Page 38 of The Player

Her eyes widen and her mouth falls open. “I…”

“Don’t,” I say. Ju-Ju is probably trying to piece together why I would call her Sugar Plum. Her first instinct is probably to hide and wonder if I’m the man from all those years ago. I can’t have her thinking like that. Not yet. Not in this moment where I need her so fucking bad.

Screw it, I want her and I’m going to have her. I pull her down and kiss her. Stars sparkle in my eyes at the taste of her lips on mine. Sugar Plums and sunshine. “Aaron,” she whimpers against my mouth. Julie crawls on top of me, and her breasts dangle against my chest.

I’ve dreamt of this moment for so long that I almost think I am dreaming. It’s better than any damn dream I could have conjured up. She’s still inexperienced. It’s insane to me that some man hasn’t snatched her up. Julie’s a goddamn jewel of a woman, and I’m a fool for staying away.

As her hot heat settles against my cock, her butt gently rests against my legs. If she keeps dry-humping like this, I’m going to go again. “Julie,” I moan as we continue kissing.

My hands roam up to her chest, and my beautiful girl whimpers as I pull on her breasts. Her nipples are hard as pebbles, and as I pinch them, she trembles. That hot-as-hell pussy rubs up and down my cock. Fuck, I want to be inside of her and feel that hot, silky wetness squeezing me.

I grind my cock upward, and a sharp pain strikes through my knee. “Fuck, Julie. Get off me.” The second the words are out, I regret them. I meant to say something completely different, but the pain is clouding my brain. All I see is the mortification in her eyes.

She scrambles off me, and I hear her fumbling out of my room. “Ju-Julie!” I call after her, and another pain hits my leg. Dammit to hell, the hurt in her eyes is going to haunt me.

“This never happened. Don’t even worry about it, Aaron.” The door shuts and I feel my heart going with her once again. The pain intensifies, and I reach for the medicine on the bedside table, downing the pills quickly. Dammit, I hate being so weak.

That’s not the issue, though. The look on Julie’s face when she shut the door on me, it’s the same look from eleven years ago. Why do I keep messing up with her? Even with the anger and being upset with myself, my cock pulses. Closing my eyes, I try to think about the ways I can stop reverting to being such a jackass.

And whether or not Julie is going to be putting two and two together. Will she confront me? God, I fucking hope so. I want to tell her I’m James and that she’s been mine since forever.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“Oh my God!” That’s the only thing I can say as I run up the stairs and lock my door. Why, oh why, do I keep putting myself out there with him? How many times does he have to hurt me before I grasp the concept he doesn’t want me?

Crawling into bed, I curl into a ball and quietly cry. For a moment, I thought I could be with him. That he…he may want me. Aaron probably felt obligated to kiss me since I helped him. God, he was most likely calling out my name to tell me to stop, and I thought he was moaning in pleasure.

Sleep fails me all night. Sugar Plum. It rolls around in my brain and latches on. No one has ever called me that but James. It doesn’t make sense though, for him to be James, does it? Wishful thinking. That’s what I chalk it up to be. By the time the alarm goes off at six, I’m already up, showered, and dressed. As I plate our breakfast, Aaron comes in. He sits down beside Lennox and I smile. At least he’s nice to my kiddo.

“Something smells great,” he mumbles and Lennox laughs.

“Mom’s the best cook ever!”

“Eggs and bacon,” I tell him as I slide the plate onto the table with a glass of orange juice.

“You put garlic powder and pepper on it?” I can hear the excitement in his voice. As if I could or would cook it any other way. It was the same last night. Did he think I forgot within twelve hours how to cook bacon?

Turning around so he can’t see the tears pooling, I answer him. “Yes. It’s the only way to eat bacon.”

Grabbing my coffee, I pick up my lunch. “Good luck with therapy today. Your sister will be here in ten minutes to pick you up. Lennox, go brush your teeth, honey.”

“Wait, you aren’t taking me?” There’s surprise in his tone, and I almost smile.

Keeping my gaze from him, I take a sip of my coffee. “No, I have to get to the office to finish yesterday’s paperwork, plus I have to drop Lennox off at school.”

With one last look back at Aaron, I give him a soft smile. It’s best this way. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

* * *

“Mom, are you and Aaron friends?”

Leave it to my kid to ask the hard questions. “Yes. I knew him before he went pro.”

“That’s so awesome. No one believes me he is living with us.”

I bite my lip to keep from laughing or maybe crying at this. How I’ve wanted to live with Aaron for so long is kind of sad.

“Don’t let the others pressure you into anything, and don’t you dare tell them you’ll get them autographs. That’s not right.”

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