Chapter 14

SOPHIA

Arustling and shifting of weight in the bed next to me nearly woke me. My body protested as I lingered in that spot of not quite sleeping and not quite awake.

"Listen here, Storm. Your mommy needs her rest after last night, so let's check out the litter box, then you can snuggle up with her. As long as you leave room for me," Max said in the most serious tone I'd ever heard from him. My lips curled into a small smile as I hugged my pillow with a happy smile. Warm fuzzies abound. Just as I started to drift back off to sleep, the bed shifted under his weight as he climbed in behind me. The rain outside had slowed to a drizzle.

"Mommy, huh? Does this mean I can call you ‘Daddy' now?" I teased.

"Don't make me fuck you again, little girl," he growled, yanking my body flush against his. He kissed the top of my head, one hand resting on my right breast. "Go back to sleep before I come up with new ways to make you squirm and we both end up not getting any rest."

I yawned, Storm cuddled up against my leg as Max's arms locked around me, groping me still. I half snorted, half giggled. "Promises, promises, Coach Grumpy Pants."

"Sleep," he ordered.

My eyes drifted closed, the delicious ways he used my body finally catching up to me. The last noise I heard before I fell asleep was his chuckle in my ear. "Sweet dreams, Sunrise."

The scent of bacon and eggs and…pancakes? filled my nose as I stretched my arms over my head and slowly opened my eyes. A fluffy ball of fur, bright green eyes stared back at me. Purring loudly and looking far too adorable.

Coffee? I sat up and scooped up Storm into my arms. "Hey you. Sleep well? Because your mommy most certainly did." The kitten continued to purr, agreeing with me.

Smart kitty.

I set him down, rubbed my eyes, and suddenly every single…thing from last night flooded back. My body deliciously sore in all the places that I could never achieve on my own. My cheeks flushed, remembering every touch, thrust, and messy yet hot and wonderful moment and orgasm Max Vaughn wrought from my body.

"Good morning, Sunrise," Max said as he entered my bedroom, sweats slung low on his hips. Shirtless and incredibly lickable. Tattoo and muscles and a smattering of sexy hair on his chest leading…lower. "Breakfast?" He held up a tray, and my mouth watered, stomach rumbling loudly.

"You look far too awake and satisfied for a man your age."

"Stamina, Sunrise. And a fucking gorgeous woman in my bed."

I arched a brow, snatching a piece of bacon as he sat the tray down on the bed. Sitting crossed legged across from him as he joined me, I asked with a grin, "Whose bed?"

"Any bed you're in is mine, Sophia. I don't share." He nodded at the coffee, in my favorite dragonfly mug. "Coffee."

I lifted the steaming mug, breathing in the sweet and toe curling scent of freshly brewed caffeinated wonderfulness. Max watched, mug in hand, and I shifted under his scrutiny. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

One side of his mouth lifted as he narrowed his eyes. "Like what?" Then, Coach Grumpy Pants wet his bottom lip with his tongue.

"Like I'm dessert and you can't wait to finish breakfast so you spoil your dinner," I murmured, entranced as the visceral memory of that tongue sent shivers down my spine.

Air charged and filled with far too much sexual tension for two people that had enough sex that we should still be passed out as we had our stare down.

The little mew from my newest family member broke the tension, to my disappointment.

"So. Big fan, huh?"

I paused, mid coffee intake as my eyes widened. Shit. My dresser had all sorts of Max Vaughn things on it. Signed sports cards. Mason gave me a hockey puck signed by him one Christmas. An old Sports Illustrated. Hopefully, my sweatshirt hid most of it when I threw it on top last night when we came out of the shower.

The best damn shower of my life. Hair washed, body worshiped…then worshiped again. And again out of the shower.

Showers would never be the same for me. Ever again.

"Maybe," I shrugged, my nonchalance entirely faked as I prayed that he missed my mini shrine.

A smug and entirely too male expression spread across his face, and I knew. "Maybe?"

