“Kind of. And to answer your question why I played games with people, here’s why. I’m a competitive man, Bristol. And with that comes a lot of anger when I don’t get my way. Yes, I’m the best kicker in the NFL, but sometimes it doesn’t get acknowledged as much as, let’s say…a quarterback or wide receiver. Dragging others down was the only way I knew how to be happy.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “What’s funny is that I only made things worse. If I could take back everything I’d done, I would do it in a heartbeat.”
His voice was nothing but sincere and I believed him with all my heart. “Does this mean your scandalous endeavors are over?” I asked.
He turned his head, facing me with a devilish grin. “I don’t know. I guess it all depends on what all you consider scandalous.” Grabbing me around the waist, he rolled me on top of him, and I laughed.
I rested my body on his, straddling his waist. His cock twitched between my legs and my body tightened. “Jaxon, I don’t know if I want to know every bad thing you’ve ever done. All I care about is knowing you won’t do it again. You don’t have to drag others down to be the best, because in my eyes, you are.”
He grabbed my face and brought me down to his lips. “That’s all I needed to hear. I just hope you’re ready to be mine. Because once Thursday comes around, the whole world is going to know who you are.”
“On Thanksgiving?” November had flown by so fast, I’d almost forgotten. My parents were spending the holiday in Barbados and my brother was flying back to Texas for the weekend. It was going to be my first holiday alone.
Jaxon thrust his hips into mine, tormenting me. “Thursday we have a game and I want you with me. I know you don’t care much about the sport, but it’d be nice to spend the holiday with you. Afterward, there’s a dinner at Derek’s house; he’s one of our linebackers and a close friend. His wife is also a good friend of mine. They want to meet you.”
I gasped. “Really?”
He nodded. “They want to meet the girl who tamed the wild beast.”
“Then in that case,” I murmured, leaning down to bite his lip, “I’ll go. I make the best sweet potato casserole.”
He moaned. “What about your brother? What are we going to do about him?”
Ryan wasn’t going to be happy, but there was nothing he could do about the situation. “I can handle Ryan. Just promise me you two won’t get into another fistfight.”
“I promise not to start a fight, but if he does I have no choice but to finish it. It’s up to him.” It was all I could ask for, but I worried about Ryan’s reaction. I guessed we’d find out soon.
Chapter 20
Bristol
For the rest of the week, Jaxon and I had been inseparable. My creativity with work flowed more than ever and I practically walked on air every day. I felt bad for Jennifer since I stopped working out with her at night, but she said she understood. I didn’t tell her it was because Jaxon and I were back together; he gave me more than enough exercise each night. Ryan had been so busy with practice and his own life that even we hadn’t talked, just exchanged a few texts here and there.
Since I lived near the stadium, it gave Jaxon a few extra minutes to relax before the game while I finished putting the sweet potato casserole together. “Are you sure we’ll have time to heat this up before the dinner?” I asked.
He sat down at the bar and smiled. “Yes, we’ll have plenty of time.” I sprinkled on the brown sugar and pecan topping and placed the casserole back in the refrigerator. “And since we’re on the subject of cooking, I heard you fired Angela.”
Slapping a hand over my mouth, I jerked around to face him. “Oh my God, is that what she said? I feel so bad now. At the time, I didn’t want to be reminded of you.”
He chuckled. “It’s okay, she’s fine. Since we’ve been cooking together this week, I told her to take it off. But next week she’ll start back up. Now that we’re together every day, it’ll benefit us both.”
My stomach growled. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Jaxon looked at the clock and jumped to his feet. “We probably need to go.”
He slid on a black and blue Carolina cap and grabbed his bag while I finished straightening up the kitchen. I was nervous about going to the game, probably because when I told my brother that Jaxon and I were together, he let out a heavy sigh and hung up on me. It was the last time I’d heard from him.
“You okay?” Jaxon asked.
Grabbing my keys, I took one last look around the kitchen and faced him. He had his bag slung over his shoulder, waiting by the door in a pair of jeans and a Carolina T-shirt to match his hat. When I first met him, he dressed up in nice clothes with his hair perfectly coiffed, but I liked this side of him better.
“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Just worried about Ryan.”
We walked out and he put his arm around me. “I know you are, love, but at least he knows now. At practice, he stayed far away from me, so it’s not like he’s going to cause a scene.”
That was my worry when he went to practice the next day after Ryan found out. I was on pins and needles the entire day. “All right, let’s go.”
Once we reached the car, it was a simple five-minute drive to the stadium. When we parked, there were other players getting out of their cars as well. Jaxon pointed to a tall, bearded redhead and smiled. “That’s Derek McLaughlin. It’s his house we’re going to tonight. The guy beside him with the light brown hair is Aaron Grainger, my kicking partner. You’ll get to meet his boyfriend tonight at dinner.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s interesting.”
He shrugged. “Not everyone on the team knows.”
“Got it. I’ll keep quiet. What about the blond-haired guy? Who is that?”
Jaxon cleared his throat. “Evan Townsend.”
“And you two are okay now?”
“For the most part. Come on, I’ll introduce you.” We started walking toward them and Jaxon put his arm around me, his breath warm against my ear. “I do have to say, you look sexy as hell in my clothes.”
Giggling, I elbowed him in the side. “I can’t help it I didn’t have anything with Carolina on it.” His Carolina hoodie was comfortable and it smelled just like him. I didn’t mind wearing it, even if it was a few sizes too big.