Passion on the Pitch: A Contemporary Sports Romance Read online

  Aedan was waiting in the lobby for Jess when she arrived from work. She sent him a text letting him know that she was running late. He hung back and watched her as she pushed through the lobby doors looking a bit out of breath, a tad disheveled, and pretty adorable. Her curly hair had escaped from her bun and some of the curls caressed her face and highlighted all of the places he couldn’t wait to kiss later. She looked beautiful wearing one of those semi-retro dresses, and he could see that other guys in the lobby were equally fixated on her. When Jess walked over to the front desk, Aedan came up behind her and put his hands over her eyes.

  “Guess who?”

  “Oh no, Seamus, my other Irish lover, you have to get out of here before Aedan gets here. I wouldn’t want you two fighting over me in the lobby.”

  “Replaced me already huh?”

  Jess whirled around, giving him a huge smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle.

  “Oh! Aedan, I didn’t know that was you.” She said feigning surprise.

  “Maybe I should just leave you for your dinner date with Seamus, so he’s not disappointed.”

  “Nah, it’s OK. Since you’re here, we might as well go out tonight. I’ll reschedule with him.”

  “How kind of you. So where to?”

  “I was thinking we could head to the botanical garden. They’re having a concert in the park. We can grab a bottle of wine on the way. Does that sound good to you?”

  They headed out of the hotel and began walking toward the botanical garden. Jess pulled up the location of a wine shop that was on the way. After picking up a bottle with a twist top, they made their way to the botanical garden. It was pretty full, but they managed to find a spot.

  “Oh bollocks. I didn’t even think of a blanket,” Aedan said, frowning.

  “Don’t worry; it’s not like I gave you a heads up. I’ve got this handled.” Jess handed him her Mary Poppins-sized bag and began to dig through it as he held it for her. She pulled out some sort of rolled package and started unfolding it. It was half disaster blanket with the shiny material and half fleece like fabric. She spread it out on the ground. Next, she dug into the bag and produced two wine glasses.

  “Is this bag something out of Harry Potter?” he laughed.

  “Always prepared, I say. They’re plastic. I threw them in there this morning and I have a couple of brie and smoked salmon sandwiches in there if you want. And don’t worry, I picked them up when I left work. They haven’t been baking in my bag all day.”

  “Look at you, planning all this out so nicely.”

  “I’m a planner. What can I say?”

  They sat down and got things arranged. Jess also had a small container of olives, complete with toothpicks for snacking, as well as some cheese and crackers. Aedan was beginning to think the bag was literally bottomless or had some kind of space-aged portal technology installed in it.

  The music started up and Jess rested her back against Aedan’s chest as they listened to the orchestra play John Williams classics. Aedan has his arms wrapped around Jess as she drank her glass of wine. This was probably the most settled and content Aedan had felt in a long time. A lazy afternoon with some snacks, good music, and a woman he truly connected with. It wasn’t something that he could remember ever happening before.

  Aedan rested his chin on top of Jess’s head and breathed in her scent—vanilla. It reminded him of fresh baked cookies and relaxation. He just hoped that once she found out who he was and what it meant for her life, it wouldn’t ruin everything.

  11

  Sitting against Aedan while listening to cinema classics in the garden was probably one of the most enjoyable things Jess had ever done. Walking back to the metro hand-in-hand was perhaps in the top ten. Jess asked Aedan if he wanted to come to her place for the night and he readily agreed, because neither wanted the evening to end so early. The trip on the metro wasn’t too bad as rush hour was over, and her bag, sans snacks, was about ten pounds lighter.

  As they approached her apartment, it felt like they were doing everything in slow motion just to draw their time together out. Aedan’s small touches and caresses throughout their trip to the apartment were a bit like sexual torture. Every time he caressed her back, cheekily copped a feel when they went up the metro escalator, locked gazes and kissed, she was turned on more and more. Jess was seriously going to explode if she didn’t get him inside her as soon as possible.

