Under Pressure, page 25
“That’s not exactly the case, Pace.”
“Well, I gave you the time and the space. I let you be. But I didn’t want to.”
“Pace,” she whispered, “you sound heartbroken.”
“Without you, I am heartbroken,” he admitted. He stepped closer and frowned down at her. “I just…I’m not sure that you were without me.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” she asked.
“If we hadn’t had this day set, would you be here?” he pushed. “Or was it just the high draft prospect?”
Stacia pushed him backward in frustration. “Don’t be an ass. I almost didn’t show because I was worried that you would say something dumb like that.”
“Then, tell me why you’re here.”
“I don’t know who your informants are, but they’re wrong. My life is not perfect without you. I love my friends and I love my roommate and I love my classes. But, without you…it’s just missing something.”
“Everything was missing in my life without you.”
“Pace,” she whispered. Her voice was full of sadness, and she wished that, somehow, they could just erase the pain and suffering they had both gone through to get to this point.
He brushed her hair back from her face. “Yes?”
“I don’t know what we do from here,” she said, lost in his eyes. “Do we just take it one day at a time?”
“I’ve had a lot of time to think about us,” Pace said. “I would love nothing more than to start over from scratch and see where the road takes us, but we have so much baggage, Stacia.”
“So, what?” she asked. Her voice trembled. “You want to end it?”
“No. I want to make sure we’re on the right page. The same page. That we’re not starting out with a fresh slate, because I don’t want to forget what we had. But I want us to be more of an open book,” he told her. He paced the room and slid a hand back through his hair. He seemed frustrated and skeptical of his own course of action.
“Okay,” Stacia said softly.
“We should talk about all the stuff that happened before the funeral. Do you still think I was planning to hurt you?”
Stacia winced slightly. The thought of how hurt she had been when Madison told her about the stupid bet still stung. She knew she wasn’t completely over it, but she had put it all in perspective during their time apart.
“I think you were upset that night you made the bet and said shit you now regret.”
Pace breathed out heavily. “Well, you’ve got that right.”
“Do I think what you said was smart? No. But, I swore, at the start of the year, we’d never get back together, and obviously, that wasn’t true. We’re standing here now after all. It doesn’t compare in the same way, but I want to believe that you were telling the truth. I want to believe that you would never hurt me. And that’s really all I have to go on, right? I just have to have faith in you…in us.”
“Yes.” Pace nodded. “I have faith in us. Though…I think you saying that you and I were never getting back together was not your brightest moment.”
Stacia glared at him. “Jerk.”
“Come on, I was never going to let you go. I’m still not letting you go. I know that you have every right to be upset with me. I screwed up. I pushed you away. I was an idiot.” Pace strode across the room and grasped Stacia’s hands in his own. “But I fucking love you, and I’ve been going crazy without you.”
“You have?”
He nodded. “Worst three months of my life, knowing that I single-handedly ruined the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
Stacia sighed at those words. She couldn’t deny that she had missed Pace. From the moment she had found out about the stupid bet and realized what it all meant, she had been heartbroken. But moving on wasn’t an option. She could only take the time to come to the understanding that he had been just as hurt and heartbroken when he was idiotic enough to say it. Though she only had his word to go on to believe that he wasn’t going to actually hurt her…she wanted to trust him.
After Boomer’s death, she had wanted perspective on life. She’d taken her time. She had surrendered her love life and focused on all the things that mattered. But, when it came down to it, Pace Larson was still front and center. Perhaps she was a fool to give him another chance, but she thought he was worth the risk.
“Well…are you going to kiss me?” she asked.
32
Pace slid his hands up Stacia’s neck and cupped her cheeks. He smiled lovingly down at her and then tipped his lips to hers. She sighed against his lips and opened her mouth to him. Their tongues volleyed as desire coursed through them. They had been holding it back as they hashed out all the issues that had been staring them in the face for far too long. But, now, all that was left was the passion that had started everything.
His hands slipped to the hem of her dress, and he tugged the material up and over her head. He admired her black lacy lingerie as she worked on removing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.
“Fuck, you look sexy,” he said, running his hands up and down her body.
“I’ve been living at the gym when I’m not at the library,” she said with a sheepish smile.
“I know.” He nipped her bottom lip. “For a second, I thought you were dating a trainer.”
Stacia laughed and finally ripped his shirt all the way open, revealing the six-pack underneath. “You know I like players, not the staff,” she said with a wink.
“Well, then I was worried you had found a player to train you up.” He dragged her body against his and then claimed her lips again.
“I wasn’t with anyone,” she said, coming back up for air. “Unless you consider my vibrator that I used while thinking about you.”
Pace groaned. “Killing me, woman.”
“Didn’t you miss the sound of that buzzing?” she teased. She popped the top button of his pants.
“You have no idea.”
“Oh, I think I do.”
Stacia slipped his pants over his hips and let them pool in a puddle at his feet. Pace stepped out of them and let her drop his boxers, too. Then, he slowly snapped open her bra and pulled off the rather expensive piece of lace covering her lower half.
