On Point

"Ah, ah, ah. You can't have them just yet."

My lips pressed against each other in confusion.

"So I'm just supposed to look at them?"

"No," he laughed. "Lily number one is for your sportsmanship as you are the only person I know to take time away from celebrating a victory in order to tell your opponent they played well." After the description of the lily, he handed it over to me. I felt my cheeks reddening as they blushed. I gave the flower a quick sniffed and felt my nerves melt away with its sweet scent.

"Lily number two," he said as he removed it from the bundle, "is for your baller skills. Hands down, you're the best female basketball player I've ever seen." He handed me the second lily.

"Lily number three is for your smile that I can see you're trying to stifle right now." He extended the third lily to me, which I took as I let my full smile cover my face.

"Lily number four is for your hard work. It really is incredible how much time you not only devote to basketball, but to your friends, job, and school. Makes me a little jealous if we're being honest." He handed over the fourth lily. I let a soft laugh loose as I took the lily from him.

"Lily number five," he said with a grin. "This one is my favorite. I bought you this lily because of your heart. Your big, warm, selfless heart that I can tell guides every decision you make. I saw your face when Clarissa's drive to the basket got stifled and you had to make the winning shot, and I could tell you wished it had been her. That takes an incredible amount of heart, and an insane degree of selflessness if you ask me. Your heart's bigger than most people's on their best day, and for that reason plus a couple others, lily number five is my favorite." He held his hand out so I could take the lily. My sportsmanship, baller skills, smile, hard work, and heart, I thought to myself. He's being entirely too sweet.

"Lily number six is for your determination," he explained, interrupting my thoughts. "I don't think Countryside had beaten Andrew's academy for a few seasons, but that didn't stop you from playing your hardest. It didn't scare you, and it didn't intimidate you. Kudos." He gave an eyebrow raise and a slight laugh as he handed me the lily.

"Ah, lily number seven. Or, zero seven, should I say?" I laughed at his reference to my jersey number. "Zero seven is just for how amazing you are as a person. This lily, was the most perfect of all of them, so it had to be the one that represents your entire person."

"My entire person?" I laughed as I took the flower from him. He was right, this lily was perfectly proportional. It was large but not too large. It also had an even amount of black dots scattered across its petals. Even the two leaves the branched out from the stem were perfectly balanced.

"I'm trying to say you're perfect just like the flower," he restated with a chuckle and a head shake.

"I followed you," I beamed.

"Good, good. Now lily number eight." He pulled the smallest lily out of the remaining bundle. "This one is for your beauty. And I know you're thinking why I chose the smallest lily to represent your beauty, but I did it because it's the little things that make you beautiful to me. The way your cheeks get red when someone compliments you, the way you look when you're wearing my worn out ball cap, and especially the way you look when you're covered in sweat after you played your heart out on the court. So yes, it's the smallest flower, but only because I love the little things about you the most." I thought I felt a tear welling up in the corner of my eye as he handed me the flower. The suspicion was confirmed when I had to sniffle a runny nose.

"Lily number nine," he grinned. "Don't hit me, but this lily is for your mouth." My jaw unhinged and I forgot all about the tear that fell from my eye. I was winding up to whack him on the shoulder when he interrupted me with an plea. "Hear me out, hear me out, hear me out," he pleaded.

I rolled my eyes and rocked back on my hip. "Go on."

"I didn't mean it in a sexual way, even though that is pretty damn great too, but I—"

"Uh!" I interrupted as I pushed him on his shoulder. "There may be no one here, but that's not necessary!"

"I said that wasn't the only reason," he defended. "I meant that I love the way you talk. You have this way of saying things that just amuses me. Nonstop, all the time, twenty-four seven. I just like to hear what you have to say." I took the lily from him while I gave a curious eye. I was trying to decipher whether the continued explanation explained away his previous insinuation that my mouth was something he was thankful for, or not. I decided I'd hear him out on the next flower to see if he could earn his redemption.

"Lily number ten," he said carefully. "Lily number ten is for your passion, especially on the court. Even people who don't know you can see that, and I think it speaks volumes." He held out the lily and I took it with a smile. I couldn't stay mad at him.

