by Beth Maria
Skipping the shower, I rush to get back into my clothes. I just have to leave without Coach catching me. I don’t need him to give me a lecture right now. Stuffing my kit into my bag, I swing it on my shoulder, ready to leave.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, Cohen? In my office. Now.” Not arguing, I follow Coach into his office. “Sit down.” Doing as I’m told, I sit down and wait for him to tear into me. “What the hell do you think you were doing out there? You let your team down tonight, Jesse. We could have won this match, had you pulled your head out of your ass. Want to explain what has you so tied up in knots that you can’t focus on what’s important?” he asks, crossing his arms and waiting for my answer. Like I’m going to tell him what’s got me in knots. He won’t give a shit. I’ll just get told football is more important than a girl and not to chuck my future away over this. He’s right. Football is more important than girls, but Maisie isn’t just any girl. She has a hold over me after a few short weeks that nobody else has ever managed to do. I’m not about to chuck what could possibly be the best thing in my life away, not even for football.
“Family problems, Coach,” I reply, lying through my teeth.
“Well, keep the family problems at home from now on. I don’t want to see that on my pitch again. You hear me, Cohen?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I can’t hear you. Let’s try that again. I said, do you hear me, Cohen?” Coach asks, raising his voice and looking me straight in the eyes.
“YES, SIR!” I shout, staring right back at him.
“Good. Now get out of my office. Oh, and you’re benched next game until you can prove you’re worthy to be on my team.” I don’t argue. I knew that was going to happen. I can cope with being benched for one game. After I’ve sorted Maisie out, I’ll be back in the game. I’m the captain, for fuck sake. They need me. I grab my bag from the floor and walk out, shutting the door on my way. Checking the time, I see it’s just now eight. Maisie shouldn’t be in bed yet.
As I cross the parking lot, I see Tiffany standing by my Ducati. Aw fuck. I’m not in the mood to deal with her. Make it short and sweet. “Hi, Tiff. Have fun at the game?” She always comes to every game. She says it’s to cheer me on, though I think it’s just to keep an eye on me.
“Hey, Jesse. You were amazing tonight. Looked really hot out there,” she says, leaning on my bike and twirling a strand of her blonde hair. I used to wrap that hair around my hands, but it now does nothing for me. I’ll be happy if I never touch her hair again.
“I take it you weren’t watching the game then? I played my worst yet,” I reply, moving to straddle my bike.
“Well, you looked pretty good to me, but you always look good to me.” Eurgh, please. Why did I never see how desperate she is? Maisie would never degrade herself like this. She makes the guys work for her attention. I guess I like the challenge.
“Look, Tiffany. I have somewhere I need to be. Would you mind moving please?” I ask as politely as I can. My patience is running thin now.
“Aren’t you going to the after party? I thought I could catch a ride with you? My friends have already left.” She flutters her eyelashes at me, hoping to get her own way, I guess. Nope, not going to work with me.
“Sorry. I have somewhere I needed to be like five minutes ago. You’re going to have to get a lift from one of the guys inside,” I say, revving my engine.
“But...” I don’t wait to hear what else she has to say. To be honest, I really don’t care. I drive off, speeding down the road. I need to get to Maisie now. I have a feeling that something bad happened tonight. I just hope she tells me what.
****
I think I beat a personal record getting here. It only took me two minutes. Luckily, I didn’t get pulled over for speeding. I would have kicked off. I have important issues to deal with.
After knocking on Maisie’s door, I wait. Nobody answers, so I knock again, louder this time. Putting my ear to the door, I listen for sounds of movement on the other side of the door. Nothing. I decide to pull out my cell and call her. Listening to the dial tone, I hear a ringing sound coming through the door. I hang up and call back to see if it’s her cell. There the sound is again. Yup, it’s definitely her cell. My heart jumps in my throat at the thought of something being wrong. She would answer the call if everything was fine. I bang on the door this time. “Maisie, open the door. I need to know that you’re okay,” I ask frantically.
“Go away, Jesse,” she replies, the sound muffled by the door. No fucking way am I leaving.
“No, not until you let me in. I know something’s wrong, and I’m not leaving until you tell me what. I’ll kick this door down if I have to,” I warn. I’m not joking, either. I will kick this door down in the next minute if she doesn’t open it.
