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He nodded. “I’m the annoying one. I keep in touch with the three of them. They’re like brothers to me. Even if they don’t want to be.” He gave me a disarming smile. I could see why Chase called him a real lady-killer. Those muscles, that Irish twinkle in his eyes and dimple, coupled with the whole heroic firefighter thing? Yeah, that worked. But I clearly had it bad for Chase, since my first thought was, “He’d be great for Tori!”
“Do you guys see each other often?” I asked.
“I pretty much force them to show up for the Fourth of July party I throw every year. Jax usually does something to draw the cops, but they’re all my buddies anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Ian comes, too?”
Even Liam’s good humor dampened at the question. “Not last year he didn’t. That was the first time he’s missed. I’m worried about him. I keep waiting for things to get better. Instead they keep getting worse.”
“I’m sure the answer is yes,” I started, unsure, knowing I was treading on sensitive ground. “But has he worked with a good therapist? Someone trained in both massage and physical therapy? And water exercise, that can be so good for rehab and pain. I know a whole bunch of people I could put him in touch with—”
“Thank you, Emma.” Liam meant it, but he also stopped me. “That’s good to know. I’m sure it would do him a world of good. But he’s stopped all of that.”
“But it’s what he needs, if he’s got serious injuries. He needs to move, get stronger. The more he sits, the more the pain will grow.”
“I know.” He nodded, looking downcast. “I know.”
OK, I could tell I needed to get down off my soapbox. There was a time to push, and a time to sit back and listen. I’d only just met Liam. It wasn’t time to establish myself as the Crazy Lady his friend Chase had started dating, obsessed with her job and forcing it down people’s throats whether they wanted it or not.
“Well, we can talk more about that later,” I relented. “Tell me about the island where you live.”
He warmed right up to that topic, getting me laughing in no time with funny stories about the uber-wealthy people who flocked in droves to Naugatuck. As a firefighter, he got some ridiculous calls. Just last week, a member of a vacationing hiphop star’s entourage had called in distress. Quick, they had an emergency! Liam and a few other guys had responded to the call, arriving at the estate to find the singer in purple silk pajamas, his pet monkey high up in a tree and not coming down.
“But, don’t monkeys live in trees?” I asked, not understanding the distress.
“Yes, they do,” he confirmed. No rescue necessary, just a banana to lure him down.
It was exciting meeting Liam, but nothing prepared me for the visitors who arrived the next day. Chase had it all set up. We were back at the house, sitting around watching TV. The Olympics, of course! The gymnastics competition was on. The swimmers had all sorts of dirt on the other athletes, who was juicing, who was just phoning it in (was anyone in the games really just phoning it in?), who deserved the gold.
When the doorbell rang, no one moved to get it.
“Emma, would you mind seeing who that is?” Chase asked. I thought it was a little weird, but, sure, I didn’t mind. I walked over, opened the door and there stood my parents.
“Hi honey!” My mom came in for a hug. “Surprise! Chase flew us down!”
“He what?” I stood there in shock.
Dad hugged me, too, as we all still remained in the doorway. “Well, can we come in and meet Chase? And the team?” He looked around me, the eager fan. Decked out head-to-toe in official Olympic USA Swim Team gear, my parents were posterboard fans.
“I can’t believe it!” I ushered them in and my dad fell right into talking stats with Chase, congratulating him on his record in butterfly.
“I got to tell you, I was worried about lane seven. Know what I mean?” I heard him saying. “You never know what that guy’s going to bring. But you had him beat.”
I stood there watching my parents chat with Chase and the other swimmers, so full of excitement and joy I was literally speechless. Chase looked over at me, a full five inches taller than my dad so it wasn’t hard to catch my eye. He gave me a wink, then returned his attention to my father.
And just like that, I knew. I was in love. Head over heels, want to spend the rest of my life with him in love. It hadn’t taken long. I’d only met him three and a half weeks ago. But when you knew, you knew.
