by A. J. Pryor
I gently closed the bathroom door so as not to wake her. I had to smile when I looked around. Everything in there was pink too. The towels, the bath mats, even her toothbrush. She was such an awesome chick, not caring about cold weather, and could drink anyone under the table—but a true girl at heart.
I didn’t want to sneak out on her, but she looked way too content. So, I found a pen and an old menu from some pizza place around the corner and wrote, “Goldilocks, I’m heading to the beach to get some waves in. I’ll call you later. Last night was out of this world.”
I left the note on the pillow next to her. She was out cold. Leaning in, I tucked a few stray strands of blonde hair behind her ear, and kissed her softly on the cheek.
The morning air was cool enough for me to see my breath as I exhaled. I drove to my place, grabbed my board and wetsuit, and then headed to the beach. Corey Travers, my friend from The Shop, was heading into the water when I got there.
“Hey, man, what’s going on?” he asked as he sauntered over and fist-bumped me.
There were a lot of people out. Reports of swells brought the avid surfers to the beach.
“Just livin’ the dream,” I replied.
“I heard you’re dating some southern chick. That true?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. What the hell? How had word spread so fast? Cautiously I answered him, “Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“The girls were talking about it at The Shop yesterday. Something about you not hooking up with anyone in a while because some girl did a number on you. Grant said he’d seen her with you down here a few times.”
My jaw clenched at his name alone.
Sensing the change in my mood, Corey added, “No worries man, just wondering if she had a sister!” Corey was a good guy and the grin on his face told me he was messing with me, but I couldn’t let that statement go.
“She’s got four, and they’re all single!” I retorted.
Corey cracked up, “Dude, Roan, you have got to hook me up!”
“Come on, Corey, let’s go catch some waves.”
I spent a good hour in the water, carefully choosing which waves I wanted to ride. My thoughts drifted to Jess on more than one occasion, wondering if she was awake yet, what she’d eaten for breakfast . . . if she’d called. It was pretty fair to say I was under some sort of Jessica Baker spell, and I really didn’t give a shit.
I had to head in and go to work. My life was good and only going to get better. I couldn’t wait to start moving forward with it. When I walked onto the sand and pulled my wetsuit down over my shoulders, I saw a group of people getting to the beach. Grant was there; his entourage included three women I’d had in my bed over the past year. I instantly got a sick feeling in my gut. How would I keep Jessica from bumping into all the women I’d screwed in this town? They were everywhere. What was the protocol? Was I supposed to point them out to her? She knew I had a past. She’d already told me she didn’t care, but if our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t be so understanding.
My guard instantly went on high alert as Maggie strolled up to me with her hips swaying back and forth.
“Hey, Roan, how you been?”
She ran her hand up and down my arm, and I froze. What had I seen in all these women? I turned away and continued stripping off my wetsuit.
“Roan, are you ignoring me?”
I looked back to her and gave her a half-smile. “I’m late for work. Have a good one, Maggie.” I walked away—and then I heard Grant’s voice.
“Don’t worry about him, Mags. He’s trying to settle down with a rich southern chick who lives off daddy’s money. He’s gotta be a good boy from here on out if he wants to keep that pretty little thing.”
My fists instantly clenched by my sides. It took all my willpower to walk away when what I wanted to do was pummel this fucker to the ground. If four of his surf-brothers hadn’t surrounded him, I probably would have done just that. It was a no-win for me, so I continued on, grateful when I saw some of my own people getting out of the water, including Corey. I gave him a look and he nodded in acknowledgement; he had my back if anyone tried to start something.
The beach was mostly a peaceful place. But like anywhere else, divides arose. I tried to keep the balance as much as possible, but assholes like Grant made that difficult.
“You gonna drive this girl insane like you did Luana?” Grant yelled at my back. “Cuz if so, I’d be happy to step in and help her through her heartache.”
I stopped cold in my tracks, my fist curling up at my side.
He was right behind me, and he lowered his voice. “I still remember the way Luana fucked—like she wanted to claw someone’s eyes out. I can imagine just how good your Southern Belle would suck my dick.”
I turned and pushed him, the palms of my hands connecting with the skin of his chest. My face was right in his, daring him to take this further. Then his boys were on me, pushing me to the side; my homies raced up and formed a line in front of me, a silent threat.
Grant backed off and his crew retreated as well but not before his words cut into me, “I give you two weeks, Roan. Two weeks before that girl takes a hike. Once she finds out who you really are, she’s not going to want anything to do with you.”
Corey held me back, “Let it go. He’s not worth it.”
I was twitching, wanting to bolt after that fucker. Taking a deep breath, I said to Corey, “Thanks, man.”
Heading to my car in a foul mood, I knew that even though Grant was an asshole, he was right. I had to tell Jess about my past. And hope she’d still want me once she knew the truth.
ame day had arrived and I was taking Jess to meet Blake. It felt strange, bringing her into my family. My stomach was in knots; I wanted them to get along, like each other.