  The second the door closed, the pull toward him was undeniable. She pushed him into the back of the door, shocked at her own aggressiveness, and began feverishly kissing him, pulling off his coat and working on his belt buckle. Surprised by her ardor, Aedan flipped her around, pressing her back to the door, and began working on her dress. The back zip came down easily, until it got stuck just under her bra strap. Aedan kept tugging and tugging, trying to maintain lip contact, but the kink in the zipper just wouldn’t give. Jess couldn’t help it and started laughing against Aedan’s lips. “Real smooth, Casanova.”

  “It’s not my fault your dress is trying to get in the way of our fun.”

  “You really got this thing stuck,” she said struggling with the zipper.

  “It wasn’t me. It was like that when I found it.” Aedan held his hands up in mock surrender. Jess kept trying to get the zipper to come down and had Aedan pull it back up to try it again.

  “This thing will not budge. I’m going to have to lay down and you can try and get it.”

  “Well that’s one way to get you into bed.”

  “Ha, ha, ha.”

  Jess led Aedan into her bedroom and laid down on her stomach on the bed. She felt Aedan straddle her hips, his arousal made its prominent presence known against her butt as begin working on the zipper. He slid it back up to the top and then attempted to get it through the damaged section quickly. It snagged again.

  “I swear you’re doing this on purpose, just to test my dedication,” he chuckled after three tries.

  “Trust me, nothing could be further from the truth. OK, I have a plan, let me up. Let’s try and get this up over my head.”

  Aedan helped Jess stand and she pulled up the dress over her hips. It wasn’t until she got to the shoulders that she needed a little help, “Little help here,” she said with her arms straight up over her head and trapped in the dress. “And don’t you dare laugh,” she added holding in her own laugh as she was trying to get over how completely unsexy this turn of events was ending up.

  “You have my promise, milady,” Aedan said as he grabbed the bottom of the dress. “You really want to make a guy work for your affection.” Jess’s cheeks flamed in embarrassment over the fact that she couldn’t get the dress off. She knew she wasn’t a size zero, but getting stuck in a dress was every girl’s nightmare when you had even a little weight on you. The fact that she was going through this in front of the ridiculously ripped Aedan only made it that much worse.

  “I feel like I’m suffocating. Get this thing off me,” Jess said muffled by the dress. With a good hard yank and a loud rip, Aedan managed to get the dress off. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to rip it.”

  Aedan turned back to Jess as she had her hands over her mouth with tears in her eyes, her shoulders shaking. He placed the dress down on the bed and moved to her, thinking she was crying over the lost dress. “I’m really sorry. I’ll replace it, I promise.”

  Jess bent at the waist, clutching her stomach as she gasped for breath. She was laughing so hard she thought she might have pulled a muscle.

  “That’s OK, I’m just glad I didn’t die in there,” she managed to gasp as Aedan joined her until they both ended up flopping onto the bed. “Imagine the internet stories of a woman who suffocates trapped in her own dress.” Jess glanced over at Aedan as she wiped the tears from her eyes and saw the desire smoldering in his eyes. “Thanks for being my hero,” she said as she pulled him closer by his shirt. “I think that deserves a reward.”

  Jess got to work on his belt buckle and pulled open the fro
nt of his button-fly jeans. Her hands were shaking in anticipation. Aedan went to work on her bra and managed to unhook it one-handed while pulling her face to his for a fiery kiss. She ran her hand under his shirt, marveling at the sleek muscles, and gripped his damp, rock-hard back. This man was seriously built. Jess pushed aside any feelings of self-consciousness as lust took over.

  She slid his fly open and palmed his manhood, which jumped and twitched at her touch.

  Groaning, he scooted her back until her knees hit the bed. As she sunk to the mattress, his hard cock was right there, and she had to have it in her mouth. Jess leaned forward and ran her tongue around his head, but Aedan grabbed by her shoulders and pushed her back, drinking in the sight of her greedily.

  “If you start with that, things will be well over before they’ve even started,” he said with a slight growl. The hungry gleam in his eye had Jess nearly panting.

