Chapter 16

Gina's words played through my head as I entered the pool house after she dropped me off. I plopped down onto the sofa with the ball clutched in my hand and leaned back into the cushion. I couldn't believe she thought Crew and I had something to get out of our systems. He was a baseball player. And, I wanted nothing to do with cocky, untrustworthy baseball players…no matter how good looking they may have been. Or, how yummy they might've smelled. Or, how hot they may have looked in their uniforms.

There was a huge splash in the pool.

I sat up, hesitant to look outside for fear of what I might find. But my curiosity got the best of me, and I peeked out the window. Crew emerged from the water, pushing his hair out of his face. I ducked down so he didn't see me.

There was another splash.

Had he seriously brought someone home with him? That son of a bitch.

I pushed myself back up and peeked out to determine if he was alone or had someone with him. As far as I could see, it was just Crew. I ducked back down, feeling oddly relieved, and let him do his thing. It was his home too—at least for the rest of the summer.

Minutes passed.

I waited for the splashing to end, but the guy could do some serious laps.

Eventually, there was silence.

Had he finally decided to go inside the house?

The handle on the pool house door rattled.

Shit.

I knew I locked it, but could he see me through the French doors? I lay still and held my breath.

"I can see your pink hair," he said.

I turned my head to see him standing outside in his swim trunks with his hands cupping his eyes against the glass door. Dammit.

"Open the door," he said.

"Sorry, the pool house is occupied."

"Let me in, Peyton," he ordered, and I hated the way my name rolled off of his tongue so smoothly.

"I'm not alone," I lied, not out of immaturity but out of self-preservation.

"Bullshit."

"He plays for the Stingrays."

He dropped his hands and tried the handle again to no avail. "I know you're alone."

"You can have my room. We're good in here."

He lowered his voice. "Open the damn door, Peyton."

"If you think demanding me to do anything is the way to go, you definitely don't know me."

He groaned in frustration. "Will you please open the door. I need a towel."

Shit.

Now I was embarrassed.

He wasn't even looking for me.

I tucked the baseball under the cushion and stood up, grabbing a beach towel from the pile on a nearby shelf. I unlocked the door, cracked it open, and pushed the towel toward him. Crew grabbed the towel with one hand and pushed open the door with the other so that I stumbled back but didn't fall. He closed the door and looked around at the empty pool house.

His eyes slid to mine, and he stalked toward me. I backpedaled until I hit the wall behind me. He tossed the towel aside and lifted his wet hands to my cheeks. His blue eyes locked on mine as pool water dripped down his face. "I'm done."

"What's wrong? Upset I didn't fall for the this-ball's-from-the-shortstop routine?"

He shook his head and drops of water from his hair dripped onto my face. "I'm done waiting for you to figure your shit out."

"Great. Then go."

He moved closer, his lips a mere whisper from mine. "I'm going to kiss you."

"Don't."

"Because you don't want me to?" he asked, his breath tickling my lips. "Or because you know as well as I do that we won't be able to stop once we start?"

A ripple rolled through my belly.

"Well?" he prompted, his nose grazing mine. "Which is it?"

My heartbeat thrashed against my chest.

"I would never force myself on someone," he said, his lips almost brushing mine.

My words were a garbled mess in my head. Had he asked me another question? Had I answered his first?

"But know this. I want you, Peyton. You challenge me and turn me the fuck on. And even with this stupid pink wig on, I can't see anything but your pretty eyes. And the way you—"

I crashed my lips to his, my tongue pushing between his lips. He dropped his hands to my hips and urged me closer. I slid my arms over his shoulders, arching into him as his tongue melded with mine in an eager dance. Both of us groaned, our pent-up frustration culminating in this one intoxicating kiss. He lifted me right off my feet, and I wrapped my legs around his hips. He carried me to the sofa and lay me down, covering me with his soaking wet body. His elbows bent at my head as he devoured my lips, his erection pressing through his swim trunks and into my thigh.

He pulled out of the kiss and stared down at me, his chest heaving in tandem with mine. "Did someone drink tonight?"

"Maybe," I said.

"This was not how I envisioned this playing out."

"Did you envision rose petals on the bed and music playing in the background?"

He smiled, and when he smiled like that, summersaults flipped in my belly. "I kinda don't picture you needing that."

"I kinda don't picture you doing it," I sassed.

