I shudder at the thought of seeing him again after I think about our last meeting at Cambria.
Over the years I’ve followed his career because I’m a glutton for punishment and now that he’s a Viking there is no avoiding him. Every Viking fan loves him. I can’t walk down the street without seeing a purple and gold Rhodes jersey.
The entire NFL loves him. People are drawn to his electric personality and charming smile. Golden boy and rising star, just like he was in high school and college. It’s so frustrating to not be able to get away from him. Out of sight, out of mind only applies when the person isn’t thrown in your face 24/7.
“Ready for the day?” Dr. Colletti asks as he enters the employees’ only area where I’m cleaning up the coffee I just spit all over Amy.
“Yes, Dr. Colletti… even though I don’t look like,” I reply with a faint smile.
“Stanzy for the millionth time. Call me Anthony. You’re not a patient anymore, you’re my colleague.”
“Yes, sir… ahh, Anthony,” I reply. Dr. Anthony Colletti is a late-forties silver fox. He is tall and regal, extremely well respected in our field and he gives Dr. McDreamy a run for his money. There is something sexy about a man with salt and pepper hair. He was my physical therapist when I tore my ACL in college and now he apparently considers me a colleague. I can feel my cheeks blush at the thought of being included in his professional circle.
“What happened here?” he asks and motions toward my coffee splatter.
“I had an accident. Won’t happen again.”
“It’s not a big deal. I was just asking. Although Amy looks less than pleased,” he chuckles as he looks at Amy dabbing coffee spittle off her clothes near the sink. “Or maybe that’s just her face. I can’t tell anymore.”
I laugh nervously at his joke.
I’ve been here six months now and I still get anxious around him. Not because I’m not confident in my ability, it’s because he’s so damn smart and handsome, oh, and he holds my entire future in hands. A letter of recommendation, or better yet, a permanent job offer after my residency is over would be ideal.
“I just need a quick minute to clean up. I’ll be right back,” I say and basically sprint-walk to the bathroom, flashing Amy a brief smile as I pass by. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit.
I grab my phone to call Staley.
“Hey, sissy-poo-poo,” she answers on the second ring.
“What? You’ve never called me that before.”
“I don’t know. I kinda like it. What’s up? Aren’t you working?”
“Yeah, shh, now listen,” I begin.
“Why are you shushing me? I’m not even there.”
“Will you just shut up and listen!” I snap.
“Fine, go on, Dr. Sutton,” she mocks me.
“We have a new patient today.”
“Okay, fun. And...” she trails off knowing there’s more.
“It’s Jessup.”
Silence.
Now that we feel like true Minnesotans after being here for seven years, Staley and I are diehard Vikings fans. We watch the games every Sunday, we even SKOL chant in our living room. We were watching the game when Jessup tore his ACL. That was a huge blow to the team, but never in a million fucking years did I think he’d come here for his rehab. Illogical because I’ve worked with his injured teammates, but he’s been so unattainable for so long that the thought just never crossed my mind.
“Stay? You there?” I ask after she’s remained silent for far too long and I need to get off the phone.
“I’m sorry my brain malfunctioned. What?!” she shrieks into my ear.
“Jessup is coming in today, he’s on my client list. What the fuck should I do?”
“Uh,” she pauses, “treat him like you would any other patient. You’re history is just that, history.”
“Okay, yeah. I can do that. He’s nothing. He’s a patient and I’m a professional.” Even though I say it out loud to Staley it is more of a pep talk for myself.
“Holy hell, Stanz. We haven’t seen him in person for like three years. How does he look? He looks fucking hot on TV.”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t come in yet.”
“I want deets as soon as you get home.”
“Duh.”
With that I hang up. Again, why couldn’t I have been assigned the Minnesota Lynx or the Golden Gopher volleyball team when I was placed here? Working with football athletes has proved challenging and fun, until now. Now it’s just going to be challenging.
I walk back into the employee lounge where Amy and Anthony are waiting for me.
“You good?” he asks.
“Yes, sir,” I reply with an embarrassed smile. “I’m so sorry, Amy.”
