Page 78 of The Coach

When I told Mick the news last night, she spent the night calling Lincoln, over and over again, to no avail. He never once picked up, didn’t answer her texts or emails. I knew that she was pissed at him, but I also know that she’s sad. Her baby brother went out of his way to hurt her, who wouldn’t be upset about that?

Now she sat at the table, pouring over her textbooks and typing things into her computer. Her eyes must have been tired from sitting there for the last few hours, but when I suggested a break, she just shook her head and told me she was fine.

I sigh, sitting forward on the couch and resting my elbows on my knees. I turn off the tablet and look over at her. She needed a distraction, that much was clear.

I walk over to her, leaning on the chair behind her and nuzzling her neck with my lips. “Mick.”

“Hmm,” she responds, typing something else.

“You need to take a break, baby.” I kiss her jaw, then her neck, and move her shirt to get to her shoulder.

“Tanner,” her protest is weak, and I smile against her skin. “I have to work.”

“You need a break.” I repeat, scraping my teeth on her skin lightly. I reach down and grip the inside of her left knee, pulling I spin the chair around, and she squeaks in surprise, her beautiful eyes meet mine in shock.

“Tanner!” The massive bun she has on top of her head wobbles when she laughs at me. “I can’t believe you did that.”

I smirk. “I’m about to do a lot more than that.”

I lean down, wrapping her nearly bare legs around my waist, her tiny shorts doing nothing to keep her from me. I lift her off the chair, and her arms wrap tightly around my shoulders.

The cool spring weather is still cold enough to keep me running the fireplace, and I grab the throw off the couch before I lay us right in front of it, the heat from the fire warming us immediately.

“This is romantic,” Mick murmurs, letting my shoulders go and stretching her arms up above her head. I reach over and pluck her reading glasses off of her face, setting them aside. I take my shirt off and watch her eyes track over my skin. “Ah, even better.”

I’m glad to see her teasing me a little, to see some of that spark come back into her eyes. This was what we both needed.

“What do you want, Mick?” I ask her, seeing her flush rise up her neck and into her cheeks. She’s not a shy girl, nothing about her is shy, but when she’s like this, when she gets turned on so much that I can visibly see her blush working over her skin, I can see she’s holding herself back.

“I want you.”

“You want me, what?” I ask, turning on the dominant side of myself, gliding a finger over her inner thigh and up until my hand is under her shorts. She tries to pull her legs closed, but I hold her down.

“I want you, Coach.”

I hum. “That’s better.” My fingers slip under her panties, and I feel her already wet and ready for me. Seems I’m not the only one who needs to burn off the tension of our week.

I slide my hands into her shorts and tug them off, lifting her legs into the air to do so. Her legs are straight up in front of me, and I wrap my arm around them, hold her there so her ass is exposed to the air, only her thin pair of panties protecting her. Her breath picks up and her chest heaves with each inhale and each exhale. I watch in amazement that she’s completely unguarded for just me.

Her panties slide off just as easily, and I allow her legs to come down. She bends them at the knees and places one on each side of my body; I press my hands into the rug beside her head and lay myself over her, brushing my lips over hers, and nipping at her bottom lip. Her eyes flutter shut, her mouth open, trying to kiss me back, and I smile when I finally give in to the kiss.

Her cool hands come to my shoulders, holding me in place so that I can’t leave, and her hands explore my skin, making goosebumps rise over my exposed flesh. I hold her beneath me, enjoying the slow, languid kisses that transfer between us and the moment. It all feels right. The sacrifices we’ve both made, the hurt we’ve both been going through, the love that we share is worth every second of it.

I feel her toes dig into my sides, her flexibility allowing her to give my gym shorts a shove and sliding them down, exposing me to the air, and I don’t stop kissing her. I take her tongue into my mouth, tangling it with mine and reveling in the taste of her.

It’s not long before I’m slipping into her, and I watch as a single tear tracks out of her eye and into her hair. I reach under her, holding her to me until there is nothing between us, no ending, no beginning. Just us, together.

There was nothing more I wanted than to make her happy again, not just with me but with her life. It wasn’t fair that she fell for the one man that would cause her life to have such an upheaval. There was no worse feeling than not being able to solve these problems for her, I didn’t care how sexist or overbearing it sounded.

I want to be able to fix any issue that arose.

For now, I would just hold her. I would love her, listen to her, comfort her, and I would show her that I was willing to do anything for her.

I bite my tongue when she comes, following after her in a sea of ecstasy, and hold back the declarations I want to make, knowing that right now, she doesn’t need me to do that, she just needs this comfort, to know I’m here.

The couch cools our sweaty skin when we move from the floor to it. I pull Mick into me, gripping her tightly. Everything would be just fine so long as I had this woman in my arms, I was damn near sure of it. I had no doubts we would hit rough patches, but somehow, I knew the two of us would succeed in the end.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice is hoarse, and when I look down at her, I see tears glistening in her eyes. My big, tough girl was having a hard time with everything.

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