Deuces Wild Page 12

  Carter has his pick of colleges. He’s got his career mapped out. He’s already made it clear that wherever he goes, I go. Maybe I should find that rude but I don’t. Of course I gave him lip about it but in the end we both know I’ll be going with him to whatever college he chooses. I’m just not sure what’s in the cards for me. I’ve never given it much thought. College isn’t something I was prepared to attend but I’d be lying if the idea of furthering my education doesn’t excite me.

  “You don’t have to do anything.” I glance up at him. “Except me.” He winks. I roll my eyes but smile. “There are culinary schools everywhere,” he says when I go back to chopping the food. “Maybe we look into some? Hell, your cooking is so fucking good you could just be self-taught.”

  “You’re just saying that.” Still I blush under the praise. He can’t be trusted. He thinks I’m good at everything I do.

  “Babe. I’ve eaten at the best restaurants in the world. I know good food. Yours is fucking delicious.” His eyes meet mine to let me know he’s serious. “My tacos are still better than yours but no one is perfect.” He just couldn’t help himself. I smile bigger because I love our life and I love this man in front of me.

  “I'd come over there and kiss you but we’d end up in bed and my bread is still in the oven and I don’t want it to burn.” I do an air kiss. He starts to get up but I playfully point my chopping knife at him. “Sit.” I try and keep my tone firm.

  His eyebrows furrow together and he drops down into his chair. I’d almost call it pouting. His phone dings, distracting him for a moment. I know it’s probably his dad. He doesn't keep the sound on for many people. I know he and his dad are somewhat close but in the weeks I’ve been here I’ve yet to meet the man. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing at this point. Carter respects his father. He may not approve of his father’s relationships but he keeps that separate from their own. I think he’s just busy maybe? I know it’s not that Carter is trying to hide me away. He enjoys letting everyone know I’m his girl. We still come across people that are shocked by this revelation.

  “You have enough for another?” Carter asks.

  “Yeah, why?” I think I already know. My thoughts have conjured an answer.

  “Dad’s coming over.” He drops the phone back down onto the counter, leaning back in his chair.

  “Right now?” I drop the knife. My hands go immediately to my hair. I look down at what I’m wearing. I’m in Carter’s shirt and a pair of his boxers. I look a hot mess.

  “You’re fine. It’s just my dad,” he says like it’s no big deal.

  “What if he doesn't like me?” That’s a big deal! He already knows all about the wallet and the police station incident. I’m starting to panic a little inside.

  “Don’t really give a shit if he does or doesn't. You’re not going anywhere.” Still he acts like this is no big deal.

  “Carter!” I shout at him.

  “Babe.” He gets up from the chair, coming over to me. He lifts me, setting me on the counter. “He’s going to like you. Everyone likes you.” He says the last part like it’s a bad thing that everyone likes me. “Trust me,” he says before he kisses me. Like all of his kisses do to me, I relax, letting him calm me.

  It isn't until a throat is clearing that I jerk back to see a man standing there who looks very much like Carter. Only older with graying hair and a suit on.

  “Knock, Dad,” Carter tells him as he steps back from me to head over to him.

  “I did.” They give each other a half hug. I sit on the counter, not sure what to do. I lift my hand and wave like a dork. I want to use the same hand to facepalm myself. Carter walks toward me and before he can introduce me, I hop off the counter and hug his dad. I think he’s a little shocked but he hugs me back. I am nervous and my hands are sweaty so a handshake was out of the question.

  “You must be my future daughter-in-law that I’ve heard so much about,” Mr. Franklin says before I can properly introduce myself. He probably thinks I’m crazy now. I don’t have to look at my face to know I’m blushing.

  “What’s up with all the hugging?” Carter growls from beside me, pulling me back from his dad. His dad throws his head back and laughs at Carter’s jealousy.

