Chapter5
“I think you just need some real gym time.”
Dr. Radlinski didn’t even look up from his chart to deliver the news. His half-rimmed glass sat at tip of his pointed nose. The man’s salt and pepper hair seemed to defy gravity as it screamed “mid-life crisis”, even more than the sporty sneakers he’d paired with his designer knock-off suit in an obviously desperate attempt to appear younger.
“You’re free to return to full work outs. Just make sure you ease into them since you’ve been out of it for a while.”
“So, I’m clear to play then?” Jared asked eagerly.
He eyed the pale pink scar peeking out from the edge of his athletic shorts, fully healed but occasionally still stiff in the mornings, especially after a date with A.J. They’d been spending a lot of time together over the past few weeks and it usually entailed something athletic, not that Jared was complaining because they spent plenty of time in the bedroom, too, but it really worked his leg.
“As far as I’m concerned,” Dr. Radlinski dropped his pen and finally looked up at Jared. “Shake off the rust and you may be better than ever. Like I told your agent, A.J. is the best in the business at getting people better.”
“Yeah, she really pushed me,” Jared agreed.
“She can be tough,” Dr. Radlinski nodded, “but A.J. knows how to push her patients to reach their best possible outcome. She’s an athlete, too, you know.”
Jared bobbed his head in acknowledgment and pushed off the table. “I actually saw her play in college. She’s really talented.”
“Yeah, she plays pick-up games sometimes at the rec center. Puts those boys to shame.” Dr. Radlinksi shook his head. “You should check it out sometime. I don’t think she’s lost a step.”
“I’ll try to get down there,” Jared promised even though he’d already seen A.J. in action. He’d been embarrassed for the guys who tried to play against her. Half of them were panting, balls of sweat before A.J. showed any signs of being winded.
“Good luck, Jared.” Dr. Radlinski stood and extended his hand. “It’s been a pleasure working with you.”
Jared took his hand. “Thank you, Doc. I appreciate it.”
He forced the words out but practically choked on them since he’d only seen the doctor a few times and today’s visit boasted the most face time of all the visits. It had been A.J. who got Jared through the recovery and back on track, not Dr. Radlinski who clearly couldn’t wait to take the credit.
“Oh, and Doc, could we keep this under wraps a little longer? I want a little more gym time to get my form back before I head back.”
“Absolutely,” Dr. Radlinski assured him. “I think we can put everybody off for a few more weeks to give you some time to bulk up. Make sure to add in some protein shakes.” He flashed a grin of dismissal and turned back to his desk.
Jared took the cue and slipped out of the office. He had places to be anyway. As promised, Micah, Max, and Paul waited for him in the waiting room, similarly dressed in mesh shorts, t-shirts, and sneakers. They’d leapt at the opportunity to work out with Jared and were waiting eagerly for him to get the all clear.
“Let’s go, guys.”
“Are you sure about this, Jay?” Paul pressed from the front seat of the SUV. “It’s bound to draw some attention.”
“Doubtful. This place is usually pretty dead at this time of day except for the guys who play basketball.” Jared shrugged. “They’re pretty excited about the whole thing and the staff didn’t complain about the bonus for their silence.”
“Quit trying to ruin it, Paul,” Micah chastised from the back seat. “This is gonna be awesome.”
They pulled up to the rec center and bailed out of the car. The parking lot sat all but empty, just a smattering of cars. They ambled up to the front door and Jared knocked lightly. The door swung open and they were greeted by one of the rec center employees, a perky redhead making her way through college while working part time at the rec.
“Hey-ya, Cass.” Jared offered a lop-sided grin. “How’s it coming?”
“Great! Everything’s ready to go and the guys are waiting in the gym.” Cass beamed, her ponytail bounced as she whirled to lead them toward the gym. “I think it’s all set.”
“Great, thanks, Cass.” Jared stopped at the doors and gestured for the brothers to go ahead of them. “Give us a heads up when they get here, okay?”
“Sure thing!” Cass bounded off to the front doors to wait for their special guests.
Jared exhaled and put on his game face. He strolled into the gym exuding as much confidence as he could muster. “Alright, guys. Let’s make this good. Does everybody know what they’re doing?”
