Hail Mary: An Enemies-to-Lovers Roommate Sports Romance (Red Zone Rivals)

It surprised me how easy time slipped away after that.

Leo and the guys were busier than ever with the season starting up, and I was working at the shop almost every night. Now that I had some experience, Nero had me taking on the walk-ins.

In two weeks, I’d tattooed everything from the inside of bottom lips and fingers to the tops of feet and knees. I had a printout of my designs that some people stumbled in and chose from, signing legal paperwork that swore they weren’t drunk, and I also had very specific design requests that were mostly script and images printed off Pinterest. Those were my least favorite.

My most favorite were the clients who found me on Instagram and booked an appointment with me, giving me vague instructions but allowing me to have creative freedom.

There’d only been two so far, but one had been a five-hour upper back piece where a girl around my age let me draw up a tree with striking roots and branches, along with leaves that tested my shading skills. The other was a man in his fifties who wanted his first tattoo — a thigh piece — and it was an ode to his brothers in the military, a sloth in a bar eating nachos. It was apparently an inside joke with them, but I didn’t care either way. It was hilarious and challenging and made me so happy as I created it, both the sketch before he got there and the actual piece on his skin.

The Rebels took on their first home opponent on a warm Saturday afternoon. I had sweat running down my back along with the rest of the student body, and for once, I was upset that my friends were so successful. I would have given anything to have Giana or Riley in the stands with me instead of on the field, or for Julep to give up her job hunt and wedding planning to get on a flight and come sit with me. But as soon as the coin toss was over and the game began, I didn’t care who was in the stands.

All I could do was focus on Leo.

It was one thing to see him in his practice gear, the mesh jersey with the padding underneath. It was another completely to see him all suited up, wearing the white home uniforms with crimson letters and numbers blazing against it in contrast. HERNANDEZ stretched across his upper back in all caps, the number thirteen underneath it, and that jersey was tucked into pants that should have been illegal for how they hugged his ass. I assumed he was wearing some sort of protection around his manhood, because otherwise, those pants would leave nothing to the imagination. Even with whatever he had on underneath, it was impossible not to notice the giant bulge.

It made me and every other girl in the stands salivate when he jogged by.

But as much as I loved checking him out, it wasn’t his looks that held me enraptured once the first whistle blew. It was his talent. I hadn’t seen him play since high school — had avoided it at all costs, actually — but to see how fast he was now, how massive he was as a running back when most were smaller, how he could plow through defenders and give them stiff arms like they were nothing more than little kids trying to block him… it was breathtaking. It felt like the equivalent of seeing a leopard in the wild, the muscles and speed a phenomenon you couldn’t tear your eyes away from.

They won the game by twenty-four points, and I got the pleasure of celebrating with Leo later that night.

When I wasn’t at the shop and Leo wasn’t at the stadium, that was how we spent our time — tangled in the sheets. There was still so much to talk about, so many things I wanted to know about him and that I wanted him to know about me. But with the limited time we had together, we were both starved whenever we had the chance to be alone. We’d barely make it through pleasantries before we were stripping each other, exploring new ways to make the other come unraveled.

For the first time in longer than I could remember, my life felt… balanced. Peaceful. Blissful, even. I didn’t even care that Miss Margie had called and regretfully told me she didn’t have an update on when I could move back home. It was the last thing on my mind, actually. Not even sassy comments from my mom when I called home could wipe the smile off my face.

Early one afternoon, I was parked in Leo’s chair in front of my PlayStation I’d set up with his monitor and mine together. It’d been a hectic week at the shop, so I was treating myself to some R&R time by playing Cyberpunk 2077. I’d also treated myself to a ten-milligram blueberry gummy, so I was deeply entranced in the game when Leo’s door swung open and scared me half to death.

“Fuck!” I cursed, and I spun in my chair, wielding the controller over my head as if that could protect me against whoever the intruder was.

Fortunately, it was just Leo, smirking at me like the devil himself.

“Did I catch you masturbating?”

I blew out a breath, my heartbeat steadying out. “No, but you nearly gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?”

I knew the schedule pretty well now that we were into the season, and no one was due home until after five today. Leo had his Rehabilitation Science Techniques class tonight and shouldn’t be home until after nine.

“My first class got canceled,” he answered, leaning a hip against the doorway. “And I don’t have to report to the weight room until four.

I nodded, running a hand back through my hair and pressing one hand to my chest. My heartbeat was settling, until I looked back at Leo and found his gaze dark and hungry crawling over me. He’d once again hooked one of his chains in his mouth, his tongue and teeth toying with it as he fucked me with his eyes.

I looked down at where I was sitting with my legs open in a very unladylike stance, wearing nothing but boy shorts and one of Leo’s t-shirts.

