by A. Aubry
“Did you take my girlfriend on a date? Is that why you two are so dressed up?” Michael puffed up his chest and clenched his fist as he looked at me.
Was this dude on steroids because he seemed to be having some steroid rage.
“I’m not your girlfriend anymore,” Julianna leaned her head back in frustration, “I’m allowed to go to dinner with someone if I choose to go.”
Michael folded his arms across his chest, “Why not let the pretty boy answer for himself, Jules.”
Pretty boy? Jules?
I protectively put my hand on Julianna’s back, “Listen, man, I don’t want any trouble.”
“Then why’d you take her out on a date? She only said we were over four days ago.”
I could feel Julianna’s eyes on me and I looked down at her, those beautiful blue eyes were laced with annoyance but also admiration. Like she was happy that I wasn’t running for the hills, “You don’t have to answer him, Finn.”
My lips turned into a smile for her, “No, it’s alright, Julianna.”
Michael scuffed, “You let him call you Julianna? You hate your full name.”
Well, that was news to me. She had yet to tell me to stop calling her that. Whenever I said her full name, her cheeks blushed just a little more. It was a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.
She dug into her clutch and pulled out her phone, “Michael, get the fuck out of here. I will seriously call the cops this time.”
Wait, what? This wasn’t the first time that he’d broken into her apartment building and sat on her doorstep?
“This time? You mean, he’s done this before?” I quietly questioned her, my thumb skating over the cool metal zipper that went up her back.
She nodded her head slowly, “Yeah, ever since I broke up with him.”
“Stop talking about me like I’m not fucking here,” Michael snapped.
That was it. He thought that it was okay to talk to a lady like how he had been? Well, he could talk all he wanted as I kicked him the fuck out of here.
“Alright, you want to talk? Then you can talk to me while I escort you out of the building.”
Yanking Michael’s arm, I held it firmly as I practically had to drag him down the hallway. If Julianna’s building was anything like Zach’s, there would be a stairwell that led outside at the end of the hallway.
“You’ll fucking regret this, Jules!” Michael called to Julianna who stayed where we had just left, her mouth hanging open slightly.
That was when Michael tried to throw a punch with his free arm, but I could see that shit coming from a mile away. I grabbed his fist and forced it backwards as he yelled out in pain. Sure enough, at the end of the hallway there was the stairwell. I forced Michael through the door and down the only flight of stairs that were between him and the outside world.
“Stay the fuck away from Julianna, Michael. You’ve already done enough damage to her over the last three years, so just give up this poor me shit you are trying to pull.”
“She’s fucking psycho, man. She’ll take me back, one look at her and you’ll run the other direction,” he snarled.
“That’s where you’re wrong, man. I see Julianna as the beautiful woman that she is and when I get her into bed—oh, and I will—she’ll forget about all the sex that you ever gave her as she screams out my name.”
Before he could close his mouth from his surprise, I shoved him out the door and into a large awaiting snow pile. Making sure that the door closed tight behind me, I went back up the stairs to the second floor. Just the thought of getting Julianna into bed and having her scream my name made my cock hard. One day, if it wasn’t today, I would have Julianna in that way. God, my mother would shoot me where I stood if I ever said that out loud. She still thought I was virgin because the rule was no sex before marriage for any of us.
When I made it up onto the second floor, Julianna was still standing there in the hallway completely awestruck. As I got closer to her, I teasingly dusted my hands off as though they were dirty.
I was rewarded with her giggle, “How’d you know where the stairs were?”
“Zach’s building has the same exact layout as yours, I took a wild guess and I just happened to be right,” I walked up to her and gazed into her eyes, “Are you alright?”
It was a pretty scary thing to have someone just show up on your doorstep like that unannounced. Especially when they had that type of anger pent up.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for being so calm during that…and for handling it.”
Oh, I would handle anything for you. Already, McAllister?
I took her into my arms and tugged her closer to me, “Anytime.”
Her cheeks flushed as they always did and she pointed back at her door with her thumb.
“You still wanna come in for that movie?” She asked nervously.
Why wouldn’t I? “I would love to.”
I let her go as she turned towards the door and unlocked it. She turned on a light as she pushed the door open and held it there for me to come in. Julianna locked the door after it was closed and I followed her lead in taking off my shoes. I took off my jacket and she easily took it from me before rounding a small corner and disappearing into what I assumed was the coat closet. When she walked out, she finished lighting up her apartment. The living room and dining room shared a space and a short hallway led in one direction, several white doors leading off the hallway.
As Julianna went into her kitchen, I reclined back on the chaise lounge of her leather couch. I had to admit, it was pretty damn comfortable. Julianna returned with two bottles of water and set them on her coffee table as she picked up the remote and turned on the television. She reached behind her and grabbed two blankets that were slung over the back of the couch.
“Would you like a blanket? It can get kind of cold in here when the heat kicks off,” she quietly offered.
I took a red fuzzy blanket from her, it was incredibly soft, “Thank you.”
She smiled and nodded before sitting down right next to me and Netflix began to load on her television screen. I took off my blazer and rested it on the arm of the chaise as I laid back against the large cushions of the couch. As she scrolled through the list of recommended movies, she looked over at me.
