by Eva Luxe
“How could I forget?” I asked. Jacob and Kyle had been like brothers at college. “I’d heard when he transferred to the Sharks last season. Bit of a rocky start, if I remember.”
“Very,” Kyle said.
He seemed bitter about it. He watched the team, and as I watched him, he didn’t look like he enjoyed it.
“Do you remember when we went out to Sparky’s place on the beach with the team?” I asked. “It was after that game against NYU, and you got tackled so hard you were concussed; your speech all jumbled up the more you drank.”
Kyle laughed, “I was such an idiot then, drinking with a concussion. God, I could have killed myself.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, you were kind of reckless back then. Are you calmer, now?”
“I don’t know. I guess that’s relative.”
“To what?” I asked.
He looked at me with a naughty smile, a smile I knew too well. It made my panties instantly wet— then and now. “To who’s asking.”
I laughed. “Right. That sounds like the Kyle I remember.”
Kyle’s face fell, and he seemed suddenly thoughtful. “Really? Does it? It seems like a long time ago. A different life.”
“Well, it’s been a couple of years. But not much has changed, I see. Cheerleading for me and football for you.”
“Oh, I don’t play,” Kyle said.
His tone was weary, bitter. I thought it better not to ask details about why that was so.
“I have to get going,” I said. “I’m covered in sweat. I have to get home and get cleaned up. It was great seeing you again, Kyle.”
He nodded, still looking at the team. I turned and headed toward the training center where we were using the locker rooms.
“Maya,” Kyle called after me. I stopped and turned around. “I know it might seem a little, well, awkward or something, but can I take your number? Will you let me call you sometime?”
I smiled and nodded. I had been arguing with myself the whole time we’d been talking. I’d wanted him to ask me and hoped to see him again. But then I’d also been scolding myself for wanting to give him another chance.
I hadn’t thought it was what he’d wanted, but there it was. He pulled out his phone, and I walked closer, reciting my digits to him as he punched them into the phone.
“You’ve changed your number,” he said.
“Yeah, sometimes it’s a necessity,” I replied, not willing to mention that it was my fifth number since college or that I was doing it to run away from Tyler.
“Got it,” Kyle said. “I’ll pop you a text sometime.”
“Great. Have a good one,” I said and walked away toward the locker room.
Warmth spread through my body. Kyle had been everything I’d ever wanted in a man. I had been shattered when he’d broken up with me by moving on.
I’d been telling myself I was over him, but now that I saw him again, I realized how much I still felt for him and realized why I wasn’t that interested in dating. It was dangerous to think he still cared for me in the same way, but he’d asked for my number. He wanted to talk to me again, maybe see me again. That was something.
I walked into the locker room where the girls were pulling tracksuit pants over their sweaty clothes and pushing their feet into flip-flops. I did the same, running a brush through my hair and cracking open another ice cold bottle of water.
“What was that all about?” Samantha asked me. She was one of the few on the team who had pulled me in from the start.
“An old college friend,” I said. “I hadn’t seen him in a while.”
“He’s hot,” she said.
I nodded. “Very.”
My phone beeped. I picked it up, unlocking the screen.
Dinner? Tomorrow night? Kyle
I couldn’t help but grin.
“And that face?” Samantha asked when she saw me smiling at my phone.
“He just asked me out to dinner,” I said.
Samantha smiled. “Looks like more than just a college friend then,” she said and waggled her eyebrows at me. I laughed and typed a reply to Kyle.
Love to. Let me know where and what time.
A thrill ran through me when I hit send. I had been on a few dates over the past couple of years since Kyle, but I’d never felt this way about any of them. I was excited to see him. Even if we were only going to be friends.
A small part of me hoped that that wasn’t the case.
Chapter 5 – Kyle
I hadn’t been on a date in a long time. Not since Maya. Actually, everything in my life had been turned upside down when my dream had been taken away from me, and women had been last on my list of priorities.
Sure, I had thought about making some half-assed attempts to date women before, but no one ever seemed to come close to Maya. I’d starting to think, why even try? I had decided to keep my life free from complications and stick to myself.
But this time, it was serious. This time she had class and taste and deserved the best. It was Maya Thomas, and if any woman deserved it all, it was her.
I wanted to be able to give it all to her. I began to see now that the reason I’d lacked interest in dating wasn’t because I was a recluse. Rather, it was because I’d never been able to get Maya off my mind.
The Capital Grille was the restaurant I had chosen to take her to. It was classy, almost above my pay grade, but I wanted to spoil her, to impress her. I felt like she needed to be shown the best time if I was ever going to have a shot with her again, especially considering I was the one that had fucked it up for us in the first place.
When I’d gotten the news that Jacob had been selected as a professional football player and I hadn’t, my life had fallen apart. Until that moment, I had everything I’d ever wanted, besides the football career, but suddenly it hadn’t been enough.
I had gone from a kid with dreams to someone who didn’t know who he was, and my relationship with Maya had suffered under it. She had tried to be supportive and be there for me, trying to find out what had happened and why I had changed.