“Please, just go. I don’t want to see you.” Ouch, that hurt. I want her to need me. Hearing that she doesn’t want to see me practically guts me on the spot.
“You’ve left me with no choice. I’m kicking the door down in three seconds. One, two…” The door flies open on three.
Maisie stands there with mascara running down her cheeks, her eyes red and swollen. Fuck! I can literally feel my heart breaking just looking at her. Whoever has hurt her, I’m going to kill them. I refuse to allow anybody to hurt my Maisie again. I check her out to make sure she hasn’t hurt herself. A quick sweeps tells me that’s not why she’s upset.
“You’ve seen me now, so you can leave,” she says, her voice gruff from crying. She starts to close the door on me, but I put my foot in the way. “Jesse, move your foot. I just want to go to bed.” Her eyes are downcast, looking anywhere but at me.
“I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong.”
“Why do you care so much?” she asks, finally looking at me.
“Why do I care? Isn’t it obvious? I like you, Maisie. I like you a hell of a fucking lot, actually. I want to spend time getting to know you better, even though I know you have your guard up. I want to eventually knock that wall down and gain your trust. I know you have no reason to trust me, which is why I want a chance. I saw you return when the game had started, looking like the girl who I first met, like the world had just handed you a huge plate of shit. I want to know who or what took that beautiful smile that I saw earlier off your face. When you opened the door, and I got a good look at your face, all covered with make-up and dried tears, it broke my fucking heart. Please, don’t shut me out. I care about you. So much.” Fresh tears well up in her eyes. Aw shit. I really don’t like to see her cry. “Please, don’t cry.” I ask. I always seem to make her cry.
“I can’t tell you what’s wrong,” she whispers, looking down at the floor again.
“Of course you can. I want to help you, Maisie. Whatever it is, I’m here for you. Please, don’t push me away.”
“You can’t help,” is all she says. I’m getting annoyed now. How does she know that I can’t help, if she won’t tell me what the problem is?
“Look at me, Maisie.” Lifting her head up with my thumb, I hold her head in place, giving her no choice but to look at me. “Just tell me, or at least let me be there for you if I can’t help. I don’t like seeing you upset. It’s tearing me apart not knowing if I can help.” Something flashes in her eyes, but it’s gone before I can grasp what it is.
“I don’t want to talk about it out here. Anybody could hear.”
“Well, can I come in then?” She doesn’t answer, just stares at me. “Please?” I ask. She doesn’t say anything, just steps aside so I can move past. “Thank you,” I say.
It’s the first time I’ve been in here. It’s pretty bare, just what you’re given when you move in, along with her and Chloe’s belongings. “So...” I say, not knowing where to start, now that we’ve got some privacy. “Do you mind if I have a seat?” I ask, pointing to the beds.
“Mine is the one with the purple cover,” she says, pointing to the bed on the right.
Sitting down on the edge, I
look up at Maisie, standing there awkwardly. My eyes roam down to her lip, which she is biting. I really want to bite that lip. We’re alone in her room, and under different circumstances, I would definitely try it on with her. I’m such a jerk. Here she is distraught about something, and all I can think about is getting her into bed. Think about dead puppies. Yup. That worked.
“So do you want to tell me what happened earlier?” I ask, patting the spot on the bed next to me, hoping she will sit down. She doesn’t.
“Honestly?” she asks.
“Of course, honestly. I don’t want you to lie to me, Maisie,” I reply. Why would I want her to lie to me? I just hope she tells me the truth now.
“Ok, but I have to tell you about Monday first.” I sit patiently, waiting for her to start. I’m not going to lie. I’m nervous as hell to find out what’s wrong. I’ve never had to deal with these sorts of feelings before. “After I punched you in the face,” Maisie starts and cringes, but I just laugh. That was hilarious. “I was on my way to meet Chloe for coffee. Anyway, I go to walk through the door, and your blonde friend… Tiffany, is it?” she asks.
“Yeah, what about her?” I ask, not liking where this is going already.
