There was only one person there, held back by the strong arms of the guard, a woman.
Not just any woman, however. The sight of this one made my blood run ice cold as our gazes met.
No way. This couldn’t be happening.
I took a startled step backwards, pen dropping out of my hand and falling to the paved concrete under my feet. It bounced between my feet, coming to a lazy stop before rolling down the pavement toward her. I glanced over my shoulder at the hotel as if I were contemplating running over to it as fast my powerful legs would take me.
“Jaxon!” the woman cried, medium length blond hair curling over her shoulders, “Jaxon Hart!”
She waved an excited hand, familiar golden eyes huge with excitement.
I knew who she was before she spoke, my heart dropping like a lead weight down into the pits of my stomach.
“No…” I gasped as Lucas cocked his head and furrowed his brow in confusion.
“It’s me,” She beamed from where security held her back, “it’s Emily!”
Chapter 3
Emily
“Get her out of here,” Jaxon snapped viciously, whirling around on his foot as he stormed away toward the hotel. “I can’t do this right now.”
“Jax!” I cry out, straining against the massive arms of the security men just as large and strong as the football players themselves, “Jax, I just want to talk!”
“Listen, lady,” the man holding me back chuckles as he exchanges a quick glance with the other guard, like they’re in on some private joke that I just can’t possibly comprehend.
“We don’t let just any girl follow our boys around. If you want an autograph or if you want to claim he’s your baby daddy then you’ll have to follow the rules—”
“What?” I gasp in shock, pushing myself out of the man’s arms and straightening up indignantly.
I tug the hem of my shirt down, glowering at the security officer as I puff out my chest a bit and lift my head higher. There was no way I was going to let them think that I was just some lunatic trying to claim I’d gotten knocked up by one of the team’s players.
“I’m not just some girl, I’m Emily Hart, I’m Jax’s sister.”
“Sister, huh?” the man smirks, “That’s a first.”
Jaxon rushes inside behind the rest of his team, refusing to look back at me. The female concierge gives me a single, pitying look then slowly tugs the door shut. The windows are so tinted that I can’t see inside. I’m sure the rest of the team is pressed up against the darkened windows, laughing and jeering as they point at me.
The team is gone and I’m out here alone.
Why had Jax reacted like that? I’d imagined this moment over and over in my mind, and though most of them involved the handsome man ignoring my existence, the thought of him running away from me never crossed between my ears. It’d almost seemed like looking at me hurt him.
“Jax…” I mumbled to myself in sadness, smoothing down the wrinkled fabric of my faded shirt and gazing at the door as if I expected him to bust back through and apologize for being so cold.
He didn’t though, and the doors remained firmly shut. Another security guard took a fixed place in front of the glass doors, shooting me one warning look that made my cheeks flush.
One attempt to contact my stepbrother and I was already being treated like a felon by the staff. Mom always did say I was persistent.
“I guess it’s been a while since the last family reunion,” the officer chuckled faintly, prodding me away from their secure perimeter, “Why don’t you hurry on home, now. Go tell Mommy and Daddy that Jaxon is in a grumpy mood tonight. I don’t think he wants to play.”
I glare up at him scornfully but bite back the argument that rises the back of my throat. That was clearly not going to get me anywhere at this point. Fishing my phone from my pocket, I turned and strode purposefully down the street of the hotel until I can mark a sharp turn just out of sight of the guards no doubt still watching and head back toward the giant building. Around the side, I settle down on a bench, leaning slightly to peer around the corner and watch the guards. They linger out there, one smoking a cigarette and the other sipping on a Red Bull. They’re no longer concerned with me now that I was out of sight.
Perfect.
“Dad, you won’t believe this,” I speak softly into the speaker of my cell, just in case the gusting wind carries my voice toward the guards, unable to contain the grin spreading over my lips, “I saw Jax!”
Despite the fact that I was turned away, I’m still so happy to have just gotten the chance to see him in person, to know that he looked as healthy and fit as he did on the television screen. I was so proud of him and all that he’d accomplished.
