Authors: Rose Harris
Ava could only imagine how she looked when Alex Mathison walked into the fenced-in pool area and caught her sitting on Jace’s lap like a groupie.
Under normal circumstances, she would attempt to make a good impression, but she was sprawled across Jace’s lap with matted hair that sprang out in tufts around her head and down her back like Medusa’s snakes trying to escape. Ava buried her face in her hands trying to avoid Alex’s stare. The possessive way Jace wrapped his arm around her, holding her in place, gave the wrong impression, but it felt wonderful having his arms around her.
“Am I interrupting?” Alex stood on the poolside with his six-foot-one muscular build in jeans and T-shirt and looking too sexy for his own good.
“No, I just saved her from drowning and causing me even more media scrutiny.” Jace held Ava tightly.
“I think she’s going to make it. You could loosen your grip before you break her ribs.” Alex joked about Jace’s possessiveness.
A look of male understanding crossed between the two friends, and Jace released her from his powerful embrace. Only when he reached out to fix her bathing suit did she realize her appearance had become more disheveled than she initially thought.
Slapping his hand before he could touch her, she turned away from both of their prying eyes, fixed her suit, and tried to salvage some composure. Embarrassment ran through her, and she only hoped her face was not beacon-red. The familiarity she experienced with Jace made her question why they couldn’t try to have a relationship, and then something like this happened and she realized they lived in two completely different worlds.
“I saw the press conference this morning. Good job. You handled yourself like a pro.”
“I’ve had some practice.” The sound of water splashing as Jace got out of the pool gave Ava the opportunity to turn and watch the play-by-play between the friends. The sight of Jace’s wet back glistening from the sun high in the sky had her focusing all attention on the muscles that flexed as he held his hand out to bump knuckles with Alex and then pull him in for a manly shoulder bump.
Jace walked back to the end of the pool and lent her an outstretched hand so she could get out. Standing on the seat of the pool proved cumbersome, and Ava slipped. Without Jace’s firm grip on her, she would have fallen and hurt herself. Instead he just reached out and plucked her from the water. When her feet touched the tile, he turned back to Alex.
Taking a step away from the men, Ava was surprised when Alex handed her a towel. She thanked him. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen you.”
“I believe the last time we spoke you called me a pig and told me to keep my eyes to myself,” Alex said in a way she knew he had not been offended. “As a matter of fact, J here said pretty much the same thing, just in a more direct way.”
“Did he? I guess it was the big brother syndrome he was suffering from back then.” Two of the sexiest men in the NFL should have made her nervous, but ironically, she felt calm and strangely comfortable with the hunks.
“I don’t think it was brotherly love that had him scaring us off, but if that makes you feel better, you can call it that.”
Before she had a chance to question Alex further, Jace asked him if he had seen Chris or Brent. If she hadn’t followed the Renegades closely, she wouldn’t have known they were fellow teammates.
“Yeah, we were thinking about getting together tonight. Would you two like to come out to a club?”
“You could all come here tonight. We could take a cruise on my boat.” Pulling out his phone, Alex punched a number and had one of the league’s best tackles on the phone. Ava couldn’t fathom having so many important people available when you called. Of course, she had Jace’s number now on her cell phone, but she didn’t consider Jace a star. He was Jace.
“Chris will be here. His daughter is sick, so his wife feels better about leaving her if she’ll still be in the neighborhood.”
“Cool. How about seven o’clock?”
“Works for me. How about you, Chris?” Alex spoke into a phone that was dwarfed by his large hand. Nodding his head yes, Alex said his good-byes and hung up.
“He’s going to call Brent and whoever he’s dating now and see if they want to come.”
After a few more minutes of listening to their conversation that somehow managed to become all about training, Ava slipped past them and headed into the house to clean up before Jace’s guests arrived. He would need to have food for them, and she had a feeling he wasn’t going to be much help preparing for his guests.
****
The commercial kitchen Jace described as warm and comfortable made Ava doubt everything she had ever known about entertaining. She was in a champagne kitchen with a beer imagination.
What do I feed people who make more money in a year than I can make in twenty
?
The thought of her being a snob never crossed her mind, but the very idea of serving people who were in a different tax bracket than she would ever be in gave her a case of the nerves. The limited items of Jace’s bachelor food made her quiver with anxiety; the reality was they might be stuck ordering pizza.
“What are you looking for?” Jace came behind her, and she jumped at the sound of his voice.
Hand to her chest, Ava spun around to face him. “Don’t sneak up on me. I am looking for something to feed your guests.”
“Why? I was just going to order some pizzas, and I have plenty of beer in the fridge.”
“You can’t serve pizza and beer to people like them.”
“What do you mean like them? They’re normal people. They all like beer and pizza.”
Ava shook her head. She exclaimed as if he were dense, “They’re
rich
!”
“So am I. I eat pizza, in fact, you fed me pizza at your house.”
“Yeah, but you’re just Jace. These are people I’ve watched on television.”
She didn’t know what she said, but Jace pulled her against him. The moment his lips touched hers, she melted into a big pile of mush. With subtle pressure of his lips and an exploring tongue, he caused her knees to weaken, and she succumbed to his velvet touch. The glide of his hands down her back and around her bottom felt wonderful. When he sat her on the counter and pressed himself between her legs, she leaned into him with exuberance.
She didn’t know how many times the doorbell had rung, but when he began to pull away, she refused to release him. With laughter in his voice and a promise to finish what he started, he left her sitting on the granite while he went to greet his first guest.
Voice recognition alerted Ava first, and when she jumped down from the counter and rushed toward the front door, a sense of annoyance passed through her.
What is Roxi doing here? She is supposed to come tomorrow.
