by Magan Vernon
Chapter 3
The late winter snow covered the roads and had turned to slush. We didn't get much snow in Texas, and when we did everything closed down until it melted.
My car barely barreled through the muck as I took the winding road toward the ranch. Which wasn't a ranch, per say, it actually looked more like a resort.
I think my whole house could have fit inside of it twice over. The first thing I saw as I approached was a giant pond leading right up to the large structure, surrounded by a blanket of trees. I circled the pond to come up to the wooden porch that wrapped around the house and looked like it took hundreds of trees to build. I couldn't help but stare at the frosted glass windows and marvel at the intricate carvings on the gables.
"Wow,” I whispered.
I was totally out of my element. This place looked like a giant, medieval castle instead of the usual Texas ranch style.
I stared at the pizza box in the passenger seat. I told my parents I was bringing it to Sofie's to study. They believed me. I hated lying to them, but if I told them it was for a boy, a very famous boy, either they wouldn't believe me, or Ma would suggest that he come over for coffee. I didn't want to think of Jay sitting at the dining room table with my parents staring him down and asking him what his intentions were with their daughter.
"You can do this, Lia. I believe in you." I gave myself a little pep talk and fixed my hair.
I should've changed out of my flannel shirt and into something a little bit sexier to spend time with the golden boy swimmer, but it would've just made my parents more suspicious. I swiped on a coat of lip-gloss and finally opened the door, grabbing the pizza before I shut it.
Slowly I trudged to the front steps and then pressed my finger to the doorbell.
It barely rang before the door opened and there stood Jay, the Greek God himself in a waffle knit shirt and dark jeans that hugged his flawless legs. Seriously, I don't know what muscles he had to use to get his thighs and legs in that good of shape, but they were amazing. Even in jeans.
If I wasn't absolutely the worst with guys, I may have said something sexy. Instead, I just stared.
"You made it! And you really did bring me food. Come in!"
He grabbed the pizza with one hand and put his other hand on the small of my back, guiding me in as he shut the door.
Holy hell his hands were warm.
"Hey Jaybird!" someone yelled.
I turned my head to see Johnny and Scotty camped out on a large L-shaped leather couch, wearing nothing more than some gym shorts as a War type video game blasted away on the giant TV that was mounted on the wall above a fireplace.
"Hey, guys." Jay edged me toward the room with him. I was afraid that my muddy Chuck Taylors were going to stain the ornate wooden floors and tried not to focus on how much slush I was dragging in.
"Whoa." Johnny sprung up from the couch. He actually sprang a little too much because I swear that I saw more from his shorts than I really needed to. "You brought us pizza?"
Johnny opened the box and grabbed a piece, shoveling it in his mouth. "I hope Jay told you that he's the least attractive of all of us and has the smallest penis so don't get too excited by his gold medals."
"Uh…" I looked up at Jay.
"Dude!" Jay jabbed Johnny in the shoulder. With the size of Jay's arms compared to Johnny's that had to sting.
"Ah, dude." Johnny rubbed his shoulder. "I was just messing with you."
"Well are you going to introduce us or keep her all to yourself?" Scotty sauntered over, grabbing two slices of pizza.
All three guys were definitely attractive and any girl's wet dream with their lean yet muscular builds and short, spiky hair. Sofie would have been in heaven.
"Dudes, you guys met her already, but I'll introduce her again. Lia, this is Scotty and Johnny." He nodded toward them. "Guys, this is Lia."
"Hey, I knew I recognized you." Johnny pointed a finger at me while he had his other hand across his chest and rubbing his shoulder. "You're that girl from the Italian place in town. That's where you got us the pizza"
"Yeah that's why you got us this food." Scotty looked at him like a light bulb finally went off in his head.
Jay rolled his shoulders. "I swear I told them you were coming over. I think they hit their head one too many times on the lane lines."
"Hey! That restaurant was where we picked up that nasty Asian chick." Johnny shook his head so that the air flew through his cheeks and made a whooshing sound. "No wonder you didn't go with us to her place, Jaybird. You had eyes for the hottie waitress.
I tried to hide my smile at that. I couldn't wait to tell Sofie what they had said about Christy. This would totally make up for Sofie not getting first chair flute in high school. Or at least give her a few quips to give back to Christy on Facebook.
And I couldn't deny that my face was completely on fire from the guys calling me a hottie. I don't think I'd ever been called that in my entire life.
"Well on that note…" Jay moved his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "I think we’re going to head up to my room."
Gulp. His bedroom? He really was expecting something. Did guys usually invite girls over via FaceTime to make their bed rock? The last real boyfriend I had was Joey and that was a long time ago. The farthest I ever went was making out with a guy during a game of seven minutes in heaven in Missy Carlyle's basement, sophomore year. The guy grazed my boob and pinched my nipples so hard that I had bruises.
"Don't do anything that I would do!" Johnny called as we headed up the stairs.
The walls were covered in pictures of different Texas landmarks and various animals from the region. I followed him down a long hallway that reminded me of something you’d find in one of the luxury hotels in Dallas, before we finally got to his bedroom.
