Protected by the HERO (66 page)

“Well I did things wrong, but I like you…a lot,” I said. She looked at me intently and then lay down. I straightened and went to get rid of the damp washcloth in my hand. I used the bathroom and slid into bed with her. It was already getting late so I doubted she would want to go home any time soon. Not to mention she was completely naked, her clothes were lost throughout the house and she seemed pretty comfortable.

As I settled behind her Emily rested her head on my arm as a pillow and then fell asleep. Like a weirdo I watched her sleep for a little while before I fell asleep myself.

*****

Emily

I woke up feeling pretty damn relaxed. I felt like I just had the best internal massage ever and Adonis was the one who gave it to me. I was still confused from the events of the day before. He told me that he liked me a lot, though it seemed like we hardly knew each other. Had I missed all the signs? He had been staring at me strangely after the car accident and then there was the whole dinner situation. When I thought back on it I was pretty sure it was more of a date than anything.

Adonis wasn’t a bad guy at all. I was upset with him when he had crashed into my car, but other than that…he was a normal guy. Maybe giving him a shot wasn’t a bad idea. After all, we did have sex all afternoon the day before and I was
still
in his bed, naked. Adonis walked in from the bathroom with a towel around his hips and water still dripping from his hair onto his chest. I wondered if his parents
knew
he’d be this beautiful as he is named him Adonis.

“Good morning sleepy,” he said. I smiled at him kind of shyly.

“Morning…do you have stuff to do today?” I asked while I glanced around his room for something resembling the clothes I wore when I got to his house.

“Not much. Which is very rare. I was hoping we could go out for breakfast or something?” he asked me.

“Sure, okay,” I said and then stood up and stretched. I could very much feel the echoes of yesterday as I stretched. Adonis had stopped what he was doing so he could blatantly watch me. I laughed at his expression and then threw a pillow at him, which he of course caught easily.

“I won’t apologize for staring, you’re a very sexy woman,” Adonis said, and I smiled to myself as I walked into his bathroom. “There are clean towels in the cabinet next to the sinks,” Adonis called before I stepped inside. I showered and by the time I was done, Adonis had gathered all of my clothing and even slipped me a pair of his briefs to wear for underwear. His quirky sweetness was one of my weaknesses and I wondered again if it was a good idea to fall for Adonis Goodman.

“So where are we going for breakfast?” I asked him after I was dressed.

“Somewhere with the best pancakes you’ll ever taste. Guaranteed,” he said. “Pancakes sound amazing right now,” I said and followed him through the house out to his truck parked in the driveway. His garage was closed and I wondered how many cars he owned.

“If I could eat pancakes every day, I would, followed by bacon, followed by steak, followed by fried chicken,” he said and I cracked up.

“What’s your diet like now anyway? Aren’t you supposed to eat a lot of protein and stuff?” I asked and Adonis helped me up into his truck before he walked around and got in on the driver’s side.

“Well since I’m not a defensive position or anything I don’t have a high protein diet, but I have to eat healthy and just enough protein to keep up with how much I work out. So I can take a hit and not like…die or anything,” he said and I nodded.

“So if all football players were thin, then no one would have to worry about being injured too badly, huh?” I asked and he laughed.

“Yeah sort of. The muscle is to make us tougher, but to also give us more power and padding. Players are built differently depending on their position,” he said and I nodded, that much I knew. “But you know that because you’re a physical therapist,” he said and I laughed.

“Yeah, I passed the test and all,” I said and he laughed.

“So when you’re not practicing or anything, you’re modeling…?” I asked him.

“Yeah, I was pretty much suckered into that by my manager, but it pays pretty well so I don’t mind it so much. It also means I have to be leaner than your average football player,” he said.

“You’re
lean
?” I asked him and he laughed.

“Yeah. But I am bulkier than your average male model,” he said.

“Yeah you are, but it’s okay you’re still…gorgeous,” I said.

“Thank you. I’m actually hoping to retire from the modeling thing soon. I just want to focus on being the best quarterback,” he said and I looked over at him, slightly surprise as he drove.

“Really? I thought you didn’t mind it?” I asked him and he shrugged.

“Yeah, but I love football, I want to focus on the things I love. The modeling is a side gig,” he said. I nodded in understanding. He wasn’t at all like I imagined he would be. Considering his name and who he was, Adonis was pretty humble.

“I told my manager that I was quitting the next time a designer wanted to dress me up in some leather get up,” he said.

“The
next time
? There was a first time? Oh I have to look this up,” I said and pulled out my phone to search the image.

“It’s embarrassing. Really. Don’t look it up,” Adonis said, and glanced at me as I found the cologne ad where he was in tight leather riding pants, shirtless, with a cowboy hat on and holding the bottle of cologne in his hand. I laughed so hard and then showed the picture to Adonis, who groaned.

“It’s not
that
funny,” he said.

“It is a little bit, because I can clearly tell you aren’t happy with what you’re wearing,” I said, and looked at the face he was making in the photo.

“The photographer loved it, he said I had a sexy ‘intense’ gaze,” Adonis said, making me laugh all over again. Spending the morning with him was pretty great. Adonis was funny and didn’t really have a filter, in a silly way though. He was genuine and I was not expecting any of it, which meant that I was definitely in trouble.

*****

Adonis

For a couple of weeks now, Emily and I have been pretty much inseparable. I didn’t understand my need for her, but I wouldn’t question it because I knew she had feelings for me too. Otherwise, things would have petered out after that afternoon at my place. Then to add to my complete weakness regarding Emily, she even gave me new workouts to do that strengthened my arms and helped me throw better. I was pretty sure she would get a raise for it too.

“So do you feel good? You ready for the game tomorrow?” Emily asked me as we finished a session in my gym at home.