“Oh,.” Lyle Hart responded quietly, with barely a fragment of the excitement I’d been expecting to hear from a man who hadn’t seen his son in fifteen years. “Well, then. How is he?”
“He looked good. Strong,” I shrug, “He’s at Hotel Copa downtown if you want to try and see him.”
I decided not to tell my stepfather about the warm welcome I’d received. Perhaps Jax would be more receptive to his parents rather than the sister that shadowed him the entire five years we’d lived as siblings.
“That’s nice,” Lyle responded, using that same dry and gravelly tone he used every single time Jaxon’s name was brought up.
I rolled my eyes, glad that my stepfather wasn’t able to see the action. When he’d officially adopted me, I’d been so exceedingly happy to be welcome fully into his family. My own father was so out of the picture that I’d even begged to change my name to match Lyle’s. He was the father I never had. Despite his aloofness when his estranged son was mentioned, he was a warm and comforting presence. I could see easily why Mom had fallen so hard and so fast for him.
The first time I met Lyle Hart was with his son. He and Mom brought us to McDonalds to play on the playground, treating us like were half our age instead of budding teenagers. I was stricken immediately by Jax’s boyish handsomeness. Lyle shared that same attractiveness, though much more in a salt and pepper kind of way.
Lyle and Mom were both impossible to talk about Jax with. They both instantly turned into clams, eyes going blank, lips going tight. It was so irritating. It was like the mere utterance of Jax’s name cast heavy clouds over the room, turning my parents from people to statues. For years I’d wondered why he up and left. I wondered by why he didn’t tell any of us that he was leaving. I wondered why he ignored our phone calls. In the end, I stopped caring about that. I hoped that wherever he was, he was happy and living the best life he possibly could. The first time I saw his face on the NFL draft, it’d been an accident. I was in a bar having a drink with Rick when Jax’s face appeared on the screen. I’d instantly recognized that lopsided smile, those sparkling blue eyes. I’d known it was him before they even announced his name. I became a devoted fan that instant and never looked back.
My parents, however, were a drastically different story. It was me who forced them to watch those first few games. As soon as I stopped pressing it, they stopped watching him play. They missed the first touchdown he ran and the excitement of their very first game. I didn’t.
Was I the only one who missed him? Mom had almost been about to adopt Jax when we were teens before he ran away, but now the simple mention of his name made her wince as though she could feel a knife in her heart. I wasn’t too naïve to not understand their grief, but wouldn’t they want to support him from afar?
“Do you want to meet me here?” I continued slowly, leaning back on the bench as one of the security guards began to walk around, “I’m going to try and get into the hotel-”
“Em, listen, I’m still at work. I have to go.”
“Okay, Dad, but—”
“Goodbye, Emily. I’ll call you later.”
The line went dead in my hands, leaving me staring in shock at the blank screen of my phone.
“Seriously?” I mumble aloud, pouting and sho
ving the device back into my pocket.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t been expecting him to jump at the opportunity to see Jax, but I’d thought he would at least be interested. His son was only minutes away, how could Lyle even contain himself right now?
Shivering, I rubbed my hands over my arms and gazed out over the choppy waters of the harbor. The wind billowing off the lazy tide was briny and cold, making my hair stiff with salt. When I got home, my clothes would continue to smell like the harbor’s water for days. I loved that smell, thick and fresh and salty. I couldn’t imagine ever leaving this place behind like Jax had.
Had it been hard for him?
There were so many questions that I wanted answers to. There was so much I wanted to say. Mostly, though, I wanted to give him a hug. I wanted to tell him I was proud. I knew very well that my opinion wouldn’t matter to him, and he wouldn’t care whether or not I was proud of him, but I wanted him to know it anyway. Sometimes people just need to hear those types of things.
