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Madison
Madison cuddled into Matt’s side as he lay down beside her. His breathing was ragged, and his skin clammy. Madison loved how he looked after sex. The lines of worry that she was so used to seeing on his face didn’t exist. She could see nothing but happiness in his dark blue eyes. His muscles flexed, as his chest moved up and down with every breath.
He had said that he loved her. The words had popped out right before they’d had crazy, dirty, and somewhat rough sex. But he hadn’t said them in a moment of passion. He’d told her before they got down and dirty. Sure, we’ve only been really dating for a few weeks, but we’ve known each other for over a year. Who says there’s a time limit on love?
Matt spoke, his words breaking the sweet silence of their afterglow. “You know that I meant it, don’t you? What I said.”
He was nervous, and Madison found it adorable. She rolled onto her stomach and tilted her head, as she watched him squirm.
“You know...” Matt tried again. He chuckled. “You want to make me say it again, don’t you?”
Madison nodded, and flashed a devilish grin. “Yep.”
Matt shook his head and smirked back at her. “And that’s why I love you.”
“Explain.”
“You’re an adorable pain in the ass, you’re pushy, and way too confident. You’re not shy about putting me in my place.”
“That’s why you love me?”
Matt nodded. “Yes. I’ve met my match with you, and I like it. And I don’t deserve someone as wonderful and as caring as you. Maddy, I knew you were the one the first time I laid eyes on you.”
“Well now I feel bad that I made you say all that. I’m really not as wonderful as you make me out to be. You just make it easy. You’re a good man, and you deserve to be loved. And I really enjoy spending time with you.”
“And you’re not going to say it back?” He looked almost hurt as he said the words, then cleared his throat, and shook his head, trying to recover. “I mean, it’s fine.”
In jest, Madison slapped him lightly on the arm. “You can stop pouting, tough-guy. I should’ve said it back right way. Because I do. I know we’ve only been expressing how we feel for a few weeks, but I fell in love with you long ago.”
“Thank God,” Matt muttered, relief showing in his eyes. Then smirking, he slapped her bare ass.
“Now see, I liked that.” Madison grabbed a silver foil package from the side table, and after tearing it open, she sheathed him, showing him exactly what she wanted. Then she slowly crawled on top of him.
Matt set his large, strong hands on her hips and helped to ease her down onto his awaiting dick. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, but couldn’t hold in the moan that escaped her lips, as she took him deep inside her. “Ohhh, Matt.”
“Mmm, hmm. I know, sugar. Sounds as if you like that as much as I do,” Matt teased, his voice deep and sexy.
They made love, slow and easy, until the early hours of the morning.
MADISON WOKE UP TO the aroma of coffee, an unusual thing to wake up to in her own house, but a pleasant surprise. Crawling out of an empty bed, she pulled on a t-shirt. After searching for her panties, she found them on the floor, but they were practically ripped in two.
She grabbed a new pair, then slid on a pair of leggings, and made her way to see what was going on in the kitchen.
“Good morning, sugar.” Matt beamed from the kitchen table, shirtless. “I was wondering how long you’d sleep.”
“I see you made coffee.” Madison walked up behind him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and kissed his cheek. “Hey there. I missed you in my bed when I woke up. It was lonely.”
“Hey to you, too. Sorry, I couldn’t sleep.” Matt reached his hand up into her hair and pulled her lips to his.
He tasted like coffee, and she couldn’t get enough of his kiss. But they had left things unspoken last night. She didn’t want him to dwell on whatever it was that had upset him at the arena; she wanted him to focus on her. When she finally pulled away, Madison slipped out of his grip and sat down across the table from him.
It might’ve been unfair to make him wait, but she had hoped it would give him better perspective on whatever it was.
Matt jumped up from the table and poured her a cup of coffee, then delivered it and the bottle of creamer to the table. He wore a smile, but he was hiding something behind those eyes. Their usual brilliant blue was dim and dark.
Madison reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “Okay, let’s talk.”
Matt hesitated and shook his head slightly. “It’s just such bullshit.”
Madison took his hand in both of hers to show him she was there for him no matter what. And to coax him to continue. Whatever was going on, her words weren’t going to help; he needed to make the decision to tell her.
He took a deep breath. “You know that my shoulder has been giving me a lot of problems.”
Madison nodded.
“Well, Coach Walker had the team trainer check me out, and then they had a meeting with the team doctor.” Matt shook his head with an annoyed eye roll. “There are all these people involved, and not one of them can be bothered to discuss things with me. And still, they decided that it’s not good for me to be playing hurt. I’m no help to the team, obviously, but also not helping myself by playing injured, apparently. So, Coach put me on injured reserve. No discussion, just, that’s it.” Matt frowned and closed his eyes as he let out a long, heavy sigh.
She knew this was a blow to his ego. Even though his being on injured reserve would allow him the time he needed to strengthen the muscles affected and work out the injury, as well as rest and ice it, the order sure didn’t help his poor view of himself.
“So, you’ll work out with the trainer one-on-one, and come in for therapy and adjustments, and get your body back to playing form. You’ll work hard and come back stronger than ever.” Her words didn’t sound as convincing as she had hoped.
“Maddy, I’m thirty-two and banged up. You know how unrealistic that sounds?” Matt shook his head. Just as she expected, he wasn’t very receptive to her comments.
“You can do anything you put your mind to.” She believed in him. The problem was going to be getting him to believe in himself.
Matt slowly shook his head. “I just don’t know, Maddy.”
“I do. And”—she chose her words carefully, knowing a misstep would bruise his ego even more— “just remember, no matter what, I love you for you. Not for the uniform that you wear.”
“Yeah, well, that may be where this all ends up. I don’t like the idea of being on IR. But I’ll really be worried if they stick me on long-term injured reserve. I don’t have that much of a career left as it is. The least they could do is let me play.”
The physical therapist in her had issue with what he was saying. And the part of her that loved him didn’t want him out there playing injured, either. He knew the consequences, so there was no use warning him. Playing injured was plain dangerous. But she knew where he was coming from, where his brain was. The poor guy just wanted to play. He was thirty-two, and guys that age didn’t tend to get their contracts renewed.
His current contract was up in July, and if they were able to replace him that easily, he was as good as done. And of course he knew that.
“So, you’d really still be into me without the jersey?” Matt asked. The nervous smirk on his face made her wonder if he was serious.
Madison walked over to him and rubbed his shoulders. She kissed his cheek, then spoke softly into his ear. “I don’t care about the game. All I care about is you being healthy. And that will never change. You can play in Pittsburgh, you can play for some other city, or not play at all. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.” Then she added in a whisper, “I’ll still love you.”
Matt reached up to her and cupped her face, so he could press his lips to hers. “How did I get so lucky?”
Madison laughed in an effort to lighten the mood. “Oh, I don’t know about lucky. I’m kind of bossy, and I’m always right. So some guys might not agree with you on the lucky part.”
“If there’s one thing I need, it’s a girl strong enough to kick my ass when necessary. I am not easy to deal with. I consider myself extremely lucky. I don’t know why you put up with me as a friend for as long as you did, but I’m damn blessed. That’s just another reason why I love you.”
His words warmed her heart. Right now was nice. He was here, at her side. But a twinge of worry stayed in the back of her mind. Eventually, his demons would tempt him again. And she had no idea how she would react to that, now that she cared about him more than as just friends.
Pressing her lips to his again, she pushed that thought out of her mind, wanting only to stay in the moment. It might be unlikely, but with any luck, she wouldn’t have to deal with that scenario.