Face Off (D.C. Stars, #1)

by Chelsea Curto

For the girls who don’t only like to read about sports, but like to play them too. (And for the girlies who love to see the six-foot-four NHL captain get on his knees and beg like a good boy–Maverick Miller is for you).

“That’s my fu—freaking dream girl,” I whine, making sure I don’t drop any f-bombs in front of June. “We had a horrible first meeting, and now I have to play next to her with my tail between my legs.”

“Why does she have to be a hockey player? Why couldn’t I have met her in a bar? Or in an airport? Or at some charity gala where I could throw a million dollars at whatever environmental cause she’s passionate about so she’d fall in love with me?” I groan. “This is so unfair.”

A smile—the tiniest, faintest smile I’ve ever seen—pulls at her lips, and I’m the proudest motherfucker in the world. I want to set off a confetti cannon. Hang a banner from the rafters of the Civic Center that says I MADE EMERSON HARTWELL SMILE. Put it on a T-shirt and wear it around town.

That earns me another half smile from her, and I want to collect them all. Shove them in my pocket and keep them for myself.

Damp it.

His eyes move away from my face. They drop to my chest and he lets out a noise that sounds like a mix between a moan and a whine.

“You said you wanted me on my knees.” He drops a kiss to my shin, then kneels on the ground in front of me. “And I’ve always liked being a good boy.”

“Am I being good, Emmy?” I twist her other nipple, and her back arches off the bed. “Good enough to touch the rest of you?”

“Such a good boy. You can touch me wherever you want.”

“I’ll get you there again.” I lie flat on my back, my head against the pillows. “No one’s ever made you come like this because you were with boys before. I’m a man, and I told you I like to eat. Now fucking sit.”

His grin is stunning, a burst of joy that explodes into a thousand colors across his face. I’ve never seen something so beautiful.

“That’s how life and sports go. Some days you’re frustrated as hell, and some days you want to throw in the towel. But as long as it still makes your heart beat, you have to keep showing up. You don’t give up on the things you love just because they get hard.”

“Show me,” I whisper. “Show me I’m yours for the night, Maverick.”

“This would be so much easier if I was an asshole, wouldn’t it? Then you could pretend you want to fuck me because you hate me, not because I know how to treat you right. Because I know how to treat you like you deserve.”

“I don’t need anyone else when I have you.”

I whimper, some desperate sound I’ll be embarrassed about tomorrow. But right now, she’s still holding me, still stroking me, drawing every bit of pleasure out of me that she can.

“You’re such a good boy doing what I ask. Look at the mess you’ve made.” Goddamn. My body is an inferno, and I whine at her praise.

“No. Nothing ever worked out. I went through eight different families before I aged out, and by then, I was grateful to be out. I didn’t want to get my hopes up only to be sent back.”

“One-night stands soothe that need to be wanted, to have someone who wants to keep me, even if it’s only for a few hours. This way, I get to control things. I’m the one who leaves, not them. That probably makes me a horrible person. My therapist tells me sex can’t be my coping mechanism forever, and I’m starting to understand why. The older I get, the more I have this deeper desire to be wanted for real. To find someone who wants to keep me—not Maverick Miller the hockey player, but Maverick Miller, the fuckup kid without a family who tells jokes so no one knows he sometimes feels dead inside. And not just for the night, but for a long time. It goes against everything I’ve wanted up to this point, and it confuses the ever-loving fuck out of me.”

“Oh, Maverick,” Emerson whispers, and she climbs into my lap. Her hug is grounding, and when she rocks me in her arms, my nose stings. I blink away tears, and I hide my face in her hair. “You sweet man. You’re the furthest thing from a horrible person. You have a gentle soul that’s been beaten up and broken through no fault of your own. I’m so sorry anyone’s ever made you feel like you weren’t worth keeping for more than a night. You are and you’re wonderful and… and one day, when you want to settle down, you’re going to make someone really happy, and they’re never going to leave. You know why?”

“Because you love everyone fiercely. You put your whole being into the people you care about, and a woman is going to come along who sees that. Who knows what a gift you are, and it will be an honor for her to fall in love with you. She’ll protect your heart, and it’s going to be okay.”

I never really felt like I had a home. But with Emmy next to me, I think home is wherever she is. A place I’d like to stay forever.

want more with you, Emmy. I want to come home to you every night and I want to take you out to dinner in the city. I want to hold your hand on the sidewalk and I want to kiss you in the rain. I want all that shit they talk about in the movies. I’m going to be honest with you, though. I don’t have a fucking clue how to be in a relationship or how to be a boyfriend, but I’m going to learn. I’m going to try, and you’re the only person I’d ever want to try with. This isn’t just sex to me, and it hasn’t been for a while. If keeping it casual is the only way I get to keep you, then so be it. But I think you want something more too.”

“You’re smiling right now, Red. You’ve got these little wrinkles around your eyes, and they’re the cutest damn thing. They make me want to stick around for a while.”

“It’s important to you. I know how much it would mean to you if he were there. It would make you happy, and if we’re being honest, I really want to meet the man who helped bring my favorite spitfire girl into the world.”

“Christ, baby. You’re a fucking vision.”

“What if I beg?” Maverick bends his head and grazes his teeth down my neck. “What if I beg like a good boy, Emmy?”

“You were right, Emmy. I’ll never get enough of you. I’ll never get enough of your body and the way it fits perfectly with mine. I’ll never get over your brilliant brain and wonderful heart. I’m going to have you until the end of time, and it’s going to be just as good as right now, baby, because you’re perfect for me.”

“You are enough,” Maverick says. “You are more than enough, and you’re so far out of my league, it’s not even funny. I… you…” He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. “Every day I’m going to show you just how enough you are.”