Power Play (BTU Alumni #1)

by Alley Ciz

  Another comfortable silence stretched out between them. The air was crisp, and the wind blew the trees on the property. Sitting on the edge of the pool the scent of chlorine mixed with Jordan’s own vanilla essence.

  Too soon for his liking she got up to leave. “Well I’m gonna try and get some sleep now, goodnight, Jake.”

  He was taken aback by her abrupt attempt at departure. She had been avoiding him most of the night and there was no way in hell would he allow this opportunity to slip through his fingers. He too got to his feet. “Jordan, wait.” He reached out a hand to take hers.

  It was now or never.

  “I’ve been trying to get you alone all night to talk to you and when I finally do you’re trying to run away from me… again.”

  She stood there silent. She was nibbling on her lower lip again and it made Jake burn inside with the desire to kiss her, but he knew he had to get out what he had to say before he did anything like that.

  He called her out on avoiding being alone with him throughout the night.

  When she tried to interrupt him, he reached out to touch her face intimately. “Wait, let me finish… Now I know why you made it. But I would. Never. Ever. Do anything to hurt you. Ever.”

  As he spoke he moved in toward her. “I also know that when we’re together I feel like everything is right. From the moment I saw you at Rookies I felt a connection to you. I swear we are meant to be together, if only you would have the courage to go for it. To hell with what your brothers would say.”

  At that he closed the rest of the distance between them, he moved his hand behind her neck, and brought his mouth down on hers.

  He wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing. There were others in the house, including her brothers. The fact that they could be caught at any time was a risk he was willing to take because he could not stand there and watch her take her lower lip between her teeth one more time without acting on the impulses it spurred on.

  However, it was the fact that even with all the time they spent together, the conversations they had, and the blatant chemistry he knew they both felt, it made him want to prove something with this kiss.

  Yet, all the chemistry he had felt between them didn’t even begin to prepare him for what he felt when they kissed.

  When she didn’t pull away, he moved his hand that was holding hers to cup the other side of her face. He angled her head back to gain better access, intensifying the kiss. He threaded his left hand into her hair and felt the silky weight of it slide right through.

  Abruptly she pulled away and silently walked away.

  He understood her reaction but still smiled to himself. The memory of their kiss would be enough to sustain him until he could break down the rest of her walls. He knew the night was a major turning point in their relationship because when she kissed him back she was openly admitting, finally, that there was something between them. Rubbing the back of his neck he tried to calm down his hormones so he could eventually go back inside for a good night’s sleep.

  Chapter Twenty

  The next morning Jordan was awakened by Ryan.

  “So can anyone tell me why there is a pair of socks on my pillow?” Ryan said looking down to where she and Maddey were sleeping.

  Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking a few times while they adjusted to the light. “Yeah you were snoring so bad last night that I shoved them in your mouth to shut you up. But it didn’t work, you just spit them out,” she said around a yawn.

  “Why you little…” He trailed off and threw the pair of socks at her, but they bounced off her and hit Maddey in the face.

  Maddey opened her eyes and looked at Ryan. “Hey don’t throw stuff at me. I let you sleep in peace last night… but I am surprised your neighbors haven’t filed a disturbing the peace order against you.”

  “At least I’m not the only one who feels that way.” Jordan shared a knowing look with Maddey before stretching and reaching for her phone. She relaxed when she noticed she still had two hours before she had to be at the pool.

  She also noticed an unread text.

  UNKNOWN: You’re supposed to stay away from him.

  A sense of unease overcame her but she tried to shrug it off.

  “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I could kill for a cup of coffee.” With a lingering look at Maddey, Ryan made his way out of his room and down stairs.

  Seeing the way her brother looked at her best friend confirmed her suspicions that something had happened between the two. Seizing the opportunity while they were alone she decided to ask Maddey about it. “Okay spill.”

  “About what?” Maddey tried to play coy but she wasn’t having it.

  Maddey sat up and crossed her legs in front of her Indian-style. “Umm... well… last night…”

  “Yeah?” Jordan prompted. When Maddey still hesitated she pushed on. “Come on Madz, stop stalling. It’s obvious that something happened between you and Ryan last night, so don’t keep me in the dark here.”

  “How do you know something happened? Did Jase tell you?” Her voice took on a panicky pitch.

  “Jase… what?” She scrunched her face in confusion. “That sounds like a whole other story, but to answer your question so you’ll hopefully answer mine, I could tell something happened between you two, by how you guys were sitting together last night. If I didn’t think anything then I certainly would now by the way he just looked at you.”

  Maddey blushed profusely at the comment but her shoulders stiffened. “You’re not mad, are you?”

  She laughed and placed a reassuring hand on Maddey’s arm. “Only if you don’t tell me what happened… come on, Madz, I’m dying here.”

  “Well a little before you guys came inside for the night, I went into the kitchen to make myself another drink.” She paused. “And Ryan followed.”

  When Maddey paused again she almost lost it. “Maddey…” she groaned.

