Love Match (Love Match 1)

They stood entwined for a long time, just breathing each other in, arms wrapped tightly. “Luke,” Jesse murmured.

They kissed, tongues winding together, lips soft. Luke’s hands moved under Jesse’s shirt, caressing him. When Jesse gasped for breath, Luke’s lips moved to his neck, sucking the tender skin into his mouth, leaving his mark. He slipped his hand into Jesse’s shorts, grasping his hardening cock.

Suddenly Jesse wrenched away, breathing hard.

“Jess …” Luke reached out for him again.

“No,” he said, backing away. “I can’t. Nothing’s changed, Luke. Look at us. Hiding away in a dark room, sneaking around to even talk to each other.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this all the time.” Luke’s body thrummed with desire and he ached to have Jesse in his arms once more.

Shaking his head sadly, Jesse said, “But it is.” He hurried out of the room, the door banging shut in his wake.

Luke slumped back against the wall, defeated.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The rest of the tournament was a blur. Luke got to the final and won handily against a young Swiss player everyone was touting as the next big thing. Luke didn’t realize until the mandatory press conference afterwards that it was his first title of the season.

When the reporters asked about the controversy at Wimbledon, Luke took Jesse’s advice and laughed it off. He made a few jokes that had everyone tittering, and afterwards one of the female reporters approached him and slipped her number in his pocket.

It shocked him a bit that he hadn’t won more tournaments, and that he hadn’t even noticed he wasn’t winning. He’d been so preoccupied with Jesse, nothing much else had registered. Luke vowed to capitalize on his victory and try to keep some momentum going into the upcoming U.S. Open.

When Luke arrived at Brookview, he was glad to see that Amber wasn’t behind the receptionist’s desk. She was a nice girl, but he wasn’t in the mood to be charming.

Mike was mysteriously busy again, so Luke was meeting another old friend from the tour, Andy Dohring, for some hitting. Andy played out of Brookview, and Luke just hoped that he wouldn’t run into Jesse. It was late in the day, and he knew Jesse was an early riser. Luke could only hope that Jesse and Jeff had already put in a full day’s work and left.

As he headed towards the court Andy had reserved, Luke immediately saw that it wasn’t his lucky day. Jesse was a few courts over, practicing his groundstrokes while Jeff shouted instructions from the sideline.

As Luke passed by, he tried to remain unnoticed. Jeff paused in mid-diatribe when he saw him, but quickly regained his train of thought. However, Jesse noticed that Jeff’s attention wandered and glanced over his shoulder as Luke walked by.

Their eyes met and Luke felt a jolt as he ground to a halt. He missed Jesse so much. He longed to just sweep him up into his arms and never let go.

Jesse finally blinked and determinedly pivoted back around. Luke forced his legs into action and made his way to his court, where Andy waited. Andy was a journeyman like Mike who’d never win the big tournaments. He was affable and talkative and Luke was happy to let him take the lead and blather on until they took their sides of the court.

After a long hitting session, they called it a night. Luke had tried to keep his attention where it belonged, but his eyes had inevitably drifted over to Jesse occasionally in between points. For his part, Jesse seemed totally focused, listening to Jeff’s coaching and keeping his eye on the ball.

When Luke walked by again on his way out, Jesse didn’t look over. He tried not to care but failed miserably.

In the parking lot, he said goodnight to Andy and headed to his SUV. Once inside, he just sat with his hands on the wheel, the key not even in the ignition. Darkness was falling, but there was some kind of party going on in the country club restaurant, so the lot was still almost full.

Jeff and Jesse walked out some time later, and Luke watched as Jeff slapped him on the back and headed to his car. Jesse headed the other way, towards Luke. Luke’s heart sped up as he watched Jesse go to his little hatchback a few rows away.

Before Luke could even think about it, he was dialing Jesse’s cell phone. Through the windshield, he could see him under the lights of the parking lot at his car door. Jesse pulled his cell from his pocket and stared at the display as the phone rang in Luke’s ear.

Finally, just before it went to voicemail, Jesse picked up. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Luke couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

“So. What’s up?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to…I don’t know.” Hear his voice. Connect.