The Christmas Stallions, page 14
I made my way down to the locker room after I watched everyone vacate it. Years of experience had taught me that Ryker was always the last to leave after a game. I did not know why, but tonight I planned to use it to my advantage.
“I’ll be done in a minute,” Ryker called out as I opened the door and slipped inside.
Butterflies of excitement coursed through me. I kicked off my heels and tiptoed toward the sound of his voice. He was fresh from the shower and towelling off in front of a cubby with his name on it. Muscles rippled down his back with every movement. I bit my lip as I watched him.
“I said I’d be out in a min—.” He turned around and froze when he spotted me.
“I couldn’t wait another minute,” I pouted. He quickly glanced around, reassuring himself that we were utterly alone.
“We should do something about that then,” he replied with a smirk. I nodded.
“Come here,” he commanded, and I willfully stepped towards him. “Down on your knees, Baby Girl.”
I knelt in front of him and untied his towel. My mouth salivated. Locking eyes with him, I ran my tongue over his shaft.
“All of it, Baby Girl,” he commanded. I obeyed, taking his cock in my mouth as far as I could go. “That’s right. Keep going.”
I swallowed, taking him into my throat and sucking. His fist gripped my hair. My hands squeezed his hard ass as he thrust in and out. I hollowed my cheeks as I sucked. Ryker groaned, throwing his head back as the pace of his thrusts increased. My panties were soaked as I tasted his come.
“Fuck, Baby Girl,” he groaned. The pleasure in his voice made me smile as I swallowed. Never had I been daring enough to try something like this in public. But I couldn’t resist him. We’d spent so much time dancing around each other. I didn’t want to waste another minute.
The jingling of keys rang through the empty locker room. I jumped, startled, and Ryker helped me to my feet. I handed him the towel, and he quickly wrapped it around himself seconds before the janitor wheeled his cart around the corner. He froze when he noticed us.
“I’m sorry. I thought everyone was gone already,” he apologized and started backing up with his cart, but Ryker stopped him.
“No worries. I’ll be done in a second,” he replied, and stepped into a pair of black trousers and buttoned them up under the towel. “I was a little slow getting out of the shower and my fiancé came looking for me. She gets a little cranky when she’s hungry, and I promised her a nice dinner after the game.”
“My wife is the same way,” the janitor laughed. “I’ll leave you to finish dressing, Sir and wait outside. Take your time. Oh, and great game tonight.”
“Thanks,” Ryker grinned. The door closed behind the janitor and I finally released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. One look at me and Ryker started laughing. I slapped his shoulder playfully.
“That’s not funny!” I whined. “What if that had been a reporter or something?”
“Could’ve been so much worse,” he teased, wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger and tugging me closer until I was an inch away from his lips. “It could’ve been your brother.”
“Hilarious.” I rolled my eyes. “Hurry and get a shirt on. I’m hungry and you promised me dinner. I have a witness to prove it.”
Ryker laughed and gave me a quick peck on the lips before releasing my hair. He pulled on a blue dress shirt that brought out the blue in his eyes and buttoned it up, dressing in record time. With his gear in one hand, and his other arm slung around my shoulders, we sauntered out the locker room doors and waved as we passed the janitor. When we reached his car, I burst out giggling. Ryker soon followed.
We probably looked like a pair of lunatics, laughing in an underground parking garage. Alone at night. My back pressed to the cold metal of his black hummer. But I didn’t care. Because he was my lunatic and I was his.
Chapter twenty
Emma
“Hey, Stranger, welcome home,” Melody teased as I walked into the kitchen the next morning. I chuckled and poured myself a cup of coffee.
“I was wondering if I’d ever see you again,” she continued.
“Har har,” I mocked. “The Stallions have an away game tomorrow, and he had an early flight to catch.”
“Ah, and here I thought you missed me,” she jokingly pouted. “But seriously, run upstairs and change. You’ve got a dress fitting in an hour.”