“Well, Tiffany blocked my path, asking me if my name was Maisie. When she wouldn’t move, I said yes. Then, she warned me to stay away from you, or she would make my life hell. I just told her to do her best, and then I walked past her, into Cafe Blanc.” What. The. Fuck. I’m so angry right now. Who does Tiffany think she is, telling people to stay away from me, like I’m her property?
“Okay. And I’m guessing today has something to do with Tiffany, as well?” I ask because, knowing Tiff, she doesn’t take people not doing as she wants politely. She will seek revenge until she gets her way. That’s what happens when you’re spoilt growing up. You think everybody will do as you say; everyone except for me, and she knows it.
“Yes, but first you need to know something. I have to tell you before I tell you the rest of the story. I like you too, Jesse, a lot, actually. I know I’ve been a bitch to you since we met, but I decided to try to let you in and see what happens between us. I don’t want to live my life with ‘what ifs’. I want to live in the moment and see where life takes me. With you, hopefully.” I watch her cheeks go bright red at this revelation. And my heart? I think it just stopped beating. Fuck, I didn’t expect that at all. I don’t know what to say, so I don’t say anything. I reach over, gently rubbing her cheek with my thumb. God, her skin feels so good. It’s like silk. Maisie pushes her face into my hand, closing her eyes. She’s so beautiful, even with her make-up all over her face. I have to kiss her. Now.
“Can I kiss you? I want to taste you so badly,” I ask. Please let her say yes. I need to taste the sweetness of her lips, feel the softness of them pressed against mine.
“Yes,” she whispers into my hand. That’s all I need to hear. Tilting her head so she’s facing me, I stare into her eyes and run my hands through her velvety hair. Moving so that our foreheads are touching, I breathe her in. She smells like strawberries. I take another deep breath, and I know I won’t ever get tired of smelling her. Sweeping a loose strand of hair away from her eyes, I lean forward oh so slowly. I want to savor this moment. I’m classing this as our first kiss, except I already know it’s going to be amazing. My lips gently graze hers before I pull back, and they’re just like I remember, soft and sweet. Going back for more, this time I kiss her a little harder. Maisie responds straight away, letting out a small moan that turns me on so much, while kissing me back in sync, like we’ve been doing this for years. I pull her closer until there is no space between our bodies, my hands running through her hair, gently tugging. She puts her arms around my neck, gripping for dear life, like I’m going to vanish when she opens her eyes. I’m not going anywhere. I need more. I kiss her harder, our teeth clashing from the force of it. It’s still not enough. I don’t think it will ever be enough when it comes to her. I’m so hard right now, it’s painful. I have to stop before I can’t, and we end up doing something she’s not ready for yet. Breaking off the kiss takes all the power I possess. She whimpers, opening her eyes. Her eyes are shining, and I’m sure mine are exactly the same. I feel like the luckiest man in the world right now, and it was only a kiss.
“Wow,” Maisie says, breathless.
“That’s about right.” I laugh. My hands are still playing with her hair. “I really want to do that again.”
“Then do it...”
“I can’t.” The throbbing rod between my legs pulses painfully at the thought of kissing her again, reminding me why I can’t. Fuck you, self-control.
“Was it not good?” she asks, her confidence disappearing with each second. Shit. That didn’t sound good.
“God, no. You were better than good. You were amazing. I just have a little problem downstairs,” I pause and point to my dick, “and I know that I won’t be able to control myself if I kiss you again. Oh, I definitely want to though, Maisie. Don’t think for a second that you weren’t good enough. This,” again I point to my dick, “is proof that you were definitely good enough.” She laughs. It’s music to my ears, the sound making my body tingle.
“I’ll let you off then. So, what does this mean for us now?” she asks, turning shy again. It’s cute as fuck.
“Well.” Trying to be funny, I get down on to one knee in front of her, holding her hand. “Will you, Maisie, take me, Jesse, to be your boyfriend?” That earns a full on belly laugh from her. I hope she doesn’t think I’m just joking, though. I’m being serious, but I thought I would put some humor into it to make the atmosphere not so strained.
“Are you sure?” she asks when she has finally stopped laughing.
“Hell yeah,” I reply, giving her a cheeky smile, which she returns, equally as cheeky.
“Then, yes. I would love to be your girlfriend.” Picking her up, I spin her around. She squeals in my ear, causing momentary loss of hearing. I don’t care. She can squeal in my ear all day if she wants, because she has just made my day. Nothing can get me down now.