I think his bedroom was even bigger than my parents, so I figured it must have been the master. We were greeted by the bright afternoon sun that poured in through the floor to ceiling windows and French doors that led out to a huge balcony. I tried my best to notice everything, but the giant bed that sprawled across an entire wall and sat directly across from a large brick fireplace. It looked like it could have been a scene from any girl's fantasy…if she wasn't wearing granny panties and not sure if she had shaved her armpits that morning or not.
"Um...is this your room?" I asked, trying to grasp at what to say.
"Yeah. Johnny and Scotty got here the day after me so I got first dibs on the best room."
I tried to look at him, even though my eyes were darting around the massive room. "Oh, um, I guess I thought your coach would take the bigger room."
Jay smiled. "Yeah, he would have, but he's got a place with his family in Rockwall. His wife has some big account in Dallas for the year she that needs to be closer to. It’s why he moved out here and we followed. He’s also practically walking distance to the training center in Rockwall."
"Oh. That's cool."
I was trying to think of something to say, but I had no idea what to talk about. I was extremely awkward in any conversation.
Jay plopped down on a couch that faced a flat screen TV. "Coach figured it would be better for us to be out here in the middle of nowhere than in a hotel."
"Yeah. I guess hotel living would get old," I said, trying to sympathize, but really I couldn't. My family hardly traveled, only to Sicily, and when we did, we stayed with family.
"You can sit next to me, you know, I'm not going to bite." Jay raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry. I'm awkward." Slowly I sat down next to him, putting a few inches of space between us.
He turned, leaning into me. "Who isn't?"
"You're definitely not."
He laughed, shaking his head. "Trust me, my only swagger comes when I'm in the pool, outside of it I'm just another clueless guy. It's probably why I've gotten into so much trouble."
I chewed on my bottom lip. "I don't know if I've ever actually been in trouble. Okay, maybe once when I was like five and I had
this thing about shop lifting from the grocery store. I didn't realize we actually had to pay for things so I always opened all of the food and started eating it while we waited in line. My mom was always so pissed."
"That's actually pretty awesome." The smile broadened on his face.
"Not really. I mean, you're awesome. Olympic swimmer. All the gold medals. You could probably walk into the grocery store and people would beg you to eat their food. Wow that sounded weird."
Jay put his hand on mine. "Lia. Can you relax? You act like I'm going to pounce on you. You don't have to be nervous."
I sighed. I did. He didn't need to know that I was an almost twenty-year-old-virgin or how much of a nerd I was, but it had to show. "Sorry. Like I said, awkward."
"What can I do to make it less awkward?"
"Uh..."
He was just trying to be nice, but I couldn't even come up with a way to make myself less awkward.
"How about music? Come here. Let me show you what I found in the closet here."
He stood up and put his hand out to me.
I sucked in a breath and decided to stop worrying, putting my hand in his.
He pulled me off the couch and walked a few steps to a cedar closet, opening it up. He let go of my hand to pull out a large, old banana box and crouched down next to it
When he lifted the lid, a cloud of dust wafted in the air and I leaned in.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"If you're thinking it's an old record player then you would be right."
"I don't think I've seen one of those in, well, ever. Does it work?" I asked.
Jay smiled and pulled out another box. "I found some old vinyl that we can test out."
"What kind of music are we talking about here?" I sat down next to him and looked through the box.
There were a ton of random 1970s disco type albums but I finally found a gem in between all of the brightly colored albums. "Iggy and the Stooges!"
"Hell yeah, that's what we're going to listen to," Jay said, grabbing the record.
"Are you sure you don't want to listen to ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat’?" I pulled out the brightly colored album, holding it next to my face and made the same cheesy grin as the guy on the cover.
He laughed a genuine laugh. "That's a really good look for you."
"I think this is better." I held up the Prince album that was facing me and tried my best smolder.
Jay kept laughing, digging through the albums. "I think there is a Beatles one somewhere in here. Can you do a Ringo?"
"Whoa. I'm not that talented."
Grabbing the record player out of the box, he found a plug on the wall next to the TV and plugged it in, blowing off some of the dust before he pressed power. "It looks like this works. Do you want to try Iggy first or maybe some Queen?"
I picked up the Iggy album and handed it to Jay. "Definitely Iggy."
He smiled, taking the vinyl out of the sleeve and setting it on the player before he dropped the needle. The soft melody of the beginning chords of "Gimme Danger" played as the record spun around. Then Iggy's melodious voice crooned through the speakers.
"It works," I said, getting way more excited than I thought it would.
Jay took my hands and tilted his head toward the floor. "C'mere."
"What?"
He smiled, lying on his back with his head a few inches from the record player. "It's better like this. You can feel the vibrations in the floor and really hear the music."
I raised an eyebrow.
Jay smiled, shaking his head before he pulled me down next to him. "Just listen."
I yelped before reluctantly laying down.
The floor hummed beneath us, Iggy's voice filling my ears. I closed my eyes and let my body just feel.
It's what I did when I listened to music. It was always an escape for me. I loved discovering new music and feeling every emotion that came from the singer's voice. Feeling their passion.
Jay's hand found mine and he intertwined our fingers. I looked over to our clasped hands then up to his smiling face.
