Page 19 of Second Goal

Sleep comes quickly, and for the first time in years, it comes without nightmares.

Chapter Five

Blake

Kiley’s headrests on my chest, her body snuggled against me. And I let out a sigh of contentment, even though my balls ache like a motherfucker, and my cock strains against my pants, weeping for release.

A release I’ll have to give myself, because I’m not going to push her.

I saw the way she was ready to bolt last night when I’d told her I needed her to trust me.

She’s not ready yet. And as frustrating as that is, I’m not willing to risk losing her completely. Which is why I made another call last night after she fell asleep. Whatever she’s keeping from me, I’m going to find out.

Fucking trust issues, my head warns. But I’m not sure whose I’m more frustrated with - her or my own.

I push the thought away, because I didn’t hire a private investigator just to dig into her past. I did it to protect her. She’s afraid of something, of someone, and I’m going to find out what and who.

Kiley stretches beside me, and her eyes slowly blink open. There’s alarm there at first, but then she snuggles closer and murmurs, “Hi.”

“Hi.” I grin at her, trailing my finger over the soft splattering of freckles on her cheeks and nose. “God, you’re gorgeous.”

A smile stretches across her lips. “So are you.”

I shift her on her back and run a palm over her curves. “I prefer ruggedly handsome.”

She laughs. “I’ve heard you go by the name Adonis on the rink.”

I grunt, knowing she’s referring to last year’s GQ article.

Her arms wrap around my neck and she kisses my jaw, and says teasingly, “You must get tired of all those beautiful women praising you.”

I lower my mouth to her breast, my fingers dipping between her legs. “Don’t care what other women think about me.”

Kiley whimpers as my thumb finds her clit. “Is that why you keep all your girlfriends hidden?”

I freeze and my eye twitches, defenses going up without warning. “I don’t have girlfriends, Kiley. And if I did have one, you wouldn’t be here in my bed.” I roll onto my back and scrub my hands over my face.

“I didn’t mean...” She pulls her lip between her teeth and sits up, pulling the sheets around her. “I just haven’t seen you with anyone.”

“Because I haven’t been with anyone. Not for a long time.”

“Oh.”

I sit up and rub the back of my neck. “There’s a reason I need to be able to trust you.”

Even though I’m not looking at her, I know she tenses. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. This isn’t about your shit, Kiley. It’s about mine. The last relationship I was in, the woman cheated on me. It was a pretty fucked up situation and I went into a dark place for a while.”

Kiley places her hand on my arm. “I didn’t know.”

I shrug. “We’d been together for a while. I should have seen the warning signs, but I was too caught up in myself. Looking back, I think I loved the idea of her more than anything. A lot of the guys were getting hitched, starting families.”

“I didn’t think that was something you wanted.”

“It’s not,” I say, but even as the words come out, I know they don’t hold as much truth as they used to. “I haven’t let myself think about it for a while. Once someone hurts you in that way, things that you once thought you wanted don’t seem important.”

“I’m sorry she hurt you. I think...” She reaches out and traces the scar above my brow with her fingertips, then murmurs, “I think it’s the scars we don’t see that change us the most. That defines us.”

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