Page 16 of Break

A smug smile tugs on my lips as the tremble in her body isn’t fully one of fear, but one of anticipation, need.

“Well, well, look at that,” I taunt. “Is that all for me?”

She turns from my grip and leans on the counter, quickly putting her sneaker against my chest. “This is a professional space. You worked hard to join the NFL. Youarea professional, Dimitri. Let’s keep it that way so we don’t have problems, okay?”

My hand grips her ankle tightly and I shove her leg down to my hip, forcing myself between her legs until my cock nudges against her.

“I’ll be professional here. The apartment is another thing entirely.”

“Dimitri,” she warns.

“Floor four, right? Ten or twelve apartments per floor… I’m sure I can narrow it down if I sweet talk those in the office just right,” I taunt. “No reason to be professional where we live.”

Her face flushes and her lips turn down. I keep waiting for her to flinch away, but she grabs my wrist and removes my hand from her, only because I let her. I’m sure she knows it too since she’s staring at me.

I step back as my gaze remains on her and get dressed.

“I’m sure the team will be happy that you’ll be on the field. You have a bright future ahead of you.” She hops off the table with a forced smile. She’s so tense, so empty. But Knox,Jaxon, and I know how to fix that. It’s just a matter of time before we do.

History always repeats itself, and where Hope’s involved, I can’t wait.

As she steps past me, I grab the end of her pony and force her to tilt her head back as I hover over her.

“Do you still dream about me?” I whisper, my breath teasing over her parted lips.

“Nightmares,” she grits, and I smile down at her.

“All the same, sweetheart.”

My fingers release their grip as her blush brightens. She opens the door, and I step through, my eyes catching Jaxon’s as his brow arches in question.

She’s different, but she’s still ours. Nothing will change that. Knox shoots a look at Hope too. His frustration doesn’t ebb, his anger doesn’t change. Sure, he can be a sadistic fuck, but that’s not what his expression looks like.

He looks like he needs a face to rearrange, a fight to get all his fury out. We’ll use Hope without complaint. She takes us so well, but we don’t beat her, not like we do when we get in real fights, and that’s what Knox needs.

We’ll figure out how to calm him down because that’s what friends do. We share our fun and we take care of each other when other shit gets in the way.

My eyes go to Hope as she walks to one of the bigger guys on the team. The quarterback walks up to her too, talking about an injury. Things have changed. She’s not alone, not a little thing that’s easy to toss around, but us guys have changed too.

This will be a new kind of fun.

Eight

HOPE

Imanaged to survive seeing all three guys privately in one day and a call from my father. That’s a new win for me. The fact that it’s a win makes me feel good when I get ready for another day at work.

But can I count it as a win when I let Dimitri curl his finger in my pants, letting him skim them over my panties as he hummedat the wetness that was building just from his taking what he wants from me?

How messed up is that?

I shake away the thought and put my hair up in a neat bun, do a little bit of makeup, and pull on my uniform. As I remember what Dimitri said—a stupid thing to do—I do look at my pants. They’re loose, but that’s a good thing.

I’ve put on weight recently, and my ass is definitely bigger than it was in college. Maybe a small part of me hoped that the guys wouldn’t be as interested.

When I get to the stadium, I head in with a bounce in my step. Today will be good. I’ll find a way to make it good, but something’s different in the air here. Namely, I don’t see the guys on the machines.

Jared walks in beside me and gives me a warm smile before he sees what I see, a bunch of guys all crowded around Knox, looking at his phone. One of the guys whistles and my whole body goes cold.

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