False Start: A Fake Dating Sports Romance (Red Zone Rivals)

It was late when we got back to the hotel, everyone hugging and saying their goodnights in the lobby before dispersing.

My adrenaline was still high when Kyle and I stepped onto the elevator. I felt a ghost of a smile on my lips as the events from the night played in my head, and I found myself racking my brain for the last time I’d had that much fun.

I came up empty.

Something in my stomach tightened the longer I thought about it, especially when I replayed how welcoming everyone had been to me. Giana, Riley, Mary, and Julep made me feel like I’d always been a part of their friend group. The guys made me feel like I’d always been a part of Kyle’s life.

That made my stomach tighten even more.

Because, in a way, I had been.

Memories of the past slid down my spine like ice water, and when the elevator doors slid open, I blinked back to the present.

Kyle was quiet now, and he didn’t move to put his hand on my lower back or touch me in any way when I stepped onto our floor. He just followed behind me silently, holding the door open for me once he’d scanned our key card.

The energy immediately shifted as soon as we stepped inside, and both our gazes locked on the bed.

I can help you with that.

His words drifted back to me, and a shiver ran over my skin as the door clicked shut behind us.

Kyle pulled his wallet from the pocket of his slacks, letting it drop onto the desk before he grabbed the back of his neck. His eyes slid from the bed to me, and I swore my face was hot enough to melt metal.

“Do you want to take a shower?”

My eyes bulged at the question, heart kicking in my chest, and Kyle chuckled. He took one small step toward me, but it was enough to suck all of the oxygen out of the room.

“That wasn’t me inviting myself to join you,” he said with a smirk, one of his gorgeous eyebrows ticking up into his hairline. “Although, it would save water…”

I rolled my eyes on an exhale of a laugh, a little of the tension melting away when I did. “Oh sure, now you’re environmentally conscious? I know what you drive,” I shot at him.

That made his grin double.

He nodded toward the bathroom. “You go ahead, I’ll take second. I’m going to get some ice.”

“Ice?”

“Yeah,” he said, pulling the door open before looking back at me. “For your water.”

He left before my jaw popped open, and I stood there gaping at the closed door for a full minute before I dragged myself into the bathroom and ran the shower as hot as it would go.

He remembered that?

When we were younger, when he’d sneak over to my house in the middle of the night to sleep on my floor instead of in his home, he would see me in my rawest form. I usually had on panties and a tank top and nothing else. Sometimes I would be wearing a face mask, sometimes I’d be rubbing lotion on my legs, sometimes I’d be jumping on my bed — a nightly routine I used to do to shake off some energy.

And I always had a tall glass of water on my bedside table, with as much ice crammed into that glass as I could manage.

I tried not to overthink it too much as I took a quick shower, washing my face and brushing my teeth before I wrapped myself in a towel and made my way back to the main room. Kyle’s eyes flashed when I emerged, his gaze dropping to the water still dripping down my legs before he cleared his throat and slipped inside the bathroom to take his own shower.

I hadn’t planned on sleeping in the same bed with Kyle.

I hadn’t planned on even being in the same room with him.

Now, I was staring at the pair of panties and the silk camisole nightgown I’d packed to sleep in like they were enemy number one.

I muttered a curse as I hastily put them on, combing my hair with my fingers and scrunching out as much moisture as I could with my towel before I climbed into bed. I pulled the covers up to my ears and laid on the far edge of the bed, practically hanging off it as I stared up at the ceiling and willed my heart to beat steady.

It’s fine, Madelyn.

You’re both adults.

This bed is huge, and it’s just sleeping.

You slept in the same bed with him plenty of times when you were kids.

I snorted out loud at that last thought, because he’d always slept on my floor — until the night everything changed.

And when we did share a bed, it was anything but innocent.

My heart hammered harder as I listened to the water slapping against the tile where Kyle was in the shower. I tried to convince myself he was just going to come out of that shower, climb into bed, turn out the lights, and we’d go straight to sleep.

But my logic laughed at me.

I heard you.

A shiver ripped through me, making me shake like a leaf.

He’d heard me in the bathtub.

He knew I’d been… taking care of myself.

He also knew I hadn’t made it to the finish line.

My cheeks flamed when I considered that he’d heard me say his name in my attempt, and I groaned, burying myself deeper into the covers.

I can help with that.

The way he’d rumbled those words in my ear, the way his eyes had sealed the promise when he pulled back and pinned me with a dark smirk…

I stopped breathing as a realization hit me.

Did I want him to follow through with that promise?

A week ago, I was threatening him to behave himself, warning him not to use tongue when he kissed me.

Now, I was thinking of all the other things that tongue could do.