  “Well after I made my drink we started talking, and since Ry is so tall I sat on the counter so I wouldn’t have to look up at him the whole time… and well… eventually… he kissed me.”

  She was so excited, she threw her arms around Maddey and caused them to fall to the air mattress.

  “Oh my god, Madz, that’s great!”

  “Really, you aren’t mad or anything?”

  “Mad? Hell no! It’s about damn time he made a move.”

  Maddey paused at the comment. “What do you mean, it’s about time?”

  “Oh, Madz, back when we were freshmen Ryan asked me if it would be ok if he asked you out and I told him nothing would make me happier.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “Then what the hell took him so long?”

  Now it was her turn to not make eye contact. “Jor, what is?”

  She let out a sigh as she looked at her friend. “Actually it might be partially my fault.”

  Maddey couldn’t stifle a laugh at the comment. “How could taking two years for your brother to finally grow a set and ask me out have anything to do with you?”

  Maddey’s bluntness was one of the things Jordan loved most about her. “Oh Maddey, I love you. But what I mean is tha—” She stopped mid-sentence when Maddey’s words truly sank in. “Wait a second, he asked you out?” She couldn’t stop the joy from showing on her face.

  “Yeah well after Jase came into the kitchen and almost caught us making out…”

  She laughed and shook her head. “He didn’t.”

  “He did.” Maddey laughed at the memory of Jase’s face when he realized he might have interrupted something. “Anyway after Jase left, Ryan asked me out on date for tomorrow night.”

  She clapped her hands in delight. “So come on tell me why you think it’s your fault Ryan took so long to ask me out.”

  “Okay, but now it’s my turn to ask you not to get mad at me.” At Maddey’s nod she continued. “Well when Ryan came to me and asked if I would be ok if he asked you out, I told him how cool I thought
it would be if you two dated.” She paused and looked back down at her hands. “But I told him to be careful because I knew how you felt about Dex and I didn’t want him to get hurt if he didn’t have a chance with you.”

  Maddey reached out and covered her hand with her own. “Oh, Jordan.”

  She looked up and met Maddey compassionate gaze. “So you aren’t mad right?”

  Maddey shook her head in answer. “No. To be honest if he had asked me two years ago I’m not sure what my answer would have been… am I over Dex? No. But eventually I have to grow up and out of my obsession with him and try to move on and be happy with someone else. Your brother is the only other guy that I’ve ever felt anything toward.” She squeezed Jordan’s hand. “He gives me butterflies Jor.”

  The only reaction she could manage was a smile. “Aww, Maddey, that makes me so happy.”

  “Okay so enough about me and your brother, anything interesting happen between you and Jake last night?” She wagged her eyebrows.

  Jordan had gotten up to get dressed and was in the middle of pulling on a pair of jean shorts when she paused at Maddey’s question. “What?” Unfortunately she couldn’t keep her voice from cracking from nervousness.

  “Okay spill.”

  She knew there was no way out of having this particular conversation. Luckily with Maddey she knew her secret was safe, and if she didn’t tell somebody about what happened the night before she might go insane. She finished buttoning her shorts and sat back down on the air mattress next to her friend.

  “Fine, don’t twist my arm or anything.” She paused for dramatic effect. “The whole night I managed to not be alone with Jake. Then when I couldn’t sleep last night because of Mr. I Can Wake the Dead with My Snoring, I went outside to relax and Jake followed me out there.”

  Maddey’s eyes lit up with anticipation. “So what did he do when he finally got you alone?”

  “At first, all we did was talk, but when I felt things were getting too intimate I got up to leave. Only he didn’t let me.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He kissed me.” Her confession was barely above a whisper.

  “What!” Maddey practically jumped off the air mattress.

  “And that’s not all. He also told me he likes me and thinks we’re meant to be together,” she paused to take a deep breath. Thinking about the conviction she heard in his voice sent a shiver of excitement down her spine. “The kicker is he doesn’t care about any promise I made to my brothers, he said he’ll do whatever he has to for us to be together.”

  Maddey was silent for a while before she eventually reacted. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” A sound outside the door caught their attention. “But let’s talk about this later, the last thing I need is for someone to walk in while we’re talking about Jake.”

  Maddey nodded in agreement. “Well with that said, I seriously need a cup of coffee. Let’s go eat.”

  The girls finished getting dressed and made their way downstairs.

  Jake woke up in need a caffeine fix. He grabbed his phone off the floor and saw a text notification on the screen.

  UNKNOWN: Jordan is not yours to kiss. Back off.

  What the fuck? Had someone seen them?

  He thumbed out a response.

  JAKE: Who is this?

  When no response came he continued to the kitchen. Coffee cup in hand he went into the dining room to sit and saw Sammy and Skye were also awake.

  “You must have had some night last night, huh Jake?” Sammy asked with an amused expression on his face.

  His shoulders stiffened as panic seized his body. Did someone see him kissing Jordan and if so what would the repercussions be? Taking in Sammy’s facial expressions and body language, he assessed he wasn’t referring to the kiss. “Why do you ask?”