"Number eleven." His tone was back to its boisterous self, as I'm sure my smile wiped away his recently acquired caution. "This one's for your talent. Not just basketball, but everything else you're incredible at. Particularly gymnastics, yoga, wearing yoga pants—"

"Uh!" I interjected. "That's not a talent!" I didn't want to laugh because I knew he'd be encouraged, but it was funny.

"Well you're pretty damn good at it," he admitted, "so I'm gonna count it. Moral of the flower, you're very gifted at anything you put your mind to." He extended the flower to me and I took it with a big grin.

"Then there's the last one," he said with a smirk. He twirled it in his fingers slowly as he searched his brain for the words. "This last one is for being my best friend and the greatest girlfriend I could ask for, even when I say stupid stuff like the fact I'm thankful for your mouth."

"You meant well," I giggled. He muffled a laugh before extending the flower to me. Under the dim lighting of the kitchen I gazed down at the gorgeous bouquet of lilies I had just acquired. They were gorgeous, and incredibly special to me because Ryan had never done anything like it before. What he said meant a lot to me, and I knew I'd never forget it.

"This was just awesome," I whispered as I slid the bouquet into a vase on the counter. "Thank you so much," I breathed as I wrapped my fingers around the sides of his face. His smile flickered across his lips before I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against his. I could feel his smile in the beginning part of the kiss. It took a while to wear off. Although, I kind of like it. It gave me some sort of reassurance and confidence that that night wasn't going to be as frightening as I had feared.

He placed his hands on my hips and ran them underneath my shirt. There was something about his fingers gripping my abdomen that made me incredibly anxious but also self aware. I pulled away from his attention and nibbled on my finger.

"Is something wrong?" he inquired, taking a deep breath to steady his panting.

"I— I uh— maybe I should just go home."

He didn't say anything, but I could tell what he was thinking through his bulging eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Was it something I did?"

"No, I just— I— I'm—"

"Abbs, it's okay if you haven't gone all the way before. I'm not going to—"

"It's not that, because I have. It's—" I blew out a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. I clamped my eyes shut and searched my brain for the correct words.

"Abby, what's wrong? I thought you were okay with this," he said quietly as he put his hands on my shoulders.

I let a substantial amount of time pass before I forced myself to say, "I'm scared."

"Of me?" he asked with a half laugh. "Honey, I promise I'll go—"

"I'm scared I won't be good enough," I muttered.

"Abbs that could never happen. Okay? You could never not be good enough for me, even if you tried your hardest."

"I'm not— Ryan I'm not like other girls. I don't weigh—"

"You're worried about your weight right now? Seriously? Look, honey, we've been going out for months now. Six to be exact. I don't care how much some scale says you weigh, you're beautiful to me. And don't think I mean you're fat when I say that because you're absolutely not."

"But I don't have—"

"Shh. Trust me, there's nothing about you that I would change. I love you for the way you are. That's what I was trying to convey to you with the flowers. I want to be with you because of how I feel about you, not because of the way you look. Although the looks are a big bonus."

I let a soft giggle flutter off my lips. He rested his head on my right shoulder while waiting for me to decide where we went from there.

"Okay," I said softly as I turned to face him.

"Okay you want me to take you home, or okay you want to—"

I pressed my lips into his again and let my hands rest on his trapezius muscle. He used his hands to delicately lift me off the floor and carry me through the house. I stopped kissing him when I realized how dangerous it was for him to be carrying me without watching where he was going.

"Something wrong?" he inquired as he gave a subtle head flick so his blonde hair wasn't hanging in his eyes.

"No, I just couldn't understand how you knew where you were goin'," I giggled as I maneuvered my head to try and see where he was going.

"I know this place like the back of my hand," he said coolly. "I don't need to watch where I'm going."

"Even still," I muttered as I watched the ground. "I'd have a little more piece of mind if you looked."

"And so I am," he responded. We passed through the family room, through the never ending hall, and hung a right in the sun room. There was a marble staircase that lead to the next two floors. Ryan started up the steps gracefully and exited them at the second floor. The steps emptied off to the right, in a grand room with two opposing couches and a towering fireplace. Below this room, on the first floor, was his parent's master bedroom, which also had a fireplace. I had only been in the room once, but their bedroom was probably larger than my entire house.

