The Red Zone: An Enemies with Benefits Sports Romance (The League Book 2)

I’D MADE plenty of poor decisions in my life.

Getting arrested in high school after being caught underage drinking at a house party. That time sophomore year of college when I sported a botched mullet for far longer than I should have. And that ice cream cone tattoo on my upper thigh was pretty ugly, not going to lie. Frankly, there was a whole slew of other bad choices I could rattle off on command if needed.

This right here though—following Mae as she walked naked toward the outdoor shower—was easily the start of my worst decisions to date.

Instead of making the rational choice of drying off my swim shorts and walking the ten yards to the comfort of my bed, I hopped out of the pool, toweled off my hair and body, and walked directly behind Mae’s perky ass as she waltzed over to the outdoor shower on the side of the pool house that sat between the brick and the fence.

I tried to stop my feet from trudging across the yard, but they must’ve gotten the wrong mental cue, because my pace only increased in an attempt to catch up with her.

The light from the pool carried over to the side of the yard, making it easy for Mae to see as she twisted the handle all the way to the left. Scorching water erupted from the shower head, gliding down Mae’s back, over her ass, and down her thighs. The steam that rose around her only made the scene in front of me that much more pornographic.

What level of horny was it to be jealous of some fucking water droplets?

I shook my head, stifling a laugh as I casually leaned my left shoulder against the white brick a few feet away from her. Crossing my arms against my chest, I released an elongated breath.

What I wasn’t prepared for, was Mae twisting on her heels to face me, giving me a full front view of her naked body. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back to rinse her hair and I had to fight to hold back a groan. The way her breasts were pushed out from the movement and her bare pussy on display… it was too much for my sex deprived brain to handle.

She ran both hands down her hair, but stopped once she reached her shoulders and began trailing them down her chest instead. Mae’s eyes locked on mine as she massaged with her breasts.

It felt wrong to stare, but it would take the heavens opening from the clouds for me to even consider tearing my eyes away from her body right now.

Yet, even still, there was some part of my brain that was still trying to process our conversation from earlier. I was trying to give myself some grace, but it didn’t make it any easier to sort through. I continued reminding myself that it happened when I was seven—a little over eighteen years ago. And as much as I wish I could take back my part in hurting her, those words still would’ve left Molly’s lips, and Mae and I still would’ve ended up despising each other.

Pushing the thought out of my head, I refocused my attention on Mae. Only this time, one of her hands was trailing down her stomach toward her center. I held my breath as she dragged her fingertips lower, taunting and teasing her bare skin.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch?” Her voice was sultry with a hint of underlying playfulness. When I failed to respond she shrugged a shoulder. “Fine by me, I guess. I don’t mind putting on a little show.”

Mae had always been bold. Never had a problem saying exactly what was on her mind. But seeing her this outwardly taunting toward me wasn’t something I could’ve calculated for. Even as teenagers we never crossed the line between friendship and hatred, which meant the jump from long-standing rivals to fuck buddies would be nearly impossible.

Seeing this side of her was entirely new to me, yet for some unknowing reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I continued watching intently as she leaned back against the wall behind her, dodging the shower handles, but still keeping most of herself covered by the scorching water.

My body went still as she ran her hands down her stomach slowly before teasing her slit. She let out a few breathy whimpers before making a V with her fingers and spreading herself open to give me a full view of her little pink pussy. Had I not already been leaning on the brick wall; I would’ve fallen straight on my ass.

I blinked slowly as lewd fantasies flooded my brain. The thought of throwing her over my shoulder, taking her into the pool house, and teasing her until she was in tears begging for me to let her finish. Or dropping right in front of her and making her come on my tongue so loudly that she woke the neighbors. A thousand more fantasies rotated through my mind at warp speed before I returned back to the wet dream that was playing out in front of me.

Mae’s eyes stayed locked on mine as she dipped two fingers inside herself. A satisfied moan spilled from her lips and her eyes fluttered closed as her head lolled backward. Seeing the look of pure pleasure on her face was all I needed to cross the space that separated us in two steps until I was standing just outside where the water from the shower reached.

Sweet God, I could listen to her make those noises all day. Not only was it music to my fucking ears, but those tantalizing moans that continued spilling past her plump red lips were the reason my dick was aching right now. Which was saying a whole fucking lot considering no other woman had gotten me hard since I saw Mae for the first time in years a few weeks ago.

And yes, I tried multiple times with a handful of women and not a damn thing any of them did helped me get up. Do you have any idea how hard it is—no pun intended—to turn down a stunning hotel heiress who was visiting town for the week because your dick refused to cooperate?

Fucking agonizing. Now I couldn’t step foot in on a Black Hotel Group property without risking the staff knowing about my dick problems.

“What are you doing?” My voice was thick with heat.

“Showing you how I like it.”

Such a fucking tease.

For a while after I’d left for college I’d forgotten about Mae. Freshman year, I was too swept up with being the big shot starting quarterback who was able to have any girl I wanted—any time I wanted—and securing a championship ring to worry about what she was up to during her senior year.