“Wait, what? I thought that was cancelled.” I froze, my coffee cup halfway to my lips.
“Looks like I’m not the only one that’s been forgotten. Must be damn good sex.”
“Mind-blowing,” I grinned, and we both laughed.
“I’m going to need details and a bottle of wine later,” Melody chuckled. “Go get changed. Chop chop or your mother will have my head.”
“Ugh. I don’t see what the big deal’s about. We moved the wedding to June. What if I get fitted now, and it doesn’t fit by then?” I asked. At Melody’s questioning silence, I quickly filled her in on everything that had happened in the last two days.
“Wow, that’s… a lot,” she replied when I was done. “So you guys went from being fake engaged for publicity to really engaged? I don’t know what to say, except… I’m still the maid of honour, right?”
“Of course,” I laughed.
“Good. I’d never forgive you if I wasn’t,” she replied, shaking out her mass of red curls. “You can thank me by setting me up with one of his buddies.”
“Just not Nick Carlson,” I replied. “He’s a giant prick that doesn’t deserve someone as amazing as you.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” she sipped her coffee. “Now go get dressed!”
I jumped at the command in her tone. Taking my coffee with me, I sauntered upstairs to my bedroom and quickly showered and changed. My room seemed so empty and foreign, having spent so much time at Serenity and Ryker’s condo. There was no trace of him in this room, and I missed him already. I couldn’t even snuggle up to his pillow and breathe in his scent if I wanted to, because he’d never been in this room. As soon as he’s back, we’re going to have to rectify that. And decide where we’re going to live when we get married. Are we going to live together before the wedding? Would we live here or in his condo or get a new place together?
“Melody?” I called out as I jogged back down the stairs with a minute to spare. She popped her head out of the kitchen with a questioning look on her face. “When Ryker and I get married, where are we going to live? I just realized, if I moved out, I’d be leaving you in a lurch. You’d have to get a new roommate, or find a new apartment somewhere.”
“Or I could buy this place from you with my savings and you don’t have to worry about a thing,” she replied. “You can’t live your life worrying about mine. Ok? I’ve been thinking about this since the day I moved in and putting money aside in case of this exact situation. Or, in my wildest dreams, in case I met my prince or princess charming and got married and we bought a house of our own.”
“Hey, it’ll happen,” I replied.
“If I’m really lucky, maybe I’ll find both.” She wiggled her eyebrows salaciously, and I laughed. Traditional relationships had never been in her vocabulary, so a throuple wasn’t surprising. “You ready to go?”
“Bring on the pinpricks and gossip,” I slipped on my boots and grabbed my coat from the hook.
“Don’t forget the mimosas,” Melody sang cheerfully as she grabbed her purse.
“Or not,” she whispered as she took in my suddenly tense stance, one eyebrow raised.
“We — uh — didn’t exactly have any condoms the first few times we had sex,” I flushed, staring at my toes to avoid any judgemental looks.
“You dirty hoe-bag!” Melody shouted. I winced. “Change of plans. Sparkling cider for you, wine for me and a lot of catching up to do when we get back! How could you leave that juicy tidbit out?”
“Please say nothing to anyone. We thought we’d just get married as planned on New Year’s and if we got pregnant right away, it’d be fine. But I’m kind of panicking with all this June wedding stuff. I really don’t want to be heavily pregnant and exhausted at my wedding.”
“Don’t say another word or you’re going to ruin your mascara,” she commanded. I blinked, not even realizing I was tearing up. I hadn’t even mentioned my fears to Ryker. “Leave it all to Auntie Melody.”
I groaned and followed her out the door.
“This dress is made for you,” the tailor declared, sticking another pin in the dress’s side to pull the bust in. I beamed at my reflection. The dress was absolutely perfect. I sincerely hoped I could wear it on my big day.
“Can we have virgin mimosa please?” Melody asked the dressmaker’s assistant.
My mother sat up straighter in her chair, her head slowly turning to Melody. I swear it was like watching a possessed doll in a creepy Halloween movie. I caught Hannah’s eye in the mirror, and she winked at me.
