Page 88 of Pickled
“What?” I sat up and wrapped the robe around my body. “Why?”
He picked up the ends of the robe’s tie and knotted it around my waist. “Hockey players are a superstitious bunch. I never considered myself one of them, but I’m starting to realize that I am just like them, in my own way.”
This was interesting. “What do you mean?” I adjusted the collar of the robe. Gideon leaned his elbow on the back of the sofa. Drops of rain still shimmered on his tanned skin.
“I don’t fuck before a game.”
His bluntness made me blink. “O-kay.”
“Sorry.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Some guys think that, you know, getting off drains your strength, so they don’t come within twenty-four hours of a game.”
“And why are you telling me this?” I was entertained by this quirky side of this serious man.
“Tomorrow is an important game. It’s probably a good idea if I preserve my strength.” He ran his index finger down my skinnext to the lapel of the open robe. “Because if I start with you now, Piper, I’m not going to have anything left in me tomorrow.”
My breath caught. I wanted him more than anything now. “Well.” I moved his hand from where it had left a trail of goose bumps down my chest and closed the robe tightly around my throat. Then I rested my hand on the bottom of his rock-hard cock. His massive dick was at full attention, the loose fabric of his shorts allowing it to sit vertically against his lower abs. “I’ll do the same. I won’t come until tomorrow either.”
He groaned. “It doesn’t work for women.” He pushed me onto the sofa, ripped open the tie, and put his lips where I’d wanted his hand a few minutes earlier, between my legs.
It didn’t take long. His mouth and lips brought me to the brink of an orgasm, but when he slipped one, then two of his thick fingers inside me, I crested. Bunching the cushions of the sofa into a crushing grip, I dropped my head back and let the warmth and intensity of the orgasm rip through my body in three separate waves. “Oh, Gideon.” I moaned and grabbed fistfuls of his hair as my body let out its last shudder.
He crawled up my body, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he kissed me. “Piper?” he whispered.
“Mmm?” I couldn’t form words just yet.
“We’re going to win tomorrow.”
“H-h-h-how can you be so sure?” I managed to stammer.
“Because after we do, I get to have all of you.”
29
GIDEON
Piper’s scentwas still on my scruff when I pulled into the airport pickup area. Ace’s flight had landed an hour ago, which meant I was late. I wasn’t usually late, but if he knew the reason, Ace would forgive me.
Sure enough, I spotted him by the curb with his duffel bag. He looked pissed.
“About time. You’re lucky it stopped raining, oh, an hour ago,” he said as he threw his bag in the back and climbed into the passenger seat.
“Good to see you too, asshole.”
“Traffic?” He buckled his seat belt and immediately started messing with the air-conditioning.
“Something like that.”
“Where are we eating? I’m starving.”
“Thought we’d hit that place on the beach. Zen Lagoon. Good food, cold beer, and it’s right on the water.”
“Perfect. I could use some ocean air after being stuck in airports all day.”
The drive gave us time to run through team updates—we wouldn’t call it gossip—and my recovery progress. But I could tell something was eating at Ace. He kept checking his phone and staring out the window.
Zen Lagoon was casual, loud enough that we could talk freely, and far enough from the country club crowd that I didn’t have to worry about running into anyone I knew. It was perfect. We grabbed a table on the deck overlooking the water and ordered a couple of beers.
“So,” Ace said after the waitress left, “tell me about this pickleball tournament. Are you actually going to win this thing?”