  “Spoil sport,” Jess breathed.

  He leaned down and nipped her hip bone. “Don’t you worry, we’ll be sure to indulge later, but right now I need to taste you.”

  He put his hands on her hips and slowly peeled her underwear off, marveling at the smoothness of her skin. He kissed the spot just above her knee and worked his way up until he settled between her thighs. Jess’s stomach was doing backflips and her body was covered in goosebumps. He leaned forward until she could feel his breath just a hair from her clit.

  “Ladies first,” he said, then slid his tongue up her slit. Jess’s breath caught in her throat as he made love to her pussy, gently lapping at her clit, then nipping it in turn. Guys had gone down on her before, but none ever seemed so dedicated to giving her pleasure. He drove her nearly mad with need and grasped his curly black locks as she quickly tumbled over the precipice for the first time.

  She moaned and pulled him up her body, then kissed him hungrily as the waves in her belly calmed to ripples. “I’ll gladly return the favor. Just give me a minute,” she gasped.

  He pushed his jeans the rest of the way off and pushed her thighs open with his knee. “That can wait until later. I’m ready for the main course now,” he growled, raking his teeth over the spot just below her ear.

  Jess fumbled over to her bedside table and opened the top drawer. There was a box of condoms in there somewhere. She finally grabbed it and took one out.

  “Would you like to do the honors?” she said as she held it up to Aedan.

  “Why thank you very much.” She laughed as her heart rate that was finally stabilizing started to increase again as she watched him put on the condom. He rolled it over his shaft and Jess clenched her legs together in anticipation. As soon as he sheathed himself, Jess threw her thighs over his hips and pushed him to his back.

  She reached behind her and placed him at the entrance to her pussy, then lowered herself onto him. The head of his cock slid into her wet entrance and she pushed down a bit harder. He breached her opening and they both moaned in anticipation as she slid further down his cock.

  Aedan let out a hiss and his hands came up to grip her thighs as she continued the torturous downward slide. “Ah so good,” he whispered.

  He stretched her like no one else ever had and Jess threw her head back with a sharp gasp as she slid the final couple of inches to his base. Aedan gripped her hips tighter and began to pump into her as Jess rode him. She reeled in his strength as he held her up, slowing her descent. Aedan groaned as he let her slowly sink back down onto him. She picked up the tempo, feeling her second orgasm building. Jess dug her fingers into Aedan’s chest and he responded by pulling her down and ravishing her mouth.

  “Come with me,” he groaned against her lips.

  “Yes,” she moaned out moving frantically above him.

  “So, close, almost there, yes, oh god,” her movements became frantic and she reached her peak, shattering, as Aedan followed pulled her down hard on his cock as he released into the condom. Jess rolled off of Aedan, panting and covered in a sheen of sweat. They looked at one another in awe of another session for the books. She gave him a slight smile before closing her eyes to bask in the after-glow. He sluggishly rolled out of the bed and disposed of the condom before getting back into bed with her.

  “Wow,” Jess said with a lazy smile as her heart rate started to return to normal.

  “Wow indeed,” he said bundling her up in his arms and pulling her close. “Definitely wow.”

  Completely spent from the vigorous sex and the long day, they drifted off to sleep wrapped up in each other’s arms. Around 2 am, something woke Jess from her slumber. She sat up in the bed, groggy. Aedan was having a heated conversation out in the living room but since she could only hear his side of the conversation, it was hard to figure out what was happening. Hoping that nothing serious had happened, she grabbed his t-shirt, which carried his masculine, citrus scent, and pulled it on.

  Padding out into the living room, she heard what seemed to be the end of the conversation. “No, I’m not coming back early. I’ve told you that. I’m not going to say it again. You sort it; that’s what I pay you for.”

  Aedan looked up, a little startled as he noticed Jess standing in the doorway to the bedroom. “I’ve got to go, you handle it and I’ll be back on the twenty-ninth as agreed.” He hung up the phone and slammed it down on the coffee table. Exhaling sharply, he turned and walked to her. “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s OK. Is everything alright?”

