Grace
I yawned and stretched like a cat the next morning — or maybe it was after noon? I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was my muscles were aching as I arched my back and pointed my toes, stretching my arms up overhead and soaking in every deliciously sore area.
Every muscle that protested my movement sent a flash of a memory of the night before striking behind my lids. I bit my lip on a smile as it all replayed — the kitchen, the library, the shower, the bed.
Now, the sun was peeking through the blinds, the shadows playing with the light on my skin as I let out a heavy, sated sigh.
“Waking up to this sight every morning is going to be a real fucking problem.”
I peeked one eye open and then the next, and my heart squeezed tight at the view — Jaxson in nothing but a pair of navy-blue boxer briefs holding two mugs of something hot and heavenly smelling.
I want this life.
The thought made my stomach do a flip, a thousand butterfly wings tickling the edges of it. I knew there was still so much in this world that I wanted to see, so many places I wanted to explore. But waking up to Jaxson half-naked and bringing me something warm to drink after fucking my brains out all night brought one truth into focus.
He really was my safe place to land.
And I didn’t feel that urge to fly as much anymore, not now that I had a home.
I winced a little as I leaned up in bed, propping myself against the headboard. Just like the hotel outside of St. Louis, we had destroyed his room last night. Hell, we’d destroyed his entire house.
I, for one, couldn’t wait to go investigate the library or wherever he’d had me that we’d trashed his shelves.
As it was now, I was thoroughly enjoying the view of his abs and chest, of his massive arms and the ink that sprawled along his skin. I thanked him when he handed me one of the mugs and climbed into bed to sit across from me, folding his legs under him.
I took the first sip and moaned. It was some sort of black tea with cream and sugar, sweet and warm and cozy.
“And why is it such a problem?”
“Because today is an off day, and I have nowhere to be, but on the days when I’m supposed to get up early and get to the rink for practice, I’m going to be fucked.” He shook his head, his eyes trailing over my body. I didn’t bother putting any clothes on yet, and the sheet pooled in my lap, leaving the top half of me exposed. “No way will I be able to walk out the door without touching you.”
“Hmm… maybe I’ll have to be the responsible one, then.” To illustrate that point, I kicked one leg out from under the covers and pressed a foot to his chest to stop him when he leaned in to kiss me.
Jaxson hit me with a sleepy grin that made my chest ache, and then he snatched my ankle and brought it to his lips, kissing along the sensitive skin.
“Is this another challenge to see who will break first? Because I—”
Jaxson stopped mid-sentence at the sound of a strange voice coming from down the hall. It was feminine and yet robotic. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought it said something like front gate.
He frowned, climbing out of bed and setting his cup of tea on the nightstand.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Someone passing through the front gate,” he said. “I forgot to close it last night.”
“Delivery, maybe?”
He swallowed, but he was already pulling on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to investigate. “Maybe. Stay here.”
That made my heart leap into my throat, but before he could take even one step toward the door, we both got the answer to our question of who it could be in the form of four loud, insistent knocks on the door.
And my brother’s voice.
“Open this fucking door, Brittzy.”
Jaxson’s eyes shot to mine, and my stomach shriveled to the size of a raisin.
Fuck.
Another lashing of knocks rumbled the house, and Vince yelled even louder. “Open the goddamn door now, or I’ll kick it down!”
My heart thundered in my ears as Jaxson swallowed, both of us realizing that we didn’t have time to talk about our game plan. We were about to face our biggest obstacle right here, right now.
“He doesn’t know I’m here,” I whispered. “I can hide.”
But Jaxson was already shaking his head. He disappeared inside his closet as more knocks sounded, and I swore Vince was actually attempting to kick the door down. Jaxson emerged again and tossed me a t-shirt and a pair of his sweatpants.
“Put these on,” he said, and then he walked out the door and down the hall.
“Shit,” I cursed, pulling the fabric overhead. “Shit, shit, shit.”
I barely had the oversized sweatpants pulled up over my hips when I heard what sounded like a body hitting the wall and shaking the whole house. Then, irate footsteps were pounding down the hall.
