United

by A. Aubry

  She looked up at me, her eyes misty, “Michael said something right before he choked me…and I want to thank you for proving him wrong.”

  I ran a hand through her hair, “What did he say, baby?”

  “He said ‘Little Mr. Perfect isn’t going to come save you now’,” she swallowed hard as her body shivered, “But he was wrong…you are here…you came to save me.”

  I could feel a shy smile begin to pull at my lips, “I will always be here for you, Julianna. I will always come to save you, no matter what.”

  Julianna’s lips met mine in one of the most innocent kisses that we had ever shared, “I will always love you, Finn Walker. You are the most amazing man I have ever met.”

  “And I will always love you, Julianna Rose. You make me want to be the man that you deserve.”

  She blushed before we kissed again, starting exactly where we had left off before.

  If it was possible, I was pretty sure that I blinked, and a month just passed before my eyes. Julianna had recovered, as much as she could, from her attack. The physical reminders of the attack had long since gone, but it was the mental reminders that really stuck around. After practically forcing me onto a plane back to South Carolina to join my team for the other preseason games that we would be having, Julianna ended up having Angie stay with her because of horrific flashbacks of her attack.

  When I came back from South Carolina, I encouraged her to stay at my place most nights so that she wouldn’t have the reminders from where it all happened. Otherwise, I was staying at her place with her, being her own personal body guard. My first away game of the official season it was pure torture to leave her, but I had to tell myself that Michael wasn’t granted bail and was locked up until trial. Bo even teased me because I had accidently let a tear escape after I said goodbye to Julianna at the airport. My girlfriend was almost physically taken away from me, cut me some slack if it pained me to leave her again.

  It was when the nightmares took over for Julianna that I encouraged her to go talk to a therapist. Many nights, Julianna would wake up screaming. Sometimes she wouldn’t wake up and would just toss and turn as though she was trying to get away from someone. They got worse when she would go to bed before me, or if I was out of town for work. The night before last was her worse one yet.

  As I sat downstairs, looking over some final footage of the team that we would be playing against for our first home game of the new season, a loud high-pitched scream came from above me. I jumped up from the couch, tossing my laptop onto the cushion beside me, and ran as fast as I could up the stairs. Swinging the door to my bedroom open, Julianna violently tossed and turned as though she was fighting.

  “Julianna,” I called out, running to her side of the bed.

  I tore the covers from over her body, her pajamas sticking to her with sweat. Crawling into bed next to her, I took her into my arms, holding her still. I kissed her forehead, noticing for the first time that her cheeks were wet with tears.

  “Baby, wake up…I’m here…”

  Her breathing slowed as she stopped fighting, her body calming itself to stop shaking. Julianna’s eyes opened and looked up at me with a disarming amount of innocence.

  “It happened again…” She whispered.

  “I know, but I’m here…I will protect you,” I kissed her lips gently and wiped away her tears.

  She sniffled, wrapping her arms around me as she buried her face in my neck.

  “What was it this time? Dr. Miller said it was best to talk through it.”

  Look at me, one therapy session attended with Julianna and I think I’m an expert and can handle this shit. When game day comes, I will have to find some way to help her keep calm and blow off steam…in a different way than sex.

  I felt her take a deep breath, “He was on top of me…his hands ripping away my clothes. The look on his face, Finn…that’s what I can’t get out of my head. It scared the shit out of me. All I ever hear is him saying you won’t protect me, that I’m his.”

  Kissing the top of her head, I rubbed her back, “Do you remember what happened after he started ripping off your clothes?”

  “I thought about how much I loved you.”

  A smile tugged at my lips, yes, I knew that…but I wasn’t referring to that moment. “After that, Julianna. What happened after you thought about me?”

  “I fought to get away…I kneed him in the balls because your little voice in my head told me to take the opportunity when his guard was down,” she softly admitted.

  “You did it all on your own. You protected yourself because you are not someone who just gives up. Whenever you see him in your dreams, you tell him straight up that you’re strong and can protect yourself. Show him who’s boss.”

  She lifted her head away from my neck, “You know, that’s easier said than done, right? It’s my subconscious working.”

  I ran the back of my fingers over her cheek, “I’m sure that you can find a way to do it. You can do anything.”

  “Damn, and I thought you were cheesy when we first met,” her small smile was the best thing to be seen after such a terrible dream.

  “I’ll always be cheesy for you,” I laughed.

  She shifted herself on top of me, “I don’t want cheesy right now…I want sexy.”

  “Jules, you just had a nightmare about your ex attacking you. Would Dr. Miller approve of coping with it via sex?”

  “Oh shut up and make me forget,” she kissed me hard.

  Dr. Miller said she that needed to find a way to exert some energy. I guess it was time to follow the good doctor’s orders.

  My phone rang from the top of my bag and I quickly grabbed it. I had texted Julianna earlier to get to the stadium an hour before the doors were going to open for the game. After pulling a few strings, I got the okay to take her onto the field and play a little one on one soccer. I wanted to give Julianna a taste of what I did, felt, and saw during every game. My face fell when I saw it was my mom. I still loved to hear from my mom, but I hadn’t exactly been as ‘in contact’ with her when I was home as I was when I was away.

