AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, if you can back it up, why not revel in the greatness?” She brushed imaginary lint off her shoulders, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“You haven’t won yet. Slow your roll.” I made sure everything was ready for my offense to accept the kickoff.
“Oh, my roll will be slow, all right. Right into that victory formation in about five minutes. Just you wait.” She picked up her controller and made the changes needed on D.
After a ridiculously quick three and out that had me ashamed, she was back on offense. Her running back lined up behind center, and I knew she was running a wildcat. I saw it and made a play, but instead of making a cut and a run for the endzone as I’d expected, she dropped back and executed a perfect pass.
Not to the quarterback or another running back or even a wideout, but to her friggin’ fullback. How he even got over there and open, I couldn’t say.
“Fuck, yes!” she yelled, and stood up to do a little dance, snaking her upper body and then doing some sort of booty pop followed by a fist pump and a twirl. Until she caught her toe on the rug and went tumbling.
Right into me. And onto my lap. Thank goodness the brake lock on the chair was automatic.
Pain shot up my leg momentarily from the foot, but the feel of her against me distracted me enough to ignore it.
My good arm instantly wrapped around her to steady her, and hers caged me in on the chair. Her face was inches from mine. So close, I could smell the beer and wings on her breath and the coconut scent of her shampoo. If I wanted to, I only had to move an inch or two to kiss her. And my hormones definitely wanted that.
We stayed that way for a moment that felt like an eternity, neither of us breaking eye contact. I saw her pupils dilate and heard her breath catch before she seemed to snap back to reality.
“Jesus. I’m sorry. Are you okay?” she asked as she patted me down. If she kept touching me like that, I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions. I was only human, after all.
She stilled, likely having noticed my very human nature given the way our lower bodies were connected. I grabbed her wrist gently in my good hand and smiled. “Doc, I’m fine. Are you okay?”
She pulled away slightly, but I didn’t let her get far. “I’m good,” she said, and met my eyes again. I could feel the heat of her against me, surrounding me, and I couldn’t have stopped myself if I tried. I let go of her wrist and cupped her nape, taking her lips like a man starved.
Only a moment’s hesitation passed before she melted into me and returned the kiss with just as much fervor. We took from each other as if we’d done it a thousand times, and my mind blanked. This woman was everything. I’d never been so enamored before, so utterly captivated. It was almost enough to make me forget myself.
Almost.
I ended the embrace with one last sweep of my tongue, savoring her flavor, and then pressed a final kiss to her lips. She looked a little dazed, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride at that.
“I should say I’m sorry. But I’m not. And I hope we do it again.” I quirked up a corner of my lip. “Are you good?”
I saw the moment she snapped back to herself. “Good. Yeah, yeah, I’m good,” she said as she moved from my lap to her spot on the couch once more.
I grinned at her. “I should hope you are.” I winked and saw the blush climb her cheeks. Abso-fucking-lutely gorgeous.
She dipped her chin shyly and unconsciously touched her lips before resting an elbow on the back of the couch and playing with her ponytail. “So, um—”
I cut her off. “Doc, please don’t overthink this. I can see those wheels turning.” I leaned forward and brushed the backs of my fingers across her cheek. “We’re supposed to be getting to know each other, right?”
She stiffened a bit, and I didn’t know why, exactly. “Yeah, but… Are you really all right? I didn’t hurt you?”
I leaned forward in my chair and put my good hand on her knee. “No harm done, Doc. Honest. Actually, I feel better than I did before. Physically, at least. I’ll feel even better when I get some drugs into my system.” I decided to lighten the mood a bit. “My pride on the other hand… Your fullback? How in the world did you even come up with that play?”
She grinned and I saw relief wash over her face, and the tension leave her shoulders. It somehow made her even more attractive in a way I couldn’t explain.
“It’s actually an old Cleveland play. My dad used to watch game tapes all the time at home. I sort of grew up with it. That was one of his favorite plays. He said it had an upside that not a lot of other wildcat iterations had. And was most effective because of its unpredictability.” She looked off into the distance and I saw some emotion overtake her expression. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly. Part wistfulness, part regret maybe.
I knew almost nothing about Tamryn’s background. I knew her role with the team, when she’d arrived, how she excelled. I knew she liked old sci-fi and horror films. I now knew that she was a Madden prodigy and loved wings and beer, and that she ate macaroni and cheese as if it were an orgasmic experience. During our chat as we played, I’d discovered that she enjoyed rock and pop from the eighties, even though she was almost too young to have grown up with it. She hated politics and reality TV, and her ideal date would be hiking in the mountains followed by fondue. Random, but somehow perfectly Tamryn. I wanted to ask about her family, but there was something about the tone of her voice as she spoke about her father that made me hesitate. Instead, I shared something about my parents.
“From the moment I could hold a ball, my dad wanted me to play and eventually go pro. He was a hardass. He used to make me train for hours upon hours in the fields. Throwing, catching. And all I wanted was to please him, so I did it. Until my feet bled and my hands got blisters. But to me, until I got old enough to know better and started to question things, that was my time with my pop.”
I grabbed my pill bottle, took out one of the tablets, and downed it with a drink from my water bottle. “When I declared for college at the University of Miami, he was so proud. But he took his tough love to a new level. It wasn’t good enough that I became a starter my freshman year. He wanted me to win the Heisman. And he wanted me drafted in the first round, if not first overall.”
I looked at her and saw her settle more comfortably into the couch cushions, her expression telling me she was taking it all in but that she would likely have questions later. I was just about to continue when she spoke up. “You did win that Heisman. And if I remember right, you dedicated it to your dad in your speech.”
I smiled. “That I did. And I did go in the first round, but nowhere near first overall. In fact, I’ll never forget the texts I got from Pop when I fell to number twenty-four and Seattle took me. He was so angry. But I still felt like I had accomplished something. As if I was living the dream. And I hadn’t had a chance to prove myself yet.”
