Page 85 of Coast to Coast

Tom buried his face in my shoulders, his chest heaving from emotion. And when his eyes met mine, I knew everything I had decided was the right move.

“Fuck yes, Callie. Does this mean you’re staying with me? Am I understanding you correctly?”

“Yes, I’m here if you’ll have me.”

He captured my mouth hard and fast, pulling away and staring at me in disbelief as if he wasn’t sure I was real.

“My God, Callie, I can’t tell you how badly I needed you today. How’d you know?”

“Honestly? Mariana reached out. But her text was well-timed with the little guy exposing us to Sam and Kelsey.”

His face searched mine, “How did that all go down? Is that why you decided to quit?”

“It went far better than I expected. I left with what felt like their blessing and a stern warning not to hurt you,” I said.

“Huh. I guess I never realized that would matter to them.”

My hands squeezed his face, “Look at me, Tom. You matter to us. You matter to your son. You matter to Sam and Kelsey. And you matter to me. Stop acting like you’re the side character in everyone else’s story.”

“Shit, baby. Where were you a year ago?”

“I was playing a secondary character in someone else’s story myself. But now I’m here, and I’m ready. You want to do main character shit with me?”

And then he kissed me, our mouths frantic, as he backed me towards the bed. He set me on the bed and stood back up, pulling his shirt over his shoulders. I drank in his broad shoulders and tapered waist.

“For fucks sake, Tom. Did you develop another set of ab muscles in the last few weeks?”

He smirked, “Guess my summer layer is gone. That’s what happens in the season.”

I leaned forward, tracing the lines of his abdominal muscles with my tongue and unbuckling his belt to reveal the v, which was undoubtedly my second favorite part of his body.

“That’s one positive to the hockey season.”

When I slipped his jeans down, he pushed me back on the bed and took over, helping me rid myself of my clothes. The patience I had shown earlier while I dumped my plans was entirely gone; our hands were frantically covering every inch of each other’s body, greedy and filled with need.

Tom paused momentarily, his eyes connecting with mine as he sunk into me, filling and stretching me.

“Callie, baby. Shit, this feels so right,” he rushed out, his body still.

My head dropped back, and my hips arched into him, seeking friction. An involuntary groan emitted from deep inside me. And then he unleashed, taking me hard and fast, my body meeting his with every thrust. His eyes not leaving mine.

Did I know you could fuck hard and make love at the same time? Nope. But fuck it if that wasn’t exactly what we were doing. I vaguely registered the sound of the hotel headboard as it rhythmically hit the wall, our moans and cries sounding muted because our sense of touch was in control of us right now. Both of us climbing and building towards our release together.

“Tom!” I shouted as I began to pulse around him, my orgasm ripping through me, drawing out his release.

And as he lay collapsed on top of me, the pounding and cheers from the other side of the wall started. He buried his face in my shoulder once more and started to laugh.

“They caught us again,” I said. But no, I had no shame about what I had just done with Tom.

“Well, that was payback for last night. Cooper and Jackson had Lexi in town last night. And those three can and do go all night.”

We lay there quietly for a bit before I spoke. I was still working through everything I had worked through on the plane ride here.

“I want to clarify something I said earlier. I said that I would travel anywhere with Crew. But I have a few limits. While Kelsey is pregnant, I will fly with him to see her and bring him back to you. But I won’t bring him away from you once she has the baby. I can’t do that. I can’t take him from you. It just feels so fucking wrong.”

“You love him, don’t you?” He asked.

“Oh, without a doubt, Tom. But I fucking love you, too. And I can’t be the one responsible for causing you that pain. Not now, not ever.”

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