Blitzed (Rules of Possession Book 3), page 26
“Yes, and you’ll like them.” He laid out a couple of fluffy towels on the vanity. “I could lie and say the bath bombs were a gift, but I bought them myself.”
“I wonder how much I could get if I sold that story?”
“Not enough to pay for the broken kneecaps.”
I chuckled. “You’ll get in with me?”
“Why, Jesse. Bubbles and a romantic bath for two?” A little smile crossed his lips. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
Why, oh why, did I find that little shit amusing? “Shut up and get in the fucking tub.”
He clutched his chest. “Love the way you romance me, sweetheart.”
“Don’t make me dunk you,” I threatened.
“I think I’d like to see that, Fox. I really would. Because size-wise, the logistics aren’t adding up.” His hands slid around my waist as he pulled me closer, those honey eyes alight with laughter. “You should know that. You’re a logistics kind of guy.”
“I’m scrappy,” I said confidently, bouncing on my toes. Declaring you can do some shit you probably can’t do adds spice to life.
That prompted some tickling from him and some wild laughter and flailing from me. Even as I scrambled to get the tub between us, I wondered where this new Jesse came from and if he’d murdered the old one or just shackled him in a basement. I wasn’t sure I cared.
The laughter between us faded as we perused each other frankly, morphing into something deeper. Heavier. His eyes crinkled at the corners as he reached out and pulled me closer, just one big paw around my neck that made me feel safe, safe, safe. My pulse pounded a little harder and I know he felt it.
He frowned, rubbing my jumping pulse with his thumb. “Jess—”
I lunged forward and pressed my mouth to his. It was messy and uncoordinated and mostly teeth before he took control of it and slowed things down. He rubbed his hands up and down my back. There was a tremor in my hands when I finally pulled away, and I clenched them into fists.
He stared at me for a few seconds, and I could see all the different questions he wanted to ask. He settled on a neutral, “Are you okay?”
Not in the least. “Of course,” I said. “Now. I believe I was promised a bath in that thing you call a tub. I’d like to take a dip before the dolphins want their turn.”
“I’m a simple man,” he reminded me with a grin.
He got in first because he was a fucking giant, sloshing water even out of his ginormous-sized tub. And then he beckoned me in as if he hadn’t just displaced half the water onto the floor. I slid in and sat against him stiffly, unused to this much closeness and feeling vulnerable as hell.
It's just a bath, Jess.
I blew out a frustrated breath. I’d asked for this. If I hadn’t, I knew he would’ve been perfectly happy to leave me in here all alone. But I didn’t want to be alone. Funny thing, that. I didn’t know how to be together, either.
After a moment, he chuckled and pulled me against him, kissing my neck and tickling me until I relaxed. And then he wound his arms around me. With the hot, soothing water and him behind me, I felt cherished. Special. Safe. I relaxed.
“You just might be the sweetest, prickliest person I’ve ever met,” he whispered near my ear. “Like a living Sour Patch Kid.”
I smacked him even as I sank into the water. His laughter was just a soft rumble near my ear. The heat was already working its magic and I felt drowsy as could be.
“You’re staying tonight, right?” He asked.
Staying? I was comfort on top of comfort annexed by comfort. If he wanted me to leave, he was going to have to load me into a trebuchet and launch me over the gates. “Of course,” I mumbled. “Don’t let me fall asleep.”
I felt a kiss pressed into my hair. “I’ve got you.”
I know you do. Why do you think I’m shaking in my boots?
I wasn’t sure which part was the scariest part of falling in love. Wondering if you were going to hit the ground…or knowing someone was there to catch you.
28
JESSE
Visitor’s day at the facility was about as busy as I’d expected. I picked up Harper on the way, and he was having a difficult time maintaining even a hint of the requisite teenage ennui. I did him a favor and pretended not to notice. I even ignored the little bounce he did in his seat as I pulled into the facility parking lot, coughing to hide my laughter. From his glare, I don’t think he appreciated my effort.