  “Hey mom,” I answered on the last ring.

  “Hi Finn. How’s Julianna doing?”

  Wow, thanks for asking how I am doing. My mom practically worshipped the ground that Julianna walked on after I accidently let it slip that I was in love with her.

  “She’s doing okay. Her nightmares seem to be waning a little more the last few nights. Other than that, she’s back to work and back to her normal self.” I put on my knee-high socks and slipped on my cleats.

  “That’s good to hear that she’s doing better. I was actually calling to ask a favor of you.”

  A favor? That didn’t sound odd at all.

  “What can I do for you?” Hell, she could ask me for a block of gold and I would give it to her, I couldn’t say no to my mother.

  “Natalie had called me earlier, she said she really wanted to come to your game today, but she was unable to get tickets. Do you think that you could pull a few strings and get her a ticket?” She asked using her ‘I’m so sweet’ voice.

  “But mom, I already got Julianna and her two friends tickets to come see the game,” I whined and sat down on the bench that made up the bottom half of my locker.

  I heard her sigh, “Finn, please. She sounded like she really wanted to go and support the team.”

  “Fine! I’ll get her a seat, but I won’t like it,” I gave in.

  “Thank you, sweetheart. Now have a good game. Call me later.”

  We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone, ready to smash the damn thing against the wall. Natalie had to be up to something, she wouldn’t just come out of the woodwork to ‘support the team’. She never gave a flying fuck about my games or my job, she always enjoyed the perks that I could get her just a fraction too much.

  I went to the box office to see if I could swing for another ticket. When they asked if I wanted the four seats together, I said hell no and got Natalie on
the other side of the stadium. Julianna would kill me if she found out that I got her a ticket. Slipping the tickets into the pocket of my uniform, I grabbed my buzzing phone out of my pocket. Julianna had texted that they just parked the car and were walking to the door that I told her to meet at. About time she stopped being stubborn and actually followed the directions I had given her.

  Running down the hallway, the sound of my cleats on the floor, I got to the door that was used only for the team and the staff of the stadium. As soon as I opened the door, my eyes were immediately drawn to Julianna. Her hair was down, falling over her shoulders in its beautiful waves, her jeans were ripped, as were most of her pairs, she wore tennis shoes as I had instructed her to, but it was the shirt she wore that really made me smile. A few weeks ago, I had bought Julianna a jersey with my name on it and she chose to wear it today, even though she already owned a jersey for the team.

  “You actually listened and followed directions,” I laughed as I held the door open for her and her friends.

  “You said you had some big surprise. How could I resist?” She smiled and kissed me tenderly.

  Just as I was about to start coaxing her lips open, as I always did whenever she kissed me anything more than a quick kiss, Julianna ended our kiss. She glanced over at her friends who were watching at us. Now she chose to be modest? She would just have to owe me a longer kiss later then. I led them to the locker room, knowing that everyone was already dressed and ready for the game. Before we even got all the way in the door, Bo came over.

  “What do we have here?” He grinned and looked at the three girls who were now standing in the middle of the locker room. I noticed he paid a little extra attention to Julianna’s best friend Angie.

  “Hey, Bo. These are my friends Tabby and Angie. They’re gonna keep me company during the game,” Julianna answered as she gave him a hug.

  I smiled at how close those two had become over the last month. Bo really warmed up to Julianna after we got back from preseason. The teasing had finally stopped whenever she would text me or I would come to work with a big after sex grin on my face, which was nice. Since Julianna and I had been spending almost all of our time together for the last month, Bo sort of had to be around her too. The fact that he had started calling her his friend rather than my girlfriend was a good sign.

  “Keep an eye on them, will ya? I’ve got that surprise for Julianna,” I gave him a wink because he was one of the people who helped me get this all in order.

  Taking Julianna’s hand, I took her out into the hallway, stopping short before we went any further. I smiled to myself as I took a blindfold out of my pocket. It wasn’t a surprise without a blindfold, right?

  “This isn’t turning into some Fifty Shades of Grey shit, is it?” Julianna laughed as I stepped behind her and covered her eyes.

  “Hey, you love those books and the movies,” I protested, tying the blindfold into a knot, “Guess you’ll just have to take a leap of faith.”

  Julianna’s breath hitched in her throat at my words. I said that exact thing to her the night we met.

  “Do you trust me?” I whispered against her ear.

  “Yes,” she said breathlessly.

  I took her hand, lacing our fingers together as I led her through the concourse out to the field. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Julianna turning her head left and right as though she was trying to figure out where she was as we walked. Leading her out to the middle of the field, I stopped her before undoing the knot I had made in the blindfold and taking it off.

  Julianna blinked her eyes a few times, trying to adjust to the brightness of the sun as it shone into the stadium. She then took a moment to take in her surroundings. The stadium was completely empty, an eerie silence from what I was used to. While she was slowly turning around to look at the stadium behind her, I went to fetch a soccer ball that was left on the sidelines. When she faced me again, the look of awe on her face made me smile.

  “So, the surprise was to take me to see what you see at every game?” She questioned, closing the space between us a little too slowly.

