The Girlfriend Game by Sierra Hill
Thirty-One
Zeke
“I can’t thank you enough for your help today, Kendall. I’d love to get together sometime soon for a girls’ day if you have time,” Logan suggests as she leans in to offer a friendly hug to Kendall outside the front entrance of the house. The party is still raging with the rookies and younger guys, but we’ve decided to call it a night.
Kendall smiles at Logan’s friendly outreach. “Of course. I’d enjoy that. Maybe you can provide me tips on how you manage to have some semblance of a normal life with their crazy schedules. But more importantly, how you handle their oversized egos.”
“Hey, now!” I scoff at her teasing insult. “My feelings are hurt.”
Laughter rings out around us. It feels good, like I’m right where I’m supposed to be. In the past, I’d have either gone home early by myself to sulk alone in my condo or gotten drunk with the guys to hide my loneliness. I wrap an arm around Kendall’s shoulders, enjoying the comfort of togetherness with her.
“It can definitely be difficult at times, especially the ego.” She rolls her eyes and playfully swats her husband in the belly. Carver bows forward and makes a loud grunt as if it hurt.
“But my best advice is to find a fun hobby, eat your weight in ice cream, or hang out with a good friend,” Logan recommends, but stares sweetly up at Carver, who throws a protective arm around his pregnant wife’s shoulders before kissing the top of her head.
Their relationship has overcome some insurmountable odds and to see them now, like this, is truly inspiring. I’ll admit, after finding the three of them coming out of the bathroom together, laughing and smiling, I was more than a little jealous. My dirty mind took a wrong turn down the wrong road with thoughts that Kendall participated in some kind of kinky threesome.
My worries were squelched, though, and the four of us enjoyed a lazy summer afternoon out in Marek’s back yard. Logan and Kendall hit it off immediately, both sharing similar medical field connections, as they talked non-stop through the evening, while Carver and I competed against each other in every lawn game known to man.
I just can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be this season while we’re out on the road and Logan is left at home. Our schedules are not only demanding, but the work grueling, leaving little time during the long season for moments at home. In fact, just the idea of being back out on the road now that I have Kendall has my stomach tied up in knots of anxiety.
An unwelcome fear settles over me as I think about Kendall alone at home while I’m gone. Her career, and family, and her entire life is here in Seattle. Which means, she won’t be able to meet up with me while I’m away during particularly long road trips. Kendall’s devoted to her practice and to her family here. She won’t have room for me in her life.
Hoping no one is paying attention to me as I silently freak out, I breathe through the panic, counting to ten like I’ve been taught to do when I feel the stress collapsing in on me.
After saying our goodbyes, Kendall and I walk hand-in-hand down the quiet, tree-lined road to locate the car parked down the street. Before I open her door, I take the opportunity to kiss her, bending down to seal my mouth with hers, the kiss slow and intentional, offering a reminder of how much she means to me.
“Mmm, what was that for?” she asks as I extract my lips from hers, tasting the strawberry and chocolate dessert she had earlier on my tongue. I tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and kiss the tip of her nose.
“It was nice having you by my side today and seeing you get along so well with my friends,” I admit, feathering my fingers down her arms. “As long as it’s not a threesome with Carver, I’m glad you all got along.”
Kendall giggles, apparently still tickled by the way I overreacted when I located them in the bathroom together. She wraps her arms around my waist and tugs me into her warm body, my cock nestled firmly against her heat. I give a naughty thrust of my hips so she knows what I’m thinking about the minute we get home.
“I really enjoyed talking to them. Logan is fascinating and so brilliant. She’s working with a non-profit to provide dental services for the homeless. We’re going to have lunch and talk through the details. We might be able to blend our expertise to create one shared pool of support.”
This woman. She has a heart of gold. A wondrous mind. And a body so luscious I can’t keep my hands off her not even for a minute.