I’d texted Andrew on the way, and he was waiting in the atrium, a wide grin on his face. He fist-bumped Harper and then gave me a bro hug with a copious amount of back-slapping. I knew that was for my benefit. Little did he know. I wished I could greet him with the proper amount of affection for someone who’d given me a blowjob in the shower this morning and then made me French toast.
Seeing how pleased he was that I’d made it, I suddenly felt bad that I hadn’t been to anything of his before. Watching it on television didn’t count. I silently resolved to take him up on the open offer of tickets to his next game. Before he could show us around, he was called away. He hustled off, walking backward and promising he’d catch up with us later.
Harper eyed me speculatively. “Are you guys together?”
I refused to be stared down by a kid. “Of course not.”
“Really?”
“Really,” I said pointedly. “And even if we were, my love life is one-hundred percent classified as above your paygrade.”
“Well, I don’t know what the fuck that means—”
“Language—”
“But I just thought it would be pretty cool.” He looked vaguely disappointed now that his hopes had been placed in my dream compactor. Crush. "You think he’ll keep coming to the center after his hours are up?”
“I have news for you, kiddo. His hours have been up. Everything he’s done lately is because he wanted to.”
I ruffled his hair as a gamut of emotions crossed his face—happy and shy seemed to lead the pack. He used his fingers like a comb to tease his hair back up, looking desperate to change the subject. “Can we go see the practice field?”
I hid a smile. “Yep.”
As we wandered through the facility, there seemed to be a lot of special access places that only Harper and I could go. And a lot of people on the team seemed to know who I was for no reason at all. At one point, a big guy in Outlaws’ gear rushed me and lifted me off my feet. Before I could scrabble for my mace, I realized he was giving me a bear hug. When he finally let me go, I gaped at his grinning face. He was brown-skinned and broad-shouldered and tall, with gorgeous brown eyes, and…what the hell was I saying again?
“You’re family now, bro,” he said. “Although I admit, I never thought I’d see the day.”
“You and me both.” Another guy in sweats and a backward ball cap meandered over. Even though he had to be six foot six and had one hell of a mean mug, he looked almost…pouty. “I had that bet in the bag. I was positive Jesse didn’t exist.”
I sighed. I didn’t ask for the details of this new Andrew/Jesse betting pool. Next to me, Harper was busy having an out-of-body experience. “You’re Dane Williams,” he breathed. “And you’re Everett St. John.”
Harper looked close to needing a hit of an inhaler and I gave him an alarmed look. Suddenly, taking that CPR refresher course didn’t seem like such a waste of time. “Breathe,” I instructed, and he gave a little gasp as he remembered how to do just that.
Everett grinned affably. “What’s up, little dude?”
“Big fan. Me. Huge,” Harper said needlessly.
“Him. Harper,” I said helpfully only to be stabbed in the gut with his bony little elbow. That’s the thanks I get for learning caveman speak so quickly?
Dane dropped a big paw on Harper’s shoulder. “Hey, have you seen the workout room yet?”
“No.” His eyes widened. “I didn’t know we could go back there.”
“Stick with me, kid, I know where all the good stuff is. Let’s go.” He remembered himself at the last moment and glanced at me. “If it’s ok with Foxy here.”
Oh, good. The nickname had spread. “Yeah, it’s fine.” I turned to Harper. “Is your phone charged?”
He rolled his eyes but gave the screen a quick peek before slipping it back into his pocket. “Seventy-five percent.”
“Okay, I want to hear from you in an hour.”
“An hour?”
I ignored his you’re embarrassing me face. If you didn’t put that expression on a kid’s face at least once a day, you weren’t doing your job.
“I suppose you could just walk around with me. After all, I promised your parents I’d keep an eye on you. I was thinking about hitting up the Hall of Famers library.” I was actually interested in perusing the lounge area full of mounted pictures with plaques, each with a story of the glory days.
Harper’s eyes widened in horror as he squeaked, “A library?”
