When he shifted, I froze, thinking he was going to pull away. Sure, being sticky wasn’t comfortable, but I didn’t want him leaving. Instead, surprise flitted through me when he leaned into me and pressed his mouth against mine for the sweetest of kisses. When he angled back, he said, “I get it. I can totally do this adulting shit.”
“Yeah?” A relieved grin spread across my mouth.
“Jesus, don’t sound too surprised.” There was no bite to his tone as he quirked his brow at me.
Rather than bullshit him and deny it, I simply smirked. “How about for now you focus on your next big game and getting to the semifinals? After that, we’ll get everything figured out.”
Eyes narrowing, he frowned. “But if we make it to the finals, that’s another four weeks away, and you’ll have flown home by then.”
Aware he was right, I realized we couldn’t just pocket this for a month. “Okay, since I really need to shower—”
“—with me.”
“With you if you get your ass off me and hurry, we’ll at least attempt to figure this out, okay?”
His face brightened. The sight had my heart squeezing and bubbles fizzing to life.
“Okay. Ass up, pronto.” With that, he moved so fast a laugh burst free from deep in my gut. Then he manhandled me into his shower, soaking me and soaping me, and somehow making my cock come to life once again until we were both groaning far too loudly and coming in each other’s palms.
While we hadn’t left room to talk, blowing my load twice in under an hour was nothing short of a miracle for my old ass. If this continued, Pearce may just kill me. But as I rinsed him off and took extra care of making sure he was unwound and relaxed before his practice in a few hours, I couldn’t help but dream that we figured out a way to make this work and that this became our life.
CHAPTER14
PEARCE
I could barely feelmy legs let alone my dick by the time we finished in the shower and dried off. There was little time to rejoice in the fact that we’d picked up almost where we’d left off last night before Lottie joined us downstairs while I was on my first coffee.
Bleary-eyed and holding her side more than she had done the past few days, she looked pretty rotten.
Eddie saw her at the same time. A frown dipped his brow low, worry etched on his face. “You feeling okay?” He led her to the large couch set just off the kitchen, a place of comfort where my grandfolks would usually rest up on their twice-yearly visit while I cooked.
“I’m okay.” As she sat, a wince wrinkled her forehead.
“Uh-huh. Let’s just check your wound.”
Her exasperated sigh made me smile. While this kid could play her dad well and had us both wrapped around her little finger, she wasn’t one for fuss. But dutifully, she lifted her sleep shirt a little and lowered the waist of her pj’s.
“Pancakes?” I asked, drawing her attention my way.
It won me a smile. “Yes, please.”
“You got it, kiddo.” I got to work while Eddie checked her over, giving them a semblance of privacy and trying to downplay the crackle of nerves I could feel radiating off Eddie. Sure, we’d been distracted this morning in the best possible way while Lottie was sleeping, but in the bright morning sun, reality came knocking.
“It looks a bit red this morning.”
Concerned, I peered over as I whisked the eggs. Eddie glanced over at me, and I paused.
“I think I need to get this checked out.” As he spoke, clear-as-day worry settled in his gaze.
“Does that mean I have to go back to the hospital?” Despite her frustrated tone, her voice trembled a little, reminding me Lottie was only ten. It was so easy to treat this kid as older with her wise-ass sass and confidence. Next to her dad, peering up at him with glassy eyes, just how young she was hit me in the solar plexus.
“Hey, it’s just to get you checked over. Nothing to worry about.” The reassurance rushed out of Eddie. “We’ll make a call first, so you don’t need to do anything beyond eating your pancakes, okay?”
“Okay.” She bobbed her head.
“Do you want to get her settled in front of the big screen, and I’ll get the number for you?” I reached for my phone as I spoke, trying to figure out if I just called my own doctor or if I needed someone else since Lottie was a kid. Shit, maybe she just needed to go to urgent care. I had no clue the best person to call.
“That’d be great, thanks.” Eddie offered me a smile, apparently completely unaware that I was freaking the fuck out not knowing who to actually call.
