Page 25 of Cherry Picking
I lick my lips and urge him forward. At first he doesn’t get it, but a few more tugs and he scrambles onto the mattress, hovering over me as I hook an arm around his shoulders.
“Fucking kiss me,” I growl, and Riley’s smartass smile is more than willing to oblige.
His mouth is salty and sweet at the same time, languid tongue grazing mine as I gasp and groan. He dominates every breath I take, beard rubbing the sides of my mouth raw, and I don’t even give a shit.
When his hard-on brushes my thigh, I remember my mission and reach down to shove his sweats and underwear aside. He’s thick and heavy in my hand, and I can’t see because our mouths are too busy playing tonsil hockey, but I feel how he stretches my fingers and hear how each stroke draws delicious grunts and moans from his lips to mine.
It doesn’t take long. Maybe he’s been as on edge as me these last few months, or maybe blowing me turned him on so much his stamina is shot.
Or shit, maybe it’s just been a damn year since he’s had another man’s hand around his cock.
Whatever it is, he tears his mouth away to bury it in my throat, to bite down on the juncture between my neck and shoulder and empty his seed all over my stomach and chest.
He shudders as we both struggle to catch our breath, but he comes back up for a few small, breathless pecks before finally sighing with relief.
His bruising fingertips leave my hips and travel up my ribs, pause to squeeze my shoulders, then sink into my hair as he drops his face back to the crook of my neck.
I chuckle at his clear exhaustion from what was maybe two minutes of getting jerked off.
Is there any denying the physical chemistry after that?
“Griff?”
“Hm?” I find myself smoothing my hands down the curve of his back, but by the way he relaxes against me, I don’t think he minds.
“I still need that friend.”
I smile and bury my nose in his hair. “We can be friends who bone. Besides, I never stick anywhere for long. Neither of us will have time to get attached.”
A puff of laughter hits my collarbone, and then gray eyes are looking up at me as he digs his chin into my pec.
“I think I’m already a little attached to you.” His little lopsided grin has us both cracking up again, and once we start to feel the sticky after effects of his orgasm, we reluctantly separate.
Riley sits up and gives me space to push out from under him, and we’re both at a loss for words. It’s not awkward, though. It’s slightly serene.
“We have a busy as hell season if we want to put the Hornets back on the map,” I say. “We can be roommates—teammates—with benefits for as long as it works for us. No pressure.”
“No pressure,” Riley repeats, gazing down at the sheets. “Even if I have to keep you a secret?”
I move to stand beside where he’s still sitting on the mattress, linking my fingers behind his neck and urging him to look up. My mouth closes over his without warning, without preamble. His lips soften and respond under mine, giving into the rush of want that floods between us.
“You’ll be my secret, too,” I mumble as I break away. “My cherry picker.”
Riley snorts and drags me back down until my knees hit the mattress on either side of him. “That’s mildly insulting.”
I grin into the kiss he initiates.
“You’ll catch up.”
PART TWO
CHAPTER 6
RILEY
TWO YEARS LATER– PRESENT DAY
The locker room is buzzing with energy and adrenaline. It smells like blood and sweat, but damn does it smellgood.
