then closes it instead and turns back to my sister; “Nice to see you, Reagan.”

He’s barely out the door before my sister is turning to me, the corners of her mouth curling up into a huge grin; “
Oooookay
,
now
we’ve got something to talk about, don’t we?”

I nod pitifully, looking at the floor and just wincing.

“I mean, I’m right,
right
?”

When I say nothing, she comes over and wraps her arms around me, and I just melt into her shoulder, sniffing and trying not to let the emotions get the better of me; “Hey, you know I’m the
last
person in the world who’s going to judge you for falling for one of Dad’s guys.”

“I know, Ray, but it’s just such a fucking cliché
!
”