#ab88

You squeeze her tightly.

‘He’s the one on the field, Reva. I just cheer him on.’ Your voice shakes as emotion finally threatens to spill over. 

She pulls back and holds your shoulders, thumbs brushing the fabric of your custom Seahawks jacket that hides your BARNER 88 jersey, a surprise for AJ that you’ll reveal once you’re on the field with him.

‘That’s all he needs, sometimes. Someone who believes in him.’ 

Her words permeate through the fog in your mind. In the last six months of your relationship with AJ, you’ve come to realise just how unusual this life is. Being the girlfriend of any professional athlete was never going to be a walk in the park, but especially an NFL player with a career as bright as AJ’s. 

You’re just a girl from Tacoma who met AJ by chance in a Seattle coffee shop when he accidentally spilled his drink all over you. He had apologised profusely and, when he found out that you were on a lunch break from the clinic where you worked as a sports scientist, gave you his team jacket to cover up the stain. He insisted on driving you back to the clinic and promised to buy you a coffee and pastry to make up for it. 

As much as you had refused his offer, insisting that it was an accident, he returned less than an hour later with your exact coffee order and your favourite pastry tucked into a paper bag, still warm from the oven. 

When you think back to that day and remember that jolt in your stomach upon seeing his number on the coffee cup after he left, with a scrawled note saying ‘keep the jacket! - AJ :)’, it’s hard to believe that you would end up standing up in the suite with his family, watching him and his team win the Super Bowl. 

The world has a funny way of working, but you couldn’t be more grateful.

At last, a Seahawks staffer comes up to the suite to bring you all down to the field. 

‘Here we go!’ One of his sisters says excitedly. ‘He’s going to lose his mind when he sees you in that jersey, Y/N.’

Nerves bubble in your stomach before you can stop them. AJ was very clear in wanting you in the suite with his family, but going down onto the field, wearing his jersey with his name and his number on… 

It makes it real. The two of you agreed that keeping your relationship private was the best idea, especially with your work as a sports scientist. You work with plenty of local athletes, none as high calibre as AJ or his teammates, but it’s still enough to warrant keeping it private. You’ve been seen out together, rumours about AJ having a girlfriend have swirled in the city for weeks by now, but nobody has ever identified you. 

Joining him on the field today will be the first concrete public confirmation of your relationship. 

Reva seems to catch your nerves as you walk down the stairs closer to the field and reaches out to hold your hand.

‘Don’t stress, honey. He adores you, that’s all that matters. Anything else is background noise.’

You smile at her and pull her closer to give her an awkward side hug as you continue walking.

‘Thank you, Reva, for letting me join you today and… for your son.’

She waves off your thanks.

‘AJ was clear when he said he wanted you with him today.’

Warmth spreads around your chest, but any response disappears from your mind the second you step onto the field. 

The only way you can describe it is walking right into a hurricane. 

What hits you first is the wall of noise that deafens you. Confetti cannons blast blue and green confetti into the air, raining down around you like snow. Music is booming so loud that the bass makes your stomach shake. 

Security personnel, photographers, coaches from both teams jostle around you. Reva reaches behind her to take your hand so you don’t get lost. 

‘Make sure your pass is visible so you don’t get stopped by security!’ She has to shout it into your ear over the cacophony around you. You can only nod in response, completely overwhelmed, and move your pass around your body so it’s hanging around your neck with your name and photo clearly visible even from a distance.

‘Can you see him, Mom?’ Another of his sisters asks, craning her neck around the surging crowd on the turf. It’s surprisingly hard underfoot, reminding you of the pain AJ is in after every game. Knowing that he gets slammed into this turf every Sunday from September through January gives you a whole new lens to see him through. The sports scientist in you makes a mental note to research how to help him better now that you know this, but for now, you just want to find him. 

It takes several minutes of searching and false alarms, but then - there - you spot him by the field goal with Sam, Kenneth and Jaxon, curls damp with sweat and a white cap perched jauntily on top of his head. His pads are still on, filthy with grass stains and mud. 

‘There!’ You shout, already walking towards him without another thought. 

You turn around to face Reva, worried that you’re taking her moment with her son away, but she just waves you on, mouthing ‘go on!’ at you. 

So you do. 