I interlock our fingers together at her side. My gaze falls to her face and I sigh with reverence. “You’re truly amazing, you know that?”
Kendall crinkles her nose and waves me off. “Hardly. I’m just doing my part. We all have a role to play in this world while we’re here. We just have to find out where we fit in. Like you have with your charity. Which, by the way, I see the team has endorsed. I’m so proud of you, Zeke.”
I feel myself blushing. “Marek and our PR guy just want something positive to share with the media instead of always spin-doctoring my fuck-ups.”
Kendall slides into the seat and buckles in as I head to my side of the car. Once I start the engine, Kendall’s palm lands on top of my hand on the gear shift.
“Do you mind me asking what you decided about Marek’s request?”
It takes me a second to realize what she’s asking, but then remember the conversation I had with Marek about the rookies.
I maneuver out of the parking spot and we head down the winding roads of Mercer Island toward the freeway home.
I lift a shoulder. “He thinks I can offer some guidance to the new kids coming up through the league. I’m not so convinced about that, but told him I’d give it a go.”
“I think it’s wonderful. Will one of them be that kid, Jaeger, that was there today? I think he has an awful lot of growing up to do. He seems a bit wild.”
I chuckle at her reference because she’s not wrong. Jaeger Matlin is one of our rookies on the team this year. He got a little out of hand at the party today. He knocked over one of the food tables out on the lawn while he played Frisbee with Trenton, making quite a spectacle of himself.
“He’s twenty-one, fresh out of college. He’ll grow up once he’s knocked down a few pegs by some of the veterans this year. Just look at me.” I take my hand off the wheel and point to my chest. “It took over ten years for me to become this amazing man you now call your boyfriend.”
Kendall grins widely, coughing out a laugh before leaning over the console and squeezing my bicep. “And I couldn’t have asked for a better man. Well, maybe one who’s a bit humbler might be good.”
I grumble and roll my eyes. “I don’t know about that. I’m still a mess, with everything I’ve gone through this past year with my depression. Some days, I can barely take care of myself, much less three rowdy young rookies who just want to party and get laid. At least, that’s what I wanted to do when I was their age.”
“Oh, really? You weren’t always this mature and wise?”
I laugh because I know she’s joking. Leaning over the console, I reach underneath her skirt and slip my hand along the inside of her thigh. She coyly slaps at my wrist, but spreads her legs a little wider, granting me access.
“I’ve never copped to being mature, but I’ve always been horny. And right now, I want to get you home to show you how horny you got me today.”
After two rounds,one in the front seat of my car in my parking garage, and the other in my bed, we’re both worn out and breathing heavily as Kendall crooks an elbow and folds an arm across my chest, her cheek pressed against my pec. I have an arm secured around her back and I bask in the moment, wondering if it will always be like this for us. This perfect bliss.
I never knew that love involves such complexity and range of emotions. When Kendall is in my arms, I feel longing and lust. Hope and joy. Peace and security. The physical elements we share smolder and ignite with even the simplest of touches. The heat of our sexual currency could burn down the city.
But just as bold and relevant is the tenderness that exists between us. The moments like this where I feel this complete serenity wash over me. And I know…I know…it’s what I want for the rest of my life.
“Hey, you awake?” I ask, strumming the smooth skin along her side with my thumb.
“Mmm, no.”
I kiss the top of her head, inhaling the generous scent of lemon and orange blossom from her shampoo, and chuckle.
“I love this with you,” I say quietly, the weight of the words thick in my throat. I shift so I can see her face. I curl my palm around her jaw for our eyes to meet in the shadowy darkness of the room. “I love you, Kendall.”
“Zeke…I…” She hesitates, her eyes darting away to avoid my gaze and I feel a tightness in my chest.
“Shh…you don’t have to say it back. It’s okay. I just wanted you to know.”
But then she smiles, almost timidly, when she finishes her statement. “I love you too.”
