Page 12 of Power Move
“I caught them hooking up at the team’s holiday party. Apparently it had been going on for a while. Weeks, if not more.” Hurt clouds his expression. “I confronted them both right there. The rest of my teammates had my back.”
“As they should. You never sleep with someone’s significant other.”
Rhys leans his head against the padded headboard. “I ended my relationship that night. The next morning, I went to the coach, told him I wouldn’t play with a teammate who’d do that and demanded he trade one of us. They traded me that week.”
This story is wild. I press closer, stroking my free hand along his thigh, picturing a shellshocked, heartbroken Rhys. “Why did they keephim?”
“Don’t know. My teammates were pissed about that. The locker room turned toxic, and the team ended up trading him that off season. Last I heard, he’s bouncing around the minors.”
“I’m sorry. Everything about that situation is awful. We came to the Twin Cities around the same time. I wish I’d known you then. I could’ve helped somehow.”
Smiling, he presses another kiss to my fingers. “I wasn’t alone. Jonas, Maxim, and Quinn welcomed me the minute Iarrived. They were there for me when it felt like my life was falling apart. I’d do anything for them.”
“That’s how I feel about my friends. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have them. They gave me a home, a place where I can be myself.”
His gaze turns softer and warmer. “You can be yourself with me.”
I believe he means that, and I want to try. After sharing what we did, I feel closer to him. Bonded. “So can you.”
Rhys presses forward, still holding my hand. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for days.”
“I’ve been thinking about it since we met.” My gaze drops to his mouth, and I move my hand from his thigh to his chest. His heart beats under my palm. We’re inches apart, and the distance keeps shrinking. I sway toward him, an invisible line reeling me in.
We watch each other. His eyes darkening, he slides his other hand into my hair. Every throb of my pulse is an ache for his lips on mine.
I catch his inhale and the way his eyes flutter closed. Rhys’s lips meet mine, and the sensation is like a live wire sparking. Heat, electricity, shattering fireworks.
He angles his head, and his hand in my hair guides mine where he wants me. His beard is soft, teasing my chin and cheeks. His tongue traces my lips, and he follows that with a nip, drawing my lower lip between his teeth. The kisses grow deeper, waking up every inch of my body and making it ache for Rhys.
Shifting onto my knees, I straddle him. With a groan of approval, his hands palm my waist, sliding up and down my sides. I’m hard and his pants can’t hide his bulge either. Riding the wave of desire, I expand my explorations, the well-defined pecs, the ridges of his abs, the strength in his shoulders. ButI’m still taking things slow. I don’t want to rush anything at all tonight.
We linger over each kiss, like we have all the time in the world to savor and enjoy.
My lips tingling, I raise my head. “That was worth waiting for.”
His hands slide to my back. He noses along my cheek, his breath ghosting my skin. “I like holding you.”
“We can keep doing that. Do you want to watch a movie?”
“Sure.”
I pass him the remote from the bedside table then climb off his lap. “You pick.”
I want to stay right here like this for the rest of the night. Snuggled into his side, with his arm around me. The way I’ve yearned to be for days.
Rhys presses a kiss to my head and turns on the TV.
Holding him, I want to believe that things will work out, but the best I can muster is to be cautiously optimistic.
CHAPTER 4
RHYS
Sausage and baconsizzle in a pan, seemingly synchronizing with the music playing from the playlist Sage sent me. The cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven scent my kitchen with sweetness. My frittata is cooking in the skillet. The coffee’s nearly ready. And Sage should be here any minute.
The sound of my front door opening then closing stops me mid-step between the refrigerator and the kitchen island, a bowl of mixed berries in hand.
“It’s me,” Jonas’s voice calls. Of my three friends who have keys to my apartment, he’s the only one who announces himself that way. He’s also the only one who uses the key without bothering to knock first if he thinks I’m expecting him.