Your vision narrows to AJ and the way his form gets bigger and bigger the closer you get. The crowd is still jostling around you, and you almost trip up over someone’s feet, but you keep going.

Jaxon sees you coming and beams, then shoves AJ in the shoulder. You see him ask AJ something like ‘that your girl?’, pointing at you as he does so. You’re still too far away to hear for sure. 

AJ whirls around in the direction Jaxon pointed in. His eyes meet yours and, for a second, it’s just the two of you on that pitch. 

Everything else becomes… background noise. 

You don’t register the way you’re still walking. You don’t even realise he’s running towards you.

Seconds and hours seem to pass by at the same time. 

The cacophony becomes an oddly muffled melee of noise in your ears.

Time seems to warp.

And then he’s swarming you, arms circling around your waist and snapping you back to reality. The din in your ears resumes. 

‘Oh my god,’ AJ croaks into your ear. His grip on you tightens, as if he’s scared you’ll fly away if he doesn’t hold you as physically close as possible to him, pads and sweat and all. 

You squeak when you feel your feet leaving the turf, and then you’re airborne, flying through the air as he spins you around in a bear hug. The squeak turns into a mixture of a laugh and sob that shatters through his resolve. Both of you are shaking violently as the adrenaline reaches its peak. 

‘Oh my god,’ he repeats, ‘you’re here.’ The words are sobbed into your neck. AJ sets you back down on your feet but keeps his hands tight on your hips, needing to keep hold of you to keep himself grounded. You reach your hands up to cradle his jaw. Tears are leaking out of his eyes, not that he seems to care. 

Even from where she’s stood from several feet away from you, as she watches the exchange play out, Reva can feel the love pouring out of the two of you. Even without the emotion of watching her son win the highest honour in the NFL, the sight of you loving her son is enough to bring her to tears. She holds out an arm to stop one of his sisters from approaching you. 

Neither you nor AJ notice it. For a few seconds, it’s just the two of you on that field. 

‘AJ, you just won the fucking Super Bowl,’ you gasp out through a trembling sob of your own. You’re crying properly now, tears streaming down your cheeks. AJ leans down to rest his forehead against yours. Electricity crackles between you as his hands reach up to brush the tears from your cheeks. His fingers are shaking, but they’re just as warm and gentle as they always are with you. 

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

‘It doesn’t feel real, baby. I feel like I’m living in a dream.’ 

Your eyes meet his when they reopen, and once again, the world around you seems to halt on its axis. 

‘This is real, AJ. I’m real, you’re here, you just won the Super Bowl. AJ, I am so fucking proud, I could burst.’ 

He laughs, it’s watery and tremors as it leaves his lungs, but his eyes crinkle and his dimples appear. You reach up and poke one of them, just like you always do when they appear. It’s a habit you’ve picked up without even realising. 

AJ opens his mouth to say something, but then stops himself. One of his huge hands, still muddy from the turf, reaches up to brush confetti out of your hair. The action is so tender that it makes your heart ache.

‘Have you shown him what’s under your jacket, Y/N?’ Reva asks suddenly.

AJ looks over at his mom, then back at you.

‘What?’ He asks with a small smile on his face, almost like he knows what he’s about to see but wants you to show him before he can believe it. 

It’s your turn to smile up at him, suddenly shy. 

You take a couple of steps back from him, shrug off your jacket and turn around so your back is facing him. When you pull your hair up so he can see the way his last name is splashed across your back in bold, white writing, his face instantly drops in disbelief. 

‘Oh my…’ he breathes. A hand reaches forward to trace the letters, like touching it makes it real to him. 

You turn back around and step back into his space. His hands find the same spot on your waist, pulling you close to him. AJ’s looking down at you with glassy eyes and a trembling bottom lip, emotion threatening all over again. 

‘I wanted everyone to know who I’m supporting tonight. Not just my football team, but my tight end. My guy.’ 

My tight end. My guy.

Those words are enough to break the dam. 

His huge shoulders shake as one sob, then another, breaks free from his lungs. 

‘You,’ he starts, then shakes his head in disbelief. ‘You are something else. You know that, right?’ 

You giggle through your tears. 

‘Is that so, Barner?’ 

