Final Play (Matchplay Series) by Dakota Madison Read Free Book Online

had to keep those urges in check for a while. I didn’t want her to think I was just like all the other guys—that I would have sex with her and dump her. I knew I needed to take things very slowly and carefully. I wanted her to know without any doubt that I wanted to be with her for the long haul.
    Ella looked at me for a moment and then she carefully placed her delicate hand on my cheek. “You’re sweet, Lucas.”
    As she moved her hand down my cheek, I took in a breath. The more she touched me, the more difficult it became to control my urge to completely ravage her.
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered.
    “How would you do that?” I wondered aloud.
    “Just being me.”
    She placed another soft kiss on my mouth and it was like an avalanche of sensations again. When our eyes met, she was biting her bottom lip. “You taste like cherries.”
    “Cherry lip balm,” I explained.
    “I like it.”
    “The lip balm or the kisses?”
    “Both.”
    Now she was grinning from ear to ear. I loved when she smiled. As much of a cliché as it was it was also true, Ella’s smile brightened the whole room.
    When my stomach growled, Ella started laughing. It was a rather loud rumble.
    “We’d better get some food into that thing,” she said as she rose from the bed and grabbed my hand. “It sounds angry.”
    “I am hungry,” I admitted. “Even the peanut butter and marshmallows sounds good right now.”
    Ella wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t keep much food in the house. Her refrigerator was devoid of anything edible with the possible exception of a jar of pickles that was just a week past the expiration date.
    She grabbed a jar of peanut butter that was sitting by itself on an otherwise empty shelf in her small pantry. “The marshmallows are in the container on the counter,” she said as she pointed behind me.
    I grabbed the cylinder and opened it. There were just a few marshmallows kicking around in the bottom of the container. “Looks like you’ll have to do some shopping soon. We’re most likely going to use the rest of these.”
    “Bread?” I asked.
    “There should be some in the fridge.”
    “You have a jar of pickles. That’s it.”
    “That asshole ate the last of my bread and didn’t even tell me.”
    I gulped. “What asshole would that be?” I asked even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer. Had she recently had a guy staying in her house?
    “Steel.”
    I could feel my entire face drop. “Steel?” I heard myself say but I knew it was stupid as the word fell out of my mouth.
    She waved a hand dismissively. “He crashes here sometimes.”
    “Does he crash in your bed?” My voice sounded much angrier than I meant for it to.
    “Sometimes.” Ella turned away from me and pretended to be looking for something in her completely empty cupboard.
    “Look at me, Ella.” I insisted.
    She slowly turned to face me.
    “When was the last time Steel crashed in your bed?”
    She averted my gaze. “I don’t remember.”
    I could feel my jaw tense. “Don’t remember or don’t want to tell me?”
    She gulped. When she looked up at me again, I could see her eyes were wet with tears. “Don’t want to tell you.”
    I sensed that she and Steel had been together at some point , I just didn’t know the point was so recent and that she didn’t want to tell me.
    I took in a breath before speaking. I didn’t want to say an ything I would later regret. “Are you planning on letting him crash in your bed again?”
    I never considered myself the jealous type but I was definitely the monogamous type.
    She squirmed around a bit and then shook her head.
    “Are you sure?” I wanted to hear her say the words. I needed assurance that she didn’t want to be with anyone else but me.
    After a moment that felt like an eternity, she finally replied. “I’m sure.”
    Even though we were only a few feet apart, it suddenly felt like there was too much space between us. I closed the