“A virgin mimosa is just orange juice with a fancy name,” Hannah teased, and I grimaced.
Thanks, bestie for keeping my secret, I wanted to shout.
“I’m an alcoholic,” Melody replied without batting an eyelash. Hannah could barely contain her laughter at mom’s gasp. How she could tell Melody was lying was beyond me. If I didn’t know better, I would have believed her.
“We’ll all have orange juice please,” Mom declared, and I breathed a small sigh of relief.
“What a damper on the bachelorette party,” Hannah continued with a straight face as if she hadn’t nearly peed herself, laughing silently a few seconds ago. I really have to master that skill. “There is going to be a bachelorette party, right?”
“I suppose,” I said as Melody said, “Absolutely!”
“Since the cat’s away, us mice shall play,” Melody wiggled her eyebrows. “I’ve got something stellar in the works. A couple more details to put in place and all the invites will go out. Keep your Saturday open.”
“Saturday?” I asked. This was the first I’d heard of any bachelorette planning. Ryker was going to be in Texas by then, the team flying from Los Angeles straight to Dallas for the next game. They were going to be gone for at least a week with back-to-back away games. It sucked, but he promised to video chat every night before bed. Did I really need a bachelorette party six and a half months before my potential wedding date? I bit my lip and said nothing. It was the maid of honours’ duty to plan and if she planned it for while Ryker was away, who was I to argue?
All this talk reminded me of the deal I’d originally made with Ryker regarding the bachelor auction to raise money for the animal shelter. He definitely won’t be eligible for that gambit.
“What about the bachelor auction?” I blurted, and all eyes turned to me. “I mean, Ryker was going to be the chief attraction, but he obviously can’t be now, and Greg’s not talking to me. How am I going to help the animal shelter get a new roof?”
“How about a bake sale?” Mom suggested. I smiled. Baking was her solution to everything, but I doubted we’d sell enough of her snickerdoodles to raise the money we’d need.
“You could raffle tickets to your wedding,” Hannah suggested. “I mean, it’s going to be a banger on New Year’s Eve. Who wouldn’t want to dress up and have a blast at a local celebrity wedding?”
“I like that idea,” Melody sipped her orange juice. “We could keep the ceremony intimate and raffle off tickets to the reception.”
“You guys are forgetting something,” I chimed in. “The wedding’s being moved to June, remember?”
“Oh,” Hannah bit her nail as if to stop herself from saying something. “Maybe we can get the guys to pitch in some memorabilia or something and we can do a silent auction then.”
“That’s a great idea,” I smiled, deciding to let Hannah keep whatever secret she was obviously trying very hard to keep from blurting out.
“There, we’re all done. Go slip out of the dress, and be mindful of the pins,” the tailor instructed. “Do any of the bridesmaids’ dresses need altering?”
“Mine does,” Melody chimed in as I diligently climbed down from the pedestal and made my way to the changing area. An assistant helped me out of the dress and left with it while I put my regular clothes back on. Voices carried to where I changed, but I couldn’t discern what was being said. They were probably back to the wedding talk. I stayed in the changeroom a few minutes longer than necessary to collect myself before rejoining the melee.
“So, what’s next? Anyone up for lunch at Slice of Spice?” I asked, taking the seat next to mom.
“No can do,” Mom replied. “We have cakes to taste!”
“Cakes?” I asked, stunned. More wedding planning for a wedding without an official date? Was this normal or was my family going wedding crazy?
“Absolutely,” Hannah rushed on. “It’s never too early to choose the right cake. The best bakers are booked months in advance.”
“Shouldn’t Ryker be here for this?” I asked.
“What for? If he’s picky, you can just do it all over again. Twice the cakes!” Melody sang. “Let there be cake!”
“Please stand still or I will end up sticking this pin in you,” the tailor chided. Melody dropped her arms and stood statue-still. I laughed. This was the first time I’d ever seen her stand still. She was a hive of activity.
