Page 90 of The Fake Play

“You have me,” I whisper as I drag my nails up and down his back.

He groans when he enters me, and the pleasure of it sends my head digging into the pillows as I moan against his mouth. He buries himself deep then pauses, panting and staring until I meet his gaze. A faint smile spreads across his lips before he kisses me and plunges even deeper.

There is nothing in the world better than this, and it’s all mine.

Our bodies are intertwined, and somehow, I end up on top, riding him until I can’t hold back any longer. Ecstasy comes and goes when he clutches my hips and takes over, forcing my body back and forth on his length to make me come again. He cocks his hips up, jutting himself deep with every thrust. I cry out his name again and again, every time he makes me come helplessly on his cock.

When I’m too limp to sit up anymore, he holds me against his chest, and I listen to his heart beat as he keeps going. It’s too much—perfectly too much—and I tremble in his arms, craving the next thrust as much as I crave oxygen. I’m almost to my next orgasm when he comes hard enough to trigger it.

We become a tangle of limbs and whispered promises. It seems different this time, there’s a depth, a connection that goes beyond words, beyond anything I’ve ever known. As I feel every inch of him, I know that this is it—he is my person.

He brushes a strand of hair from my face, his eyes full of love as he looks down at me. I imagine him looking at me this way on our wedding day. “I was delaying our return home with that walk,” he says, a sly grin pulling at his lips, “So Whitney could set this up. I knew you wanted it to be private, something special.”

I giggle softly. “You talked to Whitney about this?”

“Of course I did. Well, not this part of the night, obviously, but the proposal part,” he jokes. “And I talked to your brother, too. I wanted to get it right this time. I want to get our entire life together right. I want to be the best husband I can be for you, and the best father I can be for our child.”

A fresh surge of emotion swells in my chest so intense it brings tears to my eyes, and I can’t blame my pregnancy hormones this time. He’d gone out of his way to make this moment special, to make it exactly what I’d wanted. He’d listened, making sure it was perfect.

I pull him close, tracing the lines of his face, his jaw, his lips, memorizing every detail as I kiss him again, slow and deep, feeling the weight of his words settle over me, filling me with a sense of peace I hadn’t known was possible.

“I love you so much,” I whisper, my voice barely audible. “And I’m ready. I want all of that, too.”

“With me?”

I laugh, and his serious expression cracks into a silly smile. It makes my heart skip a beat, and I know that this is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life.

Chapter 39

Luke

Islip into the arena before dawn. The place is still dark and silent, save for my own footsteps echoing down the halls. I’d been doing early practices, but nothing like this. I needed that privacy for what I had planned today. What I was doing wasn’t for the team, the fans, or even Coach.

It was for me. Just for me.

I head to the locker room, the fluorescent lights buzzing harshly overhead as I gear up in silence. Today, there’ll be no crowds, no rules. Because that’s the way it has to be.

I’d told myself that Lucas was in the past. That his cheap shot and his dismissal from the league was something I’d moved on from. But deep down, I knew there was a part of me that still wasn’t satisfied. I needed to close this chapter my way, with no lingering questions about who was the better player. I needed to prove who the real Luke was.

His elimination from the league couldn’t be the last word on the matter. I had to know.

As I tighten the laces on my skates, I hear footsteps approaching. A second later, the team trainer, Esai, appears at the doorway, raising an eyebrow as he takes in the sight of me suited up.

“Morning,” he says. He knew why I was here. He was the only one I’d talked to about my plan. “You sure you want to do this?”

It was a fair question. “I have to know, Esai.”

He gives a slow nod. He was a trainer. He’d been around enough athletes to know what this meant to me. “Alright. He’s out there, just like you asked.”

I give him a slight shoulder squeeze, the adrenaline already pulsing through me. This is my race to win. I have to settle things once and for all. And if Lucas is half the competitor he claims to be, he’ll want this, too. Which is why I knew he’d show up.

The kid had just as much pride on the line as I did.

I step out onto the ice, the cold air waking every nerve in my body. The rink is dark except for the single line of lights illuminating the path before me, a strip of ice that stretches out like a runway.

Esai had kindly set everything up for us.

I skate forward, feeling the smooth, familiar glide of the ice beneath me. This was my house, but if he won today, I’d know who it might have belonged to, if he hadn’t let his temper get the best of him. This race might ruin the arena for me, and I knew that, but I wasn’t going to think about that now. I had to know if I was better than this kid.

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