Page 20 of Taken By the Grumpy Player

I sit up, gaze trained on her, and prod, “You were what?”

Something dances in her eyes, my chest tightening when I realize it’sconcern,and she confirms my suspicions when she blurts, “I was worried.”

The tightness in my chest strengthens, so intense that it distracts me from the migraine as her words register. I take note of her eyebrows that are pulled together, watching me carefully as she moves further into the room toward me. Her confession has my heart doing something stupid, my blood running warm, and for a second I wonder if I misheard her. But the caution combined with hesitation on her face tells me all I need to know, and the breath gets trapped in my lungs as I get to my feet.

“Were you?” I ask, keeping my voice cool and steady.

She’s only a few feet away from me now, gaze lifted so she can keep it locked with mine. Willow raises an eyebrow and asks, “You don’t believe me?”

I fight the urge to smirk. With her in front of me, being able to smell her apple scent, I barely pay attention to the now dulled throbbing in my head. “Can you blame me?” I ask, looking down at her. Her boots have a slight heel, but they don’t do much against my six foot three height; she still has to tilt her head back a bit to meet my gaze. “Last time we talked, it wasn’t entirely pleasant.”

Willow’s lips purse, drawing my attention to her pink mouth and my teeth press together with the urge to close the distance between us. All I can think of is that she’s here and I want to kiss her, even though that didn’t go so well last time. I guess I didn’t learn my fucking lesson. “That’s true,” Willow says slowly, and when I look at her, I note the way her gaze flickers down for a moment, right to my mouth. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t be worried about you.”

I arch a brow despite her words making my heart pick up its pace. “Even if it means checking on me when you should be out there, watching the game and taking notes for the post-game interviews?”

Instead of answering my question, she asks one of her own. “Do you not want me here?”

She’s closer now. I’m not sure if she’s the one who is closing the distance, or if it’s me, or if it happens to be the both of us unknowingly. But the air is electrified, the dim lighting of the locker room doing nothing to dull the brightness of Willow’s green eyes. The heat of her body sinks into mine, a welcome sensation that swells my cock, especially as she looks up at me through her long eyelashes with those full lips parted. This close, I could count the freckles on her cheeks and nose if I wanted to.

My voice is a low rumble as I answer, “You know the answer to that.”

Something like a soft laugh escapes her, her eyes never leaving mine. “Do I?” Willow tilts her head to the side and my fingers itch with the urge to run them through her soft, loose hair. “Because I gotta be honest, Reed—I have no idea what the hell you want from me.”

Fuck, what the hell was going on? Were we really going to do this? Did shewantto do this?

The tension in the room is damn near suffocating, and I have a feeling if I touched her, electricity would explode, and when that happens, neither of us can ignore this.

Yet I still reach out, catching a lock of strawberry blonde hair around my index finger, my knuckle grazing against the curve of her cheek. I hear the sharp intake of her breath, green eyes darkening just a little as I lean toward her, just inches between us like she’s pulling me in like a magnet. My nose just barely grazes hers, eyes locked as I confess my truth, “I want you.”

I swear she shivers, and I’m fucking hard for her. “How?” she whispers.

“Any way you’ll let me have you.”

Her eyes widen, ever so slightly, and I watch her gaze flicker between my eyes and my mouth, her stare calculating. I can practically see her mind working, weighing the pros and cons of giving into the cloud of lust that envelopes us, my blood rushing in my veins as I wait for her answer. All I’m focused on is Willow, the way she stares at me, the way I can hear her breathing picking up as the seconds pass by.

Green eyes meet mine once more, and then she mutters, “What the hell,” before getting on her toes and closing the gap between us once and for all.

I grip onto her immediately, hands on her hips as I pull her into me, sucking her bottom lip into my mouth and savoring the needy moan that sounds through her. I trail my tongue along the seam of her lips as her hands bury themselves in my short hair, damp with sweat, but she doesn’t care as she tightens her grip. It’s a different kind of pain than the migraine—pleasurable, and I want more of it. When our tongues meet, she easily lets me take over, practically feeling her body melt into mine.

Fire lights up my veins as I tug her toward me, sitting down on the bench and sliding my hands down her thighs to settle her on top of me. She straddles me easily, and I tug at her bottom lip with my teeth before grunting, “Fuck,” when she grinds her core against my already hardened cock beneath my shorts. “Driving me fucking insane.”

I feel her smile against my lips, and when I open my eyes a bit, I see her watching me with lust-filled hooded eyes. The sight of her is sinful, paired with her kiss-swollen lips. “You know you enjoy it,” she says breathlessly, and if I wasn’t rock hard before, I sure as hell am now.

This woman.

My hands slide up and under her sweater, feeling her warm, soft skin against my hands as she cups my face and kisses me again, slowly moving her hips against me. It’s electrifying, feeling her like this, and my hands slide down once more before finding the button and zipper of her jeans. When I finish undoing them, I growl against her lips, “Take them off.”

My girl doesn’t hesitate in listening to me. She pulls away and I already crave the taste and feel of her lips once more, my heart pounding as she gets to her feet and toes off her shoes easily before her fingers hook under the band of her jeans and she starts tugging them down. I watch her, mesmerized, as more and more skin is revealed when she pulls her jeans down, my breathing growing heavy as my gaze remains fixed on her.

“Fuck,” I hiss through clenched teeth when she’s standing in nothing but her sweater and a pair of deep green underwear that’s nothing but a small triangle covering her pussy. My eye doesn't miss the damp spot, and another groan escapes me.

At this point, my damn migraine is all but forgotten. Willow has me fucking hypnotized.

This is risky, because anyone can walk in at any moment, but I still grab her by her thighs, fingers digging into her soft flesh as I pull her towards my seated figure. “I’m going to taste you,” I growl, and Willow’s breath hitches as I prop her right foot on the bench next to me, opening her up as her left foot remains planted on the ground, my hand cupping the back of her knee.

My other hand runs along her right thigh, gaze flickering up as Willow watches me with flushed cheeks and a lust filled gaze, and I keep my eyes locked with hers as I lean forward and press a kiss to her pussy through the thin material of her underwear, right on that spot dampened with her arousal.

Willow’s hand clutches the back of my head as she whimpers out, “Oh, fuck,” and I smirk as I run a finger down her center before hooking my finger under the cloth and tugging it to the side. I groan at the sight of her glistening, bare, pink pussy, begging me to taste her, clit swollen with arousal.

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