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TATUM
“Hey, beautiful.”
Wren looked up at me with sleep-filled eyes. I could really get used to waking up with her clinging to me like a koala bear.
I brushed the loose curls that had survived a night of furious lovemaking out of her face and cupped her cheek. “How’d you sleep?”
Wren stretched, curling her fingers and toes, then burrowed deeper under the covers and tucked into my side. “Good.”
It was so muffled I could barely make out the single syllable. I peeled back the plush hotel sheets and uncovered her face.
After sneaking out of the restaurant last night, we decided not to push our luck by venturing into the city and retired to the hotel. I was beat, but that didn’t stop me from fucking her in the shower, and then again before we went to sleep. She still had the orgasm glow this morning.
Her skin on mine was electric, sending direct messages straight to my groin, demanding attention.
I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her over to straddle me. Wren hadn’t bothered with getting dressed after our lovemaking and, like me, slept nude. I dipped a finger into her pussy, testing her, before sliding her straight down onto my cock. She whimpered, and I felt her toes curl against my legs as I filled her to the hilt.
“Lay down on me, Little bird,” I murmured, gently rubbing her back. She did as she was told. Her breasts flattened against my chest, and she rested her head beneath my chin. “Good girl.” I kissed the top of her head. “Get a little more sleep.”
I couldn’t get enough of her.
It appeared both of us were at crossroads, realizing that what we had been doing for the entirety of our adult lives wasn’t what we were going to be doing forever. Our current chapters were ending. Hers more than mine, but in a few years, I’d probably be ready to retire, too. Listening to her discuss the pros and cons of leaving the Reds and potentially moving to New York had me thinking about what was next for me. My body could do a few more seasons in the league. But did I want to?
I knew Wren’s hang-up with leaving the Ladies in Red was because she wanted to honor her mother’s memory. I couldn’t fault her for that, nor could I say that it wasn’t a good enough reason to stay and put up with the bullshit.
I had been in the league for over a decade. Every game that I had played was done with the intent of erasing my connection to a football legend and writing my own damn story.
It wasn’t lost on me that this was the first season I had enjoyed playing football. Maybe it was because I was back with my boys and a Coach who gave a shit about me. Maybe it was because I had the girl of my dreams on the sidelines. A girl who dove headfirst into everything. She gave a hundred and ten percent, never anything less. It didn’t matter what she was doing—designing a house, dancing, working out, representing the Red Cocks at games and events. She gave it her all, even when she wasn’t feeling it.
Something about being near her had me looking at football through a new lens.
Part of me wanted to tell Sam not to negotiate for next season’s contract. Let Seth take my spot. The kid could crash and burn while I spent my days making love to my Little Bird on a beach somewhere.
But part of me wanted another season of not giving a shit about chasing my father’s legacy. A full season of playing for myself. Blocking out the noise.
This season when I was on the field, I wasn’t fueled by the sideline commentary, comparing my records to his. I wasn’t thinking about who was better in which scenarios. I was playing for my team and for my girl. To make them proud. My dad hadn’t invaded my thoughts while I was on the field since that fateful preseason game where I took out Wren. I wanted to keep it that way.
Four months had passed since Wren and I met at the bistro down the block from my condo. Three months had passed since we landed on the field, me on top of her, and had our lives thrust together. Even less time had passed since we had exchanged, “I love yous.”
Neither of us walked into that bistro expecting love, but here we were. Wren was asleep on my chest, her legs straddling my hips while my cock throbbed inside of her. But I didn’t move. Didn’t want to wake her. I simply wanted to savor the connection while it lasted.
When she woke again, she would fix her hair, put on a little makeup, slide into one of those dresses she fancied for work, then she would have to make a decision. New York or Rhode Island.
Sure, it was only a two-and-a-half-hour drive, but with my non-stop schedule during the season and her having to build a new branch of the firm from the ground up, there just weren’t enough hours in the day to make a relationship happen.
We both knew that.
So, for now, I closed my eyes, breathed, and held her close.
* * *
Tatum: How’d it go with Colette? Just letting you know I made it back to Providence.
Tatum: You back in town yet? Gid, Theo, Seth, and I are painting pottery tonight. It was Heidi’s idea.
Tatum: Pottery update: I broke three vases and painted a daisy on a mug. I have the artistic prowess of a four-year-old. The mug is for you, and it’s gonna be your favorite, or you might hurt my very delicate feelings.
Tatum: Wanna sneak over tonight?
