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Jaxon frowned. “I don’t mean to sound harsh, Jenny, but I think you’ll find I moved on from you a long time ago.”

“I meant, you need to grow up. You’re still the same old Jaxon you were four years ago; screwing around and spending all your time with bimbos.”

“Are you including yourself in that category?” Jaxon asked, but then continued speaking before I could answer. “Why did you take a job with New York United in the first place? Am I supposed to believe this was all just a coincidence and not part of some grand scheme for you to come back into my life?”

“I know you’re rich and famous and everything,” I said, “but despite what your posse may lead you to believe, you’re not actually God’s gift to this earth.”  

He was to me, though. At least, I thought so four years ago. He was the guy who’d made me realize that all those romantic movies and TV shows my mom used to watch were not as cheesy as I’d thought. There was more truth to them than I’d given them credit for. It
was
possible to be swept off your feet by a man and fall for someone in a matter of weeks or even days. I only wished it were that easy to forget about them afterwards.

“Your mom helped me get the job,” I explained. “New York United’s parent company is one of her clients. I’m going to work there for a few years before going to business school.”

“Congratulations,” Jaxon said. He sounded genuine this time. “Where are you staying?”

I gave him the name of my hotel. “I’m here for four days, but since you’ve made your feelings perfectly clear I will try and get an earlier flight.”

“That’s for the best. I’m not going anywhere.”

I stood there looking up at him, unable to move. I’d forgotten how much he towered over me. Jaxon was six foot two whereas I was only about five foot five. The age gap between us was less than two years, but I felt like a child looking up at him. Even though the house was well heated—presumably so women could walk around in bikinis—I started shivering thanks to the cold wet clothes that were still stuck to me.

Jaxon reached out and for a fleeting second I thought he was going to touch me, but instead he just grabbed the towel out of my hand. “Want me to call you a cab?” he asked.

“I’ll manage,” I replied tersely. I turned around and this time I did walk straight out of his house and didn’t look back. I wanted to take one last look at his half-naked body, but instead I forced myself to keep walking. Besides, if I wanted to see his chest I only had to pick up a magazine or look online. He wasn’t exactly scared of doing half-naked photo shoots.

I found some trees which offered a semblance of shelter and called myself a cab to take me back to the hotel. After a long conversation with the receptionist, who spoke in a regional dialect that I struggled to understand, I finally walked into a small, but comfortable hotel room.

I immediately peeled my clothes off in the bathroom and stepped into a hot shower. After seeing Jaxon four years ago, the first thing I’d done when I got home was cry in the shower. Seeing him again tonight had the same effect. The tears mixed with the water from the shower, but I could still feel them running down my face. I stayed under the water until my body felt warm all the way through and wrinkles appeared on my fingers.  

Before going to sleep, I lay on the bed with my laptop and sent an email to Sam explaining the situation and asking him to book me a new flight home. I couldn’t be in the same country as Jaxon. Even being an ocean apart hadn’t helped so I sure as hell couldn’t be in the same city.  

Just like every night for the past four years, I pictured Jaxon as I tried to sleep, except this time my mental image was of him from tonight, half naked with his chest glistening in front of me. At least it was an improvement on the image of him kissing Emilia. If this trip helped rid me of that image, then it might be worth it.

One thing was for certain, Jaxon wasn’t lying in bed right now thinking of me. He wouldn’t be alone either. I doubted he would even limit himself to one woman. Jaxon had been right; he had moved on and I hadn’t. I wanted to, but it was impossible. I would keep thinking of him at night and I would keep masturbating to the fantasy of him fucking me. I was a mess and I needed to get on with my life. That meant no more Jaxon Foster. It would be best if I never saw that man again.

“Who was that?” one of Russell’s girls asked after Jenny had left. She stood up straight, practically thrusting her breasts into my face as she spoke.  

As far as I could tell, she didn’t know any other way to stand. Even when she sat down, she did so in such a way that she looked thoroughly uncomfortable. I needed to tell Russell to stop letting all these random women into my house. He’d let Jenny in without even consulting me; if I’d known she was coming I could have shoved the girls into the main party room before she saw them.

“Just a friend from home,” I replied. Jenny was far more than just a friend. I couldn’t describe her as my first love because we’d never quite gotten that far, but she had remained in my thoughts for the last four years. She’d tortured me from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean without even realizing it.

For a second or so after Jenny had walked in, I hadn’t recognized her. All I could see was a woman drenched to the bone, dripping water all over my floor. It was the eyes I recognized first. I would never forget those green eyes that held so much life and vigor.  

It took all of three seconds before I was infatuated with Jenny all over again. She always had a sparkle in her eyes, even when she was wet, cold, and angry. That spark reminded me of her passion, lust, and the sharp wit that she had used against me on more than one occasion.

She’d grown up a lot in the last four years. Her body shape had remained the same, although perhaps her breasts were slightly larger than before. Her face had definitely changed though. It held more maturity than it used to. She didn’t have that girlish look to her any more. Jenny was a woman now.

I suddenly noticed Russell’s friend had her hands on my chest and was nuzzling at my ear. “Me and the girls are getting tired,” she whispered. “We were thinking of going to bed now. Why don’t you join us?”

One of her hands moved down between my legs and squeezed gently on my cock. Thankfully, she got no reaction down there from me. The last thing I wanted to do right now was jump into bed with these women, especially after the way they had treated Jenny.