Ryan carried me out of the room and down another hallway until he reached the room at the end. The door was adorned with Michael Jordan posters, basketball quotes, and a large sign that read: eat, sleep, ball, repeat. I had gotten it for him for his birthday, and it made me smile that it was front and center on his door. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he crouched slightly to twist the knob and pop the door open.

With a soft push the door swung open. Ryan stepped in slowly and kicked the door shut. His room had always made me a little jealous. He had a four poster queen size bed, but it wasn't the typical four poster bed. The posts didn't reach up as far as most did, rather they stopped about six inches above the dark wooden head and foot boards. I always thought it looked amazing, but the beauty was lost on hunk of a boyfriend. He really didn't care what the bed looked like, just so long as he had something to sleep on.

The walls of his room were covered in posters. Predominately of basketball icons, but there was an occasional Sports Illustrated poster of Kate Upton. There were also intermittent posters of Silverado's, Camaro's, Corvette's, Lamborghini's, and Chargers, all varying in the year of the model. Besides the occasional Kate Upton, his room was excellently decorated. There was hardly enough open space to see that his walls used to be white.

I broke my stare from the walls when he laid me down on the bed. My gaze shifted to his incredibly blue eyes, then to his lips as they made their way towards mine. The only light in the room was a dim lamp that rested in the far corner. He rarely shut it off, if ever.

He propped himself up on his hands that were on either side of my chest. He gave my nose a kiss before he whispered, "You're absolutely gorgeous right now." I let a smile dance across my lips before I eased them onto his. The kiss was soft and slow at first, but with time it grew into the carnal, hot, intense kiss that I loved. My hands crawled up his arms, inherently tracing one of his bulging veins. I paused them on his shoulders while we both adjusted to being centered on the bed. Neither one of us broke the kiss to do so, however.

He started unbuttoning my flannel. It was slow as he was only using one hand, but the farther up he made it, the cooler the air felt against my skin. With every button he undid, he parted the material. My breathing got shaky when he stopped kissing me to redirect his attention to the two buttons that concealed my breasts. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that the sports bra I was still wearing would go over well.

As he undid the last two buttons, he let his charming laugh fall from his mouth. He rested his head on my chest until for a second before saying with a large grin, "I would expect nothing less."

"Kinda didn't feel like changin' completely after the game," I muttered.

"I'm glad you didn't," he winked. He helped pull me up and slide the shirt off my shoulders. "And you thought you were fat," he mumbled with an eye roll.

"I wasn't wrong," I retorted with a pouty face. "It's all over."

"It's nowhere," he corrected me. He trailed a line of kisses from my shoulder to the bottom of my ear.

"You should really take this off though," he whispered against the shell of my ear as he tugged at the bra.

"Might need a little room for that," I said softly.

"Your wish is my command." He backed off to give me a little space. During which time he slipped the jersey with my number on it, up and over his head. My eyes settled on his incredibly sculpted body. It was obvious how much time he spent working out, whether it be in the gym, on the court, or anywhere else he could sneak it a quick burn. I couldn't bring my eyes to part with his gorgeous chest.

While he waited for my he pulled his red and black, two hundred dollar, LeBron James Nikes, followed by a coordinated pair of socks. I inhaled a deep puff of air and eased the sports bra over my head. My eyes couldn't look at him any longer, but I could feel his fixated on me.

"Damn girl," he said as he closed the gap in between us. He used his kiss to push me back down onto the bed and used his hand to explore the top half of my body. When his hand paused on my breast and gave it a squeeze, I couldn't help but let a moan rumble through my throat. I felt his smile return to his lips.

I started to notice a growing moisture in between my legs. He readjusted so that he could begin unbuttoning my skin tight jeans. The button popped open with ease, and the zipper didn't put up a fight. I raised my hips slightly so he could pull them off me easier. He did so slowly. His eyes burned lines into my skin as they hungrily gawked at it. I sniffled a laugh away and looked around the room. I was studying a poster when I felt the jeans slip off my ankles and heard them hit the floor. I returned my gaze to Ryan.