He kisses your cheek, then your temple, and finally the corner of your mouth. Heat pools in your stomach. AJ smirks when he feels your breath hitch in your throat, but doesn’t say anything, knowing that his mother can see and hear almost everything between you. 

‘I’ve just won the Super Bowl, and then my girlfriend steps onto the field, tells me she’s proud of me and then shows me she’s wearing my jersey with my last name on it.’ 

He pauses. Takes a deep breath. 

The look on his face reminds you of the way he looked at you on your first date; soft eyes, a slight smile on his face and furrowed brow, like he’s concentrating on you and only you. 

‘I love you,’ he declares, voice raised so you can hear him over the din that’s still invading the space between you. There’s no hesitation in it. He says it as if it’s the only truth he knows, as if it’s the only truth in the world. 

Your chest heaves again, but not with sobs. With relief. With shock. AJ’s arms tighten around you as your knees all but give out from under you, leaning on him for support. 

‘AJ - oh my…’ You breathe. Then you swallow, or try to, through the lump in your throat, because you know you need to say it back. It’s the only truth you know. ‘I love you too, Super Bowl champ.’ 

He’s laughing, shaking his head as his feelings overwhelm him completely. He kisses the top of your head, then he’s holding your face with both hands, tilting your head up so he can kiss you properly.

It’s messy and uncontrolled, teeth clashing against each other. You sigh into his mouth when you taste the sweat on his lips, and you’re suddenly rocking up onto your tiptoes to kiss him properly. He grins this stupid, radiant grin into the kiss, as if he can’t quite believe that he’s kissing you with blue and green Super Bowl winner confetti floating down around you. 

It’s a scene from a movie. Except it’s real life. This is AJ Barner’s life now, and he wouldn’t trade a single thing. 

When you break apart, his nose bumps yours affectionately, and then he’s pulling you into his side, arm circling protectively around your shoulders to keep you safe against him. 

‘If I’m called into media, you’re coming with me,’ he mutters into your ear. You beam up at him, eyes still glassy and lips swollen from the kiss.

‘You sure the people of Seattle want to hear from little old me?’

He kisses your forehead, smiling into your skin.

‘Anyone who has a problem with it can answer to me.’

And you don’t doubt that for a second.

You watch as Reva steps forward to hug her son, finally, and you give them space. The atmosphere is electric, it’s chaotic and people are still jostling around you. AJ doesn’t take his eyes off you for more than a few seconds, though, constantly checking in with you. He raises his eyebrows, silently asking ‘you good?’, and you nod in response, still smiling, still crying.

Pride courses through your body, replacing the adrenaline that you felt throughout the game. 

There will be time for a proper celebration, just the two of you, when you’re home and when he’s not aching with the heavy game he’s just played.

For now, you watch as he celebrates with his teammates and his family, safe in the knowledge that you’re the one going home with him when it’s all said and done.

Everything else?

That's just background noise. 

"Baby we did it!!" AJ screams as he spots you after the game.

"Yes you did!! Congratulations!!" You say as you kiss him.

He wraps his arms around you pulling you closer before deepening the kiss, "Fuck I love you."

"I love you too" you reply, "Now go celebrate I'll see you later."

"Yes you will" AJ smirks biting his lip thinking about what will happen later.

"You little freak" you say as you laugh at his face.

"You know I'm not little" he mouths as he walks away to go celebrate.

A few hours, many beers, and a few cigars later, AJ has you pinned to the bed as he kisses the inside of your thighs. One of his arms is holding you down so you can't move while the other is holding your leg open.

"AJ" you whine.

"Patience baby" he says before licking a stripe up your slit and wrapping his lips around your clit.

"Fuck" you moan out as he starts eating you out.

"Tastes so sweet baby" AJ says as he speeds up eating you out.

You moan as he inserts two fingers before thrusting them in and out quickly, "Be a good girl and cum for me baby" he says.

You moan as you cum all over his fingers and tongue.

AJ pulls his fingers out before licking them clean, he stands before stripping his clothes off. He flips you over so your ass is up and your on you hands and knees. He arches your back further before lining up and sinking into you slowly, causing you both to moan.

"Fuck so tight" he says before pulling all the way out before slamming back into you.

You moan loudly as he brutally thrusts into you, "Fuck AJ."

