Mike fucks his ex wife because it's comfortable like an old familiar pair of cleats. And because she'd given him that look when she'd told him she was single again. He knew that look. Knew what was expected of him.

So he falls into her arms and it feels a lot like riding a bike. He remembers how she likes him to suck on her nipples and then blow warm air over the wet flesh he'd left behind. He remembers the way she likes to be stroked and that she always wants him on top (no matter how many times he mentions his aching knees).

He fucks his ex wife because obviously it's what he wants, right? Just two months ago he was at her house asking for a second chance. Well, ding, ding, fucking dong. Here's his second chance on a big fucking silver platter. Trouble is that his heart just isn't in it, and evidently his dick isn't either. Rachel whispers words of encouragement when he struggles to stay hard for her.

Finally, a very frustrated Mike shushes her and closes his eyes. Things click into place only when he turns his mind to the only place where he knows his dick really wants to be… with Ginny Baker.

Ginny fucks Noah because she's desperate to feel something – anything other than her wildly inconvenient desire for Mike Lawson. She can't have Mike no matter how much she wants him. She knows it and she knows he knows it too. So maybe Noah isn't the guy for her, but he's here and he's attentive and funny and sexy and her brain says he'll do just fine even though the rest of her body is not so easily convinced.

She fucks Noah because she needs to erase thoughts of Lawson from her mind. She needs the almost kiss from the other night to be surgically removed from her psyche. She needs Noah to fuck Mike right out of her system. He doesn't. Even when Noah is inside her (fucking her slow and steady because he's a gentleman, of course), she can't shake thoughts of the way Mike's beard had felt ghosting against her face.

She fucks Noah but has to fake noises of pleasure because his is not the body she wants. Not the body and certainly not the man she yearns for.

Later, Mike stares at the ceiling as he listens to Rachel's soft even breathing at his side. He wants to leave but doesn't want to hurt his ex's feelings. He still loves Rachel. He just doesn't want her anymore. Not like that.

He only wants Ginny and it's killing him.

In the same hotel, on a different floor, in a different room, Ginny stares at the red numbers on her night stand clock. Noah is asleep and his snores echo in the stillness. Her heart aches with a loneliness he can't soothe. Her pussy throbs with a need he can't fill.

Noah is a nice guy. He just isn't the guy for her.

He's not Mike Lawson.

When the soft buzz of her phone alerts her to an incoming call, Ginny knows before she looks that it's him. She climbs out of bed and walks quickly into the bathroom before answering. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk." His voice is gruff.

She tells herself to hang up. Nothing good can come from this. But she doesn't hang up. "Okay. Let's talk."

"Not on the phone. What's your room number?"

"You can't come here." She blurts out the words too fast and the resulting silence is deafening. He's not an idiot. She rushes on, "I'll come to you. What room are you in?"

"No. Can't talk here either." His voice has an edge but Ginny isn't sure if he's pissed she has company or if he's feeling guilty that he does too.

"Where, then?"

"Bar in the lobby."

"It's 3 am. It's gonna be closed."

"Trust me."

She pauses a moment but not because she doesn't trust him. She trusts Mike Lawson in every way. It's herself she doesn't trust. She gives in anyway. "Okay. Give me ten minutes."

"I'll give you five." He disconnects before she can properly reply.

Ginny leaves her room without waking Noah and takes the elevator to the lobby. She's wearing a fitted tee shirt and Nike leggings. Her hair hangs in loose curls around her face. She gets to the bar's frosted glass door and frowns at the closed sign hanging there.

She's turning to leave when the door opens and Mike peeks out. "Get in here, Rookie."

Ginny pitches one eyebrow high. "Breaking and entering your thing now?"

He shakes his head. "I know the owner and he owes me a favor. Drink?"

She takes in his jeans, the plaid button down and the tousled hair. He looks as shitty as she feels. She scoots onto a bar stool. "Beer."

