“Dammit, Quinn,” he grits, shifting in his seat.
“Shhh!” I mock-frown. “Everything’s not about you, Jag. It’s time for my award.”
He rolls his eyes good-naturedly and I grab his hand, bringing it to my lips for a quick kiss.
When they run the video package that accompanies my award, I’m unexpectedly emotional. Pregnancy hormones probably, but it’s also seeing that young girl at the Olympic trials. Someone took the photo minutes before I ran my last race. I looked right into the camera and waved, having no idea how my life was about to change. Seeing the pictures after the fall—the sad girl with the hollow eyes and the bandages at her wrist, a testament of her despondence. I want to grab her face and tell her to hang in there. That there’s an amazing life waiting for her if she can just get out of that bed and chase it. And then I watch the miraculous evolution from that shell of a person into the woman I am today.
When my name is called, Ean stands and walks me, not only to the stage, but up the stairs. He cocks one brow when I try to tell him it’s not necessary. His look reminds me if it were left to him, he’d be carrying me onstage, so I relent. He doesn’t return to his seat, but slips off into the wings so he can help me when I’m done. I wait for the applause to die and for everyone standing to sit.
“Wow.” I lift the statue and shake my head. “This is something else. I’m overwhelmed.”
I force myself to look out at the audience even though I feel tears stinging my eyes. Damn hormones!
“If you had told me all those years ago that I’d be receiving an award for perseverance, I would have laughed in your face.”
I spread a wry smile around the large theater. “Actually, I probably would have cried in your face. I hadn’t found my fight then, and you have to. If you’re facing something that seems insurmountable, some circumstance that feels like it will break you, listen to me.”
I give them the stern look I use on myself in the mirror when self-pity tries to show its ass. “If you’re still alive, there’s still hope. There are not enough pieces life can shatter you into to not be whole again. Maybe not the same, but whole in the ways that count.”
I gesture to the large screen behind me. “I will never be that fresh-faced girl who believed life owed me something. Life doesn’t owe you shit. Good things, bad things, they happen to us all, and most of the time, we have no control over any of it. It’s not how life tries to break you that’s the story. Life tries to break everyone. The story isn’t that you fell. The story is that you got up again and again and again. I got up.”
I don’t even care that tears are streaming down my face now. “I got up and learned to walk again. It’s not the smooth stride it was before. There will always be a hitch in my step. My body’s not flawless. I have seven surgeries worth of scars that made sure of that. My body may not be flawless, but it’s strong.”
I swipe at my tears and manage to laugh. “They call me America’s Titanium Sweetheart and the Bionic Beauty. People assume what’s titanium, what’s bionic, is my leg. Wrong. My will is titanium. My spirit is bionic. I am made of steel, and hard times don’t break me.”
I pause, sniff, and sweep the crowd with another firm look. “Hard times make me. I was built by adversity and setbacks and shitty circumstances. I won’t cry anymore for what I lost because I’ve gained too much. A career I never even imagined. Friends who see me beyond the things I can’t do for all the things I can.”
I search the crowd until I find Banner sitting beside her husband Jared, her face tear-streaked like mine.
“Banner.” My voice breaks, and I bow my head, emotion stealing my voice for a moment. “Thank you, girl. When everyone thought it was over, you convinced me I was just getting started. You’re that rare person who sees the good and dreams the best even when things are darkest. We can’t do anything to deserve friends as good as you. We’re either blessed with them or we aren’t, and I’m so glad I have you.”
She covers her mouth and nods. Years of hard work and faith and the unconditional love of best friends unite us even across the large room.
I turn my head and find Ean standing in the wings, his face wet when I’ve never seen him cry. “I’m grateful for a husband who chased me, loved me, never gave up on me.” I bite my lip to keep more tears from falling. “I wasn’t sure men like you even existed. You have loved me so perfectly. What we have is a miracle, and I want to spend the rest of my life doing impossible things with you, Jag.”
I turn back to the crowd and hold the statue in the air. “Thank you for tonight and for all the support.”
I walk off, ignoring the standing ovation. I have eyes only for my big, beautiful husband. I make straight for his arms, and he holds me tight, sniffing against my ear and stroking my hair. We cling to each other for long minutes. I shake against him, sobbing with no sorrow. With a joy so pure and deep I couldn’t describe it to someone with words. For some feelings words don’t exist. This closeness, this love is a language all on its own.
“I’m so proud of you, Quinn,” he finally says, his voice still husky. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I’m so glad our daughter will have you as an example.”
I can’t wait to tell her what beauty really is. That it’s not the shiny things, but the gritty things that make true beauty. The character formed when things are hard. The kindness when you could be cruel. It’s empathy when you could settle for not understanding. It’s seeing those others deem invisible. It’s all the things I hope I’ve shown the world.
But more importantly, it’s all the things I learned to show myself.
The End
About Kennedy
A RITA® Award Winner and Top 25 Amazon Bestseller, Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts.