“That’s better,” he groaned.
His hand dipped between her legs, and she spread her feet apart to give him better access. She couldn’t deny that she was already wet with anticipation of him touching her.
“Oh, fuck,” she murmured.
His hands slipped to the backs of her thighs and hoisted her legs up and around his hips. Then, he dropped her back onto the bed, leaned over her body, and pushed his dick against her opening. Her head flew backward. Her eyes fluttered closed. All of the moments of imagining this hadn’t done it justice when he slid all the way inside her.
And then, as if something had possessed him, as if the feel of himself inside her drove him forward, he slammed into her again and again. It was manic and passionate and possessive. He was claiming her once more, and all she could do was moan and meet him stroke for stroke.
It had been too long. So long.
All she’d wanted was this. Nothing had ever felt this good. It wasn’t everything to their relationship, of course, but it was a fucking amazing part. They each needed the other, needed to feel that love made corporal once more.
Sure, everything between them wasn’t perfect. Maybe it never would be perfect. What relationship was? But they were focused on the right path. No matter how long the road, they would take it one step at a time.
Stacia’s hands went to his face. “Are you going to come with me?” she groaned.
“Next time,” he said with a mischievous grin.
He slid his hand between them and rubbed her clit until an orgasm ripped through her. She cried out in ecstasy and then collapsed backward. Her body was lightly coated in sweat, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so fantastic.
“Flip over,” he instructed.
She groaned as she moved her sore body and rolled over. Pace spread her legs wider and then pulled her ass higher into the air. His hands grasped her ass cheeks and spread them apart, and then he greedily eased back into her pussy.
A moan left each of them as he got deeper and deeper until he bottomed out inside her.
“Fuck,” she gasped. “That is deep.”
“Good. I want you to feel this,” he said.
Then, he pulled back and pitched back into her. She rocketed forward into the bed with the motion. Her hands clamped down on the mattress for leverage, but that did no good. She didn’t really move out of the way. All she got was a hard pounding that she couldn’t escape…and she didn’t want to.
“Harder,” she practically purred into the comforter.
And he obliged.
Pace grasped her hips in his hands firmly enough that he might leave bruising, and then he thrust into her over and over again. She gasped out with each thrust until her cries were muffled into the mattress. Her legs shook as a second even stronger orgasm built its way from her core down to her toes and fingers. But, this time, she knew Pace was close. He wasn’t going to be able to escape how hard she was about to come.
“Pace…”
“Yeah, Pink. Come with me.”
She nodded as her lower half quivered and throbbed. Then, it hit her, and she screamed into the hotel room. She felt Pace bottom out inside her, and then he collapsed forward over her as he came.
They both lay there, panting. Then, Pace kissed her back and rolled off of her.
Stacia flipped onto her back and tried to catch her breath. “Oh…my God, that…was…amazing,” she stuttered.
“Uh-huh,” he agreed.
Stacia moved as soon as her legs were able and cleaned up. Then, she and Pace took a long, languid shower together, shampooing each other’s hair and soaping each other up, before returning to bed, exhausted and satiated…for now.
Pace pulled her into his arms and left a trail of kisses into her hair. “I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too.”
“You’re it for me.”
“Mmhmm,” she agreed.
He threaded their fingers together under the sheets and drew her against his chest. “I’m going to want to do that again.”
Stacia laughed and rolled over to face him. “How about you go to Bri’s wedding with me?” she suggested.
Pace raised his eyebrows. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“That depends. Are you going to say yes?”
“Man, I don’t know. That sounds pretty serious.”
“Too serious for you. Hotshot NFL quarterback could bring any girl he wants,” she said with a wink.
“And I will,” he said confidently. “I’ll bring you.”
“Oh, good. I won’t have to bring that trainer I was seeing.”
Pace rolled his eyes. “Don’t even with me, Pink.”
He tickled her side, and she squirmed away from him.
“Stop. Stop. I was joking. You know it’s just you.”
He smiled. “Good. Then, it’s a date.”
“I like that.”
Then, Pace pushed her back into the mattress again. “Maybe we can talk some more after round two.”
Stacia giggled and pulled him down for another kiss.
And, as they fell together once more, it was as if time stopped.
Everything wasn’t right between them. They had a long road ahead. They would still argue and fight and push each other, but they were determined to make it work. That was what mattered in the end.
Pace and Stacia returned to Las Vegas after his obligations had been completed. They had to finish out the rest of the semester before he would head out to Oklahoma to get acquainted with the team.
“So, how does this work now?” Stacia asked as they landed back in Las Vegas.
“How does what work? Us?”
“Yeah. I mean…you’re going to be out of the state. I’m going to be taking classes for another year,” she said.
Pace took her hand. “We’ll make it work. Trihn and Damon have a long-distance relationship a lot of the year, and they’re fine.”
Stacia laughed. “Trihn and Damon are, like…the most perfect couple ever. I don’t think they ever even fight.”
