When I Need You (Need You #4)

“So you and Jensen are out, loud and proud, as a couple?”

“Yes . . . and no. Jensen has lived at Snow Village longer than I have and he knows everyone. He claims they’re trustworthy, so we hang out at the pool and the playground with Calder’s friends’ parents. As far as us going out together? Either as a couple on a date or with Calder? Right now we’re content to stay home. I work all day and Jensen is dealing with pretraining stuff. We’re happy to flop on his ridiculously large couch and chill.”

“And here at camp?”

“The staff knows we’re . . . close. The kids don’t pay attention. It’s not like we’re even here at the same time most days. My parents know we’re involved, but they keep it to themselves.” Guilt hit me. I shot him a look. “Shoot. I’m sure Jens meant to tell you sooner—”

“He did tell us. But that was weeks ago and we’ve been out of the country. So now we’re back and Mama Lund tends to take matters into her own hands.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“Now I’m going to sneak off before Selka gets back and chews me out for spying on her.” He squeezed my shoulder. “Hope to see more of you, Rowan.”

“You will. It was nice meeting you.”

When he reached the side door, I said, “Ward? Can I ask you something?”

He turned. “Of course.”

“What’s Jensen’s middle name?”

He laughed. “Ask his mother. It was her idea.”





Twenty-two


ROWAN




The hot summer days and hotter summer nights with my man flew by.

Camp Step-Up was winding down even as Vikings training camp started in two days.

The more I worked with Astrid, the more she impressed me. I wished I had the budget to offer her a paid position scheduling practice and workout times at the campus training center, because we needed someone who could multitask.

Jensen returned home every night exhausted. I’d never overstepped my bounds and told him to train less or not push himself so hard, but I was sorely tempted after he’d nearly fallen asleep at the dinner table.

In addition to the physical demands of being a professional athlete, with the impending opening of the new stadium, it seemed the team PR machine had hit the overdrive stage. All of the players were in demand for interviews and appearances at community events. The only good thing about the accelerated promotion schedule was that no one questioned why the players and the cheerleaders were together so often. Jensen and I didn’t avoid each other, but we also weren’t making out in the locker room or walking hand in hand to events. I wasn’t sure how things would change once we’d passed the preseason; I just knew things would change.

Whether that would be a good change for us . . . only time would tell.

I still hadn’t heard from Martin about when he and Verily planned to return. Part of the deal with us subleasing from them? I was supposed to be looking at houses to buy. But besides occasionally browsing online, I’d pretty much blown off the house search. Did I have visions of moving into Jensen’s apartment after Martin returned? I wasn’t ready to answer that honestly. Since Calder was starting at a charter school, the school district we lived in was irrelevant.

The main issue for me was that I’d been an apartment dweller since I’d lived in the dorms my first year of college. It sounded weird to a lot of people—my folks included—but I liked living in an apartment complex. I’d heard the “throwing your money away on rent” argument more times than I could count. But the thought of being responsible for even more things in my life—yard work, shoveling snow, home repairs and maintenance—sent me into panic mode. I hadn’t mentioned my aversion to becoming a homeowner to anyone except Martin. That was how I’d ended up subleasing his place: because he understood. He’d told me unless he moved out of the Cities completely, he planned to live at Snow Village indefinitely.

Since starting the child-care co-op, I felt we were part of a community. I liked that Calder had friends and a pool and safe playground. I liked the location. I’d be content living there.

Thanks to Jensen, we now knew everyone in the complex and there was a certain bond among athletes and former athletes in Snow Village. The turnover among renters was very low; the list to get vetted for consideration to rent a place there was years long, according to everyone I’d talked to. So the open apartments on the first floor bugged me.

Needing a break from the never-ending paperwork as a new semester loomed, I’d ducked out of my office to grab a soda for my caffeine fix. In the vending area I showed immense willpower by not adding a package of M&Ms and calling it lunch. Carrying my Diet Mountain Dew across the mats, I stopped when I saw Bree talking with a big guy in a ball cap—a very familiar big guy.

What was Jensen doing here?

I started toward them.

Immediately Jensen homed in on me and his lips kicked into a half smile that meant he was thinking dirty thoughts.

He didn’t wait for me to come to him; he half jogged toward me.

Bree yelled, “Wait. You can’t just—”

“It’s all right. I was expecting him. We’ll be in my office.” I motioned with my head for him to follow me down the short hallway.

My office was on the small side, but I loved the coziness of it. And it seemed particularly cozy with a six-foot-five, two-hundred-fifty-pound football player crowding me against the door the instant we were alone.

Jensen was all over me. Wrapping his hands around my face and kissing me with a hunger that stole my breath.

He didn’t stop kissing me until he was damn good and ready. By that time, my thoughts were fuzzy, my skin sizzled and my body had gone wet and achy with need.

Jensen buried his face in my neck and muttered “Fuck” on a soft sigh.

I slipped my hands under his shirt because I could. It still made me giddy that I had unfettered access to this amazing body, belonging to this amazing man.

He shuddered as I touched him. My fingertips tracing the grooves of his rock hard abdomen. My palms following the sides of his torso up and over his rib cage to the thick slabs of muscle that defined his chest. I swept my thumbs over his nipples and nudged his face with my shoulder so I could kiss the underside of his jaw.

“God. I needed this.”

“What?”

“You.” He groaned and pressed into me with more intent. “Is this a sturdy door?”

I tweaked his nipple before pushing on his chest. “It’ll rattle like a freight train with as hard as you thrust. I don’t need my students standing outside the door wondering what the hell is going on in here.”

Jensen blew a raspberry against my throat and I squealed. “Dream killer.” He stepped back. “No problem. I can adapt. I’ll just bend you over the desk.”

Framing his gorgeous face in my hands, I hated seeing the dark circles of worry and exhaustion beneath his usual sparkling eyes. “You okay? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but it’s rare that you just drop by.”