Under the circumstances, she knew Jace’s promise to finish what he started would not happen, and she felt a deep ache at the loss of his touch.
“Hey, Sis, why didn’t you call and tell me you were coming? I gave Ava your room.” Jace’s house had five bedrooms, but only two had been furnished with beds.
“It’s okay, we can bunk like we did in high school.” The light that shone in Roxi’s eyes gave Ava the first moment of relief her friend was there. The look of acceptance and love proved to her beyond any words her bestie understood her decision, even if she didn’t agree with it, and would support her through the coming weeks.
Hugging Roxi, Ava heard Jace make a comment about how women always felt the need to hug even though they saw each other daily.
“Just because we show our affection and friendship with a hug doesn’t make it any different than a bunch of jocks patting each other on the ass under the disguise of sportsmanship.” Roxi teased her brother in the way only a little sister could.
With another quick hug of his own for his sister, he turned it into a semi-noogie and made a comment about her smart mouth.
Laughter filled the foyer, echoed off the vaulted ceilings and made the house seem homey for the first time since Ava’s arrival. This was going to be okay. She was going to be able to catch up with her friend on equal ground.
“I don’t want to be rude, but what made you ride down tonight?” Ava questioned.
“The moms are bringing Ashlyn tomorrow, and since you need your car, I offered to drive it out a day early so we could hit some of the Nashville nightlife.” Roxi, standing there in skinny jeans and a halter-top, looked so like a model Ava wished she could hate her. The differences between the two friends were as drastic as night and day.
“Sounds like fun, but Jace has invited some people over for a boat ride.”
“That will be fine, as long as it’s okay if I tag along.” Roxi looked at the two of them as if she were interrupting something.
“Fine by me,” Ava and Jace said at the same time. Their laughter again was relaxed, and the three headed for the family room just as the door behind them opened.
Alex walked into the house with a swagger she’d only ever seen a cowboy confidently pull off and a smirk at the piece-of-crap car that was parked in the driveway. “Are you opening a junk yard?”
“No, that’s my car,” Ava commented, head back and nose in the air. “And it still runs.”
“No need to get upset, I was kidding. It’s just I’ve never seen anything like that pass through the gates here. I had one just like it back in high school.”
Anything else Alex was going to say was cut off the moment he spotted Roxi. The color drained from his tan face, and Ava would have guessed he had just seen a ghost if he hadn’t been standing there with them.
“Alex, you all right?” Jace questioned his friend with obvious concern.
“What? Oh yeah, I’m good. How’ve you been, Roxi?”
Ava knew immediately there was something going on. She rushed to Roxi’s side and ushered her up the stairs so she wouldn’t have to respond. The slight nod Roxi sent Alex was strained as they made their way past him.
****
The sound of the door clicking shut was Ava’s signal to find out what was wrong, but before she could open her mouth, Roxi turned and spilled her guts.
“We started out as friends. You know he came home with Jace sometimes, and we talked, a lot. The first time he leaned in for a kiss, I actually pushed him away. He was so confident and mature. I was still in high school, and he was Jace’s best friend. He called me a couple of times a week, and when he finally asked to meet me one day, I agreed. It was so hard hiding our relationship from everyone. He couldn’t take me to the prom, hell, we couldn’t even tell our friends. Jace would have freaked, and since I knew you had your own issues, I kept it from you too.”
“But you went out with guys in school. You went to the prom with Bobby.” Ava was astonished Roxi held this turmoil for so long.
“I did all those things as a cover-up. I never even kissed another guy once I started talking to Alex. I fell head over heels in love with him. I had convinced myself he was the one. He came home with Jace for our graduation party. I snuck away for weekends under the guise of working, never even telling the truth that I was going out of town with a guy I was seeing. I was in college, and nobody thought anything of my disappearing for the night.”
At the window, Roxi stared out into the vast blue lake. Ava was convinced Roxi saw nothing but memories. The pain that etched lines into her alabaster complexion was all the proof Ava needed to know Roxi was still in love.
“The weekend Jace came home and met the lady claiming to have his baby, I was on my way out to meet Alex at his apartment and wanted to get away as soon as possible so Jace wouldn’t catch on to our secret. I ended up leaving earlier than I expected and surprised Alex. When I arrived, a girl was coming out of his apartment. When I opened the door, he came out of his bedroom with only jeans on, and they were unbuttoned.
“I freaked, we argued, and he told me Cindy had just shown up. That there was nothing going on. I wanted to believe him. I listened to his excuses and a part of me wanted to believe him. We sat together most of the night talking, but I knew Alex was holding something back. He never confessed to cheating, and I honestly didn’t know if he would have or not. Unfortunately, the doubts had been planted, and it would end up being our last night together.”
The tears that streaked down Roxi’s face broke Ava’s heart. She had no idea her friend had been hurting.
“When I walked away the next morning, we agreed he had a career that needed all his attention. Loving someone and not being able to show it was just too hard. I left his apartment and never went back. Of course, I’ve seen him while celebrating Jace’s accomplishments with the Renegades, but we always managed to keep our distance. Seeing him so close, it just brings back so many memories and emotions.”
As a show of solidarity, Ava stood with her arm around her friend’s waist and turned Roxi to face her. “You could have told me. I would have supported you.”
The weak laughter that escaped Roxi’s strawberry-tinted lips sounded strained. “Have you forgotten you also were in the midst of hiding a big secret? I want to talk to you about Ashlyn and Jace, but not right now. I don’t think either of us is in the right frame of mind to handle the revelations of that conversation. But you need to know you are my best friend. I promise whatever decisions you make from here on out are fine with me. You’ll always be the sister of my heart.”