Page 146 of Game Plan

“If you wanna go back to your place, I was thinking of joining you.” I watched him with a raised brow. “I thought it might help ease the sting if I kissed it better.”

“Shepard, are you propositioning me?”

My cheeks burned under his stare. “What do you say? Want me to kiss it better, Mase?”

“Fuck, you won’t have to ask me twice.” He motioned to the athletic building behind him with his thumb. “I’ll be fast. Super lightning extra fast, love.”

A snicker escaped my lips. How had I not allowed myself to fall for him sooner? “You sound like your eleven-year-old self.”

“Because the girl of his dreams is about to rock his world, just like he’s wished for all these years. The kid in me is bouncing with joy right now, Shepard.”

“I’m glad I’m the reason.” I closed the distance between our bodies and molded my mouth to his. “Hurry up. I have a full playbook of make Mason feel better strategies I wanna try on you.”

“I love it when you talk game plans, baby.”

His hand connected with my ass, and I let out a loud gasp. “Let’s meet by my car in twenty?”

“I’ll be there.” I was ready to leave when I decided otherwise, shifting my focus back to him. “Hey, Mase? Even if you lost today, you played well. I’m proud of you.”

I walked away, soon swallowed up by the crowd scattered across the field.

My heart fully belonged to the football player I was sure was still watching me from where I’d left him standing. It pounded so hard inside my chest that I was certain we were meant to be. No matter how much I’d tried to deny our connection in the past, never again would I be able to keep Mason Pierce at arm’s length in the future. We were it, and I was at peace knowing I had found my person. The one I was destined to love through everything life would throw at us, for as long as I lived.

Mason and I were in his kitchen a few days later, and I was sitting on the counter—wild hair and bare legs just how he liked it—only dressed in one of his practice jerseys, as he emptied the fridge, trying to figure out what we could cook for dinner. Since our first date, we had spent most of our nights together at his place, our little bubble away from our busy schedules.

“Nachos?”

I smiled. “Yes. You’re sexy when you talk Mexican food. Maybe we could watch a movie while we eat.”

“Only if it’s Naked Tuesday Night from now on,” he proposed, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I tapped my finger against my chin. “Hmm, it sounds great. We already did Naked Tuesday Late Afternoon earlier.” We both had a free period before our training sessions and met here for a little exercise session of our own—one that involved no clothes and a lot of bare skin.

Mason put a container of queso on the counter, and I unscrewed the lid and dipped a finger into the creamy melted cheese mixture. With my eyes glued to his, I brought my finger to my lips, sucking it clean before releasing it with a soft pop.

“Fuck, baby. If you keep doing this, we’re not gonna eat actual food all night because we’ll be too busy sampling each other instead.” His mouth found mine, and he kissed me like there was no tomorrow. When he released me, I pretended to pout. “That would be perfect for our Naked Tuesday Night. Do you think we could keep this up every week for the rest of time? Do you think it would work? I’d kiss you until neither of us could take it anymore and make you come over and over again until I couldn’t get another orgasm out of you. What do you say?”

I wound my legs around his hips and tugged him closer. “Let me think.” I drew shapes over his naked torso with my fingernails, and Mason grew hard in his gray sweatpants. Goose bumps spread all over his bare chest, and he sucked in a breath, trying to keep his cool, though everything he wanted to do to me was laid bare in his blue irises.

“Shepard, if you don’t decide soon, I’ll toss you over my shoulder, haul you to my bedroom, and eat you up till you agree. I know some tricks you can’t resist.”

I grinned. “Okay, caveman. I like the idea.”

Sexual tension coiled around us, making us its prisoners. Not detaching my eyes from his, I chewed on my bottom lip in the way I knew he couldn’t resist, hooking my thumbs into the waistband of his pants and boxer briefs. I pushed them further down his legs with my feet, then locked my legs back around his waist, tugging him forward. His erection pressed against my inner thigh, and there was no doubt he could feel the wetness pooling there through the one layer of cotton remaining between us. Mason rolled his hips forward, unable to stay still, and desire built in my core. A soft whimper parted my lips, and my head jerked back as moans tumbled out when he sucked on the sensitive flesh of my neck.

Before things escalated and we ended up making out in the kitchen, I spun on the counter, jumped down, and raced up the stairs to his bedroom. I heard him stumble, followed by a low curse. His boxer briefs were probably still around his ankles, slowing him down as he chased after me.

When we finally reached his room, I was waiting for him, my panties at my feet, only his jersey hiding the creamy expanse of my skin, the one he was clearly hungry to devour with his eyes and explore with his mouth, judging by the way his tongue swept across his lips.

“I love you,” he said. “With everything that I am.”

“Is that so?”

“Like crazy.”

“Cool because I love you like crazy too, Mason Pierce. More than you’ll ever know. And I will always love you.”

“Good, because I’ll never let you out of here. I’ll be your first and your last—and everyone in between. This thing we share, it’s real. More real than anything else in my life. I’ll make you the happiest girl in the world. Just wait and see.” He took one predatory step toward me, the air thick with tension. “I promise to cherish your body every day of my existence.” One more step.