"Yeah that's right let them hear you baby" AJ says before grabbing a handful of your hair and pulling you up so he can wrap his hand around your throat. He reaches down and starts circling your clit causing you to moan.

"Squeezin me so tight baby" he says in your ear, "I can tell your close baby."

AJ speeds up thrusting into you causing you to moan as you cum all over his cock, AJ groans before he cums right behind you filling you up.

Once you catch your breath AJ slowly pulls out before helping you lay on your back, he lays down beside you and pulls you onto his chest.

"I love you" he says.

"I love you too" you reply.

You’ve spent the last week planning it, so before you’ve even properly woken up, before AJ has stirred next to you, you’re already extracting yourself from his arms, swinging your legs carefully out of bed and pulling on one of his hoodies from the chair opposite the bed. 

Before you step into the bathroom, you stand next to the bed and just admire AJ as he sleeps. He’s on his back, shirtless, his broad shoulders rising slowly with each breath. He’s enormous. The sheer size of him still takes your breath away, all deep chest and huge shoulders. You can’t help but smirk. That’s your man.

The white sheets that are tucked up across his back and pillows beneath him somehow make the tan that still lingers from your visit to Australia stand out even more. The sight is enough to make heat thrum in your stomach, but you know you have to wait. 

You have a plan. You must stick to it.

Still, though, you can’t blame a woman for admiring her beautiful birthday boy as he enjoys a lie in,

Dark curls flop over his forehead and tickle his eyes. One of his huge arms rests across his forehead, while the other is outstretched towards your side of the bed, as though he’s reaching for you even in sleep. 

Stage one of your plan, breakfast in bed, is looming, but you lean down and press a gentle kiss to his cheek, then to his nose.

‘Happy birthday, baby,’ you whisper to him.

He scrunches his nose and makes a soft little grumbling noise, but doesn’t wake up. 

Then, you slip out of the room, wincing when the door clicks shut behind you. 

When you get to the kitchen, you roll your sleeves up and pull your hair into a high ponytail. 

Flour. Eggs. Milk. Chocolate chips. 

Birthday boys get spoiled, and chocolate chip pancakes fall directly under that category. 

The pan hisses when you drop a slab of butter into it. As you flip pancakes, chocolate chips melting into the batter, pancakes forming in perfect golden circles, a smile forms on your lips before you can even stop it. 

Twenty-four. He’s already achieved so much. National champion with the Wolverines. One of the most successful tight ends already. Super Bowl champion in his second year. And god, that touchdown… it will stay with you for the rest of your life. Your voice was hoarse for days after from all the cheering and screaming in the suite with Reva and his sisters. 

Soon enough, you’re assembling a tray that would make a Desperate Housewife kneel before you. 

Chocolate chip pancakes piled high. A perfect bowl of fruit, all his favourites like strawberries, mango, melon, chopped banana and chia seeds. A glass of apple juice because you’re apparently dating a secret five year old. A smaller bowl of his favourite yoghurt and chocolate hazelnut granola. A beautiful handmade card with a sweet message inside that you just know he’ll cry at.

And then, the cherry on top… 

A huge blueberry muffin from his favourite Seattle bakery. Perfectly moist, the top bursting over the casing, melt in your mouth blueberries. It’s complete with a small candle set in the middle of the muffin. 

Muffin. 

That’s what he calls you. For reasons known only to God and AJ Barner, that’s the nickname he gave you when you first started dating. 

It’s constant. Slipping out every time he speaks to you.

‘How was your day, muffin?’

‘What do you want for dinner, muffin?’

‘How’s my muffin doing?’ 

You’re in his phone as Muffin ❤️. 

He even says it during sex.

‘That’s it, muffin.’

‘Just like that, muffin.’

‘My beautiful muffin.’

It’s ridiculous, completely over the top and so perfectly him it warms your heart every time he says it.

There was no way on Earth that he’d get away with not having a birthday muffin from his muffin.

You grab the matches from the bureau on your way through the living room, then balance the tray carefully between your hands as you ascend back upstairs to his room. You pause only to set the tray down on the entry table in the hallway so you can light the candle, and as the small yellow flame dances happily on top of the muffin, you knock on the bedroom door.

