“A date? For what?”
I had been looking at his necklaces, how they shined like liquid gold in the late afternoon sun. “Coming out. To your teammates?”
“The twenty-sixth,” he answered immediately. “Ten days from now.”
“So specific,” I said in a suave tone.
He snickered and grabbed underneath my knee to tuck my leg farther in between his. “Starting tomorrow, I have a game every night until the twenty-eighth.” He ran his thumb along the top of my knee. “Things are getting busier. The games are more important as we get closer to postseason. Our last game with Jacksonville is the twenty-sixth and we fly back that night. Break on twenty-seventh, then we play Pensacola here on the twenty-eighth.”
I nodded when I understood. “You’ll tell them on the plane after the last game.”
“You got it. A daylong break in between. It’s a good time. Nothing that will rattle. Hiroshi agrees with the timing, too.”
“And your bestie Emma?” I said her name with a bit more venom than intended.
He took a sip from his can, a blend of pineapple and cherry. “My number one supporter, if you can believe it.” Rome spied me with a sideways glance. “She wants to meet you.”
“Send her up to the family suite during your next home game,” I said without missing a beat. I smirked and looked into the distance.
We stayed silent while we sipped at bubbly water and dried off in the afternoon sun. By the time we finished our drinks, my skin was sufficiently lobster-red and we went back inside to cool down. I caught sight of myself in a mirror inside the living room and sucked air through my teeth.
“I’ve got aloe,” Rome said as he disappeared down the hall toward his room.
Over my shoulder, I called out, “You damn Sicilians. You don’t need much sunscreen, do you?”
Rome came back down the hall and wiggled a bottle of lotion at me. All logic drained from my mind and my libido decided to take over.
Hot guy. Lotion. Half naked.
My heart kicked into high gear as Rome said, “Here, come sit in the living room. Wanna watch a movie?”
I cleared my throat. “Sounds great.”
I followed him into the living room where he pushed the oversized ottoman out of the way and sat on the corner cushion. He reached down and patted the floor for me, then dropped a pillow. “Anything in particular you care to see?”
I plopped my rump down on the pillow, crossed my legs, and leaned back in between Rome’s legs. “Anything is good with me.”
“Here.” He dropped the remote in my lap. I heard the bottle top pop.
With numb fingers, I turned the television on and cycled through the myriad of streaming services Rome had. I sucked in air and flexed my butt as cold goop hit my shoulders. Rome let out a breathy chuckle.
“Cold?” he asked. Before I could answer, his hands glided over the sun-reddened skin of my shoulders. I forgot the television and dropped my head down as his hand moved up the nape of my neck, his fingers stretching into my hair.
I shivered. Behind me, Rome’s breath labored as his hands ran to my shoulders then partly down my arms. He palmed my upper back, then his hand ran lower. I leaned forward as his fingertips ran along my obliques. Goose bumps sprouted everywhere as his hands returned to my shoulder and then slid down my chest. Fingertips brushed my nipples and I shuddered.
Rome’s right hand pulled up while his left stayed flat against my pectoral. The right hand glided up my neck, landed partially on my jaw, then tilted my head back to look up at him. His thumb brushed over my lips. He leaned over me, this hulking man who had eyes only for me, though I couldn’t understand why.
“Kiss me,” I told him.
I rotated as he came down. Went on my knees, hands onhis thighs, cocked my head back as our lips pressed. Mouths opened. Tongues coiled. My fingers dug into the meat of his legs, my lower back arching as I extended to push up and into him. His hands slid under my arms to pull me up, and in a heartbeat I straddled him, my hips flexing wide to saddle up his lap.
Whoa, I thought with a spark of fear and intrigue as he deepened our kiss. The thing pressing into my ass wasbig. The swimming shorts we both wore left little to the imagination of what lurked beneath for him.
Too big, was my second thought. I could handle size with the best of them, but this was going to be a journey.
I ground my hips down and ran my ass along the length of him. Quick and short moans of pleasure burst between our kisses as Rome’s hand squeezed my hips. He lifted when I ground down. And then suddenly a ferocity took over him, a bucking of his hips and forced movement of mine with his hands.
He’s getting himself off, I realized. I paid attention to the movement. Long and slow, but controlled strokes. Quick return to the base.
