That night had remained one of my favorite memories for years. Once I’d asked her to the prom, it took a few days to get her to believe I was serious, but once she did, she’d seemed so excited about going.
That’s why it had been so confusing when she just up and disappeared. For years I’d wondered about that night, tried to figure out what had happened, if I had said something stupid that had pushed her away, I could never put my finger on it. After a while, I stopped wondering and just accepted it. My life went on, and Maisey became one of those distant memories that sneak up on you every now and then.
Until now…
Because now that she had reappeared, she was front and center in my brain and I couldn’t think of anyone or anything else.
In fact, I’d spent the better part of two hours tossing and turning in my bed and re-living that one night I’d spent with Maisey, over and over.
I didn’t know what her story was, but I was very curious.
And besides, I’d only had her once before. There was still room in my rulebook for one more night with her.
I groaned into my pillow as my cock raged just thinking about it. She’d grown into a beautiful, confident woman and I could only imagine how amazing it would feel to be with her again. If only she wasn’t so uptight now. But maybe that was just an act, in fact, I was sure of it. The Maisey I knew before was full of laughter, good-natured and easy-going. She was probably still there, hiding under the surface.
My cock twitched as I thought about how much fun it would be to penetrate that surface, to pull the old Maisey from her hiding space.
Yes… I’ll do whatever it takes…
MAISEY
“Mama, are you okay?” Maddy asked.
“What? Oh, yes, I’m sorry, honey,” I said. I’d drifted off, stopping in mid-sentence as I read a bed time story to Maddy. We were snuggled up in her bed, surrounded by her entire collection of stuffed animals.
“Are you tired?” she asked, staring up at me.
“Yes, I suppose I am, baby.”
“You can go ahead and go to bed. I’m tired too.”
“You are? Okay, honey. Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” I kissed her and tucked her in before turning off her light.
“Sweet dreams, Mama,” she said.
“Sweet dreams, honey.” I smiled at her, beaming at my beautiful daughter as she turned over and closed her eyes, snuggling her favorite bunny close to her chest.
She was such a blessing. I don’t know where I’d be without her by my side, without her to come home to, without her to give me a purpose.
I walked to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of red wine and then turned off all the lights, locked the doors and went to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I loved my time with Maddy so much, but I also valued my time alone immensely. Tonight, I felt that gratitude more than ever. I’d been waiting all day to get home and be alone with my thoughts.
I was past the point of freaking out and panicking and trying to change things. Now, I was just tired and exhausted and way too tired to fight against a reality I couldn’t change.
Whether I liked it or not, I was going to have to spend the next weeks, if not months, with Jesse. I was going to have to put my hands on him, massage him, stretch him, and work with him to restore full range of motion to that knee. The bruises would heal. The goddamned groin sprain would heal, but it sure had tripped me up when I saw that listed in his medical records.
My goal was to remain professional, and having to massage his groin area wasn’t going to help me accomplish that. Sure, I was a professional, but I was also fucking human.
And Jesse? Jesse was fucking gorgeous. Jesse was beyond sexy, he was literally dripping in sexuality. Masculinity practically oozed from his pores. And he was as cocky as ever. Sure of himself, beyond confident, almost to the point of being an asshole with how full of himself he was. But then, as soon as he realized he’d gone too far, he’d flash that damned crooked smile at me, and all was supposed to be forgiven?
He was going to test me, that was obvious. More than I’d ever been tested before with a patient.
But who was I kidding? I’d never had a patient like him before. Not because of his fame. Not because of his good looks. Not even because of his self-centered cocky bullshit. That came with the territory with these famous athletes.
He was different because of our history together…
If I could get through this time with him, then everything would be okay. I just had to keep reminding myself of that fact. I just had to remain calm, keep my mouth shut, and do my job.
That’s all.
And then he would be gone.
Back to his life.
And mine would go back to normal, and I wouldn’t have to live every day with this huge ache in the pit of my stomach.
There was just one problem with my plan. My body was reacting to him like it was a teenager all over again. Standing in that room with him, my palms started sweating and my knees started quivering, my nipples hardened and I swear if I hadn’t been wearing panties, he would have easily seen how he effected me, because I was so wet I had to change out of them as soon as he left the clinic.
If I could somehow get a grip on that, I’d be golden.
