16. Colton

Lucia lay on his bed, hair fanned out around her head, still panting from her orgasm, though she was smiling wide. She’d clearly liked the noise he’d made when she’d touched him, and he liked that she liked that.

In a voice that hardly sounded like him, Colton said, “I’m gonna make you come again and again until you’re too tired to do anything but moan my name.”

“Stop making promises you can’t keep.”

His whole body tensed at her words. He knew she’d just said it to rile him up, and it had worked. He pulled a condom from his nightstand, and in one fluid motion, he ripped it open with his teeth and pulled it over his erection, pumping over it once, then twice.

“Say that shit again, I fucking dare you.” He leaned over her, his lips right above hers, his cock just barely touching her entrance. It took everything in him not to push inside her right then and there. She remained silent, though her lips were curved into a mischievous smile.

“That’s what I thought,” he grumbled before his lips found hers, and he kissed her hard, demanding. She dug her nails into his back, her hips shifting, begging to have him inside her.

Though his kiss was punishing, he pushed into her gently, his knees almost giving out at the feeling of being inside of her.

“Yes,” she breathed.

His hands gripped her waist tightly, and her nails dug so deep, he would’ve been surprised if they didn’t draw blood. “Holy fuck.” She bucked her hips, pushing him further into her, and his eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. “You feel fucking unreal, Moretti.” His lips found hers again, and she bit his lip as he entered her fully.

Her moan was like music to his ears. She pulled away, eyes on his as she stuck that same finger from before back into her mouth and then used it to play with herself. He almost lost his hold on her at the sight, a noise halfway between a groan and a grunt leaving his throat. Any resistance her body had to him disappeared in seconds, and then he was all the way inside her, her cries and fluttering lashes encouraging him.

His lips captured hers again, his cock pumping into her rhythmically.

“Oh my god, Colton,” she whimpered. He moved one of his hands from her waist to her shoulders, pushing even harder into her as they both gasped and moaned. She adjusted so his hand was around her throat, her eyes twinkling as his knees almost buckled for the second time that night.

His mouth dragged down to her neck, right above his hand, where he bit and sucked, her breathy moans spurring him forward. He felt his length start to tingle, but he needed her to come first.

“This is the best fucking pussy I’ve ever had.” He wasn’t even lying. She’d completely ruined him for any other woman. Her laugh, her intelligence, the way she could tell within seconds what was wrong with his game. It drove him out of his mind, and he would never recover if she didn’t let him do this for the rest of his life. “You like that?”

“Mm-hmm,” she moaned, her eyes shut tight, her fingers tugging at his hair.

“You’re such a good girl just for me, aren’t you?” He whispered it right below her ear. He’d correctly guessed about her praise kink and was rewarded with the feeling of her walls pulsing around him. She cried out, and he watched her face as pleasure overtook her. When he was sure she was there, he let himself go, kissing her hard as he came apart inside of her.

He knew he needed a minute before round two, but true to his word, he pulled out of her, threw out the condom, and dropped to his knees to worship her. And, just as he’d promised, all she could do by the end of the night was moan his name.

Practice flew by the next day, Colton’s whole body twitching like he’d had seven Red Bulls. He’d overthrown Cooper at least four times, and Coach Turner was glaring at him like he knew exactly what his problem was. A shock, considering Colton didn’t.

He thought lifting might help expend some of the extra energy that danced through his veins, but by the end of a warm-up run and four sets of squats and push-ups, he still felt shaky. His leg kept bouncing throughout the two hours of meetings, and even Cooper sent him a look as he stood and ran out of the room.

The wives and girlfriends of the team had planned a picnic for that afternoon. He’d planned to go home to change for it, thankful for the time alone to parse through his thoughts, but was met with the smell of Lucia’s perfume in his car.

He groaned. He couldn’t escape her no matter where he was. Worse, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Sure, he’d had many trysts with wonderful, beautiful women, but none of them had him wishing he could accidentally run into them in the halls of the facility like he was in high school. None of them had wound him so tightly around their finger that he might snap.

Until his eyes had opened and he’d realized she was gone, he hadn’t known how badly he’d wanted her to be there when he woke up, wrapped in his arms. And that thought had haunted him all morning. He’d had to remind himself countless times that whatever had happened between them was strictly…what, exactly? He didn’t quite know. They were attracted to each other, but they didn’t—couldn’t—have feelings for each other. They needed to be able to move forward and focus on the season.

Except he couldn’t focus. He kept wondering why he couldn’t have both the season and Lucia. Would a relationship really be so bad? He looked at Rudy, Chris, Sam, and all the rest of his teammates who had partners. If they could do it, why couldn’t he?

