24. Pink

Pink

Division Series: Roasters 2–0

“ O kay, okay,” Tuck said. “I’ve got one.”

This would go down in history as the longest bus ride of my life. Our flight back from Austin had been rerouted to Seattle, after a four fucking hour layover in Las Vegas. Something about extreme winds over Denver.

By the time we’d boarded the bus for the last leg of our trip, we’d all been borderline delirious. Half of the guys had passed out cold the second we left Seattle; the rest were engaged in some weird take on “Would You Rather?” Only this version was called “Would You Still Do It?”

Roman flicked his fingers. “Alright,” he said, “let’s hear it.”

“What if there’s a noise in the closet?”

Roman lifted a brow. “Like, when—”

“When you’re about to fuck, yes. What if you hear a noise coming from the closet. Would you still do—”

“Dude, yes. I’m fucking.”

“What if it’s a spooky noise?” Soren asked, drawing out the o’s in a way that would put Casper the Friendly Ghost to shame. It was good to see that some of Clarke’s friendly demeanor had rubbed off on the old sourpuss.

“Then I guess I’m fucking in front of ghosts.”

The guys broke out into laughter, jolting Wes out of his slumber. I, on the other hand, barely managed a meager smile.

I hadn’t heard from Nessa in six days. Nero had been right; she was running. But that was going to end tonight. No matter how late it was or how long it took.

I checked my phone, surprised to see that it was already going on two a.m. Okay, so maybe I would give her until tomorrow.

If she wouldn’t return my calls or texts during business hours, I doubted she would be excited to see my haggard ass on her doorstep in the middle of the night. Best to wait until the morning . . . and show up with coffee and pastries.

A caffeinated Nessa was a happier Nessa.

“Alright, Pinky,” Roman announced. “It’s your turn.”

A melodramatic sigh was my only response.

“C’mon, man,” Diaz goaded. “You’ve been no fun ever since the gala.”

“Yeah,” Matty echoed. “What’s that about? Is Nessa still giving you the cold shoulder?”

“Watch it,” I warned.

Roman laughed. “Dude, just admit it. You’re punching above your weight class with Nessa.”

“Watch. It.”

Nothing else needed to be said; the “touch my girl and die” look in my eyes did the rest. My teammate held his hands up in front of him. “Message received.”

They laid off me after that, which at this point was best for everyone. As Diaz had said, I hadn’t been much fun since the day after the gala. My piss-poor attitude had begun to creep over into my game, too, and that pissed me off even more. I had broken the cardinal rule and allowed my personal and professional lives to mingle. And that was entirely my fault, not Nessa’s.

Thankfully, we were up two games in the series, which meant we only needed one more win to advance. And now we had the chance to do it on our own turf.

We were only a few more miles out when I felt a heavy body settle into the seat next to me.

“Tissue for your issues?” Soren asked.

My head lolled to the side. “This is all your fault.”

“How’s that?”

“You told me not to swoop. I haven’t heard from her since Sunday morning. I swear I’m one missed call away from showing up at her house with a boom box.”

“Not very original, bro.”

He combed a hand through his beard. Several of us had decided to grow out our facial hair throughout the playoffs, and Soren was leading the pack in terms of bushiness.

“I’m serious. I’m trying to take your advice and give her space, but it’s literally eating away at my insides.”

“Good.”

“Why is that good?”

His lips kicked up to one side. I resisted the urge to sock him for smiling at my pain.

“Because it means you really care about her.”

“Of course, I care about her.” I lowered my voice before adding, “I just . . . I don’t know if she feels the same way, though.”

Scratch that. I was fairly confident that Nessa did return my feelings. Whether or not she was willing to act on those feelings and pursue something real, something beyond a farce, was what I still didn’t have a concrete answer to.

“But I’m not giving up.” On her, on us.

“I never thought you would.” He slapped my knee. “Just let me know when you need more advice.”

“ If I need more advice.”

“ When. ” He pulled his hat down and closed his eyes. “You’re not superhuman, kid. Even swoopers need saving sometime.”

By the time the bus pulled to a stop in front of the Roasters’ facilities, I felt like the walking dead. Everything hurt—my shoulders, my hamstrings, my eyebrows. I needed a hot shower and about sixteen hours of sleep. A cuddle would have been nice, too, but beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“We still on for M&M night tomorrow?” Diaz asked. “ Practical Magic is calling.”

I groaned. “I love you guys, but no. I’ve got a hot date with my cotton sheets, so please give Nicole Kidman and Sandy B. my best.”

“You sure about that, brother?” Matty taunted, like he knew something the rest of us didn’t. My arm protested when I lifted my bag onto my shoulder and turned to see what he was going on about.

He nodded toward the window overlooking the entrance to the stadium. Several of my teammates flanked his side, all of them “oohing” and “aahing” at whatever was waiting for us outside the bus.

I followed their gaze out the window. “What the fuck are you guys—”

A flash of copper curls on the other side of the glass stopped me dead in my tracks.

Nessa. Angel.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. She was wearing the same checkered coat she had worn during our farm date. Her hair was loose under a Roasters hat with my number emblazoned on the side. Damn, how long had she been waiting in the cold?

The bus doors crunched open. I paused when I reached the final step and turned back to my teammates, who were still gawking out the windows. “If you really want me to pay for that cruise, nobody sets foot off this fucking bus until we’re through.”

“You told me you already paid for it,” Matty argued, arms crossed over his chest.

“Do you want the zip-lining excursion or not?”

They went quiet after that. All except Diaz who whined, “I wanted to watch the lumberjack show.”

I got my first clear look at her—and the cardboard tray of plant clippings in her arms—when my feet hit the ground outside.

“Hi,” I said, grinning like an idiot.

