“Are you in a hurry?” she asks.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I want to hone my oral skills.”

“Oh!” She speeds up, passing me. “Good idea.”

Chapter Twelve

~Callie~

“Come on! Are you fucking kidding me? Learn to throw the damn ball, Montgomery!” I scream down to the field. “I can throw better than that!”

“Easy, tiger,” Declan says, pulling me back down in the seat.

“Did you see that?” I roar and glare down at Seattle’s quarterback. “I mean, what the hell?”

“This is fun,” Declan says calmly and finishes the last bite of his hot dog. We’re almost at the end of the fourth quarter of the game, and Seattle is up, but only by three.

“What’s fun? Watching the damn quarterback try to sabotage this game?”

He shakes his head and chuckles. “No, watching you lose your shit. I hope you never get mad at me. Actually, I take that back. You’re sexy when you’re on fire.”

“If he doesn’t start throwing like a damn professional, you’ll see an inferno.”

He just continues to smile, running his hand over my ponytail and down my back.

“I like your outfit,” he says as we wait for the commercial break to pass so the game can continue. “The team emblem on your cheek is especially hot.”

I look down at my 12th man jersey, with my favorite player’s name on the back, and grin. “I love this jersey. Thanks for buying it for me yesterday.”

“I admit, I had ulterior motives,” he says while he leans in and presses his lips to my ear. “I’m hoping you’ll wear it and nothing else later when I continue to practice my oral skills.”

“Is the game over yet?” I ask and glance at the scoreboard as Declan laughs and pulls his phone out of his pocket to check a text.

“I need to make a call,” he says and stands. “I’ll be right back. Are you okay?”

I’m soaking wet in the middle of a football game. What could be wrong?

“I’m great,” I say, my attention returning to the field as the players assume their position for the next play. “Come on, guys,” I mumble. “You got this. I came a very long way for this game. You can do it.”

I cross my fingers and hold my breath during the next play. They’re at the fifty yard line, directly in front of me. I don’t know how he did it, given that the home games are sold out for the season, but Declan got us some kickass seats.

Montgomery calls the play, the ball snaps, and he throws to my favorite player, Sanders, who catches it perfectly and runs it in for a touchdown.

“That’s right!” I scream and jump up, clapping. “Woohoo!”

Declan returns, also clapping and smiling.

“Everything okay?” I ask.

“Yep, nothing to worry about.”

I nod and grin at the field. There are only thirty seconds left on the clock, and unless there’s some miraculous act of God, Seattle is gonna win this game. With just a few plays, and Seattle’s defense killing Pittsburgh, Seattle is victorious.

Declan and I stay in our seats, waiting for the majority of the stadium to empty.

“Traffic is going to be a bitch as it is. We might as well just wait,” Declan says and fidgets with the neckline of my jersey. “Did you have fun?”

“It was great,” I reply and lean in, intending to give him a quick kiss, but it swiftly turns into a long, hot kiss, the way it always does where Declan is concerned. We don’t seem to do anything softly or gently. It’s always passionate. Eager. Hungry.

And I love it. I love that I can just be me with him. My sexual requests don’t seem to startle or repulse him. And when we’re together, just hanging out, we can talk about anything, or simply sit and enjoy the quiet.

We’re comfortable, in the best way.

He reaches down and takes my hand, giving it three squeezes. Finally, when most of the place is empty, we stand and he leads me up and out of the stadium and into the parking garage, where we can catch a cab back to the hotel.

But when we get inside, Declan rattles off an address I don’t recognize.

“Where are we going?” I scoot as close to him as I can and rest my head on his wide shoulder.

“You’ll see.”

In control, as usual.

“I’m not a huge fan of surprises, you know.”

“Actually, I don’t know that,” he replies and kisses my forehead, then turns to look out the window and into the already dark evening. We’re quiet as the cab maneuvers through the game traffic. My ears are still rushing from the noise, my throat raw from screaming. When the cab passes the exit to our hotel, I tip my head back and kiss Declan’s cheek.

“Where did you say we’re going?”

He smirks. “I didn’t. Don’t worry, you’ll like it.”

“I hope it’s not fancy,” I say before yawning widely. “I’m not dressed for it.”

“Not fancy,” he assures me and tips my head back, his finger under my chin, and kisses me sweetly at first, and then more deeply, as if he hasn’t touched me in weeks.

We drive outside of the city, where lights are fewer and fewer, making the dark settle in. We seem to be following the coast. The cab pulls off the freeway, and then turns onto a smaller two-lane road that meanders for a few miles before ending at a huge iron gate.

“Stop here,” Declan says and disentangles himself from me. “I’ll be right back.”

Before I can say anything, he jumps out of the car, walks to the speaker box and talks into it. The gate begins to roll away as he joins me.

“This is all very 007 of you,” I say, my curiosity piqued.

“It’s not that dramatic,” he says with a laugh as the cab pulls through and stops at the entrance of a beautiful two-story stone house. It’s craftsman in style, spread out and simply breathtaking.

I wish I could see it in the daylight.

I can hear the ocean not far away. “Are we near the beach?”

“Yes,” Declan says with a smile after he pays the cab and leads me to the door. “This house is on cliffs that sit above the Sound.”

“Wow.”

The door swings open and a pretty, small blonde woman smiles widely. A tall, slender, tattooed man is standing right behind her. He has a sleeve that runs down over his hand and to his fingers, and I’d recognize that face anywhere.

“Hi! I’m Samantha. You must be Callie. Declan has told us a lot about you. This is my husband—”

“Leo Nash,” I reply for her and feel myself blush. “Sorry. I’m a fan.”

“And I’m flattered,” Leo replies and shakes my hand. “Hey, Dec.”

“Hey,” Declan says and the two do the man-hug thing that I don’t understand in the least, as Samantha leads us all into the heart of the home: the kitchen.

“Your home is beautiful, Samantha.” I’m trying to absorb it all at once, and it’s impossible. The style is contemporary, with little pops of rustic and shabby chic thrown in here and there. The combination is both homey and eye-catching.

“Thanks. You can call me Sam,” she says with a grin. “We just finished building it about a year ago. I think we just about have it the way we want it.”

I nod, just as the doorbell rings, and rather than waiting for someone to answer it, the door is opened. “Hey guys! We’re here.”

“Oh good,” Sam says and all I can do is pray to God that I don’t have the stupid dog look on my face. Because Will Montgomery just walked through that door.

“Will, this is the friend I told you about, Declan Boudreaux,” Leo says. “And his girlfriend, Callie.”

“It’s good to meet you both,” Will says, shaking our hands. “This is my wife, Meg.”

I shake myself out of my stupor to see a beautiful redhead standing next to him. She’s rocking a boho chic style of clothing that I wish with all my might I could pull off. She also has tats on her arm, and she’s smiling kindly.

“I’m not a cook,” Sam warns us all as we congregate in the kitchen. “I didn’t want to risk killing any of you, so I ordered in from Palomino downtown.”