Bliss by Kaylee Ryan Page 0,51

door.

“All yours,” she announces.

I look up to find her hair up in a towel, and another wrapped around her body. All that separates me from her is one piece of thick cotton. My cock begins to harden just thinking about seeing her like that again.

“Coop,” she says, waving her hand in my face. I blink and look up at her. She’s now standing in front of me. “You okay?”

“No,” I manage to croak out. I see the worry on her face, so I grab her hand and place it over my now rock-hard erection. “This is what you do to me.”

“Oh.” Her eyes widen, but I see heat there.

“Oh, is right. I’m going to shower. Please be dressed when I get back.”

“Or what?”

“Or I might have to sleep in my room in order to keep my hands off you.” She nods, but I can see what my words do to her. Her chest is rising and falling as if it’s hard for her to take a breath, and her tongue peeks out to lick her lips. I stand and step around her. “I love you, baby, but you’re too fucking tempting,” I say as I rush down the hall to take a cold shower.

Chapter 16

Reese

“Are we there yet?” I tease Cooper.

“No.” He squeezes my thigh, where his hand has been resting the majority of this trip. “We’re going to meet with my agent at the stadium to sign the contracts, and then we’ll head to my condo.”

“Are you excited about your deals?”

“As excited as a man can be to have pictures taken of him in his underwear.” He laughs.

“Should I be jealous? The women of the world are going to be ogling you.”

“No. There is nothing for you to be jealous about. Besides, you’re the only one who gets to see what’s underneath.”

“I don’t know. Have you seen some of those underwear commercials?” I ask him.

“Yes, and trust me, there is nothing to worry about.”

“So, what else is on the agenda for this weekend?”

“Nothing really. I just want to spend time with you. I thought I could show you around the city a little bit. You’ll get to see the stadium today.”

“Do you like it here?”

He shrugs, keeping his eyes on the road. “Honestly, I’m not really sure. Last year was hard for me. I didn’t really let myself take it all in.”

“What do you mean?”

“I missed you, Reese. It was hard, and I spent a lot of my time brooding because of it. I got close to a couple of guys on the team, but for the most part, I stayed to myself. I didn’t go out with them, unless it was at one of their houses. I just… wasn’t feeling any of it without you being there with me.”

“I guess we need to talk about that, huh? You’ll be coming back soon.” How can my heart be soaring with his confession and falling to the pit of my stomach in a matter of seconds? I know he has to leave. It’s his job, I’ve always known our situation isn’t permanent, but that doesn’t make the pain of knowing I’m not going to see him every day lessen. Then there’s him telling me how hard it was for him. I wasn’t alone in my struggle. If I would have spent less time avoiding him, and more time speaking my mind, a lot of pain, ours and Hunter’s, could have been avoided.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “I don’t want to talk about that right now. I want to enjoy you being here with me.”

“Okay, but we need to talk about it.” I’m not ready for him to go back, but I know it’s his job and would never in a million years ask him to give that up. He’s worked so hard to get where he is. I just don’t know how we are going to manage with long distance.

I’ve been looking online for social worker positions in the area, and so far, I’ve not had much luck. I enjoy what I do, and I would miss the kids I’m working with, but if it meant being with Cooper all the time, I would move. He’s mentioned it, but we’ve not talked about it. We also haven’t talked about us, and I know that’s all on me. I’ve been keeping us in the safe zone, but the reality is there is no safe zone. Not when it comes to Cooper. I’m madly in love with him. That is the one thing I’m