Ransom (The Player Book 5) Read online

  "Well, you can't really blame her, can you?"

  "She grew up in the next town over. I think a part of her thinks staying put in this place will tether her to her past." He shrugged. "Growing up, she didn’t know her father. All she knew were the stories my grandmother told her. That he was someone famous, and important. And that one day he would come and take her away and take care of her. I think there's a part of her that wants to believe that. Wants to believe that her father will come looking for her one day, and she doesn't want to be too far away in case it happens. Even now."

  "That's really sad."

  "Yeah. It is sad. So many of my teammates went skydiving with the cup or bungee jumped with it or took the damn thing deep-water diving or something. I just wanted to bring it home to her, you know? So she didn't have to hold on to the past. Hold on to the hope that the great Rory Coulter was coming for her."

  She frowned. "Who's Rory Coulter?"

  Ransom blinked for a moment, then he smiled. "And that is why I like you. You have no idea who that is. And your eyes didn't go wide with dollar signs."

  "Should they have?"

  "I just told you that my mother thinks Rory Coulter is her father, which would make him my grandfather, and that means absolutely nothing to you. That's just perfect. It's been like his dirty family secret we've been holding on to for years. He's this great sports legend. Was it in the Olympics, played football. His son—my uncle, I guess—played baseball and basketball. And his kids, who would be my cousins, are all huge athletes. Every last one of them. I would be what they would probably call the black sheep, if they knew I existed."

  "I had no idea. Have you ever considered contacting them?"

  "Nope. That was the whole point of bringing the cup home. To show Mom that she doesn't need to hold on to that. She doesn't need the Coulters. The work that she put into me, and the love, that's what got me the cup. Not some sports legend and DNA."

  "She must be really proud of the man you've become."

  "I hope so." He rolled toward her and kissed her again, his lips gently sliding over hers.

  Lexa's heart kicked. And immediately, a spike of heat spread between her thighs. Oh, God. She would pay cash money to have Ransom Cox look at her like that every day of her life until she died. Which could be tomorrow, because he might kill her with how good the sex between them was. He was faster than she thought. Before she knew what was happening, he yanked the sheet away from her, and had her pinned beneath him. His big body splaying her thighs wide, the full length of his erection sliding against her core. She couldn't help but moan.

  Ransom leaned over her, nuzzling her throat, placing soft kisses over her skin, making her buzz, making her want him. Making her need him.

  But he didn't slide in. He didn't take her fast, he took his time. Kissing her, touching her, but all the while, gently rocking his hips against her, making her wetter and wetter.

  Making her well aware of just how much he wanted to make love to her right now. Making her well aware of his full-size. Making her remember the slight bite of pain accompanied with the most intoxicating pleasure she'd ever known.

  He kissed her deeply. She had no choice but to match his tongue strokes with hers. There was no running from this. There was no ducking her head and hiding. She was making a very deliberate choice. This would be the wrong choice for her heart. She would get hurt by this. But she couldn't make herself stop. There was no way she was turning this down. Because this only lasted as long as the rain did.

  As he kissed down the length of her body, pausing at her breasts to tease them, Lexa arched her back, giving herself over completely.

  She couldn't think coherently. All she could do was moan, and call out his name. He placed kisses over her belly, working his way back down to the juncture of her thighs. When he put his mouth on her, she screamed. Ransom Cox was very, very good at making her scream. With his tongue, and his fingers, he spread her lips, gently exposing the most intimate part of her.

  He lapped and licked her. Over and over again, so that the orgasms started to blend together. And only when she was limp and could barely move her hand into his hair to keep him positioned exactly where she wanted him, did he kiss her inner thighs, chuckling to himself as he moved up her body. She didn't even notice when he shifted away to roll on a condom.

  She was tired. Spent. But then he was back, turning her onto her side, hitching her leg up over his. Opening her. And then he kissed her again. Reigniting that spark inside. Sending heat rolling through her body. He demanded, and she responded. Like she could have not responded to his touch. He nudged her open, and she forced herself to relax. But this time, when he slid in by inches, there was no hint of the pain, only pleasure. So much pleasure, as he slid all the way home.

  "Fuck me." He ground through clenched teeth. His eyes went wide as they rolled back into his head. Was she doing that to him? She tested the waters gently by squeezing around him, and the litany of curses was his response. His hands trembled as he gripped her hips. She could do that to him. She loved that look on his face. So she did it again.

  Ransom's gaze snapped to hers. "You're trying to kill me. And I like it. God, do I like it."

  She rolled onto her back, intertwining her hands with his. He made love to her, rocking his hips into hers, marking every inch of her. His words of need, and trust, flowed over her. It was all she could do to raise her hips to meet each slide and retreat. He knew exactly where to hit her to make her cry out. He knew exactly how to rub himself over that bundle of nerves deep inside.

  And he did it over, and over, and over again, until she begged him to never stop. Begged him to keep it in her right there. Right fucking there.

  His smirk was one of satisfaction. And he released her hand, sliding into their bodies, and with his thumb he circled quickly, dragging the orgasm out of her.

  "Holy shit, Lex." He gritted his teeth as she broke apart around him, clenching him tight. Drawing him further in. "So fucking good."