“What are we watching?”
She momentarily stopped on Despicable Me as the rest of the lists were loading, “That one.”
The sound of her quiet, knowing laughter made my heart skip a beat as she clicked play and laid her blanket on her lap. As the movie progressed, Julianna shifted how she was laying, her legs tucking under her as her head laid on my shoulder. Any other girl doing this would annoy me, but the smell of Julianna’s sweet shampoo drifted up and I was lost. After a few minutes, I could hear Julianna’s soft breaths and I looked down at her. She was fast asleep on my shoulder. Just when I thought she couldn’t look any more beautiful, she knocked it out of the park.
I found myself resting my head gently against hers as my hand took hers, lacing our fingers together. This felt right, this felt so very real. My eyes closed as Julianna’s quiet breathing lulled me to sleep, the scent of her shampoo was the last thing my senses noticed before I was dragged into my slumber.
There was a warm sensation on my cheek that dragged me back to reality. My eyes opened and there sat Julianna, her body against mine, her blue eyes gazing at me as the backs of her fingers ran across my cheek. I could really get used to waking up like this.
“Hey, did I fall asleep?” I asked quietly, my eyes adjusting to the light in the room.
“We both did,” she smiled, her eyes never leaving me.
“So much for the chill portion of Netflix and Chill,” I playfully whined.
The fact that Julianna’s fingers were still softly caressing my cheek could have lulled me right back to sleep. I had never had a girl do that to me before, but for some reason it made my heart race as I gazed into her eyes. I wasn’t ready to move just yet, that meant that our night was
officially over. What time was it anyways?
“Maybe next time,” she responded quietly.
There would be more of this? God, please tell me there would be more of moments like this.
“There will be a next time?”
When her lips pressed softly against mine, I had my answer. She wouldn’t kiss me like that just to never see me again…or would she? I barely knew this girl and I was already begging to see her again. This kiss seemed to escalate almost as soon as it was started. Julianna’s hands covered my cheeks as we simultaneously opened our mouths for one another, willing the other to go deeper. The sound of a soft groan came from between us and I wasn’t exactly sure if it came from her or from myself. I had never had a kiss like the ones that I had been sharing with this woman, so it was completely possible that it came from me.
I shifted us, gently getting on top of her as my hands took their place on either side of her head. Something deep within me told me to keep going, to pursue this woman…to worship her like the goddess she fucking was. Needing to come up for air, I ended our kiss. With previous girlfriends, I could kiss for hours, but with Julianna it was as though the heat of the passion in our kiss just sucked the air out of me. I watched as her hands lifted away from my face and her fingers began to unbutton my shirt. Fuck, I needed her so damn bad.
I looked over at the digital clock on her cable box, surely I had more than enough time for at least one bout of sex with this beautiful woman beneath me. Eleven thirty, okay. I brought my attention to Julianna and her slow-moving fingers. Wait…eleven thirty? I turned my head back quickly to clock to double check I didn’t misread that. Fuck. I didn’t.
“Shit,” I said hastily as I got up from the couch.
“What? What’s wrong? Was I moving too fast?” Julianna quickly sat up and watched me, concern etched on her face.
How could she think that? In my opinion, she wasn’t moving fast enough.
“No, no you were moving at the perfect pace,” I reassured her as I brought my lips back to hers quickly as I rebuttoned my shirt.
“Then what’s going on?”
Fucking work. That’s what’s going on.
“It’s really late and I have a few early morning meetings with the team and practice tomorrow. Coach will kill me if I show up exhausted.”
I could barely smile at her, I wanted this so badly. I put my blazer back on after getting it off of the couch.
Julianna got up off the couch and put her arms around my neck, a hand tangling in my hair. I stopped what I was doing immediately and watched her, “So, my knight in shining armor turns into a pumpkin at midnight?”
I laughed quietly at her mix of references, “Only when he has very early meetings that he’s required to go to.”
She looked into my eyes as though she was memorizing every small speck in my irises, “Want me to walk you to your car?”
“No, it’s going to be cold out. Plus it’ll just entice me to come back inside with you,” I responded honestly as I tenderly kissed her.
“And is that such a bad thing?”
Fuck no, it wasn’t. But Coach Thompson would really kick my ass if I stayed up all night just to get laid.
“No, but I’d like to keep my job.”
“Fair point. I’ll grab your coat,” she released me and I almost begged her not to.
She retreated to the coat closet and brought out my jacket. I slipped it on and got my shoes back on. Julianna opened the door for me and watched me closely. As I began to walk out the door, I found myself stopping and turning around. I brought Julianna close to me, my arms hooking tightly around her waist as I covered her lips with mine. Damn, when was the next fucking time I could kiss these lips?
“I’ll text you tomorrow. Thanks for tonight, Julianna. Or should I call you Jules now?”
I started walking backwards into the hallway, forcing myself to let her go. I wouldn’t mind calling her Jules but I loved the sound of her full name.
“I like when you call me Julianna,” she smiled shyly and rested her head against the side of the door.
“Good. Goodnight, Julianna.”
