by Maya Hughes
“I’ll meet you there.”
The flutters in her stomach were at an all-time high. Jess checked herself in the mirror before she left the room. Jeans, a cute peasant top, and sandals—she looked like a real college student. While waiting for the elevator to reach the lobby, she tried not to bite her nails. When the doors opened, Emmett was standing there in his Buddy Holly glasses. His sandy brown hair was a bit messy and his green eyes were sparkling. Jess walked up and he opened his arms. It felt like they had known each other for years. Jess wrapped her arms around him, inhaled his freshly cleaned scent and rocked back and forth in his arms.
He looked down at her and said, “Great to finally see you in person.”
Grinning from ear to ear, Jess responded, “Yeah me too.”
It all started out so magical, so amazing. Things were wonderful. Classes were going well and she was spending time with Emmett; it was all just as she imagined. Emmett would pick her up after class and they would walk together to grab some food. Jess even decided to give up the v-card after a particularly romantic dinner date. It was a magical time.
That was until the quarterback and backup quarterback of the football team were both taken out of commission for the season after a particularly brutal game. Now Emmett was the first-string quarterback, and a pretty damn good one. With his leadership, even after the brutal loss of their two top quarterbacks, the team started doing well and with that team turnaround came the attention—a lot of attention—particularly of the female variety.
Emmett stopped wearing glasses and got contacts, which he had always told her he hated. Their weekend Netflix binge sessions turned to every other weekend until they almost completely stopped. He still texted Jess all the time, but the in-person time together was dwindling.
It wasn’t until a party after another big win that the real change in their relationship hit home for her. Jess saw Emmett surrounded by his teammates and went over to congratulate him.
“Hey Emmett. Amazing game!” She walked over to him to pull him down for a kiss and he turned his face to give her his cheek.
“Hey Jess,” he said putting his arm around her shoulder and walking her out toward the back deck of the house. He broke it to her gently—he was getting busier, didn’t have time for distractions, etc. She might have believed him if, after finally pulling herself together on that back deck, she hadn’t seen him getting a lap dance from a cheerleader. It was all she could do not to break down in sobs as she saw their lips touch. The breakdown on the walk home was brutal and that ended her transformative college experience.
That was Jess’s big experience with being with a guy in the spotlight. Plainly, it sucked. Big time.
Learning Aedan played soccer initially made Jess a little nervous, but he wasn’t in the spotlight. He was just a regular guy who made her stomach flutter, her knees go weak, and her core clench at the thought of what they would be doing once they got back to her apartment. She just hoped her previous mistakes of falling for someone so quickly wouldn’t bite her in the ass.
When she looked up from the window, Aedan was staring at her with such affection and hunger in his eyes, that she figured she wasn’t the only one feeling this way in the relationship. They were just two people enjoying each other’s company. No surprises.
15
The next day was the big day: meeting Aedan’s aunt. Jess tried not to let Aedan see how nervous she was. She’d never met the family of anyone she was dating before. That was always a step too far. Letting go of Aedan’s hand, Jess wiped her sweaty palms on her dress, smoothing it down as he walked up to the front door to give it a knock. Meeting his aunt was a big deal and she wanted to make a good impression. The door swung open and a petite sprite opened the door and pulled Aedan in for a bear hug.
“It’s about time you got here.” She chirped, her accent still strong even after all these years in the US. “And this must be Jessica.”
Jess extended her hand, “Very nice to meet you Ms. Donovan. Thank you very much for inviting me over.”
“Enough of that Ms. Donovan that nonsense. Call me Aoife.” Aedan’s aunt grabbed ahold of Jess’s hand and pulled her in for a hug.
“OK, Aoife.”
“Come in, come in!” She waved them into the house, holding the door open for them. Jess walked into the living room holding Aedan’s hand and saw what she figured were Aedan’s cousins sitting around the coffee table playing a pretty intense game of Monopoly. The house definitely had a homey vibe and put Jess at ease.
They stood back as the three monopoly players seemed ready to climb over the coffee table and start a brawl.
“I know you’ve been sneaking hundreds, Seamus. This is why we don’t let you be the banker. Every time you swear you’re not stealing and every time you get caught red-handed,” Siobhan clutched some crumpled hundreds in her hands and waved them in front of Seamus’s face.
“I took those from my initial pot of money. I didn’t take them from the bank,” Seamus protested.
“Tell that to the judge. You’ve bought five properties. None of us have landed on your properties and you somehow have more than we initially started out with. Hmm, I wonder how that could happen, cheater.”
“I didn’t cheat, I—” he didn’t even get to finish his sentence before Siobhan cut him off.
“As penance for your thievery and trickery, we banish you to jail for the next two laps of the board and you forfeit two properties to both of us,” Bryan doled out the punishment to his younger brother, replacing Seamus’s houses with two of his and two of Siobhan’s.
She thought back to a few of the pictures that Aedan had shown her of his cousins on the way over while regaled her with stories of their hijinks while growing up. One was of Aedan standing next to Siobhan just as Seamus and Bryan decided to start shooting them with water guns. The initial shock of the attack was written all over their faces and they were obviously having a blast. Jess spotted a copy of the same picture on the mantle and guessed that it was a family favorite.