‘Yeah?’ AJ’s voice croaks huskily from inside. 

‘You up, AJ?’ 

‘I’m up, baby, come on in.’ There’s a smile in his voice that makes a smile of your own appear on your face, and then you push the door open, angling the tray so it doesn’t catch on the door.

You look up at AJ and see that he’s sat up in bed, still shirtless, phone comically small in his enormous hand, no doubt answering the flurry of birthday messages coming in. He looks up at you with the tray in your hands and the candle flickering in the soft, early morning light of the bedroom, and his face instantly softens. 

‘Muffin…’ 

There it is. It makes your heart ping-pong around your chest just like it does every time. 

And then, you’re singing.

‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…’

AJ drops the phone onto the bedside table next to him as he watches you approach with a look of complete adoration on his face. Eyebrows soft. Mouth partly open as he takes in the effort you’ve gone into for his breakfast. 

You sing softly, eyes on AJ’s face with every step you take towards him, taking in his reaction. 

The song finishes just as you gently lay the tray down in front of him. 

‘Happy birthday, dear AJ, happy birthday to you.’ 

He looks down at the tray, then up at you, eyes suspiciously glassy. His mouth opens, then shuts. Then he swallows, clearly too overcome with emotion to talk.

You press the sweetest, gentlest kiss to his lips. 

‘Happy birthday, my sweetheart,’ you murmur to him, hand gently brushing his hair away from his eyes. 

He looks down once again, taking in the pancakes, the fruit that you so diligently cut into little pieces so he could pick it up with the fork, the yoghurt and his favourite granola, and then… he sees the muffin.

Blueberry. Clearly from his favourite spot.

That’s when his shoulders shake with a chuckle.

‘Did you go to that spot just to get this?’ 

You shrug and kiss the top of his head.

‘Figured it had emotional depth. I am your muffin, after all.’ 

When you sit down next to him on the bed, he reaches for you instantly and wraps an arm around your shoulders.

‘Thank you for this, baby,’ he murmurs. The sincerity drips from every word, every pore in his face, right from his eyes. 

‘You deserve it, AJ. Every last bit. You make me feel so loved and special every day.’ 

He leans in and kisses you, soft and gentle. When he leans back, you reach a hand up to cradle his jaw and kiss him again. AJ pulls you closer, flush against his side, still kissing you. He makes a low, desperate sound against your mouth when you sigh happily against him. 

You pull back, giggling slightly at his flushed face and slightly swollen lips. 

‘Come on, Barner, the pancakes will get cold.’ 

‘But I wanna kiss my muffin.’

You reach for the blueberry muffin on the tray, shaking your head in disbelief.

‘Here, eat this muffin. Your other muffin will still be here.’ 

He looks back at you, eyes slightly darker than they were a few minutes ago, but he’s clearly too hungry to think about anything other than eating. 

As he eats, the two of you talk about the off season so far. It’s gone so fast, neither of you can believe how close the pre-season is. Training camp is within touching distance, and you ask if he’s excited. He says he’s excited to see the boys again, excited to see what this new team will bring. You question if there’s going to be additional pressure after the Super Bowl win. He shrugs and says they’ll treat it like any other season. He says he’ll miss Kenneth and the other boys who went to new teams.

Outside, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. A car passes the house, engine revving as it goes over a speed bump. The sun is still slightly weak, but bright enough to cast golden rays through the shutters. Inside the room, though, the softness continues in that impossibly quiet, private way that you and AJ have perfected over the last year of dating. 

He feeds you cubes of melon and a few strawberries. You giggle when a drop of orange juice lingers on his mouth, and can’t resist reaching a thumb out to gently wipe it away. When he eats the pancakes, AJ makes appreciative noises and says they’re the best he’s ever had, and insists when you try and deflect. 

‘You put effort into it, baby, don’t think I don’t see that,’ he says as one of his huge hands cradles the back of your head. ‘Thank you, again.’

You look up at him. His gaze upon you is fixed, soft hazel eyes meeting yours in that adoring way they always do. 

‘You deserve it, AJ,’ you whisper again, leaning in to kiss him. He tastes of melon, chocolate and orange juice, sweet and delicious. 

