The End Zone (Atlanta Lightning 2)

I opened my mouth to tell him I wasn’t going anywhere, that he belonged to me too, but again, Darren slammed his mouth down on mine, kissing and fucking as if possessed.

My cock ached between us, my balls heavy with come.

“Jesus, you don’t even know. It’s killing me not to come right now, not to mark you with my load, so you have a part of me inside you.”

“Do it,” I gasped.

Darren cursed. He pulled back, still inside me, still owning my ass as he managed to work lube into his hand. I held my legs back for him as he wrapped my cock in a tight fist, stroking in time with each thrust.

Our gazes stayed locked as the pressure built inside me. The world spun and my vision blurred as Darren thrust and I shot, my load flying onto my chest and stomach. My body contracted around his, and I felt him spasm inside me, felt the hot rush of Darren’s come filling me up.

“Oh fuck, that’s good. I feel it, my come inside you.” He spurted again, still filling me with long, slow strokes before I pulled him down on top of me, my orgasm sticky between us. Darren came easily, then said, “I don’t want you to go. I’ll do whatever I can to keep you. I’ll stop playing, and we can stay together in Atlanta, or go to California, or whatever you want, just—”

“Hey…where is this coming from? I’m not going anywhere, Dare. Not without you. Not if you don’t want me to.”

“You’re looking for your own place. I know it’s still in Atlanta, but we don’t know what’s going on with my career. I didn’t know if that meant you would be staying regardless. I don’t want to do that to you. I don’t want you to feel alone like you did when Bobby traveled. If the Lightning don’t sign me and you don’t want to go, then I’ll walk away from football. I’d rather have you.”

Jesus, this man. Was there an end to the depths of his heart? “I’m not going anywhere without you. I was looking for a place, yeah, but that was because I didn’t know what you wanted. You never mentioned if my living with you was permanent. I just wanted to be prepared. And as much as it means that you’d put me first, I would never expect you to walk away from football for me. Never.”

“But you would leave the center for me? It’s where you want to be.”

“It’s not going anywhere. There’s no time limit. If you get traded, we go, and I’ll travel to Atlanta sometimes to help like I did when I was in San Francisco, or I’ll put it on hold until we come back. I just want to be with you.”

“I want to be with you too,” Darren said. “How about we work on making decisions together, and then, whatever happens, we’ll decide together. I just… I wanna make you happy.”

There were no words for how crazy I was about this man. “You do. I want to make you happy too.”

He grinned. “Even when I ask you to sword fight with me?”

I chuckled. “Even then.”

We still didn’t know what the future held, just that whatever it was, Darren and I would face it head-on, side by side.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Darren

March

I had a couple of offers on the table—two years from Philly and three from Denver—both for a good amount of money. I fucking loved Denver, I had friends there, and it had always been a city I enjoyed playing in and visiting, but I hadn’t said yes yet. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. We had yet to hear from the Lightning, which honestly, wasn’t a good sign. My sister said as much as we all congregated in the game room at our parents’ house.

“Gee, thanks, sis.”

“Why is it that people expect a businessman to tell it like it is, but when a woman does it, they want her to soften it up? Strong women should be just as likable as strong men.”

“She’s got a point,” Momma said.

“He didn’t mean it like that,” Deon defended me.

“Which Momma and Mia both know.” I rubbed a hand over my face. “Fuck! I hate this shit.”

Part of me wanted to jump at the chance to go to Denver, but I didn’t want to start over and find my place on a new team. I didn’t want to leave Atlanta or my family. I didn’t want Jeremy to have to uproot his life to go with me. But it meant the world to me that he would, that he loved me that much.

“What do you think, Jeremy?” Momma surprised me by asking. Jeremy’s gaze darted to her, then me, and back to her again. I appreciated her asking, though. It was her way of showing she knew we were in it together, that my decision affected him and he had a say, that she saw us as the partners we were.