  Sammy exchanged a knowing look with Skye before turning his attention back to him. “You got your butt handed to you in beer pong last night by Jordan, we were just curious how you were feeling.”

  The beer pong game that started the night seemed like ancient history compared to the events at the end of the evening.

  The confession.

  The kiss.

  He kissed Jordan last night.

  He’d been thinking about what it would be like to kiss her since the first time he saw her at Rookies, the reality far surpassed his imagination. The best part was she kissed him back. Eventually she ran away from her feelings for him, literally ran away, but in the heat of the moment she let her true emotions and feelings show through and she kissed him back.

  Jake noticed the questioning looks Sammy and Skye sent his way and realized he hadn’t answered Sammy’s question. “No I’m feeling fine, the only thing hurt from last night is my pride.”

  Ryan entered the dining room during their conversation about the night before and his sudden bark of laughter brought all the attention onto him instead of Jake. “Yeah your pride may be hurting now from getting beat by Jordan, but don’t worry, you get used to it.” He clapped him on the back as a show of support.

  Jake smiled. The thought of getting used to anything that involved Jordan was a happy one. He ran a hand through his hair to help rid it of some of the bed head he had going on.

  Jase came into the dining room with a bag of bagels and all the necessities. He was spreading out butter and different types of cream cheese when Jordan and Maddey joined them. Jordan took the seat across from Jake but quickly looked away when she caught the knowing look in his eye.

  Ryan sat at the head of the dining room table and Maddey sat in the seat to his right. The seat must not have been close enough for Ryan’s liking because he pulled it over until it was right next to his. Once satisfied with the seating arrangements Ryan leaned back in his chair and placed his arm around the back of Maddey’s.

  Tucker walked into the kitchen, pausing to take a sip of Skye’s coffee. The action earned him the side-eye from her. He made a face. “That’s too sweet.”

  “Well I didn’t make it for you.” Skye took her mug back.

  Tucker placed a hand over his heart. “You wound me, sweetheart.”

  The table laughed at their antics. Tucker settled into the seat next to Jordan and stole half her bagel. “Do you really not know how to get anything for yourself?” Jordan said on a laugh.

  “Have pity on me Blondie. I’m still recovering from last night. I swear you are just as lethal with a quarter as you are with a ping pong ball.”

  “Aww, my poor BB3,” she said as she passed over the rest of her bagel before grabbing a new one for herself.

  Everyone else began grabbing bagels and coffee and settled in to eat breakfast. Jake could only hope the growing friendship forming between his best friend and Jordan worked in his favor.

  With the text he received earlier still on his mind, he had to wonder if her brothers would be the only obstacle he had to overcome.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jordan stood by Skye’s life guard stand while she told her about what transpired between her and Jake the night before.

  “Oh my god he just grabbed your face and kissed you?” Skye asked shocked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow.”

  “I know.” Just thinking of how Jake commanded her body as he kissed her made her body heat.

  “So do you think he meant what he said?” Skye asked from her perch.

  “What, that he likes me?”

  Skye took her eyes off the pool for a second to look down at her like she grew an extra head. “No, we obviously know he likes you. What I meant was do you think he meant he doesn’t care what your brothers have to say?”

  Jordan tried to put the conversation preceding the earth-shaking kiss out of her mind. It wasn’t the words that made her nervous— okay the words did make her a little nervous— but it was the pure undiluted conviction behind those words that made her anxious. Based on her silence and the look that crossed her face, her friend knew her answer.

  The text alert
sounded from her bag, she tensed recalling this morning’s cryptic text message. She relaxed when she saw it was Sammy.

  THE SPIN DOCTOR (Sammy): Lucy you have some ‘splaining to do

  She let out a laugh. She and her friends were so much alike.

  “What’s so funny?” Skye asked

  Jordan showed her the screen.

  “Maddey must have told him about your kiss with Jake.”

  MOTHER OF DRAGONS: Maddey knows the details

  “There we go. That’ll buy me some time with him,” she said.

  As if all the talk about Jake conjured him up, she saw him walking toward the pool behind Sean and Carlee.

  Sean ran up to her and hugged her around the legs. “Hi, Jordy!”

  She smiled down at her brother. “Hey there, buddy.”

  When she looked up her gaze fell directly on Jake like a missile seeking its target. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking because of his aviator sunglasses. She quickly averted her eyes to the kids to help break the tension that always seemed to flow between them when they were together.

  Jordan looked at the ground, Sean, Carlee, the pool, anywhere except Jake. She was scared if she looked him in the eye he would see the longing in hers. Blessedly her phone started to ring from her bag again, the tone indicated a phone call this time. She bent down to retrieve it but didn’t recognize the number on the display and ignored it.

  Skye watched her replace her phone without answering. “Everything alright, Jor?”

  She rose to stand next to Skye. “Yeah, didn’t recognize the number. You know I always let it go to voicemail when that happens.”

  “Are you sure? You seem a little tense.”