The kiss is only meant to be quick. A gentle little peck. In typical fashion for the two of you, though, it deepens almost instantly. His giant hand moves from your back to the back of your neck, holding you gently against him as he kisses you harder. His other hand moves to your waist and pulls you closer, still, to him. 

You hum against his mouth, both of you smiling into the kiss, and then he’s breaking the kiss. You whimper at the loss of his lips from yours, but he only laughs and moves the tray off the bed and down onto the floor. The second the tray is stowed safely out of harm’s way, he’s kissing you again. His hand is warm against your jaw, the other sliding up under your sleep shirt. 

Then his teeth nibble on your bottom lip, not hard, just enough that you know exactly what he wants. 

‘Baby,’ you giggle into his mouth before you can stop it. 

He smirks.

‘Not doin’ anything.’ 

‘You know exactly what you’re doing.’

‘Maybe I do.’ 

‘Shameful.’ 

‘I’m the birthday boy.’ 

You look up at him, both of your chests heaving, both of you beaming at each other. You’re curled into his side with your arm resting across his chest. He looks so smug, so disgustingly pleased with himself, that your chest warms at the mere sight of his mouth, swollen and pink from the kisses.

Before you can overthink it, you’re moving, climbing up and on top of him, knees on either side of his middle. His hands settle on either side of your waist, then slide down to your hips. You shift so you’re sat directly on top of his crotch and, without even thinking about it, you rock your hips into him.

The effect is immediate. His mouth tightens into a grimace out of the effort his restraint is costing him. 

You lean forward, down towards him, and rest your hands on his chest. He’s warm under your touch, just like always, and you can feel his heart galloping in his chest. Your face is close enough to his that your noses brush as you look at him, at the want in his eyes, at the tension in his face. His body tenses underneath you as your lips trail gentle kisses across his face. His lips, the corner of his mouth, his cheek, down to his jawline… 

Then you kiss the sensitive skin just under his ear. You smile against his skin when you feel his breath catch in his mouth. Without realising, AJ tilts his head slightly away from you to allow you more access. 

‘Do you want your first birthday present, Birthday Barnyard?’ you murmur into his ear, kissing the soft skin at the top of it as your breath fans across his curls. 

AJ nods, words apparently proving too much in his current state. 

‘Need your words, AJ.’ A noise no louder than a whimper falls from his mouth, making you smirk into him. 

When you rock your hips into him again, you make a low moan of your own at the friction at your core, where you need him most. You can be patient, though. It’s his birthday, after all. 

‘I asked if you want your first birthday present.’ 

The noise AJ makes is more breath than sound. He rubs his face with one hand and keeps the other hand tight against your hip. 

‘Please, baby, give it to me,’ he mumbles into your hair. 

You hum happily at his answer, then kiss him properly again. 

‘Take your shorts off, Barnie.’ 

He glares up at you in mock offence.

‘I am a professional athlete.’

‘I’m aware.’

‘I am six foot six and nearly two-fifty.’ 

‘Also aware.’ 

‘And my girlfriend just called me “Barnie”.’ 

You reach a hand down and palm him through his sleep shorts. His dick is rock hard and leaking pre-cum, you can feel it through the shorts without having to reach a hand in. 

‘Do you want your birthday present or not, Barner?’ 

AJ opens his mouth again, seemingly planning to protest the nickname situation, then appears to think better of it. 

‘Yeah. Let me just…’

He wastes no time in bucking up his hips, shimmying his shorts down and kicking them off the bed. 

The sight of his dick, hard, thick and long, springing to attention now that it’s not constricted by his shorts makes your mouth salivate, but you want to take your time. 

‘Good boy,’ you whisper to him. Because you’re in an extra filthy mood, you grind your hips against him again, feeling him underneath your little shorts. He whines — actually whines — against your mouth when you kiss him again, wanting nothing more than to feel you against him. 

You break away from the kiss and start kissing down his skin again. Your lips trace the line from the corner of his mouth down to his jaw, then follow the sinews of his enormous shoulders down his pecs and each of his abs. As you get closer to where he needs you most, though, you start bunching up the kisses so they’re closer to each other, achingly close to his crotch but not quite there. 

From the pillow, AJ lifts his head up and looks pleadingly down at you.