And after the plane ride, I had more questions than ever burning into my skull. I wanted to talk about what happened when we were younger. I needed to know how he could leave me, knowing I was carrying his child.

I needed to know if he even knew at all, or if all this time…

Kyle shut the shower off, and the absence of the rushing water made me blink, my thoughts on the past evaporating as my heart picked up its pace in my chest again.

I stared at the ceiling listening to the sounds of him brushing his teeth. Then, he padded into the room, using a Q-tip to clean his ears as he opened one of the drawers he’d unpacked his things into.

He was wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around his waist, and that towel was far too small for the beast of a man that he was.

I followed a drop of water all the way down the middle ridge of his abdomen before I snapped my gaze back up to the ceiling, my throat closing in. When Kyle was focused on the items he was pulling from the drawer, I peeked over again, marveling at the muscles in his shoulders, his back, his thighs.

Then, without warning, he dropped the towel.

“Kyle!”

I pulled the covers over my eyes and shut them tightly as a throaty laugh rumbled through the room.

“Caught you looking,” he teased as the memory of his perfectly sculpted ass burned itself into my brain.

“I wasn’t looking,” I argued.

“Then why are you so upset?”

“Because you flashed me!”

“You can always flash me back if it’d make you feel better to get even.”

I did a quick check to make sure he had clothes on, then I peered at him over the edge of the covers with my eyes narrowed, earning me a laugh that warmed my insides.

He didn’t pull on more than a pair of briefs, and after putting his phone on the charger and flipping the extra safety lock on the door, he shut off the lights.

And then the bed dipped with his weight, a flash of cold air sweeping over my skin as he pulled back the covers and slid under them.

I couldn’t swallow the lump in my throat, couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my heartbeat in my ears.

But I could feel him.

It didn’t matter that I was hugging the edge of the bed, I could still feel the heat of his body, could smell his body wash and hear the groan he let loose as he settled into the sheets, stretching a bit before he lie still.

The blackout curtains snuffed out the city lights, and even after my eyes adjusted, I could barely see a thing in the dark room.

But I felt every subtle move Kyle made, my ears trained on the sound of each breath.

“You have plenty of room,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “Scoot over.”

“I’m good.”

There was a soft laugh in the darkness. “Madelyn, you’re about to fall off the fucking bed.”

I swallowed, shimmying a bit until my ass was no longer hanging off the mattress. Even though I only moved a couple inches, I felt even more of his heat, and every nerve in my body buzzed to life.

“I put your water on the nightstand,” he said.

“Thank you.”

The words were a squeak, which made me cringe a bit, but then silence fell over us, Kyle’s breathing evening out a bit.

“Goodnight,” I said.

There was a long pause before he spoke. “Goodnight.”

I didn’t close my eyes, didn’t dare move even a centimeter. I just stared up at the ceiling with my eyes unable to see anything, trying to subtly take deeper inhales without letting Kyle hear how hard it was for me to breathe at the moment.

In for four, out for eight. In for four, out for eight.

I repeated the mantra in my head, feeling my heart settle a bit the longer the silence stretched between us. I thought I heard Kyle’s breathing change, too.

Maybe he really is going to sleep.

I didn’t know if it was relief or disappointment that I felt the longer we laid there without anything happening. Eventually, the cage around my chest loosened, and my breaths started coming easier, more natural.

The memories of the day faded, tucking themselves into files in my brain as my eyelids grew heavier. They fluttered, and then shut, and I rolled onto my left side, away from Kyle, curling into myself a little as one arm slid under my pillow.

I didn’t realize how tired I was until that moment, all the adrenaline from the day slowly leaking out of me with each breath. The hotel bed was so comfortable. I let out a long, contented sigh as I settled in, letting the memory foam take my weight.

I was almost asleep when I felt a subtle movement on the other end of the bed.

I swallowed, body stiffening as I listened to the slight rustle of the sheets.

He’s probably just rolling over, you weirdo. Go to bed.

I was too hyper-focused, and I rolled my eyes at myself, burrowing deeper into the covers.

Until I felt a large, warm hand at the small of my back.

My eyes shot open, heart stopping for a full ten seconds before it kicked back to life in my chest. I was completely still as Kyle rubbed his knuckles against my skin.

When I didn’t pull away or say anything, he splayed his hand, running his palm up and over my hip.

Oh my God.

Goosebumps exploded over my skin, my next breath lodging itself in my throat. There was another dip of the bed, a shift of weight, and then a rush of heat.

Kyle pulled me flush against him, his chest against my back, legs curling behind mine. His forehead pressed against the top of my spine, and a long, shaky exhale ghosted over my skin as he rolled his hips into me.

