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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Jamal pulled into his garage and turned the key in his ignition off. The garage was filled with silence. “So, Bambi. Is seven still your lucky number?”
Cassie smiled shyly at him from the passenger seat of his car. She had taken off her leggings at the gym, having worked up a sweat during their game at the center. She hadn’t bother putting them back on when they left, leaving her shapely legs exposed. She was still wearing his practice jersey that hung to her knees, creating a picture of her wearing nothing underneath, which caused his heart to pound even more than it already was.
“It is.”
“Then would you like to come in? Irma is out with her man so we have the house to ourselves.”
“Jamal, there’s something I have to tell you,” she said, a serious look on her face.
“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Bambi,” he said. “I’m not trying to pressure you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”
“It’s not that,” she said. “It’s just, well, with my dad the way he was, I couldn’t ever date. Well, was afraid to date, actually. My thoughts were wholly centered on not getting beaten every single night. So boys never entered the picture. And then, when I got here, I just was so caught up in school and hiding from my dad that I-”
“Bambi, are you telling me you’ve never been with anyone?” Jamal asked her softly.
“No,” she whispered. “No one. And I just don’t want you to be disappointed because-”
Jamal cut her off by placing his fingers softly on her lips. “Cassie,” he whispered, loving the way her actual name sounded on his lips. The Bambi moniker he had given her was sweet and cute and fit her exceptionally well. But her name, Cassie, evoked a tenderness in his chest that he never expected to exist with anyone other than his little girl. “It’s ok.”
“It’s not. What if I don’t know how-”
Jamal cut her off again. “I don’t care what you know or don’t know. All I care about is you. Us. What this means for us together. You are all I ever want. Just you.” He ran his hand across the side of her face and down her neck, eliciting a soft sigh from her.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“More than sure. I’m certain.”
Cassie smiled softly and kissed his palm. “Then lead the way.”
Jamal could feel his heart pounding through his shirt. What he felt for the woman holding his hand and leading him into his bedroom was more than anything he had ever felt with anyone else. Even JJ’s mom, who he thought was the love of his life, didn’t elicit this reaction from him. It was both primal and protective. Heated and gentle. The juxtaposition of his sexual and emotional feelings for Cassie left him speechless.
“You’ve gone awfully quiet, Muscles. Have you changed your mind?” Cassie looked up at him, a look of vulnerability on his face.
Jamal opened the collar of her too big practice jersey and looked inside, eliciting a giggle from her. “And missing getting my hands on those puppies? No. Way.”
Cassie rolled her eyes and punched him half-heartedly on the arm. “Jamal! Stop embarrassing me!”
Jamal pulled her to him and ran his hands up and down her sides, over her shoulders and down her arms until he grabbed her hands and tucked them together on his chest.
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed. You’re beautiful.”
Cassie started to pull away, but he pulled her chin up with his knuckles and looked her in the eyes. “You are. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, both inside and out.”
“Really?”
“Cross my heart, hope to die. Stick a needle in my eye.”
“You can’t do that. It’ll mess up your shooting.”
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Jamal grinned. How he got so lucky to be the one that caught the woman standing before was beyond his comprehension. He might be the fancy Thunder player who made millions, but she was so much better than he was.
Jamal leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. Her hair smelled like mint and her lips tasted like cotton candy. He deepened the kiss, opening her mouth gently with his tongue, exploring hers with careful precision. What she told him in the practice facility shocked him senseless, but it also made him realize that he needed to be very gentle with her, not matter what his body told him. He needed to cherish her. Show her it wasn’t just sex. They were making love. So he held back, even though what he wanted to do was crush her against him and ravage her like his body was telling him to do.
“Jamal,” she said, pulling away from him. “Am I a good kisser?”
