The Athlete

by Elin Peer

  I turned to Amy. “How does Hunter’s sister even know what his type is?”

  “Well, apparently Hunter had a short thing with a friend of hers. It didn’t work out and from what I understand it left him heartbroken. But from that experience we know what type of woman he’s attracted to.”

  “Angel is blonde and he’s not attracted to her. Don’t you think he would’ve chosen her as a roommate if he was?”

  “Ema, why are you being so negative?”

  I didn’t know why I hated the idea of Hunter’s dating so much, but the thought of him and Donna as a couple disturbed me.

  “Actually, Hunter and I discussed Angel in our last session. He says she’s beautiful but he doesn’t like her laugh,” Donna explained.

  “Willow asked that we push him to date in a gentle way. Apparently, he doesn’t trust women after his heart was broken a few years ago and he keeps finding flaws with every woman he sees.”

  That resonated with me. I had heard Hunter make comments about several women and now I knew why, but it still felt wrong for us to meddle in his affairs. “Maybe he’s not ready to date then.”

  Donna crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap with a smile. “I agree with his sister. He just needs a gentle push.”

  I rubbed my face and got up from the bed again. Hunter’s friends had been here when I came home and it had helped me when I told Hunter about Amy’s and Donna’s plan for him to date. With an audience in the room, it had been easier for me to hide my own feelings about this.

  I’d even talked about his upcoming visit to the sex club like it didn’t bother me at all.

  Why had I suggested that he be blindfolded when Hunter himself had expressed doubt about going?

  With my mind busy analyzing my feelings for Hunter, I sighed and leaned against the window frame with my eyes glazed over; I was looking out over the lights of the city without seeing much. For ten days, we had lived together, laughed together, and discussed our different opinions and cultures until we were blue in the face.

  Hunter made me feel things that I had never felt for anyone. The irony of it all was that his favorite subject to argue about was our lack of privacy in the Motherlands. He still wouldn’t shower with the team, and at night he’d wait until I was already in bed before he joined me.

  What Hunter failed to understand was that there were plenty of things I found too private to share with others, including my feelings for him.

  Deciding that maybe a warm shower would help me relax, I opened the door and crossed the hallway to the bathroom, where I turned on the water before realizing I’d forgotten my robe. It was as I was coming out of the bedroom for the second time with my robe in my hand that the sound of a woman crying made me stop and listen.

  “You mean it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you really coming?”

  “Yes, sis. I’ll be there.”

  “Oh, Hunter, you have no idea how happy that makes me.”

  All right, so the woman he was talking to had to be Willow. I felt sorry for her with the way she was almost sobbing.

  “I’ve been so scared that you would never talk to me again.”

  Hunter’s voice was soft and brittle. “I just needed some time.”

  Her voice broke. “I’ve missed you so much, Hunter.”

  “I’ve missed you too, sis. It’s good talking to you again.”

  Willow made a sound between a sniffle and a laugh. “Same to you. I think this is our record, though. We’ve never spoken this long on the phone before.”

  “Yeah, well, we had a lot to talk about.” There was a tremble in Hunter’s voice.

  “I still can’t believe that you’re coming to the wedding. I had almost given up hoping that you would and now I’m crying from happiness.”

  “It’s okay. I’ve been sad too.” Hunter cleared his throat. “But listen, I have a game on Friday night. I’ll leave early Saturday morning and be there around noon.”

  “Don’t be late, the wedding starts around one.”

  “I’ll be there and, ehh… would you mind if I bring a new friend with me?”

  Her tone indicated her interest was piqued. “Friend?”

  “It’s not what you think. You know the man who was chosen for the Council?”

  “Yes, of course. I voted for him. His name is Jonah Cervicci.”

  “Right. Well, the thing is that Jonah is a major fan of Pearl and he is dying to go to the Northlands and meet you all, so I kind of promised I’d bring him the next time I went back.”

  Willow’s voice was full of excitement. “Oh, we would be honored to have him at our wedding. That would be like an extra bonus. People are going to be all over him.”

  “I knew you wouldn’t mind, but can I bring his sister too? She’s my roommate and captain.”

  “Wait, I saw the interview with you and your captain. She was very rude to you. Is she really Jonah’s sister?”

  Hunter sighed. “Yeah. Ema is a little rude for a Motlander but I kind of like it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it makes me feel safe with her. Sometimes Motlanders can be difficult to read with their polite façades, but Ema is different. If she’s happy she smiles, if I annoy her she tells me to my face. It’s fucking refreshing.”

  “Oh, okay.” There was silence for a few seconds. “Hunter, did you fall in love with her?”

  He laughed but it sounded hollow. “Don’t worry, sis, I’m not making that mistake twice.”

  “But you like her? You wouldn’t bring her if you didn’t.”

  “It wouldn’t matter if I fell in love. She thinks I’m the biggest ass and she wouldn’t be interested in me as anything but a friend.”

  “How do you know?”

  Hunter made a stretch and yawned. “Because she’s one of those asexual ones. Her family runs a sex club but she’s never been interested in giving sex a try. That’s a big fucking clue.”

