Sidelined: A Wilde Players Dirty Romance (4 page)

Footsteps precede her voice. “Fletcher, you need to—”

She’s not looking at my face. Or my chest. Or my shoulder for that matter. Her gaze is targeted on what lies between my legs. And, dammit, that stupid fucker decides to betray me and stiffens to poke his head out of the water in order to stare back at her. One-eyed fuck. He and I are going to have a little chat after she leaves. Or maybe some hand-to-hand combat. First, I have to deal with her.

“What do I need, Cass?”

“Uh, yeah … uh,” she swallows, “you need to ice.”

She’s still not looking at my face as I say, “Hey, will you look at me for one minute? Unless you want to take a ride. Someone would be more than happy to give you one.”
Traitor
.

“Huh?”

“Christ. When was the last time you got laid?”

That gets her attention.

“That is none of your business. When was the last time
you
got laid?” Her voice takes on a snappy tone as she throws my question back at me. But at least her attention is off my goods. Maybe the little fucker will lie back down like a good boy. The truth is, I haven’t gotten any action in far too long, but she doesn’t need to know that. There haven’t been many since her because the few I did have never came close to what stands before me at the present time.

“Can we start from scratch? Like this whole night?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

A frustrated sigh leaves me. “I don’t want it to be like this between us.”

I expect a snappy response, but that’s not what I get. “I don’t really either. But after you dumped me—”

What is she saying? “I didn’t dump you. I had to leave to go with the pros.”

She looks at me like she wants to say
duh
.

“Yeah, you dumped me for the pros.”

My hand drives through my hair. “That’s not how it went. I had to leave, and you were supposed to come.”

That one word has me harder than I thought possible. She speaks, but I’m barely coherent to what she’s saying.

“I had to finish college. Then there was PT school, my dad, and I couldn’t possibly go.”

Reaching out, I take her wrist and pull her closer. Her eyes widen, making her look like a doe in the middle of the road. And, damn, if that doesn’t make her my prey.

The words crawl out of my mouth like a growl. “Take your clothes off and get in this tub with me.” I shut off the water and push the button to get the jets running. This is a dead-end conversation, like it will always be.

Her head shakes, sending all that hair I want to wrap around my hand flying.

“You’re crazy.”

“Maybe.” I haven’t let go of her wrist, determined to convince her to stay. “Everyone’s entitled to a little crazy. Why’d your marriage break up?”

She pins her lower lip under the top one, looking unsure of how she should answer.

“He cheated on me.” Her words are soft, but I hear them well enough.

Splashing the water around, I ask, “Is that the only reason?”

When she doesn’t answer, I give her hand a slight tug. “Take your clothes off, Cass, and get in here.”

“I might hurt your knee.”

“Chicken.” I splash her with some water.

She jumps back, and I lose my hold on her. “Fletcher, you got me wet.”

Her eyes narrow as my grin widens. “That’s the idea.”

She shakes her head and half-smirks. “Fletcher, we haven’t been with each other in, how long?”

“Too long, but not long enough for me to forget what we had.” The words slip out before I can catch them and cram them back into my mouth. I had meant to say it was since draft day when I ultimately changed the course of our lives. She had to stay—her father was sick at the time and things weren’t looking good. She didn’t want to be that far away from him. Then, when things settled down, and she graduated, she waffled because Oklahoma was halfway across the country. That’s when the arguing began. I naïvely thought we could work through it, but things escalated, and ugly words were exchanged. Things were said neither of us most likely didn’t mean—at least that was true in my case. Finally, I ended up losing the best thing that ever happened to me. At the time, I thought it was football. I was dead to rights wrong. But when I figured it all out, she had moved on and wouldn’t even speak to me. And I couldn’t blame her. We both chose different paths.

Eyes like heated caramel striated with moss green and swirled with milk chocolate melt the frost that’s held my heart prisoner for all these years. I’m not sure which one of us is more surprised when she drops her jacket on the floor. Her sweater follows, then her jeans. All that remains are her bra and thong. She looks like my best dream, the one I have when I’ve over imbibed. I’d pinch myself if it didn’t make me look like a moron. And she already thinks I’m one so I don’t need to give her more reminders.