She could see that they were a lively bunch. Growing up with two older sisters, Jess had always hoped to have that kind of fun, carefree relationship with them, but she had given up years ago. It was nice to see that it actually existed in real life and not just in TV shows.
“This is crap. You two are always ganging up on me,” Seamus pouted with his arms crossed.
“We wouldn’t have to if you weren’t such a dirty little cheat all the time,” Siobhan said with a smirk.
“You’re both the worst,” Seamus sulked.
“We can’t hear you from jail. Run along, little doggy.” Bryan plopped Seamus’s dog token into the jail and rolled the die. He moved his token and then Siobhan picked it up, ready to roll.
Aedan cleared his throat. “It seems some things never change around here.”
“Hey, Aed, you know how Seamus gets. Can’t take out eyes off him for a second. Do you want us to start over, so you can join?” Siobhan held the die in her hand out to Aedan. Seamus looked hopeful he might be able to redeem himself with a do-over.
“No worries. Carry on. I know how you lot are with your board games. I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of the inevitable melee.” The group’s collective gaze moved from Aedan to Jess and their clasped hands.
“And this must be Jess,” Bryan got up from the floor and held his hand out to her. “We’ve heard a lot about you from our mom. She’s been badgering Aedan to bring you over every time he’s visited. Glad to see he caved.”
“Thanks. Nice to meet you, too.” It was nice to hear that he’d talked about her just as she’d talked about him with the girls.
“Aedan, you haven’t offered the poor girl a drink yet. What must she think of us?” Aoife ribbed Aedan as she was chopping vegetables and putting them in a roasting pan.
“Aunt Aoif, we’ve been in the door about five minutes, I think she’ll be OK without a drink for that long.”
“I’m fine, really. Can I help with
anything here? I’m pretty terrible in the kitchen, but I can chop,” Jess offered.
“Bless your heart, no. I’m fine. You two can grab a drink and ensure my offspring are not murdering each other over that game. Every time they finish playing, I swear I’ll throw it out. I’ve actually done it about three times, but it always shows back up in the closet. They love antagonizing each other too much to give it up.”
The dinner was just as lively as the monopoly game, which Bryan won, with Seamus coming in a suspiciously close second place. Siobhan was about five seconds from actually patting down her brother for contraband money before Bryan declared himself the winner.
They talked all about their childhood trips to Ireland, Aedan’s time in the States—although it seemed to be less than all of them would have wanted. Next, the conversation moved to what Bryan, Siobhan and Seamus did for work. Things eventually drifted back to Aedan. “We’ve already picked out the matches we want to go to this season,” Seamus piped up.
“You’ll have to clear that with your mum first. She’s already called dibs on a few of them,” Aedan said as he shoveled roast potatoes and carrots into his mouth.
“You head all the way to the UK for Aedan’s matches? That’s really great of you.”
“Hell yeah we do, it’s always nice getting the VIP—” Seamus was abruptly cut off by an elbow jab to the ribs by Siobhan as Bryan coughed.
“The VIP tour of the city Aedan always gives us,” she finished for Seamus. “He always takes great care of us when we come to the UK and crash at his place.” Everyone seemed decidedly uncomfortable.
“Yeah, exactly. He’s always a wonderful host.” Seamus was blushing a bit and Jess wondered what had happened just then.
“So, Jess, what is it that you do? Aedan mentioned something about an actuary. I have to be completely honest with you; I have no idea what that is.” A bit of the tension filtered out of the room as everyone turned to Jess to hear more about what she did. She explained what actuary work entailed and tried to keep it short so as to not bore the pants off everyone at the table.
Next, they moved onto summer plans. This—once again—reminded Jess that Aedan would be going home in just a couple of weeks. She tried not to think of what that meant for them—if there was a ‘them’ after he left—and how she would deal with the eventual heartbreak. Her throat clogged a bit thinking about how hard it would be to say goodbye.
“Hey, you OK?” Aedan squeezed her hand under the table and she smiled at him. “I’m good; just a bit full from all of this delicious food,” she said turning to Aedan’s aunt. “Thank you so much for such a wonderful meal. Do you need any help with the clean up?”
“You’re very welcome dear, and don’t you worry about it. That’s what these three trouble makers are for,” Aoife said pointing to the three musketeers who were attempting to sneak away from the table. “Oy, get your butts into the kitchen.” She turned to Jess and Aedan with a smile. “It’s no worry at all. Don’t let us keep you. We’ve got it handled.”
They said their goodbyes to Bryan, Siobhan and Seamus and Jess promised to stop by again with Aedan before he left, if they could. It had been such a long time since Jess had been to a family dinner that she actually enjoyed. Aedan was close to them and she really liked that; she liked knowing that he had such strong ties to his Aunt and cousins, and maybe when he visited them again, they could see each other again, too. Long distance never seemed to work and she didn’t want to get her hopes up. The plan was to let this play out without getting too attached.