  Willow scoffed. “No. It’s not. Maybe it just takes the right man to get her interested.”

  “Trust me. We’ve slept in the same bed for ten days and if she were interested something would have happened. I’m telling you, she has no interest in me that way. She’s a Motlander all the way.”

  “I’m a Motlander, and I’m getting married.”

  “Willow, I know you want me to find love, but Emanuela is out of the question. Tonight, she suggested a way for me to have sex with as many women as possible without falling in love.”

  “Okay, yeah, I guess that’s a big sign she’s not interested. That’s too bad.”

  Hunter sighed. “I’ll never understand Motlander women. But hey, I shouldn’t complain. Emanuela isn’t so bad. She lets me curse and she doesn’t stress when I fart on the couch.”

  “Hunter, that’s gross.”

  “All I’m saying is that she grew up with brothers, and being around her is easy.”

  “I get it. So you two are more like brother and sister, then?”

  “Nah, I only have one sister. No one can ever replace you. Besides, I don’t feel physically attracted to you, so it’s not comparable.”

  “Are you saying that you feel attracted to her? By the way, isn’t she in the apartment? Can she hear us talk about her?”

  “Don’t worry. She’s taking a shower. I can hear the water running.”

  From my position in the doorway to our bedroom, his words made me bite my upper lip. It wasn’t like me to let water run that long. He would get suspicious soon.

  “You didn’t answer my question. Are you attracted to her?”

  Hunter gave a small groan. “I have it under control.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “She’s beautiful, Willow. Like, fucking gorgeous.”

  I held my breath, confused, because how many times had he indicated that I was too masculine or not his type?

  “Are you sure you want to bring her, then? It sounds like you’re in love with her.”

  “I’m not
a fucking fool.”

  “No, I know that, but bringing her up here as a single woman, do you think that’s wise? Maybe you should talk to her first, see if maybe she feels the same about you.”

  “She doesn’t. And I’m not going to make an ass of myself by taking a chance on something that’s not going to happen.” His voice was a low mutter.

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll be at your wedding and I’ll bring Jonah and Emanuela.”

  “Good. But please don’t get jealous if the other guys come on to her. If she’s single they will.”

  “I’ll handle it. By the way, Shelly asked what you want for a gift.”

  “We don’t need gifts. We just want a fun wedding. No one can give me a better gift than you coming, anyway. Except maybe…”

  “What?”

  “If you could find it in your heart to forgive Solo for what he did.” Her voice was pleading and had me wondering what Solo had done.

  “I’ll be there. That’s a big fucking step in the right direction, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Yes. Of course.”

  “Good, so don’t expect me to hug the fucker.”

  “I understand. But can I at least tell him you said hi?”

  I could hear Hunter walking around in the living room now and it made me scared that he would find me listening from the bedroom doorway.

  “Yeah, you tell him that. And you can also tell him that if he ever makes you cry, I’ll be coming for him.”

  “Ohh, Hunter.” Willow made a sound of disapproval. “Don’t be like that.”

  “I’m your brother. I’ll always be on your team.”

  “And I on yours.”

  “I’ll see you soon, Willow.”

  “Love you, Hunter.”

  “Love you too.”

  The living room was quiet again and I was stuck in the doorway. Hoping that Hunter wouldn’t notice, I tiptoed the two steps across the hallway and slipped into the bathroom to take the fastest shower of my life.

  Why had he never told me that he was attracted to me? My head was spinning with confusion. Should I tell him I was attracted to him too?

  His words about me being gorgeous had me empowered, and I decided to be honest with him.

  After my shower, I stayed in the bathroom for a while, thinking about a way for me to tell him, before finally getting dressed and facing him in the living room.

  “Hunter, can I talk to you?”

  He was watching a movie, but turned his head. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I think I might know someone who’s attracted to you and I was wondering how you would feel about that.”

  He muted the movie.

  “I mean, she’s not interested in marrying you or starting a family, I think. It’s more like a strong physical attraction.”

  “If you’re talking about Donna, then I already know. She offered to have sex with me in our last session.”

  I could feel my face and neck turn red. “Really?”

  Hunter looked back at the movie. “Uh-huh.”

  “Does that mean you had sex with her?”

  “No.”

  I looked out the window. “Why not?”

  “Because I told her being in a relationship with someone I work with would be a mistake. What if it didn’t work out between us?”

  “Oh, I see. So you would never have sex with a colleague?”

  Hunter looked at me. “Would you?”

  My cheeks flamed red and the feelings I had wanted to confess to him got stuck in my chest.

  “What if you didn’t work with Donna, would you have accepted her offer then?”

  “Nah, she’s a lot older than me, and it’s not that she’s not beautiful, but I just prefer someone my age or younger.”

  Being two years Hunter’s senior, I looked down, suddenly confused by what I’d heard him say to his sister. Had I misunderstood his attraction to me?

  “So you rejected Donna because she’s older than you and you work with her.”

  “Yes. And because she’s not my type.”

  My eyebrows pinched together. “But she’s blonde with blue eyes.”

  “So?”

  Shoot, maybe I shouldn’t tell him that Willow had described his type to Amy. Instead I came up with a reasonable answer. “Angel is blonde with blue eyes and you said you found her attractive.”

