Playing Hard to Get (The Players)

AFTER PRACTICE, I drove back over to this side of campus to pick up a coffee for me and Joanna. I was going to surprise her at her apartment with it, stopping by with a little gift. Plus, I have something important to tell her. I learned fairly quick that coffee is the way to her heart. Specifically vanilla lattes.

Vanilla lattes and Taylor Swift and soft blankets she can snuggle under.

Oh and kissing and fucking. She likes that too. A lot. About as much as I do. It’s like we can’t get enough of each other.

I know I can’t get enough of her.

So imagine my surprise when I spot her sitting in the damn café I just entered, tucked away in a dark, romantic corner with another guy, clutching hands with the asshole.

I saw red.

Hell, I barely remember charging over to their table. Can hardly believe I was able to string a coherent sentence together, but I know I sounded like a complete prick.

Joanna’s surprised gaze meets mine and she blinks up at me, the shock slowly melting away, replaced with…

Shit. Anger.

“Hello to you too,” she says coolly, slowly letting go of the guy’s hand. He’s watching me with an almost amused expression, not intimidated by me in the least.

I’m standing there like a dipshit with my mouth hanging open, my brain scrambling as I try to figure out if I should know this guy when Joanna introduces us.

“Leon, this is Knox. Knox, I work with Leon at the bookstore. He’s my friend.”

I’m such an asshole.

“Oh right. Yeah.” I offer him my hand, and he takes it, shaking it firmly. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m sure,” Leon practically drawls, on the verge of laughter. “Congrats on having such a great season, by the way.”

“Thank you.” The words automatically fall from my mouth. “You want tickets to our next home game?”

“Hey sure, that would be great. Perks of knowing the infamous tight end with a tight end, am I right?” Leon glances over at Joanna, who looks like she wants to crawl under the tiny table they’re sitting at and hide, her cheeks spotted with pink.

Tight end with a tight end? I mean…I’ve heard it before. “I’ll get your info from Jo Jo and make it happen. How many tickets do you want?”

“Jo Jo. So cute.” The look Leon sends Joanna’s way tells me he’s still amused. “Two please. Wait—make it four. Or is that too greedy of me?”

I chuckle, trying not to fold under the blast of icy-cold anger that Joanna is sending my way. I pissed her off good. “Definitely not too greedy. I’ll make sure and put aside four tickets for you at will call.”

“That would be great, thanks. And lucky me, I don’t have to work that day.” Leon stands, clutching his to-go cup in his hand. “I hate to run, but I have a few things I need to take care of.”

“Okay, yeah. Nice seeing you.” I shove my hands into my pockets, taking a step back when Joanna stands and wraps Leon in a big hug, squeezing him for an extra-long time.

Or at least, it feels that way.

The air grows chillier when Leon exits the café, I and Joanna settles back into her chair, then glances up at me.

“You going to sit down?”

I do, pulling the chair closer to the table, my knees bumping into hers. “I’m sorry.”

There’s no point in making excuses or trying to defend my actions. I fucked up.

She blinks at me, rearing back a little in her seat. “Okay.”

“I saw you sitting with a guy, holding his hand and I—freaked the fuck out,” I continue.

Joanna tilts her head to the side, wincing. “I can imagine that probably looked bad.”

“Yeah, and you’re sitting back here in a dark corner, like you don’t want anyone to see you.” I glance around the quiet café before returning my gaze to her. “I made an assumption and I was wrong.”

“He’s just a good friend who’s going through some stuff,” she says softly. “He needed someone to talk it through with.”

Reaching across the table, I take her hand, interlacing our fingers. “I’m glad you could be there for him.”

“Me too. And just to let you know, you can look pretty hostile when you want to,” she says with a teasing smile.

I take a deep breath, feeling like a complete shit. “I don’t know why I did that.”

“Because maybe you were…jealous?”

Well, shit. Was I? I don’t get jealous of anyone. Wait, that’s not true. I’m envious of anyone who makes a better catch than I do or gains more yardage than me when we’re playing a game. Or someone who gets more attention. I can share the spotlight, so to speak, but I also can admit to myself that I enjoy it more when all eyes are on me.

When they’re on someone else, even Cam, who’s the fucking quarterback for God’s sake, I get a little jealous. I’m ridiculous, but at least I can admit it.

But that’s usually it. I don’t get jealous over a woman. I’m never with one long enough to actually experience the feeling.

Until now.

“You’re right. I was jealous.”

We both sit at the table silently, studying each other, waiting for the other’s reaction. I’m also dealing with the fact that I just admitted I was jealous of another guy, which is…not like me.

At all.

“You were?” she finally says, her voice barely above a squeak. Like she’s surprised I would feel that way.

Guess I’m surprised I feel that way too.

“I didn’t like seeing you with another guy,” I admit. “I just—reacted. I’m sorry.”

“You already apologized.” Her smile and her eyes are soft. I think she’s enjoying watching me scramble here. “Why did you come to the café anyway?”

“Oh, I was stopping by to pick you up a vanilla latte. Then I was going to stop by your place and surprise you with it.”

“Aw, really? That’s so sweet.”

“Yeah, there’s something I wanted to ask you.” I squirm in my chair, suddenly uncomfortable.

“What is it?”

“My, uh, parents are coming to the game next Saturday. They’ll be here that whole weekend. I was kind of hoping that they could—meet you.” I swallow hard, my heart thumping wildly. If she turns me down, I’m going to feel like an asshole.

She blinks once. Twice. “You want me to meet your parents?”

“Yeah, it’s like…no big deal.” I shrug, playing it off.

“Have you had them meet any other girl you’ve been with?”

“Besides my senior prom date? No.”

“Knox.” She’s smiling. “That’s kind of a big deal.”

