First Down: A Fake Dating College Sports Romance (Beyond the Play)
First Down: Chapter 17

THE SECOND we get in the house, James hauls me over his shoulder. I shriek at him to mind the dress, which just makes him laugh. Thrown unceremoniously over his shoulder, I’m aware of every single one of his muscles. This is why athletes are the best; their bodies are toned to perfection. He steadies me by cupping his hand on my ass, making me shiver as he climbs the stairs.

Hopefully Cooper is super into Crime and Punishment. It would be just my luck if he came out just in time to see James drag me, caveman-style, to his lair. I knew he was working up to something; he kept his hand on my upper thigh the whole ride home.

I might be a teeny bit thrilled I’m affecting someone so much. This is going to blow up in my face, but I’m resigned and determined to have fun first.

“You’re being barbaric, you know.”

He laughs. “Don’t pretend you don’t like it.”

“You don’t know what I like.” I punctuate that by pinching his back. I’d think it didn’t bother him at all, if not for the way he tightens his grip on my butt. “We’re only fake dating, remember?”

“Vividly.” He practically kicks open the door. My tote bag is in the exact same place it had been when we went to dinner. I’d expected to change out of the dress, grab it, and book it home to watch a couple episodes of New Girl before falling asleep. This is… different.

I could stop it all right now. Tell him that we can’t.

But I don’t. Instead, I let him set me down on the edge of the bed, a surprisingly gentle juxtaposition to the whole carrying situation. He shrugs out of his suit jacket, draping it over the back of his desk chair, and to my surprise, kneels before me.

My hands replace his shoulders, smoothing over the fabric of his shirt. “James?”

He runs his hand down my leg, all the way to my ankle, and undoes the strap of my heel. I moan a bit as he takes off the shoe; they’ve been pinching my toes all evening. He does the same for the other shoe, setting them both aside gently.

“And just like that, you’re fun-size again.”

I hit his shoulder lightly. “Rude.”

“What if I told you I prefer you this way?”

“Do you?”

He presses a kiss to the inside of my thigh, right at the hemline of the dress. “You ought to know by now that I’m not big on lying.”

I can’t stop the smile from crossing my lips.

He keeps his mouth right where it is, speaking against my skin. “We can do this. We’re obviously attracted to one another.”

“Once to get it out of our systems, and then we can just be friends.”

He looks up at me. “Exactly.”

My body is already aching for him. In the position we’re in, he could so easily slide his head up my skirt and taste me.

If he did, I wouldn’t push him away. Not right now. Now, I refuse to think about the future. I meant what I said earlier—we’re not the same—but attraction doesn’t care about that.

My body wants his, pure and simple. I’ve only tried to have sex a couple times since Darryl and it was never good, but I have a feeling that James won’t disappoint. He’s so talented with his body in other ways, after all.

He pulls me into a kiss that makes my heart do a somersault. “You sure about this?”

“Yes,” I whisper against his lips. “As long as you are.”

He slowly pulls down the zipper on the back of my dress. It falls, pooling around my waist, showing off my lacy bra. The heat in his gaze nearly burns as he looks down at me. Without a word, he lifts me up, carefully pulling the dress the rest of the way off, and goes to drape it over the chair like his jacket.

I swipe my tongue over my lower lip as he undresses. Holy fuck, his chest is incredible. Each muscle is perfectly defined, showing off the power in them with ease. He has a tattoo over his heart, some sort of swirling pattern designed in thick lines of black. My eyes zero in on the trail of dark hair that leads down to his crotch, where he’s clearly half-hard already, his cock straining against the fabric of his black boxer-briefs.

I know I’m staring, but of course that just makes him huff out a laugh. “Like what you see, princess?”

“Come here.” I start to unhook my bra, but he does it for me, flinging the whole thing to the floor. I gasp as he takes one of my breasts in each hand, kneading gently. Then he leans down to lick at my nipples, and my mind-short circuits. I moan as he pinches one, sucking on the other to get it hard.

“You’re sensitive here,” he says. “I bet if I played with them long enough, you’d soak your panties through.”

I shake my head, whimpering all the while. “Don’t. I want you inside me.”

“I’ll get there, sweetheart. I’ve been dreaming about this, let me enjoy it.”

He continues to tease me, scraping his teeth against the extra-sensitive undersides of my tits, sucking a hickey into the top of one. I clench my core at the dizzying sensations. At this rate I will completely ruin these panties. I’ve never come just from this kind of stimulation, but something tells me James could get me there if he tried hard enough. I drag my nails down his back, digging in accidentally when he drags a rough hand down my soft belly. When his fingers replace the waistband of my panties, I whimper aloud.

He pulls back, his mouth wet with his own spit, and gives me a cocky grin that makes my pussy clench. “You’re easy to rile up, you know.”

I press forward. “Keep touching me.”

He tears the panties down my thighs. “Next time, I’m going to see if I can make you come just like this, Bex. My mouth on those gorgeous full tits, teasing until you cream yourself.”

I freeze, even though his hand is right at the top of my sex, and I desperately want it lower. “There won’t be another time.”

The smile drops from his face. “Right.”

“This is just sex.” I can’t keep the waver out of my voice. But that’s exactly what this is, and the clearer we are on that, the better.

“I know.” He leans in, kissing the corner of my mouth. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves.”

“Just—don’t talk about a future that can’t happen.”

“Okay.” He strokes the top of my folds, bringing his other hand up to tweak my nipple again. “But I’m tasting you.”

“You don’t have—”

He cuts me off by spreading my legs and burying his head between my thighs.