I rolled my eyes, shoving as much into my mouth as I could before I made a fool of myself, my cheeks heating. "It's not like I ever hid the fact that you were my favorite player."

He moved the tray to the nightstand without breaking eye contact. Closer and closer, his scent enveloping me. My plate joined the tray as I swallowed audibly. "Am I just your favorite player, Sunrise? Or have I earned favorite coach status?"

A strange flip-flop kinda circus act decided performance time in my belly took center stage. My mouth went dry. It was one thing altogether to sleep together and joke about making my silly fangirl fantasies come true. But my confession last night and all my reasons this couldn't happen came flooding back, because he wasn't a fantasy any longer. Or the cockblocking asshole older brother to my need-to-get-laid-best-friend.

The no catching feelings, arms length, no broken parts ever again litany of reasons ran through my mind. Max was too close. The heat of his body. The scent of him filled my nostrils. His breath fluttered against my lips, and God, I wanted to give in.

All the reasons I repeated over the past year and a half repeated in my head, running together until it was just white noise. Paralyzed because the fear I'd lived with refused to go away, I couldn't move. Towards him or away. Stuck in one place because all the what-ifs jumbled together and bound themselves to me.

"I can't-"

"Shh," he said. A finger against my lips. Eyes searched mine, my heart skipped a beat, then two.

Was it still beating? Only the sound of our ragged breathing filled the air. Or maybe that was just mine, because Max looked entirely too calm at the moment.

The world ceased to exist, the noise in my head and all the thoughts I was fighting, until it was only the two of us.

And one little thread of doubt. The what-if.

What if Max broke my heart, and I lost part of myself, all over again?

I started to shake my head, but he made it all go away when he grasped my face in both of his hands so I couldn't do anything but look into his dark eyes.

"Stop thinking. Worrying about the what-ifs, the things that may or may not happen. They don't exist between us. They can't. All the doubt and fears creeping in have nothing to do with us. With what happens when we touch, when I'm inside you…when I see you smile, or you try to put me in my place when I'm an asshole. You haven't run this entire time. Even when I fucking wrote on your skin, claiming you, you didn't run. And neither did I. We won't. I'll wait as long as it fucking takes for you to understand there's nowhere else I'd rather be, Sunrise." With every word, he inched closer and closer, until our lips met.

Collided.

Exploded.

A sharp knock at the door interrupted the fire building, the things it began burning returned as Jules' muffled voice hit like a bucket of ice water.

"Soph? Are you home? Kas ran to get lunch, but the spare key isn't in my hiding spot, and Daisy is getting really anxious."

I jumped away from Max like I'd been electrocuted. "Shit." Fabric flew as I tossed his pants at his face and hurriedly threw on my robe. "Bathroom," I hissed, grabbing him by the arm and trying to shove him into it.

"Sophia-"

"Shh! She'll hear you! Just… hide until I can get rid of her. Or better yet," I frantically looked around, trying to figure out an escape route. The window shone like a beacon after the storm. Not that I would shove him out of it, but…"Climb out the window if she doesn't leave in five minutes." I shut the bathroom door in his face, smoothed my sexscapade hair, and ran out of the bedroom just as she started knocking again.

"Soph?"

"Hey!" I said, breathless and doing my best to look nonchalant.

"I almost thought you weren't home. I had such hopes that you and lumbersnack finally got it together and were having amazing, flannel sheet sex or something." Jules said.

A thud sounded from the bedroom, and I quickly steered her away, walking loudly to cover the noise. No doubt, Max was not liking the whole lumbersnack/sex topic. "Nope, no flannel or otherwise naked lumbersnacking happening."

Daisy hissed as Storm came trotting out of the bedroom, his fluffy little body skidding to a stop when he saw his soon to be bestie. Because my kitty and Jules' kitty were going to loooove each other, no questions asked. They had no other choice.

"Oh! He's here!" Jules crooned. "Now, Daisy, be nice." Daisy mewed in protest at being set aside for the interloper, but I quickly picked up my girl.