I couldn’t speak. I had to focus just to make sure I was breathing. I could literally feel the heat radiate off him as he leaned into me. I really wanted to kiss him, but I didn't want to seem desperate and what if I did it wrong and got too sloppy and he labeled me as a weirdo?
"You know, I'm glad you messaged me. Not just because you brought me pizza, or that you’re here and listening to Iggy with me, but I've been thinking about you ever since I saw you on New Year's."
My face was instantly on fire, but I managed to slowly open my eyes and turn to my side to look back at him. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah...I have a thing for girls in glasses and who know good music."
Slowly he turned to his side and pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear, his fingers trailing down my jawline.
I bit my bottom lip, trying to figure out what to say. To do anything. My breath caught in my throat and every part of my body heated up.
"Not every day a girl can keep my attention and have me thinking of something other than the pool."
"You probably say that to every girl that you bring back to your place…" I looked down, trying not to meet his eyes.
"No…" He moved his hand to the small of my back, pulling me closer. His breath was a whisper on my lips and all I could think about was how he would taste. "That's actually the last thing I would say to another girl."
His eyelashes fluttered as he slowly leaned in.
ROSALIA. ROSALIA. ROSALIA. ROSALIA.
My phone screamed from my pocket.
Shit.
Jay scooted backward and sat up as the vibrating of my phone jolted between us.
"Eh…sorry…" I crammed my hand into the pocket of my jeans, pulling out my phone.
Jay put his hand up and nodded before pulling the needle off of the record, stopping the music.
I cleared my throat before putting the phone to my ear. "Hullo?"
"Lia where in the hell are you?" Dana practically yelled in a hushed tone on the other end.
Uh oh. Was I late for work? Did someone call in for the dinner rush? Shit I didn't even know what time it was. "Um… just hanging out with a friend…"
I looked at Jay. He was putting up the record and not paying attention to my call.
"Would that friend be Jay Morningstar?" she questioned, I could hear the sass in her voice. How did she know that?
"Um why would you think that?" I stammered.
Jay arched an eyebrow at me and cocked his head.
"Because there are a herd of reporters here asking why the owner's daughter's car has been at Jay Morningstar's place for the last half an hour."
"I have to go," I muttered, ending the call and shoving my phone into the pocket of my pants before standing up.
"What? Why? You just got here."
I shook my head and headed for the door, trying not to meet his eyes. If I did, I knew there was no way I could leave.
"My parents called. Someone called in and I have to get to work," I lied.
I reached for the door, but his hand was on mine. My breath caught in my throat and my pulse quickened. I was a terrible liar.
"Are you just saying that or did I do something wrong?" he asked.
"You didn't do anything wrong. I just…I have to go."
"Well, can I call you later?"
I didn't know how to answer that. He was probably just being nice. That's all it was. He didn't want a girl that he had to chase. A loser like me.
"Yeah. Sure."
I didn't want to leave Jay's.
I wanted to tell him exactly what was going on at the restaurant.
"Okay. Good. Hopefully we can hang out again. The guys won’t listen to any of the records with me, so I need someone to talk music with."
I forced a smile. That sounded like something I'd rather sit and do, instead of dealing with whatever was going to happen at the restaurant.
"Yeah. That'd be cool."
He took my hand and walked me out of the room. I walked as slow as I could, wanting to relish in every moment and our almost kiss. I didn't know what my feelings were for him. In the beginning, it was the thrill of the hot Olympian and now I was seeing past the guy in the Speedo to the guy that wanted to be out of the spotlight. The one who listened to records and told me I was beautiful.
Jay Morningstar was going to break me and I couldn't stop him.
He followed me out to the car, leaning on the door for a while.
We both didn't say anything. I wanted to hug him. To kiss him. To do something that showed I was so into this guy, but I didn't even know if I knew how to do it right.
"I'll FaceTime you later, okay?" he asked.
I nodded, getting in the car and buckling my seatbelt. "Yeah. That'd be great," I said before closing the door.
I watched the blue of his eyes out of my rearview window, thinking it was probably the last time I’d see him.
Serves me right for thinking I could have anything with a guy like him.
Always under my parents’ thumb.
Now I had to go and face the music.
Okay, so Dana may have been exaggerating about the herds of reporters outside the restaurant. As I coasted down the hill to the downtown area, there were a few new vans parked outside, but nothing out of the ordinary.
What would the stations like TNC report? Would my name be mentioned? What would Jay say about it?
That was the question that really got to me. I tried not to think too much about it, but truth be told, I was a serial over thinker.
My mouth felt like it was full of sand. It was so dry that I couldn't even speak.
Sonny was standing at the front of the restaurant waiting. He quickly opened the door and made sure to shut it and lock it behind us so that the reporters couldn't get in. That didn't stop them from shouting and flashing their cameras.
"Well, well it looks like the golden child isn't so golden anymore." He crossed his arms across his chest, smirking as he looked down at me.
"How mad are they, Sonny?" I pursued, wringing my hands together.
"Oh, they are pretty upset." It wasn't Sonny that spoke. I winced. It was my mom's gruff accent booming behind us.