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“I deserved that,” I admitted. Jenny sat down on the bed. I considered sitting down next to her, but that seemed too presumptuous at this stage so instead I sat down on a chair in the corner. “That was a long time ago. I’ve changed a lot since then.” And it wasn’t what it looked like, I wanted to add. If only I could explain.

“If this is your idea of an apology then you might as well leave.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. There. How’s that?”

“Brilliant,” Jenny replied. “That completely makes up for what I went through four years ago. Now, how about you come over here and fuck me like you promised.”

“I’m going to assume you’re being sarcastic,” I said, only just about resisting the urge to go over and spread her legs like she asked. I’d never seen her naked. Not completely. I’d gotten as far as feeling her breasts, and my fingers had touched her sex, but she’d stopped me before I could go any further. God, what I wouldn’t give to taste her right now.

“I guess you aren’t as dumb as the average soccer player then,” Jenny said. “Look, if it makes you feel any better then I accept your apology. Whatever, I really don’t care at this stage. If that’s all you came to say, then you should just leave.”

“When are
you
leaving?” I asked. I knew I had to take things slowly if I wanted to get back in Jenny’s good books and I doubted I had enough time now.

“As soon as they book me a new flight. I might even head down to London today just on the off chance. At least it gets me away from you.”

“In that case, I’ve got bad news for you. You’re going to be seeing me again soon.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re actually considering moving to New York United?”

I laughed. “No, not that. However, it just so happens that my team will be doing a summer tour of the US starting next week. It would be rude not to pop home and see Mom and your dad. I haven’t spoken to him in a while; I think he misses me.”

I hadn’t planned to see Mom or Sheridan on the tour at all, but if there was a chance I could spend more time with Jenny then I had to take it. I took a huge risk four years ago. It had been the right thing to do, but I still regretted it every day.

“Great,” Jenny muttered. “This summer is just getting better and better.”

“You can play hard to get all you like,” I said. “Need I remind you that you were against the idea of us getting together four years ago as well and I won you around in the end. What makes you think I won’t be able to do that again?”

“Because four years ago you broke… nevermind. You know what you did. Just leave. Please.”

I opened the door, but turned and looked back at her. She was still sitting on the bed and had her back to me. “I
am
sorry,” I said honestly. “I made a mistake four years ago, but I convinced you to be with me once before, and I intend to do so again. Consider yourself warned.”

Last time the only hurdle I had to climb was the whole stepbrother and stepsister thing. That problem was still there, but the more immediate issue was my betrayal of her confidence. I had three months before the soccer season started again. It wasn’t long, but it would have to be long enough. I’d been forced to give up on Jenny four years ago, but I was damn sure not going to give up on her now.

My boss refused to accept my request for an earlier flight time, and despite what I told Jaxon, I couldn’t afford to stay in a London hotel while I waited. That left me hanging around in my hotel room for three days, not wanting to venture outside in case I bumped into Jaxon. I was being overly paranoid; Liverpool was a big city and the chances of me bumping into him were slim to none, but knowing my luck that’s exactly what would happen.

The trip had been a complete waste of time. Not just because Jaxon had refused to even contemplate a transfer to New York United, but because he was going to be in the States soon anyway as part of a tour.  

I typed out an angry email to my boss explaining that I could have stayed in New York and approached Jaxon when he was in the city. Fortunately, I came to my senses before sending the email. I hadn’t been working there long enough to get aggressive with my boss, and I did need the job after all.

After accepting the position at New York United, I’d turned down the other opportunities I had lined up and now most potential employers would have all their graduates lined up ready to start. I would still be able to get a job somewhere—a Harvard degree pretty much guaranteed that—but finding one that would look good on a business school application was another matter altogether.

I hadn’t been surprised to see Jaxon turn up at my hotel room. Deep down, I probably wanted him to; that’s why I told him where I was staying in the first place. His apology had taken me by surprise though. I’d expected him to just pretend the whole thing had never happened, and even though he did gloss over it a bit, the apology had sounded sincere.

Perhaps the biggest shock of all was that I wanted to accept the apology and move on. I’d spent four years dwelling on the events of that night and I always thought that if I ever saw Jaxon again I would scream at him, yell abuse, and probably hit him, for all the good that would do. Instead, we veered dangerously close to going back to where we were before that night. He started flirting with me and my body responded to his words in the same way they always did. It hadn’t helped that I’d been naked underneath a dressing gown at the time, but even so, the way I’d instantly wanted to forget the past and pounce on him was frightening.

My feelings for Jaxon were different now than they had been four years ago and not just because of his betrayal. Four years ago I’d been a virgin. As much as I’d wanted Jaxon to take me, I’d also been apprehensive about losing my virginity and worried I would be shit in bed. Whenever we kissed, I’d been almost as nervous as I was horny.

I wasn’t a virgin anymore though. After a few months at Harvard I had started dating someone, and we ended up being together for about nine months. Even though I’d never been in love with him, the breakup hit me hard because it was my first serious relationship and I’d convinced myself I had feelings for him. I dated a few more guys in college; enough that I was no longer nervous about sleeping with new guys, but not enough to make me forget Jaxon.