  “That’s only half of it,” I began to bounce the ball with my knees to distract myself from wanting to take her right there, “The other half is to help you with what Dr. Miller said last session.”

  Her brows furrowed as she thought about what the doctor had said. Then realization hit, and a smirk came over her lips. She took the ball away from me mid-air and held it tight against her chest.

  “Hey, you aren’t allowed to touch the ball. Only goalies can do that,” I whined.

  “What? Are you worried that I’ll beat you if I use my hands?” She raised an eyebrow at me, the same smirk still on her face.

  You do have a knack for other things against me when you use your hands…

  “You already do things to me when you use your hands, so who knows what you could do with a soccer ball.”

  Her reaction was priceless as her mouth fell open, “Finn McAllister, you have a dirty mind.”

  I finally closed the distance between us as much as the soccer ball in her arms would allow, “You love it.”

  “Yes, I do,” she puckered her lips slightly and leaned in, I could feel my eyes already closing in anticipation of her kiss.

  That was when the ball hit the ground in between us and Julianna took off, dribbling it away from me. What the fuck? That was a whole new level of cheating! I stood there, completely dumbstruck as I watched her make the goal.

  “And the crowd goes wild! Julianna! Julianna!” She chanted as she ran around the field.

  I chuckled, my girl was funny. Retrieving the ball from the goal, I came back up to Julianna, “Easy goal, you distracted me with your lips.”

  Her finger raised and gestured to her lips, “These? They didn’t even touch you.”

  Oh, but they were gonna.

  I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her close, “A kiss per goal sound like a fair trade?”

  “Last one to three goals…has to make dinner,” she offered with a wide smile.

  Perfect, because I didn’t intend on cooking dinner. Something else was on my mind to eat.

  I kissed her, a slow teasing kiss that left her wanting more. We started mid-field again but this time, I didn’t let Julianna and her beauty distract me as I sunk the ball into the net. After that, shit got real. Julianna and I came up with our own rules for soccer, one’s that were a little bit more than against the rules of the real game.

  “Hey!” Julianna squealed as I wrapped my arms around her waist and swung her away in order to get to the ball.

  As I dripped down the field, she attempted to jump on my back. This carefree time that we were spending together was only one time of many. Julianna made me happy and all I wanted to do was make her laugh and smile. The game was soon tied 2-2 and the ball was all Julianna’s. She’d caught onto my tactic and learned my movements quickly as she dodged each one of my attempts to grab her. She was getting ready to make her final goal before she ended up on the ground, hugging the soccer ball.

  “Julianna! Are you alright?” I raced over to her, my stomach in knots.

  Did she hit her head again? Did she hurt her foot or any other part of her body? Damn, this would be all my fault if she was injured because it was my idea. I got down on my knees beside her and started looking for any signs of pain.

  Julianna started giggling, “I’m okay. It was just a little fall.”

  I put my hand over my racing heart, thanking the gods above that she was okay. Julianna took advantage of that moment, setting the ball down next to her and pushing it towards the goal. It rolled in easily.

  “I win.”

  That wasn’t how this game worked, sweetheart.

  I got on top of her, my hands on either side of her head, “You cheated. You used your hands.”

  She shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly, “What can I say? I’m good with my hands. Now give me my kiss.”

  How badly I wanted her to prove
just how good she was with her hands right about now. I smiled and kissed her, she did score a goal after all. Her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me closer against her as her tongue slipped into my mouth to meet mine. Fuck, now I just wanted her even more. My hand skimmed down her body, silently indicating for her legs to wrap around me before moving back up to her amazing ass. Yeah, I could really do her right now.

  “Should I make love to you, right here right now?” I questioned almost breathlessly, her tongue nearly cut off my question as it darted back in between my lips.

  Taking a chance, I ground my cock into the seam of her pants, earning a groan of pleasure from Julianna. Just the sound of her moans made me hard. Nobody’s moans had ever had that effect on me. Soon, I was grinding against her as though my life depended on it. Faintly I recalled a time where Celeste and I did something like this right before we started having sex. This was way better than that by far. Who knew dry humping could still turn you on after you had the real thing?

  “Fuck,” Julianna leaned her head back against the grass of the field, “You’re gonna make me come like this.”

  Just when I thought I couldn’t get harder, she went and said that. My cock throbbed in my shorts, I needed to come and soon. Increasing the pressure of how hard I ground against her, I moaned.

  “Shit, Julianna, I want you so bad.”

  If only we could have sex right now, but we’d both have to get rather naked for that and who knew who could walk out at any second.

  “Finn, I need you. I want to make you feel good,” Julianna moaned and kissed me again.

  How the fuck was I supposed to say no to that?

  “Fuck me,” I groaned and got up before helping Julianna up off the ground.

  One glance down and I could see my erection in my shorts. This needed to be handled, and fast. I caught a glimpse of the bleachers, we could really act as though we were in high school and fuck under the bleachers. Yep, that was the only place that this was going to work. I led her over to where they sat and brought her underneath them with me. We did have to crouch a little but soon we would be lying down so that wouldn’t matter.