Chapter 18 – Pretending You Are Mine Novel

“Yeah. During preseason, there’s always a point when our coach decides to ride us hard—and not in a sexual way.”

“I would hope not. That’s a lot of men for your coach to handle.”

I chuckle and continue to roll while wincing. “And it’s always around this time when I get incredibly sore.”

“The other guys seemed fine.”

“They’re braver than me.”

“At least you can admit that.” She picks up her water and walks toward me. “Need some help?”

“Uh, I think I’m okay,” I say. “Just going to finish up, then hit up my sauna.”

“Sauna?” she says. “You never told me you have a sauna.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Afraid not. I would have remembered that. Where is it?”

I point. “Door on the left.”

Her eyes widen with joy. “Can I use it?”

“You can use anything in here. Towels are in the bathroom. Let me know when you’re done, and I’ll take over.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You can come in with me.” She taps my leg. “Don’t worry, I’ll cover up even though I love sitting in a sauna naked.”

“Yeah, so do I.”

“If this agreement was a whorehouse, I would tell you to drop the towel. Not to even bother.”

I swallow hard. “Yeah, well, good thing it’s not a whorehouse.”

“Yeah, good thing,” she replies with a smirk and takes off. “See you in the sauna.”

I finish rolling, giving her a few minutes to get comfy, and when I’m fully stretched and feeling slightly more relaxed, I go to my bathroom, where I strip out of my clothes and wrap a towel around my waist. I’ve never gone into my sauna with a towel, but there’s a first time for everything.

Hand clutching the terrycloth, I walk up to the frosted glass door of my sauna and open it only to find Ollie stretched out along one of the benches, a towel under her and a towel barely covering her lengthwise. Instead of it wrapped around her body, she just has it draped over the top of her breasts, leaving her side boob on full display, and then positioned thinly between her legs so I get a great view of her entire side.

My groin tightens from the sight, and I inwardly curse for saying something about the sauna. This will be anything but relaxing.

“This is amazing,” she says as her chest lifts and her back arches while her leg bends so her foot is flat against the bench.

Fuck.

Me.

“Uh, are you sure you don’t mind me being here?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She rolls her head to the side and glances at me. The corner of her lips turns up. “You know, Sarah is really dumb. I don’t know what happened between you two, but for her to not want that”—she motions her finger up and down my body—“she’s an idiot.” Given I found Sarah with a woman between her thighs, it’s not my physique that Sarah walked away from. And I gave Ollie a pretty fair indication of how well I unintentionally disregard people’s feelings.

I sit down on the bench. “She didn’t want a lot of things when it came to me.”

Ollie presses her hand to the towel to keep it close to her body as she rolls partially onto her stomach to look at me. From her turn and use of one towel, her ass comes into full view. And fuck is it so goddamn nice.

My mouth waters.

My body itches to get closer.

And even though I tell my eyes to focus on her face, they betray me and take in her perfect backside.

“I don’t understand that. How could she not want you? I’ve never been hornier in my life than this past week, thanks to being around you.”

I lift a brow in question, and she just shrugs.

“I’m not going to lie about it,” she continues. “I’m also not looking for you to relieve that by admitting this. I can handle that on my own. But seriously, I’m sure women all over Vancouver are lining up to jump into bed with you. What was her problem?”

“I guess she just wanted more,” I answer, remembering what I walked in on. “Something different.”

“Well, I’m sorry she treated you like shit.” She flips so she’s fully on her stomach now, and she kicks her legs up to the sky while her arms barely conceal her tits. If she were mine, I’d lift her pelvis and fuck her from behind. I’d spank her ass, loving how it would light up with my handprint. And I’d tug on her hair, showing her exactly who was in control.

Me.

Not that sassy mouth of hers.

Not her strong will.

But me.

“So why aren’t you dating, then?” Ollie asks. “Why do you think this fake dating partnership is better?”

“I’ve never dated someone during the season, someone new at least. When I was with Sarah, she knew exactly what to expect with the demands of my job. But I think it would be too hard with someone new, especially with the season starting in a few weeks. Maybe if I met someone right after the end of a season, I could prepare her, but right before?” I shake my head. “It’s too much for a new relationship.”

“Is it really that taxing?”

I nod. “Long hours, late nights, sometimes gone for over a week, depending on the schedule. It’s constant. And it can seem exciting maybe at first, but I know it takes a tough partner to be able to handle it all.”

“Did Sarah handle it okay?”

“She did,” I answer. “There were things I wish she would have done differently when I was on the road. She didn’t like to talk that much on the phone. I tried phone sex a few times, and she wasn’t into it. Wasn’t into anything when it came to the phone, and some nights, fuck was it lonely.”

“You never cheated on her?”

“Never,” I say, making eye contact with Ollie. “When I’m with a woman, I’m hers and only hers.”

“That’s hot,” Ollie says. “You always hear these stories about athletes cheating on their partners. I’ve never really been drawn to athletes for that specific reason. I never want to be cheated on. I can’t imagine that kind of pain.”

“It’s not fun,” I say before I can stop myself.

Fuck.

I glance at her, and her eyes widen. She sits a little taller, almost to the point that I can see her nipples. “Silas . . . did Sarah cheat on you?”

I glance away and rub my hand down my face. “I don’t want to fucking talk about it.”

“Okay,” she says quietly. And I know she wants to ask a million questions. I can feel them orbiting her, needing to get them out. And then she says, “For what it’s worth, she’s an absolute fool.”

My eyes land on her again, and she lifts up an inch, but it’s just enough for her breasts to almost be exposed. Her teeth roll over her bottom lip as her hand travels down her neck, like a bead of sweat rolling over her skin.

“You’re sexy, Silas.” Hand clutching her towel, she lifts up to sit on the bench. The towel twists but covers her in all the right places. “You have the kind of body I could worship.” She wets her lips as she stands now, the towel a mere loin cloth for her breasts and pussy. “If you were mine, I wouldn’t let you out of the bedroom.” She comes closer. “I’d make it my mission to have my mouth on every last inch of your skin.”

I don’t know what she’s doing or her end goal, but it’s turning me on to the point that I rest my hands on my lap to hide my excitement.

I want to be touched like that.

I want to be worshipped.

I want to feel fucking wanted.

“You’re easily the most attractive, nicest man I’ve ever met, despite your penchant to be grouchy a lot of the time.” She stands in front of me and hinges at the hip so we’re eye to eye. She lifts her hand to my cheek and slowly brings her thumb over my lips, dragging it down. I consider sucking her finger into my mouth or pulling her onto my lap . . . possibly laying her across me so I can spank her ass, just like I wanted to when she was working out. “You deserve better,” she whispers. “You deserve a woman who not only wants your cock . . . but craves it.” And with that, she lifts and turns so all I see is her perfect backside walking away. She glances over her shoulder where she catches my wandering eyes, fixated on exactly what she wants me to fixate on. “I’m going to shower. I’ll be in your living room, waiting whenever you want to take me home.”

How about never?

How about you come sit on my goddamn lap right now?

How about you let me fuck you so I can get this burning feeling out of my system that seems to develop whenever you’re around?

“Okay,” I answer in a strangled voice, my cock begging for her touch. “Shower for me, too.”

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