Her Offensive Line

Chapter 14

Nick Adessi did not mess around when it came to kissing. And he certainly wasn't kidding about "no tongue" applying only to PDA.

Katie hadn't give much thought before this moment to what type of kisser Nick would be, but she found herself surprised, a little overwhelmed. There was no hesitation. No slow build or teasing seduction.

After one firm, commanding kiss, a slow caress of his lips on hers, he'd slipped his tongue easily along Katie's lips and she'd opened for him, her tongue greeting his with a slow rub. She whimpered a bit, rocking up and down in his arms, trying to create soothing friction for the instant ache that had jolted between her legs the moment their tongues had touched. She wasn't positioned quite right. While she did get some pressure, it was against his belt buckle and the waist band of his jeans.

Nick laughed lightly against her mouth at her attempts and slowly turned in a half circle. He broke their kiss long enough to lay her on her mattress. He followed her down, pushing her further up the mattress to make room for him to join her. He knelt between her sprawled legs and braced his hands on either side of her head to get right back to business.

His tongue slipped back in her mouth and elicited another whimper. Katie wrapped rushed to wrap her legs around his waist and bucked against him, this time hitting a much better spot that his belt buckle. Nick dropped his pelvis and ground down against her, finally giving her exactly what her body had been demanding.

Katie let her head drop back and relish the sweet friction for a few moments and Nick took the opportunity to drop kisses up her neck. She shivered and tightened the grip on his waist when he hit a sensitive spot just below her left ear.

The scrape of his teeth along that spot had her eyes rolling behind her closed lids, but his hand suddenly making contact with her bare stomach had her eyes shooting open.

"Stop!"

Nick froze. It was like a game of freeze tag—he went completely motionless. His rough palm resting on her stomach, his mouth partially open and pressing against her neck.

"We have to stop," she said again, softly.

When he backed up and off of her, coming to stand beside the bed, Katie refused to look up at him. She shifted to a seated position, pulling her twisted shirt down over her midriff and focusing on a spot somewhere to the left of Nick's hip.

"Did I do something wrong?" Nick asked.

Katie swallowed hard. Hoping her voice would sound normal when she answered him. She decided she'd have to look him in the eye, too, or he'd never believe her.

"No, nothing's wrong. We should just go back out there. It's weird to be in here messing around when there are people out there, my brother included. It's not my style."

Nick nodded and Katie wasn't sure if it was because he understood what she was saying, or that he agreed it was weird. "Sure, let's head out there."

When they rejoined the group in the living room, Katie was relieved to see they had some reality TV show on and were critiquing the interviews. Sitting curled up on one end of the couch, Katie tried to observe Nick discreetly. She watched him interacting with his friends and her roommate. He was serious and intense, but also had a sense of humor. He didn't tell the jokes, but he had a quick, flashy smile that reached all the way to his eyes.

She wondered how much of him was showing in his opinions on the reality show were somehow telling. He rooted for the underdogs; he respected grit and determination. He expressed his dislike for those that were conniving and manipulative, and talked about how he would do things in their place. He had been slow to give his opinion at first, sitting back, listening and observing, before weighing in with insights that were completely on point. Wicks was the only one who argued with him, and that was just because his friend liked to play the Devil's advocate. Katie imagined that Nick lead on the field in a similar way—not one to shout and weigh in on every detail; he would take it all in, and then jump in exactly at the moment he was needed and his teammates listened.

When the boys were ready to leave, Nick had handed Katie his phone and asked for her number, he'd then quickly sent off a text to her so she'd have his, as well.

See ya at breakfast in the morning, it had said.

He'd quirked his brows at her after she'd read it and she'd rolled her eyes then tapped in a response, sure thing, sweetie.

Tess had pounded the moment the guys were out the door.

"What happened in there," she'd asked, pointing at the door to Katie's room.

"We talked."

"All that talking made your lips swell?"

"What?!"

"Ha!" Tessa pointed at Katie now. "Busted. You did it—you totally kissed him."

"Technically, he kissed me."

"And?"

"And I kissed him back a little."

"So it was good?"

"Ugh, you know when you get, like, super turned on and you feel like your going to come out of your skin and your underwear feel like your vag has turned in a freakin' Super Soaker?"

"Oh my God—T.M.I.—waaaay too much information," Tess laughed. "But yes, I know exactly what you mean," she followed up.

Katie for a moment couldn't believe she'd said that out loud, but it had felt good to engage in normal girl talk. It had been a while since she'd had that. She decided to take it a step further.

"We made out a little on my; not very long at all. I felt him put his hand on my stomach and I froze. I don't even know if he was going to, you know, try anything, but I panicked and told him to stop?"

Tess looked slightly uncomfortable but she didn't shy away from the conversation. Katie had confided about her cancer before they had gone to the first Carson football game together. She'd gotten nervous after Cooper had seemed to find out about it so easily.

"You said he knows about your cancer, though, right?"

"Yeah. I never told him what kind, or that I'm missing a breast. I don't think Brady would tell him or anyone else about that. I feel like I should give a guy fair warning. I mean, I'm a gymnast—it's not like the breast I've got left is anything to write home about, but it's a breast."

Tess quirked a smile at this gymnast-slash-cancer joke. "At least you've got a great excuse to stuff your bra. Guys just think I'm vain and a liar when they figure out how much help I get to lift the girls."

They both paused, looking each other in the eyes for a long moment.

Tess broke the silence. "Too soon?"

"No," Katie shook her head. "I think I'm ready for boob jokes. And cancer jokes. I mean, nothing about having cancer was funny, but being a survivor, makes me want to laugh in the face of...something. I don't even know what. I just feel like it's okay to laugh. And to make fun of my boob. Singular. My scars actually make my little A-cup look damn good. Its confidence has never been higher."

"You totally just gave your boob feelings."

"This may sound weird, or be T.M.I. again, but sometimes I feel like it misses the other one. Like, it'll kind of tingle and the scar where the other one used to be will tingle, too."

"Hmmm..." Tess hummed. "What do they call it when an amputee can still feel a missing limb? Ghost pains? Or phantom pains? Maybe it's like that?"

"I wish it were phantom pleasures. Like my missing nipple still feels awesome when I'm turned on."

"Maybe you can ask Nicky Boy to help you experiment," Tessa waggled her eyebrows at Katie.

"Maybe I will," Katie said with more bravado than she really felt.