Sure Bet (Out of Left Field #1)

22. Liam

Chapter 22

Liam

D espite my body’s absolute exhaustion, I was unable to sleep after Brooke and I got each other off. My fingers trailed through her tangled hair until her body relaxed and her breathing steadied. But my mind raced with energy that wouldn’t ease. Excitement and enthusiasm and… hope.

I got up and tiptoed to the living room, determined not to waste it. I sent off my admissions application to the UW while Brooke slept in my bed, sated and content.

The entire night with Brooke, from the moment she stepped onto the rooftop to the second she fell apart beneath my touch, seemed too perfect to be mine. But it was, and the warmth of her body between my sheets proved it.

She came to my room not to taunt, tease, or push boundaries, but because she cared. I hadn’t known how much I’d missed the feeling until I realized what it was—not just interest, but investment . I think the outcome of my life mattered to Brooke because I mattered to her.

With no excuses, the pressure to succeed was on me now. My mom wasn’t sick, and baseball wasn’t a cop-out anymore. At nearly twenty-five years old, any failure was because of me, not the circumstances of my life or the fact it had fallen apart.

It scared the hell out of me, but Brooke believed I was capable. And that woman rarely was wrong, though I’d never admit it because she also rarely forgot.

Hitting send on my application settled something monumental for me, and I used the quiet to consider how to thank Brooke for pushing me in the right direction when I’d felt stuck in paralysis. I opted to write a note, something to reminder her that she deserved to be seen in all her glory.

Kissing up her thighs and settling between them didn’t seem like a terrible way to show my appreciation, but I’d already kept her up late. I hoped the note would tell her more than my hands possibly could.

She didn’t even stir when I returned to bed, set an alarm, and drifted to sleep with a smile on my face. Even when that goddamn chirping and vibrating on my phone pinged at seven a.m., I smiled like a fool.

I was the responsible adult ensuring she awoke in time, but exhausted, I fell back asleep as soon as she was up.

I slept a few more hours before going on a run with Brenden. Lunch followed, a casual hang, and puttering around the apartment with nervous energy, waiting to hear from Brooke. By five o’clock, I planted myself on the couch and fiddled with my phone, hoping for an update about her presentation.

None came.

The front door opened with a faint creak just after seven, and Brooke entered with her head down. She shoved her keys into her jacket pocket and shook the coat from her shoulders. My breath caught in my throat. Something was different. Something in her demeanor had shifted.

She moved quietly, almost solemnly, her expression serious and unreadable when she approached. I rose from my seat, my heart pounding. It hadn’t gone as planned. Fuck. It hadn’t gone well. How was that possible when it was Brooke?

The cloud cover cast a gray reflection through the living room window, matching the mood.

“Brooke,” I said softly, tilting my head. The tightness in my chest grew unbearable with every soft step closer.

Without a word, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the note I’d left in her bag. A simple message of encouragement, penned in the light of dawn. I’d fallen asleep afterward while imagining how happy she’d be when she got what she wanted. Brooke earned it, and she deserved to nail that presentation and get her grant.

My brows furrowed, and my gut sank when her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

Her chest rose and fell with each labored exhale as she stood toe to toe. She held up the note, clutching it over her heart. “You meant this?”

I licked my lips, glancing away from the intensity of her expression, nodding once.

Fingers pressed into my cheeks, and she lifted onto the tips of her toes, just a breath away. Her eyes focused on my mouth. “Liam,” she whispered with a soft shake of her head.

She hesitated, her lips hovering hardly an inch away. Kiss her. I should kiss her. I ached to kiss her.

Agony lived in the seconds between her whisper and her forward movement. Softly, so fucking softly, her lips brushed mine. She murmured my name again, igniting a fire that melted the last of my willpower.

My hands cupped her face, and hers slid into my hair to haul me closer. Her mouth opened with a breathy moan as she tugged and pulled, crushing her weight against me. The breath knocked out of me with the force of our collision.

My thumbs swept the tears from beneath her eyes. “Brooke.” I released a shaky exhale, my palms sliding down the curve of her body until they rested on her waist.

Her fingers threaded through my hair, twisting strands around them as she caught her breath. “I got it. The grant, it’s mine.”

“Jesus.” I puffed. “Thank fuck. You?—”

She cut me off with a hard press of her lips, her tongue sweeping into my mouth with a huffy whine. Hands grabbed at clothing, pulling each other closer with gasping breaths between kisses.