I shoot a careful glance behind me at the tinted window of the hotel, smoothing my blond curls back from my face. I should have put more thought into how I looked being reunited with my only brother, even if Jax was really my stepsibling and not a biological one. I’d hurried over from the painting studio, blue acrylic paint staining my worn jeans. I’d been so excited to hear that his limo had arrived that I just ran off without thinking.
Imagine, my brother in a limo. The thought was almost baffling. I was too broke to even afford a car.
When I turned slightly to face the mirror, I was startled by just how unkempt I looked with my messy hair and stained clothing.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t want to see me, maybe he was worried I would embarrass him in front of all of his powerful, wealthy friends. Though I didn’t look much like it in this getup, I’d gotten more mature since he’d last seen me. I wasn’t a drama queen anymore, or rather, I wasn’t as much of one anyways.
Smirking, I climb to my feet and wrap my arms around my body, slowly wandering around the back of the hotel. I listen closely, waiting for the distant yell of the security guard as he rushes over to tell me to get lost, but all that floats over the breeze is a distant laugh – probably from the two of them still making fun of me.
On this side of the hotel, there’s another door tucked away in the back. Though it’s far away from the security detail, it’s locked from the inside. The only way to get in this door is to swipe your room key.
Frustrated but ever patient, I lean against the red brick of the hotel and kick my legs lazily out in front of me and crossing my ankles. I lift my fingers easily to my lips, blowing out into the chilly wind to fake a cigarette with my breath. I fit in well, I think, anyways. Hopefully I don’t look too suspicious. For people just glancing by, it’ll look like I just stepped outside my hotel for a quick cig break.
It takes over twenty minutes of me standing outside and shivering to death before eventually someone hurriedly throws open the door and storms out into the street. Hastily, I whirl and snatch hold of the door, slipping inside the hotel.
The chilly air clinging on my skin and in my hair melts within the heated halls of the hotel. The warmth is welcome, sweeping around me and coiling like little flames across my thin sweater. I hadn’t dressed for standing out in the freezing Boston air for so long, and I could no longer feel my still trembling fingertips.
I’d never been in this hotel before, or any one even remotely like it, with its checked red carpets and gold trim. It’s beautiful, like the kind that you would see in a traveling magazine. You could imagine yourself thrown daintily over exquisitely hand sewn duvets and pillows more fluffy than the fluffiest cloud, but you would never expect to walk through the halls themselves and see the glory for yourself.
“Does Jax get to stay in hotels like this all the time?” I wonder quietly, eyes trailing up and down the winding corridors as I tread slowly forward.
How lonely that must be.
I couldn’t imagine staying in hotels all my life, bouncing from unfamiliar street to unfamiliar street. I liked being close to home, where Mom and Lyle were only a few blocks away from where I lived with Rick. On nights when the weather was cool and Rick would be away until late, I walk Ralph all the way to my parents’ house so that we can have supper together.
Even that simple action upset Rick, who expected me to eat with him every night even when he got home late and was so cranky he could barely look at me.
I had deliberately chosen not to mention to my boyfriend that I was going to try and track my stepbrother down today. Rick wasn’t exactly the most understanding type. He liked to know where I was at all times, but judging how he reacted with the football games on the weekends, I’d decided he didn’t need to know my exact whereabouts just this once.
Later tonight. Rick would question why I was home much later than normal, but I knew how to handle his interrogations. Plus, I’d be back in plenty of time to make us both dinner and even hopefully take Ralph for his evening walk.
Maybe, if Jaxon was going to be in town long enough, I could even convince him to come over for a real dinner. Even Rick would have to accept it if Jaxon wanted to come over. Surely, my stepbrother missed homecooked food while the season was going strong. He probably didn’t have enough time between the games and interviews and practices to even think straight. I wasn’t a master chef, but I knew how to make a mean Caprese chicken dish that would knock even Jax’s league sanctioned socks off.
Closing my eyes for a second, I shook my head and stopped before I turned around the hall. I was getting ahead of myself. All I could think of was spending time with my brother and finally getting to know him again. I felt like we’d only just barely scratched the surface when we were teens, and now we may have the chance to really get off on the right foot… but that wasn’t exactly realistic, and even I knew that.