“What’s the fun in that?” he asked. “Where’s the hot make-up sex?”
“You’re horrible,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Probably.” He shrugged. “But just don’t worry about it. If either of us thinks it’s not working, then we’ll talk about it. Or fight about it.”
He nudged her, and she just rolled her eyes.
“But, for real, we can make this work?”
“I’ve never been surer of anything.” Pace glanced at her. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
“No,” she said immediately. “I want this. I just…worry.”
“Well, as long as you don’t fall for the new starting quarterback in the next year, we’ll be fine,” Pace joked.
Stacia wrinkled her nose. “He’ll be an incoming freshman! I’d be robbing the cradle.”
“Aren’t you already?”
“Don’t even go there,” she said. “You’re only a few months younger than me. It so does not count.”
“Mmm,” he said, pulling her against him and kissing her lips. “An older woman.”
“Stop!” She laughed and jogged away from him and out into the Vegas heat.
But he ran after her and picked her up before kissing her breathless.
Life with Pace went on much the same back as it had before. Except now she had really fun study breaks…in Pace’s bedroom. But, despite the fact that they had just gotten back together and were trying to adjust to a new life, Stacia focused her efforts on finishing out her second semester as a journalism major. Her studies still took precedent.
And, after all her hard work, she had passed her sports journalism class with a ninety-nine percent. She had done pretty well in her other classes, too. But she knew that she needed to take her last year of school seriously.
That was why she laughed when she met up with Bryna and Trihn bright and early Saturday morning to watch them graduate without her.
“So, you’re not dropping out of school to become a quarterback’s wife?” Bryna asked. She adjusted the black graduation robe that was definitely not designed with the Vegas heat in mind.
“A different quarterback’s wife,” Trihn added. She tucked her cap under her arm and grinned at Stacia.
“You two are horrible. No! I’m not dropping out. I’m finishing for me, and then I’m getting a job!” Stacia told them. She glanced over her shoulder at Pace, who was standing with his mom, Bryna’s stepdad, the twins, and Zoe. They were all here to see Bryna graduate. “Pace is still…just Pace. He’ll do fine in Oklahoma without me.”
“Good,” Trihn said. “I’m proud of you.”
“Me, too,” Bryna added.
The three girls hugged, and then Stacia found that she was crying.
“Oh my God,” she said softly. “I can’t believe you two are leaving me!”
“We’ll still be around,” Bryna insisted.
Trihn nodded. “Yeah, we’d never really leave you. You’re our best friend.”
“I know. I just…Bri, you’re going to go off and become a famous director. And, Trihn, you will be at fashion week with a boutique on Fifth Avenue in no time. And I’ll just be here…”
“No, you won’t. You’ll be on the sidelines as a reporter, doing exactly what you love, just like the rest of us. It’s just going to take you a little longer to get there,” Bryna said. “And that’s okay.”
“It’s better that you figure it out now and take the time you need to make it right than regret it later,” Trihn added.
Stacia laughed and swiped at her tears. “You’re right. I just can’t believe it’s all over.”
“It’s not over. It’s just begun,” Bryna said. She pulled the girls in for another hug.
Bryna, Trihn, and Stacia had been drawn together the very first week of school their freshman year. A love story in and of itself. An unbreakable friendship. They had endured more than anyone, more than any romantic relationship. They had been there for each other through it all. And, while their story was coming to a close, it wasn’t really the end.
Epilogue
One and a Half Years Later
Stacia stood on the sidelines for the Oklahoma Tornadoes versus the Jacksonville Jaguars game. She was dressed in a red top under a black blazer with tight black pants. Behind her stood a camera crew, and she held a microphone in her hand. All the while, she got to watch Pace play professional football.
Dream, meet Reality.
She couldn’t even believe that she was standing here in this moment.
After Bryna and Trihn had graduated, they had all moved into full-on wedding mode. They’d had a million last-minute things to do. Even though Bryna had had a wedding planner, she’d used all the help she could get. So, the girls had been on wedding duty.
Pace had gone as Stacia’s date, and that’d seemed to clear the air about their relationship. Things had been sailing pretty smoothly since then. Bryna would still make jokes about Stacia dating her stepbrother, but Stacia totally welcomed them now. It was refreshing and normal.
Even though Pace had moved to Oklahoma shortly afterward, the long distance wasn’t as big of a burden as she had thought. Of course, she would have loved to move in with him and all that right away, but it was kind of refreshing to keep some normal with the new relationship.
She and Whitney had remained roommates for the next year as they both finished up their journalism majors. Whitney ended up behind the scenes with a focus in editorial broadcast. She and Simon had both snagged jobs in Los Angeles and had moved in together after graduation.
Stacia had floundered for a bit as she was searching for jobs. Part of her had wanted to do everything on her own, but the other part of her hadn’t wanted to compromise what she wanted for some shitty job that equated to the Cs she had earned during her first three years in college. So, she had used her connections to get on a short list for an upcoming sideline position at ESPN.
