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Boxer Next Door

Page 21

by Summer Cooper


  Her breath was quickening again as he slipped a hand down to part her thighs once more, trailing the way for his cock with a finger.

  She gasped when he entered her, slowly pushing himself into her as he held her tight, kissing her deeply as he plunged into the darkness of her thighs.

  Jacky cringed in pain—Paul was much smaller.

  “Are you okay? Jax?”

  It was the first time either of them had spoken in what felt like forever.

  “Don’t stop,” she mumbled, her eyes still closed, digging her nails into his back as he pushed himself in all the way.

  Slowly he started rocking his hips above her, plunging in and out of her as she clung lustfully to him, stifling her screams as she bit into his shoulder. He quickened his pace, their bodies rocking in unison as their chests heaved up and down in heavy breathing.

  Nick squeezed her breasts hard, massaging the flesh in his big hands as his cock plunged into her again and again.

  She suddenly opened her eyes, grabbing him behind his neck and pulling him close, staring into his deep blue eyes as they came together.

  He pulled out just in time to spill his seed on her pale belly, leaving a sticky pool of cum on her skin.

  He fell down exhausted next to her, kissing her gently on the forehead. She was crying as she held onto him tight, clinging to his naked body as he protectively wrapped an arm around her.

  They lay there, exhausted, silent, spent—holding one another until they fell asleep.

  Chapter Five

  Jacky woke up slowly, her eyes adjusting to her foreign surroundings in the afternoon sun. It all came back to her as she tried to detangle her naked body from Nick’s.

  He woke up as soon as she moved away from him, taking her comfortable heat with her.

  “Hey,” he said, smiling sleepily and pulling her closer for a kiss. She pulled away, finally sober. Her mind was all over the place, piecing together the madness of the past few days.

  “I can’t believe we’re in Prague,” she replied simply, getting up and making her way to the bathroom. She kept her back turned to him and he watched her perfect figure disappear into the next room.

  “Come back here! Jax!” he shouted after her but she ignored him.

  She knew she should feel guilty about the night before, she should feel used, but all she could think about was the connection she felt with the blonde Adonis who still lay naked on the bed. But she knew it could never be. She was just a conquest finally conquered. All she could do now was to not make a fool of herself.

  The water in the shower was too hot but she didn’t care as she cried into the heated stream, trying to wash away her shame.

  She didn’t notice him enter the bathroom, startling when he wrapped his strong familiar embrace around her from behind. She jumped and turned, staring at him in bewilderment.

  “Oh Jax, you’re crying.” He pulled her towards him again under the streaming water, kissing her eyelids gently. “What’s wrong?”

  She didn’t answer, just looked away, pulling away from him.

  “C’mon Jax, you’re overthinking it,” he said but she ignored him, pushing her way out of the shower, grabbing one of the giant white towels and wrapping it around her dripping figure.

  She was exhausted and confused and her entire world was upside down. She never knew she could feel like that but now it was hard to associate that version of herself with the shivering figure wrapped in the oversized towel. She felt cheap. Even more so when she realized the only thing she had to put on was the ball gown from before, now completely out of place in the day time. She flung it to the floor and put on one of the bathrobes hanging next to the bed.

  She sat down on the couch, crying. She shouldn’t have come.

  Nick sat down next to her and she moved away from his touch quickly.

  “Jax, please…” he begged.

  “I need to go home.”

  “It’s the weekend still, we’re in Prague—there’s so much to do! Where’s that list of yours?”

  “Please take me home, Nick.”

  “Is this because of Adam?”

  “What do you mean?” she shot him a look.

  “Look, it’s not a big thing that you made out with him. Please don’t feel guilty or make this weird or whatever, I’m sure he’ll get over his awkwardness…”

  “You knew?”

  “Of course I knew. You two were being so weird the next day, and you know Adam always tells me everything. Don’t worry, I promise I won’t be that awkward. You know I won’t,” he said, laughing in his normal jovial way, but she stared at him seriously. “I’m not the type to storm off all pissed off from my own awards ceremony because I think someone is making a move on my girl.”

  “I thought you said he wasn’t feeling well?”

  “Well, technically he wasn’t. But it had nothing to do with his physical health. Poor kid!” Nick laughed and Jacky suddenly felt repulsed by him. The sweet, caring man from the night before was now just a distant memory, replaced by the vulgar playboy she had known for so long once again.

  “Oh God, poor Adam,” she jumped up and dug her phone out of her bag, frantically searching Adam’s number. It rang and rang.

  “C’mon Jax, he’s a grown man, he’ll be fine.” Nick instantly regretted his reaction. The walls had gone up again and he couldn’t help himself from sounding like such an asshole. He instinctively masked his vulnerabilities again.

  “He’s not answering,” she said, worried.

  “Jax, please don’t stress about him. Adam can look after himself. We’re wasting a perfectly good day in Prague—let’s go have lunch,” he tried again but she wasn’t listening as she redialed the number.

  “Take me home, Nick.” She put down the phone, staring him down.

  He knew there would be no point in arguing.