  And then he buried his head into her neck, and he increased his pace, pumping furiously. Hitting her again in that spot. One hand gripped tightly on her hips to keep her steady. Lexa called out his name again and again and again. When they finally came together, she screamed at him with a low feral growl. In that moment, Lexa knew that she would never be the same again.

  Nine

  Ransom awoke to a light sprinkle of rain outside the window. Next to him, Lexa curled into his side, her hand on his heart. He wanted to keep her. Fuck, he really wanted to keep her. After what they'd done last night, and this morning. His whole body automatically leaned into her. Craved her. But something she'd said worried him.

  She said she always chose the wrong guy. That this was her habit. this was her pattern. Choosing the guy who was eventually going to hurt her. You are that guy. You know she deserves better than you. But you are fucking selfish and had her anyway.

  And he was just selfish enough to want her again. Want her enough to not bring it to her attention that the rain had stopped. Do not bring to her attention that she would more than likely be able to go home today. Away from him. Every cell in his body fought against that.

  He wanted her here, in his bed, riding his dick. Under him, over him, in front of him. He wanted to see that loose, languid expression on her face every day for the rest of his life. But you're not going to get that. You know who you are. You know what you do to women. She might have said she wasn't hurt, but then she had shifted, and he saw the bruises on her hips. And he'd seen her wince in pain last night. The way she braced herself.

  But more importantly, she was right. She did go for the wrong men. He was the wrong kind of man for her. After everything, he didn't think he'd be able to withstand the pain of having her leave him. You're a selfish prick.

  He knew it. But this was for the best. He couldn't keep her. He wouldn't keep her. It wasn't fair, but those were the breaks. She'd eventually leave him. And see that he'd made the right decision. Better he made
the break now.

  He slid out of the bed, and headed straight to the shower, making the water hot. But the temperature did nothing to soothe the ache deep in his chest.

  He showered quickly, washing away the scent of her. Pissed off at him, his cock apparently felt that it might be a fantastic idea to make an exuberant appearance. Motherfucker. To nip that idea in the bud, he immediately turned the water to cold, and forced himself to stand under the spray for several seconds.

  Teeth chattering, he eventually turned it off and grabbed a towel. Thinking about Lexa Carlisle was a quick way to get hurt. So he was going to stop thinking about her. He had some calls to make, first to get her car out of the ditch, and then he needed to go by his mother's and check on her. They'd been texting during the storm, but he wanted to see for himself that she was okay.

  With one last glance at the girl he'd always wanted, he forced himself to turn away from her. This was for the best. Lexa Carlisle was better off without him.

  Lexa woke alone. When she reached for Ransom, she realized he wasn't there. His side of the bed was cool, and a slither of unease slid over her skin.

  "Ransom?" There was no answer. Relax, this is a big house, he might not hear you, he might be in the gym, might be on the phone downstairs, it could be anything.

  Lexa wrapped the sheets around herself and scooted to the edge of the bed to hop out, when she saw the note.

  I left to direct the tow truck to your car. I set the coffee maker for you. Help yourself to anything in the house, I'll send a car to pick you up at eight.

  He'd left? After everything? Last night had been— This morning had been even more. With a sigh, Lexa sat up and dropped her head onto her knees. What had she done?

  She'd made a mistake of sleeping with him, which was bad enough, but then she told him everything. How she always made the worst choices with men. How it got her into trouble. She probably sounded desperate. But he could smell her need for someone to love her. God, how could she be so stupid? Because you always do this. It was time for a serious man hiatus. Time to get her life figured out.

  She'd come home to figure things out, and all she'd done was fall into exactly the same pattern as before. Maybe a full-time man vacation was a very good idea.

  So what now? She looked around the room, at the tangle of the sheets on the bed, sleek furnishings, the art on the walls. The scent of him was all around her. She'd wanted this. She’d felt a connection with him. But she wasn't going to wallow. It was time for her big-girl panties.

  He'd even said to her this morning, everyone made mistakes. It was up to her to see how she could fix it. She was going back to the city, going back to her job. She wouldn't let Amanda and Blink dictate what she should do with her life.

  She had the story she needed. Unfortunately, it was a personal one. She could do it. She could talk about her own journey to find herself, she could make it good. Of course, she would never bring Ransom into it. No one needed to know who she'd screwed up with. Maybe there were other women that felt the same way that she did.

  Maybe they'd made the mistake of just wanting someone to love them. Maybe other women made the mistake of ending up in the wrong bed.

  She ran through the events of the last few days, her brain cycling through all the angles. She grabbed the notepad Ransom had used to leave her a message, and made some quick notes. This could work. Amanda would have to print the story, and then Lexa would leverage that to get the kind of gig she wanted.

  Ransom was right. She should never settle for less than what she thought she deserved. And starting now, she wasn't going to do that.

  She was done falling into the same patterns. Yes, Ransom wasn't the guy for her. She was done trying to make someone who didn't want to fall in love with her, love her. She was done chasing after people. She was taking her life back.

  Never mind that Ransom had just given her the best sex of her entire life. Not that she had much to compare to. Regardless, no matter what, she was going to put Ransom Cox out of her head, and get on with it.

