I shook my head. I couldn’t speak. Tears threatened to spill.
“They’re at The Four Seasons.” He had grown so quiet. “You don’t want them to know you’re here?”
My head wrenched from side to side. I couldn’t tell him they had left to escape me and now we were in the same city. It wouldn’t have been fair to them. So I choked out in a whisper, “They’re doing a second honeymoon thing.”
“Who did you come with?”
“Marissa and her boyfriend. Angie and Justin.”
He settled back. “Got it.” His lip twitched at the corner. “Marissa’s got another boyfriend? I pity that guy.”
“Eric Nathan.”
He went still. “What?”
“She’s dating Eric Nathan.”
His jaw clenched. And then he clipped out, “Good. He’s not your problem anymore then.”
“Jesse,” I sighed.
“Come on.” He reached down and grabbed my bag. “I’m tired. We had an early practice and the guys are going out for something to eat, if you want to come with.”
“You had a practice?” I checked my phone. “At six in the morning?”
He flashed me a grin. “Yeah. And it was at five this morning, but Coach is giving us the day off. We just have to show up for a team dinner tonight and promise that we’ll get eight hours of sleep tonight before the game tomorrow.” Then he stopped suddenly.
My heart constricted. A flash of pain came over him. I knew this wasn’t going to be good.
The corners of his mouth turned down, briefly. “Your parents are coming to the game tomorrow.” He took a breath. “My coach knows about Ethan. I’ve talked to him about it and when he found out that your folks were here…they want to do a thing for them during the game.”
“What does that mean?” I swallowed tightly. My throat was burning in pain.
“There’ll be some footage of them, probably just where they are in their seats and they’ll dedicate a song in memory of Ethan. I know most people won’t care, I think it’ll be during half time or something and they’ll do it while other stuff is going on, but I thought you should know. Do you want to go with them? I can get you a ticket.”
I shook my head. Everything was so raw now, again. I spoke in a hoarse voice, “Marissa got tickets from Cord, but now I don’t know.”
His hand grasped my arm. He pulled me close. “I want you to come.”
Oh, God. The idea of my parents being there, of the announcer dedicating something to them… pain of a different level flared inside of me. I struggled to keep from buckling over and crumbling to the floor. They would announce Ethan’s name. He would be remembered by thousands of people. I pulled away from Jesse’s hand and shook my head. I was so tired of crying, so damn tired. As I swiped some of the cursed tears away, Jesse pulled me back to him. He made a soothing sound as he replaced my hands and wiped them away instead.
More slipped out.
He dried them too.
And then he glanced up, cursed under his breath, and ripped himself away.
I looked up, into Angie’s eyes. She seemed horrified and her mouth was open. A strange gurgling sound came out and she raised a pointing finger towards us. “You—you two—what?”
Jesse bent close and whispered in my ear, “Room 2612.” Something was pushed into my hand and he stalked away to the elevators.
I glanced down at the key card in my hand. Nothing was making sense again.
Then Angie was at my side and she whispered, “Oh my god.”
Oh my god indeed.
The elevator opened and he got on. I yelled out, “Wait!”
The door started to slide closed, but it opened again. He stepped halfway out of the elevator and did what I asked. He waited.
Then I turned to Angie. “I’m staying with him.”
“What? But—”
I rushed around and hurried to where he was holding the door for me. As I slipped past and he let go of the door, Angie followed. Shock was evident in her eyes as she merely watched us. Her mouth was still hanging open, but then the door slid closed.
I closed my eyes and braced myself. The cat was out of the bag now. Angie had suspected, she had approved at first, and then disapproved. Then she forgot, but she was fully reminded now. I knew she thought Jesse had moved on from us. He had left us behind, or left me behind, but when she saw the text message he had sent me yesterday, the same disapproval had come back. She hadn’t said a word on the airplane or in the taxi, or at any moment of the trip, but I knew it was only a matter of time. She was going to question me and she would say the same things I told myself every time.
Jesse was going to hurt me. He already had, but she didn’t know that he healed me as well. I needed him, even if it was only in the little increments that I got from him. Because every time, a part of me felt whole, a little more together before he would leave again.
He watched me now, a grave expression on his face, but neither of us said a word. The air was thick with tension, anticipation too.
I wanted to be in his arms. I wanted it so badly now. I could almost taste him.
Then my phone started buzzing. They were text messages from Angie, but I silenced it and put it away.
And then we were on his floor. We walked together to his room. My palms were starting to sweat again. I felt breathless. The door opened and we were inside. I placed my bag down, but then I was pulled back. Jesse pushed me against the wall. I had a second to glimpse the lust on his face. And then his mouth crashed down on mine and I wrapped myself around him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
We had fallen asleep when sudden pounding on the door woke us up. Jesse jerked upright, startled. I flipped to my back and grabbed the blanket to cover me. He grimaced when someone yelled through the door, “Hunt, come on! We’re f**king waiting for your ass.”
When the unmistakable click of his lock sounded, we both threw ourselves into motion. I grabbed the rest of the blankets and pulled them over my head as Jesse threw himself on the ground for his clothes. Then the door opened and I cringed. It sounded like more than one guy entered the room. One of them grumbled, “What the hell, Jesse? You take a nap or something?”
“Uh, Reed…” a guy cleared his throat.
“Oh, shit!”
“Stop,” Jesse barked the last one.
And then there was silence, interrupted by someone snickering, but I let out a breath of relief when I heard all of them leave again. It was so silent for a second until something landed next to me, but I didn’t make a move. No way. I was sure it was a trick.
