Years of anticipation pulsed through him. He shoved that bra out of his way and sucked one perfect nipple into his mouth, while his hand popped the button on her shorts.
She moaned his name and grabbed his ass. Both their hands became busy, busy, busy. It shouldn't have been possible for the two of them to get naked so fast given the confines of her sofa, but he was an athlete and Lauren was an overachiever. She shed the bra while he yanked her shorts down. He unzipped himself, and then Lauren shoved the rest of his clothing off, kicking it away with smooth legs.
Then they were skin on skin. Finally. Nothing had ever felt so good as pressing his erection against the cradle of her body, and feeling her shiver with longing beneath him. He leaned into her curves, pressing his tongue into her mouth, making love to her mouth the way he needed to do to her body.
All the complications fell away. There was only this room and this woman and his pounding heart. His love was like a tidal wave. He couldn't have held it back one more second if he tried. He slipped a hand between her legs and moaned at the soft slickness waiting there. "Need you so bad," he murmured. It was the truest thing he'd ever said.
Panting beneath him, Lauren lifted a knee, opening herself up to him. "Mike," she begged.
The sound of his name on her lips practically did him in. He grabbed her knee in one hand and, staring down into her flushed face, he pushed inside her for the first time.
They both gasped. He could feel her heart thumping against his as he leaned in for one more searing kiss. Maybe his heart was astonished that the moment had finally arrived, but his body would not be denied. His hips began to move in time to his throbbing pulse. He lost himself in her kisses. It was all so bright and perfect that he hoped it would never end.
But Lauren's breathing became ragged and her whimpers desperate. She clawed at his back and sobbed out his name. Her body pulsed around his.
Then it was all done except for the game-over buzzer. His balls tightened and his spine tingled. Then he was coming and groaning and spilling himself inside her for the first time.
They lay there panting and sweaty in the August heat. No air conditioning unit could ever match the explosion of pent-up sexual energy that had just happened here. "Lo," he growled, kissing her neck. "Look at me."
But she wouldn't. She bit her lip and studied the couch cushion.
"Hey," he whispered. "There's two things that could happen now. The first one is I go home and spend the next year trying not to remember this happened, or how happy it made me. I'll do that if you really want me to. The second choice is that I carry you to your shower for a rinse down, and then we do it several more times in your bed."
When she finally turned to look at him, her eyes were full of tears.
"Don't freak, honey," he whispered. "This wasn't an accident or a fluke. It was inevitable."
"I know."
"So why do you look sad?"
"I'm not the least bit sad. I'm just astonished."
"Why? Because it was good?"
"No. That it finally happened, and it was just as amazing as I knew it would be."
"That's because I love you."
Her eyes opened wide. "Mike."
"What? I can't say that? Like it isn't fucking obvious? There's probably nobody in your office who doesn't know."
Lauren looked stricken. "The gossip is going to be awful."
"Maybe. But do we care?"
She cupped his face, one thumb testing the grit of the stubble on his chin. "I might not even notice, so long as I have you."
"Mmm." He kissed the corner of her mouth, then slowly pumped his hips one more time. "Good answer, Lo."
She smiled against his lips, and they got lost in their kisses again for a little while. "I'm not going home tonight," he announced. "I want to lie in your bed and taste every inch of you."
Lauren made a little happy noise in the back of her throat.
He traced the pretty curve of her cheek with his nose. "Would this be a horrible time to ask if you're, uh, on the pill or something?"
She tilted her chin to give him better access to her neck. "Lucky for you, I am."
"Good to know." He kissed her again, because it was so incredible to be able to do that. "Obviously I'm a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later kinda guy."
"I noticed that," she whispered. And when she smiled at him, it was with the same smile he had held in his heart since the first week he ever met her.
FIVE
LAGUARDIA'S MARINE AIR TERMINAL, NEW YORK
APRIL 2016
Lauren paced the airport terminal with her clipboard, checking off each player as he arrived. The airline had warned her that they needed to push back from the gate at precisely noon, because a storm moving into the area would likely shut down some East Coast airports this afternoon. Yet with ten minutes left before boarding, there were three names unaccounted for.
So she paced, worrying.
Between the play-offs and Lauren's regular job at Kattenberger Technologies, she was putting in fourteen-hour days. And in the wee hours of the past week she'd somehow written the last sections of the senior essay she'd turn in next month.
Meanwhile, in a move that surprised every sportswriter in America, the Bruisers had won both of their Brooklyn games against the D.C. team, which made the series 3 – 1 in Brooklyn's favor. So now it was back to Washington for game five. They could actually win the entire series tomorrow night, if only she could get all the players onto the freaking jet.
A fresh-faced athlete she didn't recognize walked through the sliding doors next and looked around.
Lauren pounced. "Are you Silas?"
"That's me," the kid said just as several of the other players swarmed.
"Dude!" "Silas!" "Long time no see!" There were back slaps and high fives all around.
Lauren checked off Silas-a backup goalie she'd never met-on her list. Apparently he'd been on the roster earlier in the season but got sent down to the minors six weeks ago.
She tapped her foot while a few more players greeted the kid, and then ran out of patience. "Silas, I'm Lauren," she said, elbowing her way toward him again. "I'm filling in for Becca while she's out."
"Nice to meet you, Lauren," he said, giving her a sweet smile and a handshake.
Aw, at least the kid had manners. "Here is your team ID," she said, handing over a laminated badge that would get him into the stadium in D.C. "And your boarding pass. If you have any questions, you'll find me in your Katt Phone under Lauren. And welcome back to the Bruisers."
"Thank you, miss," he said, taking the documents. "It's good to be back."
The kid looked nervous, though, and she didn't blame him. Backup goalie was a tough job, and the team had struggled with the position this season. The gossip Lauren had heard was that Silas had played well in the fall but then lost his nerve as the team got closer to the play-offs. He'd been replaced by Sullivan, who hadn't satisfied Coach, either. Just after the team clinched the play-offs, and the pressure was off, Sullivan had played badly during the two games they'd given him in order to rest Mike Beacon.
And speaking of Mike Beacon-he was one of the names on the clipboard who hadn't arrived. There were just eight minutes until boarding time. Lauren did another lap of the room and pretended she wasn't looking for him.
Castro appeared in the doorway next. Relieved, Lauren trotted over to deliver his documents and check him off the list. That's when she felt Beacon arrive. She couldn't even hear whatever it was he was saying, but just the timbre of his voice made her skin feel prickly with awareness.
That's why this was so hard. Her subconscious was still tuned to the Mike Beacon wavelength. This past week had been a long series of uncomfortable moments. The sound of his laughter gave her goosebumps. Whenever they were in the same room, she didn't know where to look.
Now she turned around and peeked over the top of her clipboard. Mike wasn't alone. He'd been accompanied to the airport by a blond guy she'd never seen before and by an impossibly grown-up looking Elsa. Gone was the skinny little imp that Elsa had been when her father and Lauren had begun seeing each other. In her place stood a tall young teen whose sharp angles had morphed partway toward womanliness. Elsa's cheekbones were shapely and her skin glowed.
Even though Lauren had been trying not to stare, the sight of Mike's daughter was completely disarming. Time had marched on whether Lauren had made her peace with it or not.
". . . To a dance party with my friends from my old school," Elsa was saying. "Hans is driving me out to Long Island. It's my BFF's birthday today."