She just glares at me. Irritated, crotchety Amy.
“What’s on the docket today?” he asks.
“We got Jessup Rhodes coming in later today. That’s the biggest name on the list. Malachi is back for his ankle and Austin is back for his ACL rehab. Two new clients besides Rhodes. Terrence Hardy, Gopher cornerback. Hit a guy and tore a ligament in his shoulder. He is one week post-op. The other is a high school senior from Mendota who injured his groin in their last game. Primary care indicated it was torn.”
“Sounds like a day. Let’s get started.”
After a few hours of working with our early patients I knew the minute Jessup entered the building. The air shifted and I felt his presence. That may sound cliché or ridiculous or whatever, but it’s true. I can feel him and my heart begins pounding in my chest.
“He looks bored already,” Anthony says as we walk towards where Jessup is sprawled out on a table waiting for us. It makes me laugh.
Just then, Jessup jolts upright as if he was struck by lightning, grabbing something under his shirt while those root beer eyes pierce me. Maybe he could feel me too.
“Mr. Rhodes? I’m Dr. Colletti and this is Dr. Sutton,” Anthony begins our introductions.
Jessup is a specimen of a man and so much hotter in person than he is on TV or social media - thick, ripped muscles from years of working out to maintain an elite athlete’s body, and his face, my God. Beautiful, smooth skin, perfect almond shaped eyes with dark lashes, and his scrumptious mouth.
Every time I have seen those lips in pictures online I remember our first real kiss on my porch. I twist the ring he gave me around my middle finger and turn my eyes to him. I’ve never been able to take it off, even after everything.
“Stanzy?” he asks as if he doesn’t recognize me, glancing down at my hand where I’m nervously twisting his ring. I stop fidgeting and clasp my hands behind my back. I’m sure he’s forgotten all about that ring by now.
“How’ve you been, Jess?” I ask, trying to sound casual while turning down the intense beating of my heart.
“You two know each other?” Anthony asks quizzically, looking between Jess and me. I’ve purposely left out the few details concerning my history with our client which makes this introduction quite awkward.
“Yeah, Doc, we go way back,” Jessup says with a wink and a brilliant smile. Cocky confidence. This new Jess is definitely… different.
“Huh, funny. Stanzy never mentioned she knew you,” Anthony retorts with an edge to his voice. If I’m not mistaken he even puffs his chest out a little bit.
“Well, she never was one to kiss and tell,” Jessup pops a shoulder nonchalantly. Oh, hell no! We are not doing this here.
“Jessup!” I shout louder than I intend. This display of male chauvinism is just stupid and I certainly don’t want Dr. Colletti thinking I sleep with our clients.
“Sorry,” he holds his hands up in the air, but the apology is insincere. “Maybe she’s changed. You guys close, Doc?” he asks and wiggles his eyebrows at Anthony. What is wrong with him? I haven’t seen him in three years, and that didn’t end well, now he comes at my boss like this?
“Dr. Colletti, I apologize for Jessup’s behavior and I apologize I didn’t tell you about my prior relati
onship with him. We dated for a brief time in high school. That is what he is referring to. I have not seen him in several years, so no, I wouldn’t say we know each other,” I say as I glare at him.
Which isn’t a lie. I don’t know the arrogant man sitting in front of me, the playboy who dates models and has millions of followers online. I know Jessup Rhodes, small town football hero with an abusive father and point to prove in life. This douche in front of me is a fucking joke.
“Ah, I see.” Anthony inspects Jessup further. Almost like he is sizing him up. “Anthony, remember?” he finally breaks his stone-like gaze on Jessup and smiles at me.
“Anthony.” I nod and Jessup frowns.
“So, Jessup, ACL rehabilitation is done in phases. How long it takes depends on how long it takes you to complete each phase,” Anthony begins with his typical introduction to rehab speech.
“Well, Doc, as a professional athlete, I don’t think I’ll have much problem with this stuff,” Jessup replies, still a bit edgy and I don’t miss the way he emphasizes that he is a professional athlete. More like royal dick with a massive ego. Who is this guy?