Mike goes behind the bar and grabs a long neck bottle from the cooler. As he hands it to her over the polished oak, their fingers touch for the briefest of moments. Ginny feels a surge of heat that goes straight to her core. In this one second, she is more turned on than when Noah was actually fucking her.

She runs a hand through her curls, berating herself for coming down here at all. This isn't going to end well. She closes her eyes, hoping to get her body under control before she does something stupid. She opens them slowly and finds that Mike has come around to her side. He also holds a beer as he settles on the bar stool next to hers. "You wanted to talk?" she asks, hoping to ease the tension that hangs heavy in the air.

"Who's in your room?" he asks, his expression is dark.

"That's really none of your business." She takes a drink. "Who's in yours? Amelia?"

"Rachel."

Ginny chokes on a mouthful of beer. She remembers the interview and how she had felt like she clicked with Mike's ex. The truth was she had liked her. Jealousy slithers down Ginny's spine anyway. "Thought you guys were over."

"So did I. Who is in your room?" he demands again.

"Why do you care?"

"Is it Livan?"

"No."

"Who is it?" His eyes burn into hers. He looks frantic and worried and sick all at once. It's unsettling.

"Fine. It's Noah."

"The geek from the IT company?" Mike looks unimpressed.

"That's not really what he is –"

"Yeah, I don't actually care. You guys serious?"

She wants to say yes and nip this - whatever the fuck this is – in the bud but her brain and her tongue are disconnected. "No. Not serious."

He takes a drink and his gaze falls to the mouth of the bottle. He stares at it. "Why him?"

"Why not him?"

"Is that the kind of guy you want? A millionaire with his own company?"

"Pretty sure he's a billionaire with his own company," she deadpans, taking a drink.

He shoots daggers her way with his eyes. "That's what you want? Money?"

Her mouth is a traitor once again. "No. Of course not."

He nods as if this is the answer he had expected.

"What about you? You and Rachel back together? That's what you've been wanting, right?"

"It is what I wanted."

Ginny shakes her head, feeling oddly defeated.. "I'm just going to go." She sets her beer down a little harder than she should have and stands.

Mike is fast for his age – especially considering the way he's always bitching about his bad knees. He's standing right in her face. "She's what I wanted before," he rasps, his eyes on hers.

"Before what?" Ginny feels like she's drowning in his intense gaze and she can feel his body heat rolling through the air between them. He smells like musky cologne and sex. This should make her want to run. Instead it makes her panties wet. "Before what?" she asks again, her pulse pounding.

"Before you."

"So you didn't fuck your ex wife tonight?"

"Oh, I fucked her." His face is so close that she can now feel his breath on her lips. This is like some crazy re-creation of that almost kiss from in front of Boardner's. She can't bring herself to step away.

"You slept with her and then called me?" Ginny licks her lips.

Mike shrugs. "You and tech geek? Did you fuck him and then take my call?"

"That's none of your business."

He shakes his head hard. "I'll take that as a yes, but you're wrong. You are my business."

"I'm your teammate."

He takes a step closer and Ginny is pressed between his thick body and the cool wood of the bar. "Yeah, we're teammates. I don't care anymore. I can't think. I can't sleep. I can't survive, not like this."

"Like what?" Her throat is dry and her panties are drenched. Every cell of her being wants this man. She wants to maul him and take him in deep. She wants him to not be a gentleman. She needs him to fill her and pound her until she can't stand up straight. Feeling unsteady, she reaches behind to support herself against the bar.

He puts his hands on her hips, squeezing gently. "I can't go on without you. Like you aren't the only one I want. Is that just me? Am I all alone in this? This wanting?"

Ginny bites her lip hard and shakes her head with a little jerk. Her breathing is ragged. "Not alone."

He growls like a caged animal and surges forward. His mouth is on hers, hot and frantic. His hands grasp and squeeze at her heated flesh and his hips roll against hers. His cock is like concrete against her belly and Ginny trembles as her pussy throbs with need.