"So hot," he whispered. I assumed he didn't intend for me to hear based on the quietness of the remark. His hands delicately grasped my ankles and walked their way up my legs. I felt goose bumps form over the skin his hands had just graced. I let out a slow breath when he started pulling the pair of black panties down past my thighs.

Once they were off me, I heard him release a slight laugh. My mind instantly panicked. Consequently my eyes became like daggers on him. "Slam dunk? For real?" he questioned with a laugh.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "I've never played a game without 'em," I admitted with a wink. "Some people have a lucky bracelet, a lucky pair of shoes, and I've got my underwear."

"It's actually kinda hot," he said with a smirk. He tucked the pair of underwear into the back pocket of his lightly colored Wranglers. "I'm gonna hold onto those for a bit."

"You're not keepin' 'em," I said sternly. "Those are seriously my lucky underwear, I can't play without them."

"You'll get them back eventually," he eluded. "Just not right now."

"I can live with that," I whispered shyly as I bit my lip. He leaned down over me to give my lips another round of hungry kisses. After which he began forming a trail of kisses that was unceasing until he was directly below my navel.

He used his hands to part my legs. He gave me a crooked grin before he planted a soft kiss at the top of my moist opening. Just the kiss was enough to draw a moan off of my lips. I heard him snicker. He ran his tongue over the small area between my thighs and soaking pussy. He licked and kissed every available surface, and I couldn't help the cascading moans falling off my lips.

My hips were twisting underneath his tentative touch. There was a heat radiating from where his hands were locked onto my hips. He teased me for many minutes, alternating between light kisses and forceful, thrashing licks. I was going mad trying to hold myself together. I had never been so close to falling over the edge in such a short amount of time. Even with Ryan trying to hold my hips in place, they were still bucking all over the place.

When he pushed his tongue into my opening, I nearly lost it. My eyes clamped shut and a quiet, "Fuuuck..." rolled off my lips. I felt Ryan's smile again, and he recoiled. His chin was glistening under the dim light.

"So fuckin' hot," he snorted as he crept up to kiss my lips. My cheeks reddened, but I reached out to run my hands over his chest. I loved the feel of his muscles underneath my finger tips. Emboldened by his kiss, I wrapped my legs around him and walked my hands down to the button of his pants. I popped it open and tugged the zipper down.

He pulled his lips from mine to dip his hand into the front pocket of his jeans. He pulled out a small golden package. He clenched it in his hand and returned to kissing me. I used the flexibility I'd acquired from years of gymnastics to pull the Wranglers down to his ankles with only my toes. He tore the small package open with his teeth while I pulled his underwear down with my toes as well.

He was already hard when I got his boxers off, but I still started to slink down because I wanted to do what I knew I was good at. I had hardly moved when Ryan said, "Don't. Tonight's your night." He slid the condom on over himself and redirected his attention to making out with my neck.

I ran my fingers through his hair. He shifted his weight onto his right hand. He ran his left hand up and down the side of my body until he stopped with it beside the small of my back.

He pulled his lips from my neck, and I let my hands trace his shoulders down to his biceps. His eyes were twinkling in between the bangs that hung in front of them. My body was more than ready for him.

"Are you sure?" he whispered with a soft nibble to my ear lobe.

"Take me. Hard," I said back. I pulled myself closer to him and trailed kisses across his jaw line. I heard the distinct sound of his snicker by my ear. Shortly after which he pushed me back down on the bed and lined himself up with me. He rocked his hips forward and eased himself into me. We both let out a gasp when he was all the way inside me.

It didn't feel completely out of place, but we both shared a giggle after that moment. He kissed me on the nose before he started pumping in and out of me. With time we began to synchronize our moments, until it felt like each thrust was going to bruise me. I clenched his shoulders while the sounds of our moans filled the room.

He pinched my nipples in between his teeth, and it was enough to dissolve what little bit of me was left. I fell into a million pieces as my hips bucked beneath his. He kept going for seconds that felt like minutes until he found his release and collapsed on top of me. I had to blink a couple of times to remove the spots from my vision.