Offside

“But you're telling me not to do that anymore!”

“You don't have to go after other people to make everything feel all right,” she said. “You do that just by…by being here.”

I had said it before, and I would continue to say it: girls made no sense whatsoever.

“I don't understand,” I admitted.

“Remember when we were here, and I was upset the other night?” she asked. “Remember when you just hugged me?”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Okay…you do remember.” She took a deep breath and let it out through her nose in a huff. “Just doing that made it better, and when I was…upset with what you had done with my locker and…and you took me outside and held on to me—that made me feel better, too. You didn't have to beat someone up to make me feel better. You fixed it just be being there for me.”

I wanted to argue with her and tell her the only reason I could do that was because I had already taken care of the kids at school so they wouldn't bother her again, but I was captivated by her eyes instead. The way she was looking at me…so intensely…it made my heart start pounding in my chest again.

That look was what did it. As soon as my eyes met hers, I knew immediately that I was done for. I would do absolutely anything she asked if she would just keep looking at me like that. Was that all it took? Just being there for her? I didn't even know what that really meant, but I did know at that instant that she had me—heart and soul. I could feel it in my mind and every aching muscle in my body.

“Anything,” I whispered. I slipped my other hand around the back of her head and pulled her to me. I pressed my lips to her warm mouth, and I kissed her over and over again. I felt her fingers grip on to my arm, and the nails biting slightly into my skin felt wonderful. I broke away for a moment, murmuring against her lips. “I'd do anything for you…anything you want. Just tell me what you need because I don't know what to do.”

She smiled down at me for a long moment before speaking again.

“Are you tired?”

I shrugged and shook my head against the pillow.

“I had a pretty decent nap today,” I reminded her. “Are you tired?”

“Not so much,” she said, and she kissed me again.

I had no idea how long we had been lying there in Nicole’s bed, facing each other and making out. I hadn’t looked at the clock for a while, and my brain was far more interested in keeping track of the feel of Rumple’s lips on mine than it was on how long we’d been at it. If I really wanted to know, I could always figure it out later.

I found a nice, soft, warm spot of skin at the place where Nicole’s neck and shoulder came together and sucked lightly on it. I didn’t do it hard enough to leave a mark—her skin was too perfect to be marred like that. Nicole’s fingers made little trails down my arm all the way to my wrist and then back up again. I traced my fingers against her side, pushing the hem of her T-shirt up a little.

I danced the tips of my fingers along the skin on her side. I drew little circles and then a few other shapes as I tasted the skin of her neck and shoulder. Nicole jumped a little as I hit a ticklish spot, and I smiled into her skin.

Her hand pushed against my shoulder, and she rolled me away from her and onto my back. Before I could protest, she tossed one leg over me and straddled my stomach.

“You should take your shirt off,” she said. Her teeth bit into her bottom lip.

“Oh, really?” I replied with raised eyebrows. She nodded, and I could see her cheeks tinge with pink in the glow of her bedside lamp. I flexed my back and brought myself up just enough to pull my shirt over my head.

I watched my Rumple’s mouth turn up in a sly smile as she glanced from my face to my chest. She reached out and started with her fingers at my shoulders before they slowly traced down—over my pecs, brushing against my nipples, and then to my stomach. Her touch was light and brought goose bumps out on my arms. When she circled my navel with her finger and then followed the thin line of hair below it, I had to pull up my knees to keep her from sliding any farther back. If she did, she was definitely going to notice the effect she was having on my body.

She glanced from where her hand was resting on my stomach to my eyes. She was breathing a little heavier, and my heart was practically making my chest jump up and down. I was torn between wanting to flip her over and bury myself in her as quickly as possible and wanting to make sure I didn’t push her into anything she wasn’t ready to do. I was pretty sure if I did that, this relationship would be over.

I was going to let her lead.

I licked my lips quickly and gripped her hips with my hands, hoping to keep them steady. With my fingers, I found that spot where the hem of her shirt met her sweatpants. I touched the soft skin of her sides, spreading my fingers out to reach more of her.

Nicole leaned down and touched my lips with hers, kissing me hard as her tongue tangled with mine. Her hands roamed over my chest again, and I used my fingers to creep up her sides a bit more. I stopped before I got to the bottom curve of her tits because I was feeling far too good to press my luck.

I was ready for anything she wanted—she could have all of me or just some of me—whatever made her happy.

That was when, without breaking our kiss, Nicole’s fingers left my chest and ran all the way down my arms. When she reached my hands, I was expecting her to push them back down and away from the tender, soft flesh they wanted to touch so badly. I even started to slide them back down myself, but she gripped my fingers and pushed them up until I was cupping both of her glorious, soft breasts.

I thought Shakespeare would have agreed that “We are such stuff as dreams are made on.” Somehow, I was going to have to keep myself from going too far.

Now, was she going to let me get my mouth on the girls as well?