  The flight back was a lot less jovial than the one there…

  Chapter Six

  Adam walked out of the event without bothering to see whether or not they won—none of it mattered right now. All that mattered was that once again Nick got the girl. Except this time it wasn’t some bet at a local pub or a pretty face at varsity. It was the only girl that ever mattered and Nick got Jax.

  He thought about going home but ended up taking an Uber to the closest casino. Gambling always did manage to distract him from his world. It used to be online games, but now he had real money and a ton of if, carelessly throwing $100 bills on the tables was more satisfying, or at least, drew more of a crowd.

  He headed straight for the bar when he entered the shiny doors of the casino. Doubles, he had no time for single shots. Unfortunately, his alcohol tolerance also went up with his bank balance. It must have been all the practice.

  Nick always got everything he wanted—since they were young kids living in that small town with the wide streets. His family were always better off than Adam’s, he’d always had nicer toys. Adam had made peace with it long ago already, he was happy with his life. He came from a loving family and his parents looked after him as best they could.

  He was never good at sports the way Nick was, he wasn’t built like that. He used to console himself with the fact that at least he had the brains… But it soon became apparent that Nick was smart as well as athletic, he just pretended to play the dumb jock at school because that’s what everyone wanted from him.

  When they played video games in their big garage in the afternoons after school, Adam would see the real Nick. The nerdy boy with the big dreams of changing the world. Who would’ve thought they’d end up making it?

  Technically, the idea for the app was his, but without Nick’s skills, it would never have happened.

  Both boys went to varsity after school, both on scholarships even though Nick’s parents could have easily have afforded the luxury of tertiary education. Sport for the charming boy and academic for the dark-haired one with the compassionate eyes.

  Neither finished their studies, but Nick lasted longer
before they kicked him out. Adam got bored of ‘the institution’ after only a few months, opting to rather go work at his dad’s petrol station, helping out where he could. Or at least that was the story he told everyone. But Nick knew it was because his dad had gotten too sick to carry on taking care of the day-to-day of the business.

  This is where Adam first had the idea for an app to make things easier for small businesses such as his dad’s. But he lacked the skill to turn it into something real.

  Nick ended up changing his law degree for a more IT-based field after the first year, realizing where the real future lay.

  He would never finish his degree as he and Adam finally cracked the app two years in, working on the weekends Nick came home from varsity. The frequency of these visits always depended on Nick’s current relationship status. When he was single, he’d party through the weekends but on those rare occasions a woman managed to hang on to him for longer than a night, he quickly used Adam and his family as an excuse to run away for the quick two-hour drive.

  Once or twice he brought a girl home with him but they usually didn’t make it that far. Sometimes he brought friends, but Adam never really got on with them. He felt out of place with his small town existence. Still, they clung to their dream until it happened and even in those years where Nick lived in another world, they remained best friends—nobody understood how or why. They were so different but they somehow got one another on a level where others disappointed them. Maybe it was the freedom to be themselves fully, to be vulnerable around one another. But they never talked about it or really even question why. It worked, that’s all that mattered.

  Jacky was still with Paul at the time and they mostly kept to themselves. Paul was too jealous to let her hang out with any men on her own, so while he was away, Adam mostly kept his distance—he knew how difficult his friend could be. They all drifted apart from Paul since he got into the relationship. He also grew up on the same street, but he was always a bit more of a bully and the boys only kept him around because he’d always been there.

  There were a few times that Adam did run into Jacky while the guys were studying. At the library or the shops, sometimes she’d come to his dad’s shop to come say hi. He lived for those moments. She always brought a spark to his directionless world at the time.

  Just the thought of her pained him and he ordered another double whiskey from the casino VIP bar, heading to the blackjack table with his stash of chips.

  It wouldn’t take long before a crowd gathered around him. Money always seemed to attract strangers. Especially women. But he hardly took notice of them as he threw the chips onto the table, making careless bets he knew he shouldn’t make. It was just money after all.

  All the money in the world and Jacky was still hooking up with Nick. 23 – bust. You lose. Bets off.

  By the time the other two had taken off in the plane to Prague, Adam was $340,000 down and still losing. He didn’t give a single fuck.

  By the time they landed, he woke up in a pool of his own vomit in his lounge. He had no recollection of how he got home but he didn’t care. If he bothered to look, he’d notice the smashed Bugatti outside. He vaguely remembered taking the taxi to the office and getting in his car.

  He didn’t remember hitting anything but at the same time, he didn’t care. He woke up moaning in pain. Everything hurt. He dragged himself over to the bar, drank half a bottle of tequila neat and crashed on the couch—the only piece of furniture in the entire massive room. It had been months but the mansion still stood empty save for the mattress upstairs and a single couch that he moved out of his parents’ house. The bar was fully stocked, there were a few outfits in the closet, but for the rest, he pretty much lived elsewhere.

  The only thing he had spent money on was a giant sound system. But even this could not drown out the sound of his depression.

  Jacky would never be his.

  Adam drifted into a drunken, concussed sleep.