“Goodnight, Finn,” she answered softly and closed the door a little too slowly.
I began to walk down the hallway. Stopping at the threshold onto the other side of the building, I realized that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her. My lips already missed hers, this whole dynamic was completely foreign to me. I never chased after girls, girls chased after me. Oh, fuck it. I needed to kiss her again. I turned around and walked back to her door, quickly knocking on it.
Julianna opened the door for me, “Did you forget something?”
“Yeah, this,” I mumbled as I brought her back into my arms and kissed her with as much passion as I could muster.
All I could focus on was the feeling of her lips against mine, our tongues that easily danced together, the sensation of having Julianna in my arms. Shit, I was falling in love…and I was falling hard.
When I finally needed air, I stopped our kiss and forced myself into the hallway once more, “Now that one will tide me over until next time.”
Julianna laughed quietly and watched me leave once again. I heard the bolt on her door lock as I crossed the threshold and walked to the stairwell. Driving back to Brooklyn Park like a bat out of hell, I forced myself not to text Julianna goodnight. It would just prolong the fact that I should have been in bed and asleep hours ago. I smiled at the memory of her falling asleep on my shoulder and how she woke me up after I fell asleep. This was something I had never experienced so quickly with another girl. There was no way I could let her go now, she was mine.
Chapter Three
“Man, you look like shit,” Bo laughed as I finally joined the team for our early morning media day antics.
I rolled my eyes, “Wow, thanks man. That makes me feel great since everything we’re shooting today will be seen by everyone who comes to see a game.”
He wasn’t exactly wrong that I looked like shit. I had tossed and turned for most of the night until my alarm forced me out of bed this morning. My mind was racing which didn’t allow me to sleep a wink. Julianna’s lips pressed against mine, how she looked when I woke up, the feeling of her fingers brushing against my cheek, and how she looked as she laid underneath me and unbuttoned my shirt were flashing through my mind constantly. Maybe I should have just stayed overnight with her, that way I would’ve been up all-night having sex rather than daydreaming about it.
“What the hell were you doing last night?” Jordan asked as he started bouncing a soccer ball on his knees.
“What do you mean?” I asked, taking a long sip of the coffee that I had picked up on my way in.
“I texted you about dinner tonight after practice,” he said as Drake came and joined our little group.
Oh, shit. He did text me last night but Julianna was asleep on my shoulder and there was no way that I was going to risk waking her up for that bullshit.
“Oh yeah, sorry. Cooper was FaceTiming me with Sofie. Him and Amelia are having a boy and they were excited to tell me. You guys know Sof, she can talk when she’s excited about something.”
Jordan nodded as though he believed me. Bo on the other hand, gave me the ‘I know you are full of shit’ look. I really hoped he couldn’t see through that story. It wasn’t a complete lie, Cooper did call me about how he was going to have a son…Sofie just wasn’t on the phone and it wasn’t on FaceTime.
“McAllister, you’re up. You, Bo, Jordan, and Drake have to get this done quickly. I’m sending the three of you to Star Tribune for an interview with the Sports section,” Coach Thompson called out to us.
Star Tribune? Did that mean I would get to see Julianna? God, what I would give to kiss that girl right about now. I would blow off my friends tonight just to see her tonight. I had texted her good morning when I got to work this morning, but she never answered. Oh well, while I was waiting for the others to finish up, I would just text her about tonight.
Thirty minutes later, my portion of the media day was complete. It was a lot of small film clips that would be played at the games or online, so it didn’t take as long as I thought it would. I went back to the makeshift changing room we had created at the small studio and picked up my phone out of my bag. Julianna still hadn’t texted me back, she might’ve been busy at work now. I created a text for her proposing a date again tonight.
Me: Can I see you tonight?
That didn’t sound desperate, did it? Shit, what if it did? When she didn’t answer, I felt a slight ping of disappointment, but I had to tell myself that she had work as well. I got dressed in my navy-blue dress slacks, white button up shirt, navy blue blazer, complete with a red tie while Bo, Jordan, and Drake finished their media things. As soon as we were all dressed to the nines, to look professional for our meeting, we carpooled in Bo’s Jeep to the Star Tribune offices.
We walked into the quiet lobby where a single round desk sat in the room, the soft ringing of telephones coming from where the desk was. Bo walked up to the receptionist and laid on the charm.
“Hey, we’re here to see Shane for an interview?” He ran his hand through his shaggy blonde hair.
“Oh, yes. You’ll want to go to the third floor,” she giggled as she pointed to a set of silver elevators.
“Thanks, honey,” Bo winked and we all followed his lead to the elevators.
One short elevator ride, and a quick flashback of making out with Julianna in her elevator last night, later and we were on the third floor.
“So, Bo, you going to get that receptionist’s number?” Drake teased and playfully pushed Bo as we waited for the doors to open.
“Shut up, man,” Bo pushed him back but the doors were now open and Drake shoved through the door and directly into someone.
Papers scattered across the floor and a very familiar girl was now kneeling on the floor picking up said papers.
“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry,” her soft voice apologized as her hands quickly moved her papers back into a stack.
If only those hands moved quicker last night, I would’ve been able to wake up with this girl.