“Alright,” I sighed when my laughter finally died down. “Cake lunch it is!”
“Yay!” Melody cheered and froze again from the scolding look the tailor shot at her.
I collapsed in a chair, laughing at the expressions crossing her face in an effort to stop moving. As long as I’ve known her, Melody has never stopped. It was obviously costing her quite the effort. Her fingers were tapping her leg, and every so often her nose wiggled and her eye twitched. This was worth every single drop of virgin mimosas.
Chapter twenty-one
Ryker
Carlson shouldered past me to the locker room. If it weren’t for his attitude, we would have won this game by a landslide. Instead, every point was a hard-won battle until Coach pulled him from the game. Who does he think he is? Ever since the last game, he’s been nothing but an asshole to the rest of the team. If anyone had a right to act like an ass after the stunt he pulled, it was me. But for the life of me, I can’t get the image of Emma slugging him out of my head. It didn’t help that I laughed every time I saw the bruise on his jaw.
We proved tonight that we can win without him. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll be the next player traded. I showered and changed quickly, leaving the locker room with the rest of the team and catching the bus back to the hotel. Every muscle ached. I was exhausted. Normally I’d have a drink with the guys in the hotel bar to celebrate the win. But the first thing I wanted to do was call Emma. The whipping sound Bobby shouted to my back as I hit the elevators didn’t even bother me.
In my room, I showered and changed before opening my laptop to video chat with her. It rang and rang. I wondered where she was. Maybe she was sleeping? It is late in Montana. My finger hovered over the hang-up button, ready to push it when she finally answered. Her hair was tousled, and she was fully dressed. I sat up straighter on the bed. Why was she fully dressed instead of in her pyjamas or better… wearing sexy lingerie and lounging on her blue and silver duvet?
“Hey there, hockey star,” she breathed. “How was the game?”
“We won,” I replied. “You didn’t watch?”
“I wanted to, but the girls dragged me out cake tasting after the dress fittings. I swear, all this wedding planning went into hyper-drive and we’re not getting hitched till June,” she replied. “Then Melody insisted on a gossip session when we got home since we’ve barely seen each other the past couple of days.”
“Cake tasting and gossip. Sounds like a fun night,” I smiled. “What did you choose?”
“Hmm? Oh, I didn’t. I didn’t think it was right to decide without you,” she replied, settling back on a pile of throw pillows on her bed. Damn, did she ever look sexy like that! I wanted to bury myself in her breasts.
“Were there any you liked?” I asked, shoving down the semi that was fighting for my attention.
“There was one I thought was amazing. You’ll have to try it when you come back. It’s a dark chocolate cake with white chocolate peppermint buttercream. It’s perfect for a winter wedding,” she sighed. “I’m not sure it would work for a spring wedding, though.”
“Why not?” I asked. “If it’s the cake you want, get it.”
“But you haven’t tried it yet. What if you hate it?” She asked, nibbling on her thumbnail in that adorable way that turned my semi into a raging hard-on.
“If you like it, I’ll like it. Besides, I want you to have the wedding of your dreams.” I tried to think of something else to calm my body down, but it wasn’t working very well.
“Are you sure?” She asked.
“Absolutely,” I replied. “And I can’t wait to try a piece when we get back.”
“I will have one waiting for you,” she replied and smiled. “And maybe a couple of other things, too.”
“Oh yeah? Like what?” I asked, my voice thick and husky as I started rubbing my hard cock.
“Tsk tsk,” she scolded playfully. “What kind of future wife would I be if I told you all my secrets?”
“The hottest one on the planet,” I replied honestly. Emma blushed and chuckled shyly.
“I should get to bed,” she admitted with a pout. “I have a meeting with a potential client first thing in the morning.”
“That’s too bad. I was about to make this interesting.” My voice was hoarse and thick, leaving little to the imagination for what I’d had in mind as I continued stroking myself.