She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son. She has always leveraged her journalism background to write for charity and non-profit organizations, but enjoys writing to raise Autism awareness most. A contributor for Modern Mom Magazine, Kennedy's writings have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today and many others. The founder and executive director of a foundation serving Atlanta families living with Autism, she has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other media outlets as an advocate for families living with autism.
Check out Kennedy’s Amazon page for a full list of her books.
End Goal
Ella Fox
Chapter One
Addison
Summer, 10 years ago
Perfectly fitted black and gold bikini? Check. Amazing suntan that I spent the past two months working on? Check. Freshly highlighted hair? You bet. Fingers and toes painted pink flamenco from OPI? Done. Legs waxed? Check. Brazilian wax, double check.
Yes, I’d actually done it. I still couldn’t believe I’d let Gen dare me to get one. If my mom ever discovered that I’d gone to a salon and had it done, she’d probably ground me forever. Good, virginal girls didn’t have all the hair yanked out of their private places. I’d had no choice since I was following through on Geneva’s dare.
Having a stranger all up in my business was absolutely positively not going on the highlight reel of my life. In the future, I would stick to taking care of things in the privacy of my shower with my trusty razor. I had to concede that it would be nice not to have to worry about that for the next six weeks, give or take.
I was seventeen and loving the way it felt to have so much freedom. My braces were a distant memory, Proactiv was keeping any breakouts at bay, and because of cheerleading, I was in good shape. The goofy, frizzy-haired girl who stuttered when she was nervous had transformed. I got asked to prom by not one but two guys. I’d felt horrible saying no to Jamie Dennis, but since I’d already said yes to Riley Evers, I hadn’t had a choice.
; Sipping from a bottle of Vitaminwater, I made my way into Geneva’s house and headed upstairs to the guest room to put my hair up into a ponytail. Her parents were spending the weekend at their Napa house, and they’d given her permission to have a few people over. A few people had somehow morphed into thirty real quick. At the moment, everyone was outside hanging around the pool. Not bad for the first all day get-together of the summer.
Inside the guest room, I brushed my hair until it shined and then put it up. When I finished styling my hair, I quickly applied some fresh peach lip gloss and then checked myself over in the mirror. I turned from side to side and then turned all the way around and looked back over my shoulder to make sure I looked as good as I felt in the bikini. Facing forward again, I quickly adjusted my boobs before I turned to the door to leave.
I froze when I saw Geneva’s cousin Law leaning against the doorjamb watching me through hooded eyes. He’d moved to North Carolina to attend Duke University for his freshman year of college at the end of last summer. Since then, I’d only seen him sporadically during the weeks he’d been home for winter break. I’d missed him even though I shouldn’t have cared at all. For some perverse reason, I had a huge crush on him even though he was a douche. Law had two settings with me. Either he avoided me like it was his job or he treated me like shit. I hated both equally.
“What’re you doing here?” I blurted.
“I got back a few hours ago. I was unpacking my shit when Jury showed up with a bunch of assholes who immediately raided my dad's bar.”
Jury was Law’s younger brother, and at fifteen, he was somewhat of a wild child. I wasn’t a bit surprised that he was partying. In fact, I was willing to bet his get-together was wilder than the one underway at Geneva’s.
“Kathleen’s there to monitor,” Law continued, “but I’m not in the mood to babysit, so I walked over here.”
Law’s house was a whopping two blocks down, so it wouldn’t have taken long.
“I wasn’t expecting to find you modeling for yourself in the mirror,” he said, his tone mocking.
God, he was an asshole.
“I wasn’t modeling, dickhead. I was making sure my bathing suit was sitting right. I didn’t know a peeping Tom was watching me.”
He covered it quick, but I saw that my response surprised him. Yeah, I thought, I can dish it out now. No more blushing and stammering over my words while he picked at me. The previous year had been good for me.
“I wasn’t peeping,” he said stiffly.
Grabbing my Vitaminwater from the dresser, I twisted off the cap. “Whatever, perv,” I said dismissively. I ignored him as I lifted the bottle to my lips and took a sip of my drink as though I didn’t have a care in the world.
I expected him to come back with a rude comment or a putdown. Instead, he laughed.
“I never thought I’d live to see Addison Travers come back with a zinger,” he said.
Instead of derision or mockery, there was a hint of respect in his tone.
“You’ve grown up,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “And you haven’t.”
Something flashed in his blue eyes. Whatever it was caused a fluttery sensation in my stomach. I walked to the door and squeezed past him before heading downstairs and into the backyard. Score one for Addison, I thought proudly. I hadn’t cowered or made a fool of myself.
I spent the next few hours with my friends in Gen’s yard having a good time. The bathing suit wound up being just for show since I never went in the pool. God forbid I got my hair wet. If I ran into Law again, I didn’t want to look like a drowned rat. After the sun went down, I changed into a white sundress that showed off my tan and highlights. I didn’t see Law while I was in the house changing. Secretly, I’d hoped to run into him after I put on my dress. The strapless white cotton sundress was short, had a cinched waist, and small pink flowers lined the hem. In addition to getting changed, I’d also redone my ponytail and added a pair of hoop earrings. I felt beautiful, and I wanted Law to see me that way.