  “Deuce.” I smack his chest. “I just wanted to say thank you for everything. I know you helped with—“

  His dad holds his hand up to stop me from talking. “Did she just call you Deuce?” he asks, looking to Carter, but Carter is looking down at me.

  “You’re family, Mallory. Of course Dad would do anything for you,” he says, ignoring his dad’s question.

  “Deuce is right,” Carter’s dad says. He gives me that same half smile Carter has.

  “Only she can call me that.”

  Carter’s dad’s smile turns to a full-on one.

  “All right. I see what you mean about that prenup now.”

  “Prenup?” How did we go from poking at Carter to talking about a prenup? Oh yeah. The daughter-in-law comment. Is that why he is here? Carter and I talked about getting married but that is forever away. So I thought. Carter holds out his hand to his dad, who hands him a small blue box.

  “I didn’t even give this to your mother.”

  “I know.” Carter’s face is serious now. A look is exchanged between them in understanding.

  “It smells wonderful but I think I should leave you to have your night. I’m sure we’ll have many more chances for dinner.” Carter’s dad hugs me this time.

  “You’re good for him,” he says in my ear before letting me go. “Welcome to the family.” He turns to head out the door, leaving Carter and me standing there.

  I turn to look at Carter, my eyes flicking to the small box in his giant hand. “Prenup?”

  “We don’t need one.”

  “’Cause we aren't getting married for a while?” I question. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I know I want to marry Carter, I just never thought it would be this soon, but the idea of it happening sooner rather than later fills me with excitement. I would really be his and he’d be mine.

  “I’m not good at waiting when it comes to you.” He flicks open the box, falling to one knee. “I could have done this better but again, I’m not good at waiting when it comes to you.” I stare down at the beautiful antique ring. “It was my grandmother’s. She told me one day I’d give this ring to someone. I laughed. She only laughed back harder. I’m sure she is laughing down at me now.” He smiles. “Give me your hand, babe.”

  I raise my shaking hand as he slips the ring onto my finger.

  “You didn’t ask,” I point out.

  “No, I didn’t.” He pulls me down. I fall into his lap. “You think I’d chance that?”

  “You think I’d say no?” I wrap my arms around his neck as I straddle him.

  “I don’t know. You can be a wild card sometimes. I never know what you’re going to say.”

  “You love that about me,” I tease.

  “I do,” he agrees. He leans in, brushing his mouth against mine. “Really you should be the one who’s called Deuce. Deuces Wild.”

  I giggle against his mouth. “Let it go, Deuce. You’re keeping the name,” I say through my laughter.

  “As long as you take my last name.” He uses his soft and sweet tone that he reserves only for me.

  “Deal,” I agree, knowing it’s the best one I’ll ever make. He was a wild card that I opted to play, but in the end, we both won.

  Epilogue

  Carter

  “Don’t forget you have the press briefing in five,” Trainer Kay reminds me after handing me a towel. Training camp has just started and we’re supposed to do some song and dance for the sports journalists, but I’m going home.

  “No can do,” I reply, wiping the black from under my eyes. “The wife is trying out a new recipe and I promised I’d be home to eat it.”

  “Is that your new slang for sex?” jokes the new backup.

  As if I’d joke about
something like that. I give him a killer look. “No. She went to a class with her mom on how to make gnocchi—you know, the potato pasta tube things—and they’re making it at home for the first time.” I don’t share that this is the third anniversary of Mallory’s mom being clean and sober. It was rough at first, but a few treatment centers later, it looks like this sobriety is going to stick.

  “And you’re skipping a press briefing for that? That’s like a twenty-five G fine!”

  I shrug. To this kid who just got out of college and only has a few hundred thousand from his signing bonus in his bank account, maybe it does seem like a lot, but it’s worth it to me to eat with my wife and her mom.

  “Don’t argue with him, kid. He practically pays the commish’s salary with his fines. How many was it last year?” asks our all-pro center, Alonso.

