#Hater (Hashtag #2) (2 page)

Romeo

Rimmel burrowed beneath the comforter on my bed and pressed her naked body farther against mine. Even though we’d already had sex three times since we got here, my body responded to her touch. Just the feel of her silky bare skin rubbing against me was enough to make me want her all over again.

She groaned and tucked her fingers between my side and the mattress. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to the cold air here.”

I chuckled and kissed her forehead. “Just wait ‘til it snows.”

“Ugh,” she moaned.

“I’ll turn the heat up,” I said and started to move from beneath her. She clutched me closer and made a sound of determination. I laughed. It thrilled the shit out of me that she liked having me so close. “I thought you were cold,” I said affectionately.

“But you’re warm.”

“I’ll come right back.”

“Kiss me,” she demanded. She was definitely a shy person, but the more time we spent together, the less shy she was with me when we were alone. I loved it. It was like getting a glimpse of the person no one else saw.

I rolled and pinned her beneath me, wrapping my arms under her back and pressing her naked torso against mine. Her mouth was willing and eager as her tongue stroked expertly against mine. It was a lazy kiss, and it wasn’t short. I could explore the depths of her mouth for hours on end and still find new ways to make her groan.

When the urge to plunge into her center became almost too much, I eased back. Her eyes were unfocused and her lips were swollen as she smiled up at me.

I wanted her so fucking bad, just as badly as I had when I saw her searching through the airport crowd with anticipation in her eyes. Going through all the extra security just to be at the gate when she came through had been well worth the hassle. The way her face lit up when she saw me caused my chest to tighten.

I was used to attention from the opposite sex. Getting a girl to like me was never really a challenge.

But Rimmel was different.

She didn’t bestow that look on just anyone. In fact, I’d never seen her look at anything or anyone the way she did me. Even the animals at the shelter, the ones she considered her friends.

It wasn’t a small feat for someone to make me feel like I was special. It was almost something I’d grown used to. It wasn’t really anything I didn’t expect.

But with Rimmel, it was almost like she loved me in spite of all that.

“You’re driving me crazy,” I murmured, stroking her hair away from her face.

Her hand slid across the back of my shoulder and trailed down to my lower back.

I groaned. “You’re gonna be hurting tomorrow, Rim.”

“I don’t care.”

I smiled. “I know. But I do.”

She made a face at me and I kissed her nose. Pulling back wasn’t something I wanted to do, but her body needed a break. At least for an hour. “I got you a present.”

Her eyes widened. “You did?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t get you a Christmas present?”

She shrugged beneath me. “I didn’t expect you to. Besides, we spent Christmas apart.”

“What kind of boyfriend doesn’t get a present for his girl?” I asked and slipped out of bed.

She pulled the covers up over her, guarding against the air. I picked up my long-sleeved Henley from where I threw it on the floor and tossed it to her.

I went and turned up the heat and hit the switch for the gas fireplace on the wall opposite the bed. Flames roared to life and filled the dim room with dancing orange.

“This sure beats my dorm room,” she half sighed.

I laughed and turned. The breath I was taking in froze halfway to my lungs.

She was sitting in the center of my bed, the blankets rumpled and piled around her. My shirt was way too large and the neck slipped down low over one of her slim shoulders, exposing a wide patch of creamy skin. Her cheeks were pink and her lips were swollen. The long thick mass of her hair was tangled and messy, falling around her face and down her back.

I’d missed her.

I’d missed her even more than I’d let myself realize. But seeing her sitting there taking up so little space in my bed but so much room in my chest was sorta something I couldn’t deny.

She tilted her head and looked at me, wrinkling her nose. “Do I look a mess?” she asked.

I shook my head, unable to speak. I never thought this would happen to me. I never thought I would love someone so much. So fast.

I turned and picked up the wrapped box near the door and brought it back to the bed. It was nothing fancy, since I’d wrapped it myself. It was covered in plain red paper and had a gold bow on top.

I held out the box and she took it, placing it in her lap on top of the blankets. Her eyes roamed my naked body, heat and appreciation in them. I grinned and reached for a pair of boxers and slid them on. If she kept looking at me like that, I wasn’t going to last the next five minutes, let alone a couple hours.

I slipped into the bed beside her and lay on my side, propping myself up on my elbow. “You gonna open that?”

She bit her lip and glanced down at it. Murphy jumped up on the end of the bed and sat down, watching us with his tail swishing back and forth. Rimmel picked up the box and shook it.

When that gave away nothing, she smiled and ripped open the paper. I put the gift in a plain white box, so she set it in her lap and pulled the top off to look inside.

She glanced at me and grinned.

“Thought my Florida girl could use something to keep her warm when I’m not around.”

“I love them,” she said and pulled out a pair of white fur slipper boots. They had red ribbons at the top to tie them in place.

She slid her fingers over the soft white faux fur and sighed in appreciation. With one in each hand, she flung herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Thank you, Romeo,” she said and kissed my cheek. “I love them.”

“Try them on,” I said.

Rimmel pushed the covers back and pulled her bare legs out to pull on the boots. She got one on and tied and then pushed her foot down in the other.