Colton had always believed exhilaration was something he felt when he stepped into the end zone with the ball, or when he lobbed up a perfect pass to a receiver. That breathless feeling that accompanied a win? A hard-fought, well-deserved game ball? He’d thought those were the greatest feelings in the world. But Lucia set exhilaration to a higher standard, put it on a pedestal that only she could reach.

The problem? It was fake. She’d only agreed to the relationship to get the media off of her back and to get back at Clark. Which meant she probably wasn’t having any of these concerns, exemplified by the fact that she’d left before he’d even woken up at five that morning.

He changed in record time and drove the few minutes to Lucia’s house. She was already out on her porch, looking stunning in a long, floral dress similar to the one she’d worn the evening before. Colton shifted uncomfortably in his seat, hating how his dick had such a mind of its own.

“Hi,” she chirped, a strange expression on her face.

“Hi.”

Neither of them knew how to act, the car silent as he drove to Sabertooths Park. Finally, tired of the way she always closed in on herself after they’d shared a moment, he said, “Luc, we should talk.”

Her head snapped to look at him. “Wha—what about?”

“Luc, it was one thing when you avoided me after what happened in your office, but this is different. We can’t keep pretending these things aren’t happening.”

He pulled into the parking lot, seeing half his teammates already throwing a ball around, their children chasing after them.

She cleared her throat. “Okay, you’re right. We should probably…I don’t know. We probably should’ve set boundaries from the start. I just wasn’t expecting to need to since we’re…you know.”

“We’re what?”

“Us. We’re us. Who, in a million years, could have seen yesterday coming?”

“Oh, right. ‘Cause I’m so easy to resist.”

She smacked his shoulder, chuckling.

He drew in a breath before saying the dreaded, “So, boundaries.”

“Right, yes. We—we keep any hanging-outside-of-work time to a minimum. Just what we need to do to keep Tessa off our backs. We do nothing that could distract us or jeopardize our jobs.”

Ouch. At least she’d confirmed what he’d known. He was a distraction to her. She didn’t have the same war waging inside her that he’d had all day.

“Right. No distractions. Sounds good.”

She smiled at him, getting ready to open her door. “Ready?”

“Moretti, if you open that door, I’m going to throw you back into your seat and close it on you just so I can open it again. As far as everyone else is concerned”—he nodded toward his teammates—“you’re mine, and if I’m gonna be in a fake relationship, I’m gonna do it right.”

He’d meant it as a joke. Kind of. But from the awestruck look on her face—whether good or bad—she hadn’t taken it that way. Her hand slipped into her lap, and she cocked her head to the side.

“Alright, big boy. Let’s see it.”

He adjusted himself in his pants again, cursing as she snorted. He walked around the car and opened the door for her, extending his arm in a dramatic this way gesture and bowing.

“Princess…”

Before she could respond, Rudy was calling him over.

“Is holding hands within our boundaries?” He extended his hand toward her.

She slipped her hand into his. “Well, we’re in public, so it’s fine.”

He smirked down at her. “Better be careful about making that the standard, Moretti.”

She squeezed his hand tightly, a clear reprimand, as they walked toward the picnic tables. There weren’t many people milling about who weren’t with the team, but the ones who were had their phones out, taking pictures. Colton grimaced and pulled Lucia closer as they made their way to Jenna.

“Hey, Jen.”

“Hi, honey. Rudy seems to need you over there.” She inclined her head to where her husband was jumping up and down, trying to get his attention.

“Will you keep my dear Lucia safe if I leave her in your care?”

“Colton, I swear to god…”

Jenna was already laughing, holding her arms out to envelop Lucia. “I’ll take good care of her.”

He jogged over to where the team was passing footballs around. Before he could even hug Rudy, two of Rudy’s three children were jumping on him. “Uncle Colt, Uncle Colt!”

“Hello, demons.” He wrangled them so one was on his shoulders and the other hung like a bat from his arms.

“Alright, they’re all yours. I’m going to have a conversation with your lovely girlfriend and my even lovelier wife.” Rudy was gone faster than Colton could open his mouth to protest.

Cooper walked up with a grin. “I see Rudy roped you into babysitting. What a chump.”

“Oliver, I’ll give you ten dollars if you tackle Uncle Coop. Twenty between the two of you if you and James tackle him.”

They jumped off him in an instant, Coop cursing as he ran halfway across the park before letting them corner him.

Colton turned to Hayley, Rudy’s youngest. He sat down beside her. “Why so blue, Hayles?”

She shrugged. “I’m bored, and Oliver and James won’t let me play with them again.”

“Hmm. Let me think up some way to get them back.”