Four years ago, my nerves had held me back, and that was one of the reasons we hadn’t had sex. That and the fear of our parents finding out. Now there were no nerves to keep me in check, and I wasn’t sure how much time I could spend around Jaxon without giving in. If he kept teasing and flirting with me like he had in the hotel room, I didn’t know if I’d be able to put up much of a fight.

I’d fantasized about what it would be like to have sex with Jaxon even when I was sleeping with other men.
Especially
when I was sleeping with other men. The guys I’d been with at Harvard were competent enough in bed, but they’d hardly set my world on fire. Not one of them made me react in the way that Jaxon could with the merest touch of his fingers on my skin.  

I’d managed to come during sex with my most recent boyfriend, but that was less down to his skill and more down to me furiously rubbing my clit while riding his cock. In his defense, he’d resisted the urge to finish before me, so that sent him straight to the top of my short list of sexual partners.

I still kept in contact with all of my old boyfriends. They were nice guys and we’d split on good terms. That was part of the problem though, they were
nice
guys. When Jaxon and I had been fooling around he’d pulled my hair and devoured me with his lips. The discomfort of having my hair pulled had been a little weird at first, but it soon made me react between my legs in a way I hadn’t been expecting. Jaxon knew it as well and he never missed the opportunity to get a little rough with me when no one was looking. I could only imagine what he would do to me if we finally slept together.

The best thing to do was avoid spending time with him. At the very least, I had to avoid situations where we were alone. He probably wouldn’t do anything in public in case people recognized him. In big cities like New York where there were a large number of soccer fans, Jaxon would be recognized most places he went. Unless he wanted a news story being thrown around about how he was fucking his sister, he would probably behave in public.

The flight home was slightly more comfortable than the flight to England, and I actually managed to get some sleep for a couple of hours. I often woke up from naps feeling grumpier than before, but at least it helped pass the time a bit.

I arrived home around dinnertime and heard excited conversation coming from the dining room. I took my suitcase upstairs and changed into some yoga pants and a sweater, before going back downstairs to join in with dinner. I hadn’t told Dad I’d be home for dinner, so there wouldn’t be any food for me, but he usually cooked too much anyway so I could dig into the leftovers.

Dad looked up with a smile on his face when I walked into the room.

“Jennifer, look who’s here for dinner,” Dad said.

I looked to Dad’s right and saw Jaxon sitting there, making short work of his plate of food.

“Hi, sis,” Jaxon said enthusiastically. “It sure is good to be home.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.  

Jaxon was set next to my dad seemingly playing happy families while his mom sat across the table looking stone-faced and glum as usual. I never understood what Dad saw in Carrie. Dad was hard-working and ambitious, but that was nothing in comparison to Carrie who seem to be working every second of the day. Even now she had her phone on the table ready to answer any emails that came through.

“You insisted I come to New York to discuss this deal,” Jaxon said. “I was hardly going to come all the way here and not say hello to your dad.” He deliberately didn’t mention saying hello to his mom which came as no surprise. He actively hated her, and we rarely got through a family meal without the two of them arguing.

“But you said—” I began.

“I must say,” Carrie interrupted, “I’m surprised you convinced Jaxon to discuss the deal with New York United so easily. Your boss told me he was sending you to Liverpool, but I expected you to have a tough time convincing him.”

“Jenny’s always been very convincing,” Jaxon said. He stared at me intently, encouraging me to go along with the lie. I knew he was going to be in town anyway for the tour, but it seemed like he had come a few days early and was going to pretend I’d actually done a good job. It would now be a heck of a lot harder to avoid Jaxon, but at least Sam would be happy.

“Grab a plate and sit down,” Dad insisted. “There’s plenty of food.”

I popped into the kitchen to grab a plate and some cutlery, and then sat down at the empty seat which of course was next to Jaxon.

“How many stores are you running now, Sheridan?” Jaxon asked my dad.

“Five now,” Dad replied. “I think five is enough for the time being. I don’t want to stretch myself too thin, and it’s getting harder and harder to convince people to buy sporting equipment from retail stores instead of online.”

“Maybe I can help,” Jaxon said.  

As he spoke, Jaxon’s leg moved slightly to his left and brushed against mine. I flinched and moved my leg away, but Jaxon just extended his further until it touched mine again. It hadn’t been an accident.  

“How?” Dad asked, unaware that Jaxon was touching me under the table.

“I could pop by the store for a few hours and sign autographs. That will get people in the store and be good publicity, not to mention people will probably buy soccer balls for me to sign.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that. You must be busy, what with transfer negotiations and the tour that starts in a week’s time.”

“It’s no problem at all, Sheridan. It’s the least I can do.”

Jaxon finished eating, and within seconds one of his hands found its way to my thigh. He gave a light squeeze while my dad thanked him profusely for his offer. Dad wouldn’t be quite so happy if he realized Jaxon was feeling up his daughter under the table, but he liked Jaxon, and if we weren’t stepbrother and stepsister he would probably approve of us being together. But we
were
stepbrother and stepsister, and therefore this had to stop.