Page 13 of Her Coach Crush
“Yes.”
Feeling emboldened, I uncross my knees until my outer thighs touch his inner ones. He sucks in a small breath that I catch. He’s so affected by me. Just like I’m so affected by him. My thumbs rub half-circles on the back of his tattooed hands. One of them has flowers running from his pointer to thumb and I can’t help but think that the roses would like such a pretty necklace around my throat. “What do you do on nights that you can’t sleep?”
“Burn as much energy as I can until I pass out.”
My cheeks burn. I almost tell him I can think of a few ways for us to burn energy.
Thane lets go of my hands and drops them on my knees, squeezing. Arousal pools in my panties. “I usually work out.”Work outsounds filthy coming out of his mouth. “Otherwise, I take a sleeping pill. But tonight, I’m not in the mood for either.”
His voice drops to a delicious husk.
I lick my bottom lip. His green eyes follow the motion. “Then what do you want to do, Coach Thane?”
His lids lower the slightest bit, a hunting look entering his gaze. “What did I tell you about calling me Coach Thane?”
“I think you secretly like me calling you Coach Thane,” I whisper.
“I like a lot of things about you, little cheerleader.” His hands snake higher up my thighs and my breath catches in my throat. “But none that I should say out loud.”
The tension in the air is so thick, it can be sliced clean with a knife. My pulse batters faster. We’re so close. Close enough that if I lean another handful of inches, our mouths can stamp together. And I want that. God, I want to taste his mouth and hear his groans.
In the coyest voice I can muster, I say, “I’m game to hear them, Coach Thane.”
His fingers dig into my skin like he’s physically stopping himself from taking me. Right here. Right now. “Fuck, I don’t know what to do with this version of you, baby.”
The new term of endearment makes my heart skip a beat. “T-This version of me?”
He nods tersely. “The one in my solarium, talking to me, looking all soft and approachable, so different from the polished version of you on the field. Before today, I’ve only ever seen you during games and practices, in your cheer uniform, appearing like an angel with a halo over her head while you go about your routines.”
His words pour over me like honey, thick and sweet. “Do you watch me often on the field?”
“All the time,” he grits out, palms coasting until they reach my hips, underneath my babydoll. His fingers toy with the strings of my thong. “I should be focused on my players, yet I can’t help myself from staring in your direction. You captivate me, Marlow. You always have from the second I spotted you this past homecoming.”
I’m still reeling from the realization that this man watches me, wants me, is captivated by me, when I end up confessing, “I saw you for the first time freshman year and you captivated me too. When I’m on the field, I can barely concentrate on anything else but you. Everything about you draws me in. I…I’ve wanted you for three years.” Thane’s gone rigid, observing me with an unnamed emotion. Tentatively, I raise my hands to cup his jaw.A shudder of pure need passes through him, making his muscles ripple, his body come alive. “It’s clear now that you want me too. I think you know what to do with this version of me, but you won’t let yourself take it that far.”
His breathing is low, almost laboured. “You’re my sister’s best friend—her roommate. You’re a student at the college.I can’t.”
“If I were just another woman interested in you, with no strings attached, what would you do?”
“Marlow…” His eyes screw shut for a split second. “I told you I wouldn’t say those things out loud.”
“And I told you I want to hear them.” I boldly let our lips brush, pleading, “Please. Just for tonight, Coach Thane?”
I see the exact moment his control snaps like a taut elastic band, a dark cloud passing through his gaze. “Fuck. You win, little cheerleader. You. Fucking. Win.”
With a defeated groan, Thane tilts his head and fuses his lips to mine in a hard kiss.
Chapter Six
THANE
Who needs air when kissing Marlow gives me life?
I’ve been dead on the inside for so long and this perfect girl has breathed life into me after years of a colorless, bleak existence.
Goddammit.
She tastes like pure candied temptation and I’m done for. Completely addicted.