‘Muffin… fuckin’ tease, need you…’ 

You look up at him through your lashes, batting them in false innocence, and kiss down his happy trail. His hips buck up again at the sensation of your lips inching closer and closer to his dick.

‘Say please, or I stop.’ Your voice drips with honey, syrupy sugary sweet while you nestle yourself between his huge thighs. His abs are already shiny with sweat, curls damp at his forehead and temples with the effort of his restraint. 

‘P-please, honey, I’ll do whatever you want… whatever you need…’ 

His words make you smile with delight. You kiss the inside of his thigh, and then, without another word, you take hold of the base of his dick with one hand and kiss the tip of it, humming delightedly at the taste of his pre-cum against your lips. 

The effect is immediate. AJ grunts loudly as his entire body jolts, lifting almost entirely off the mattress, at the feeling of you taking his length in your mouth. Now that you’ve got him in your mouth, you release your hand and reach out to lace your fingers into the hand that’s resting by his side. His other hand fists the sheets, eyes scrunching closed, mouth open in pleasure.

‘Jesus, fuck…’ he mutters. 

You just smirk in response, tongue licking straight up his shaft from balls to tip, lingering there to let your tongue swirl and kiss the tip. His enormous form stretches in front of you. His chest is heaving already. 

The room fills with the most obscene sounds of your mouth slurping on his cock, AJ’s grunts of pleasure and your quiet hums of approval against him. He’s so big that your eyes are watering, but you don’t care. Every time his cock hits the back of your throat, tears leak out of your eyes, but you remain undeterred. 

You love seeing AJ like this. Relaxed. Letting loose. Expressing himself.

He’s normally so wound up and locked in that it’s rare anyone gets to see him like this. You do, though. You get to see the softness he wakes up with. You get to see the tenderness in his eyes whenever he looks at you, even when you’re deep throating him like you are now. You get to see the gentleness that still surprises you from a man of his enormous size. 

Oversized golden retriever, is the phrase you use most to describe AJ to anyone who asks. 

The thought makes you smile to yourself, momentarily forgetting that you have his cock halfway down your throat. Then he rocks his hips up again, driving his dick somehow even further down your throat, pulling your attention back to him and the moment. The gagging noise punches out of your chest before you can even help it, but he just smirks down at you in delight.

AJ sees that your hair is falling down in front of your eyes, so he lets the hand that was fisting the sheets move to round the back of your head, fingers curling into your hair. His grip is firm but never tight, more to keep you supported than to tie you down.

‘That’s it, baby, take all of me,’ he murmurs contentedly. ‘Doin’ so good, muffin, look at that pretty mouth.’ 

His praise hits you warm and right in the chest. AJ knows how much you love praise, so he keeps going.

‘So perfect f’me, sweetheart.’ 

‘Look at my pretty girl.’ 

‘Favourite sight in the world, right here.’ 

It all spurs you on, encouraging you to keep licking him, keep bobbing your head up and down on his length. 

All thoughts evaporate from his brain when a strand of saliva sticks to your lips as you pull away just for a moment to look up at him. His eyes are dark. Pupils fully dilated. 

His hips rock up more, now. He’s close, you can tell from the way his movement is getting more and more sluggish. 

‘Keep… keep going, muffin…’ he breathes. His eyes are closed again. The tip of his dick is becoming more sensitive with every swirl, every lick, every swipe of your tongue. ‘Please, sweetheart, I’m… I’m close…’ 

His head tilts back onto the pillow at the pleasure coursing through his body. You look up through your eyelashes again and watch his Adam’s apple bob in his throat as he swallows hard with the effort of trying to keep himself from completely letting himself go. But then, with another swipe of your tongue up his shaft, his body spasms underneath you. AJ gasps and closes his eyes as the high crashes into him, skin flashing hot. 

‘Oh, sweetheart…’ he groans into the room, making heat pool low in your stomach again. 

Warmth hits the back of your throat, making you retch again with him still buried to the hilt in your mouth. What you can’t swallow dribbles out of your mouth and down your chin, mixing with your saliva and a few tears that still linger on your cheeks. His dick squeezes with the last of his release, milking him as much as you can. 

His hand loosens his grip on your hair. You take the opportunity to look up at him. Huge chest still heaving. Curls still flopping over his forehead and temples, darker with sweat. 

