11. Urban

CHAPTER 11

URBAN

E verly's lips parted, as if she were surprised by what I'd said. Fuck. I was surprised by what I'd said. Yet it was something that had to be said.

The shit men she'd been with before had made it a fuck of a lot harder for anyone else who might want a chance with Everly. A relationship hadn't been something that I'd wanted when I'd met her and I wasn't sure it was something that I wanted now.

What I didn't want was for it to be off limits for at least the time that I was here.

There was something about Everly that sucked me in. It wasn't just the sex, even if that had been spectacular. It was the fact that she didn't seem to want anything from me and that was really fucking different.

The major downside was that I didn't plan on staying in Kalamazoo and couldn't ask her if she'd be willing to leave with me.

After knowing her a week, it'd be real fucking creepy to ask that question when we didn't know where this would go. Well, she thought she knew, given the number of times she'd mentioned us being friends after we slept together.

Were we friends? I'd say yes , given that I'd called her every night and the one that I hadn't, I'd wanted to so fucking badly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she finally asked.

"It means…" I reached out and yanked her chair so that it landed between my legs, bringing her so much closer. "That those other fuckers screwing you over made it hard for anyone else who might want you. They made sure that any other man would have to work twice as hard. But you know what?"

"What?" she whispered.

"I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing."

Her eyes widened. "You don't?"

I shook my head. "Any man who's going to be with you should want to work hard to prove that he isn't like them. That he's not going to hurt you."

"Or fuck my sister?" she whispered, but there was something playful behind it.

"Or fuck your sister," I agreed. That wasn't something I could imagine doing to anyone I'd been with even if it'd been casual. That shit caused too much drama.

Without waiting for her to say anything else, I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to me so that I could kiss her.

Even Everly's kisses felt different. Her mouth was warm and wet. Her kisses full of confidence, even when the softest lips I could imagine. Given everything she'd just told me, a lack of confidence wouldn't have been a surprise, but she didn't have that.

Or at least she didn't show it.

When I took the kiss deeper, Everly climbed into my lap and straddled me. I pushed her into my erection so she'd feel exactly how she affected me. I wanted her to know. More than that, I wanted her to know that I wouldn't screw her over, but I'd leave that until after.

Without pulling my mouth from hers, I pushed the chair back and stood, taking her with me. I was able to walk us to her bedroom without a problem. For once in my life, I could almost be thankful to my dad for forcing us to stay in shape. Everly wasn't big, though she also wasn't too thin, but I liked being able to carry her to the bedroom.

Once there, I was able to set her on the bed on her knees and that was when I pulled back to yank her shirt over her head.

It was like that was the catalyst that ignited the fire because it was a storm of us removing each other's clothes and I had no idea where any of it went. I also didn't care.

Everly kept her gaze on mine until she couldn't as she lay down on her stomach and took my cock in her mouth. Fucking hell.

She slid her wet mouth down and then back, using her hand with it. Her head bobbed back and forth until I was about to cum in her mouth. That was when I had to stop it. That wasn't how I wanted this to end.

It was easy to flip her around and push her legs open so that I could bury my face there. The groan she released when I licked her the first time was more than worth it.

I could do this forever if it meant hearing her.

The sounds she made were mostly small gasps as her fingers dug into my scalp. The sting was good and pushed me to do more.

"Urban," she said in a breath, which I knew meant she was close. Her clit hardened under my tongue as a sign for me to keep doing exactly what I was doing and within another few seconds, her muscles tightened, her legs pressed against the sides of my head and the rush of excitement flowing through her.

It wasn't until she relaxed back and pushed at my head that I even thought about stopping.

I quickly wiped a hand over my mouth before I kissed her.

That had even almost been too much for me. I'd almost released right onto her blanket. If it would've lasted any longer, I probably would have.

But I wanted inside of Everly.

After I grabbed one of her condoms—because I remembered that she preferred to use her own—I slid that down me on the walk back to the bed.

"Up on the bed," I told her. She'd been at the edge and I wanted her in the middle. After doing exactly what I'd commanded, I climbed over her and watched myself disappear into her.