The note slipped from her grasp, forgotten, as we stumbled toward the bedroom, our bodies moving in harmony. The paper fluttered to the floor.

Brooke,

You’ve always been a force to be reckoned with. I tried, trust me, I fucking tried, to contend with your strength and determination. It just made me an asshole. But you’re not my rival. You’re my challenger, and you make me want to fight harder for myself. Don’t hide today. You’re going to change lives for the better. You’re already doing it.

Good luck.

Liam.

“Your room?” Brooke’s lips broke away for a fleeting moment, but mine crushed to hers, desperate to forever remain sealed. The heat, the chemistry, the skill—Jesus, her mouth—this was everything. Thank god she hadn’t kissed me at fifteen. No way could I have handled it.

Forget pride. The fire blazing in Brooke’s eyes was more than confidence, determination, dignity, ego, self-identity, or whatever she wanted to label it. Flames of passion… but of a very specific variety.

Brooke was aroused and horny, and it was for me .

I groaned against her lips. “Your room. I want you in your bed. It smells like you, and I want my scent all over your sheets.”

She whimpered and nodded, and fuck, fuck, fuck .

“Not gonna make it,” I grunted and shoved her back against the wall. I pinned her hips with mine, grinding and thrusting and ready to dry hump her to heaven.

She spread her legs, rubbing herself on my thigh and panting like a wanton angel. I devoured her mouth with deep, sweeping strokes of my tongue. A low whine echoed between us as Brooke worked herself into a frenzy. Fucking magnificent.

Rock-hard and eager, I forced myself back, breathless and aching. God, fucking aching for her. “Your room.”

She nodded and hurried down the hall. But shit. I had condoms in my room.

“Never mind, my room.”

She didn’t think twice, passing her door without a glance. She stopped suddenly, turning around. Pupils blown wide with lust, Brooke’s chest heaved. Her hard little nipples skimmed the thin fabric of her shirt.

I cursed softly beneath my breath. “Oh, fuck.”

Her desire was beautiful, but not as sinfully sexy as the two strides back to me. Her palms flattened on my shoulders, shoving me into the wall as her mouth didn’t just consume me—it fucking conquered.

“Shit,” I murmured, my hands sliding into her hair as my tongue slid into her mouth. We kissed and licked and bit our way to my door, fused and groaning and cursing when elbows banged into the wall, or one of us stumbled.

I hauled her inside, kicked the door closed, and locked it. A naughty little smile toyed on her face; her hands tucked behind her back as she took me in.

Brooke was a sight, with her messy hair and twisted shirt, the fast rise of her chest with each shallow breath, the flush on her cheeks, and her parted lips swollen from kissing.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I sputtered, the words surprising even me. But I couldn’t hold them in. I didn’t want to. I didn’t need to. There was no more hiding, no more pretending, no games.

I traced the curves of her body with my eyes, the voluptuous lines that my hands longed to explore. My gaze traveled unapologetically over every delicious inch of her.

Brooke’s fingers twisted in the bottom hem of her shirt, tugging it over her head. Her dark hair lifted with the movement, falling over her shoulders when she dropped the cotton to the floor.

Her voice trembled slightly, but her chin tipped with an air of confidence as she reached behind and unclipped her bra. “Do you want to see more of me?”

Jesus Christ almighty, yes, I fucking did. I pulled my shirt off by the collar, desperate to get my skin on hers.

The swell of her breasts rose with her breath, her nipples tight. Small but full tits, round and perfect for cupping. My dick strained against my zipper, and I palmed over it to adjust the uncomfortable tightness.

“I want to see all of you.” I released a strangled groan, closing the distance.

My thumbs hooked into the waistband of her jeans. She kissed a trail over my jaw, biting and sucking. Her hand rubbed my cock.

“Shit,” I breathed. “That feels good.”

She stroked me, her tits pressed against my chest with every rough breath. She slid up and down my rigid length, a slow and steady motion that had me panting when her fervent eyes locked on me. “I want you, and I want you to make me feel good.”

My mouth was back on hers hardly a moment later, urgency in the caress of my tongue. I melted into her, kissing her deeply—desperate and hungry and miserably hard.

“I need you,” I groaned. “So fucking bad.” My thumb popped the button on her jeans, my hands dipping inside her pants to slide them down her hips.

