Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122219 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
The seriousness in his eyes remained. “I like you so damn much that it scares me, Avery Kingsley. I’m around you all day, and then I still dream about you, too.”
Butterflies.
Butterflies and Nathan Pierce.
“Thank you,” I breathed out, glancing down at the card in my hand, because looking into his eyes was becoming too intense. “I don’t know if I’m ready yet, but I’ll keep this in mind. Is that okay?”
“More than,” he agreed. “When you’re ready, just say the word, and I’ll get everything in order,” he said, kissing my forehead.
I didn’t know it was possible for forehead kisses to feel like the ultimate kind of affection until that very moment in time.
Each day that passed, I found myself falling more and more for Nathan. On my dark days, he made me smile, and on my bright days, he made me laugh. It was becoming harder and harder to ignore the feelings developing in my chest for that man.
I sat in my bed, flipping through social media late one Saturday night. I knew Nathan was out with his brothers in Chicago to celebrate Evan’s and Easton’s birthdays, but I still wished he was home. Never in my life did I think I’d get to the point of missing having him around on the regular.
The house seemed lonelier without his voice bouncing off the walls.
It was around two in the morning when I heard him stumble inside. He must’ve run into the coffee table or something because I heard him holler, “Fuck!” after a big thump sound.
I snickered at the idea of him being wasted out of his mind. That was what he got for hanging out with his younger brothers. He couldn’t keep up with those guys.
“Ouch!” he muttered once more as he crashed into something else.
A few moments later, a text message popped up on my screen.
Nathan
Your light’s on. You up?
Avery
I am.
There was a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I said.
He turned the knob and opened the door. He stood there shirtless, with his belt undone and his jeans unzipped, revealing his black boxers. He placed his hands on the top of the doorframe, revealing every muscle tensing against his body.
“Hey, Coach,” he whispered.
I smiled. “Hey, you. You’re drunk?”
“Wasted. Took a taxi home. Rest of the guys stayed at my penthouse in the city.”
“Why did you come back?”
He bit his bottom lip. “I missed you.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Too real?”
I nodded. “Too real.”
“I missed you,” he repeated.
Heart skips and butterflies.
I sighed. “I just said don’t say that to me.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” he swore as he drew closer. He pulled my blanket off and placed a hand between my thighs, separating my legs. His thumb brushed against the fabric of my silk panties. “I was talking to her.”
A slight moan slipped from me as he edged the fabric of my panties to the side so his finger could massage my core.
My eyes fluttered shut as I shook my head. “You’re trouble.”
“You like it.”
I loved it.
Before I could reply, he lowered himself to the floor, getting on his knees. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me over to the edge of the bed.
“Nathan”—I laughed—“what are you doing?”
“You,” he replied with that wicked grin on his face. “I’m doing you. I was out all night thinking about coming home to you.”
“It sounds like you’re an addict.”
He began to pull my panties down my thighs, trailing kisses along my inner thighs as he did so. “I never want to sober up from this,” he swore before he slid a finger inside me.
Within seconds, my body reacted, my back arching in his direction.
He placed a hand against my shoulder and gently laid me back down. “Relax. Take it easy… Get comfortable,” he said. “I’ll take care of you from here on out.”
He spent the next few minutes getting me off, and when he finished, he licked his fingers clean. I tried to offer him a happily ever after ending to his night, too, but he said he just wanted to please me before falling asleep with me in his arms.
He stood and took off his clothes, turned off the light, and crawled into bed with me.
As he wrapped himself around me, he said, “I missed you.”
“Talking to her again?” I joked.
He shook his head. “No. Not this time. Night, Coach.”
“Good night,” I muttered as my heart did a few cartwheels before falling asleep that night.
33
NATHAN
Everything about Avery drove me wild in the best of ways. That woman did things to my mind—and body—that would leave me reminiscing for days after. Outside of that, she was just a remarkable person. She was a brilliant sister and daughter. A loyal friend. An outstanding coach. I didn’t think she knew how impressive she had been, either. Whenever someone complimented Avery, she shrugged it off quickly, never wanting the attention on her for too long.