  “Yeah, no worries, just people back home keep trying to cut my trip short when I don’t want them to. They can deal with the issues until I get back.”

  “Are you sure it’s OK?” Jess could hear the concern in her voice and cringed a bit; she hoped she wasn’t overstepping.

  “More than OK,” he assured her and pulled her toward him for a deep kiss.

  “Sorry I woke you. I promise I’ll make it up to you with a delicious breakfast. You still have all of the stuff I bought before?”

  “I do, unless it decided to walk out of the apartment.”

  “Great, I’ll make you a great breakfast before you head out to work in the morning.”

  “Sounds good. Let’s go back to bed.” Jess grabbed his hand and pulled Aedan into the bedroom.

  “You have no idea what seeing you in my shirt is doing to me right now.”

  Jess saw the tent in his boxers and knew exactly what she was doing to him. She grinned. “I’ll have to leave it to my imagination because I have to be up in a few hours. Sleep.” Snuggled up together in bed, Jess couldn’t help but smile at how lucky and safe she felt with him. Her last thoughts as she drifted off to sleep were about how much fun they would have before he left in two weeks.

  12

  The vibrations of his phone woke Aedan even earlier than was normal for him. He frowned as he grabbed it before it could wake Jess. Climbing out of bed, he crept into the living room, careful not to make any noise. He accepted the call and grouchily answered, “What do you want James?”

  “Oh, good you’re awake.”

  “After calling me,” he looked down at his phone’s missed call log, “seven times, I’m starting to believe you don’t actually care if I was awake or asleep. What do you want?”

  An annoyed breath preceded James’ spiel, “I wanted to let you know that the promo shots from DC United look great. That will help with their upcoming season promotions. And I think they will release some of them in the next couple of days.”

  “We could have had this conversation at a reasonable hour, not at 6 am my time.”

  “I just got the pics and I wanted to discuss them with you.”

  "And did you say they were publishing in next couple of days? You said those wouldn’t be published until after I got back to the UK. Don’t publish those now, James,” he ordered.

  “Why not? they are great shots.”

  “I’m trying to keep a low profile while I’m here. If those shots come out now, people will start looking for me in the city.”

  “And the problem would b
e what? You’re not up to no good while you’re over there, are you?”

  “No, I’m having a quiet vacation, visiting my aunt, making new friends, and enjoying the city.”

  “Making new friends, huh? Of the female variety?”

  “Yes, it’s not a big deal. I’m keeping a low profile. Do you know how nice it is to be anonymous in a city?”

  “I’m just asking for you to consider coming back a bit earlier. I think I could schedule a few things before the season starts,” said James.

  “Drop it, James. I’m here enjoying my time off. Once I’m back, you can run the schedule by me and see what will work, but when I’m stateside, just leave it alone.”

  “Aedan, about this girl—”

  “Don’t even think about it. She’s off limits and you’re not to even think of her in any sort of publicity manner.”

  “But Aedan—”

  “No buts, and I told you before, don’t call me again unless it’s an emergency, I’ll talk to you later.” Aedan hung up the phone before James responded and went back into the bedroom. Jess was sprawled out on the bed, completely taking over his side. His side. He was already thinking of himself as a part of her life. He only hoped she would be open to more even once she realized who he was and what that might mean for her.

  Gently lifting her arm, Aedan slid into the bed and Jess wrapped herself around him. Her legs were entangled with his and she slung her arm across his body and laid her head on his chest. Aedan breathed a sigh of contentment and he set his alarm for seven, so he could get up and make Jess the breakfast he’d promised her.

  Drifting back into a fitful sleep, Aedan’s worries ran on a loop; Jess finding out who he really was before he had a chance to tell her, his phone call with Kate earlier this morning. She was turning into more of a nuisance than he ever imagined. This reality TV show offer had made her lose her mind a bit, and if the paparazzi found out where he was, they’d be hounding him with questions about her.