“I like when you wear my clothes,” he said, dropping his chain from his mouth and crossing the room to me. I saw evidence of exactly how much he liked it pressing against his shorts as he ran the back of his fingers over my shoulder.

“You’re not worried about me stretching them out?” I asked.

He almost growled, hands clapping down on the arms of the chair and caging me in as he dropped his mouth to mine.

“Woman, if you don’t stop with that shit,” he warned. “Besides, even if you did, it only seems fair, since stretching you out is my favorite pastime.”

The words vibrated through me before his mouth descended, and I inhaled the kiss, dropping my controller on the desk and wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer.

But Leo broke the kiss, even as I whined, and grabbed the controller again. He slid it into my hands and spun the chair to face the screen.

“Play,” he demanded. “And do your best not to die.”

With that, his lips curled up, and he sank onto his knees between my legs.

When I didn’t do anything other than stare at him, Leo grabbed the hem of my boy shorts and yanked them down my thighs. I lifted to help him, but once they were off, he smacked the side of my ass that he could reach and pointed at the screen.

“Focus, or I stop.”

That was all the motivation I needed.

But even as I started playing, my eyes on the screen, all my focus was zeroed in on where Leo was kissing a trail up my thighs. I spread them wider for him, sinking down in the chair a bit, and he smiled against my center before running his tongue long and hot and flat from my entrance to my clit.

I moaned, eyes rolling back, thumbs stilling over the toggles on the controller. Leo teased my clit with the tip of his tongue, and when I bucked against his mouth, wanting more, he pulled completely away.

“No,” I whimpered, peering down at him through my heavy eyelids.

“If you want me to play,” he said, drawing a line along my inner thigh. “You have to keep playing.”

God, I didn’t know if this was more hot or aggravating. Both, I decided, as I began moving my character around again. I was more focused on just walking around the Westbrook District than taking on any missions because I knew I’d fail them with Leo between my legs.

I slowly weaved through the streets toward my apartment in Megabuilding H10. I could pretend I was checking my stash there before a mission — Leo didn’t need to know. All he needed to do was keep whatever magic he had going on with his tongue.

I ran my bike off the road when he sucked my clit a little harder, and I was all but ping-ponging off the walls once I made it to my apartment building because he’d just slid one thick finger inside me. He curled it, hitting that perfect spot inside me as I moaned and sank deeper, opening wider, needing more.

“Come on, baby,” he breathed against my core, licking one long, slow swipe of his tongue in time with his finger inside me. “Can you fuck my fingers and stay alive, too?”

I moaned against the challenge, hiking one foot up on his desk so I could open wider for him as he slid another finger inside me. My hips rocked into his touch, and when I glanced down from the screen to watch where his messy head of hair was buried between my legs, I all but whimpered at the sight.

It was so fucking hot, to have this strong, powerful man on his knees just to please me.

Add in the fact that I had a PlayStation controller in my hand and it was heaven on earth.

Until he stopped again.

This time, he pulled his fingers all the way out, sitting back on his heels and wiping my wetness from his lips.

“Leo,” I whined.

“You know the rules.”

“It’s impossible.”

He gave me a look, and I huffed, tossing him the controller. He barely caught it before I stood and gripped him by the arm, hauling him up with his help.

“If it’s so easy, you try,” I challenged, and then I stripped his shorts and briefs off in one fell swoop, his cock springing forward, already hard and ready for me. I pressed him down into the chair with one hand against his chest, and then I kissed him hard, trailing my lips down every ridge of his abdomen until I was on my knees and settled between his legs.

I looked up at him through my lashes, finding him with a waiting grin before he turned his gaze to the screen and started playing.

I had no idea what he was doing, but I loved the way the clicks came slower as I kissed around his shaft, how his breathing intensified when I rolled my tongue around his tip like a lollipop. He groaned when I took just an inch of him in my mouth, his head falling back, and I pulled off him instantly.

He dragged his head back up, eyes on me, and I just smirked and pointed to the monitor.

He returned my smile, taking the challenge and focusing on the game again. But when I grabbed his thick cock with both my hands and spat on him, using my palms to slick him and work him in slow, methodic pumps, he groaned loud enough to make the house crumble.

“If you want me to gag on it, pay attention,” I told him when he looked down at me.

He cursed under his breath, but as soon as he turned his gaze back to the screen and started playing again, I rewarded him with my promise. Pressing up higher onto my knees so I had a better angle, I took him in my mouth, slicking him with my tongue an inch at a time and working him in time with my hands. After a few slick pumps, I dove down, taking him as deep as I could and holding him there until my gag reflex had me pulling off.

“Fuck it,” he said, and I’d no sooner had his cock out of my mouth before I was hiked up and thrown onto the bed.

I smirked in victory as Leo made quick work of his sneakers and shorts that were still around his ankles. He ripped his shirt overhead next, and before he could reach for me, I stopped him, running a fingertip over the ink stretching across his chest.

