Page 66 of The Game Plan

I laugh. But it dies quickly, and I flop an arm over my hot forehead. “You don’t understand.”

“So educate me.”

“I’m a fuckup.”

“Fi...”

“It’s true. Almost every plan I start—and believe me, I always have a plan—goes off the rails at some point.”

“You’re describing the majority of the population, Cherry.”

“Do your plans fail?”

Dex’s wide mouth goes tight as if he’s annoyed at me. But the look he gives me is tender. The bed creaks as he pulls me intohis embrace, tucking me against his side. “I planned to stay away from you.” The rough tip of his thumb caresses my lowerlip. “Best failed plan of my life.”

“Ethan.” His heart beats strong against the wide wall of his chest, and I give him a soft kiss there. Sighing, I rest my cheekon his shoulder. “It’s just... I’ve always dreamed big and have never been afraid to tell anyone and everyone about my big dreams. Except my dreams often change—here one day, alive and bright with all these possibilities, then dead and on to the next something new.”

I glance up at his solemn eyes. “Unfortunately, my exuberance has made me into the Girl Who Cried Dreams. And my friends andfamily no longer believe me when I latch on to a new passion. I don’t blame them, but I’m tired of seeing people give me thattight, slightly patronizing, slightly irritated smile. I don’t want to be viewed as a quitter anymore.”

“Fuck what other people believe. Do you think you’re a quitter?”

“I told you. I never stick to anything.” My fingertip traces a longitude line on his collarbone. I love the way his skin pebblesunder my touch. “I changed my major three times before I settled on art and design, and even then, my eye was always roving.”

Dex shifts a bit, his hip canting as my nail scrapes his tight nipple. His voice is gruff, a sure sign of him being turnedon. But he runs his hand over my shoulder, stroking me. “Why did you keep changing?”

For a second, I simply play with his nipple, worrying it this way and that, because it turns me on too, the way he reacts,his breath growing heavier, his cock getting thick again. “I don’t know.”

In a blink, I’m on my back, my wrists held overhead in Dex’s massive hand. With a low grunt, he settles between my legs andhovers over me, the long strands of his hair tickling my cheeks.

“Now ordinarily,” he says in a low, smooth voice, “I love your particular method of avoiding hard questions.”

“Oh, really?” I challenge, opening my legs wider so that his hard cock notches between the slick lips of my sex. A low humof pleasure runs through me.

“Really.” He shifts his hip slightly, rubbing his hardness over my sensitive flesh just enough to tease. “Thing is, I want an answer before I fuck you.”

God. He’s a wall around me, unrelenting, hot. I want all that strength pounding into me. I think I whimper. I know I wigglemy hips, trying to seek him out. “Why is it so important to you?”

His eyes are dark now, seeing more than he should. “It’s important to you.” He rocks against me, sending little shivers ofsweet lust rippling outward. “Answer the question, Cherry. Why—” he slides up “—did you—” a down stroke “—keep changing majors?”

I lick my dry lips. “They never felt right.”

“Mmm...” He moves again, the rounded crown of his meaty cock stretching my opening. Slowly, with a smooth glide, he sinksin.

And I lift my hips, my legs parting wider, as if this can somehow give him more room. He fills me so well, I can barely focus.But Dex’s eyes are on me, his lips hovering just over mine. “You wanted to be happy.”

“Uh-huh...” I can’t really concentrate, not when he’s gently easing in and out of my swollen flesh, his lips taking minewith soft, slow kisses.

He nuzzles me as he talks and fucks. “You seek joy in your life, don’t you, Cherry?”

I shudder, my fingers curling around his hand. He still has me pinned. “Yes.”

He smiles against my mouth. “You were never quitting. You were searching.”

Despite what he’s doing to me, my attention snares on his words. He pauses, his cock deep inside me, his brilliant eyes wide-open.Searching for joy.

A laugh bubbles up within me, and I crane my neck to reach his mouth. I kiss him as deeply as I can while I’m still laughing.And he grins against my lips, our breath mingling.

“Fuck me, Ethan,” I tell him, not letting him go. “And give me some more of that joy.”

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