I gasped.

I felt every thick, hard inch of him against my backside, and the soft, almost imperceptible groan he let loose made me shiver.

I didn’t dare say a word. I didn’t dare move an inch.

My heart was pounding out of my chest, and Kyle pressed a featherlight kiss to the back of my neck before his hand on my hip was traveling, gliding over my thigh and down to my knee before his fingers slid to the inside of my leg and trailed up at a torturously slow pace.

“Mads,” he whispered, and I heard him swallow, felt his hand hesitate where it was traveling up.

I didn’t respond.

But I opened.

Every cell in my being buzzed under his touch as I spread my legs, my ass still nestled against his hard-on as I did. The motion sent his hand sliding farther north, the rough warmth of his palm skating against my upper inner thigh.

One thick fingertip brushed against the lace edge of my panties, and I shook violently, nipples hardening into peaks.

Kyle paused there, kissing the back of my shoulder as he ran his fingertip over the lace. He trailed up to my right hip, dragged that gentle touch down to the left hip, and then went back to playing with the edge along my inner thigh.

I was still at first, frozen, afraid to so much as breathe.

But the more he toyed with that edge, the more I squirmed beneath the touch, opening my legs wider and bucking my hips to reach for his touch.

His breaths were short puffs of air on my neck, his heart thumping loud enough for me to hear.

I reached behind me, blindly feeling until my fingers ran through his hair. I held him to me, rolling against his erection with all my awareness centering on where his fingertips just barely brushed my panties.

“I didn’t just hear you earlier,” he husked against the shell of my ear. His touch was still just a tease against my thigh. “I watched you.”

Another gasp left me.

“I watched you touch yourself, listened to the way you moaned.”

I should have been shocked. I wanted to be shocked. I willed myself to break away from him and scream at him and storm out of the room.

But I was so turned on by the thought, by knowing he was watching me without me knowing, that he’d seen me writhing in that bath water trying to find relief.

“It was intoxicating,” he continued, his breath ragged against my skin. “I couldn’t look away.”

“Kyle,” I breathed, arching against him, and he groaned with a buck of his hips.

“I heard you say that, too,” he murmured in my ear. “You were thinking of me.”

“Yes.”

He cursed, his teeth sinking into my shoulder.

“I fucked my hand as I watched you,” he admitted, and the shock only lasted a second before a rush of power swept through me.

The thought that he couldn’t resist himself, that he risked getting caught because he was so turned on…

“When you gave up…” he continued, and his fingers slid between my legs, toying with the sensitive skin just next to where I wanted him. I chased his touch, but he pulled away, continuing his tease. “I had to force myself out of this hotel room to keep from bursting into that bathroom and taking over.”

My next breath shuddered out of me, and Kyle kissed just below my ear.

“Let me touch you, Mads,” he begged, teeth sinking into my shoulder. “I want to hear my name on your lips again. But this time, I want to earn it.” He bit the lobe of my ear, making me hiss and roll against him. “Let me get you there. Let me hear the way you moan when you come.”

The words lit me on fire.

I arched against him, turning my head just enough to capture his lips with my own. He groaned when I kissed him, both of us inhaling a long, deep breath.

Then, I covered his hand with my own, and I slid it firmly between my legs, gasping when he cupped me, and the heel of his palm gave just the right amount of friction to make stars explode behind my eyelids.

That gasp was oxygen to the flame.

Kyle sucked in a breath, kissing me harder as his hand covered me. He pressed his palm where I needed him, rubbing up and down before he snaked his middle finger under my panties. He groaned when he felt how wet I was, gliding his fingertip just barely between my lips before he pulled it back out.

I whimpered at the loss.

“You’ve been uncomfortable all night, haven’t you?” he mused, grinning against my mouth before he kissed me harder. His finger slipped under my panties again, and this time, he pressed inside me just a half-inch as I shook and gasped into his mouth. “How long have you been this wet for me?”

I moaned in lieu of an answer, rolling against his touch. I covered his hand with my own and made him push inside more, and then I was rolling onto my back, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding his mouth to mine as I bucked against his touch.

It had been so long since I’d been touched like this — slowly, softly, reverently.

It had been so long since I’d been touched like this by him.

My body responded to every lash of his tongue against mine, my core heating as he dove his hand all the way under my panties and curled that thick finger deep inside me. I cried out when he did, and he swallowed that cry with his mouth, kissing me hard.

“I need you to tell me what you want, baby,” he said, sliding his finger in slow and withdrawing just the same. “Do you want me to tease you, to make this last?” He ran his fingers up to my clit, applying pressure and rubbing side to side in the perfect rhythm to make me fucking lose it. “Or do you want that relief you’ve been craving all night?”

