Chapter 12 Kelly Kaplan

Six Entire Long Months

Two Weeks Until Christmas

What do I have to lose besides everything?

When he told me he thinks he’s in love with me, that was everything I wanted to hear. But when he told me how he’s changed, I think that was everything I needed to hear.

Six months? He’s waited six whole months for me?

I’ve waited, too—mostly because I’m a single mom who just doesn’t have time to date, but I’ve been holding myself back from him out of the fear that I could be next on his hit list. Or worse, Mia.

I know it would never be Mia. He loves her too much, and that love is pure and sweet.

But if the fear of getting hurt will always be at the forefront of my relationships since I’ve been hurt in the past, like Ava reminded me earlier, what am I supposed to do? Give up on love forever? Never take a risk again?

No. I think Ava was right when she said I should jump in headfirst and see where it takes me.

If she and Grayson could forgive Austin…what grudge am I holding onto?

He reaches under me, and I lift myself up and link my legs around his waist. He thrusts toward me, and I can feel it—feel him. He’s hard and ready. This is far from the first time we’ve done this, and he knows my body. He knows my signals.

It’s part of what’s so addictive about him. He’s ridiculously skilled when it comes to sex, and my judgment always becomes clouded when I’m around him because of it.

But this feels like far more than just sex. This feels like a renewed promise. Like the start of something big and epic and wonderful. It feels like our future is laying in front of us, and it’s up to us to grab hold with both hands.

He pulls back, both of us panting from this intense kiss. “Are you sure about this?”

I nod, and he lifts me higher, tossing me over his shoulder as he carries me down the hallway. I laugh the whole way there, slapping his ass as I yell, “Put me down!”

But he just chuckles as he carries me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing at all. I guess that’s just one of the fun perks of being with a professional athlete.

He doesn’t carry me to my bedroom like I’m expecting, instead stopping in my family room and tossing me down onto the couch. He’s hovering over me a second later, impressing me with his speed and agility, and his mouth finds mine again. We make out on the couch, and while I could kiss him forever like this, my body is aching all over to get to the main event.

I push him up off me. “I need you to fuck me, Austin. Now.”

A sly smile curls his lips. “You know I love it when you beg me.”

My chest races with anticipation. “Please,” I whimper, and that’s all it takes. His hand moves down into my pajama pants a second later, and he bypasses my panties and slides a finger right into my pussy.

I arch back as I moan at the feel of his big finger inside me again.

“Oh God,” I moan, and his lips move to my neck as I continue to arch back and thrust my hips to meet his hand.

“I love seeing you like this,” he murmurs against my neck. “It’s hot as fuck knowing I’m about to make you come.” He drives his fingers in a little harder before pulling them out to rub my clit, and I’m already seeing stars. Holy shit, he’s good at this. He pulls his hand out of my pants and moves off of me, and then he pulls my shirt off. I’m not wearing a bra since I was about to go to bed when his text came through, and he stares down at me as I lay back on the couch with my tits hanging out.

I stare up at him with need, and I can’t help but think how earlier tonight, I was watching my television as this man carried a football into an endzone and scored points for his team with the world watching, and now he’s here, in my house, on my couch, staring down at me with lust. He wants me. He loves me. We share a baby.

Everything is really falling into place in a way I never could’ve imagined it would.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he mutters, and then he yanks my pajama pants down my legs along with my panties and tosses my clothes to the floor. He moves back over me, and I wrap my legs around him and dig my feet into his ass to urge him to fuck me. He’s still fully clothed, but I don’t care. I just want him inside me, and I can’t think through the haze of lust that’s surrounding me.

He thrusts his hips toward me, his mesh shorts rough against my clit, and I yell out. “Oh God, yes, do that again!”

He thrusts again, the mesh rubbing against me again, and I arch into him as he hits that magical spot.

“Are you on the pill?” he asks.

I nod, and his mouth moves to mine. He reaches between us, frees his cock from the confines of his shorts, and slides it into me.

He breaks our kiss to hiss, “Fuck,” as he enters me, and I gasp at the feel of having him back inside me, back where he belongs.

Oh my God, how have we gone six entire long months without this connection?

He starts to move, and I forgot how agile he is. One of his hands is on my tit, his fingers tweaking my nipple. He’s kissing me, and he’s holding himself up on one arm as he drives into me over and over, pushing me closer and closer to a climax the way only he can.

“Fuck, Kel,” he mutters as he pulls back from the kiss. He angles himself a little deeper.

“Oh God,” I yell. “Don’t stop, Austin. Don’t ever stop.” My voice is a needy moan, and it’s like those are the key words that set him off.

“You feel so good. I can’t—” He cuts himself off with a long, loud grunt, and then he picks up the speed. “I’m not gonna last much longer.”

“Don’t stop,” I scream at him. “Faster! Harder!”

He slams into me as fast and as hard as he can, and between the way he’s tweaking my nipple and the little growling noises he’s making that show me just how into me he is, my body explodes into a vicious climax.

I quake beneath him, pulse after hot pulse of pleasure washing over me as I come, and he drops his lips to my neck again as he lets out a low growl before he starts to come along with me.

We lay in bliss for a few seconds after he finishes. He eventually pulls out of me, and he tucks himself back into his shorts as he gets up. He returns a few seconds later with a tissue, and I use it to clean myself up as I rise to a stand. He grabs my pajamas and hands them to me, and I put them back on as I try to come up with something witty to say next.

I’m at a loss, and I feel the awkwardness climbing up my spine. Did he really mean what he said when he got here? Insecurities plague me, but he quells them nearly immediately as he moves in toward me and pulls me into his arms.

“Hey. Get out of your head, Kaplan. That was incredible, and you are incredible, and together, we are incredible.”

I nod into his chest as he holds me, and I draw in a deep breath of warm scent. It feels comfortable here, and I let his warmth fold around me.

He’s right. Together, we’re pretty damn incredible.

“Stay the night with me,” I say, and he nods.

I take his hand and lead him to my bedroom, and we each take our usual sides of the bed—a habit we formed when we used to sleep together, one that falls right back into place tonight.

It feels like a lot of things are falling back into place where we left off. I just hope this time we can make it stick.