  “Hair and eye color have nothing to do with it.”

  “Really?”

  He wrinkled his nose up. “How shallow do you think I am?”

  “I think what confuses me is that I remember how you hugged Donna on your first day. In contrast you wouldn’t even touch my hands. You can see why I would assume you were attracted to her, right?”

  Hunter shrugged. “She took me by surprise, that’s all. I would have never hugged her if she hadn’t initiated it. Besides, it creeps me out the way Donna treats me like I’m a lab rat for her to study.”

  “What’s a lab rat?”

  “It’s an expression from the olden days when people used animals to test products on.”

  I frowned. “But if it’s not about hair color, what is it about then?”

  “I guess it’s a chemistry thing. I can’t explain it, but trust me. If you ever felt it, you’d know.” Hunter turned off the movie and got up. “To be honest, all you asexual Motlanders are the lucky ones. Love sucks!”

  My confession about my attraction for him stayed hidden inside me as I watched Hunter pass me and go into the bathroom.

  Maybe he was right. Mixing work and sex would be a bad mistake. Just because I fantasized about having sex with him didn’t mean that I should. Hunter had already been hurt by love and if I had no intention of having more than sex with him, then I could end up hurting him more. I was not that selfish and I didn’t want him to suffer because of me.

  CHAPTER 12

  Club Experi

  Hunter

  On Wednesday night, Emanuela and I flew down to her family. She wanted a chance to be with her mother while Cole took me to the sex club they managed.

  “I didn’t tell any of the patrons that you were coming.” He grinned. “If I had, it would’ve been chaos tonight. The women are going to be all over you.”

  The thought should excite me, but it made me almost want to turn around. Sex was supposed to be special and something shared between a couple in love. I had grown up seeing couples like Kya and Archer, Christina and Boulder, Pearl and Khan, not to mention Magni, who always looked at Laura like he wanted to carry her off to somewhere private and kiss her.

  But none of my male role models had ever had the opportunity to experiment with sex before they got married. Wouldn’t I be a fool if I didn’t take that chance? It wasn’t like I was being unfaithful to anyone, so why did it feel that way?

  “The rules are simple here,” Cole explained when we entered the building. “Whatever happens in the club, stays in here. Traditionally, naturephiles are frowned upon so it’s not something people like to talk about outside of the club; but you know, I think that’s changing. About a month ago one of our greatest stars called Salma Rose admitted in an interview that she’s in a relationship and having sex. We’ve seen a great spike in business since then.”

  “I know her. She’s with my friend Tristan.”

  Cole patted my shoulder. “He’s my friend too.”

  “You know Tristan?”

  “Not personally, but anyone who boosts my business is a friend in my eyes.” He laughed. “The point is that if you recognize someone you know tonight, don’t freak out. The person will know not to discuss your presence here with anyone. And he or she will expect the same of you.”

  “Got it.”

  “On average we have around sixty people visiting on a night like this one. I’m sure there will be someone you like.”

  “Right.” I stopped Cole with a hand on his arm before he opened a door with a sign saying “Welcome to Experi.”

  “The thing is…” I cleared my throat.
“I’m a little uncertain about this.”

  “You don’t want to go?”

  “Part of me is dying to go, but another part is worried that I will fall in love if I have sex with a woman.”

  Cole wrinkled his nose up. “It’s just sex.”

  “Yeah, to you and the people in there. But I didn’t grow up here and to me it holds a significance.”

  “But that’s the whole point. This place is about experimenting without making any commitments. It’s complete freedom.”

  “Right.”

  Cole was just about to open the door when I stopped him again.

  “Emanuela mentioned that there is a room where you could be blindfolded.”

  “The sensory deprivation room.”

  “Yes, I believe that’s what she called it. She suggested it might be a way for me to avoid getting attached to the woman I’m having sex with.”

  Cole shook his head. “That wouldn’t work because you’d still pick the woman you bring in there. You don’t want to have sex with just anybody, do you?”

  I bit my lip with a frown. “No.”

  “I mean, we once had a woman who allowed anyone to have sex with her on their terms, but that’s…” Cole shook his head. “I don’t know. Each to their own, I guess.” He opened the door. “Just come inside and check it out first. You don’t need to have sex with anybody if you’re not feeling it. It’s rare for me to be tempted, but then I’m down here so often that sex has become as normal as eating.”

  “What about Jonah? Emanuela mentioned he doesn’t come, is that true?”

  “He’s been here a few times when I’ve needed him to help out. Same with Emanuela, but they don’t engage in the activities like I do.”

  “Why not?”

  “Jonah has too much on the line. He doesn’t want people to think he’s a deviant. And Emanuela is a woman, so it’s harder for her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This is the Motherlands. If we have sixty people here in one night, around fifty will be women and the rest men. It’s just how things are.”

  “So you don’t think any of the men would want to have sex with Emanuela?”

  “I don’t know. She’s never tried but to be honest, I think most men here prefer softer curves. Don’t get me wrong; my sister is pretty but with her being a top athlete her body is lean and toned.”