Jess and I had spent the rest of the week getting our lives in order. She was busy working on her cookbook and I was slammed at work. This week would be our last one apart for a while—then we’d be off to Aspen. I’d spent every night at her house. That needed to change when she returned from Texas. I needed her to be a part of my home as well.
Jess was sleeping soundly. Not wanting to wake her, I slipped out of bed and took a shower then headed for the kitchen to make us breakfast.
Something was off with me. My heart was beating rapidly and my breath was uneven. If things didn’t go well today, this perfect life I’d been living the past week was going to come crumbling down. There was no reason in the world Blake and Jess wouldn’t get along, so why the hell was I so worried about this?
As I flipped the last pancake, Jess walked into the kitchen, her hair a mess and my T-shirt thrown over her head. She looked sexy and my mind instantly imagined her up against a wall with my hips between her thighs.
“Did I wake you?” I asked, turning off the stove and making my way over to her, my pounding heart started to settle. As antsy as I felt, I needed a place to put my excess energy, and inside Jessica seemed the perfect spot.
“Only because you weren’t there when I woke up.” She sauntered up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.
Picking her up and sitting her on the kitchen island, I spread her legs and planted my hips firmly between them.
She ran her hands through my cold, wet hair. “You’re freezin’, Roan. You’re gonna get sick if you’re not careful.”
I kissed her lips. “It’ll dry.”
I buried my face in her chest and heaved a sigh of relief to have my girl in my arms, so warm and comforting.
Cupping my face in her hands, she looked at me. “What’s the matter?”
“Absolutely nothing.” I grabbed her lower lip between my teeth and worked it back and forth, slipping my tongue into her mouth.
I glanced at the clock, damn, we didn’t have time for this. I pulled back, tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, and whispered, “I love you, Jessica Baker.”
She gave me a concerned smile, not the reaction I was looking for the first time I said those words to he
r. “What’s wrong, Roan?”
“Nothing, Goldilocks.” Trying to change the serious mood, I asked, “You ready to go watch some football?”
“Hell, yeah! I have my blue and gold outfit all ready to go.”
“That’s my girl.” I pulled her off the counter and swatted her rear. “Let’s get dressed.”
She started toward her room, turning as she called out. “Hey, Surfer Boy?”
I was putting our now-cold breakfast onto two plates for us to eat before we left. “Yeah?”
“I love you, too!”
We were in my Audi, heading down the 10. Jess was completely decked out in the UCLA colors; Blake would shit himself when he saw her. I’d told him to put aside two tickets. He’d asked who the second one was for, but I never responded.
“I love this song,” Jess squealed as she bent down and turned up the volume on the radio. There was now some country station programmed into my system and Jess always started playing it the second she was in the car. So far, her singing voice was the only one heard on this entire drive. Her feet were up on the dashboard, and her head was bobbing to the tunes.
“Don’t you find some of these songs depressing?” I asked. They were all about love and heartbreak. It was enough to make me want to drive into a brick wall.
She laughed. “No, not really.”
“I didn’t tell Blake you were coming with me today.”
She looked at me with her eyes wide. “Why? Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“Of course! And he’s going to love you, Locks. I wanted to surprise him.”
Jess settled back in her seat a grin spreading across her face. “Well, I can’t wait to meet him.”
I reached over and squeezed her knee as we pulled into the parking lot at the Rose Bowl.
“This is so exciting!” Jess squealed. She was beaming – probably the first girl I knew who honestly loved sports as much as I did. I grabbed her hand, and we walked to Will Call.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see who just texted me. Not recognizing the number, I opened it. Shit. My feet stopped in their tracks and my grip tightened on the phone.
“What is it?” Jess asked.
“Nothing.” Deleting the text and placing the phone back in my pocket, we kept moving. My mind set that I would have to tell Jess about Luana soon. But not now. Probably when she got back from Texas.
Blake had left us field passes. Our seats were down low and directly on the fifty-yard line. The band was playing, and the teams were practicing. There was a lot going on; Jess was taking it all in.
“We can go watch them warm up,” I said, leading her through the private gate where we showed our passes to the security guard. As we approached the sideline where Blake’s team was set up, his coach saw me and immediately stepped toward us.
“Roan, it’s good to see you!”
“Hi, Coach Walters. This is my girlfriend, Jessica Baker.”
The coach knew my reputation as well as my brother’s and didn’t even try to hide the surprise on his face. “Well, well, well. It’s very nice to meet you, Jessica.”
She knew exactly what that was all about. “The pleasure’s mine, Coach,” she said with a hint of her drawl. Then she asked me, “Which one is Blake?”
I put my arm around her and pointed at him. He was throwing his pre-game drills to his receivers on the field. When he saw us standing there, he cocked his arm back and threw the ball directly at me, placing the thing right in my hands. Blake was one of the best quarterbacks playing college football. Numerous pro teams had scouted him, but I wouldn’t let him leave college. I’d seen too many professional athletes get injured, and while the sport loved them when they were healthy, the minute they were hurt, an athlete turned back into a regular Joe. I had taken out an insurance policy on Blake at the beginning of this year, so he was pretty much set for life if things did take a turn for the worse. However, he still needed a college education and, luckily, he was in agreement on that topic.