The guys greeted him with grins and cheers. Several stepped up and slapped him on the back approvingly or just shook his hand.
“Man, this is a great thing you’re doing.” One sandy-haired, beanpole stepped forward and offered his hand to Jared, “I can’t believe you put all of this together. I never would have guessed you’d be so cool. But, if A.J. swears you’re good people, then you are.”
“Thanks.” Jared shook the guy’s hand firmly. “Just trying to do some good while I’m here.”
“This is really good, man.” The sandy-haired guy said seriously before slipping away to join his buddies.
“Are you sure you're ready for this?” Micah popped up beside Jared.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Jared nodded. “How did the jerseys turn out?”
“Great!” Micah held one out to him, a white basketball jersey trimmed in navy blue. “Here’s yours.”
Jared accepted the jersey and pulled it over his head as Cass popped her head in the gym.
“They’re here!”
A.J. appeared next, clad in her hospital scrubs and followed by a nurse pushing one of the kids from Amherst’s Pediatric Wing. They filed into the gym, one by one, some walking, some pushed by nurses, but all with wide eyes taking in the fully decorated gym. The pick-up basketball players handed jerseys to each of the kids as they passed beneath the blue and white balloon archway to the tune of ‘Eye of the Tiger.’ A.J. strode across the gym to greet Jared and gave him a quick, chaste kiss on the cheek.
“This is incredible,” A.J. surveyed the gym, complete with stations for several different sports from golf to football to basketball. “I can’t believe you did all of this.”
Jared beamed. “I didn’t do all of it. I had a lot of help from these guys. They were more than willing to help.”
“Probably because of Jack’s little brother,” A.J. said casually. She subtly gestured toward the sandy-haired guy helping a young boy grip a football. “Jack transferred to a college back here so he could support Caden through his therapy. This probably means a lot to him.”
“I had no idea.” Jared watched the brothers laugh together, despite the younger’s obviously frail state. “I’m really glad we did this, A.J.”
“Me, too,” A.J. agreed and gave his hand a squeeze. “You’re getting a really big reward later.”
“Really?” Jared arched an eyebrow at A.J.
“Absolutely.” A.J. leaned up and kissed him on the cheek then disappeared into the crowd to play with the kids.
“She’s so hot,” Max stepped up, sporting his own jersey and an appreciative smirk. “I get the appeal now.”
“Yeah.” Jared watched her move through the kids and the way their faces lit up at her attention.
“Yeah? That’s all you have to say?” Max’s eyes widened and he slapped Jared on the shoulder. “Dude, you’ve got it bad.”
Jared’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He checked the caller ID and frowned. Derek, again. Jared declined the call for the third time today. He wasn’t ready to deal with that world, especially not today.
“How long are you going to ignore your life?” Max asked casually.
“I’m not,” Jared answered defensively. “I just want to devote my time to this today. Look at these kids, they are so happy.”
“Mmhmm,” Max murmured. “It seems like you’re avoiding life, man. But, I think life is going to catch up with you in an ugly way if you don’t handle your shit.”
“I will, Max. I’ll call Derek tomorrow,” Jared promised. “Let’s just do this, okay?”
“Whatever you say, man, whatever you say.” Max shook his head and walked away to join the festivities.
“So you’re the guy.” A young girl ambled up to him. Jared didn’t need an introduction to know who she was.
“Hi.” Jared stuck out his hand nervously. “You must be Jaida.”
The girl smiled. She favored A.J. but for the lop-sided grin, a remnant of her accident. She held out her good hand and shook his lightly. “I am.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Jared smiled down at her. “I’ve been asking to meet you for a while.”
“I know.” Jaida’s eyes skipped to her sister. “She’s kinda protective.”
“I get that,” Jared agreed. “I’m glad you came today.”
“This is cool,” Jaida said with approval. “Alex likes you.”
Jared chuckled. “She does?”
“Yeah, or she wouldn’t have let me come,” Jaida admitted. “I hang out with those kids a lot. They are my only friends.”
“Why are they your only friends?” Jared frowned.