He pulled the pink wig off my head and tossed it aside. "You'd be surprised at the things I'd do for someone like you."

My brows shot up. "Someone like me?"

He leaned his head down and trailed butterfly kisses down the side of my neck. "Someone sassy…"

I closed my eyes, savoring the soft brush of his lips on my skin.

"And strong," he whispered trailing kisses back up to my ear.

I sighed, sensations swirling low in my belly as he nibbled on my earlobe.

"Someone who's not afraid to speak their mind," he whispered, his tongue circling my lobe.

Even with his weight on me, my chest heaved.

"And, someone hot as hell."

That was it. I reached down and pushed at the waistband of his swim trunks. He took the cue and shoved them down and off his feet.

I reached for the button on my cutoffs. Sensing what I was doing, Crew lifted his hips. I wiggled out of my shorts and panties, then slipped off my bra and T-shirt.

"You wearing nothing but your pretty necklace is going to be a vision I'll never be able to unsee," Crew said lowering himself back down on me.

Once we were skin to skin, the reality of what we were about to do sent a shiver coursing over me.

"You sure about this?" he asked, looking directly into my eyes.

"No."

His eyes widened.

"But I have a feeling it's inevitable."

A smile spread across his face. He leaned in to kiss me but stopped abruptly. "Dammit. My wallet's out there."

"Of course it is."

"Give me thirty seconds." He jumped off me, grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist as he bolted out of the pool house. He was back within seconds, grabbing the condom from his wallet and tearing the packet open with his teeth. He dropped the towel and rolled on the condom. I couldn't have torn my eyes away if someone paid me. If I was getting the full Crew treatment, this show had to be included.

His eyes lifted to mine and his lips quirked when he caught me looking. He moved to the sofa and lay himself on top of me. His weight pushed me into the cushions as he adjusted himself so we were aligned. The tip of his dick grazed between my thighs. He used his hand to move it along my folds, swiping it from front to back over and over again. I closed my eyes and my head arched back. He totally knew what he was doing.

"I could do this all night," he whispered.

"Not if I kill you first."

He chuckled, but didn't end his torture.

My hands drifted around his hips, over the smooth skin at the base of his spine, and over his ass. I dug my nails in and he groaned.

"You're playing dirty," he murmured.

"Learned it from you."

He stopped moving his dick over my folds and steadied himself on his elbows on either side of my head. "You ready?"

I nodded.

He shifted his hips and thrust inside of me.

My back arched off the sofa, my chest pressing to his. "God," I sighed.

"Not quite," he grunted as his lips found my collarbone, and he buried them there as his hips began to thrust.

I held onto his ass, the feeling of him driving into me over and over again was so damn sexy.

"You feel amazing," he murmured.

I dug my nails in, needing him deeper. His thrusts became harder, but I liked it. My nails drifted up and over his back, the muscles so prominent beneath his silky skin. The area between my thighs began to constrict, sensations coiling tighter and tighter. His shaft brushed my clit. It was all happening so fast. Was this what it felt like when you had pent-up sexual tension with someone?

My nails traveled back down to his ass and I dug them in, urging him on.

I was close. So damn close.

His lips crashed to mine, our tongues melding. Between him being inside of me and his mouth on mine, sensations uncoiled between my thighs sending shivers out to the tips of my fingers and toes. He swallowed what would have been a cry of pleasure as he continued kissing me and thrusting, milking every last bit of my orgasm from my body. Eventually, he broke the kiss and his thrusts became eager.

"Grrrrrr," he groaned as he stilled inside of me.

He lowered himself down onto me. Our chests heaved as we lay connected for a long time in the silent pool house. I wondered if he was thinking what I was thinking. Had what just happened been two people getting something out of their systems? Or, two people who wanted each other?

"Speechless?" I finally asked.

"Just remember who kissed who first," he said into my shoulder.

Silent laughter escaped us both.

"That's the trouble with players. Everything's a game," I said.

"Makes things more interesting," he said.

"Does it?"

He finally lifted his head, and his eyes were half-lidded and content. "How soon until we can do that again?"

"If this is my one night with the player, I better get as much out of it as I can."

"You know that's not how it is with us," he said.

"How is it then?"

He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me slowly. Every part of my body prickled with the slow glide of his tongue. With the way his hand slipped down my side. With his soft content purrs. With the true intent behind his kiss.