“That’s true. You are in fine shape, but sometimes professional athletes take the longest to rehab because their egos get in the way and they don’t like to follow directions. Will that be a problem for you?” Anthony asks pointedly. I’ve never heard Dr. Colletti, who is known for his stellar bedside manner, talk to a patient this way.
“Nope, I’ll do whatever Stanzy tells me to do,” Jessup retorts with a Cheshire grin.
I roll my eyes.
This is going to be a long year for all of us.
Chapter 3: Stanzy
Cathedral High School – Senior Year
“It’s the Final Countdown!” Staley sings from the shower. I can hear her tone deaf version of that awful song all the way down the hall where I’m in my room getting ready for the first day of school.
“You know I hate that song, Stay!” I shout as Staley shuts off the water.
“Suck it up, Buttercup. We’re seniors! The countdown to graduation is on,” she yells back as she pads down the hallway in her towel. “This is it. It’s our show, Stanz,” she says as she peeks into my room before crossing the hall to hers.
“Are we meeting Lou in the locker room before class?” Staley shouts across the hall again.
“For sure.” Staley, our BFF Mary Lou, and I all play volleyball for the Cathedral Eagles. We’re really good too. Well, Staley and I are. Mary Lou is just in it to add a boost to her college applications and spend more time with us.
Mary Lou Albright has been our best friend for what feels like an eternity. Our parents are friends and have pictures of us together in diapers. Mary Lou swears she’s only friends with us because “we’re the hot twins and she needed some arm candy,” but I know for a fact we weren’t hot when we were in junior high. No one is. And she loved us even then.
Lou, as we call her, is a princess, not literally, but her parents treat her like one. She’s an only child, billionaire heiress, and Queen Bee of Cathedral High School. Although it’s a self-proclaimed title, no one questions it because Mary Lou is beautiful, popular and rich.
Perfect auburn bobbed hair, perfect wardrobe, and perfect family. She is Regina George on steroids, except Lou’s mama’s doesn’t let their dog chew on her fake tits and she would never serve us virgin margaritas. She serves the real thing when Lou throws her epic pool parties.
We’ve spent many hours over the years in her pool, indoor theater, or playing sand volleyball on the court her dad had built for her on their sprawling estate.
“Nick hasn’t texted,” Staley frowns as she walks into my room staring at her phone, fully dressed and ready for day one.
Nick the Prick, as I like to call him, is Staley’s on and off again boyfriend since junior year, more like fuck buddy, but she swears it’s more than that. Nick doesn’t seem to reciprocate the sentiment.
I hate him. He’s an asshole jock who doesn’t treat Staley the way I think she should be treated. Text messages at midnight asking her to open her window so he can sneak in is not gentlemanlike. She’s not a booty call kind of girl. The only guy who has ever done that me did not use it as a booty call. He needed a safe place to crash for the night. Big difference.
“Deep breath, Stay,” I tell my sister as I grab my gym bag and backpack, “and fuck him if he hasn’t. Move on. He’s not just a tool, he’s the whole tool shed. Besides, we’re leaving for college in less than a year. Nick doesn’t stand a chance next to those college boys.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
“I know,” Staley solemnly replies, but forces out a small giggle.
I drive our tricked out purple Jeep to school and park near the gym entrance where we’ll meet Lou and put our practice gear in our lockers.
We unload our gym bags and backpacks from the back of our Jeep and head inside. White concrete walls, purple lockers and the smell of twenty girls’ perfume fragrances mingling fills the air. That in a nutshell is the girls’ locker room at CHS.
“Hey, bitches!” Mary Lou sing-songs as she enters the locker room. She’s carrying iced coffee for the three of us because Lou is the absolute best of the best. “Are you ready to run this shit? This year is going to be epic.”
“More than fucking ready,” Staley replies with a smirk.
“We’re all fucking in. State championship baby!” I reply exuding my sometimes intolerable confidence. “But first coffee, please and thank you.” I snag one of the iced lattes from the drink carrier and suck in a big gulp. “Sweet baby Jesus that’s delicious.”