“Jesus, Cass, you …” I have to swallow because I’m afraid I’ll drool if I don’t. “You are so beautiful.”

She reaches behind her and the bra slides off her arms, falling to the floor. Her tits are better than I remember. Full and begging for my mouth. I want to suck the hell out of them, but I’m sidetracked when the tips of her fingers tuck under the elastic of her panties and tug them down her long, luscious legs. She steps over the tub and kneels between my legs.

“Are you sure you don’t want to eat your dinner?” she asks.

“Oh, I’m going to eat all right. It’s just not going to be chicken wings and French fries tonight.”

My hands cup her face, and I pull her toward me. When she’s an inch from my mouth, all I can think of is how much I’ve missed this. “I can’t wait to taste that pretty mouth of yours. I’ve waited too long for this.”

One thing I don’t expect is Cassie’s sexual hunger. She’s every bit as eager as me, and it surprises us both. The kiss explodes as we crash into each other. Initially, our movements are clumsy, teeth clashing and lips bruising. But then, things become more attuned as we explore and reacquaint ourselves with what we’d lost. Hasty becomes languid; clumsy becomes adept, until we are both lusting for each other and for precious oxygen. It’s gotten to the point where I want to seat her on my damn cock, because if I don’t do something soon, I’m going to look like I’m fourteen. But I need to get her ready first. And there’s a slight problem. I can’t lift her up because I only have one shoulder, and I can’t kneel because of my fucking leg.

My little savior rescues me. She slides up on the side and asks, “You did say you wanted dinner, didn’t you?”

“Are you a mind reader?”

“What do you mean?”

“I was trying to figure out how I was going to do this with one bad shoulder and one bad knee.”

“Yeah, I figured you needed a plan.”

Staring me in the face, well almost, is her smooth as silk pussy. I don’t need another invitation before my mouth hits the goal. I carefully drape her leg over my sore shoulder, and my tongue does exactly what I remember we both love. I bury it inside her and run it around her clit, over and over, until her legs tighten around me. She makes the sweetest sounds when she comes, and, damn, I’ve missed that.

“Your pussy is so pretty, all pink and glistening.” Now I have to tell her the bad news. “I hate to break this to you, but my condoms are downstairs.”

“I’m on the pill.”

“You trust me? With all my groupies?”

Her eyes widen, and I’m sure I’ve ruined the moment. But it has to be thrown out there.

“How many, Fletcher?”

“Honestly?” She nods. “Three,” I admit. “But none in a while.”

Her lips move together as though she’s forming a W. Then she says, “I don’t understand. The media.”

I offer her a sad smile. “I suppose you believe everything the media throws at you. They want me to be
that
guy
. I’m not. Never have been.”

She slides off the side and into the water. “You get tested, right?”

“All the time. We have to.”

“I was tested after the dipshit I was married to cheated on me. I haven’t been with anyone else.” Her arms wind around my neck, and she kisses me. “I want you, Fletcher.”

Then she’s moving. Her hips situate above me. We stare at each other while she slides down the length of my cock, slowly but surely. It must have truly been a long time for her because she’s as snug as our first time together. And it’s damn righteous.

My hands wrap around her ass cheeks, and I commence to lift and lower her to a rhythm that I control. She’s tight wrapped around me, and I make sure it’s good for her.

“Tell me what you need.”

“This,” she breathes.

I slide one hand between us to make sure she gets hers because I’m close. Almost too close. I hope this is where it all comes together for her, no pun intended. Once those inner muscles of hers grab my cock and squeeze, I can’t hold on any longer. I pump her harder, and my orgasm explodes like a cannon. When she squeezes me dry, I lift my lids to find her staring at me. That’s when my nerves fire.

Her soft hand touches my face, and I relax. “Whatever happened with us, Fletch? I thought we had it all and then—”

“I was stupid. Maybe we both were. I didn’t read the smoke signals you were sending. My excitement over what was happening overrode everything else, and I just couldn’t get why you didn’t want to move that far away when it was only a plane ride from here.”

“But my dad and school. And then we were like dominos tumbling.”

