Ever since that night at the warehouse when I made Jake put on the dress and he started acting strange, limping and clearly in pain, something had been niggling away at me. He rarely spoke about football anymore, and whenever I brought it up he would conveniently change the subject or distract me in some way. That afternoon, during my lunch break, I Googled him. When I text Frankie to tell her what I was doing, she said it was a bad idea. But I couldn't help it. I needed to know what he was keeping from me.

There were tonnes of pictures of him. Some taken on the field while he wasn’t looking. Some taken during various social events in town, and even some of him and Taylor as kids. It didn’t take long before I realised what Jake had been hiding from everyone. He was smart, that was for sure. Knowing his family and friends would never even entertain the thought of reading anything published online.

Leanne had taken the afternoon off. As soon as 6:00 p.m. rolled around, I shut the store down and headed straight to Jake’s. I didn’t even worry whether I would be seen by his parents or not. I just needed to hear it from him. He’d said we were friends. I opened up to him about Shawn’s death. I even told him about Aubrie, and he couldn’t bring himself to confide in me with something as serious as an injury. Not just any injury. But an injury that had ended his career.

I pulled the car into the empty driveway and got out. I was determined to know why he’d lied to me, making me believe that everything was okay when it wasn’t.

Once I made it through the side entrance and down the garden path to Jake’s apartment, I blew out a breath and pushed open the door. The living room was empty so I made my way into the bedroom, thinking he must be in bed, most likely wallowing in self-pity.

He wasn’t in the bedroom, either, and the bed had already been made.

When I pushed my fingers through my hair in frustration, I heard what sounded like running water coming from the bathroom. I didn’t even think to knock. I pushed through the door and my eyes instantly sought him out through the steam filled room. He still hadn’t noticed me, so I continued to close the distance. He had his head angled under the spray while his hands were pressed against the tiled wall for support. My breath caught in my throat as my eyes travelled the length of him. From the bulging muscles in his forearms, slowly down to his rock hard chest, eventually landing on his thick, erected dick.

I stepped back, realising this was a bad idea. When I turned my back to leave, I heard him curse. I swallowed down and slowly turned back around, knowing I’d been seen. Only I hadn’t. Jake still had his eyes firmly shut, the water still trickling down his face and chest, collecting at the hard edges of his rock hard abs. But that wasn’t what made my heart beat rapidly in my chest. It was the way he fisted his dick in his hand, unashamedly. When he started to stroke it back and forth, I knew I needed to get out. I shouldn’t be there, watching him jack off in the shower. But something about the way his face contorted, almost as if he was in pain, had me frozen on the spot. He groaned, then stilled his hand before he started pumping harder. When his movements increased, a small squeak escaped me. I couldn’t even cover it up. Not that I needed to. He still hadn’t realised he was being watched, and if I wanted to keep it that way then I needed to get out. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t move even if I knew I needed to.

Jake groaned as his thumb circled the tip before his hand resumed its steady rhythm again. There was something oddly erotic about watching a guy please himself. They knew what they wanted and how they wanted it. They knew how much pressure to apply and how to control the speed until it was just right. I wanted to reach out and replace his hand with my own, only I was glued to the spot, afraid to move a single muscle.

His moans grew louder and seemed to last longer as he pressed a hand flat against the wall and jerked his other. The muscles in his thighs tensed up as he alternated between shuddering and stilling. It must have only been a few seconds before his grip tightened and he froze altogether. He moaned as his release tore through him and seemed to go on for ages. It coated his hand and the tiled wall in front of him.

When he’d moaned, I was certain I had heard him say my name. My eyes shot up. Only his eyes were still firmly shut and angled under the spray. He had said my name. No. He had moaned my name. I was suddenly really turned on and struggling for breath, desperate to climb in with him and find my own release. I knew I couldn’t, though. What I needed to do was get out before he noticed me.

Steam filled the space around me and I blinked back, trying to see through the thick fog that engulfed me. When it finally cleared enough so I could see, I gazed back up to find Jake no longer in the shower, but right there in front of me.