Reed's Reckoning

My dick jumps to attention in my shorts and I lean down to her ear. “You don’t usually complain when I make you all wet. As a matter of fact, I can think of about six instances in the last three weeks you’ve screamed in pleasure from being wet. Four last night alone.”

Her nipples tighten against my bare chest and her breath catches in her throat. When I look in her eyes, they are the color of jade, which means I have succeeded in turning her on. I hold the stare until I can roll into the water without anyone seeing the raging hard on I have. Moving to the side, I keep my arms propped on her float and face our friends again.

“Girl, what the hell happened to your chest? Is that makeup?” Sassy interrupts.

Ari moves to try and cover her chest but it’s too late. The outline of my bite mark is obvious against her skin. She opens her mouth to say something but then just shakes her head, embarrassed.

No one else says anything and we stay in the water drinking beer and hanging out until it’s time to go. Bobbie drops us off right at my dock and it takes Ari ten minutes to say goodbye to everyone. She’s even nice to Bobbie’s date, even though no one can remember her name. She invites them and their families to her annual Fourth of July beach barbeque.

We pack quickly and she calls Davis to let him know we’ll be home soon. I drive us back to her house and we discuss my mom’s visit next weekend. They’ve spoken once on the phone and talked through our situation, and both women cried but promised to move on with their relationship. After listening to Ari’s side of things, my mom understood why Ari didn’t tell me about Davis.

“Ari, I want you and Davis to stay at the beach house next weekend when Mom’s here.”

“Are you sure? That’s kind of weird isn’t it?”

“Babe, she knows we aren’t virgins. We have proof. There’s plenty of room. It’ll really mean a lot to me. I don’t want to leave her alone at night. And there’s no way in fuck I’m sleeping without you.”

She bites her lower lip and looks at me. “Okay, Reed, we’ll stay with you. But we need to have Grandma Katy included. It’s important to her.”

“No problem.”

The rest of the drive we discuss her barbeque and I convince her to have it at my house. Since she invited a bunch of players, word will get around and more will come. I have more room, proximity to the beach, and better parking.

When we get to her house, Davis runs on the front porch to greet us and jumps into her arms. I join in the hug holding them both tight.

“Happy Fawders Day!” he screams over and over to me. Ari looks up at me with a sparkle in her eyes and smiles.

“I love you Reed Matthews.”

The world around me stops and warmth flows through my body. Fucking finally!

“No, I’m not kidding. I met a lot of them. Most of them were quite lovely.”

“Ari! You don’t call professional football players in the NFL ‘lovely’. It’s a disgrace. Have I taught you nothing?” Luke shakes his head and throws his hands in the air.

“Babe, Luke’s right. Need to come up with a new term before half my team shows up for the party on the Fourth.” I kiss her neck quickly and sit down next to her.

“Is Davis asleep?”

“Apparently Katy let him stay up late last night and Luke wore him out at the beach today. He didn’t make it through the first book. Thanks again, man, I owe you.” I look at Luke and nod my head.

“You don’t owe me anything, I’m family. Speaking of family, I heard your mom is coming in next Thursday night. What’s the plan for the weekend?”

I invite him and Sophie to join us on Friday night for dinner and he agrees to bring Katy. We move the conversation to the upcoming football camps and practices. Ari tells him what happened with her boss on Friday and that Sarah is still avoiding her. I inwardly groan when Sophie walks in the door and demands Ari tell her about the weekend. It feels like I’m never going to get Ari to myself. They move to the patio and Luke eyes me suspiciously.

“Something’s different. I can’t figure it out but something different since y’all left the soccer fields yesterday.”

I squirm in my chair and try to avoid his gaze. “Yeah, a lot changed. I got to tell my boss and teammates about my son. I introduced Ari to my friends. We got to spend time together, not focused on Davis, and I think I finally got through to her how I feel. I’m not going anywhere, ever.” I leave out all the sex involved.