My stomach hollows out. “Fuck, you’re right. It’s a huge deal. If you want to back out—”

“I want to meet them,” she interrupts.

“You do?” I clear my throat, leaning back in my chair. “I mean, yeah, you totally want to meet them. I get it. They’re cool.”

“I’m sure they are. And I definitely want to meet the people who created you.”

Who knew her saying something like that would instantly have me all worked up inside. “I think they’d like you, Jo Jo.”

“I’m sure I’d like them, too.”

My mom is going to love her. My dad will tell me she’s pretty, because she is. My parents will also be shocked because I’m introducing a girl to them, and like Joanna just said, it’s a big deal.

Blair will sit there with a smirk on her face the entire time and make me feel like a dumbass, but I don’t even care because I want my parents to get to know Joanna. She’s become important to me in such a short amount of time.

“Want to head back to my place?” My voice is low, my gaze trying to communicate with her all the things I want to do to her when I get her alone.

She’s communicating with me with her eyes too, letting me know she’s down with every single one of my plans.

“I’m hungry though,” she admits as she rises to her feet. I take the empty cup from her and toss it in the trash. “Can we get something to eat on the way?’

“Definitely.”

And then I’ll eat her sweet little pussy for dessert.

“Oh God, please stop.” She’s pushing my face away from that sweet little pussy of hers, her entire body still shaking. “It’s too much.”

I lift away from her and wipe at my damp chin with the back of my hand. I just gave her three orgasms in about twenty minutes and she’s sensitive.

I lie beside her, wrapping her up in my arms from behind, trying to ignore my aching cock that’s dying to get inside her. I’ll need to give her a couple of minutes before I can pursue that though.

A shuddery breath leaves her and she rests her arms over mine, her head falling back against my shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you need to stop going down on me all the time.”

I chuckle close to her ear before I bite it. “You’re ridiculous, Jo Jo. What woman wouldn’t want a man to go down on her every single night?’

“You don’t want to do it when I’m on my period.”

“A little blood doesn’t scare me.” I’ve never done that, not sure if I actually want to, but if my girl was horny and wanted me to give her an orgasm to help ease the pain from cramps, I’d totally do it.

For Joanna, I would.

That I even know this little fact about orgasms and cramps is wild. I remember Blair dropping that bomb on the fam at the dinner table years ago and my dad about fell out of his chair.

Good times.

And wait a minute, did I just refer to Joanna as my girl?

I sure as fuck did.

“I don’t think I want to see you looking like Dracula after you go down on me.” She sounds amused, and when I drop a kiss on her smooth shoulder, she nuzzles her head against mine. “And you’re right.”

“About what?”

“You can keep going down on me. Whenever you want. I’m not going to stop you.”

I cup her pussy, sliding my fingers inside her and encountering all of that wet heat. “How about right now?”

“No,” she immediately says, making me laugh. “But what about you?”

“Can’t you feel me?” My erection pokes her ass and I release my hold on her pussy to rest my hand on her hip.

“Let’s do it like this,” she suggests softly.

“Okay.” I’m about to reach for a condom, but she stops me with her words.

“When you’ve been with other girls in the past, you’ve always worn a condom, right?”

“Yeah.” I draw the word out.

“I’ve only ever been with one other guy and he always used a condom. I’m on the pill. I have been for a couple of years.” She turns, so she can meet my gaze from over her shoulder. “Don’t wear a condom.”

My heart starts to gallop at the thought of feeling her bare around me, no barriers involved. “You serious?”

She nods, her eyes wide. “I want to feel you.”

Well, damn, I’m dying to feel her too.

I kiss her, sinking into her mouth, our tongues tangling, her body sliding against mine. I slide my hand over her hip, along the outside of her thigh, curving inward before I lift her leg, positioning her at a better angle.

She lifts her leg for me, making it easier, and I slide into her from behind, she’s so wet from all the orgasms I gave her.

“Fuck,” I groan into her ear, going still, experiencing that first slide into her without a condom on. She’s so hot, so wet, so damn tight.

It’s amazing. She’s amazing.

“You feel so good,” she whispers against my lips. “Fuck me, Knox. Please.”

It’s the please that gets me. Like she’s begging for it. Begging for me. I start pumping my hips, pushing as deep as I can inside her tight little pussy, getting lost in the feel of her. All that snug flesh wrapped tightly around me. She moans into my mouth, pulling away from my lips, and I immediately miss her.

But then she arches her back, sending me deeper, and I thrust harder, already chasing after that orgasm that hangs just out of reach. She moves with me, shifting and rolling her hips, her thighs falling closed, her pussy squeezing me so damn tight, I swear my eyes are crossing, it feels so fucking amazing.

“Stay just like that,” I whisper harshly. “God, your pussy is so tight.”

It squeezes around me even tighter, making me moan, and she pushes her ass out, giving me a glimpse of all that glistening pink, as my cock thrusts in and out.

In and out.

Jesus.

“Don’t stop,” she pants, and I want to laugh.

Like I could stop. I’m gonna come any second. Feels like I can’t breathe. Like I can’t think. My head is spinning, my ears are ringing. She moves with me, whimpering at my every thrust. Goddamn, I’m so deep inside her.

“Oh.” She swallows the word, her head thrown back, her body beginning to convulse. Her pussy clamps down, clenching around me in that familiar rhythmic pulsating that tells me she’s coming and fuck, I’m coming too. My chest aches from breathing so hard and I grip her close, shuddering as I cling to her, riding out the orgasm, my hips slowing.

Until I finally stop, completely spent.

“Oh my God,” she whispers.

I kiss her neck, breathing in her scent. “Let’s do it again.”

It’s like I can’t get enough of her.