“Yeah, and I didn’t understand everything being in the pros entailed. It was eye-opening for sure. But I’m happy to see you got your PT degree.”

A rueful smile curves her mouth. “School was important, but I think it was … never mind. You’ll think it’s dumb.”

Taking her hand, I rub circles on top and say, “No, tell me. I need to know this.”

“I was also scared you’d be more attracted to someone else. You know, famous football player and all. And here I was just a small-town girl from the mountains.”

And doesn’t this make me feel like the biggest piece of shit.

Cassidy

There is a lot of awkward silence after that. I get out of the tub and try to dry off quickly. I have to help him out, which gives him a chance to snag me before I can run. The weirdness doesn’t stop him from finding his way inside me again on top of his bed. And, damn, if I don’t let him and ride out the pleasure he offers me.

Later, wide awake with his arms around me, I can see how easy it would be to fall. Fall maybe even harder than the first time. We’d been kids, foolishly thinking we had forever. But we didn’t. Now, we’re both older and a little wiser. And maybe we’re a little more jaded, too.

His even breathing doesn’t change when I decide to make a break for it, only to realize his truck is still in town.

Still, I slide out of bed and get dressed. When I open his bedroom door, the dogs are right there in the hall and perk up when they see me.

“Come on, boys,” I whisper.

I easily find the dog food, having spent much of my time here over the years. The nostalgia hurts more than it warms my heart. I fill their bowls, not knowing when the last time they ate because Fletcher hadn’t fed them when he’d come home. I also give their water bowls a refill. But Boomer, I think it is, wags his tail at the door, so I let him out and step out into the chilly night. Brady follows, or it’s the other way around. It’s still dark, and I wrap my arms around me, enjoying the bite the night air provides. It gives me more clarity about my dumb choice to sleep with a man I’d loved. I have to work with him, and this will only complicate things.

Not long after, a blanket covers my shoulders, and I crane my neck to see Fletcher.

“I wondered where you went. It’s the middle of the night.”

The dogs sniff out their spots, and I struggle with what to say. He makes his own conclusions from my silence.

“You were leaving, weren’t you?”

No point in denying the truth. I turn and meet his eyes. “Yes, but then I remembered your truck. And the dogs, they needed out.”

“Cass, don’t deflect. We shared an incredible night, didn’t we?”

There is a pleading in his eyes that almost breaks through my bulletproof shell, but I can’t afford to have my heart shatter the way it did the last time he left. And he is leaving again.

“We did, but—” He steps back, only to wince. “You should be careful. You don’t have your brace on.”

“Careful,” he huffs. “I don’t get you, Cass. You’re acting like a dude. You get laid, and then you’re heading for the hills. Or maybe I should say the mountains.”

The mountains
. They are one of the many reasons why we can’t be together. I love these mountains and everything in them. Maybe even him, if we could have worked through the distance between us when he left.

“What do you want from me?” I study the wary frown lines on his face. “When we finish with your rehab, you’re going back to Oklahoma. My life is here.

His glare turns glacial, and I’m the first to look away, unable to withstand the weight in his eyes. Why had I made that leap? It had been too easy to let my jealousy get the best of me.

“Do whatever you want.” He waves a hand, dismissing me. “I’ll find a way to town. Go home or wherever you go.”

He pivots and limps away. I try to reach out, but he evades me. “Fletch?”

“Go, Cass.”

His dismissal stings more than a swarm of bees, but I deserve it. I stand there wanting to cry, but push it back. It’s for the best. I have to protect my heart, because it won’t survive another break.

My alarm wakes me up early, and I’m disoriented for a second even though I’m in my bedroom. I still remember Fletcher’s skin against mine, and I miss his heat at my back.
Boo me
. I hurry through my morning routine, determined to get to Wilson’s when they open at eight.

Thankfully for me, it’s my one morning off. Once I strike the bargain with Troy Wilson, I head to Fletcher’s because I don’t have his phone number, and he didn’t answer his parents’ house phone. When I drive up, he’s sitting on the porch swing watching the dogs play in the front yard. I park and make my way to where he sits.

“Mrs. Miller, I didn’t think you made house calls.”