  Chapter Seven

  Jacky banged on the door again, still not getting any response. She’d rushed to Adam’s mansion the moment the plane landed. Nick tried to stop her, to change her mind, but she was too worried. She had to see Adam.

  The flight home felt significantly longer than the trip there. She wasn’t really in the mood for conversation, her mind was a mess. Nick kept trying to talk to her but she put her headphones in, blocking him out as best as she could to try and get her thoughts in order.

  He eventually stopped trying, took to getting drunk and watching movies on the fancy in-flight entertainment system until he eventually blacked out. She was somewhat relieved.

  It wasn’t that she regretted what happened the night before. It was beautiful; it was special. But she was confused by it and she didn’t know how to fit it into the framework of her current reality. She wasn’t sure what she felt. Part of her wanted to blame the alcohol but she knew it was more than that.

  At the same time, she’d seen so many women throw themselves at Nick’s feet over the years. She didn’t want to be another name in his little black book. She wasn’t sure any of it meant anything to him and the last thing she wanted was to be made a fool of.

  Then there was Adam to consider. Adam who still wasn’t answering the door despite her insistent banging. Her gate remote still worked and getting onto the property was easy, but he’d shut the security system from the inside and she couldn’t get in the front door. Fancy house with fancy security for a fancy fuck up.

  She was so worried about him. He’d always been the more sensitive of the two and the last thing she wanted was for a misunderstanding to ruin it all.

  But then again, what was this supposed misunderstanding? She did sleep with Nick in the end. But it wasn’t like that, she reasoned with herself.

  “Goddammit, Adam, just open up already!” she shouted at the door for the umpteenth time.

  Silence. Nick had wanted to come with her but she rushed out of the airport and flagged down a taxi, ignoring him. She needed to make sure Adam was okay and Nick would just add fuel to the fire. She wasn’t worried about him. He’d find another distraction soon enough.

  The only stop she made was at the store to finally get out of that damn black ball gown she still wore, swapping it for a more appropriate green summer dress. And sneakers. There was no way she was putting on those heels ever again. She felt instantly more comfortable. But still extremely restless.

  She wasn’t sure why she so anxious to see Adam. Only a few days ago she was actively avoiding him with every fiber of her being. Things couldn’t end like this, she wasn’t going to be the one who ruined the power duo.

  “Adam!” she pounded on the door, almost falling when it suddenly swung open unexpectedly… finally.

  “Adam.” She smiled with relief and pushed inside. Her look quickly turned to concern when she saw the state of him, dried blood from the car crash still smudged on his temples. “Jesus, Adam. What happened?” she reached out to him but she shrugged her off, turning around and walking away without a word. He looked as bad as he felt and his house was in an even poorer state. Her relief quickly turned to concern again.

  Jacky closed the door behind her and followed him into the house. It stank of stale beer and vomit. He still hadn’t said a word, simply went back onto the couch.

  “Adam, are you okay? Please talk to me,” she was starting to become panicked. She had never seen him in such a state. He was normally the more together of the group.

  “Why are you here, Jacky?” he finally said. He looked at her slowly, calmly, almost in a trance, like he wasn’t really there or really drugged up. Probably both. He never called her ‘Jacky’. It felt so formal. She felt like crying but she wasn’t sure why.

  “Because I’m worried about you.” She sat down on the couch next to him. He still wasn’t looking at her.

  “Since when do you care?” he spat out.

  “Don’t be like that, you know I care about you. You mean the world to me.”

 
“But not as much as Nick?”

  “Nick has nothing to do with this. This is about you.”

  “About the one who isn’t good enough for you? I was never good enough. You know, I could still understand you choosing Paul over me. But Nick? I thought you were better than that.”

  “I didn’t choose Nick. I didn’t choose anyone. I don’t know what you think you saw when you stormed off that night of the awards, but it wasn’t that.”

  “So you didn’t hook up with Nick?” he asked accusingly.

  She lowered her head. She couldn’t lie to Adam.

  “I thought so,” he got up from the couch and poured another whiskey into a dirty glass on the bar counter. “Please leave my house, Jacky. I don’t want to see you right now. You’ve done enough damage.”

  “I didn’t want to complicate things…”

  “Is that why you pushed me away after our kiss the other night?” It was the first time they’d talked about it.

  “I was confused, Adam. I didn’t want to come between you guys…”

  “But you weren’t confused when you fucked Nick? I would ask ‘why him’ but I know the answer. Please leave now. I’m not going to ask you again.”

  She’d never seen this side of him. It was like talking to a stranger.

  “Adam, please,” she pleaded, tears snaking down her cheek. “I don’t know what do to.” Jacky looked down defeated.

  The sight of her in that state melted the anger and hurt he’d been stewing in since the awards.

  She looked up and they just stood there, looking at one another.

  “Adam, I don’t want to be these people,” she said earnestly.

  “Jax…”

  “I don’t know how we got here but I hate it. I can never not have you in my life, Adam. That is the only thing I know right now. I just want it to be how it was before. I can’t lose you.”

 

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