by KL Donn
“I’m fine.” Honestly, I’m pretty, fucking miserable actually, but I won’t tell him that. Camp hasn’t been as fulfilling without her or Dane there, especially now that the protesters are gone. My press conference seems to have dampened their movement. And now that they’re gone, the anti-protesters don’t have anything to demonstrate against. I’m left with a big hole in my chest where she used to be.
“Now, you sound like Chantel when she’s mad but doesn’t want to fight. I’m fine,” he repeats in a high-pitched mimicking voice. “You miss her. You know you care for her, even without being in a committed relationship. Go to her.”
“I can’t with camp, practice, and our tight schedule. I have to wait for her to come back here. It’s nuts.” I slide my feet into my cleats and tie them quickly, before pulling our new game jersey over my head. We walk to the field together. “Why are we in these purple jerseys?”
“It’s not purple; it’s some kind of weird blue.”
“Man, you’re color-blind. This is purple.”
When we enter the dome, the noise level rises, and everyone is cheering for me. Mikael raises his arms up and lifts them higher and higher, trying to get the crowd to be louder. The entire stadium is in purple. “What’s going on?” I ask my teammates. Sebastian points to the jumbotron above us.
A purple ribbon is displayed that reads Domestic Violence with the word Awareness underneath it. All around the sidelines, the advertising boards say, “Break the silence. End domestic violence”. It’s running in continuous script.
“Holy shit.” I walk out to the center of the field and raise my arms and circle around, seeing the whole crowd. They cheer as I keep pivoting.
I march back over to the sidelines and greet the fans sitting behind us. They’re wearing purple shirts with “Be Legendary”, “Silence Hides Violence”, and my personal favorite, “Chicago lit the Fire that fueled a LEGEND to (there is an arrow pointing to the ‘end’ in my name) domestic violence.” Others are holding signs that have my Instagram handle on them ‘@ I.An.Legend’. I stand on a chair and sign a couple of the shirts or posters, then pose for a few pictures. I take out my phone and snap a pic for my IG.
“Wow! This is amazing. Thank you,” I tell them.
We begin warm-ups, then finally the match begins. The crowd is loud today which lifts my spirits. I score five goals and lead us to a 5-2 victory. Damn, it feels good.
After the postgame handshakes, we head to the locker rooms to get ready for the victory interviews and press conference. I’m so tired, I just want to sleep. Mikael suddenly elbows me, and I look up. The Pierson’s are with Neenah and Dane, standing at the entrance with ‘Be Legendary’ t-shirts on. There’s even one on Apollo. I stop, not sure if she’ll want to speak to me. She’s more tanned than when I saw her last, but her blue eyes are shining. She bites her lip in uncertainty, and all I want to do is kiss her.
I don’t even care how sweaty I am. I run and pick her up, swinging her around and kissing her. The second our lips touch, I know she’s happy to see me. Her fingernails grip my shoulders as I kiss her deeply. I try to pull away, but she chases my lips down and continues the kiss. We finally break apart when the crowd starts clapping and cheering. I hold her against me after the kiss ends, not wanting to let her go. “I missed you.”
“I’ve missed you terribly. I’m an idiot.”
“No, you’re not. You’re broken, but I’m your glue. I don’t care how long it takes; we’re going to piece you back together one kiss at a time.”
“You’re such a romantic,” she says. She wraps her arms around me, squeezing me tightly before she lets go and slides down my body, holding onto me until her feet are steady on the floor again.
“Well, I’m not Macen from your books. I learn from my mistakes.”
“Meet me at home. I’ll leave the back door open for you,” she whispers before turning away and leaving. I high-five Dane and watch his mother’s ass sway in her jeans.
Mikael leans into my ear and softly says, “May God have mercy on your soul with that one, brother.”
Two hours later, I’m pushing her back door open. The house is silent, but this time the kitchen lights are dim and illuminate the floor as I walk down the hallway to the staircase. I tiptoe upstairs, not wanting to wake Dane. When I stop and peek into his room, the bed is empty. Where is he?