“No, thank you,” I replied. I had half a mind to throw them out, but Russell was probably in one of the bedrooms screwing a couple of them already and I didn’t want to ruin a teammate’s evening. We’d be going on tour soon and I was rooming with Russell. It wouldn’t be a good idea to get in his bad books before that.

“Are you sure, baby?” the woman asked. She gave my cock another gentle squeeze. It stiffened slightly—I was only human after all—but I quickly pulled her hand away and stormed back into the game room, slamming the door behind me.

I must be crazy to turn down a night with two or three gorgeous women. They would see to my every need and desire if I let them, but I couldn’t shake Jenny from my thoughts. I’d wanted to run up and hug her, but the plan had always been to ignore her and let her get on with her life. I had to look annoyed at her sudden appearance, not pleased to see her.

I’d been such a jerk four years ago, but I was still convinced I’d done the right thing. In the end, my decision to abandon Jenny had been unnecessary, but I couldn’t have known that at the time. I couldn’t take the risk. Anyway, that was no excuse for my behavior tonight. I could’ve offered her a room for the night or at the very least let her take a shower. I didn’t even call her a cab.

Did I still need to ignore her? I’d almost got in touch with her three years ago, but she’d just started seeing someone and according to my mom they looked happy together.  

My plan had been for her to get on with her life and forget about me, but the plan seemed to have worked a little too well. Was she still with the same boyfriend? She gave off a ‘single’ vibe, but it was hard to tell with her.  

I’d gone back to sleeping around after finding out that Jenny had a boyfriend. I wasn’t sleeping around for the shear fun of it; I slept around because of Jenny. Sex with other women didn’t exactly take my mind off her—I usually thought of her during the act—but at least it helped relieve the pressure a bit.

In my attempts to move on, I had pretended I was attracted to Jenny because she was my stepsister and therefore forbidden. If any part of me believed that lie, it quickly surrendered when I set eyes on her tonight. God, she looked stunning.  

I’d spent the evening surrounded by skinny women wearing next to nothing, but they had faded into the background compared to Jenny standing there soaked through, looking furious and like she’d rather be anywhere else but in the same room as me. She’d been dragging her suitcase behind her—leaving marks all over my floor in the process—so she must have come here straight from the airport. How could anyone look that good after a transatlantic flight, long train ride, and then getting soaking wet in the cold rain? I’d wanted to tear the clothes off her and drag her into the shower with me.  

There was no reason we couldn’t be together now, but clearly Jenny hated me. I couldn’t blame her—that had been the entire point of what I did four years ago—but it hurt nonetheless.

I fell asleep to the faint sound of moaning and groaning coming from one of the other bedrooms. Russell was having a fantastic evening, but I’d never been so frustrated. I
had
to see Jenny again. There had to be a way to rekindle what we had before. I could never tell her the truth about what happened that night, but perhaps she could forgive me for what she saw. I had to try.

-*-

The receptionist at Jenny’s hotel recognized me and didn’t hesitate to tell me Jenny’s room number. I didn’t like the hotel she was staying in. I wouldn’t usually stay in anything less than a five-star hotel myself, but I could cope with a lack of amenities if need be. The problem with this hotel was the location. Jenny probably had no idea, but this wasn’t exactly a safe neighborhood. If she’d let me, I’d pay for her to move somewhere else. That is, if she wasn’t leaving soon anyway.

I knocked and Jenny opened the door wearing just a dressing gown. Once again, her hair was wet, but she had wrapped it in a towel this time.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. The gown was tantalizingly open just enough for me to see parts of her breasts. Not a lot—less than what I could see on the sluts at my house last night—but it was more than I’d seen of her chest in four years and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Jenny noticed me staring and pulled the dressing gown together although it immediately fell open again. This time I tried to keep my eyes focused on hers.

“You told me where you were staying,” I said. “You must have wanted me to pay you a visit.”  

Why did I always act like such an arrogant jackass in front of her? I could have just said I had missed her and wanted to catch up, but no, I had to be rude. I couldn’t help it. From the moment we’d been introduced I’d teased and flirted with her. Even when we’d taken things a step further, I’d still been cocky and arrogant around her. A part of me assumed she liked me acting that way. That was the version of Jaxon she’d fallen for, so who was I to deprive her of that?

“Christ, Jaxon. Just because you know where I’m staying doesn’t mean you can come here and harass me.”

“I’m not here to harass you. I just wanted to say ‘hi’ properly and apologize for last night.”

“Oh. Really?”

It probably spoke volumes about me that Jenny was surprised I would apologize. “Can I come in?”

Jenny considered it for a few seconds and then stepped back and motioned for me to come inside. She quickly dashed around the room picking up dirty underwear and shoving it back in her suitcase. We’d lived together for almost a year so it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen her dirty panties before.

“You’d have thought New York United would’ve sprung for a better hotel room for such an important employee.”

I meant the comment genuinely enough, but I could tell Jenny thought I was being sarcastic. “I’m not an important employee, as you well know. I’m just here to convince the hotshot soccer player to switch allegiances. For some reason my boss thinks you’re the type of person who would pledge himself to one club and then change his mind at the drop of a hat. I wonder why he thinks you’re so disloyal?”