Page 24 of Off Sides

Nick laughs, his shoulders shaking as he shoves another bite into his mouth and licks his fingers. “Yeah, that’s the point.” He looks at me. “You can’t ever forget me now.”

“I don’t think that would be possible, even before this.” I nod at the food in his hand.

“Why’s that?”

I take a minute to answer him, not sure what to say or how to say it, I guess. I’m afraid it’ll sound weird or clingy.

“I—” I cut myself off and take a deep breath. “You make me feel worthy? Important?”

His eyes meet mine, questions and determination swimming in the depths. “What do you mean?”

“I obviously had sex before we met.” I shrug and try to hold his gaze but end up looking down at my lap. “No one cared enough to make sure I got mine or noticed when I didn’t, but even before we got to know each other, you cared. You made sure I was good.”

“Sex is only good if both partners are satisfied.” He lifts my face to see him. “Otherwise, why would you go back for more? I knew after that first time that I needed more, so I made sure I gave you a reason to come back.”

I smile at him and give him a quick kiss, just a brush of lips.

“I appreciate you.”

Nick winks at me and offers me the last piece of the cinnamon roll, but I shake my head, and he eats it.

“I should take you to meet Debbi, she will like you.” Nick lies down on the bed on his side and pats the mattress in front of him.

“Who is Debbi?” I lie in front of him, and he pulls me flush against his chest. Nick settles his face against my neck and kisses my skin.

“She makes the cinnamon rolls,” he says around a yawn.

“I can never meet her!” I turn my head to try to look at him, but he holds me tightly so I can’t roll over. “I violated her masterpiece!”

Nick chuckles and throws his leg over my hip. “It’ll be fine. She’s supersweet, you’ll like her.”

He quickly falls asleep, wrapped around me like a damn octopus, and I can’t stop myself from following him.

The next day, we head down to the dining hall after our workout. The moment I step inside, I smell it and my face heats. Cinnamon.

I stop dead in my tracks and look at Nick with what I’m sure is a horrified expression. We can’t eat in here. My dick is already thickening just from the memory the smell brings flashing into my head.

“Let’s find a diner or something.” I grab his hoodie sleeve and pull, but he doesn’t budge.

“Cinnamon roll day is my favorite.” Nick is smiling so big it reminds me of kids on Christmas. I’m going to kill him.

“Nick!” I whisper-yell as he pulls out of my grip and hustles toward the line. Oh, fuck my life.

I get in line behind him, cursing him under my breath and thinking about hockey stats to stop my head from going to sex, but I can still feel how hot my damn cheeks are.

Nick loads up on food, and of course takes a damn cinnamon roll and throws me a wink, the bastard.

Once I’ve gotten food, we find a table and sit down. I glare at Nick while he smiles like the Cheshire cat as I shove eggs into my mouth.

Since I’m staring at Nick, I don’t notice anyone approaching, so I jump when trays hit the table. Oiler and Johnson drop down next to us, obviously in the middle of a conversation.

“Movie marathon today,” Oiler mentions and shoves food into his mouth as Johnson nods.

“What are you guys going to watch?” I ask.

“Star Wars,” they say together.

A woman walks past us with what looks like the center of a cinnamon roll on her plate, she dumps it in the trash and puts her plate into the dirty dish bin. The memory of eating that same part from Nick’s hand, then sucking his fingers clean hits me like a freight train. It’s immediate and overwhelming. My face flushes and my breathing shallows as I relive it.

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