Page 104 of Fearlessly Us

Drew’s smile turns into a downright filthy grin as he dips his head to speak directly into my ear. “We can definitely do both of those things. After.”

“After what?” I ask, voice just on the wrong side of breathless.

His warm breath flutters against my ear as he speaks, and a shiver works its way down my spine. “You’re going to be a good girl and tell your family everything, and when we get home, I’m going to fuck you with my fingers and then my cock until you come so many times the only name you remember is mine.”

“I’m bleeding,” I manage as arousal spirals through me. “A lot.”

Drew scoffs, rocking his hips into mine to show me just how little he cares about that particular detail. “You should know by now I’m not afraid of a little blood. Or a lot of blood. Any amount, really, because I love every damn part of you. I’ll just fuck you in the shower. Problem solved in the hottest way imaginable. We’ve never played with the detachable shower head. I think tonight would be the perfect night to try it out.”

“Fuck,” I curse. “Can we just leave now?”

I feel him grin against my ear. “Nope.”

“Mean,” I mutter. “You’re really mean.”

Drew presses a kiss to the spot behind my ear, and I catch the moan that tries to fall from my throat, remembering just in time exactly where we’re standing. “You like it, Princess,” he murmurs, flicking his tongue over the same spot. “You really, really like it.”

I do. God, I really, really do, but before I can say anything else, my mom comes striding into the entryway, my dad hot on her heels.

“Kiss her on your own time, Drew! You’re on family time now.”

Drew’s back snaps straight but I just roll my eyes. “Because for sure no one else in this family has ever kissed anyone on family time. Kissing during family time is, like, everyone’s favorite activity.”

My mom grins, wrapping me in a hug and then turning to Drew to do the same, and as if my mom knows he needs it, the hug she gives Drew is a little longer, a little tighter, with the whispered mom words. He squeezes his eyes shut, his back expanding on a deep inhale, and never have I been more grateful for my family doling out love and acceptance as easily as breathing. Knowing how to direct the fiercest love to the places and people who need it most.

My dad lays a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. I turn to him, winding my arms around his waist in a hug, sinking into his comforting, familiar warmth. He wraps his arms tightly around me, kissing the side of my head and holding on for as long as I need it. The Ben Parker hug is legendary.

“You’re happy.” The words are definitive, not the question he asked me on the front porch all those weeks ago.

“I am,” I say, voice muffled by his shirt. “I’m so happy, Dad, but I have something I need to tell you and Mom. Jack too, when he gets here. Dylan will just have to settle for a phone call later because this can’t wait any longer.”

“I know.” His words are quiet, and he still doesn’t let go. “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together,” he says, in an echo of my grandma’s words. “I’m glad you came home, Cait.”

I live ten minutes away and I’m here all the time, but I understand my dad’s words in the deepest part of me. Because with my dad’s arms wrapped around me and my mom’s around the man I love, I’m ready to unburden myself of the secrets I’ve kept for so long, and for the first time in the longest time, I am well and truly home.

CHAPTER FORTY

DREW

“This is so much fucking fun.” Tyler beams from his place on the sidelines as we wait for warm-ups to start, bouncing on his feet like an energetic puppy. Members of the coaching and training staff bustle around doing their pre-game stuff, camera crews hover around the field, and after four years playing in college and almost fourteen in the NFL, it’s all so routine I could track it in my sleep.

“Right?” Cam says, broad grin on his face as he comes to stand on my other side, clapping me on the shoulder. “Best day ever.”

I glance between my friends, wondering if I missed something. “What’s going on with the two of you? We’re in Tampa, about to play a football game. Which we’ve done nine other times this season and we’ll do seven more times after this, or more if we make the playoffs. This isn’t all that exciting.”

The truth is, nothing about football holds much excitement for me anymore, and the idea of suiting up and taking the field at least seven more times this season makes me want to lay down and take a nap. Preferably with a gorgeous brunette pressed to my side. Fuck, I miss Caitlin. I saw her yesterday before I got on the plane to come here, and we talked last night and again before I got dressed for warm-ups and we’ve been texting all day, but any morning I don’t get to wake up with her next to me and see her with my own eyes is the worst morning ever. I miss her like a limb.

Before I can get too deep into my thoughts, a sharp slap to the back of my head has me jolting. “Ow, what the fuck?” I complain, rubbing the back of my head as I glare at Tyler. “What was that for?”

He glares right back at me. “That’s for the if we make the playoffs bullshit. Don’t be putting that kind of negativity out into the universe. We’re going back-to-back, baby!”

Now it’s Tyler’s turn to get slapped on the back of the head, courtesy of Cam. “Why?” he demands, glowering at Cam. But the menacing stare and the finger he jabs into Cam’s chest is blunted dramatically by his yellow sparkly manicure that glimmers in the Florida sunshine.

Cam rolls his eyes. “Don’t say we’re going to go back-to-back. It’s tempting fate, and I want to win at least one more time before I hang up my helmet.”

Cam’s words take a second to register, but when they do, a strange feeling settles over me. Like a script rewriting itself, a rearrangement of the world I thought I knew. “Hold on. What do you mean hang up your helmet?”

Cam shrugs, all casual and totally relaxed like he didn’t just insinuate plans to leave football. “My contract is up after next season. I’m not signing another one.”