Jaxon’s reaction to seeing me hadn’t exactly been a warm one.
I wasn’t sure why he’d decided to leave me and our family behind, but whatever it’d been was something serious enough to keep him away for fifteen years. I would have to somehow keep my rambling tongue from pushing him even further away.
Finally giving myself another resolute nod, I moved forward down the winding passages. The halls of the hotel seemed endless, stretching on and on forever. I couldn’t help but to wonder how many people potentially got lost every day. Maybe they handed out maps with the hotel keys.
Chuckling, I approached another bend in the hall.
Before I could make it around the corner, the female concierge I’d noticed earlier stepped in front of me, her arms crossing over her chest and one eyebrow quirking slightly upwards.
“Hello, ma’am,” she began shortly, fingers tapping on her arms as her expectant gaze remained locked steadfastly on me.
When I tried to sidestep her, she moved with me, keeping me blocked in the hall.
Damn. I was caught.
“Um, hello, I was just looking for the bathroom,” I grin uncomfortably, shifting from one leg to the other and trying to pretend that I have to use the restroom.
“We have surveillance cameras, you know,” she sighed, shaking her head and utterly unimpressed with my lame attempt at an excuse. “I watched you the whole time.”
“Oh,” I mumbled shamefully, chewing my lip as my mind raced, trying to come up with any excuse that would keep me in the hotel for just a little longer.
How could I prove to her how important this was? I had to get to Jax somehow. This was my only chance. After the game, he’d pack up with the rest of his team and they’d be gone.
“Listen, the team brings all the women the players want with them. They don’t need some random girl stalking them and causing trouble.” The woman’s eyes shot pointedly toward my stained jeans with a tsk of her berating tongue.
“It’s really, really not like that,” I reply hurriedly with a shake of my head. “Jaxon Hart. He’s my stepbrother. We haven’t spoken in a lon
g time and this is my only chance to see him. He lives out of state with the team now. I haven’t seen him in fifteen years.”
The woman’s eyes softened slightly, but her arms remained crossed tight in front of her chest. “It didn’t seem like he really wanted to see you.”
“I just need to try. That’s all I want. I won’t make a scene, if he gets huffy or walks away again then I’ll just leave. But maybe it was the shock of seeing me after so long, you know? Maybe now that it’s been a few minutes he’ll be more open to speaking.”
Jaxon had always been the huffy type.
I doubted I would have very long to plead my case or even just slip him my phone number so that we could potentially catch up with each other. He was always moody and solemn and quiet. The only time I’d ever really seen him come to life was during his football games. He was impressive on the field, hurling his body against the opponents and flying down the field. He was bulky and incredibly strong but also fast. It was no wonder there’d been a bidding war over him right after college. I’d wished I’d known where he played in college so I could have seen those games, but he never contacted us to tell us where he went, and if my parents knew they didn’t share that information with me. They didn’t tell me anything at all about Jaxon. Every question I asked, every memory I quoted, they wanted nothing to do with it. They didn’t even celebrate his birthday. It was like the day he left, he vanished.
When the woman stayed silent still, I clasped my hands in front of me and pressed them against my chest, “Ten minutes. That’s all. I’m not a troublemaker.”
“All right,” the woman finally sighed with the distinct inclination that she would regret this decision later, “I’ll give you five minutes, then you have to get out of here. Got it? If my boss finds out that I let some stranger in…”
“I’ll be in and out so fast you won’t even be sure I was ever there.” I gasp back, clapping my hands together, “I promise!”
She rolled her eyes, stepping to the side and gesturing down the hall, “They’re at the grill right now. It’s to the side of the lobby. I have to phone the launderer for more towels so you have until I get back. When I step foot back in that lobby again, I don’t want to have to deal with you being there, got it?”
Stepbrother The Hard Trainer: A Stepbrother Romance Book Collection Page 13
