Page 48 of Shoot Your Shot

When I pull back, she narrows her eyes. “Oh, and by the way … you still have to do your exercises.”

Damn. This woman sure runs a tight-ass ship.

That’s okay though. Because maybe one of my new exercises will involve both of us getting naked.

As I say goodbye to my mom, I see my dad and Kolt talking, Dad’s hand resting on Kolt’s shoulder. Kolt has always been one of those men who, if he respects you … hereallyrespects you. And if he thinks you’re a shitbag of a human, he won’t give you the time of day. Despite some cruel things my dad said out of shock the night before we got married or the things Kolt said about him the day I left … they respect each other immensely.

When Dad sees me, he smiles before giving Kolt’s shoulder a squeeze and leading him toward us. Before they get too close, my mom kisses my cheek, puts her hands on my shoulders, and looks at me through tear-filled eyes.

“I know everything is weighing on you, my girl. But I also know I saw that smile of yours inside the gym tonight. The one I’ve missed so much. Selfishly, I’m sad you guys aren’t coming to the house to stay with us, but I know staying at the cabin isexactly what you need. When there’s nothing around to distract us, we’re forced to face our problems.” She gives my cheek another kiss and pats the top of my head. “And I want you to know that the church and I will be praying for you. It’s all going to be okay.”

I smile. My mom has recently started going to church, and I’m happy for her because she seems to have really found her tribe there.

“Thanks, Mom. Love you.”

When Dad and Kolt get to us, Mom throws her arms around Kolt while my dad hugs me.

“I’m proud of you for putting your issues aside to take care of him and be there when he needs you most,” he murmurs in my ear. “No matter what happens between the two of you, you’ll never regret that when you got that phone call, you went to make sure he got better.” Pulling back, he kisses my cheek. “I love you.Bothof you.” He glances at Kolt. “I meant what I said. If either of you needs something—anything at all—pick up the phone and call.”

“Thanks, Dad. Love you.” I give him one last hug.

“Thank you, Coach,” Kolt says with a nod before turning toward me. “Ready?”

“I am,” I lie, giving my parents one last reassuring smile and holding my hand up. “Bye. Love you guys.”

As we walk toward the truck, I can feel so many eyes on us, watching our every move. This time, Kolt doesn’t try to take my hand in his. Instead, we just move side by side, our arms almost brushing until we reach his truck and pile in.

“What were you and your mom talking about?” Kolt drawls, turning the key in the ignition and making the engine roar to life. “Seemed deep.”

Buckling my seat belt, I wave to my parents as we drive by them while they stand in front of the gymnasium. “She said that she’d have the church praying for us.”

“You gonna pray too?” he drawls slowly, and I shake my head, confused.

“No?” he utters, raising a brow.

Turning his eyes back to the road, he lazily rests his wrist on the steering wheel. “Well, I do plan to have you on your knees plenty this weekend, Buttercup. But it’s not God you’ll be worshipping.” He looks over at me, clearly entertained. “It’ll be my cock.”

My mouth hangs open, and I snap my gaze to him to find him glancing over at me and winking.

“Don’t look so appalled, sweet thing. You know you love wrapping those lips around my cock and sucking my dick until I give you a mouthful of cum. Fuck, the image of it dripping down your chin is getting me hard right now.” He shifts around in his seat.

With my cheeks on fire, I look out the window and choose to say nothing back. Sure, he’s right. I’m oddly obsessed with going down on him. It does things to me that I can’t even explain, making me wild. But that was before we were separated. Now, talking about it feels weird and different.

Even if I did just suck his dick in our old high school and he did eat me out right on the teacher’s desk.

“No more talking until we get to the cabin,” I say, raising an eyebrow. “Unless it’s about dinner ideas. The weather. Or cats.”

“I love your cat,” he deadpans. “And I’m not talking about the three-legged one.”

I try not to laugh as I roll my eyes and look out the window.

This man. He could drive me batshit crazy, and I’d probably end up thanking him.

“Ugh, I actually hate going grocery shopping.” I scrunch my nose up, walking next to Kolt as he pushes the cart. “If I had known this was the plan, I would have made a curbside order.”

Kolt chuckles at me as he leans on the cart, pushing it through the produce section. He’s well aware of my dislike for grocery stores, especially when I didn’t have time to make a list.

“I don’t need much, sweetheart. I plan to eat most of my meals between your thighs.” He winks and holds his hands up for a second before returning them to the cart. “Fine, fine. Let’s just get something that’s easy and doesn’t need many ingredients,” he says gingerly. “How about a few steaks for tomorrow?”