  “Five hundred and seventy-five,” shouts Fast from across the room. We always played well together. I lobbied hard for him to be brought in. I know he’s the missing puzzle piece for our Super Bowl dreams. We haven’t one won in the last two years, which fucking sucks. But this off season, we got stacked with talent and I have every confidence we’re going to steamroll our way to the Lombardi Trophy.

  “That’s more than my salary,” mumbles another newbie.

  I toss the towel into the makeshift locker behind me and get to my feet. “You’ll make the cut, dude, and then you’ll get some nice bonuses from all the games we win this year. That’s what y’all should be worried about.”

  The PR dude, Dennis Cross, gives me a dirty scowl when I duck out of the locker room a few minutes later, my bag slung over one shoulder and keys at the ready in my free hand. I shake my head and cut him off before he can get out another sentence about how I’m breaking the rules and setting a bad example for the rookies. “My family is number one and always has been. I’ll be here tomorrow and so will the reporters and the cameras.” They’re here every day.

  “Not the same reporters.”

  “Then they’ll have to come back or write a different story. Tell your mom she looked pretty in the press box today. Orange is a good color on her.”

  Dennis’ mood instantly changes. “Thanks. I’ll pass that on.”

  I clamp him on the shoulder and leave. The minute I’m in my car—a lipstick-red Lambo—I call my girl. “On my way home,” I announce.

  “You got off early then? You weren’t sure this morning.”

  “Nah, I was sure. You were the one who kept pointing to the schedule saying that my afternoon was booked.”

  “So you’re skipping out on the mandatory press conference, are you?”

  “Guilty.” I wave to the two cops sitting inside their car watching our training facility parking lot. I gave them autographed footballs the first day at the suggestion of Mallory. “You’d be proud of me.”

  “I always am.”

  “Not about football but I was a real human today.”

  “Is that so?” She sounds like she’s smiling, which makes me smile.

  “Yeah. I gave a compliment to the PR dude.”

  “Dennis, honey, his name is Dennis. And good for you.”

  “I should get a special prize when I get home,” I say. Being nice is still an effort for me, but I try because it makes Mallory happy.

  “You are getting a special prize. It’s called homemade gnocchi.”

  “I was thinking of maybe dessert—something spicy, hot, and—"

  “My mom is standing right next to me!” she screeches. I hear the dial tone seconds later.

  I lean my head back against the seat rest and blow out a sigh. I love that Mallory’s mom is finally sober and I love that she’s living close to us so Mallory can see her every day, but I also want to have phone sex with my girl as much as I want. The ride home will be boring without having Mallory talk me through how she’s going to slide my sweatpants over my ass, pull my dick out and then suck my soul through it. I manage to make it home, though, and Mallory greets me at the door with a kiss.

  “I missed you, baby,” I tell her. My hands clamp around her hips and naturally drive her toward the nearest flat surface which, in the entryway of our penthouse apartment, is the wall. She’s just as eager. Her legs come up around my waist and she rubs her cloth-covered pussy over my already hard cock. Our tongues tangle as her fingers dig into my skull. I might’ve taken her then and there as I have dozens of times before but somehow I manage to keep my head. Reluctantly, I start to set her down. She clings to me, though, and forces my mouth back to hers.

  I give in and kiss her back, tasting every corner of her inner mouth, licking the top of her tongue and biting her plush lower lip. One of her hands drops to push the waistband of my sweats down far enough that she can palm my aching cock.

  “Baby, baby,” I mumble against her mouth, “what about your mama?”

  “She said she had a headache and went to lie down.”

  “At her place?” I bought her mom an apartment three floors below us.

  “Yeah.” Mallory flicks her wrist and the pressure on the tip of my sensitive cock nearly brings me to my knees.

  “Wh-what about the gnocchi?”

  “It’s chilling. We have time.”

  “Oh, thank God.” I start walking toward the bedroom, one hand under her ass and the other tangling in her long hair. “I’ve been thinking about your hot cunt all day long.”

  “I can tell,” she teases and gives me another long stroke. I stumble but manage to right myself without dropping her.