She sucks on his lower lip and his tongue thrusts into her mouth to explore roughly. She responds in kind, sucking and biting and grinding against his mouth. This is what passion feels like. This is the way it should taste – all intensity and primal need.

Mike pulls away but stays close. His pupils are blown and his cheeks are flushed. "When you were with him, were you thinking about me?"

"What?" She's distracted by his closeness and his heat.

"Tech boy? Were you able to come without imagining he was someone else? Imagining he was me?" Mike sounds pissed at the very idea that it could be true. "Tell me, Rook - was I the only one who had to think of someone else just to finish tonight?"

"No." She's breathless and her pulse pounds.

"Don't you think it's time we fuck the one we really want?," he mutters as he moves in again, his mouth harsh on hers once more, his beard scraping the soft flesh around her mouth. Mike's body is all muscle and need and he's pushing against her like he can thrust all the way through her. She'll be bruised with the way he'd handling her.

She doesn't care at all.

Ginny growls into his mouth as he yanks at the hem of her tee shirt. They pull apart long enough for the shirt to fly and then they are pressed together once more. He licks her throat and grasps her tits in his calloused hands, kneading them roughly and pinching her nipples through the sports bra she's wearing.

"Want you, Baker. Want you so damn much." He ruts against her through their clothes, his cock thick and pulsing between them.

She answers by unbuttoning and pulling at his shirt and when it's gone she strokes his skin and scratches her short nails roughly across his back. He hisses out against her lips and she does it again. He won't be able to strip down in the locker room without comments.

He doesn't give a shit. Nothing matters except getting his cock inside this perfect woman.

She seems to have the same idea, yanking wildly at the snap on his jeans and jerking down the zipper. She pauses only when he puts his hand on hers. "Watch it, Rook. Get it caught in my zipper and we're gonna have to slow way down."

"No slowing down." She eases the zipper over his engorged dick, and then the urgency is back and she's shoving his jeans down his thighs. "So the captain goes commando?" she asks. "That's weirdly hot."

He smirks against her mouth. "Glad you like." He pulls at her leggings and tiny black panties and reaches between her legs, finding her dripping wet. Mike stills with two fingers buried deep. "This all you or both of you?" He sounds pained, as if the very thought that Noah had come inside her is killing him.

Ginny shakes her head. "He wore a condom."

"Good." He begins to fuck her cunt with his fingers, filling and stretching her. "You're tight. Even though you just – "

"You suck at multi-tasking, Lawson. Stop talking and move your fingers."

He grins against her mouth, his tone is dirty, "Yes ma'am.". He loves the way she gasps and writhes under his touch. "Gonna be moving a lot more than my fingers in a minute."

"Thank God," she mutters, grasping his dick and gently pulling him closer with it. She wraps her fingers around his girth and jacks him firmly. "Want you inside."

"Yeah you do." He boosts her back onto the barstool and she spreads wide for him, her gaze like fire that consumes his soul. He strokes her slit slowly, his fingers moving easily through the mess of her desire. She's swollen and soaked and his cock twitches against his belly.

"You on the pill?"

"Yeah. I am." Ginny takes over, grasping his erection and showing him where she wants it. He lets her line him up, but pauses, holding her gaze. "This isn't how I imagined this would go, Rook. Our first time was supposed to be different."

"Too late for candlelight and chocolates now, Lawson. Fuck me."

So he does.

Mike fucks Ginny not because she's familiar (she isn't). It's not because he knows exactly what she likes (yet) or because he needs to get someone else out of his head (she's the only one there). He fucks her because not fucking her is no longer something he is physically capable of.

Later he'll admit to himself that he probably loves her and has for a while. He'll be consumed by guilt for how this all went down. But not right now. Right now, his throbbing cock is balls deep in her sweet, hot pussy and his life has meaning again. He thrusts and grasps and licks and bites. He plows deep, panting and groaning as she wraps long toned legs around his waist.

He strokes her clit until she's quaking around his cock, coming so hard that her pussy clenches him like a vice. Her chest heaves and her body flutters and clenches around him as she winds down. Her eyes flutter closed.