Everly let out a sigh as her head dropped back. I took that as a sign that it felt as good for her as it did for me.

The first time, I'd been looking at her back, but this time, I wanted to see her face. The pleasure she was feeling pushed me toward my release, but I was going to hold out as long as possible.

Her hands trailed up my back and I had to close my eyes to keep from cumming. Every touch of hers was threatening to send me.

I coaxed one more orgasm out of her before I allowed myself to go.

And once I had, I didn't want to move a muscle. Yet I couldn't crush her, either. Instead, I rolled over onto the other side of the bed to catch my breath.

"I'll say one thing about us," she said breathlessly. "We're good at that."

"Hell, yes, we are." I left out the fact that it hadn't felt like that with anyone else in my life.

"You can use the bathroom first," she said, though I wanted to stay right where we were for a while. Cuddling after didn't seem to be Everly's thing. It wasn't really my thing usually, but in this case, I wanted to stay with her.

I guessed that cuddling not being something I was into had more to do with who I was with.

When I came out of the bathroom, Everly had her robe on again and was standing by the dresser. It was a clear message that she was ready for me to leave. I collected my clothes and put them on, but I didn't rush. She stood over there with her hands folded under her breasts, which were covered by a red silk robe, looking a little impatient.

That thing did nothing but turn me on some more.

Another time, maybe.

"Thanks for tonight," she said quietly and it sounded like she meant more than the great sex we'd just had.

"You're welcome, but next time, we're doing this at my place so I can kick you out." I'd meant it as a joke and hoped she'd take it that way but I'd also wanted to point out that she was constantly making me leave her.

She snorted. "I'll be gone before you have the chance to kick me out."

That comment burned in my stomach. It certainly didn't sit well. She was so injured from her past that she really couldn't see a future in anything.

I'd make it my mission to change her mind. Not all of us were bad and sure, I might not have wanted a forever thing with her since I was leaving, I did want her to be happy in the end. Maybe I could get her to be open to something more with a man in the future.

Everly walked me to the door and while she made no move to kiss me goodbye, I gently pinched her chin between my thumb and finger, then lifted it to press my lips to hers quickly.

Then the door shut behind me.

The next day was another day game, which meant early to the field. The team was looking good and I wasn't all that worried about today's game. Though I was so tempted to call my sister and get her to bring Everly to the game, I didn't do it. I remembered that Everly said she didn't want me going through my sister for anything more about her.

That was hard for me. I had a resource to find out the information I wanted, but it was more important that I respect Everly's boundary, given the fact that so many hadn't respected any boundary.

Instead, for the first time in my life, I ordered her some flowers to be delivered immediately. This way, she'd know I was thinking about her. I knew her apartment number and looked on line for the rest of the address. Then I stepped out into the hall to call her but decided on Facetime because I wanted to see her.

"Hey," she answered, sounding out of breath and her face was slightly flushed.

"Did you just go for a run?" I asked.

She laughed, as if what I'd just asked was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "I don't go for runs, Urban. I do yoga and Pilates. I go for walks. Running and I don't get along."

"Yoga and Pilates?" I repeated and she nodded. "That explains a lot."

She giggled again. "I'm not going to ask what you mean by that."

I wet my bottom lip. "Probably better that you don't."

She let out a breath. "Don't you have a game today? Should you be getting ready for that?"

"I do have a game." What the fuck was this feeling in my stomach? I didn't get nervous to ask a woman out or to do anything. This was fucking new. "I thought I'd see if you want to come."

She furrowed her brows. "To the game?" I nodded. Happiness or whatever had been on her face slowly fell. "Remember what I said about being seen in public? "

Yeah. I did and I didn't love it. "It's not like you'd be on the field with me."

"I didn't mean—"

"I just thought you might want to come, Everly. If you don't, that's fine. Camden is coming and you could sit with her unless you don't want to be seen in public with my sister either. She's using our Dad's season tickets and said she was coming alone, so she has plenty room."