“The kids at school make fun of me,” Jaida replied evenly. “They think I’m weird because I can’t use my arm or walk right and I talk funny.”
“I think you’re amazing,” Jared assured her. “And I don’t think you talk funny at all.”
“You’re just saying that cuz you like my sister,” Jaida muttered and looked at the floor.
“That’s not true,” Jared refuted, he meant it. Now that he knew her story, he really respected her. “Not everybody fights back from an accident. You did. And look at you, you can walk and talk and play games. A.J. says you’ve earned gold medals in the Olympics, too. That’s pretty impressive.”
Jaida looked up to him. “Just the Special Olympics, not the real ones. And only cuz my good arm is still really strong.”
“The Olympics are the Olympics no matter how you cut it,” Jared argued. “Not everyone walks away with a gold, let alone five.”
“Six,” Jaida corrected. “I’ve got six.”
Jared laughed. “Sorry! See, six, that’s a lot. Six more than I’ve got.”
“But you’ve got Super Bowl rings,” Jaida pointed out, “and two MVPs.”
“So?” Jared shrugged. “They still aren’t gold medals.”
“Alex could have had a gold medal.” Jaida turned sad again. “She was asked to be on the real Olympic team.”
“I know.” Jared frowned, he’d learned more and more of this story over the past several weeks but didn’t expect to get it from Jaida.
“We were real proud of her.” Jaida watched her sister, her voice caught a little as she spoke. “Momma was trying to figure out how we could get me out of school to go with her.”
“I didn’t know that.” Jared wondered if A.J. knew.
“Alex didn’t know either,” Jaida responded. “I’ve never told anybody that. Her agent was mean and said we would just distract her. Momma didn’t care. She knew it was shit.”
Jared almost chuckled again; to hear Jaida curse seemed incongruous to her child-like demeanor but, he reminded himself, she was almost eighteen. “Most agents are like that.”
“That’s what Alex says.” Jaida reached out to take his hand. “I like you, too. Let’s go play.”
Jared allowed Jaida to tug him around from station to station and even showed off with the QB throw much to her delight. He found Jaida’s laugh infectious and truly enjoyed the time with her, not to mention the insight into A.J. who seemed satisfied that he was treating her sister well.
**
“I can’t believe you did all of that today.” A.J. lounged on Jared’s couch, freshly showered and dressed in lounge pants and a t-shirt. “Those kids were thrilled; you should have heard them on the way back to the hospital.”
“Yeah, it was fun,” Jared admitted as he re-entered the room with two bottles of beer. “And I bet that rec center has never been cleaner.”
“I think my sister has a crush on you now,” A.J. teased, “don’t go breaking her heart.”
“Your sister is amazing,” Jared beamed, “and she is a hell of an athlete.”
“Funny, she said the same thing about you.” A.J. shifted to make room for him. “You two looked like you were having fun.”
“We totally schooled Jack and Caden in air hockey by the grace of Jaida’s shot. It was awesome,” Jared admitted and settled on the couch opposite her.
A.J. chuckled and accepted the cold bottle. “I don’t want to know how much it cost to prep that place for today or how you got the doctors to sign off.”
“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” Jared shrugged. He’d maxed out two credit cards to cover the cost and promised to support the next three fundraisers but it was the only way to make it happen and keep it secret.
“Max said you’ve been avoiding your agent’s calls.” A.J. approached the subject cautiously.
“Just so I could get through today,” Jared argued. “I just wanted to focus on the kids. I told Max the same thing. I’ll call Derek tomorrow.”
“Are you second-guessing things?” A.J. pressed. “You’re ready to play, Jared. Sure you could use a little more muscle toning, but you can play.”
“I know.” Jared took a drink from his bottle and avoided her gaze. “Like I said, I’ll call tomorrow and get back into things.”
“Don’t lie to me,” A.J. warned. “You’ve been avoiding things for a while and Dr. R said you asked him to keep quiet that he released you for play. What’s up?”
“Nothing. I just want to make sure I’m in tip top shape before I go back,” Jared promised and then turned it back on her. “Are you that eager to get rid of me?”