"Daisy, meet Storm. Storm, this is your new favorite bestie, other than me, of course."

"He's so fluffy! I love his name!"

I shrugged as Daisy preened and purred in my arms. "Seemed fitting since his first day home was a little more dramatic."

Just when I thought I was in the clear, Jules said, "Are you sure you didn't have, um, company?"

I followed her gaze.

Shit. Out in the obvious open, sat two empty glasses and the damning Scrabble board.

With all the words still in their place.

"I, um…"

"Soph! Is the walk of shame over? Did he at least give you more than one orgasm, or was he a one-and-done? I knew your hair was too sexed up to be normal.' Her eyes grew wide as she noticed the kitchen. "Wait, did he make you breakfast, or did you? Is it Hale? Tell me!"

Oh, God, if she saw the words that Max spelled out, I'd die of mortification.

Spank.

Suck.

Choke.

Pussy.

Kneeling.

Mine.

I quickly disposed of the evidence as the tiles slid into the bag before she made her way over. I threw the bag and the game board into the box, shutting the lid. "He did, but-"

"Oh, yeah! Multiple orgasms! I'm calling it. Did he least go down on you? Because I refuse to let any man not make my bestie scream with his tongue. Tell me his tongue was everything. Wait, was it Hale, cause the beard!!! Sophia, spill!"

Eyes wide, I glanced in the direction of my bedroom, only to see Max, one foot on the bedroom floor, straddling the window ledge, glaring at me.

Mine, he mouthed, before he slid out of sight.

Holy, fuck.

"Is he still here?" she asked in a hushed tone.

I shook my head, but then it happened.

That's when I saw it just as Jules did.

Max's team bag.

It looked like every other player's on the Revenge, but now I couldn't pass my overnight guest as some unknown face.

"It was Hale!!!' she squealed.

"Jules!"

"Ok fine, no names. But I need details. Please," she pleaded as I hid my guilty face and brewed a new tremendously huge pot of coffee. "Was it good? Did he make your toes curl?"

I let out a long sigh. "Curl, scream, and beg for more."

She sat down, Storm still in her arms, purring away. "I'm kinda sad that I missed all the action."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure you had plenty of action on your little getaway."

"So much action. But still," she grinned. "I like knowing my bestie was taken care of. Even if it means I'm totally seeing lumbersnack as something now. Hmm, I wonder if I buy Kas a flannel if he'd wear it for me, then make me breakfast the next morning?"

My snort was louder than it should have been, because all I could imagine was Max finding a new word to write on my ass after he made me swear off flannel forever.

Jules was still going on, when she stopped and tapped her fingers on her chin as I slid her coffee over. "I could've sworn I checked to make sure the key was there before we left, though. It's so strange."

"Maybe Kas grabbed it?"

She shook her head. "The only person besides the three of us that know where it is is Max, but I haven't heard from him since after the game. Anyway, details. Please. Then I'll tell you all the silly spa stuff Kas loved so you can help me tease him relentlessly."

I nodded, and tried to listen, but my eyes kept drifting to Max's bag.

Jules grabbed my arm and made a sound. Her eyes flew from my wrist where the sleeve had ridden up to my face.

"Who is writing on you? OOOH! New kink identified?"

"It's nothing, just a silly-"

"Everything?" Skepticism etched all over her face, she snorted. "If someone wrote that on me, I'd probably melt. Like, did you do everything? Or are you his everything? You know I'm going to be eyeing everyone trying to figure out who has a write on your skin kink!"

I snatched my hand from her before she realized whose handwriting it was. I rolled my eyes, trying to act like it was nothing at all.

And that I wasn't falling head over skates for her big brother.

As soon as Kas got home and Jules left, I locked the door behind her with a promise to get dinner later while Kas was at practice.

Then I checked the zipper pockets on the outside of the bag while Storm purred and rubbed up against me. My fingers stilled as I felt a solid metal object in the third pocket I checked. And pulled out Jules' spare key, dangling on a Revenge keychain.