“They’re at The Four Seasons.” He had grown so quiet. “You don’t want them to know you’re here?”
My head wrenched from side to side. I couldn’t tell him they had left to escape me and now we were in the same city. It wouldn’t have been fair to them. So I choked out in a whisper, “They’re doing a second honeymoon thing.”
“Who did you come with?”
“Marissa and her boyfriend. Angie and Justin.”
He settled back. “Got it.” His lip twitched at the corner. “Marissa’s got another boyfriend? I pity that guy.”
“Eric Nathan.”
He went still. “What?”
“She’s dating Eric Nathan.”
His jaw clenched. And then he clipped out, “Good. He’s not your problem anymore then.”
“Jesse,” I sighed.
“Come on.” He reached down and grabbed my bag. “I’m tired. We had an early practice and the guys are going out for something to eat, if you want to come with.”
“You had a practice?” I checked my phone. “At six in the morning?”
He flashed me a grin. “Yeah. And it was at five this morning, but Coach is giving us the day off. We just have to show up for a team dinner tonight and promise that we’ll get eight hours of sleep tonight before the game tomorrow.” Then he stopped suddenly.
My heart constricted. A flash of pain came over him. I knew this wasn’t going to be good.
The corners of his mouth turned down, briefly. “Your parents are coming to the game tomorrow.” He took a breath. “My coach knows about Ethan. I’ve talked to him about it and when he found out that your folks were here…they want to do a thing for them during the game.”
“What does that mean?” I swallowed tightly. My throat was burning in pain.
“There’ll be some footage of them, probably just where they are in their seats and they’ll dedicate a song in memory of Ethan. I know most people won’t care, I think it’ll be during half time or something and they’ll do it while other stuff is going on, but I thought you should know. Do you want to go with them? I can get you a ticket.”
I shook my head. Everything was so raw now, again. I spoke in a hoarse voice, “Marissa got tickets from Cord, but now I don’t know.”
His hand grasped my arm. He pulled me close. “I want you to come.”
Oh, God. The idea of my parents being there, of the announcer dedicating something to them… pain of a different level flared inside of me. I struggled to keep from buckling over and crumbling to the floor. They would announce Ethan’s name. He would be remembered by thousands of people. I pulled away from Jesse’s hand and shook my head. I was so tired of crying, so damn tired. As I swiped some of the cursed tears away, Jesse pulled me back to him. He made a soothing sound as he replaced my hands and wiped them away instead.
More slipped out.
He dried them too.
And then he glanced up, cursed under his breath, and ripped himself away.
I looked up, into Angie’s eyes. She seemed horrified and her mouth was open. A strange gurgling sound came out and she raised a pointing finger towards us. “You—you two—what?”
Jesse bent close and whispered in my ear, “Room 2612.” Something was pushed into my hand and he stalked away to the elevators.
I glanced down at the key card in my hand. Nothing was making sense again.
Then Angie was at my side and she whispered, “Oh my god.”
Oh my god indeed.
The elevator opened and he got on. I yelled out, “Wait!”
The door started to slide closed, but it opened again. He stepped halfway out of the elevator and did what I asked. He waited.
Then I turned to Angie. “I’m staying with him.”
“What? But—”
I rushed around and hurried to where he was holding the door for me. As I slipped past and he let go of the door, Angie followed. Shock was evident in her eyes as she merely watched us. Her mouth was still hanging open, but then the door slid closed.
I closed my eyes and braced myself. The cat was out of the bag now. Angie had suspected, she had approved at first, and then disapproved. Then she forgot, but she was fully reminded now. I knew she thought Jesse had moved on from us. He had left us behind, or left me behind, but when she saw the text message he had sent me yesterday, the same disapproval had come back. She hadn’t said a word on the airplane or in the taxi, or at any moment of the trip, but I knew it was only a matter of time. She was going to question me and she would say the same things I told myself every time.
Jesse was going to hurt me. He already had, but she didn’t know that he healed me as well. I needed him, even if it was only in the little increments that I got from him. Because every time, a part of me felt whole, a little more together before he would leave again.
He watched me now, a grave expression on his face, but neither of us said a word. The air was thick with tension, anticipation too.
I wanted to be in his arms. I wanted it so badly now. I could almost taste him.
Then my phone started buzzing. They were text messages from Angie, but I silenced it and put it away.
And then we were on his floor. We walked together to his room. My palms were starting to sweat again. I felt breathless. The door opened and we were inside. I placed my bag down, but then I was pulled back. Jesse pushed me against the wall. I had a second to glimpse the lust on his face. And then his mouth crashed down on mine and I wrapped myself around him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
We had fallen asleep when sudden pounding on the door woke us up. Jesse jerked upright, startled. I flipped to my back and grabbed the blanket to cover me. He grimaced when someone yelled through the door, “Hunt, come on! We’re f**king waiting for your ass.”
When the unmistakable click of his lock sounded, we both threw ourselves into motion. I grabbed the rest of the blankets and pulled them over my head as Jesse threw himself on the ground for his clothes. Then the door opened and I cringed. It sounded like more than one guy entered the room. One of them grumbled, “What the hell, Jesse? You take a nap or something?”
“Uh, Reed…” a guy cleared his throat.
“Oh, shit!”
“Stop,” Jesse barked the last one.
And then there was silence, interrupted by someone snickering, but I let out a breath of relief when I heard all of them leave again. It was so silent for a second until something landed next to me, but I didn’t make a move. No way. I was sure it was a trick.
