He'd told me to lie still, but he said nothing about gripping his hair and moaning for him to continue. I couldn't help but twist my hips and angle myself so that his mouth hit me at the perfect angle. His fingers and mouth worked in tandem to bring me to the brink of oblivion. I watched the seductive rhythm of his fingers sliding in and out of me for a moment before the sensations became too much and I had to clamp my eyes closed.

Two more sweet strokes and then my toes 835/890

were curling and I was crying his name without an ounce of inhibition.

He slid up and smiled sinfully toward me as he propped himself onto his knees. His briefs were tugged off and tossed aside in seconds, and then he resettled himself against me with smooth confidence.

"This is going to be slow and easy, Kinsley," he promised as he pressed himself into me gently. I wasn't used to the slow-and-sweet version of his lovemaking, but it had its advantages— like when his mouth found mine as he slid all the way into me.

Slow and delicious. It was enough to make my head spin. I knew it was driving him wild as well. He held himself up and I wrapped my small hands around his biceps, feeling their power and weight above me.

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His hips worked their magic and I reveled in the luxurious feel of his lovemaking. I laid back and tried to cling onto each delicious thrust until we were both coming and murmuring each other's names. Our voices mingled together as he kissed me and whispered 'I love you's' into my ear.

I don't remember drifting off to sleep, but sometime in the middle of the night, my pain medication wore off enough to jar me awake. The throbbing settled in like a hazy cloud. As I waited for the new pills to kick in-to effect, I contemplated the last 24 hours. If Tara backed off would anything change, or would I be splashed across the media no matter what? If I made the Olympic team I’d be thrust into the spotlight, but the fact that Liam was interested in me made me a whole 837/890

lot more interesting to the rest of America as well.

I sighed and tried to push away the negative thoughts. The bed dipped around me as Liam rolled over and pulled me closer to his sleeping body. He did it subconsciously, and I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe even if the media didn’t back down, I’d be okay. I could get used to it just like every other person that chose to have a public career. And if not, I’d make Liam buy me a private island. Hmm, maybe that was the better option. I’d ban pants on the island. Only Calvin Klein boxer briefs.

Chapter Thirty-One

Liam and I hadn't made it out of bed yet when his cell phone rang the next morning.

It wasn't early, nearly eleven o'clock, but since I wasn't going to practice we took advantage of the free time. Let’s just say that by that point I felt thoroughly orgasmed-out. I think that’s what you feel like when you hit nirvana. So yeah, Dalai Lama, I’m onto you.

We were watching morning TV and eating breakfast when he reached over to answer the buzzing phone. He mouthed "Penn"

to me, so I nodded and kept right on eating.

Sorry, but nobody's more important than blueberry pancakes.

"What’s up?— she's okay, I know Becca was worrying, but she got stitches and she's healing up—she already called the police, but 839/890

I'm going to force her to move in with me—no it's the perfect time, asshat, thanks for your support— yeah, she's right here, hold on."

He held the phone out for me, "Penn asked for you."

I scrunched my brows together, but took the phone nonetheless. What would Penn need to say that he couldn't just tell Liam?

"Hey Penn," I said, holding the phone up to my ear and continuing to cut my pancakes with my free hand. Priorities.

"Kinsley, I'm glad you're feeling better."

I smiled. "Me too. You should see the other guy though."

Penn laughed. "Oh yeah, did you give him a shiner?"

"Yup. No worries."

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"Good to know I shouldn't mess with you—but hey, I wanted to ask for your help with Becca."

He piqued my interest and I glanced toward Liam to see if he knew what Penn was talking about. He shrugged.

"Sure, of course. What do you need?"

"Well, I'm sort of concocting this elaborate plan to ask her to be my girlfriend."

I laughed. "Aren't you guys past that?

You've been dating for as long as Liam and I have."

Penn groaned, "Yes, but it's complicated.

You know she turned me down when I asked her a few weeks ago. She was scared we were moving too fast and that I needed to work some stuff out—which I did."

"So now?"

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"So now I want to add the title and make it elaborate and showy so that if she turns me down she’ll feel terrible."

I couldn't stop laughing. "Soooo, you're basically guilting her into being your girlfriend."

"Hey—whatever gets the job done," he quipped.

"Well definitely count me in then."

"All right, I'm thinking about doing it this weekend."

"As in two days from now?"

He chuckled. "Is that a bad idea?"

I toyed with my fork. "No. We just have to be creative and quick. Or have you already thought of something?"

"I want to do something on the beach with roses and candles. I know it's super 842/890

cheesy, but I want to make it over the top so that she'll remember it."

I was so happy for Becca. So happy that she found someone like Penn who wanted to go through all this trouble just for her.

"All right, Liam and I will do whatever you want… I can't wait to see Becca's reaction."

He laughed. "She's going to flip. I know it."

"Okay well, I'm going back to my breakfast, but I'll talk it over with Liam and let you know if we come up with any good ideas."

"Sounds good, thanks Kins, and hope you feel better."

I hung up and I handed the phone back to Liam.

"Did you hear most of that?"

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He smiled and leaned forward to kiss my cheek. "Let's make Penn buy her a yacht so we can use it whenever we want," he joked.

"Yes! I'll tell him she only accepts 40’

boats as gifts."

We spent the rest of the morning concocting plans on how to trap Penn into getting Becca really awesome toys. We decided a helicopter with the four of our faces on the side would really make her want to say yes to him.

…

Sadly, Penn shot down all of our extravagant ideas with phrases like "you guys are ridiculous", "No, we don't need to buy a house in Hawaii so that Becca will date me", and “stop calling me or I’ll turn my phone off”. Liam 844/890

and I chalked it up to poor judgment on his part. I guess romantic roses and candles on the beach would have to cut it.

All day Saturday we were running around doing his bidding. We picked up chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of Dom Perignon. We drove around looking for the perfect rose petals because they couldn't just be red. Becca also loved yellow roses, so Penn thought we had to get both red and yellow petals. High maintenance couple alert.

On the way home I could feel Liam glance over to watch me every now and then.

It made my skin flush to feel his gaze on me, but I never gave into the urge to meet his eyes. He seemed even more serious about us since the incident with the paparazzi. He'd 845/890

asked me that morning if I'd thought anymore about moving in with him. We'd even discussed it with Coach Davis on Friday. She was wary about me moving in with him so soon, but she'd agreed that the security at the house wasn't up to par for someone with as much media coverage as I was getting. It was probably safer for the girls living in the house, as well as myself, if I thought about moving somewhere a bit more secure.