“You can have me.” Brooke shimmied out of the fabric, kicking it away and hurrying to work mine open.

I tugged her panties down, our limbs tangling in a frantic rush to undress. Too slow, even with racing hands, but it was worth the straining wait when we stood naked and with no barriers between us.

I reversed our positions, spinning her as I walked toward the bed. The back of her knees hit the mattress, and she pulled me down with her. She reached for me again, but I pinned her arms above her head, holding tight to her wrists. Her breaths came in ragged gasps as she squirmed and bucked beneath me, but I gripped her tighter and trailed my lips along her neck.

“You’re mine. You said I could have you.” I grunted and nipped at her collarbone, trailing over her chest and sucking her nipple into my mouth. My tongue left a wet trail in its wake as I licked my way to her other nipple, grazing it with my teeth. “I intend to have you all night.”

“Please,” she panted, her nails digging into the back of my hand.

She gasped, her back arching off the bed. The movement cradled my hips against hers, and my cock brushed the inside of her thigh, seeking her heat.

I pulled back with a raspy groan. “The things you do to me.” Releasing her hands, I encouraged her to pluck at her nipples. “The things I’m going to do to you, but first, I want to watch you do them to yourself.”

Kissing down her chest, I swirled my tongue around her navel and nipped my way to her hip. She squealed and laughed, adorably ticklish.

My gaze met hers, and I smiled as I lowered to the floor. “Hitch your legs.”

Brooke sat up on the edge of the bed, blinking at me as I kneeled and admired the confused look on her face. But it was a simple instruction.

I cupped the back of her knees to tent them and rested her heels on the mattress before she could protest.

“So pretty,” I murmured, kissing the ball of her ankle and trailing my lips along her calf. “You’re so pretty bared to me like this. Wet and aroused and swollen with need. Lean back.”

She gave a jerky nod, her breath coming in tiny pants as she flattened her palms on the bed behind her and propped on her elbows.

“You don’t know how pretty your cunt is, do you?”

My fingers glided over the soft skin of her thigh. The touch made her inhale sharply, and when I spread her pussy and hummed my approval, she exhaled a breathy moan.

“I’m on my knees for you, Brooke. Here and ready to worship you. How do you like it?”

“I love it,” she breathed, palming her breast. “You look good there.”

“What should I do now that I’m here?” My nose grazed along her thigh, my fingers sliding through her arousal. “Will you show me? Will you touch yourself and let me watch?” My hand curved around her knee, encouraging her to open wider. “I told you, I like to watch.”

She closed her eyes and nodded, slipping her hand to cup her pussy.

“Open your eyes. Look at me when you do it.”

Her tongue wetted her lips, and she nodded again, opening her eyes and locking her gaze on me as she slowly rocked against her hand. She shuddered a breathy moan, circling her clit and rubbing herself.

“So sexy, Brooke. Do you finger yourself? How many fingers feel good inside that tight cunt?”

“Two,” she whimpered, a sweet little whine, stroking herself faster.

I gripped her thighs, holding her as her legs trembled and her eyes hooded with desire. “Show me.”

She pumped two fingers inside her pussy, her back arching.

“So, so pretty,” I murmured. Her eyes fluttered closed as her stomach went taut. “No, keep your eyes on me. I want to see you come.”

Her jaw went slack, and her fingers were back on her clit, rubbing furiously as she bucked beneath her hand. Pink flushed over her chest and neck, blooming across the bridge of her nose.

“Liam.” Barely a whisper, but the sound of my name on the precipice of her climax burned in my ears. A melody I’d never forget.

“So good. You’re doing so good. A queen, showing me how to touch you. How to stroke your pretty clit. Come for me and I’ll worship you with my mouth and hands.”

Her chin tipped to the ceiling, her arms shaking. I pumped along my shaft, slow and unhurried. I had no intention of coming yet. But Brooke…

“My tongue and my cock. I’m going to fuck you, Brooke, but not until you?—”

“Oh, god!” she cried, her head dropping back as her body went tight, her feet flexing against the mattress.

“Spectacular,” I murmured, my attention on her collapse despite the throbbing of my dick urging me to jerk myself and come with her.

But I had other plans for her, and judging by the heat in her eyes when she came down from her climax, so did she.

Her hand slid into my hair and gripped hard at the root. “Mouth, hands, tongue, and cock,” she panted. “Get to work.”