Neenah’s bedroom door is shut, but the light is on and shining underneath the crack near the floor. I knock lightly and slowly turn the knob. She’s lounging on the chair reading, curled up in one of her throw blankets.
“Where’s Dane?” I ask, pointing with my thumb to his bedroom.
“He’s staying the night at the Pierson’s. I was hesitant about that since it’s our first night back and tomorrow is a camp day, but they insisted.” She curls her lip knowingly and shrugs a shoulder. Her blanket falls from where it covers her chest, and I can see thin, spaghetti straps.
I move closer and sit on the edge of the chair, playing with the blanket covering her legs. My hand finally finds her warm skin, and I rub her calf gently. Higher and higher until I feel the soft curve of her ass. “Are you naked under there?” I ask curiously.
“No,” she says and flings back the cover to reveal small, black, boy-short underwear which barely covers her and a tiny matching black corset that comes to just above her navel. Her breasts are riding high and almost overflowing the cups.
My dick twitches in my shorts. She notices because she sets her book down and reaches for it, massaging my bulge until I can’t stand it anymore. I need her hands on my skin. I stand and walk over to the end table next to her bed and unload my pockets—wallet, keys, and condoms. She saunters over to the shades and pulls them low while I strip down.
She begins to untie her corset, but I grab at her fingers. “No. Let me do that.” I kiss her cheek softly, trailing my fingers over her collarbone. My lips move down to where my hands were, kissing her neck and the tops of her shoulders. I tug one string, and the bow comes undone. “I missed you,” I whisper into her skin.
My tongue glides over the mounds of her breasts and down into her cleavage, while I completely undo the bow, tugging to loosen the strings. Her hands grip my shoulders as she mewls like a kitten.
I unstring the eyelets, and the corset falls open, baring her breasts to me. Her areolas are darkened with lust and her nipples are hard with a blush blooming across her chest. My thumbs reach up and graze her peaks tenderly. She gasps when my lips encircle the hardened pebbles, and her nails bite into my skin.
She shimmies out of the corset and lets it fall to the floor. We walk backwards until we bump into the bed, and she lies down. My hands grip her hips and the edges of her boy-shorts, pulling them off and tossing them away. She crawls to the center of the bed, and I glide my tongue from her breasts down to the top of her sex. I inhale her arousal, running my tongue up her vaginal lips and gently graze her clitoris with my teeth. When I suck it between my lips, her ass lifts from the sheets as she grips my hair with her fists. She holds me tightly in place, not wanting me to stray for the moment.
My fingers pet her vaginal entrance, teasing and tickling, until they’re soaked with her juices. I plunge one finger inside her, and her walls grip it tightly. I slide a second finger in then rock both of them in a steady rhythm until she releases my hair and grasps the sheets. A broken moan escapes from her lips as her inner muscles clench my fingers tighter. My pinky slides into the puckered ring of her ass and I kiss her clitoris over and over, moving my hand methodically with her wiggling.
“I’m close,” she whimpers, and I suck harder. “Oh God. Oh God. I can’t stand it. Stop.”
“Explode, Neenah. Shatter into pieces. I’ll put you back together again.” I run my tongue down to her vagina and plunge it inside. Her legs go rigid and shake violently against my arms as she comes. I continue tipping my pinky into her anus as I lap up her juices. Her legs finally give way and fall open in exhaustion.
“I can’t mo
ve,” she complains.
“You don’t need too. Let me take care of you.” I reach for a condom and rip it open, rolling it up my length.
She watches as I stroke myself, her lips lifting into a lazy smile. I crawl to her and take her breasts into my hands, gently kneading them, building her need for me again. My thumbs circle and brush the hardened tips of her breasts, and she arches her back to bring them closer to my mouth. My cock grazes the opening of her sex, and she moans, reaching for me.