Figuring he was gone, I went back to the party. Around one in the morning, everyone who was sober was leaving. Anyone who’d had anything to drink was spending the night in Geneva’s guesthouse, which was nicer than most homes. There was a twelve-seat leather sectional, four recliners, and a refrigerator stocked with every conceivable kind of soda, water, and juice. There was also a closet full of sleeping bags that Gen’s parents kept on hand for nights like this.
Since Gen was buzzed, she decided to hang in the guesthouse with all the other drinkers and watch scary movies. I’d had nothing to drink and had no desire to bunk up on the floor, so I headed back to the house. After closing and locking the doors, I headed for the stairs.
I jumped about forty feet in the air when Law asked, “Who’s the guy?”
Turning, I found him sitting in the dark in the formal living room.
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb. The guy who looks at you like he dreams about you using his face as a seat.”
I grimaced and turned back toward the stairs. “You’re disgusting.”
“That’s not an answer. Who is he?”
“His name is Riley, not that it’s any of your business,” I huffed.
Not waiting for a response, I headed upstairs. I felt him behind me a few seconds later.
“He wants to fuck you,” he said.
“Thanks for the unnecessary newsflash.”
I wasn’t stupid; I knew Riley liked me. He was a great guy, but he did nothing for me, and I knew it was because I was hung up on Law.
“I saw some photos on Gen’s Facebook. He was your prom date, right?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Gen’s dad rented out two suites at the hotel where the prom was. One for you and the drooler, the other for Gen and her flavor of the month.”
It was true that Mr. Manning had rented suites, but they had been for our core group of friends. Eight people stayed in each room, and we’d had a great sex-free time.
That was none of Law’s business, so I shook my head and turned down the hall toward the guest room. “Good night, Law.”
“You shouldn’t have sex with idiots because you can’t have who you really want.”
I narrowed my eyes as I turned on my heel to confront him. “What the hell does that mean?”
His expression as he walked toward me made my nipples tighten. “You know what it means.”
I shook my head in denial but could not formulate a response because Law came to a stop in front of me, close enough to touch.
“Can you keep a secret, Addison?”
I licked my lips as I cocked my head and looked up into his deep blue eyes. “What… what kind of secret?” I asked.
“Just answer the question. Yes or no?”
“Yes, I can keep a…”
I stopped speaking when he reached out with his right hand and cupped my jaw. I had one second to wonder if I was dreaming before his lips claimed mine. When his tongue traced the seam of my lips, I opened for him without hesitation. I’d made out before but never like that. Law kissed me like I was oxygen and he couldn’t live without it. I gasped when he grabbed my ass and pulled me into him, groaning into my mouth as I met every movement of his tongue with one of my own. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and held on as our kiss grew more intense.
When I felt him lift me, I wrapped my legs around his waist like it was the most natural thing in the world. I had no idea we were moving until he laid me down on the guest room bed. He stayed with me, not breaking the kiss. With him on top of me like that, I felt how hard he was against me. I shivered as I rocked my hips so that my sex brushed against his jeans just so. The friction made me wet, so I repeated the motion. He growled and then ground down on me, which made my core clench. The only sound in the room was that of us kissing, and the bed frame squeaking as he rocked against me.
I whimpered when he ripped his mouth from mine and braced himself on his arms over me. “Jesus,
Addison.”
“Law.”
He cursed as he reached his hands up and tugged the elastic band of my sundress down to expose my bare breasts. Leaning in, he licked my left nipple and then sucked it into his mouth. He cupped my breasts in his hands and went back and forth, sucking on one nipple and then the other, making sure they both got attention. I whimpered beneath him, needing more but not knowing exactly what.
Pushing the skirt of my dress up, he moved down between my legs. I felt myself turning eighty shades of red when he pushed my panties to the side and looked at my bared sex. I parted my lips to tell him not to stare, but the words got lost when he ran his tongue from the bottom of my sex to the top.
“Oh,” I whimpered, all my breath leaving me in a rush.
He groaned and pushed my legs farther apart with his hands before he slid them beneath me and grabbed my ass for leverage. His wicked tongue touched every one of my sensitive spots and left a trail of fire in its wake. I let out quiet moans and little gasps as he plunged his tongue inside me, his nose brushing against my clit as he did. I barely knew that I slid my hands into his thick, dark blond hair to hold on.
“Please, Law,” I murmured, not exactly sure what I was asking for.
He knew, though. When he sucked the hood of my clit into his mouth and wiggled his tongue against it with fast, repetitive movements, I came. I sucked in a breath and forgot to breathe as my body shook, the pleasure so all-consuming that it was all I could do not to cry out.
I was still shaking when he sat up. The moonlight streaming through the windows provided enough light for me to see the fierceness of the expression on his face as he opened his jeans and took out his hard length. He spit into his fist and then gripped his cock, jacking it as he stared down at me.
“Please fucking tell me you’re on birth control and you want this,” he said, his voice tight like he was on the verge of losing control.
Team Player 2: A Sports Anthology Page 38