Page 1 of The Player

CHAPTER ONE

“What movie are we watching?” Aaron asks as I bring the popcorn into the room, trailed by his sister.

“Does it matter?” Kaylee grumbles and I laugh. She wanted to have a girls’ night out for my eighteenth birthday, but her mother insisted that Aaron had to be a chaperone.

I’m not sure why since all we do is play card games and watch television. It’s not even a bad movie. It’s a Hallmark Christmas movie, for goodness’ sake.

“You know Mom wouldn’t have let you out of the house if I didn’t come. She doesn’t like Julie’s parents not being here and wants someone to be here in case of emergencies. Stop being a brat.”

“True,” Kaylee agrees begrudgingly.

“Hey,” I bump her shoulder with mine, “We had a good time beating your brother at cards. He sucks.”

This makes her giggle, and she climbs into her sleeping bag. Aaron is already in his and I hand him the popcorn before I slide down in between them. My heart thunders as I press the play button on the remote.

I’ve loved Aaron for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never told him. It would make things awkward with Kaylee if we started fighting, even though she knows how I feel.

Halfway through the movie, Kaylee starts snoring, and Aaron laughs.

“She can never make it through a whole movie.” His hand finds mine, and he interlaces our fingers. I beg myself to act cool. He’s done this a million times, yet every time he does, my heart goes on a wild race.

“Ju-Ju?” He turns to me and I blush. Thank God the lights are out, and he can’t see me.

“Yeah, A-bear?” I turn a bit more toward him and place my free hand on his chest as the silence between us grows.

A few minutes seem to slowly tick by before he huffs and shakes his head. “Never…” He starts to talk, and I lick my lips because I’m nervous. We’ve stayed in the same bed together and it has never felt this intimate before.

Aaron leans forward and touches his lips with mine. It’s my first kiss, and I gasp as he plunges his tongue into my mouth. He’s gone before I can react, and he removes his fingers from mine.

“I…” Words fail me as he touches my face and smiles.

“Don’t, Ju-Ju. Go to sleep.”

With that, Aaron turns away from me and I’m left in shock and wonderment. Drifting off to sleep is a chore for me as I think about his tongue in my mouth and how badly I want to continue kissing him.

The next morning, Aaron’s sleeping bag is gone and so is he. My heart hurts a little until I remember he has football practice today. I could never get up before dawn to go sweat my butt off. At least one of his teammates picked him up, and he didn’t have me take him. Getting up at four to drive him would have been kind of horrible. My mind drifts to being alone with him and I decide that he should have woke me up.

Cleaning up the mess from last night, I let Kaylee sleep in. She’s a grump in the morning time if you wake her before she’s ready to see the light of day. Her cell phone goes off and she grumbles.

“Hey, Mom.”

I can hear her mother from where I’m sitting on the couch, and I wonder why she’s so mad this early in the morning.

“Okay, Mom. I’ll have Julie bring me home.” Kaylee never argues with her mother, and I don’t blame her. I’d be afraid to live with them and am glad that they don’t have room for me at their house for longer than a sleepover.

As she ends the call, her eyes water, but she blinks them, holding the tears at bay. “My older brother is being a problem, and I have to go.”

Standing up, I go over to where she’s sitting on the floor. Bending down, I hug her. “It’s alright. Let’s get dressed and make sure we don’t make your mother mad at me for keeping you too long.”

“Bry is usually the good one, so I don’t know how he has her so upset.”

Kaylee shrugs and hugs me back before getting up. “It’s not a big deal. Your mom seems to need you at home, and that’s what’s important.”

Once she folds her sleeping bag and puts it into her backpack, she smiles at me. “You are way too nice.”

Laughing, I shake my head and grab my keys. We drive through the neighborhood and Kaylee looks at me as we pull into the driveway of her home.

“Do you mind picking up Aaron from practice?”

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