He begins to thrust again, faster and harder than before. He's close and wants to make sure she remembers this moment forever - just like he will. Mike wants to brand it on her brain. "Open your eyes, Ginny."

She does as he asks, looking at him from under hooded lids. "Mmmm?" she asks, sounding content and maybe a little sleepy.

"Look at me, Rook. Need you to remember all of this."

"I won't forget. Can't."

"You got that right." Mike grasps her ass hard, his fingers digging into her hips as he slams his cock home. He pistons in and out. His body tenses and he comes hard, filling her with his seed. Mike's head falls forward, his forehead resting against hers. "Rook, you okay?" He's breathing hard.

She sags into him. "Yeah. I'm good."

They pull apart slowly and he slides from her warmth with regret. "That was amazing. Want to do that forever."

"Forever?"

He nods. "Listen, I'll tell Rachel it's over - for good this time. You tell tech boy to take a hike. We can figure out the team stuff later -"

She finds her clothes and pulls her panties on as he rambles. Unease stirs in her gut. "I don't know."

"What don't you know? That we just had mind blowing sex? That we should have done this days ago? Weeks?"

She puts her tee back on and closes her eyes, watching a mental parade of all the people who will be disappointed or outright devastated by tonight's events. It's a long line. Reality slams into her full force and she frowns as she pulls her leggings back on. "We'll see. We've got a couple games left and then Noah wants me to go on a vacation with him in the off season, so I might be gone for a while."

"You're going on vacation with him ?" Mike yanks his jeans up but leaves them unzipped. A swirl of black hair is still visible between the zipper's teeth. "After tonight? After this?" He motions to the barstool where he'd mounted her.

"I don't know. Maybe." Ginny bites her lip and looks away. "He's a good guy, Mike. He deserves better than this. So does Rachel." She motions back and forth between them. "Did it feel good? Yeah, but it isn't right. You and me. We made a mistake"

"Not a mistake. Felt right to me. And you seemed pretty damn okay with it two minutes ago."

"I got caught up in the moment, but it was wrong. Noah doesn't deserve this and neither does Rachel. She's a good person. And if you didn't want her, why did you hook up with her tonight?"

"This thing Al said was in my brain. He said Chicago was the new girl who made me laugh and forget what I really wanted."

Ginny takes a step back, eyes wide. "So I'm Chicago? Rachel is the Padres? Jesus Christ."

"No!" Mike slams his fist onto the bar. "I'm not saying that. Nobody is Chicago and Al wasn't even talking about people. I just had that on my mind and when Rach said she and David broke up… I don't know. I screwed up."

"Yeah, we both did, and that's why we have to stop it now. If we let this continue, we'd hurt people we care about. We'd probably hurt our team..." She straightens her shoulders and looks him in the eye. "It's not worth it."

"So, you're just going to go back to him and pretend that my come isn't dripping down your thighs right now?" His expression is hard, his tone is bitter.

"Don't be an asshole. This is already bad enough." Ginny rubs roughly at her temples. She looks pained as dread and regret drown out the ecstasy from moments before. "Oh God, this was a mistake."

"No, it wasn't." Mike is adamant. "Me with Rachel – that was a mistake. You and Noah – that was sure as fuck a mistake. You and me – we are not a mistake." He rakes his hands through his hair.

"I gotta go." Ginny says, backing toward the door, her eyes on his, pleading silently for understanding. "I'll see you at the park, but this - it didn't happen. Do you understand me?"

"Ginny, god damn it! Don't go," he begs with a crack in his voice. "I need you."

But she's already gone.

A/N No beta on this one. All mistakes are mine. I have a second chapter half written...debating whether this is fine as is or if it deserves a more hopeful ending. Let me know. Does angst feel right here, or do you want to see that chapter two? Comments are always welcomed and adored, so leave one if you have a minute.

Update... 2nd chapter will post within the next few days.