Page 81 of The Virgin Game Plan (Rules of Love 2)
She shakes her head. “Nothing.”
“Something is wrong.”
“Nothing, it’s just . . .”
“You don’t think you’re my woman?”
She shrugs. “Well. Sometimes we just feel like a secret.”
My heart squeezes, and it’s double the pain of the pitch. I bring her close. “Not for long. I need you. I love you. I’ll call Josh tomorrow and tell him it’s time.”
She shakes her head. “Forget I said anything. We’ll sort it out later.”
She shifts me to my side so I’m not parked on my bruised ass, then she kisses me, soft and gentle.
Her lips are a tender caress.
I’ve got to do something soon.
I have to keep her.
That thundering in my heart? It’s rain and a hurricane. It’s a Category 5 barreling down on me.
This is what I want. This tenderness. This concern. This care.
Tomorrow, when my head clears, I’ll get on this stat.
Call Josh. Move the timetable up.
Tonight, I do what we’ve become particularly adept at. I strip her down to nothing and pull her close. We’re side by side, her naked body rubbing against mine, my cock sliding between her legs.
Soon, the realization strikes me. That’s her bare flesh against mine.
I break the kiss, panting hard. “We need a condom.”
Do we? My eyes twinkle. “But then again, I haven’t been with anyone but you in two years. And if you’re on protection—I don’t know if you are, and I don’t want to assume anything, but if you are . . .”
She stops me, pressing a finger to my lips. “I’m not, but I could start it. I could get on it.”
“That would be amazing,” I say, groaning in anticipation of fucking her bare.
That seems to seal the deal. Seems to say we’re doing this. We’re in this.
Grabbing a condom from her purse, she rolls the protection down on me, then slides under me, tugging me on top. She guides me between her thighs, and I sink into heaven.
As we make love, my certainty only intensifies.
She’s the one for me.
I know that as we come together, as we move to the bedroom, as we get under the covers.
I know, too, that I’m ready to move this relationship into the spotlight, no matter what.
There’s Josh and the sponsorship deal, and there’s my career and the coach. And there’s my chance with this new team.
But here is this woman in my arms, curling up with me in my bed.
She falls asleep, but I don’t.
I grab my phone and find a message from my agent.
He’s back in town tomorrow, and we’ll talk after the game.
Good.
I’m ready to move beyond these four walls, to stop worrying about what the media will say if they find out I’m the guy dating the coach’s daughter.
I just want to be the guy who’s in love with Reese Fallon.
I kiss her cheek and close my eyes. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to Josh and figure out how to tell Thompson.
I’ll devise a game plan.
For now, what Declan said in New York rings true.
There is no sort of with this kind of second chance.
29
Reese
I wake in Holden’s arms, but he’s still sound asleep. My phone buzzes in my purse on the nightstand, and I reach over to grab it from the outside pocket, stretching past the gift bag with the sweater Holden gave me. I wore it yesterday to a meeting and love it as much as when I first saw it.
Grabbing my phone, I slide open a text from my mother.
* * *
Mom: What do I wear to this baseball game? It’s been ages. Cougars gear, right?
* * *
Reese: Of course! We’re sitting in Cougar seats! Grant got me the tix. Tia and Layla are coming too.
* * *
Mom: I don’t want to crash your girl time at the game. You sure you want your mom there?
* * *
Reese: Yes. Obvs. We just won’t talk about sex.
* * *
Mom: Good plan. By the way, is that your way of telling me you have a boyfriend?
* * *
My face flushes.
Is it?
I glance at Holden, sound asleep.
I want to tell her everything.
I want her to know who he is to me.
I want to be his woman, and I want him to be my man.
Right now, he’s my . . .
I shudder, unable to say the word.
Sidepiece.
* * *
I write back.
* * *
Reese: Ha. No. See you later.
* * *
Guilt spreads deep into my cells and fills me with dread, with shame.
It’s all too familiar. It reminds me of who I was that day in Sacramento—wordless, voiceless, powerless.
That’s the opposite of what I want to be.
I haven’t said a word to my mother about Holden, about how I spent the last week with him. Granted, I’m an adult. I’m not required to tell her. But I’m holding back because Holden and I don’t exist beyond nighttime yet. I’m not going to the ballpark for the Cougars-Dragons game as his girlfriend. I’m going as Grant’s friend.