“Who’s that pretty lady that came with you?” She was pointing at Lucia, who was watching them as she spoke with Rudy and Jenna. She blushed at being caught but waved at Hayley.

“That’s my girlfriend, Lucia.”

“You have a girlfriend?”

“I do indeed. Don’t worry though”—he tapped her nose—“you’re still my favorite.”

“What does she do? Does she play football too?”

Colton chuckled. “She certainly could if she wanted to. There’d be no stopping her if she got on the field. Luckily for me, she’s a numbers girl, and she’s making me a better player.”

He watched Lucia laugh at Oliver and James as they terrorized half of the Sabertooths’ offense. Finally, Jenna yelled to let everyone know it was time to eat. Everyone else formed a line beside the benches, and Colton chuckled at how the players dwarfed the little paper plates in their hands.

“You wanna eat?” he asked Hayley.

She only shrugged. Clearly, her brothers leaving her out of the game was still bothering her, so Colton tried another tactic.

“Hayles, I have an idea. Come with me? I know a game we can play with James and Oliver.”

She stood and followed him to the table, an excited smile on her face. Colton pointed at Lucia. “You, me, and Hayley against the demon twins and a player of their choosing. Each.”

“Dad! Dad! I call Dad!” Oliver shouted.

“And Uncle Coop! We’ll take Uncle Coop!” James joined.

Cooper groaned. “Man, I was gonna eat.”

Rudy set his plate beside Jenna’s. “What are we playing to?”

“One possession each, end zone right where the field ends. Ladies first.”

“Wow, Colton, I had no idea you were a lady.”

Before he could respond, Lucia had sidled up to him, eyebrows scrunched. “Colton, I don’t think I can—”

“It’s decided, Moretti. Come join our huddle.” Colton led Hayley and Lucia away from the picnic table and the rest of his teammates.

“Uncle Colt, how are we gonna beat them? They have an extra player.”

“Great question. Lucia’s gonna throw you the ball, and you’re gonna run it all the way down to the edge of the field while Lucia and I guard you. Sound like a plan?”

Hayley thought for a moment. “Okay, but you can’t let Oliver or James tackle me, they’ll never let me play with them again.”

“Hear that, Luc? Don’t let the demon twins tackle Hayley.”

“Worry about yourself, champ.”

He grinned, glad things between them were back to normal. “Alright, then.”

Colton grabbed a ball that’d been abandoned by the team at the mention of food. He lined Lucia and Hayley up, facing Cooper, Rudy, and the twins.

“Here you go, beautiful,” he said loudly as he handed the ball to Lucia.

“Alright, hurry up. I’m hungry,” Cooper called.

Lucia tossed the ball to Hayley and then moved to cover her right side. Colton followed her lead, covering Hayley’s left. They moved as a unit toward the edge of the field. Rudy and Cooper didn’t put much effort into catching them, but the twins were jumping around, yelling and screaming at their sister.

Just as Oliver broke through and closed in on Hayley, she threw the ball at Lucia’s feet. “Ah!”

James moved toward it. In an instant, Colton picked up the ball, placed it in Lucia’s hands, and threw her over his shoulder.

“Colton!” She laughed as he started to run with her. They weren’t far from the arbitrary line they’d set as the end zone, so he tightened his grip on her legs. Five yards from the line, he felt little arms around his right leg, and then another set close around his left.

He pulled James and Oliver with him as he trudged closer and closer to the line. And then he was going down, Lucia with him. He turned so she’d land on top of him, her legs straddling his hips.

Lucia was laughing, holding the ball up in the air triumphantly. “We did it, Hayley! You beat the twins!” Colton looked around Lucia to see Hayley, a pleased smile on her face.

James snatched the ball from Lucia as Cooper yelled, “You can’t call game when we haven’t touched the ball!” Oliver ran after his brother, leaving Lucia on top of Colton in the grass.

She shifted, eyes widening as she felt him against her. She traced her finger down his chest, knowing exactly what she was doing to him. “At ease, soldier.”

“If Luc says it’s over, it’s over.” His voice came out gruff. He wasn’t even sure if Cooper could hear him.

“Hey, man! This is a family picnic.” Rudy was covering Hayley’s eyes, turning her back toward the benches.

“Yeah, and it’s still our turn.” Damn Cooper. Best friend indeed. Colton made a note to ruin Cooper’s next interaction with a woman.

He sighed, squeezing Lucia’s waist once before releasing her. She rocked against him subtly enough to look like she was just shifting again before leaning down to whisper in his ear.

“That was for breaking your promise to not let the twins get to Hayley.” She stood, motioning to the rest of their group. “He’s gonna need a minute.” And then she was walking back to the center of the field.

He was going to have to break more of his promises if it meant she’d do that again.