Page 57 of Force Play

Just like every other time I’ve been in Dom’s house, it’s nice and orderly, like his life. Somehow his place looks less like a bachelor pad and more like a home. A picture of his family in front of an actual white picket fence sits on the shelf. Longing for a life I’ve spent a decade grieving hits me, knocking me off balance. Next to it there’s a photo of him and who I assume are his sisters in a photo booth, one on each side, kissing Dom’s cheeks, draped in boas. I laugh at how ridiculous he looks with giant, bedazzled sunglasses perched on his nose.

In the center of the room is an oversized couch, big enough for all his friends.

“Oops,” I mumble to the silent house when the navy-blue fringed throw pillow I run my fingers over accidentally falls to the ground. The man needs a little mess in his life, so I keep walking toward the wall of glass facing the backyard, pausing when I reach the patio door. There’s one glaring problem with this spontaneous plan.

No swimsuit.

The Bandits are playing at home today. Something I only know because the girls would not stop talking about how thrilled they were to have a long home stretch. There’s almost no chance he’ll be home soon.

Just the idea of turning back now makes my palms clammy as I wrap my hand around the door handle and tug it open, stepping into the dry Colorado heat.

Even with the sun sinking lower in the sky, it’s still stifling. Sweat gathers on my forehead, and that’s all the convincing I need. Moving to the shade of the covered patio I grab a towel off the stack. There’s wicker loungers spread around the pool; I pick one close to the edge and perch on the end, removing the boot. I wiggle my toes ignoring the twinge of pain and walk to the stairs slowly. Without the support of the boot my foot throbs with each step.

High shrubs surround the pool, giving me a sense of privacy that makes me brave enough to strip my shirt over my head. Next come the shorts. After a quick glance around to make sure I’m still alone, I peel them down my legs.

Getting caught completely naked, while unappealing, seems less uncomfy than riding home in a stranger’s car, commando. So underwear go as well, creating a mountain of evidence that will give away what I’m doing if anyone finds me here.

Since I’m standing bare-fucking-naked in the backyard of a guy who I barely tolerate, I don’t waste any time. With each calculated step, the sublime temperature of the water coaxes my body to relax. By the time I’m neck deep, everything feels a touch better—mind and body.

Using my arms since my ankle is still too tender to really kick, I pull myself across the water at a lazy pace. It’s not the breakneck speed I’m used to when I’m biking or running, but after dozens of laps, my heart pounds against my ribs and my brain calms enough to process what led me here.

I flip to my back and float in the middle of the pool watching the sky morph from blue to pink as the sun sets.

Year after year, I go over the same decision, but tonight was the first time I’ve ever connected with the decision emotionally. In the past, it’s always been about my mom and what she went through—a fast no.

Hearing Beck so candidly share her experience resonated in a way nothing else ever has. No matter how many doctors or nurses have tried to persuade me with statistics, anecdotes, or pamphlets, none of them have touched the impact the blue-haired pixie made on me. She was so sure of her decision. I want that for me. Peace in knowing, whatever the outcome.

Tears roll down the side of my face, mixing with the water, the magnitude of the decision settling over me like a rain cloud. If I do this, I can’t un-know the results. Beck let it free her, but what if I do it and it traps me. Maybe that’s why I’ve run from this decision every year.

Chapter 20

Dom

Nothing has ever been as beautiful and devastating as Indie naked and crying in my pool.

There was a notification from my security system that she was here when I pulled my phone from my locker after our loss tonight, but I wasn’t prepared to find her floating, with her head tipped back and her face red from tears. Black curls float behind her in the clear blue water and her arms stretch wide, making her look like a broken angel; bared to me and vulnerable with everything below her breasts underwater as she drifts aimlessly through my pool.

It’s not a conscious decision when I see her from the edge of the patio, her chest trembling as the strongest woman I know falls apart in front of my eyes. My shoes and socks join the pile of her clothes, followed swiftly by my shirt and joggers. Only my briefs remain when I lower myself into the water.

Not wanting to startle her, I whisper her name, laying my hand on her shoulder. “Indie.”

She does the last thing I expect and doesn’t hide from me. There’s no yelling or snark when she turns in the water to face me with so much sadness. Pulling her to me is as much of an instinct as going to her, because seeing her like this guts me.

It isn’t until she wraps herself around me, her wet skin slipping against mine, that I question my character. Maybe stripping down was the wrong choice because my dick doesn’t get the memo that now is not the time to take notice of the hot, wet woman in my arms.

One I’ve wanted since she walked out on me without looking back. “Do you want to tell me why you’re topping off my pool with salt water?” I ask, doing my best to ignore the heat of her nestled right against my now semi hard dick. My efforts to keep him under control can only do so much—I’m not a magician.

“Talking won’t help.” Only the tracks from her tears remain on her stunning face as she sinks her fingers into my hair clinging to me like I’m the only thing that can keep her from drowning in her feelings.

“What do you need? Name it and it’s yours.”

“Make me feel something—anything but this.” Her hips shift and she buries her face in the crook of my neck.

She’s using me. I know it and she knows it, but I also know it’s more than that. As much as she continues to deny it, there is this tether between us. One that keeps bringing her back to me; that she can’t cut completely. “It’s cute that you think you get my cock. I didn’t hear you beg for it yet.”

Fire rages behind those dark eyes just like I wanted. She asked me to make her feel something else and annoyance is just the start. Cutting through the pool I head to the stairs and adjust my grip on her, my fingers digging into her cheeks.

When I bought the house, one of the selling points was the privacy the backyard offered me. Especially this covered patio, although I never guessed that I’d have a naked Indie under me on the lounger. Which is exactly where she is now as I lower her onto the plush cushions.

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