Ethan (Face-Off 5)

I raise a curious eyebrow at him. “You drove all the way home just so you could go back? Why?”

He digs in the pocket of his track pants and retrieves a set of keys. “I told you why.”

“Because I didn’t answer your text?”

He nods. “Yeah, so make sure you answer me next time. I hate waiting.”

I laugh at his forwardness. “We’re not dating. I don’t owe you an immediate response.”

“Hours passed and still nothing from you. I couldn’t sleep not knowing how you felt.”

“I forgot my cell phone, it’s in Clarke’s car. We were on a stakeout when you texted about the game.”

He leans over me and presses a kiss to my lips. “I really have to go. I have a couple hours’ drive. I’ll probably get back as Will’s waking up.”

I thread my fingers together and put my hands behind my head, peeking up at him in awe. “I can’t believe you drove all the way here just to give me an orgasm.”

“I wasn’t planning on doing that. I wanted to see you, and when I found you in bed with your ass in the air, it was like an invitation to touch you. Do you know you sleep like a baby?” He covers his mouth and laughs. “I watched you for a while before I decided to wake you up. And once I got my hands on you, I couldn’t stop myself.”

“How long have you been here?”

He rolls his broad shoulders. “About an hour, I guess.”

“We have to tell Will,” I say.

“When the time’s right,” he counters, kissing me one last time.

“The time will never be right.”

He stops in the doorway, his eyes finding mine. “Will scored the winning goal tonight. Our team needs him focused.”

“There will always be a reason not to tell Will,” I challenge. “I’m giving you until the playoffs are over, or I will tell him.”

He tips his head. “I promise, Mia. I’ll tell him. Just give me some time, okay?”

I nod my agreement as he slips out of my room. The door closes behind him, and after he’s long gone, I still can’t sleep. I stare up at the ceiling, wondering if I imagined Ethan in my bedroom. Because none of this feels real. So, it must be a dream.

Chapter Fifteen

Ethan

After passing out with the worst case of blue balls in history, I slept for two hours before I woke up in my hotel room with a raging hard-on that wouldn’t quit. Mia broke my dick, or at least it feels that way. I’ve been hard all day. No matter what I try, I can’t get her out of my damn head.

Even after a long, hot shower, I can still smell her on my skin. Every single memory from last night is burned into my mind, making what we did a permanent and constant reminder of how much I fucked up. As if I haven’t done enough stupid shit in my life, I borrowed a car in the middle of the night just to see her. Then, I used the key she gave me to enter her bedroom unannounced.

What is wrong with me? She’s doing things to my head I don’t understand.

On our way home from D.C., I slept most of the way. Will had no idea I ever left the hotel. He was busy entertaining the woman he met in the lobby after the game, which gave me a lot of time alone to make a hasty decision. As soon as we got back to Philly, I ate dinner with Will at the Chinese restaurant below Mia’s apartment, and then he went out to meet the waitress from The Sixth Floor.

All day I’d thought about confessing what I did to Will. I promised Mia I’d grow a pair and tell him. But with the playoffs in full swing, I can’t afford to ruin our team camaraderie by starting what could be the worst fight of my life with Will. We have to get through this series before I go down that path, which makes me wonder if we’d all be better off if the last week never happened.

With the apartment to myself, I move into the living room and sink to the floor. I sit on the yoga mat I found in Mia’s hallway closet and laugh. The thought of Mia using this mat is hilarious. Someone must’ve given it to her as a gift, hence why I found it buried under old boxes and covered in a layer of dust.

Shirtless and in a pair of black basketball shorts, I lie back on the mat. Moving my hands behind my head to support myself, I take it slow, as I sit up just enough for my abs to burn.

Today, the pain feels good. I welcome it. I need it. Exorcising the bad thoughts of Mia from my brain, I pick up the pace and raise my legs in the air, elevating them at the perfect angle.

I get lost in my workout, too focused on anything but the tingling sensation spreading throughout my body. Apart from the police sirens blaring in the distance, the silence calms me. By the time I hear the key turn in the lock, I’m on my seventh set.