“I can’t believe you just caught that,” Jessica said sounding surprised.
I turned to look at her. “Who do you think taught him how to play in the first place?”
“I thought you were a surfer-snowboarder-skateboarder guy. When did you play a real sport?”
I couldn’t believe she’d just said that to me. “Goldilocks, those are all real sports, but, for your information, I played high school football and on scholarship for the University of San Diego.”
Blake ran up and picked Jess up, twirling her around in a huge bear hug. “You must be Goldilocks.”
She laughed at his mention of her nickname.
I wasn’t amused. “Dude, don’t call her that.”
“Why not? You do,” he shot back at me.
“That’s right, and I’m the only one who gets to. Make up your own name for her.”
“It’s nice to finally be meetin’ you. I am so excited to watch you play today,” she gushed, obviously thrilled to be here.
“Oh, man, Roan, you weren’t kidding. That accent is killer.”
Jesus, my brother was such a douche.
“Can you guys have dinner with me after the game?” he asked.
“We’d love to,” Jess answered for us.
“But we can’t,” I added.
“Why not?” They both asked at the same time.
“Because you took the team bus. Jess has an early morning flight, and if we take you back to school, I won’t get her home until after midnight. You’re staying with me for the holidays, Blake. We have three weeks to hang out together.”
Satisfied with my response, they dropped the subject.
“Come on. Let’s go back to our seats.” I threw my arm around Jessica’s shoulder. “Give us a good game, Blake.”
“I always do,” he promised and fist-bumped me.
“Bye, Blake, it was nice to meet you,” Jessica said, all politeness and charm.
He hugged her again and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle.
“I always wanted a brother,” she said as we sat down.
“Well, you’re welcome to share mine.” I leaned in and kissed her.
“So you like my accent, Mr. Anders?” She fluttered her eyes at me, and I had to smile.
“I love everything about you, Goldilocks. And if he ever calls you that again, I’ll pummel him into the ground.”
She took my hand and turned to watch what was going on in the stadium.
“What did he say to you?” I asked.
“When?” She was playing dumb, and there was no way I was falling for it.
“You know when, Locks. What did he whisper in your ear?”
She turned and looked me in the eyes. “He said, and I quote, ‘My brother is so fucking in love with you. Please take care of his heart for me.’” Her eyes welled with tears, and a smile played at her lips. “Like I said, I wish I had a brother.”
I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. “He’s one smart kid.”
She nodded and kissed me once more before she turned to watch the field.
It was an epic game. The score went back and forth throughout the three hours. UCLA won in the last five minutes, with Blake throwing a pass twenty yards down the field, right into the hands of his teammate in the end zone. I was ecstatic and couldn’t have been prouder. If Blake could keep his grades up and remain uninjured, there was almost no way he wouldn’t go pro.
The vibration in my shirt pocket interrupted my thoughts. As Jess cheered at the game, I glanced at my phone. Shit, it was her. Fuck, not now. Not again.
was dreading my return to Texas, but my baby sister asked me to come home and I knew I needed to be there for her. Five days back in my child hood home wouldn’t kill me.
“What are you gonna do when you’re in Texas?” Roan was driving me to the airport. He was less than thrilled that we would be spending yet another week apart. I couldn’t say I blamed him. My heart was already feel
ing heavy at the thought of saying goodbye again.
“Ugh. I don’t know. Hide in my room.”
“You don’t want to see your family?” Roan knew I didn’t get along with my mother, but I never told him much about anyone else in my family.
“I do, but it’s never easy. My daddy and my baby sis, Savannah, are the only two I get along with on a regular basis. My mother will try to set me up with one of her friend’s sons even though I’ll tell her I’m not interested. My older sister—”
“Wait a second.” Roan pulled the car to the side of the road and stared at me. “Your mom will try to set you up on a date even though you have a boyfriend? You have told them about me, haven’t you?”
“No, but not for any reason other than I haven’t talked to any of them since I booked my trip, and even that was all over email.”
“So no one in your family calls to check up on you?”
I shook my head. “My daddy calls every so often, but when I spoke to him last you and I weren’t really together yet. Savannah calls when she needs advice, but other than that, I’m pretty much on my own. I like it that way. They’re all so self-absorbed.”
“Will you tell them about me when you get there?”
“Of course I will, Roan. It’ll be the first thing I tell them. My mother’ll throw a fit and accuse me of tryin’ to kill her. My daddy will be thrilled and try to fly you out right away. He may even send the jet to pick you up. My sisters will act as if I’m below them. It’s all pretty standard.”
Roan looked like he wanted to turn the car around and take me back home.
“Oh,” I continued, “and then I’ll tell them about the cookbook, and they’ll all really flip. Momma will accuse me again of attempted murder, Daddy will love the idea, and my sisters will think I’m wasting my time.”
“What the hell is wrong with your family?”