Who am I kidding? I’m already head over heels for him and it’s going to break my heart into a thousand pieces when he leaves. Maybe long distance could work? Maybe…
16
“She’s a keeper," Aedan’s aunt had whispered into his ear when he hugged her and kissed her goodnight at the door to her house. Aedan nodded in agreement. She definitely was. She waved at them as they made their way down the street and mouthed at him, “Don’t screw it up."
Thanks for the vote of confidence Aunt Aoife.
Holding Jess’s hand, he was determined not to screw it up. Aedan was glad that he’d warned the family prior to his arrival not to talk about his football career. Other than a couple of close calls, it seemed to have gone well. Bryan, Siobhan and Seamus treated Jess just like one of the gang and she seemed much more relaxed by the end of the evening. Aedan, on the other hand, became a lot more nervous.
Seeing how Jess was with his family—and how much he enjoyed seeing her with his family—just confirmed what he suspected from the beginning: Jessica Montgomery was not a passing fancy. She was not a stateside fling. She was someone real to him that he wanted in his life. He was worried that she only saw him as a short distraction while he was visiting. Surely, bringing her to visit his family was something to help bolster his case.
It was a scary prospect, falling in love. It was not something he envisioned himself ever doing. After seeing how his mom fell apart, he’d kind of sworn off love without even realizing it. Not wanting to lose himself so deeply in someone else was something Aedan had always guarded against with the most superficial of relationships. Now he realized that it wasn’t that simple. Sometimes it just sneaks up on you and sneaks right into your heart when you least expect it.
And then there was the issue of Jess not knowing who he really was. She knew Aedan the guy she’d been spending time with, but she didn’t know Aedan the football player. It could really alter her life if he screwed the whole thing up, and that was the last thing he needed.
The last time Aedan dated a ‘normal’ girl, she turned into a name-dropping, club-hopping head case that he had to take a restraining order out against. From then on, he’d vowed to stick to women who were already in the business one way or another. It helped set expectations and ensured that someone wasn’t just after him for what he could do for them, although Kate was certainly proving that this plan wasn’t always foolproof.
“You’re awfully quiet. What’s up?” Jess asked, looking at him and biting her lip.
“Nothing at all. Just wondering how long the current monopoly board will last before it gets burned in the fireplace, ripped to shreds, or otherwise completely destroyed.”
“They definitely get a bit competitive, don’t they?” Jess couldn’t contain her smile.
“They’ve always been that way. A mental lot, the three of them. Sometimes I’m happy that I only have the one brother, and that he’s a bit younger. Other times I wish I had a mental set of siblings to go bashing about with.”
“Having more siblings doesn’t always mean things end up being cozy and fun. Take my sisters for example. We aren’t that close together in age, but not too far apart—only seven and eight years—but we go months without speaking to each other. They are off doing their thing and have always just seen me as the tag along. They’re close to one another, but not to me,” she shrugged her shoulders.
“I figured it must have had to do with their mom remarrying my dad and then their dad dying. It always felt like they thought of me as an interloper. They weren’t mean to me, but it wasn’t like you would expect sisters to be. I was kind of like a weird younger cousin that they let hand around them. No biggie. I’m OK with it.”
Aedan grabbed ahold of her hand and stopped her in her tracks, turning her toward him. He gave her a big hug and rocked her back and forth a bit. “That sucks and I’m sorry things are like that with your sisters.”
“It’s fine. I wanted to tell you because I can relate to wanting that closeness with siblings. I didn’t want you to think that having more of them magically makes it the kind of scene we saw back there. They are lucky to have each other,” Jess said wistfully.
“Yeah, they are. And I’m really lucky to have you.” Aedan gave her a squeeze, tightening it to get a smile out of her. Apparently, it was too tight because she pinched his side to get him to let go. “Ouch that hurt,” he said, grabbing his side.
“Serves you right! Were you
trying to suffocate me?”
“While others have commented about the amazingness of my body, I do not yet think my arms are considered lethal weapons,” Aedan said flexing his muscles.
“You’re not the one that was nearly bear hugged to death, you nut!”
They walked down the main street on their way to the Metro hand-in-hand, taking in the summer air and bustling streets. “Would an ice cream cone make it up to you for your near death experience?” Aedan pointed toward on the line of shops up ahead.
“I could be persuaded, if you make it a sundae.”
“Deal.” With a handshake, Aedan placed his hand on her back and guided her into the ice cream shop. After taste-testing three flavors, Jess settled on the coffee ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. Aedan was glad to see that she wasn’t trying to play the none eating waif around him, at this point he had come to expect it and found relief in her normalcy. Aedan went to the till to pay when Jess stopped him.
“Aren’t you going to get anything?”
“I thought I would just have some of yours.” Jess started backing up using her spoon as a weapon.
“You’ll have to pry this sundae from my cold, dead hands, O’Connell. You better get your own.” Aedan grabbed a spoon from the metal cup on the counter and advanced on Jess, holding it out like a sword.
“En garde,” Aedan moved toward her and they had a mini duel in front of the other patrons in the shop. They seemed to be enjoying the show Aedan and Jess were putting on. Jess was momentarily distracted when her sundae started to melt, overflowing the cup and covering her hand. Aedan swooped in and licked a bit of the whipped cream off the top of her sundae before giving her a light nip on her hand.