It was only after she’d graduated and she and Scar temporarily moved to New York—Mae for modeling and Scar for culinary school—that I started keeping tabs on her again. Like I said, in high school she was gorgeous, blew everyone out of the park by a landslide, but it wasn’t until I saw pictures of her standing next to some of the most stunning women in the world that I really allowed myself to appreciate her effortless beauty.

Sure, I’d kept an eye on her over the years through Socialgram. I knew that she quit modeling right before her twenty-third birthday and shortly after started her own company. And no matter how good she looked in a photo or tabloid, I never gave myself permission to let my mind wander—well, aside from coming up with snide comments to piss her off the next time we saw each other.

I continued to watch her for a while longer as she drew her fingers in and out in a slow, steady rhythm. Watching her like this was easily one of the most erotic things I’d witnessed to date. And that was saying a lot considering that aside from my seasonal celibacy and recent erectile dysfunction issue, I’d been a bit of a playboy. Wasn’t proud of it. In fact, in recent months I hadn’t found it enjoyable at all.

A sharp inhale from Mae pulled me from my thoughts.

“Aren’t you going to join me?” she rasped.

“I’m not getting naked in your backyard.”

“You’re the one who said that if I wanted a look, all I had to do was ask.” She dropped her eyes to my growing hard on. “Now I’m asking.”

“I’m not—’

“If you’re a liar, admit it.”

“If you want to fuck me, just say that,” I countered, although the only thing I could think about was what it feels like to have her red lips wrapped around my throbbing cock.

“I don’t want to fuck you. I want you to fuck me.” Her tone was sultry, and the confession rolled off her tongue with ease.

My eyes squeezed shut instinctively.

Inhale. I needed to inhale.

My lungs were devoid of oxygen. My brain was no longer receiving any signals.

I stood there blank brained and breathless for a long minute before blinking away my shock. Mae reached for my wrist and waited until I gave her a small nod. Her eyes flared with heat as she grabbed my hand and placed it against her neck. I took a step forward, letting the water consume me for a beat before leaning forward and dropping my mouth against the side of her throat.

With her hand still on mine, she lowered it from her neck, skimming it across her chest before guiding it low enough to cup her boob. I squeezed instinctively, and the utterly satisfied look on her face as I pulled my mouth away from her neck was enough to send me reeling.

We stayed like that for a moment before she placed her hand over mine again, dragging it down her stomach toward her center. The prolonged anticipation was almost fucking unbearable.

“Are you sure you want this?”

Mae stared at me with a neutral expression, her chest rising and falling while the sound of water pouring around us filled the silence. She nodded, guiding my hand lower until it replaced the one she had on her clit.

Keeping her hand over mine, she guided my fingertips in slow circles, only allowing me to take over once she was so satisfied that her eyes couldn’t stay open and her head was being held up by the wall behind her. I continued keeping the pace she had set as I dropped my mouth down to the hollow of her neck.

She hummed her approval and I pressed my throbbing erection against the side of her ass cheek. Looking up, her eyes shot open, almost like she was shocked she had this much of an effect on me. Mae reached her hand over to feel me over my swim shorts and my head began to spin.

“I can’t say I’m surprised by you coming onto me like this… but why now?” I rasped against her neck.

Her words came out between moans as I curled my fingers upward, hitting that special spot that I knew would drive her wild. “I could… use something… to take the edge off… that’s all.”

“I find it hard to believe that that’s the only reason.”

“Don’t.” She looked at me with her big, seductive saucer eyes before briefly dropping her gaze to my lips then dragging it back up again. “If it wasn’t you, it would’ve been someone else.”

Fuck me. She was such a tease.

With a wry smile on my lips, I pulled out my two middle fingers and thrust them back inside her so hard it made her breath hitch. She followed that up with a taunting smile that made my fucking head spin.

Now, what I hadn’t planned for was the surge of jealousy at her mentioning another person taking my place. For a quick moment, I tried convincing myself that it wasn’t jealousy, that I was simply caught up in the moment of lust and hormones. That was until I felt her inner walls begin to clench around my fingers all while her breaths grew quick and shallow.

She was close. So close that I could feel her beginning to ripple around my fingers.

“I—’

“You what?” I challenged. “You want my mouth on your pussy, don’t you?”

She nodded and I let one more desperate moan slip past her lips before slipping my fingers out of her heat and turning to walk away. My hand was soaked, coated in her juices and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to taste her.

I couldn’t let this go that far, though.

Behind me, Mae let out a frustrated groan which made one corner of my mouth lift upward.

“What the fuck?”

“You said twenty minutes… it’s been twenty-one,” I called over my shoulder, not giving so much as a glance back. “Goodnight, March. You could use some rest. Might help… take that edge off.”

As I turned right toward the front door of the poorhouse, I heard her muttering a stream of choice expletives as she shut off the water.

The next morning, I woke up early to clean the pool before practice. Only this time, I fished out her light blue swimsuit top from the deep end, grabbed her bottoms from the deck, and placed them on the ivory finished rectangle dining set. That way whenever she woke up, and tried coming out here to enjoy sipping on her morning tea at the head of the table like usual, she’d be met with a piercing reminder of last night’s endeavors.

Man, what I would’ve paid to stick around and see the look on her face.