The room goes from intense and heated to soft and tender in a matter of seconds. You can hear his breathing coming out in deep inhales and panting exhales, like he’s having to catch one breath before he’s even finished the last one. 

For a moment, or it might be all the minutes in the world, you stay curled up between his thighs, watching his chest move up and down, aftershocks still rattling through his enormous form. Then his arm slides around your shoulders and gives the weakest little tug known to man. 

‘C’mere, muffin,’ he mumbles when you don’t move. ‘Want cuddles.’

You can’t help but dissolve into giggles at the pathetic delivery of his demand, but all the same, you crawl up his torso, occasionally kissing his stomach, his abs, one of his pecs as you pass them, before flopping down next to him under his shoulder, sighing happily when his arm immediately curls around you to bring you close to him. 

When he looks down at you, your chest nearly caves in at the sheer amount of love in his eyes. Everyone else can see the way he looks at you, like you’ve hung the moon, solved world hunger and built Lumen Field all in the same day, but when you see it yourself? When you see the tenderness of his eyes and the softness of his mouth, combined with his curls sticking down to his forehead from the exertion? It’s like everything suddenly makes sense again. 

‘Hi.’ Your voice is barely more than a whisper. One of your arms is thrown across his chest, while the other folds into the pillow below his head. 

‘Hi, muffin,’ he smiles back at you. The two of you look each other in the eye for a moment, before he huffs out a laugh. ‘That was… that was something.’

The giggle breathes out of you before you can stop it, pleased and deeply smug with yourself.

‘Did you like the birthday special?’ 

He squeezes his arm slightly around you, always aware of his strength when it comes to you, and kisses your forehead. 

‘Very much.’

Your arm shifts from his torso up to his cheek, cradling it as you lean in for another kiss. It’s shorter, sweeter, but no less charged than the other kisses of the morning. He hums against your mouth when you sigh into it, both of you deliriously happy.

‘You deserve it, AJ. Every bit of it and more. I’m so proud of you.’ 

His eyes go glassy, just like they always do when you express how proud of him you are, and you kiss him again, just because he’s yours and you can. 

‘Super Bowl champ in your second year. Scored the only touchdown in the game. The way you’re stepping into a leadership position already. That’s so special, AJ.’ 

The smile he gives you is watery and slightly emotional. 

‘You’re the best, you know that right?’ 

You shrug with a playful grin. 

‘I might be aware.’ 

He just smiles down at you, still spent and boneless, and pulls you even closer to him, arms wrapping around your shoulders to give you a proper cuddle. There are few places in the world you feel safer than in bed with AJ, and today is no exception. You’re pulled into his side, almost close enough that you could climb up on top of him if you were so inclined. His stubble tickles your forehead as you burrow yourself into his skin, like you want to actually fuse yourself to him. 

‘Happy birthday, baby,’ you murmur into his cheek, nuzzling somehow closer still.

‘Thank you, muffin. For the last year, for breakfast, for the… gift, and for the muffin.’

You kiss his temple. 

‘A muffin from your muffin sounded like the best way to start your birthday.’

‘Luckiest guy in the world.’

You hum in response, then frown.

‘We still need to discuss the origin of muffin as a name for me, AJ.’

His chest rumbles beneath you with a hearty chuckle, making you giggle back to him. This is one of your favourite parts of your relationship with AJ — the two of you can go from intense, heated moments to sweet, giggly softness at the drop of a hat. 

‘That can be a story for breakfast.’

A beat.

‘Muffin.’ 

The two of you giggle properly at the pure silliness of it all, pride still circling your chest for everything he’s achieved. The conversation weaves loosely between reminiscing about the Super Bowl to your trip to Australia, from the upcoming camp he’s holding to the start of the new season with new faces on the team and what it will mean going back to the facility with the Lombardi taking pride of place in the main foyer. 

Mostly, though, you talk about each other. About your love. About how far you’ve come in such a short space of time. About how he’s your emotional support human fridge and how you’re his safest, gentlest place to land. How you’re excited for your second season of supporting him. 

Through it all, he looks at you like you’re all the birthday presents he’ll ever ask for, rolled into one beautiful woman.

And that’s all he needs.