Maddie

Ten months later

Germany has been a dream come true.

When I first arrived, I thought I got myself in over my head. I mean, what on earth was I thinking bringing a two-year-old across the country with me?

With it being just me here, I've technically been a single mom for almost a year now, and although it's been hard, I wouldn't have changed anything for the world.

I volunteer at a non-profit when I'm not studying, and Izzy loves it there. The doctors and nurses have accepted her as their own on the weekends she's not in daycare, courtesy of Cameron. He paid for her to attend a top-of-the-line nursery where basically all the kids are prodigies and geniuses. I felt he was going a little bit overboard, but it is Cameron, after all, so I should have expected it.

Speaking of overboard, the apartment he's renting for us to stay in is insane. It's in the best section of town in Hamburg, and despite my utmost refusal to move six months into my program, he insisted. The apartment we lived in before wasn't bad, but it wasn't the greatest. All the other students lived in the same building, but it wasn't to his taste when Cameron visited after he got a free moment away from football (is anything his taste?).

So now Izzy and I live in a luxurious apartment two blocks away from our old complex, and as exciting as the past ten months have been, I'm itching to return home. I haven't been able to see Cameron in four months with his constant traveling and practice as a professional football player, and it's taking a toll on me.

With Iz straddled to my hip, I fumble with my keys to the apartment building, the grocery bags making an indent around my wrist from the weight.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" I ask when she starts to whine.

She nods eagerly when I finally open the door, plopping her down on her butt in the middle of the island. She's pretty easy to handle most days, but if she's been at daycare without a nap? I shudder at the thought.

"Hm..." I sift through the bags, pulling out some mac and cheese and a pack of broccoli. "Look good?"

Her emerald eyes light up at the sight of mac and cheese. The broccoli, however, she sticks her nose up at. "Yucky," she says, her blonde curls seeming to bounce in agreement.

I roll my eyes. "You're being dramatic, baby girl. Go play with your toys in the living room, okay?" Helping her off the counter, she runs over to the toy box, and I grab a pot to fill with water just as my phone starts to ring.

Every time I see Cameron's name, my heart picks up speed. I'm already smiling when I swipe across the screen to answer, and as soon as that handsome face appears, I'm a pile of mush.

The man is way too gorgeous for his own good, and that's not me being biased. He was recently nominated as the world's sexiest athlete and had an entire magazine shoot to prove it. I still have a copy stashed away in the drawer of my nightstand.

With his large, rippled muscles and completely toned eight-pack, the shoot's director knew what they were doing when they asked that the cover be of him pouring a water bottle on himself. I haven't looked at the magazine in a couple of days, but at this point, I've memorized where each and every droplet trickles down his stomach, falling right to the v-line in those sexy light-washed jeans...

"Did I call at a bad time?" Cam arches a dark brow in amusement, clearly sensing what I'm thinking.

It's been four months without sex. Can you blame me?

Even now, he's propped up in bed with a muscled arm behind his head. He's completely shirtless, and my mouth dries out at the sight. I still can't believe I get to call him my husband.

"I need to come home," I say. "I'm in withdrawal."

"My last visit wasn't enough to hold you over?"

I inwardly groan. He could only get away for a few days the last time he visited, but in those few days, I had countless orgasms. When Izzy took a nap, he fucked me right against the counter. When we put her to sleep at night, he ensured I had back-to-back rounds of pleasure, his face never leaving from in between my thighs.

"Clearly not," he notes when I'm still speechless. "You know I'd take a flight out if I could, right? Practices are crazy right now during the preseason."

"I know." Turning to put the pasta in the boiling pot of water, I glance over my shoulder and say, "Iz, daddy's on the phone!"

At the mention of his name, Izzy comes barreling into the kitchen, wrapping her arms around my legs as she jumps up and down, her stubby hands reaching for the phone. "Daddy, Daddy!"

"Hey, baby girl!" He says when I twist the phone around so they can see each other. "How tall are you now? You're getting so big!"

"I'm a big girl," she replies with a cheesy grin.

"I guess so, huh? Now let me guess what you're having for dinner..." He scrapes his chin as if deep in thought but already knows the answer. Our daughter is the world's pickiest eater. "Mac and cheese?"

She nods and continues to jump up and down.

"You're going to turn into a pasta noodle," he teases.

Her eyes grow wide.

"He's kidding," I say, shooting daggers through the camera. It's been an effort to get her to sleep in her room after we moved to a different place again. If she refuses to do so now because she fears becoming a pasta noodle? Cameron can fly here and explain it to her. Practices be damned.

Izzy runs off to play with her toys again, and I prop the phone against the utensil holder to stir the pasta. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see his eyes drag across my chest, checking me out. "Will you quit it? I won't be able to focus with you staring at me like that."

He shrugs. "Can't help it. Have you seen yourself?"

"Cam," I warn.

With a chuckle, he moves the camera, showcasing his hard cock, which is pitching a tent in his shorts. My knuckles turn white from my grip on the wooden spoon.

"Call me after Izzy goes to bed," he says. "I'll make sure you put that toy I sent you to good use. Make you come so hard you won't be able to see straight."

"It's already been put to use," I reply, reminiscing on yesterday morning with just me, my vibrator, and that magazine with his sexy body. "Plenty of times, actually."

"Fuck, that's hot." Releasing his cock from his shorts, he strokes it into the camera, and my cheeks are bright red. I can feel the heat pulsating in them, attempting to keep my focus on the boiling pot of water, but it's almost impossible. My husband is the sexiest man alive. "How often have you played with yourself to pictures of me?"

The look in his eyes is addicting. If he were here, I'd seclude us in my bedroom, push him down on my mattress, and ride that cock of his he's currently stroking until his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I've always been able to make him speechless, but I can't. Not when he's thousands of miles away. That knowledge is more irritating than it should be.

"You're such a tease," I whine. "You know I can't do anything when Izzy is still awake."

"I know, baby, but as soon as she's asleep, I'll—" Suddenly, his eyes narrow on his screen like he's reading something, heaving out a sigh. "Fuck, I'm sorry. I have to go. I'm getting a call. Call me later, though, okay? Tell Iz I love her."

"I will. L—" The call ends abruptly, which has never happened before, but I chalk it up to his manager or coach calling and focus back on the task at hand. Dinner.

When I return to the apartment, I always feel the worst about my decision to study abroad. I have Izzy, but my family isn't complete without Cameron here, too, and the nights are lonely. Video chatting isn't enough. I miss falling asleep in his arms. Waking up and staring into those gorgeous green eyes of his. Raking my hands through his dark, touseled curls...

Letting out a sigh, I continue to stir the wooden spoon in countless circles, begging my brain to stop thinking about the image of Cam pleasuring himself at the sight of me, but it doesn't seem to help. All I want is to fly home and be together as a family again.

Two more months.

Just two more months.