Everything inside me explodes like a Mardi Gras parade down Bourbon Street. Loud clanging cymbals of my heart joyously shouting over the love she reciprocates. I told myself it didn’t matter if she didn’t love me back. I would be okay with that.
But the elation inside my heart is too much to contain.
I roll her over, kissing her everywhere in my mouth’s path. The soft lilt of her laughter and the jiggle of her breasts underneath me gets me hard again as I pepper her body with kisses.
Kendall skates her fingers through my hair, holding my face in her grasp. Our eyes find one another’s, and she stares at me, the connection worming all the way through to my soul.
“Zeke, we need to be realistic about what’s going on here.”
My body stiffens at the foreboding tone that registers a warning inside me.
“I’m not naïve enough to believe this will be easy once you’re out on the road. The time we’ve spent together this summer has been incredible, but we’ve lived inside a bubble that won’t be in place in a few weeks.”
I roll over on my back with a thump, my head dropping against the mattress before I scoot to sit with my back against the headboard. Kendall follows suit, tugging the sheet along with her.
I heave a knowing sigh. “Yeah, I know. But look at how well Carver and Logan do it. And I know plenty of guys in the league who make it work with their girlfriends.”
She turns her chin and gives me a watery smile. “I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m just being realistic. What we’ve had together has been fun and uncomplicated. That will change soon, and we’ll have to invest our time differently, is all I’m saying.”
I nod, a little sad by the downturn our evening is taking. But I get it. Kendall’s right. We’ve been enjoying each other’s company for months without the interruptions or breaks in our schedule. I mean, fuck. For the past month alone, I’ve been practically living at her place. We’ve shared a bed together every night. Tonight is the first time we’ve been at my place in weeks.
I hold her hand in mine, her knuckles brushing against my thigh as I trace the soft lines of her palm.
“If you’re worried that I won’t be faithful, I promise you…”
“No, that’s not what I’m worried about,” she says emphatically, tugging the short beard covering my chin with her fingers. “I trust you implicitly, Zeke. And I hope that feeling is mutual.”
I frown. “Of course. That’s not even a question. Then what is your reservation over making this work? If we’re both committed, what’s the concern?”
She worries her lip, biting down on it as if considering her words carefully. Which is unlike Kendall, who always seems to know the right thing to say at the exact moment. It’s an occupational hazard. She gives a helpless shrug.
“I don’t know. Life can get in the way, even in the best of times. I mean, take Logan and Carver, for example. With a baby on the way, it could get rocky. Whether intentional or not, it leaves room for questioning priorities and even resentment and blame.”
I shake my head with a purse of my lips. “Carver’s in for a ride. I would not want to be in his shoes the next nine months. Jesus, I remember a few years ago, Alan Locke’s girlfriend nearly tried to kill him after he came home one night after a road game.”
Kendall’s head jerks back in surprise. “What? Who is Alan? What happened?”
I continue to toy with her hand, flipping it over in mine, running my finger over the joints of her knuckles. Brushing them softly with my fingers.
I choke out a rueful laugh. “Well, Alan played for the Detroit Diamond’s and was kind of known to be a ladies’ man. He came home one night, and his pregnant girlfriend found an empty condom wrapper in his pocket. She started beating on him with a rolling pin.”
Kendall turns introspectively quiet for a moment; her face turns the other direction so I can only see her beautiful profile and the worry lines stretched across her forehead. I brush back the hair that falls over the side of her shoulder, rubbing the soft strands through my fingers.
“I’m sure the pregnancy hormones had her a bit on edge. Everyone handles it differently, I guess.”
I snort. “I’d say. Thank God I won’t have a pregnant girlfriend while I’m out on the road. Or a rolling pin in my kitchen, for that matter.”
“Good thing,” she replies stoically, before lying down on her side to face away from me. “I’m tired, Zeke. I need some sleep.”
I situate myself to spoon her in my arms and place a kiss at her shoulder.
“Goodnight, babe. I love you.”