But I hadn’t had the fortitude to tell her the truth, nor did I have what it took to move along with my life and embrace everything else.
Instead of counting the blessings I still had, I’d let go of everything bit by bit. My relationship with Maya had been the worst thing to lose. I told her I needed to find myself again and that I couldn’t be the person she needed me to be. She hadn’t understood that I meant that I was the problem; instead, she assumed it had been her.
I regretted losing her, giving up on her, to this day. I had been able to rebuild myself in many other areas after that, but I’d never recovered from losing Maya. I had a relationship and potential future with a woman who was truly worth my while; she was funny, bright and beautiful, but I had thrown it away.
Now, I had a second chance with Maya. I was about to have a date with her. It was almost too much to hope that I would be granted a do-over, but I was willing to try. For the sake of having someone as perfect as Maya in my life again, I was willing to try for as long and as hard as it took.
Tonight would tell the story: if it was going to happen at all, if there was a chance at love again or if she was ready to only be friends. I tried not to think about how much it would hurt if she decided the latter, but after how deeply and unfairly I had hurt her, I couldn’t imagine she would want anything else.
I glanced at the time. She was running fashionably late. I pushed away the thought that she might be standing me up and fiddled with table setting instead, straightening the silverware and moving the wine and water glasses around as if the table hadn’t been set correctly.
The restaurant was beautiful. Rich brown wooden panels and red paint covered the walls, highlighted by classy paintings set at intervals. The white-clothed tables and brown leather chairs provided a beautiful contrast while waiters smoothly glided through, quietly taking orders and bringing food in a dance backed by the sound of music floating around from hidden speakers.
Fucking stunning.
It was clear to see that she trained for a living. Her chocolate eyes smiled at me.
“Sorry, I’m a little late,” she said.
I shook my head and jumped up.
“No problem,” I said as I hugged her. I considered a kiss on the cheek, but I wasn’t sure if that would be too much. I hated feeling this unsure, but it was Maya, the one woman I didn’t want to offend.
“You look amazing,” I said.
She flashed me a warm smile. “You look great too, Kyle.”
She sat down and ordered us wine. A Cabernet Sauvignon, because I’d looked it up, and it sounded like something she might like. When the wine came, she took a sip and smiled at me.
“This is really nice, Kyle,” she said. “I’m glad we’re doing this.”
“So am I,” I answered, smiling as well.
Maya was everything a guy could want in a woman. She was funny and interesting; she wasn’t high maintenance at all. She was curvy and drop-dead gorgeous, and she could recite the game stats for any given year for at least three different sports. It was any man’s wet dream to be with someone like her. I could kick myself that I’d had her in the palm of my hand, and I’d messed it up.
“This place is beautiful,” she said.
“Haven’t you been here before?”
She shook her head. “To come out to places like this you have to be dating, and I don’t really do much of that.”
The news that she hadn’t dated in a while made me sit up and take notice. Since I hadn’t either, for a moment, I allowed myself to hope that it was a good sign. Both of us had seemed to think it was a good idea back then to expand our horizons— or at least that was what I had taken Maya’s position to be once I’d stupidly brought it up.
I had been young and dumb, thinking I had to focus on myself instead of someone else. I had been disappointed when she hadn’t tried harder to fight for me, but as I’d matured, I’d long regretted it. I’d felt I should have fought harder for her. And now, here was my chance. I wasn’t about to fucking blow it.
When the waiter arrived again, we ordered our meal. Maya ordered a steak with vegetables and wild rice. No whimsical salads to watch her waistline. That would have been unnecessary anyway, because I happened to be watching her waistline, and it was perfect.
I ordered a steak, too.
“I can’t believe you’re still in Miami,” Maya said when the waitress left us. “You had such big dreams of seeing the world.”
And then my dreams had been taken away from me, I thought sourly, but shrugged and forced a smile. “This is home, you know? No matter where you go, there’s only one place you ever go back to.”
“I guess that’s true. I’ve only ever been around here, but I’m happy. I don’t need to leave. Sara and I make it work for us.”
“I can’t believe you and Sara are still friends,” I said. I remembered Sara from college. She’d been a bitchy little blonde thing who gave any man a run for his money. Where Maya was the perfect girl to have, her best friend had been nothing but trouble.
“Of course,” Maya said. “We’re like sisters— you know that. We’re flatmates.”
That told me Sara wasn’t in a serious relationship at all, if she was still dating. Sara still being single made more sense than why someone like Maya wouldn’t have been scooped up yet. Any man crossing her path would know what a stunner she was and what a mistake it would be to walk away. It was pure luck that she was single, giving me the opportunity to pour on the charm right now.
“So, what do you do?” Maya asked. “You know all about my career, but I know nothing about yours. Do you still play?”
I shook my head, “I’m too busy to play ball now,” I said. “I’m a CA for Clover Industries.”