“Mmhmm. You should come with me. I know how you love history. And reading.”
“One hour,” he said hurriedly, tugging on the arm of an equally terrified Dane. Everett looked a little nauseous, too, now that I thought about it. They all hustled off, acting like I’d announced a pop quiz.
My amusement lasted right up until the moment I looked up…and saw a poster of the man occupying my thoughts. Life-size. I blinked up at the poster of Andrew in full uniform, mid-step in the end zone. It was probably more than life-sized since it was hanging from the rafters. Several other posters of players in various poses hung alongside his, including an awesome shot of Evan Ivanovich pounding on his chest, a fierce look on his face. Berserker.
Andrew made it all too easy to forget who he was. He was a star player who got featured in the news—frequently. He was a guy who did an ad for Adidas, grousing the entire time that Blue got Nike. He was even on several magazine covers. What was next? His face on a box of fucking cereal?
But he was also a sweet, sexy guy who could also be an enormous goofball. He was a guy who pushed my boundaries, ones that I could admit probably needed to be pushed. A guy who hadn’t hesitated to help me make two dozen brownies for a church bake sale.
He was also the guy who’d stolen a dozen of the aforementioned brownies and made me chase him down the driveway before he relinquished the tray. Neighbors would report hearing a yell of, you only need one dozen, Foxy before I jumped on his back. But I digress.
I worried the rubber bracelet on my wrist, the one he’d given me. Be the change you want to see in the world. “I can’t think of anyone else who embodies that more,” he’d said as he put it on my wrist. I just stared at him mutely because he was also the guy who was never threatened by my charity work.
He was perfect for me. The right one for me. I just wasn’t sure I dared deal with everything that came with being all in.
Fuck.
I felt someone standing close to me and murmured an apology as I moved to the side. The person moved with me, which got my attention in a hurry. I glanced over to find a dark-haired guy standing there, looking at me expectantly. He had silvery gray eyes and a friendly smile with a hint of dimple. Even with the tattoos and piercings, he still fell into the category of “pretty.” He was also around my height, which was nice to see in the land the pituitary gland forgot. A closer look made me realize that this wasn’t just any Outlaws fan. The corner of my mouth kicked up because I knew our meeting wasn’t a coincidence.
“You’re Kelly Cannon.”
Those silvery eyes widened. “You know who I am?”
“Um, I’m pretty sure everyone does.”
“Oh. Yeah.” That dimpled smile turned sheepish. “I guess being incognito in this building isn’t exactly an option.”
Was he serious? I decided not to tell him that he trended on Twitter every time the subject of gay and the NFL came up. Or pride, rainbows, and Blue Montgomery. If he wanted to believe he was still low-key and normal, hey, no skin off my nose.
“Let me guess,” I said instead. “McAdams sent you over.”
He didn’t bother with subterfuge, shaking his dark hair out of his eyes. “He wanted to make sure you were okay and comfortable.”
I bet. I sent him a wry look. “And that I wasn’t about to pull a runner?”
“And that you weren’t about to pull a runner,” he confirmed cheerily. “I know it can be overwhelming at first, but—”
“There is no at first. McAdams and I…we’re not like that. Like you and Blue.” The words tasted like ash on my tongue, and that was before he sent me a skeptical look. I doubled down. “We’re not.”
“Oh. That’s not the impression I got.” He frowned at me. “Are you sure you two are on the same page about that?”
A chatting group of teenagers meandered down the hall and we stepped aside to give them room. They didn’t seem to be in any hurry, and I welcomed the distraction as they posted up nearby. “How is this any of your business, again?”
“Because AJ is one of my friends,” he shot back. “Granted, it wasn’t an easy transition for us to the friend zone. But once Blue got over his jealousy and realized that he had nothing to worry about, things got better.”
“Jealousy?”
“I mean, yeah we slept together, but it was only once and that doesn’t mean—”
“You. And he.” My eyes bulged a bit and there was nothing I could do to return them to normal size. “You guys—”
“Oh. Sorry.” His brow furrowed. “I wasn’t aware you didn’t know.”