I pulled the sheet up over me as if I were still nude, or as if it could shield me from what was about to come. But it was no use.
My brother swung through the door, and when his eyes locked on me, his neck and face turned a bright, beet red.
He looked at me, at the absolutely wrecked room, at the mugs of tea we’d abandoned on the table, and then back at me again.
“I’m going to fucking murder him.”
“Vince, wait!” He had already turned before I could scramble out of bed, and he didn’t stop when I asked. I heard him storming down the hall, and I slid into the doorway just in time to watch him shove Jaxson hard in the chest.
“You are a fucking dead man. Dead.”
Jaxson held his hands up as Vince pointed a threatening finger right in his face. “Vince, take a breath.”
“Take a breath?” my brother repeated incredulously.
He laughed then, backing up with his tongue pressed against his cheek. He stared at Jaxson like he was Brutus, like he was still holding the knife he’d used to stab my brother in the back.
“We can talk about this,” Jaxson said.
“Oh, can we? Sure. Which part would you like to start with?” Vince asked, thrusting his hands out. “Do you want to start with how I trusted you to be a fucking gentleman around my sister and instead, you took her on a fucking road trip behind my back? Would you like to go into detail about how you both,” he gritted, turning to look at me only briefly before his murderous gaze was back on Jaxson. “Lied to me, to everyone? Would you like to tell me how funny it was to be at the tournament sliding under all our radar?” He shook his head. “Or should we skip to the good part, where I found out along with the entire fucking nation when videos were leaked from Grace’s phone this morning?”
Ice slithered through my veins, my next breath so hard to take that black tingled at the edges of my vision.
“What?” I asked, voice barely a breath.
“Yeah,” Vince answered with his eyes still hard on Jaxson — who looked like he was going to be sick. “Someone found your phone and posted everything. It’s all over the fucking news right now.” He gritted his teeth, stepping back into Jaxson’s space. “You should see the headlines. They’re fucking fantastic. My personal favorite was Jaxson Brittain Shacking Up with Teammate’s Little Sister.”
I pinched my eyes shut, heart threatening to beat out of my chest as I tried to process what he was saying.
Someone had found my phone.
Someone had found my phone and broken into it.
It wouldn’t have been hard to do. I didn’t even have a password on it. I just thought with where I’d left it, it would have been safe. No one was going back in. The only person who could have even found it would have been a teammate’s family member, maybe a wife or girlfriend, or a janitor.
I realized then how fucking stupid I’d been. Who’s to say there wasn’t a girlfriend or a wife of a player who would have jumped at the chance? Who’s to say a janitor wouldn’t have sold to the highest bidder to make some cash?
I’d been so desperate for Jaxson that I didn’t care about anything other than getting to him, and once I did, I couldn’t stand the thought of either of us leaving.
I thought it could wait. And now, we were both paying the price of my ignorance.
The word leak replayed in my mind on a loop, and then I covered my mouth with my hands as I catalogued everything they would have found.
The pictures I took of Jaxson when he didn’t even realize it.
The videos of us — some innocent, some far from it.
All of that was supposed to only be for me. I didn’t even have social media. That phone was more like my journal than anything else.
Now, the rest of the world had access to my most private thoughts and experiences — whether I wanted them to or not.
When neither of us spoke, Vince shook his head, over and over, eyes washing the length of Jaxson as if he was seeing him for the first time. Suddenly, he turned and stormed toward me.
“Get your shit. We’re leaving. Now.”
I almost shot into action at his words. My instinct was to do exactly as he said, but my heart refused to let me move.
“Grace,” Vince warned, steaming. “Get. Your fucking. Shit.”
“Vince, I need you to take it down a notch,” Jaxson tried just as I said, “I’m not leaving.”
“The hell you aren’t!” Vince ignored Jaxson and pointed at me, his jaw tight. “We have a PR nightmare to handle. Mom and Dad are already at the house with Maven making a plan with the team.”