“Hey. Late night?”

“Kinda.” I crossed the wet pavement to meet her. She met me halfway. “What do you have there, angel?”

“Flowers.”

I narrowed my brows. “I’m sorry?”

“That’s my line.” She smiled nervously. “I got you flowers.”

And just like that, I was wide awake.

A dozen plastic cups lined the cardboard tray in her arms, each of them labeled with a different species of poisonous plant. Devil’s trumpet, oleander, foxglove, lily of the valley.

“You got me flowers,” I repeated.

“Yeah, I . . .” As she trailed off, she bit down on her lip. “I thought it was time I did the wooing. Plus, I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have left you hanging after Saturday night. And Sunday morning. The pancakes were delicious, by the way.”

My lips quivered.

“I did what I usually do when I start to fall for someone—cut it off before one of us gets hurt. And that’s not fair, especially since you’ve been nothing short of amazing. But old habits die hard, you know?” I nodded. “So, what I’m trying to say is I’m sorry. Do you think you might be able to give me another chance?”

I didn’t need to look behind me to know every one of my teammates was watching our scene unfold. Diaz might have been the self-proclaimed movie buff of the group, but they were all die-hard romantics. And Nessa’s declaration was better than any Sandra Bullock movie I’d ever seen.

“Honestly,” I said, evening out my tone. “I barely heard a word after you said you were falling for me.”

She bit down on her bottom lip. “What if I fuck up again?”

“Then you fuck up again.” She still didn’t look certain. “Ness, neither of us is perfect. We’re bound to make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. I think the biggest mistake would be if we didn’t give this a real go.”

She shivered when I rested my hands on her waist. “Do you want to be with me, angel?” When she nodded, I pulled her closer and lowered my lips to hers. “I’ve got one condition.”

“What?”

“Take me home.”

Uproarious cheers from the back of the bus were the last thing I heard before I kissed her.

“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for our night together.”

She giggled as she helped me shuck my second sock. As much as I wanted to rail her against every wall of the house from now until Tuesday, my body was on fire. Every muscle screamed in protest. Well, maybe not every muscle. My dick had been at full attention from the second Nessa had entered my bedroom and dropped to her knees. Only to help me remove my clothes, but still.

I pulled her up to straddle my lap on the bed. “Will you shower with me, angel?”

She pecked my lips. “Sure.”

“Just to shower,” I said between kisses. “As much as I want to lay you out and lick you top to bottom, I can barely keep my eyes open.”

“That’s okay.” She hesitated before adding, “I’m still on my period.”

I ran my hands around to cup her ass. It was impossible to keep my hands and lips off her. Besides, we had a week of missed touches and kisses to make up for. “Do you not like to fuck on your period?”

“I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Just so you know, I’m okay with it if you are.” I paused to press a kiss to the spot behind her ear that made her squirm. “I’m okay with any way you’ll let me love you.”

When she pulled back, her eyes sparkled with moisture. Maybe it was too soon to use the L-word, but it wasn’t like I was telling her I loved her.

Don’t run, don’t run, don’t run —

“Good to know.” She climbed off my lap and removed her shirt. I groaned when she kicked off her jeans and turned toward the en suite bathroom. “Are you coming?”

I was on my feet before her bra hit the floor.

Later, after we’d shampooed each other’s hair and I’d palmed my dick while watching her shave her legs with my razor, I pushed her against the shower wall. She shivered when her back met the cool tiles.

“Let’s make a deal, angel.”

“What are you suggesting?”

She nudged her hips farther into mine, sliding them up and down my cock in a figure eight motion that nearly had me seeing stars.

Not so fast, angel.

My grip tightened on her hips, holding her hostage against the shower wall. She sighed with pleasure when one of my hands climbed her body, skimming over the beads of water dripping off her tits, slipping around the back of her neck to hold her there for my taking.

“A renegotiation.”

Her eyes darkened with need. She wasn’t the only one aching for more, but this time we were playing by my rules. I was more than willing to wait her out. However long it took.

“What do you want?” she asked breathlessly.

I tilted her head back and lowered my lips to hers. “Everything.” My mouth found her cheek next. “No more rules.” Her ear. “No more games.” Her neck. “Just you and me.” She shivered when my teeth scraped her chin. “And whatever happens between us.”

Her eyes reluctantly blinked open when I loosened my hold on her neck. It was almost as though she were caught up in a dream that she didn’t want to wake up from. How could I tell her that having her in my arms like this was a dream come true?

“Think you can handle that?” She nodded her head. “Should we shake on it?”

The slight upturn of her lips made me swallow nervously.

“I have a better idea,” she said, her voice husky with desire.

We were moving before I could even catch my breath. Suddenly, I was the one pinned up against the tiles and she was . . . dropping to her knees in front of me. She wrapped a hand around my cock and squeezed. Hard enough for me to groan.

“Is this okay?”

I caressed her jaw. “Angel, just so we’re clear, you never need permission for that.”

The corner of her mouth hooked up in a devilish grin, just before she leaned in and licked a stripe up the underside of my throbbing cock.

“ Nessa ,” I hissed, my hips giving an involuntary thrust.

“I’ve been dreaming about your cock in my mouth for weeks, Jared. Think you can handle that?

How did she expect me to put together a coherent sentence when she was stroking me harshly, painting her lips with the precum beading my tip? “Fuck, I love it when you say my name.”

I cupped the back of her neck with one hand and used the other to tuck my cock against the corner of her lips, pressing until she gently coaxed them open. My god, she was stunning, like a siren rising from the depths of the ocean.

“That’s right, angel.” I nearly passed out when she sucked me inside her mouth. Her cheeks hollowed when I thrust myself deeper. “Show me how much you want this cock.”

Show me how much you want me.