"I'll come," she said quickly, then she glanced at something behind her. "I have plenty of time. If Camden doesn't mind, I'll meet her there." She was about to say something else, but then said, "I can message her myself. Sorry. You don't have to do that."

"I don't mind talking to my sister."

"I didn't meant that," she said quickly. "I just meant… Never mind. I don't know what I meant. I'll talk to Camden and meet her there."

"Thank you." Because I did really want her there today when I probably shouldn't have. Tomorrow we had off, but only because it was a travel day. Luckily, it was just a three-game stand in Texas, and then we'd be back, but I wanted to see her before we left.

When I got back into the clubhouse, my brothers were sitting on either side of my chair. I shook my head because they were obviously up to something. Now, I just had to wait for them to tell me what that was.

"So…" Silas began. "Still looking to leave at the end of the season?"

I glanced around because that wasn't information I necessarily wanted the entire team to know. Others could think that I wasn't dedicated to this team because of my desire to leave it when that wasn't the case.

I'd give everything I had to the Knights until I was no longer here.

Luckily, most of the rest of the guys were gone or busy with their own shit, so they weren't paying attention. Even Madden was engrossed in his phone.

Just looking at that guy pissed me off.

"Why wouldn't I?" I yanked my shirt over my head to change for the game.

"Seems like there might be something to keep you here now," Brooks added.

I snorted. "Nothing's keeping me here."

"Not even Everly?" Jenner asked, which yeah… Of course, he was up to date on everything.

"Fuck off," I muttered, but I also didn't deny it. This wasn't the place for me to explore my feelings for Everly, whatever they were.

"Are you talking about Everly Rose?" Madden asked and all of my muscles tightened. I didn't like her name in his mouth. When I didn't answer he looked up from his phone and said, "If you are, give it up. That woman as a hard exterior that goes far beyond the hard candy coating."

"Shut up, Madden," Brooks warned. Being my brother, he'd be able to read my reaction easily.

Madden held his hands up, as if he were the innocent party here. "Hey, I'm just giving a teammate a warning. Don't waste your time on Everly Rose. Good pussy. Impenetrable exterior."

I didn't think before I acted when I lunged, ready to kill Madden with my bare hands. Chaos ensued. Guys jumped between us. Suddenly there were a lot more players in the clubhouse than before.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my hands on him. Brooks and Silas jumped in front of me right before I got to him. I pushed against them, but the two of them together made it impossible.

"The fuck is wrong with you?" Madden yelled. He stepped toward me, but a couple of our other teammates got between us, though they weren't holding him back the way my brothers were holding me. "I'm helping you not waste your fucking time."

"Shut your mouth, Madden," Silas snapped.

" You're the fucking problem," I yelled at Madden.

It took a lot of effort, but my brothers were able to push me out of the clubhouse into the hall and they didn't let go of me until we were out there.

"What're you thinking?" Brooks asked with the harsh "Dad" tone he sometimes used with us. "You can't fight in the clubhouse."

"Yeah." Silas shook his head. "Even with Mom running the place, that's going to get you in trouble."

"I don't fucking care," I raged as I began to pace. "Let it."

"Listen." Brooks pulled me to a stop. "Hulking out on Madden isn't going to do you any good."

"You don't understand," I told him.

"I do." Silas raised his hand, like he was still in school. "If that fuck nut even thought about Amity, I'd want to rip his head off."

"Exactly."

"But I'd have to do it outside of the clubhouse. We need to be a team in there. "

I mashed my teeth together so hard, I thought I might break a few.

But Silas was right. No matter what else happened, we had to play like a team. At this point, I could only hope that Madden started to suck so Mom would want to get rid of him. I couldn't hope for an injury because that brought bad mojo.

"I'm fine," I told them as I shook Brooks off. By the looks on their faces, they didn't believe me. "I'm fine," I said again, but this time, it sounded more like I was actually fine.

Once they were convinced, they let me back in the clubhouse.

At least Madden kept his fucking mouth shut so that I could focus on getting ready for the game.

And Everly would be there, so I couldn't suck.