In the meantime, I finished my wine, locked my bedroom door, turned off the lights and climbed into bed. My fingers slipped between my legs, and I let my head fall back as I allowed the memories that had haunted me for ten years flood back.
His kiss was gentle. More than I’d imagined it would be. I’d sat next to him for months, staring at those lips, watching his fingers as he wrote in his notebook, mesmerized by the way his muscles twitched under his skin, the way he squinted his eyes when he was concentrating really hard. I’d imagined what it might feel like to kiss him a thousand times, and when he finally did kiss me, I was completely shocked.
I never imagined he would ever kiss a girl like me. He could have anyone he wanted in school. He could have all the Barbara’s of Highland High, if he desired. I would never have turned down a kiss from him, though. So I didn’t. I welcomed it, I opened my mouth, my arms and my thighs, letting him gently guide me backwards on the bed, his mouth working against mine for what seemed like hours, his hands roaming over my breasts and feeling like nothing I’d ever known. His palms were hot, the scarlet heat burning through the cardigan and my bra like I was naked.
And then I was. He’d kept kissing me as he pushed my clothes away, and then I thought, well, why not? When would I ever have an opportunity like this again? I’d almost made it all the way through high school a virgin, why not give my virginity away to a boy like Jesse? He was a little too sure of himself, but he was still kind and gentle, and oh my god, did it feel good. The pain was quick and over so fast, a week later I couldn’t even recall what the pain had felt like. I could only remember the pleasure.
And there had been so much pleasure. He moved inside of me expertly, his body fitting against mine like they’d been made for each other, like our very existence depended on this togetherness.
He was a part of me. I was a part of him. Nothing in my life would ever be the same now, now that Jesse had held me, had kissed me, had made love to me.
Suddenly, everything was right in my world.
Until it wasn’t.
It had all happened so fast. It was like sand running through my fingers. First I had it, then I didn’t. Poof! As if it was just a dream.
But it hadn’t been a dream. It was more real than anything I’d ever known.
And now that it was back, I had no fucking clue how to deal with it.
JESSE
“Jesse, you have to try to move it a little more,” Maisey said. She was wearing blue scrubs today, her hair pulled back again, and secured with a silver pin. I kept looking at the pin as she stretched my leg, and I was finding myself obsessively distracted by it. I wanted to reach out and slide it out of her hair slowly, just to witness her curls cascading down around he
r shoulders. Her face was drawn and serious, her lips pursed tightly when she wasn’t speaking. She’d hardly looked at me since I’d walked in this morning.
She was already in the treatment room when I’d hobbled in, her back rigid, her mouth set firmly with professional seriousness. She’d taken a few minutes to go over my treatment plan and schedule in detail and then went right into the treatments.
She’d done some cold laser therapy first, running a wand over my knee that was supposed to shoot lasers below the skin, allowing the healing light to penetrate deeply into the ligaments. I didn’t feel a thing when she’d done that. I just silently watched and listened as she launched into a long drawn out speech about the benefits of cold lasers for the six minutes she was bent over my leg.
But now, she’d turned into some sort of Nurse Ratched. She was pulling on my leg, forcing it to move in ways that it wasn’t ready to move.
“It fucking hurts,” I grumbled.
“Have you been taking your pain meds?”
“No. Fuck that stuff. I don’t like drugs. I gotta stay sharp,” I replied.
“You just had surgery. Are you insane? If you don’t take the meds, we’ll never get anywhere.”
“And if I do, where will we get?” I asked, flashing her a smile that had worked magic on dozens of women before. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t blink. Hell, I might as well have been a big, steaming pile of dog shit, as much as she seemed to be opposed to my presence.
“We’re both here to do a job, Jesse. I’m here to help you get better. But I can’t do it on my own. You have to take your meds. You have to do your exercises. You aren’t invincible, despite what your adoring fans probably tell you. Now - lift!” she demanded, pulling my leg up and bending my knee. I was laying on my back, staring up at her as she kept moving and stretching my leg.
“Where’d you go?” I asked, changing the subject. Of course I would do my part. That much was a given. I had millions of dollars on the line here, and I wouldn’t jeopardize my career by not taking this recovery seriously. I’d take the fucking pain killers, sure, but probably only half the prescribed dose because I wasn’t a total pussy. Besides, I didn’t want to lie to Maisey, or piss her off by not taking the damn things.