“Get me there,” I breathed against his lips, rolling into his hand. “Get me off.”

His lips curled against mine in a smirk, and he applied more pressure, rubbing me hard as I shook and reached for the orgasm that was within reach. “That’s my fucking girl.”

But he pulled back before I could catch that spark, his hand sliding up to cup my breast with an appreciative groan.

“God, I’ve missed touching you,” he breathed against me, low and needy.

The words made my heart catch, but only for a moment — because in the next breath, Kyle was ripping the covers off us, his fingertips sliding under the band of my panties. He tugged hard when I lifted my hips, sliding the fabric off my legs and flinging it somewhere behind him.

It was still so dark, I could barely make anything out as he braced himself on top of me, his fists sinking into the mattress by my head. He dropped his mouth to mine, our tongues dancing as a bolt of electricity shot through me.

Kyle wrapped one arm around my back, and then we were flipping, the world spinning until I settled on top of him.

He grabbed my hands, tugging me up.

“Sit on my face, Mads.”

My eyes shot wide, but he was already maneuvering us before I could argue, before I could tell him that I’d never done this before. He shimmied down and helped me climb until my thighs were straddling his head, and then he grabbed my ass in two handfuls, groaning as he shook my cheeks and gave my left one a little smack.

“Hands on the headboard,” he commanded, and I barely had time to brace myself before he wrapped his hands around my thighs and pulled me down.

“Oh, fuck.”

A desperate moan ripped out of me the moment his tongue lashed my clit, and Kyle groaned at the sound, making me spread wider for him as he did it again. He didn’t ease into it, didn’t play with me or tease me.

I asked him to get me there, and he was ready to deliver.

He held me to him as he feasted, running his tongue up and down before he sucked my clit with just the right pressure to make me tremble and grip the headboard tighter.

“Play with those pretty tits, baby,” he rasped against my clit, and then he was sucking it again, making me writhe and buck against him. “Come on my tongue and let me hear you say my name again.”

“God,” I cried. I ripped my camisole overhead, rolling both nipples between my fingers as soon as they were free. I gave in to my urge to move against him, my climax mounting as I rode his face.

I’d been worked up all day, and the overwhelming sensation of Kyle Fucking Robbins touching me, licking me, tasting me… it was already enough to drive me over the edge.

And he read me like a book, picking up on all the ways I moved against him until he found the perfect rhythm, the perfect pressure.

When he slid that thick finger inside me again, curling it in time with his tongue against my clit, I became ravenous.

I arched and bucked like a wild bull, palming my breasts as all my awareness fell to where I was fucking his face and his hand. Kyle didn’t slow, didn’t stop, didn’t pull away. He opened his mouth and flattened his tongue, one finger working inside me while his other hand grabbed my ass and showed me how to rock against him.

“Oh, God. Oh, fuck,” I cried, and then I took over, rocking against his tongue as he fucked me with that finger and coaxed my orgasm to the surface. “Kyle,” I breathed. “Yes, God, yes, yes, yes.”

He moaned, and the vibration of it was the last little piece to send me spiraling.

The universe sparked behind my eyes, bursts of light invading my vision as the most intense pleasure washed over me like a tidal wave. All the blood in my body rushed to where his tongue worked mercilessly against me, and I bucked wilder, not wanting it to end. His name left my lips over and over again, breathy at first, and then in a scream. I felt him grin against my core the louder I got, but I couldn’t find it in me to be even the least bit ashamed.

I rode out every last drop of that climax, shaking with the pent-up energy of hundreds of orgasms I’d tried to give myself in the last year but couldn’t quite reach. It dragged on for what felt like hours, and by the time the final wave left me, I was so weak I collapsed.

Kyle caught my weight, helping me roll off him until I was sprawled out in the sheets on my back, my chest heaving, sweat slicking my skin.

“That was the hottest fucking thing I have ever seen,” he said, and then he was kissing me like he wanted to soak up every little moan I’d just given him.

I tasted myself on him, and that was enough to make me fire up again.

As my orgasm receded, reality slowly washed back in, making my heart beat unsteady in my chest as Kyle slowed his kisses. They went from feverous to tender, from needy to soft and sweet. He took his time, kissing along my jaw and down my neck before he’d claim my mouth again.

I willed my mind to still, begged myself not to overthink anything.

It was just a little fun.

It was just a harmless hookup between two consenting adults.

It didn’t have to mean anything.

But when he wrapped me in his arms, spooning me and nuzzling into the back of my neck with a content sigh, my chest seized.

It didn’t matter how I tried to downplay it. The truth was impossible to ignore.

This changed everything.