The lads howled behind him. Jake muttered something about being misunderstood, but no one listened, because Coach Em stepped in beside Knox, voice carrying across the pitch.
“Sloane. O’Riley. You two demonstrate.”
Teddy froze. Her fiery gaze flicked to mine. This wasn’t my doing, but she didn’t let that stop her from being pissed. She dragged her palms down her shorts, jaw set, and nodded to herself.
Then, with brisk efficiency, she marched over to the grass, dropped to sit, then laid herself out. Every nerve in my body misfired and redirected to my dick. This wasn’t the first time I’d imagined her in this position; it was however the first time I was seeing it in real time and in front of both our teams, no less. Not ideal when her grumpy ass just made me hornier. The harder she scowled, the harder I got.
She lay there focused, owning the moment. I stood above her, painfully aware that whatever balance she’d found, I’d lost.
Damn it, focus.
I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath, putting on my captain hat.
Not a single comment was made by either team. They all knew they’d be doing this soon anyway, and if we made more shit talk, we’d be paying for it until we puked.
The only thing that got my feet moving toward her was the ability to recite Ireland’s current squad. I blew out a breath as I reached her. I could do this. I could climb on top of the woman whose tongue had been down my throat just days ago. Who’d been grinding on my dick like… shit, shit, shit.Rob Herring. Ryan Baird. Jamie Osborne. Jack Boyle.
“Whenever you’re ready, O’Riley,” Coach Em shouted.
Right.
I dropped to one knee beside her, pulse thudding hard enough to feel in my fingertips. Teddy didn’t look at me; her eyes were fixed on a point somewhere ahead of her like I didn’t exist, like this wasn’t affecting her at all, like it wasn’t the closest we’d been since her mouth was on mine in a dark closet.
Lowering myself onto all fours, my hands planted either side of her shoulders. As my knees sank into the grass beside her hips, the space between us shrunk until all that filled my senses was sweat, grass, and that familiar, infuriating blend of something sharp and clean that always made my concentration split down the middle. I moved close enough for her to wrap around me. Both in body and scent.
As if she were equally aware of the little distance between us, her eyes flicked to mine. And when her tongue darted out to wet that plump bottom lip, I had to dig my nails into the mud.
Do not think about her lips.
Do not think about her legs tightening around you.
But it was useless. I knew in a matter of seconds I’d feel her on me again, and I’d have no choice but to keep it cool.
“Climb on, sunshine,” I whispered, heart hammering in my throat.
Her breath left her in a slow controlled stream that tickled my chin, her lips thinning at the nickname I knew she didn’t like. She slid her arms upward, looping them around my neck, anchoring herself to me. My body recognized hers as she hiked a leg around my hip. I locked every single muscle, summoning all my self-control so I didn’t lower directly into her.
This was just another drill.
Just. Another. Drill.
Her next leg moved, and she hoisted herself up, locking them at the base of my spine. Heat bled through the contact and our noses brushed. Every thought in my brain scattered like kicked gravel. Up close like this, everything she tried to hide was there.
The tiny pulse fluttering in her throat.
The tension pulling across her collarbones as she braced herself.
The tremor in her fingers wrapped around my neck.
My arms and core screamed with the effort of not sinking into her and claiming her for myself. I could so easily buckle under the weight of wanting her. Fuck everyone watching.
I swallowed hard as her calves flexed, pulling me closer, and for one agonizing second, her pelvis lifted, settling against me in a way that made my vision flicker. I couldn’t do anything except hold myself above her and pretend this drill wasn’t killing me one breath at a time.
“Move,” she whispered, jaw tight.
I nodded once and pushed my feet beneath me to relieve the pressure on my knees.
Teddy’s strong legs tightened around me, and I gathered every ounce of discipline I had ever learned playing rugby and placed one hand forward on the turf.
