I understood her trepidation to a certain point—just the fact that I was ten years older than her was enough to have her overprotective father ready to kill me—but I was reaching the end of my patience.
I wasn’t sure what she’d told them to be able to stay with me the night before the last day of her competition.
It was five thirty in the morning, and the sun was just beginning to crest over the horizon. Chloe’s time slot in the finals was in two and a half hours, and despite the fact that she was used to getting up early because that was when the best waves were, she was not a morning person.
“Time to get up, baby. You don’t want to be late, and if you stay in that bed naked for much longer, I won’t be accountable for my actions. Especially when I deserve a fucking medal for letting you sleep all night.” The other nights she’d stayed over had usually turned into a marathon fucking session as if we were making up for the nights when she was gone. Having her naked body wrapped up in mine last night had made me perpetually hard, but I’d talked myself out of sliding inside her by reminding myself that I didn’t want her to be tired the next day and perform poorly. Not just because of the competition, but surfing could be a very dangerous sport if you weren’t alert and focused.
Chloe groaned and rolled to the other edge of the bed. “I’m very impressed,” she said as she sat up, tossing me a grin over her shoulder. “I’ll have to make it up to you another time.”
I pointed at her and narrowed my eyes. “I won’t forget you said that. After we celebrate your win, I fully intend to collect my reward tonight.”
“Don’t jinx it,” she hissed as she shot to her feet and planted her hands on her hips.
Her eyes were lit with fire, and her position thrust her tits out, their hard little peaks begging for my mouth. I inhaled deeply and counted to ten, then spun on my heel and stalked to my dresser to pull out a pair of boxer briefs. “Sorry. I’m going to make you some breakfast. After you eat, you can go outside and throw salt over your shoulder.”
I didn’t look back at her as I marched out of the room with her musical laughter following me. My woman was a walking, talking temptation.
A freshly showered Chloe wandered into the kitchen fifteen minutes later, dressed in a dark blue, long-sleeved wetsuit that looked like a bathing suit since her legs were completely exposed. She’d pulled on a pair of orange swim shorts over it and was tying her hair back in a tight ponytail.
She smiled at me, and my chest burst with warmth, a sensation I’d come to accept since I felt it regularly when I was with her, along with a bolt of lust that went straight to my groin. All I had to do was think about Chloe, and I would get hard, something else I was getting used to.
I set out two plates piled high with eggs, bacon, fruit, and a slice of avocado toast. I’d also made her a fruit smoothie to drink with her breakfast.
“You spoil the heck out of me with your cooking, Wilder,” she moaned as she picked up her fork and dug in. “I don’t know how you make eating healthy so yummy.”
“Good thing you’ll never have to be without my cooking then, isn’t it?” I asked cheekily. “Although, you’d get it a hell of a lot more often if you lived here.” It wasn’t really the time for that discussion, but the dig had slipped out.
She sighed. “I know. Just let me get through today, and I’ll figure out how to tell them.”
“I know you will,” I acknowledged, more hopeful than confident.
After eating, we gathered everything she needed and loaded up her Jeep. Then I gave her a deep, soul-stealing kiss because it was the only way I could tell her that I loved her without saying the words.
“You got this, baby,” I encouraged when we finally parted. Then I winked. “I’ll be waiting on that stage to hand you that trophy.” Considering how she’d performed in the other rounds of the competition, I wasn’t blowing smoke up her ass. I believed she would win.
I patted her on the ass and opened her car door, then shut it after she climbed in.
Since I was only MCing the awards ceremony, I didn’t need to be there for hours yet. However, I wasn’t going to miss Chloe’s final heat, so I jogged inside the house to shower and change. Then I hopped in my car and drove to the beach, arriving a half hour before the first surfers would hit the waves.