“Yeah actually, I feel really good. We’ll beat New York easily and then be right on track for the play-offs and then the super bowl,” I said confidently and Emily laughed at me.

“Don’t go getting too confident, you know that’s bad luck,” she said.

“You’re right, you’re right. But you know what will be good luck?” I asked her and she looked up at me curiously as we climbed the stairs to the main level of the house. “If we shower together and have sex,” I said frankly and she laughed at me.

“Oh is that so? Has this method for good luck been proven?” she asked and I snorted.

“Of course, why do you think I would suggest it in the first place?” I asked and she giggled.

“Well, if you think it’s good luck, then by all means we should do it,” she said and I grinned at her before I scooped her up in my arms and pressed a wet kiss to her lips. She giggled again as I sprinted to the shower with her. About an hour or so later we were in bed and I could hardly keep my hands off Emily.

“You know, we have to eat. Especially you; before game regimen,” Emily said sternly, though she smiled at me when I gave her the baby face I knew she melted over.

“You’re my food, I only need you before the game,” I said and she smiled at me almost shyly.

“Stop…” she said bashfully and I nuzzled her neck.

“I’m serious,” I said and she looked at me for a moment, but I couldn’t really read her expression.

“Come on, I’ll cook you something,” she said and I let her pull me up from the bed and she walked into my closet and came out wearing one of my t-shirts and nothing else. I smiled as I watched her walk in front of me towards the kitchen, she had an amazing sway to her hips, not to mention a full round ass.

“Stop looking at my butt,” she said, as if she had eyes in the back of her head and I looked up at her head in surprise. She glanced back at me and laughed.

“I felt your gaze like a laser, sheesh,” she said and I laughed. Emily made me some healthy steak and veggies with pasta that was pretty damn good. After we ate we relaxed and she slept over again. I had to say that I liked it when she stayed the night with me. It had been a while since I had someone sleep in my bed. Emily wasn’t just anyone either, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like anyone else sleeping in my bed after her.

Come morning we rode to the stadium together, it was a relatively early game that Sunday, but I didn’t mind. It was getting cooler already in Boston and playing at night when the temperatures were even lower would be kind of annoying in trying to keep my muscles warmed up.

“You’re really quiet, what are you psyching yourself up or something? You’re usually way too excited and talkative before a game,” Emily teased me and I smiled.

“I’m just focused; I don’t know I think I’m feeling the pressure of winning this game, you know?” I said and Emily rolled her eyes at me, which of course made me smile. She was no nonsense, exactly when I needed her to be. She reminded me of my mom in that sense.

“What pressure? This is just a regular game Adonis. Throw the ball like you would any other Sunday. Then afterwards you can look forward to coming home to me,” she said with a grin and that made me smile.

“You know you should just move in with me and be my personal sex slave slash physical therapist,” I said and Emily cracked up.

“I’m going to pretend you
didn’t
say that,” she said and I chuckled. We reached the stadium and once we walked from the parking garage we pretty much had to go separate ways. I kissed Emily in the elevator and once the doors opened on the floor where the locker rooms were, I left her to go and get ready for the game. I don’t know why I was feeling like the game would be any different than other games I’ve played. The team has beaten New York a few times so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

*****

Emily

While I sat in the locker room with a few of my coworkers in the med quarters, I watched the game on one of the screens. Everyone watching the game intently. Ready to run, if a player got injured. There was only about five of us not on the field.

It was just before half time and the Calvary were up twenty-four points. Adonis was being all nervous for no reason earlier. He was playing great, like he always did.

“Hey Em, you want some jalapeno chips?” one of the other PT’s, Jerry, dangled a snack size bag of the chips. I nodded. He dropped them to me and then his eyes widened as a few of the other guys in the room gave a collective, ‘
oh
!’ I turned around and looked up at the TV just in time to see Adonis running to the sidelines, clutching his shoulder.

“Shit. He got hit hard. I can’t believe he got back up so fast,” Jerry said, and my heart lodged in my throat as the camera zeroed in on the pain etched across Adonis’ face.

“That’s his throwing arm, shit,” I said. Then we were getting ready for Adonis to be brought back so he could get assessed. About six minutes later, he walked into the locker room followed by one of the doctors and a couple officials. Adonis’ eyes met mine and locked on. I just wanted to hold him from the pain etched in his gaze.

“Alright, let’s see what we have,” the doctor said. He started to assess Adonis’ arm. I walked over to the table and stood next to him. His eyes were on me while he let the doctor work and I didn’t say anything, because I could tell what the doctor would say as he moved Adonis’s arm this way and that.

“How bad does it hurt Adonis?” the doctor asked, as he discreetly got ready to pop Adonis’s shoulder back into place.

“Like an eight,” Adonis said and then without warning the doctor pushed his shoulder back into the socket. Adonis let out a string of curses as the doctor massaged away some of the swelling that was already starting up around his shoulder joint.

“We can get you some pain meds. If you’re in that much pain, I don’t think you can go back out and play,” the doctor said and Adonis cursed. It was half time by then and the score had changed, it was twenty-four to seventeen, which wasn’t good at all. We could all hear the team coming towards the locker room and the coach headed the pack and went straight for Adonis.

“How are you feeling?” he asked him first and Adonis just shook his head. “We need you back on the field. How do we do that?” the coach turned his attention to the doctor.

“We can give him some pain meds and anti-inflammatory, but his Labrum was torn so any wrong movement of the shoulder and it could pop right back out of place,” the doctor said and it was Adonis’ turn to sigh heavily.

“So we’ll give him the meds and one of the PT’s will work on him. Can you guys have him ready by the third quarter?” the coach asked and the guys kind of mumbled in response to the coach’s question.