I sit her down on the bed and take a seat next to her, suddenly remembering why I came here in the first place. My good mood instantly vanishes; so much for nothing getting me down. “We still need to talk about what happened earlier.” I hate to bring it up, but it needs to be addressed. The smile vanishes from her face. I miss it already.
“Oh.”
“We have to talk about it, Maisie. I have to know what happened.” She starts ringing her hands together, so I put mine on top to stop her. “Don’t be nervous. I’m here for you, okay?” She just nods her head.
“When it was half time, I went to the restrooms. While I was in there, Tiffany came in with two of her friends. They knew I was in there. Her friend, Emily, I think, saw me go in there, so they waited. I knew they wouldn’t leave until they talked to me, so I left the cubicle, expecting a confrontation like last time. Tiffany had obviously been thinking about what to do to get me to leave you alone. She knows that I’m a nobody compared to her. She started saying how I wasn’t good enough for you, and that you deserve to be with somebody like her. Then, she threatened to make me out to be the local whore, saying that nobody would believe me over her. It’s true, Jesse. Nobody would believe me. She’s a popular senior, but me... I’m just a freshman,” she tells me sadly, fresh tears forming in her eyes. Tiffany is a deluded bitch if she thinks that we belong together. Nobody is more perfect for me than Maisie. She’s the only one who has ever caught my attention for more than a week.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, I tell her, “Maisie, Tiffany won’t do anything. I won’t let her. And if she does, then nobody will believe her because I’m more respected than her. I could destroy her in a second, and I will for you, if it means you’re protected.” I wouldn’t even think twice about ruining Tiffany. She’s only got where she is because of me. She needs to remember that.
“I don’t want you to destroy her, Jesse. I just want her to le
ave me alone. If I’m going to be with you, I don’t want her causing me trouble at every turn. Otherwise, we will never work.”
“That’s not going to happen. I promise.”
“How can you promise me that? She may not listen to you,” Maisie says, biting that damn lip again.
Pulling her lip from between her teeth, I rub her cheek, looking into her eyes earnestly. “She will listen to me. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt this time, because you asked me to. By the way, you’re too nice for your own good. If she doesn’t listen to me, though, I will ruin her, whether you want me to or not. Okay?” She slowly nods her head in confirmation. I’m glad she isn’t fighting me on this. She doesn’t know what Tiffany is capable of. I’m not going to allow someone special to me to be on the receiving end of Tiffany’s wrath. I’d rather die than see Maisie go through pain again.
“Good. Okay, I better go. It’s getting late. Thank you for telling me what happened earlier, and thank you for allowing me to be your boyfriend. I promise I’ll try to be the best boyfriend I can be,” I say honestly, standing up to leave.
Maisie smiles shyly at me, melting my damn heart that I didn’t know I had until about three weeks ago. “Please, just try not to hurt me, Jesse. That’s all I ask.”
Swallowing the rock sized lump in my throat, I reply, “I’ll try.” I put my hand on the door handle and turn back to face her. “Can I see you tomorrow?”
“I’d like that.” I have to kiss her once more before I leave, even if it leaves me in pain on the journey home.
Pulling her into me, I wrap my arm around her waist, the other going into her hair. I can’t get enough of the feel of her hair running through my fingers. Leaning forward, I swiftly press my lips to hers, instantly tasting her sweetness. It makes my head spin. I press harder this time, I savoring the feel of her body against mine and her perfect lips pressed against mine, kissing me back in sync. My tongue asks for entry, pushing against her lips, and she willingly lets me in, brushing her tongue against mine. A moan escapes her lips, vibrating in my mouth. It’s the sexiest sound I have ever heard. I’ll be dreaming about it tonight for sure. My dick pulses against my leg, reminding me to stop before it’s too late. Fuck. When did I turn into a ten second man? Maisie does things to my body that I’ve never experienced before. It’s going to be amazing when we finally have sex, if kissing her nearly makes me squirt my load. I just hope I don’t embarrass myself when the time comes. Breaking off the kiss, I keep my eyes closed, just breathing her in. I want to engrain her smell into my head.