  Ten

  Ransom felt like shit. His head pounded, and his muscles ached. And to top it all off, that ache in the center of his chest wouldn't go away. It had started the moment he left Lexa in bed, and had only gotten worse as he gone throughout the day.

  He'd waited for the tow truck to pull her car out of the ditch, and then he'd paid extra for them to finish the work to fix it today so that she'd have it back quickly.

  He'd gone down to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car downtown and arranged a car for her, to go pick her up that morning and take her home. And his last stop was to his mother's. She lived up on a hill, so flooding wasn't a concern, but he was worried about that roof. He hated that she wouldn't move out to his place.

  He had the roof redone last year, but it was an old house. It would make him feel better to see her and check on her more often.

  When he arrived, his mother was waiting for him. She opened the door before he even made it up the front porch steps. "Hi, Mom. You doing okay?"

  "I swear you act like I'm the child." She led him through the house. Ransom shook off all his raingear and hung it up by the door before following her. The smell of cooking sausage made his stomach rumble. He was in such a rush to leave this morning, he hadn't eaten anything. Now it was nearly lunchtime.

  "Sausage for lunch?"

  His mother snorted with laughter. "God, I wish."

  Ransom froze. "Excuse me?" Had his mother just made joke…about sex?

  "Oh, come on, baby. You need to lighten up. I've dated before, Ransom."

  He frowned and cleared his throat. "I know that. You just don't joke like that. And frankly, I prefer it that way."

  She rolled her eyes. "Considering you texted me at six this morning to tell me you would be coming by later to check on me, I figured you were up early and probably hadn't eaten breakfast."

  He glowered at her as he picked up a piece and took a bite. "Yeah, you'd be right. Are you okay?" he asked around a bite of sausage. "The house hold up in the storm?" He wanted to get the image of his mother and sausages out of his head as quickly as possible.

  "Obviously. I'm fine. You realize you don't need to worry about me, right? I raised you. How do you think I got along all those years when you were a kid?"

  Sure as shit hadn't been with his father's help. "I don't know. But it makes me feel good to take care of you. You shouldn't have to do everything alone. If you'd just let me buy you a new house, or even better, build you one from scratch—it would be exactly what you want—we wouldn't have to keep having this argument."

  She shook her head. "And I keep telling you, I don't want a new house. I like this house. I did the addition there. By myself, I might add. I painted every room by myself, I raised you in this house. Besides, I don't need some big monstrosity. And who would clean all those rooms?"

  "I would hire you a cleaning lady." That was probably the wrong thing to say. Brenda Cox believed in cleaning her own house. She always wrinkled her nose at the fact that he hired some woman to come and clean his house for him. Truth was, he wasn't sure if the person cleaning his house was a woman or man. He had a service, but he was never there when they came to clean. But that was beside the point. He just wished she'd let him take care of her more.

  "You know how I feel about cleaning ladies. Come on now, sit down eat something properly." She caught him up on what she'd done during the storm. She had a few freelance articles to turn in, and she'd sort of relished the peace and quiet to do it. She really wished she'd been able to see more of him throughout the week. "Thanks to that silly storm, I only saw you for a day. Now you have to go back to New Orleans in a week, and I won't see you again for months."

  The next words were out of his mouth before he even thought them through. "Well, I don't have to leave right away. There's press stuff my agent wants me to do, but I can come right back. This time, I'm making sure to really enjoy the off-season." And by enjoy the off-season, he meant spending plenty o
f time alone, watching game footage, relaxing. It was what he always did. After Callie left, he spent most of his time alone. Unless one of his teammates came to visit or wanted to go out.

  His mother shook her head. "I swear to God, you spend too much time by yourself."

  "I like being alone. It's great. I get to catch up on reading, game tape, I can binge watch Game of Thrones."

  Her eyes widened. "You watch Game of Thrones?"

  He flushed. Of course she was surprised by that. She'd been trying to get him to watch it for ages. But he'd never been interested. Until Lexa.

  "You know, I was curious, so I checked it out. So far, just the first season." Technically, that was the truth. Sure, maybe Lexa had forced him into watching the first episode, but then he was hooked, just like everybody else in the world.

  "Since when?"

  "Well, I just won the championship, I’ve been taking some time off. I want to just veg. I think I deserve that." Fuck, now he sounded defensive.

  "No one's disputing that, baby. And in case I didn't say it enough the other day, thank you. Thank you for bringing me that cup and for giving me the best day. It means more than I can ever tell you. But I want you to know, you didn't have to bring that for me. Everything I did was not to show up Rory Coulter. Everything I did was not to prove something to your father. Everything I did, was for you. You don't have a thing to prove, except to yourself. I am proud of you, no matter what. And, I'm sorry if you ever thought you had to make up for anything. Rory Coulter is done. The truth is, he never even knew I existed. And I'm sorry you thought that I needed you to make up for him. I never meant for you to feel like that. I just want you to know that you aren't alone. The person you are is in part due to him, but the only reason you're where you are is because of your hard work. Your talent. Genetics had barely any part to play. You know that."