The remaining events flew by in a blur. Another silver, a bronze, then three gold medals to finish, in the 200 IM, the 100 fly and the medley relay final. Seeing him on the podium that last time, with his three teammates, all of them raising their interlocked hands. I’d never felt anything so emotional, the roar of the crowd, hugging my mom as we both wiped tears from our eyes. I was so proud, so excited, so in love.
He found me right after, as we met him out on the swim deck. He swept me into his arms, kissing me soundly, deeply, full of gratitude and promise. We were on top of the world.
CHAPTER 18
Chase
“How about Ibiza?” I trailed my fingers down Emma’s back, pausing at the dip before the swell of her buttocks. She had the best ass I’d ever seen, so pert and round and perfect for playing. Right now with her lying against my chest and my head propped up on a mound of pillows, I had a great view. And with my long arms I could reach it, too, lightly grazing her soft skin with my fingertips.
She wriggled under my touch, pressing her pussy against my thigh. I could feel she was still slick from my having just fucked her. Yes, we needed to go to Ibiza. Or really any other beach town so I could have her in bikinis half the time. The other half I’d have her completely naked.
“Where is Ibiza?” she asked, lazily caressing my chest. What she could do to me with an absent-minded stroke of her fingers, good Gawd.
“It’s an island in the Mediterranean. Off the coast of Spain. It’s basically one, long party in paradise all the time.”
“That sounds good to me.” I could feel her smile against my chest.
“Or we could go somewhere quieter. More private.” I cupped her ass cheek in my hand, caressing it, drawing my fingers along the bottom of her swell, dipping between her legs. “We could head straight up from Rio to Antigua, or Saint Kitts.”
“How do you know about all these places?” she picked up her head and looked at me. “Have you been to them all?”
“No, but I know people who have. I’ve been all work and no play. But that’s going to change now.” Six gold medals and a world record to my name, I’d say it was a good time to step away from my sport. Especially when I was stepping into the warm and waiting arms of my woman.
She sighed happily. “That sounds so good. I should probably talk to my boss. If she’s still willing to talk to me.” Apparently Emma had had to do some convincing to get a leave of absence to work with me. I’d have to personally thank her boss, maybe give her a signed photo to hang in her lobby. Her sports wellness practice had contributed to Olympic gold. That ought to put her in a good mood. I should have a PR rep FedEx the photo so she already had it in hand before Emma requested more time away.
“Is it really almost noon?” Emma sat up, having caught an unfortunate glimpse of the clock. That was another thing, I needed to ban clocks from my life. For a while, at least. I’d been so obsessed with time down to the ticking fraction of a second. I was done with that. I wanted to measure the passage of time in Emma’s moans and sighs of pleasure, much more enjoyable metrics.
“I have to go get my stuff! Tori and I are supposed to be out of the condo by two!” She sat up and dashed into the bathroom to shower before I could slow her down. See? I was already losing my edge. And it felt so good.
What seemed like only moments later Emma dashed out again. Wet hair in a ponytail, she slipped on panties, a sundress and flip-flops. I liked a woman who didn’t need to primp. And she still looked deliciously gorgeous.
“I’ll be back in,
like, an hour? Or two? I have to run and get my stuff and then say good-bye to my parents.”
I groaned. I was supposed to have lunch with my mom before she took off today, too. My father had already left last night.
“See you soon.” She gave me a quick kiss and hustled out the door, leaving me with the faint reminder of her freshly showered scent.
I gave myself another blissed out minute, just lying in bed. Completely satisfied. And then I checked my phone.
I’d turned it off the night before. What could anyone have to get in touch with me about? I’d swum my events. I’d done my part. Now it was time to chillax.
I had a lot of missed calls. And a bunch of voicemails. And a shitload of texts and emails. They were probably all offering congratulations, but it looked like a lot even for that. Come to think of it, my roommates had knocked on my bedroom door a couple of times, even though they knew I was in there with Emma. What was up?