“Yeah right! Only if Faith can pull her head out of her ass this season,” Staley blasts. You can call us skeptics, but we have zero faith in Faith, our powerhouse middle hitter. Six feet, three inches of arms and legs who can hit the piss out of a volleyball, when her head is screwed on straight. She’s a monster who is obsessed with football players at an unhealthy level. It’s more than an obsession, it’s an addiction.
Last season when her boyfriend broke up with her just before section playoffs she was too busy choking on her own tears to play. I wish that was an exaggeration, but when Clayton showed up with the rest of the football team to cheer us on, she lost it. Heave crying so hard on our bench that Coach Boxen couldn’t put her in the game. I have no idea how one boy can make someone fixate so hard.
The boy? Only Cathedral’s star quarterback, Clayton Matheson.
When Clayton started getting recruited last season he broke it off with Faith which caused the meltdown of epic proportions during the end of our season. Then, they got back together, or were at least hooking up, until he committed to the University of Southern California over the summer.
“Well, he apparently decided he didn’t need Faith anymore since there are so many hotties at USC. Rumor has it that he had a ménage trois on his official campus visit with twins,” Mary Lou responds with a shrug.
“Ish. I could never,” I croak. “No offense, Stay.”
“None taken. I wouldn’t share a stick with you either.”
“God, don’t say it like that!” I cringe.
“What?”
“You’re disgusting.”
“But you love me,” Staley flashes me a bright smile.
“Not enough to share spit or other bodily fluids with you,” I smirk.
“You two have issues. But anyway, Clayton shouldn’t be a problem,” Mary Lou states matter-of-factly as she tucks her purple spandex into her gym bag. “They’ve both moved on.”
“Really? Since when?” I ask and toss my scrunchie into my locker and shut it. “Didn’t this just happen like a week ago?”
“Faith started dating Gaines like three days ago. I thought you guys knew.”
“Uh, nope. That’s shitty news and a fucking terrible decision all in one sentence. Gaines is a walking STD. He’s worse than Clay. Does she not care that he’s slept with half this school and probably will continue to do so while they’re together
? Plus, why the hell would she want another football player? She must love pain and misery.” I shake my head in disapproval. Faith makes the worst decisions.
“Your best friend is a football player,” Staley raises a brow to me as if to say got ya.
“Former best friend.” I shoot her a glare. “Jess hasn’t been my friend for like a year. Thanks for bringing it up.”
Jessup Rhodes, star running back of Cathedral High. He’s the best football player to come through here in decades and that says a lot because this school pumps out Division I athletes like they’re snacks in a vending machine.
Football is the crème de la crème of sports at this school. Under the legendary Coach Greene, the team has won five state championships in the last ten years including one last season, and this season they could repeat. They’re currently ranked number two in the state.
Did I mention he’s also Mr. Popular off the field? Brilliant smile, kind eyes, and he’s genuinely nice to everyone on campus. Definitely not the typical asshole jock and people worship him for it. He was voted Prom King as a junior, which isn’t even allowed, but the principal made an exception because like ninety percent of the student body voted for him and Principal Withers loves him too.
But I know there is a side to Jessup that he hides from everyone. A sad, fearful side that he cloaks with his dazzling smile, charismatic personality and skills on the football field. I’m the only one who has seen that side of him. He doesn’t let people see what’s inside.
“Will you two stop it? You shared a womb. You’re best friends. We get it,” Mary Lou says with an eye roll. “And Jess hit puberty. What did you expect?” she asks me pointedly.
“I don’t know, maybe that my best friend wouldn’t drop me like a bad habit when he got armpit hair.” I counter.
Staley and I are best friends by nature, we’re twins. Lou is our best friend through family. But Jessup and I had a special relationship since elementary school. We started at Peachberry Park elementary in Kindergarten. During free play one day, I told Jessup he was my husband. He could be the dad while I was the mom and Staley was our cat. He didn’t even protest and pretended to fix the broken kitchen sink because that is what’s dad are supposed to do. We were inseparable from that day on, until last year.
Completion (Cambria University Series Book 3) Page 3