Her forehead wrinkled. “There’s something in there,” she said and quickly pulled it back off.

“What is it?”

“I’m not putting my hand in there!” she squealed. “It might be a bug.”

“A bug?” I was amused. “How would a bug get in there?”

She screwed up her face and stuck out her tongue. “Who knows? Bugs are creepy like that.”

I chuckled and shoved my hand down into the boot. She watched like she was expecting something to eat my hand off. I pulled out the square white box and held it out. “I think it might be for you,” I said and winked.

Her eyes bounced between me and the box I held. “The slippers are more than enough.”

“I know,” I replied and held it out.

She took it and lifted the lid. I heard the rustling of tissue paper and then she stared down at it for a few seconds. “I need my glasses,” she said, her voice whisper soft.

I reached behind me and pulled them off the table and handed them to her. She slid them on and glanced back down. “It’s so beautiful.”

Her voice was hushed like she somehow might disturb the contents of the box, and she stared down at it like it might disappear. It made me worry that maybe she didn’t like it. Maybe she was trying to think of something to say.

“If you don’t like it…” I started, and she gasped.

“Of course I like it.” She glanced up. “I love it. I’ve never had anything like it.”

Her eyes were sort of misty and it got to me. It was such a simple gift. I’d spent more money on my parents and, hell, even Braeden. But I knew Rimmel wouldn’t like anything flashy. She wouldn’t want anything that appeared like I was trying to impress her. I loved that about her. I loved the fact that she hadn’t expected anything at all.

“Try it on,” I said and reached into the box. There wasn’t much to the bracelet. The saleslady called it a bangle. It was basically like a thick gold wire that would wrap around her wrist. In the center was a golden heart with two small loops on each side where the bracelet hooked together. I unclasped it and Rimmel slid her hand through. Once it was around her wrist, I rehooked it and adjusted it so the heart lay flat against the top of her wrist.

In the center of the heart, I had R&R engraved in the center. It looked like it had been carved by hand.

“It’s so beautiful. It has our initials,” she said, running her fingertip over the engraving.

“You know me,” I half joked. “Any way I can get my name on you.”

She looked up. I felt her hazel eyes on my face. “I love you.”

She didn’t say those three words very often. I think they scared her. I think they made her feel vulnerable, like putting out there just how much she cared about me would somehow jinx it, like I would somehow be taken away.

It didn’t matter that I knew how she felt. Hearing her say it speared me deep down.

I grabbed her face and pulled it to mine. “I love you too, baby.”

I kissed her slow and deep, penetrating her mouth the way her words penetrated my soul.

When she pulled back, she glanced down at the gold encircling her wrist and smiled.

“I got gold because it matches your mom’s necklace.”

“It’s perfect.”

Before I could pull her back, she bounded out of bed and into the other room.

“Hey!” I called after her.

She laughed and I heard a zipper being pulled. A second later, she reappeared, my shirt almost hanging to her knees, one furry boot on and the other missing.

I laughed and held out the other slipper. She came over and slid her foot in. When I was done tying the ribbon at the top, she pushed a small box under my nose. “I got you something too.”

I snatched her around the waist and tossed her down on the bed, coming over her.

She laughed. “Open it!”

Still straddling her hips, I sat up and took the gift from her hand. It was a small rectangular box with a dark-green ribbon tied around the center. I undid the bow and lifted the lid.

Inside was a dog tag necklace on a silver chain. The dog tag itself wasn’t silver, but a deep navy color.

I lifted it out of the box and held the tag in my palm. The front side had my name and jersey number on it.

ROMEO

#24

“Turn it over,” she said, so I did.

The back was also engraved. It read:
Anything is possible
. And beneath the words was a four-leaf clover.

“Do you know how hard it is to shop for guys?” she said, partly amused.

I ran my finger over the clover.

“I know you gave up an easy path into the NFL when you told Omega to shove it. I know you wouldn’t have done that if it weren’t for me,” Rimmel said, and I looked up from her gift. “I wanted you to know I believe in you. I know you’re going to get there. I thought maybe the clover would bring you luck. Not that you need—”

I cut off her words with a kiss. A hot, searing kiss. She groaned as her fingers delved into my hair and her legs wrapped around my waist. Thoughts of giving her body a break were completely forgotten as I pushed my hand beneath the hem of my shirt and massaged her breast.

Her head fell to the side and I took advantage of the opportunity to kiss her bare shoulder. My cock was throbbing for her. I wanted in her so bad I could think of nothing else. The dog tag was still clutched in my hand as I shoved my boxers down, just enough so I was able to spring free.

Her entrance was already slick and hot. With one swift movement, I slid into her body in one long stroke.

Both of us gasped on contact. It was the first time I’d forgotten to put on a condom. Holy shit, she felt so tight and hot. Everything was magnified, the way her walls squeezed around my bare skin, the way her juices coated my throbbing manhood.

“Jesus,” I groaned, fighting the urge to pound in her over and over again.

“Romeo,” she whispered, her nails digging into my back.

“I know, baby. I forgot. I’m sorry. I’ll fix it.”