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“You’ve got to let us throw you a baby shower too! As a thank-you for coming to my bridal shower.”

I yanked my arm out of her hold. “Well, I bailed on your party to, you know, get pregnant. So I don’t think there's any favor to repay.”

“You met the father at my party?” she squealed, following after me as I walked down the hall. “That’s amazing! We have to throw you a shower now.”

“You really don't. My part— co-parent’s work family is doing something, so I’m all set on the party front.”

“Oh come on.” She grabbed my arm again and I suddenly wished I was nauseous enough to throw up on her. But for better or worse, Rosa’s ginger candies were working.

“Oooh, what are you talking about?” Susan asked, popping out of her classroom. She was one of Cindy’s type, liked to talk and center herself in every conversation. They got along by the pure chance of their big life events not happening at the same time.

“Nothing,” I said at the same time Cindy said, “Leah’s pregnant! And the father’s somebody she met at my engagement party!”

“Oh my god, your love is contagious,” Susan whispered and I literally gagged. “We have to throw a shower!”

“Right?”

“We really don’t,” I said again, not even audible over their party planning. So, shoulders tight, I resigned myself to having the worst baby shower in the world and I’d reward my shattered nervous system with a couple of nice orgasms as a reward for dealing with this whole conversation without throwing up.

The Call

Niall

For the most part, we didn’t share hotel rooms during away games unless there weren’t enough rooms available, like during major holidays. It was nice not having to share a room, or more specifically not share a bathroom, but I kind of missed the days when I had a roommate for company, somebody to share pregame nerves with.

Though compared to last year, I was significantly less anxious. That was the magic of having a competent coach—I didn’t have to stress over plans because he had it covered. And as we got into playoffs, I was starting to really trust him. Not that I ever doubted him, but it took a lot of getting used to in order to let go of the things I used to care for. But even now as I was flipping through the TV channels, knowing everything was covered, it was hard to get my body to relax.

So when my phone lit up, I jumped to answer, happy to have something to focus my energy on.

“So I’m gonna go on a long, rambling explanation before I get to the point of this call, all right?” Leah said as soon as the call went through.

“Yeah, okay.” I sat up, ready to listen properly.

“So one of my annoying colleagues overheard our phone call earlier and realized I was pregnant. She got all excited about throwing me a baby shower and I tried to get out of it by pointing out that I ditched her engagement party to fuck you, but then she got all self congratulatory, like without her I wouldn’t have this baby. Which I guess is technically true, but what a wild way to look at this situation, right? So now I’m being dragged into this work baby shower I don’t want and I’m gonna have to explain things about our relationship to people I don’t care to talk to and it’s just gonna be plain shitty. And between that and everything else going on, my nervous system is shot. So I thought, I’m gonna take a long, hot shower. Do the full routine, you know? Exfoliate, deep condition, shave, jack off. I had my favorite toy charged and everything, but I just—I couldn’t get there. I couldn’t get into the fantasy, I couldn’t relax, and at this point it’s kinda pissing me off, which is you know, kinda the exact opposite of what I was going for. So I was thinking, as payment for jacking off to me last week, you could get me off now. Now be a good boy and take off your pants so you can start playing with yourself while you tell me what you’d do if I was with you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I didn’t falter, didn’t pause to think why this might be a bad idea, I did what I was told, heart thundering.

“Seriously?” she asked, voice breathy after that long speech.

“Yeah, like you said, I … used you for relief, so it’s only fair you use me.” God, please, fucking use me. It’s all my body wanted. I hadn’t been thinking about it, but the feeling, the wanting, was always there, simmering in the back of my mind. I’d kept a tight lid on it, pretended it didn’t exist. And that was easy to do when I had Leah’s mental health and the baby to worry about. But the second she brought it up, all that sexual desire was right back on the surface.

“What kind of toy are you using?” I asked as I shoved my boxers down to pull out my cock. I was already getting hard, the image of her back in my bed, nothing on, a toy between her legs, asking me to do something for her. It was the most intense kind of blood rush.

“One of those U-shaped ones with a dildo and clit sucker.”

I turned her on speaker phone and looked up the toy in question. “Ah, you like how it’s curved to press against your G-spot, huh?”

“You paid attention last time, didn’t you?”

“Of course, I did. I was … fuck, you told me to be a good boy, so I fucking did everything I knew how to. I paid attention to every sigh and moan and shiver to know what you like, what to do for you. And I can’t forget those details, no matter how hard I try.”

“You just can’t help but devote your all to whatever’s in front of you, huh?”

“Yeah,” I said softly, a little shaken by her description of me. I shook my head and refocused on the task at hand. “And right now, you’re in front of me.”

“Oh am I? When’d I learn to teleport?” she asked with a little laugh.

“Smart mouth,” I grumbled. “What’re you wearing?”