Playing to Win (The Players)

I enter my darkened apartment and make my way to my bedroom, slowly opening the door to find there are candles flickering on every available space inside. My dresser, the bedside table, my tiny desk. Little votives scattered everywhere.

And there’s a bare-chested Ace sitting in the middle of my bed, leaning against my mountain of pillows, his phone lying discarded by his side on the mattress.

“Hey,” I murmur, drinking him in, surprised by the romantic mood he’s set up while waiting for me to return.

“Hey,” he returns, his lips curled in a barely-there smile.

“Sorry that took so long,” I say, shutting the door behind me and locking it. I admire him for a few more seconds, a smile curling my lips. “My parents love you, by the way.”

“Really?”

He sounds pleased and even a little unsure and that’s so cute.

“Really. Dad likes that you’re a football player, though he’s never going to let me live down the fact that I said I would never date one.” I roll my eyes.

“I’m just that convincing.” He rubs his hands together and I laugh, pushing away from the door and heading toward the bed. Considering my room isn’t that big, it only takes me a couple of steps and I’m standing at the foot of the mattress.

“You’ve got way too many clothes on,” he observes as I get rid of the coat I had on. “Maybe you should take some of that off.”

“Maybe you should help me,” I counter, but he slowly shakes his head.

“I like watching you strip.”

He likes watching me do a lot of things, I muse, kicking off my shoes before I tug the hoodie over my head and dump it on my desk chair. I make quick work of my clothing, until I’m just in my bra and panties, the cool air nipping at my exposed skin.

“It’s freezing,” I say as I yank back the covers and slip into bed beside Ace. He scoots down and turns so we’re facing each other, the candlelight casting his handsome face in a warm glow and I just stare at him for a moment, going over everything that happened today.

Us down on the field together. His big win. Him slapping me on the ass on the sidelines. In front of my mother. Meeting my parents. I’m so relieved they like him, but I knew they would, so it’s not that big of a surprise.

How he called me his girlfriend. How good it felt, to hear that word come from his lips. How right. We might not have the most normal relationship in the world, but that will change by the beginning of the new year at the latest. I can wait that long.

I’m a patient person.

Sometimes.

“What are you thinking about?” he asks.

“Not much.” I shrug one shoulder.

“You’re a liar. I always know when you’re thinking. You get a line right…” He touches the tense spot between my eyebrows. “There.”

“I’m thinking about what a good day it’s been,” I admit, my voice soft. “And it’s all thanks to you.”

“Oh yeah?” He looks pleased with my confession and I scoot closer, seeking his warmth. He reaches toward me and scoops me up, pulling me into his body. I throw out a hand, my fingers brushing against his naked upper thigh and I realize he doesn’t have any clothing on.

And he’s already hard.

“Yes,” I confirm, snuggling as close as I can as I slip my arm around him. “You’re naked.”

“No shit?” He raises his brows, teasing me.

That’s my favorite part. How he makes me smile. Makes me laugh. He knows when to be serious, but he’s a lot of fun. It’s like the more time we spend together, the more compatible we realize we are and it’s a mutual thing. I don’t have to chase him.

And he doesn’t have to chase after me.

We just…fit.

And I love it.

I love him.

The realization makes everything expand inside of me—specifically my heart. I always wondered when it would happen. When I would find a guy that was just as into me as I was into him and now that it’s here, that the moment is actually happening, it feels…

Good.

No, more than good. It feels…

Right.

So right.

“A girl could get used to this kind of treatment.” I slowly run my hand up the smooth, muscled expanse of his back. “Coming home to find her boyfriend surrounded by candles and waiting for her naked in bed.”

“I was feeling romantic.”

“Here’s the thing—lately you’re always feeling romantic, Ace.” I tip my head back and smile up at him. “That’s my favorite quality about you.”

He dips his head, his mouth brushing mine. “It’s been a good day, I agree. And that’s all thanks to you.”

He repeats my words back to me and I let my hand drift down, skimming the muscular curve of his ass. He has the best body ever. I could spend days mapping it with my hands.

My mouth.

I have before. He lets me do whatever I want to him and it’s never a hardship because he always benefits from my exploration.

“Did you really mean it when you called me your girlfriend?” I ask, suddenly filled with the need to know.

He pushes my hair away from my face, his expression gentle as he studies me. “What do you think?”

“I need to hear you say it,” I whisper, feeling the tiniest bit insecure.

I know this man is into me. That he cares about me. But sometimes, a woman wants to hear her man say it out loud.

“Ruby Maguire, I want you to be my girlfriend,” he murmurs, leaning in to kiss me again. His lips are so soft and warm. They hold the power to revive me. Make me feel lighter. Make me feel whole.

Make me feel loved.

“I want to be your girlfriend,” I whisper against his lips, kissing him again, my tongue sneaking out to lick. His tongue meets mine and we get lost in each other for a few seconds. Until he pulls away and cups the side of my face with his big hand.