“No, it’s not a big deal. I just…wow.”
He started going on about something, but all I could see was Andrew rolling around with Kelly on that fucking Kluft mattress of his. I wasn’t jealous. Not at all. It wasn’t like he belonged to me or anything, and he certainly didn’t owe me any explanations.
I popped my wristband a few times.
Kelly cleared his throat, giving me a pointed look. I flushed, wondering how long I’d been standing there in silence, digesting his little truth bomb. And then I realized why he’d said it. Fucker. Just the thought of them sleeping together had sent me into nuclear meltdown territory. I scrubbed a hand down my face.
“You looked like you wanted to murder me,” he said gleefully.
I groaned. What’s happening to me?
I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud until Kelly responded. “You’ve fallen and you can’t get up.” He patted me on the back. “Except there’s no cool Life Alert button to summon help.”
“Surely there was someone else he could’ve sent to keep an eye on me,” I said with a scowl.
“No, I’m it.” He smiled with satisfaction. “And I have a feeling we’re going to be very good friends.”
That was debatable.
His phone vibrated a few times before he pulled it out of his pocket. Saved by the bell. Or the text, rather, I thought as he began to type.
My gaze landed on the chatting group of teenagers again and I noticed that two of them were looking our way. One lifted his phone in a way I’m sure he thought was sly. Don’t quit your day job. Clearly, he was taking pictures or making a video…or whatever the hell kids were doing nowadays to post online.
Good God. I was probably in some sort of TikTok video by now. Hazards of standing next to Kelly, I guess. I was tempted to push him forward as a sacrifice. Or at least steal the shades hanging from his back pocket and cram them on my face.
“Do you ever get used to it?” I asked.
“Used to what?” He asked, still looking down at his phone.
“The attention. The spotlight. The people in your business. Talking about you. Recording you. Photographing you without your permission.”
“No.” His mouth quirked. “But he’s worth it.”
“I don’t know how you people stand it.”
“It’s not as intense for the wives and girlfriends, especially if they don’t have their own star power to add to the mix. Take Lana for example, who’s a supermodel. She has an entirely different experience from Poppy, the pre-K teacher.” Kelly shrugged. “That’s not the case for Blue and me. And I hate to break it to you, but you’d be in the same over-publicized boat.”
Not exactly the kind of news I wanted to hear. I just wanted Andrew. Couldn’t we shelve the rest?
“I don’t know what your story is,” Kelly said quietly. “But I know what it’s like to have the media picking over your bones. You start thinking, what have I fucking done? And what happened to my normal life?”
“You’re not exactly making a case for me sticking around,” I murmured.
“I wasn’t aware I needed to. From where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve already made up your mind. I’m just giving you time to catch up to that realization.” As I stared at him, a little stunned, he sent me a sunny smile. “I’m being very nice.”
I glared because his original prediction was wrong. No, we were not going to become really good friends. “I believe you were making a point? Or perhaps you were just running your considerably sized yap.”
“God, you’re my people.” He breathed. “Like I said. Good friends.”
“Kelly,” I growled.
“Alright, alright,” he said hurriedly. “But if nothing else, I can be your reality check. They’re going to be a burr in your ass for the next few years until they lock on someone else. Your life is going to change by leaps and bounds, not small measures. Get ready to find new routes to work and burn any sensitive trash. You should also implement security systems down at Rainbow Harbor.”
Security systems? Fuck, a good tropical depression could probably bring the building down.
“You’ll probably have to move if your house is easily accessible. You need to live someplace secure—if it’s a freestanding structure, then something with tall gates. If you prefer apartment living, then a building with a doorman is a good place to start. A camera doorbell is nice, and a guard dog wouldn’t hurt. We have two. Tennyson and Frost.” As my eyes continued to enlarge, he waved a hand. “I know, I know. But my best friend Connor won a bet and got to name them. Needless to say, he went rogue.”
