September Fall. Jenny Plumb

as he shook his head. "Absolutely not. He's pissed that I stuck my nose in where it doesn't belong."

      "What? That's insane! You stopped a rapist! What the hell?"

      Adam shrugged. "True, but I also might have lost my football scholarship, and if that's the case, I lost fifteen thousand dollars in one day. Plus, if I can't play this season, there's no chance I'll get picked up by a professional team, so my potential career could be gone, too. You know how well we did last year at the playoffs. A good part of that was due to having Mack as our quarterback, but this year would have been my year to shine now that he's graduating, and I'm almost as good as he is."

      She put her food down, leaned towards him, and placed a hand on his thigh. "What about your mom?"

      He shook his head and put his hand over hers. "She's not in the picture. My biological mom left when I was two. I don't remember her, but I've seen some pictures. I was an accident. She was seventeen and my dad was nineteen. She wanted an abortion, but her parents and my dad talked her into having me. Dad says he wasn't surprised when she left him for a rich guy who didn't want kids. But her parents, my grandparents, are great. I see them all the time, and my grandma said she was proud of me for catching Rubin."

      "That's good. Did your dad ever remarry?"

      "Yeah, I had a stepmom and an older stepsister for about five years. They got together when I was six and split up when I was eleven. I liked my stepmom well enough, but my stepsister was horrible. She was two years older, and she loved picking on me."

      "I'm sorry."

      He shrugged. "It's not that bad. My dad is usually a decent guy. We share a love of football, so that's always been common ground for us, even when we disagreed on other things. That's part of why he's so disappointed now. Because I had a real shot at getting picked up by a professional team, and now—"

      "Now you still might," she cut in. "When will your case go to trial?"

      "My trial is scheduled for Wednesday the sixteenth."

      "So in a couple of weeks, you might be back on the team and back on track. You shouldn't give up on that. You need to think positively and find ways to make that happen."

      He smirked and leaned forward into her personal space. "Are you cheering me on?"

      His sexy tone and proximity sent a shiver down her spine. She nodded. "It's what I do."

      Leaning in further, he pressed his lips to hers for a short, gentle kiss. "Thanks."

      "You're welcome," she answered breathlessly, wanting more, and unintentionally leaning in further.

      Then his mouth was on hers again, and she responded by parting her lips. Their tongues met, and she felt his hand on the side of her face, holding her still while he tasted her.

      When they broke apart, she said, "I'm not really that hungry."

      "Me either," he mumbled before scooting closer and putting one hand on her back before kissing her again. They were both breathing hard by the time they pulled apart.

      "Do you want to take this upstairs to my bedroom?" he asked.

      "Yes," she answered, but when he started to stand, she added, "But we need to talk about something first."

      He sat back down and nodded. When she didn't immediately speak, he said, "I can carry you up the stairs, and I've got condoms up there."

      "That's not what I wanted to say. But since you brought it up, you should know that I'm on the pill, in case the condom breaks." She was positive that they'd gone over that same conversation the first time they'd had sex, but it was good to check in.

      "Okay."

      Blushing, she looked down at her lap to confess the rest. Why was this so difficult? "I-I was hoping that you could…" she noticed him tense and lean back just slightly, "…uh… well. I'm kind of… kinky?"

      He leaned in again. "That's fine. I've done some kinky stuff. One girl I slept with was really into Fifty Shades. I tied her wrists with a tie and slapped her ass a few times while we did it. Is that the kind of thing you're talking about?"

      Sadie's eyebrows went up in surprise, but then she shook her head. "Not exactly. Fifty Shades is like… kink light."

      "Kink light?"

      She nodded. "Fifty Shades is like drinking a Bud Light when what you're really craving is a Guinness."

      "I've never had Guinness."

      "Really? It's my dad's favorite." She chuckled. "Actually, as far as beer goes, I much prefer the Bud Light, but for kink, I prefer something more serious than a few slaps."

      He frowned. "Okay, how serious are we talking?"

      "Do you have a belt?"

      He leaned away from her before nodding again.

      "That's what I want." Now that the initial confession had been made, it was easier to say the rest, but she couldn't maintain eye contact while she said it. "I could get on my hands and knees on the bed, and you could use your belt on my ass until it's bright red. Then you could take me from behind." Now that it was out there, she glanced up to see his expression. His furrowed brow and shaking head weren't promising.

      "I'm not sure I could do that. I don't want to hurt you."

      "Oh." Her eyes went back to her lap and she nodded while disappointment and shame washed over her. "Okay." She almost opened her mouth to say it was fine, and they could just have vanilla sex, but she stopped herself at the last second. Hadn't she told herself that she was going to finally get her needs met during sex? She turned back towards the table and said, "Then I guess we should finish lunch." She took a big bite of her hamburger, to stop herself from apologizing.

      She felt his hand on her knee, and her eyes went to his.

      "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so negative, but you caught me off guard. The last time we slept together, you didn't say anything about kink."

      She swallowed and turned towards him again. "Well, I was tipsy. We both were. Kink and drinking don't mix, and besides, I… well, I've never told anyone about my kink before."

      "What about Garrett?"

      She shook her head.

      "Wow. Okay, so that means you've never actually tried it out?"

      She nodded.

      "So you might not even like it."

      "I guess that's possible." She thought about the time she'd hit herself with a belt and added, "But it's not likely."

      After a short pause, he said, "I'm willing to give it a try. I mean, I'm sure I can give you a couple of whacks, I'm just not sure about the 'bright red' part."

      A small grin grew on her face. A couple of whacks would be better than nothing. "Yeah?"

      His eyebrows furrowed. "You're not going to like… cry, right? Because that…"

      She snorted and chuckled. "Cry? No. I'm not going to cry. I might moan and beg for more, but I'm not going to cry." She pointed to her cast. "Having half the bones in my foot broken made tears leak out of my eyes, but I wouldn't say I 'cried'." She looked out the kitchen window and added, "Being told I'd never be a cheerleader again made me cry." Turning back to him, she said with confidence, "Emotions make me cry, not pain."

      He leaned forward even further, so their faces were inches apart. "Sure, I get that, but won't it be emotional for you to get spanked with a belt? Did your parents ever—"

      "No!" she quickly reassured him, taking his hand in both of hers. "Never. My parents are great. This isn't me wanting to relive some kind of trauma or fix some childhood issue. The idea of being punished with a belt just turns me on." Very suddenly, she realized what might have brought that question on. "Wait a minute. Would this be difficult or emotional for you because of your childhood?"

      "No," he said with confidence. "I mean, my dad did spank me a couple times when I was really