Page 37 of Power Play

They want to get their dicks wet. Want to walk around like they’re gods because of their name or their job or how much money is in their bank account. There’s no humility, just ego. Everything is about having the attention on them.

I fucked around a little my first few seasons in the league. I slept with a woman or two and got caught up in the fun of being an athlete who never had to work hard to get laid, but it lost its appeal pretty quickly. That’s not who I am.

And I’ve always thought guys who cheat are the bottom of the fucking barrel.

“It’s almost like he wanted me to find him. Turns out, he’d been sleeping with her for months,” she says. “He blamed me for not fulfilling his needs, filed for divorce, and here I am: a woman in her thirties who’s only been with one man. It’s sad, isn’t it?”

“It’s only sad if you make it sad. Seems more like you’re free from a selfish idiot who probably couldn’t find your clit even if it had a big flashing sign pointing to it.”

Piper tries to bite back a laugh but fails. “That’s strangely comforting.”

“I can be considerate occasionally. Excuse the vulgarity, but why not watch porn? There’s plenty of stuff out there. It’s all fake as shit, but you’d get the idea.”

“I have.” Her cheeks turn even pinker and my mind—my fucking traitorous mind—wanders to Piper with a computer on the bed next to her. Her fingers slipping under her shorts and her head against the pillows. I knock back all of my drink and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. “I know it’s not the real thing, and I don’t want to have a visual learning experience. I want to be hands-on. I want to figure out how things are supposed to feel and how things are supposed to sound. I want to know if what I’m doing is good.”

“What—” I glance at my empty glass and consider pouring myself another shot. Maybe two. Fuck the headache I’ll have tomorrow. “I need you to explain this all to me very carefully, Piper, so I understand exactly what you’re proposing.”

She gnaws on her bottom lip. Twists her hands together and takes a deep breath. “I would like us to be intimate with each other. I want you to be my guide in the bedroom. My coach, to put it in sports terms. Sex is a big component of it, yes, but I also want to learn the other things that make up a physical relationship. I know how cheesy this sounds, but I really think my happily ever after—myrealhappily ever after, because I refuse to believe the first one counts—is out there. I don’t want to miss out on my soulmate because I don’t feel confident in the bedroom and hide myself away. And, even if I don’t hide and end up meeting someone, a guy has barely ever made me orgasm. I’ve just… I’ve been made to feel embarrassed while being intimate too many times, and it makes me never want to try again.”

“Guys who care about you won’t give a shit if you can orgasm or not,” I say. “They also won’t stop trying after one failed attempt.”

“This is about me too though, and my journey. I lost so much of myself when I was with Steven, and I want to find it again. I don’t want to be a pushover who always puts others first. I don’t want to be quiet and timid and… and told I’m supposed to act a certain way. For once in my life, I want to be selfish. I want to have fun and I want to have sex and I want to be the woman who takes whatever the hell she wants. I want to not give two shits about what anyone thinks of me, Liam, and for some reason, I think you can be the one to help me with that. I mean, the other night at the bar was the most I’ve been turned on inyearsand you barely touched me. That has to mean something, right?”

I stare at her, and pride ripples through me.

Her cheeks are a rosy red and there’s a glint in her eyes that wasn’t there when she knocked on my door. I’ve seen Piper Mitchell a dozen different ways over the years, but this right here might be my favorite one.

Determined.

Blunt.

Sexy as hell.

“If I were to say yes, we’d need rules. Strict fucking rules and an iron-clad plan for the next few months.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“If I’m going to help you in the bedroom, you’re going to help me at my sister’s wedding. We’re going to have to get to know each other well enough for you to answer questions my family might have without it being obvious we’re bullshitting them.”

“Easy enough. Research is my job. Besides, I’ve been curious about you for a while now. The more I get to know you, the better.”

That makes me nervous. Makes me want to reinforce the walls I normally put in place to keep people out when they try to get close, because my business ismybusiness, not theirs. But then Piper smiles at me. Reaches out and puts her hand on my arm. Her thumb strokes over my tattoos, and I melt a little bit.

I’m weak as shit.

“Right. Okay. Yeah.”

“What are your other rules?” she asks.

I have no fucking clue what my other rules might be, because I didn’t expect to spend my night casually discussing sex with the woman I’ve had a crush on for fucking years.

“Communication,” I say, pulling something out of my ass. It sounds important, though. Like a rule Iwouldsuggest if I was thinking clearly. “You can’t hide from me when we’re talking about something in the bedroom. I need you to be upfront about the things you like. The things you don’t like. If you assumedyou’d like something and end up hating it, you can’t keep that to yourself.”

“Wow.” Piper laughs. “You sound like you’ve done this before. Are you a secret sex coach on the side?”

“I haven’t had sex in four years. But no. I’ve never been someone’s sex coach before.”

“What?”

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