That made my stomach crawl. What would Mom say? Oh, God… what would Dad say?
“I’ll come, too,” Jaxson tried, pushing off the wall.
“You,” Vince growled, spinning and pressing his finger into Jaxson’s chest. “Will stay the fuck away from her, and from me, and from my entire family.”
“Vince, stop. You’re overreacting,” I said to my brother. “It’ll all blow over, we’ll—”
“Sorry, sis, but I’m pretty sure a video of my fucking teammate telling you how good you were at sucking his cock isn’t going to blow over.”
Shame and horror washed over me as I remembered the exact video he was referring to — the one we’d taken at Wilson State Park. That moment had meant so much to me. It was the first time I’d cried in… I couldn’t even remember how long. It was me baring my soul to Jaxson and him listening, holding space for every feeling I had.
He’d said that last part as a joke to make me smile, to lighten the mood. It wasn’t crude. It was… beautiful.
But now, everyone would judge it, judge us.
Suddenly, my brother was shoved hard from behind, and Jaxson cornered him, absolutely seething.
“Watch your mouth when you’re talking to my girl.”
“Your girl?” Vince laughed, shoving him back. “That’s my fucking sister, you punk!”
He wound up to hit him, and I screamed, running until I could step between them. Jaxson hauled me up out of the way and put himself as a barrier between me and my brother, which made Vince even more pissed.
He was shaking, face redder than I’d ever seen it as he looked at where I was hiding behind Jaxson. I knew, even in the heat of the moment, that he wasn’t just angry. He was hurt. He was upset we’d lied to him. He was likely devastated about what the news was saying about me, because he cared about me.
But right now, all he could reach for was rage. And I didn’t know how to get through to him.
His eyes flicked between us, and then he forced one long, calm breath, smoothing his hands over his shirt.
“Grace, I need you to get your belongings and go to the car,” he said, his voice more level.
“No,” I tried, but Jaxson turned to face me, his hands on my arms. I knew before he even spoke what he was going to say, and I shook my head violently. “No,” I said again.
“Just for now,” Jaxson promised me. “Go be with your family and let me talk to the team’s PR agency. We will get this figured out.”
“I don’t want to leave you.” Tears flooded my eyes, and Jaxson framed my face, lowering his gaze to mine.
“We will work this out together. I promise. I’m not going anywhere. Okay?” He waited until I nodded, and I knew he could see everything I could about my brother in that moment. There was no reasoning with him. “But right now, your family needs you to go be with them, and I am not welcome.”
Vince snorted behind him, but Jaxson kept my attention on him.
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised again.
I wanted to kiss him, to feel the comfort and security of his lips on mine. My entire body was trembling now, the facts of what my brother revealed sinking into my skin like claws.
Someone had leaked our videos, our photos, our texts.
It was such a personal invasion of privacy, I could barely breathe.
With one last squeeze, Jaxson released me, and I numbly gathered my clothes off the kitchen floor. I ambled toward the front door with my head spinning and my heart pounding.
Through my haze, I heard my brother hit Jaxson with one final blow.
“I trusted you.”
I froze at the sound of it, knowing those words would break Jaxson. But I couldn’t turn around, couldn’t comfort him — not right now.
Vince’s hand found my shoulder and guided me out the door.
He must have shut the gate after he came through it, because there was already a small gathering of paparazzi, and their cameras all began to flash when we emerged.
Vince shielded me, and with the landscaping around Jaxson’s property, none of them got a clear shot before I was ducking into the passenger side of my brother’s Maserati. The windows were tinted far past the legal shade of darkness, but I still hid my face as we pulled out of Jaxson’s driveway and Vince sped us across town toward the beach.
I didn’t even have my phone to text Jaxson and tell him I loved him, that we would get through this, that everything was okay.
The weight of the morning socked me right in the gut, panic zipping through my chest and making me curl in on myself.
And I realized maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t text him.
Because those last two statements were just pretty lies.
Nothing was okay.
I wasn’t sure it ever would be again.