I take her hands in mine and entwine our fingers, as I bend to kiss her neck. She writhes underneath me as I nibble at the edges of her lips and she opens for me. Our tongues taste each other for what feels like the first time, desperate, needy, and demanding. I take the kiss deeper then plunge into her heated core. Her whole body rises up and clings to me with need. I loosen one hand from hers and reach between us to pinch her swollen sex. It pulses between my fingertips as she cries out. I roll us over, and she rides me high on her clit, lifting herself up and down on my rod, whimpering with each stroke.
I grip her hips and guide her motions, tormenting her with more and more speed until she can’t keep up. She falls forward on my chest, exhausted and I grasp her ass cheeks before rolling us over again. I bend and kiss her longingly, swallowing her wails of pleasure.
Her silky legs wrap around me as I slide in and out of her slowly, gently, gloriously making love to her as we move to the edge of the bed. When the bed dips down under my knees, I stand and pull her ass up onto my thighs, wrapping her legs around my neck. Her pussy tightens around my shaft and I slowly fuck her, increasing the pace of my strokes with each slide and push.
“I’m close,” she grunts.
A raging storm of passion is brewing in her eyes. Her toes curl into my hair and tug with each delicious thrust. Her pants come in small, shallow breaths until her legs tremble. Her pussy convulses, and I ride her orgasm with her.
She releases her tight grip on the sheets and reaches to massage my balls with her eager hands. As soon as she cups them into her warm palm, electric arcs of heat race up my spine. I plunge into her deeper, rocking into her until my climax explodes.
“Jesus, baby. That was sinfully hot,” I say, smacking her ass as I lower her legs from my shoulders.
“If welcome home sex with you is going to be that amazing, I’ll run away more often,” she teases.
“Oh, no you won’t. I can’t handle it.” I roll onto my side and lie facing her, softly stroking her arms with my fingers.
“We didn’t speak for weeks before I ran back to Minnesota. You were fine.”
“I was only fine because I knew you were safe. I checked on you every night before I went to bed.” I lean in and kiss her shoulder.
“You did? My shade was pulled down. How did you check on me?”
“I watched you turn off your lights, then I double-checked that your doors were locked. I couldn’t physically see you, but I knew no one was going to hurt you.”
She pulls me closer to her and presses her lips to mine. “Thank you.”
“I’ll keep checking on you and Dane for the rest of my life. As long as it takes for you to believe me when I say, I love you.” I pull her body to mine and cover us both with the blanket.
“I believe you now,” she says softly into my ear.
“I’d like to upgrade our relationship from friends with benefits to dating and lovers. Is that okay with you?”
“I still have triggers. I need you to know that upfront. I see or hear things that bring back bad memories. If I lash out, it’s not at you.”
“I understand. I’ve been there before with my mom. I get it. We’ll go as slow as we need to. Like I told you before, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Then yes, consider us upgraded.” She snuggles deeper into my side where she fits perfectly.
“Having you and Dane in my life is an upgrade. I can promise you that.”
30
Ian
One year later…
We pull into the parking lot, and I gasp out loud when I look toward the building and see the official sign that was hung this morning. The Wellspring House of Hope. I kept the first part of the name a secret from her. “Neenah, look at the sign.”
She starts to cry and reaches for my arm. “Ian, it’s beautiful. Wellspring. I love it. Today is going to be amazing. I’m so glad we did this.”
“Neenah, you did this. You and the Piersons. This is your project and your non-profit organization. I only provided the financial means and found other supporters for the cause. Everything else was you.”
We park and meet everyone in the media tent outside the building for a light mixer and a brief round of interviews with the board of directors, executives, and staff.
Everything is ready for the final ribbon-cutting, and Donnie announces it’s time. We all gather in front of the building, and Donnie hands Neenah the scissors.
“I don’t have much to say. I’m kind of media shy,” she teases lightly, and everyone who knows her story chuckles. “It’s my great honor to officially announce that the Wellspring House of Hope is officially open.” She cuts the ribbon, and the wind whips the cut ends back and out of our way. “Well, that was perfect. Please join us inside for the grand tour, some food, and entertainment.”