“Oh, my. A CA, huh? Big shot in the business world. I knew you were studying accounting, but making it all the way to CA is a big move. I thought accounting was all just a fallback.”
I swallowed. I hated talking about football and why I wasn’t still playing. I nodded. The food arrived, saving me from having to give an answer right away.
“This steak is amazing,” Maya said when she cut off a piece and put it in her mouth. I had to agree. The food was better than I had expected.
“Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” I asked.
Maya looked up at me with those bottomless eyes and nodded.
“Why are you still single?”
She smiled, her cheeks flushing slightly. “It’s pretty simple, really. Because I just haven’t found the right guy,” she said. “And I’ve been busy with my career. It’s a poor excuse, but it’s the truth.”
I shook my head. “No, I get it,” I said. I was so happy to hear what her answer was. I was willing to agree with any reason she gave me now. “I was just wondering what a woman like you was doing without a man to dote on her.”
“A woman like me?” she asked.
“Beautiful, intelligent, active— perfect.”
She blushed, and it was as satisfying to see the color flood her cheeks as it had been back when we’d been dating before. God, Maya was beautiful. It was the kind of beauty that radiated from within somehow, stemming from something pure at her core.
“You’re such a charmer,” she said. “You’ve always been so sure of yourself.”
If only she knew how much that had changed.
We flirted and caught up on each other’s lives and laughed. Spending time with Maya again was like a journey back to the past when everything had been perfect. Being with her drove away my demons, and I was able to enjoy myself fully for the first time in a long while.
When the night ended, and I got the check, I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to go back to my life without her, not after we’d had such a good time.
I wanted her to come home with me. I wasn’t sure how she would feel about that, though. She was responding to my flirtation and was flirting right back, but having her come over was a different story. I wasn’t sure if she wanted me like that, the way I wanted her.
“Do you want to have a couple of drinks at my place?” I asked, taking the chance.
Maya’s face became more serious, her dark eyes settling on my face. This was where I found out exactly what she wanted to be in my life— only friends…or something more. She hesitated for long enough that I was sure she would say no before she spoke.
“I’d like that,” she said.
I blinked. She’d accepted. I nodded as if I’d been sure she would agree all along and stood up. I offered her my arm like a gentleman and escorted her out of the restaurant.
“Did you drive here?” I asked.
“I took a cab. Alcohol hits me way too hard these days.”
Perfect. I led her to my car, opened the door for her and closed it again behind her. Running around to the driver’s side, I slid into my seat. When I glanced at her, she was smiling. I put the car in gear and pulled onto the road to head to my place.
Luckily, the cleaning service had come over the weekend. I was glad I hadn’t made a mess of things, leaving takeout containers or my boxer shorts all over the apartment. I was glad I’d had driven here and she hadn’t.
Everything about the night was coming together perfectly, as if the stars were aligning to give me a second chance. I glanced at Maya again, and her profile in the dim lighting of the car was so familiar it ached. I was so glad she was here with me.
My cock hardened as it thought about all the things it wanted to do to her. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was still a virgin. We’d never gone all the way when we were together— Maya had been cautious about it, saying she wanted to save it
for the guy she was going to marry.
Back then, that had felt like a lot of pressure. But now, I was kicking myself for not being that guy. I wanted to be that guy. And I couldn’t help but hope I still could be.
Chapter 6 – Maya
The date with Kyle was great. At his core, he was still the same guy I’d been with. He had changed, of course. We all had in the years that passed, but deep down he was the same lovable man I had once upon a time been set to marry.
I had been waiting to give him my virginity, but that time never came. I still had it, and my palms got sweaty at the thought of giving it up to him at long last. I had been naïve to think it had to be a big special event or that we had to get married first or something. After going so long without ever having sex, I was ready to do it— with Kyle, but no one else.
Something was off about him, though, as if something had been bothering him, but I didn’t want to push. We had just connected again, and it would take time before we opened up to each other. But when he asked me to go to his place, I couldn’t say no.
There was something about him that drew me like a magnet. He’d always had that something about him that I couldn’t stay away from. It wasn’t only his looks, although he was incredibly hot. The light hair and blue eyes combination made me flustered, and the way he looked at me like I was the only woman he’d ever seen, made me melt.
And I wanted more time with him. I didn’t care that he didn’t play football anymore. He seemed to see it as a downfall of his character, but it wasn’t such a big deal to me.
We arrived at his apartment, and I found it to be exactly the kind of place I thought he would have. It screamed “Kyle” from the way the coffee and whiskey bottles stood side by side on the counter to the pile of clothing in the other room that could be seen from the hallway. He probably thought the place was neat. It was endearing.
“What can I offer you to drink?” he asked. “I have wine, but nothing too girly. I live alone.”
I liked that about him: that he lived alone. I didn’t want anyone else to kill the sexual tension that grew between us by the second. I wondered briefly what had happened to Jacob, and why they weren’t bunking together, but they were both grown men with careers. It seemed like maybe Jacob was married now. Of course, that would be why they weren’t living together anymore.