  “You’re acting like a smartass right now,” I warn.

  “Oh no, what are you going to do? Spank me?” she teases. Her fingers find my balls. My eyes cross and my breath stops. She knows my body so well, but, then again, I know hers too. I know she loves it when I smack her ass until it’s cherry red. I know she loves it when I’m bottoming out in her while her face is planted in a pillow. I know she likes her clit sucked, her G-spot stroked, her neck bitten and her asshole eaten out. I know that she likes her coffee black and her sundaes with extra whip cream, no cherries, please, because those are disgusting. And to know her is to love her. I can’t imagine my life without her. I was a dick before I met Mallory because I didn’t know what love was. Now I do.

  I drop her on the bed, kicking off my sweatpants and pulling off my shirt. She quickly sheds her own clothes and I’m inside of her before she can take another breath.

  “I thought I was getting a red ass,” she teases breathlessly.

  “I’m an athlete, baby. I can last for more than one round.” I withdraw and shove into her hard, sending her skittering across the mattress.

  She moans and digs her fingernails into my thighs. “You better make it quick. Mom’s nap isn’t going to last.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I can already feel the orgasm building. It doesn’t take long with her. I only have to look at her and I get hard. Once I’m inside of her, control flies right out the window. I reach between us and pinch her little clit. “You first, though.” She always comes first. I stroke her long and hard, reveling in how her hot glove squeezes every inch of me. She grows wetter with each pass. Her nails dig in harder and her breath becomes shorter. I lift both of her legs and fold them back so I can pound her juicy pussy hole with all the power and speed she needs to get off.

  She throws her head back and screams out her pleasure. At the sound of her cry of release, I sever the cords of my own self-control and pour my seed into her. This time we’re going to make a baby.

  I let her legs fall on either side of me and carefully lie down next to her so that my dick stays ensconced in her hot cunt.

  “Thank you for waiting,” she whispers as she brushes my sweaty hair off my forehead.

  “It wasn’t a chore. I had you all to myself. Maybe I don’t want to share you with some snot-nosed brat,” I joke.

  She ignores my sarcasm and snuggles close enough to press a kiss against my neck. “I know you wanted a kid right away, even when you were playing college ball, but it
made sense to wait and then there was my mom but now it’s all taken care of. It’s time for us to have a family.”

  My heart thumps madly. She’s not wrong. Like I know her, she knows me, too. But I don’t want to pressure her so I say carefully, “I want what you want.”

  “I want us to have a baby.”

  My dick hardens instantly. “How soon did you say your mom was returning?”

  A smirk covers Mallory’s lips. “You have twenty minutes.”

  “I can make a dozen babies in that time. Get ready to ride me.” I flip over on my back, pulling her with me. “Hop on my dick and make us a baby.”

  “What about my spanking?” she pouts.

  I whack her ass hard. She yelps. “Okay! Okay!”

  My laughter turns into a groan of pleasure as her cunt swallows me up once again. That’s life with Mallory, though, one part laughter, one part pleasure, and one hundred parts love.

  * * *

  So many of you asked for this book and I had to write it. It was a ton of fun. As for what’s next? It’s the podcast book. If you hang around Facebook or the Instagram page, you might have heard I wrote a little love story called SHE’S THE ONE for the Read Me Romance podcast. It’s about Maisie and Star (remember Mack’s sister?) You can listen to the audiobook for free or pre order the book now.

  On November 15, I’ll be coming to you with a whole new romance. Stay tuned. LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

  Ella

  Also by Ella Goode

  She’s the One & My Only One

  Spark

  Smooth Kisses, Sweet Kisses, Saved Kisses

  Ace of Hearts & Deuces Wild

  Finding Home & Bring Him Home

  Captured, Kept, Stolen

  Make Me Yours

  She’s All Mine

  Pretty Prize

  Three of Us (Twins #1) and Belong Together (Twins #2)