“I hate hiding what we’re doing.” His tone is fierce and his blue eyes blaze with frustration.

“I hate it too.” I settle my hand over his, trying to reassure him. “But we don’t have to hide it for much longer.”

“I want everyone to know that you belong to me.”

My heart feels like it might explode, it’s so full of emotion. “So territorial.”

“I am,” he says without hesitation. “I didn’t know I had it in me, but when it comes to you, I am. You’re mine.”

“I’m yours,” I whisper, unable to deny it.

His hand slips down, landing on my throat and curling around the front. I love it when he does this and he knows it. My eyes fall closed and my lips part, his fingers exerting the slightest pressure when he says, “I’m in love with you.”

I open my eyes to find him studying me with a mixture of pain and love swirling in his eyes. It’s written all over his face. Like it took everything out of him to admit that.

“I will do anything for you. Do you realize that? You want us to keep this quiet to save your job, my lips are sewn shut. You want me to squeeze your throat because it gets you off? I love that. I will do it for you every single time. You like it when I pick you up Taco Bell when you don’t even ask, and you love it…you absolutely love it when I eat your ass.” He chuckles when I shove at him. “You do, Ruby. You love everything I do for you. And I love doing those things for you because I’m in love with you.”

Leave it to Ace to make the sweetest love confession ever and also mention eating my ass. This man…

“I love you too. I love everything about you. How protective you are, how smart. You’re kind and funny and sexy and you never hesitate when I ask you for something. You go above and beyond to make sure I’m happy. Satisfied.” I climb on top of him, causing him to fall onto his back so I’m now straddling him. “It’s like you were made for me.”

“You were definitely made for me.” His hands land on my ass, slipping beneath the thin fabric of my panties to knead my flesh. “I love everything about you too, Red. Thank you for letting me go to dinner with your parents tonight.”

I make a face, resting my index finger over the center of his mouth. “Don’t mention them when I’m lying on you and we’re practically naked.”

“I’m naked. You’re not.” He tugs at my panties, pulling them down so my ass is half hanging out of them. “We need to rectify that.”

We do. My bra and panties are discarded in seconds and we’re kissing. Touching. Hands roaming. My fingers curling around his shaft. His slipping between my thighs, his other hand clamped around my breast, holding me like he’s never going to let me go. His magical fingers bring me to the brink of orgasm and then he stops, rolling me over onto my back so he can climb on top of me, his thick cock probing at my entrance.

When he slides in, it feels like he’s coming home—which is corny, I know it. I sound like a romance novel or some silly movie but it’s so true. We cling to each other as he pushes inside of me again and again. Doing it missionary style, which isn’t our preferred position.

I prefer it on top. He prefers fucking me from behind. Says he gets balls deep—direct quote—and I can’t deny that the orgasms are always pretty life-altering when we do it that way.

But tonight is different. There’s a connection between us that can’t be denied. This man admitted that he loves me. And I admitted that I love him. What we’re doing doesn’t feel like just fucking anymore.

It feels…transcendent.

He presses his mouth to my neck as he works his hips and I lift up to meet him thrust for thrust, my arms winding around his neck. My fingers burying in his soft hair. I bend my legs at the knee and brace my feet on the mattress, which only sends him deeper and we groan into each other’s mouths. Desperation sifts through my veins, making me cling to him tighter, our mouths locked. Tongues tangling.

I can’t get enough of him. He acts like he can’t get enough of me.

When he slips his hand between us and toys with my clit, I start chanting.

“Don’tstopdon’tstopdon’tstop.”

“I’m not,” he whispers into my ear. “I’ve got you, Red. I’m never going to let you go.”

My orgasm slams into me and I can’t respond. I can’t think, I can’t even breathe. All I can do is cling to him as he continues to move inside my body, my inner walls strangling his cock, squeezing his own orgasm right out of him. He’s panting against my neck, groaning as the shudders rock his big body and when it’s over, we lie like that, wound together.

“Goddamn,” is the first thing he finally says, which makes me giggle. He kisses my shoulder, his lips lingering. “That was…”

“Amazing?” I supply for him.

He pulls away slightly so he can stare down into my eyes. I greedily stare back, marveling that this man is mine. That he loves me. I remember when I met him almost a year ago, and how cocky he was. How I didn’t like him that much.

Oh, that’s such a lie. I was wildly attracted to him from the start and pissed at myself for being just like my mother. My sister. Falling for a football player.

Now I can’t imagine my life without him.

“Amazing,” he murmurs, dipping his head to kiss me. “I love you, Ruby.”

“I love you too, Ace.”

“Want to do it again?”

“You know it,” I readily agree, grateful the man works out all the time and is in his physical prime.

His stamina in bed is one of my favorite things about him.

Oh, that and his heart.