The tattoo was healing nicely, just a few places still scabbing now. I noted a couple spots where I wanted to touch up once he was fully healed, but I was proud of that octopus, of my first big piece on human skin.

I loved even more that it was on Leo.

“Are you done admiring your work?” he asked, grabbing the hem of his shirt — the one I was wearing. “Because I’m growing impatient.”

I barely nodded before the shirt was peeled over my head. He groaned his approval at the lack of bra underneath, his hand palming one breast while his mouth clamped down around the piercing on my other.

I hissed, arching into his touch. I was ready to lie back in the bed and let him fuck me cross-eyed, but he pulled me up to stand, instead. His mouth devoured mine as he walked me backward toward the bathroom, blindly turning on the shower before we both tumbled inside.

The water was cold at first, and I gasped against it, but then it ran warm, dampening our hair and sluicing over our bodies in thick rivulets.

I didn’t have time to adjust to any of it before my back was pressed against the cold tile, one leg was hiked up, and Leo pressed his crown to my entrance. It was still soaked from my saliva, and one thrust of his hips had him halfway inside me, had me seeing stars and digging my nails into his shoulders.

“Filthy fucking girl,” he cursed against my neck, biting it as he retracted and pushed just a little farther in. “I’m not going to last with you so wet for me.”

“Let’s see if you can set a record, then,” I challenged, tucking my pelvis so I took more of him inside me. “How fast can you come, Leo?”

He groaned, free hand fisting in my hair and yanking until I had no choice but to look up at the ceiling, to expose my neck for him. He kissed and sucked the skin along my throat as he hiked my leg higher and slammed into me. Once, twice, three times, each thrust rocking me harder against the wall. I couldn’t find grip on anything but him, so I held on tight, riding him with just the toes of my standing foot to steady me as he found his release.

Leo let out a vicious moan, pulling out as he rasped, “Knees.”

It was a command, one I heeded with pleasure, landing on the tile in front of him. I grew even wetter at the sight of him pumping his cock, the water from the shower head sliding over his chest and abdomen, droplets dripping from his hair and off his nose as he stared down at me.

“Open,” he managed, and just before he busted, I opened my mouth.

Rope after rope of cum rained down on me, slicing across my tits and neck and face, some of it landing in my mouth as I savored every last drop. It was so fucking hot watching his abs contract as he flexed into his hand, and I couldn’t wait any longer. I reached between my legs and circled my clit as he painted me with his climax, and I found mine easy enough, moaning and shaking as I fucked my own hands.

Leo cursed, barely finishing before he pulled me up to stand. I was mid-orgasm, ready to cry at being interrupted, but he hiked my leg up again and thrust inside me, sparking it back to life. Then, he rubbed me with his expert fingers, kissing me and swallowing my moans as the orgasm caught life again and rocked through me. I shook so hard I couldn’t stand on my own, Leo pressing me against the wall to hold me, but he didn’t relent until I was completely spent and sagging in his arms.

We stayed like that for a long time, panting and clinging to each other until we found the strength to stand again. The water had run a bit cold, so Leo turned it all the way up, the hottest it would go. Then, he grabbed my shampoo, squeezing a dollop into his palms and rubbing them together before he made me face away from him.

The water ran hot and delicious down my back, and then Leo’s large hands were in my hair, massaging my scalp as he washed it. I moaned, letting my neck relax, the sensation almost as good as the orgasm that preceded it.

And suddenly, the moment turned from feral to something so tender that tears stung my eyes.

It was silent but for the water slapping at the tile by our feet and our breaths still evening out. Leo washed and rinsed my hair before repeating with conditioner, and then he lathered his hands up with my body wash.

Those hands started at my shoulders, massaging and kneading until they trailed down my back and over my arms. He turned me gently then, his eyes finding mine through the steam as he washed my hips, my thighs, and tenderly between my legs. And I didn’t hide. I didn’t pull away or fold my arms over myself or do anything to shield my body from his view.

I felt safe with him.

I felt wanted.

He ran his palms over my breasts next, my nipples hardening under his touch. I glanced down to find his cock hardening, too, but he didn’t move his gaze from my eyes.

Slowly, he pulled me into him, his forehead resting against mine as he continued his slow strokes all over my body.

There were so many words that hung between us, emotions too strong for either of us to look directly at. They were like the blinding sun or a car crash or both at the same time.

Instead, Leo dropped his mouth to mine, kissing me long and deep as his hands worked me all over. When he palmed my ass and rubbed the thick swells there, his cock twitched against my stomach, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and threaded my fingers into his hair.

We kissed for what felt like another eternity.

Then, I turned around, and he slid inside me again, taking me until the water turned cold and we both came again.