“Now, let’s go inside and celebrate.” The crowd cheers
We get separated when we go inside, Neenah getting pulled to start one of the grand tours, while I go and get the wait staff started with appetizers.
Everyone seems to be having a great time, so I go and seek out Donnie. I find him at the front desk. “Did you make it to the attorney’s office and pick up that envelope I asked you to?”
He pulls it out from his jacket pocket and slides it across the counter. “Is everything all right?” he asks quietly.
“Yes, everything is fine. Actually, everything is perfect.”
Just then, a police cruiser pulls up out front with its lights flashing. “Go find Neenah and Amy,” I direct him and he scurries past me. “Looks like we have our first guests.”
The doors slide open and a woman steps inside with three children hovering close behind her. Their large eyes take in their surroundings and the youngest one starts to cry. Amy and Neenah push past the crowd of people who has gathered in the lobby.
“Welcome to the Wellspring House of Hope,” Neenah says, offering a kind smile to the newly arrived patrons. “We’ve just opened. Let’s get you settled into a room and some food to eat.” The employees gathered around her spring into action performing their trained duties and it appears that we’re officially in business. I watch her work with a pride that makes my heart swell.
31
Epilogue
Three months later…
Over the past few months, the patrons utilizing the ‘Hope House’ as Neenah likes to call it has grown substantially.
I’ve barely seen her with my new endorsement meetings and our brutal playoff schedule, but we made it to the MLS Cup this year and I know she’s somewhere in this crowd. After scoring the winning goal and the crowd rushes the field, I know the time is right. I find my bag on the sideline and grab my towel, wiping the sweat from my face. I don’t want to accept this win without her.
I borrow the first phone I can find from a reporter and call her. “Hello,” she answers.
“Meet me at the center circle,” I holler over the crowd noise.
“Okay,” she replies and I hang up, handing the phone back to its owner and make my way to her.
Within a few minutes, I see her and she runs to me, jumping into my arms. I swing her around, kissing her with all of my heart. When the crowd pushes in on us and reporters thrust their mics in our faces for a few words, I set her down and grab one of the available microphones. Taking her hands in mine and speaking to the crowd…
“Have you ever had the feeling that you were destined to be a part of something amazing, and you wait your whole life for it to happen? You wait so long that yo
u think you’ve missed it somehow. Somewhere you made a wrong turn or a bad decision. There’s a void inside of you, and it grows larger every day it’s not filled. You don’t know quite what’s missing, so you try to fill the hole with great friends, a booming career, money, a house, a nice car, and beautiful women, but nothing feels right. The emptiness is still there, and you don’t feel whole. You’re tired and broken so you give up. You spiral out of control for a while. Until one day you’re sneaking around your neighborhood trying to avoid the media, and you happen upon a beautiful woman who’s yelling at a book.” Neenah clenches her lips tightly and smiles while tilting her head and shaking it at me. “A romance book, mind you. Apparently the hero messed up, and she wasn’t going to give him another moment of her time. But I watched her in the dark, intrigued by her dilemma and captivated by her beauty. After a few minutes, she picked up that discarded book and proceeded to continue reading.”
Neenah shakes her hands free and covers her eyes. “Please stop,” she murmurs as a blush spreads across her face.
I peel her hands from her eyes and hold them again, caressing her fingers. “I knew then this woman was a kind and gentle soul. She has a pure heart and believes in second chances. I fell in love with her that night and slowly the void inside me began to fill. Now, it’s taken quite a long time, but I’m at ninety-eight percent, and I need to do some last things to be whole.”
I pull the small, velvet box out of my shorts pocket and drop to one knee. The crowd gathered around us goes silent as I flip the box open. “Neenah Wells, will you marry me and make me whole?”
Tears well up in her eyes as she looks into mine, and she shakes her head furiously. “Yes.”
The crowd claps and whistles, and we’re swarmed with people congratulating us.
