Sin Bin (D.C. Stars, #5)

by Chelsea Curto

“By the way, Hannah.” I hop out of my seat. I walk toward her, our chests close. “You should go to sleep tonight knowing you’re anything but undesirable.”

“Fine.” I accept the sweatshirt from him, and I swear he relaxes the second I yank it over my head. “But only because you know I like it when men beg.” “Have I told you today that you’re a brat?” he murmurs, a hand on my lower back as we follow the hostess to a booth in the back. “No. Say it again,” I purr.

“You always wear a ribbon in your hair.” A gentle touch to the light blue bow I tied to match the Comets’ team colors and a low hum. “I don’t know how I feel about them.”

“No.” His hand falls away. He stares out at the ice with a set jaw. A secret he’s not revealing. “They’re fucking distracting.”

Goddamn this woman and her inability to get out of my fucking head.

“You didn’t then. You don’t now. When you say stuff like that to me, all flirty and cute and fun, you make me want to be reckless. You make me start wanting things I know I can’t have.”

“I want you.” I bend, whispering in her ear. “I want you so fucking bad, it’s getting so hard to stay away.”

“I’ve spent every day since that June night going out of my goddamn mind with missing you. With wondering what you were up to or how much you hated me for not coming back to apologize. I couldn’t, Hannah, because I knew the second I did, you’d suck me in. I’d be a lost cause. And being on the ice with you? Seeing you at dinner and bars and when you’re in a fancy dress that should be criminal it looks so stunning on you? I get weaker every day. So close to giving in. So sick of trying to fight it.”

“I fall asleep dreaming about you, and I wake up mad as hell that I let you get away.”

“Kiss me,” she says, a challenge behind it.

“I can’t.” I try to swallow, but my throat is on fire. “I won’t be able to stop if I do.”

“My self-control is dwindling by the fucking second, but I can walk away.”

“What was it you said?” she murmurs, her exhale tickling my skin. “Fuck it, right?”

“I love it when you beg.”

“I’m thinking about how easy it would be to hike your dress up. I could put my jacket over your lap and slip two fingers inside you. The driver wouldn’t know I was fucking you, but I would.”

“And stop calling me god, sweetheart. You know my name. You screamed it last time, didn’t you?”

“Testing. Partners. I haven’t, ah, been with anyone since we slept together.” “Wait.” She files into the elevator, pulling me behind her. “You haven’t?” “No. Didn’t seem fair to lead another woman on when I was picturing you the whole time,” I mumble. “Even after I ran away from you. Even when I knew I didn’t have a chance. I was still thinking about you.”

“What else do you want, baby? The moon? I’ll bring it out of the fucking sky for you.”

“No. Let me see the flower again.” “This one?” My left hand slides up her neck, wrapping around her throat. “Look at you wearing my jewelry.” “I’ve always liked necklaces.” Her eyes flutter closed. She sighs, the strap of her dress slipping down her arm. “The tighter the better.”

“Would you crawl for me, Brody?”

“Can I?” he rasps, attention moving from my face to my underwear. “Please?” “You’ve been so patient, Brody.”

“I might die if I can’t have you.”

“Give me a badge of honor to wear when I go back to practice on Monday.”

“Brody Saunders. The guy who likes to eat women out.” I smile against his palm. “I can’t tell you how hot that is.”

“I’d like for us to be exclusive. I’m thirty-nine, Hannah. I’m too old for hookup culture.”

briefs. “I asked you a question, Hannah,” he whispers in my ear, and oh. That possessive, raw scratch of his voice electrifies me. “You should answer it.”

“Deep breath, baby.”

“Take what you need, Hannah. Use me. Fucking wreck me.”

“Ask nicely,” I say, and he growls. “Please.” Brody grips my hips so tight he’s going to leave bruises in the shape of his fingerprints behind. “Please fuck me.” “Such a good boy.” I smile and sink back on him, rolling my hips as I do. “Such a good big boy.”

Brody’s gaze flares. “My last name.” He leans forward, elbows on his knees and a hand rubbing his jaw. “Can I see?”

“Saunders looks good on you.”

I’m fucking smiling just at the sight of her, and I guess that tracks. I like her. I like her in a completely normal, completely acceptable I don’t want to just fuck you, I also want to feed you three meals a day kind of way. I like her in a how the fuck do we make this work long-term even though there are fourteen years between us kind of way.

“If you want me there, that’s where I’ll be.”

Half of Liv’s teachers try to get my attention, but none of them have ever been able to have it. But you? You, Hannah Everett,” Brody grabs my chin, kissing me. “You have always had my attention.”

“When you could be doing things that are far more fun. Make yourself useful, Brody.” “Yeah?” I grab her cheek. “How can I be useful, princess? Tell me, and I’ll do it.”

I’m considering getting on one knee and asking if you’ll hang out with me for the rest of my life so I can laugh like this forever. I want to bend you over this table and show you how much you mean to me. I think I might be falling in love with you, and it scares the hell out of me because the last thing I ever want to do is hold you back or not be good enough for you. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I want to try with you.

“I thought I was late. I thought I missed it.” He scrubs a hand over his face, but I can’t answer. “But I made it.”

“This is important to you, which means it’s important to me.”

“Let me worship you my way.”

Her agreement is soft, resigned. On the edge of blissfulness when I give her what she wants: three fingers in her cunt and my tongue back on her clit. I devour her like the world is going to end tomorrow, my cock hard as hell when she moans my name and gets my beard nice and wet.

“You could teach a pussy eating class, Brody.” “Wouldn’t want to do it with anyone but you.” The tips of my ears turn pink. My skin is on fire. “No one tastes as good as you.”

“I always told myself I would never fuck a woman without a condom unless it was serious between us. Unless I knew I could trust her with everything I have.” I pause and lick my lips, wanting to make this next point very clear. “Unless I knew I could see a future with her.”

“Bring your thighs to your chest, Hannah, and let me fuck you like you’re mine. Because we both know you are.”

I spin, facing him again. “Are you going to be looking at me, Brody?” “I’m not going to be able to stop looking at you.” “That’s all I care about.”

When he does, Brody’s eyes bounce away from the small whiteboard he’s holding. Twenty thousand fans are cheering, but with one lift of his chin, his attention is zeroed in on me.

Mine.

“So why did you—” I sit up, caught off guard. “Did you fly back to DC? For me?” I ask. “You said you were lonely, and I missed you too.”

“Brody?” “Yeah?” “You are, without a doubt, my favorite person in the world.” “Funny.” He cracks open an eyes, gaze meeting mine. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”

How do you describe the person you look for in every room? How do you describe the person who is the best part of your day? How do you describe the rush of adrenaline you get when she touches your hand? How do you describe the peace you feel when she’s in your arms? How do you describe the way you’d do absolutely anything for her and ask for nothing in return? I don’t have a lot of practice with it, but every day I wake up with Hannah next to me, the definition narrows down to a single word. Love. I fucking love her, and I grin at the revelation.

“Yeah. I wish you were here.” “Same.” I think I’m in love with you.