A.J. playfully kicked him. “No, stupid. I just don’t want you throwing your life away. You love football. Don’t walk away from it like this.”
“I’m not walking away.” Jared pushed off the couch. “I’ll go back. I just need more time.”
“For what?” A.J. asked.
“Do you really have to ask?” Jared challenged. “After all of this? The time we’ve spent together?”
“I would never ask you to give up football,” A.J. said softly.
“I know that!” Jared exclaimed. “But you hate the press and the minute I go back there….”
“I see.” A.J. frowned, her eyes filled with worry and something more that Jared couldn’t figure out.
“I’m going back, I just wanted to make sure we work stuff out first,” Jared explained. “I just met Jaida and I thought we were in a good place, so sue me if I’m not ready to blow that all up.”
“I’m not asking you to,” A.J. said quietly. “I just worry about what happens if you keep avoiding them. If you don’t give them something, they’re gonna come looking for you.”
Jared hadn’t considered that. “You don’t think they’d really come here, do you?”
“Um, yeah.” A.J. looked at him like he was an idiot. “You hadn’t considered that?”
“No.” Jared sunk back on the couch. “Shit.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, just call tomorrow,” A.J. advised and nudged him with her bare toes.
“I promise, I will.” Jared feigned crossing his heart. “Can we talk about something a little less depressing?”
“Of course, like what?” A.J. asked expectantly.
Jared’s expression changed. “Like how sexy you looked in that jersey today.”
A.J. shook her head. “That’s what you lead with?”
“Why not? It’s true,” Jared teased.
“Lame.” A.J. kicked him playfully but let her foot come to rest on his thigh.
“Lame?” Jared taunted. He set his beer on the table and crept up her body until he covered her. “You’re calling me lame?” He breathed into her ear as he cupped her left breast with one hand and plucked her beer from the other to set it on the floor.
“Yes, very lame,” A.J. whispered.
Jared slid his hand down her side and up her shirt. She hadn’t put a bra on, how in the hell did he miss that? Jared went from slightly aroused to raging hard-on in a split second. He adjusted so she could feel his appreciation. Jared kissed along A.J.’s neckline while his hand kneaded her supple breast. A.J. hissed as his thumb brushed over her nipple.
“Still lame?” he rasped in her ear.
“No,” A.J. breathed and reached for his hair, her fingers twirled in his growing curls. Jared maneuvered A.J.’s shirt over her head and toyed at the right nipple with his tongue until it hardened in his mouth. He could smell her arousal through the lightweight lounge pants and knew she was already wet and ready for him. Jared shifted his weight so he could attend to her left nipple and A.J. shuddered beneath him, a soft moan escaped her lips.
Jared shifted his hands down to her hips, thumbs latched into the waistband of her pants and peeled them down until she laid naked beneath him. He worked his way down her belly to the top of her mound and back to her breasts.
A knock at the front door destroyed the moment. Jared pulled back and pressed a finger to his lips then rolled off her to the floor, as quietly as possible. It almost worked but he knocked over the bottle of beer and spilled it all over the carpet which caused A.J. to burst out laughing. She clapped a hand over her mouth but the damage was done.
“Jump, I know you’re in there,” Derek’s voice echoed through the door. “I’ve seen you with whores before, just let me in.”
Jared’s eyes flew wide. Panicked, he silently pled with A.J. to forgive his agent. He helped her dress and kissed her forehead. “Please just go to my room, and let me handle this.”
“I should just go.” A.J. tried to argue even though she knew it would be more difficult.
“Just hide in my room, I don’t know what he’s up to but I don’t want you caught up in it. Okay?” Jared frowned, it just felt wrong, really wrong. Regardless, A.J. disappeared down the hall with her clothes. Jared adjusted his arousal, now barely more than half-mast since Derek’s surprise appearance ruined the mood.
Jared smoothed his hair and unlocked the door. He opened it to Derek, looking every bit the sports agent in his Armani suit with his cell phone to his ear.
“Yeah, I understand.” Derek nodded his greeting and stepped inside. He surveyed the room, clearly on the lookout for anything he might need to worry about. “No, it is not a problem, I’m on top of it and Jump will be back soon enough. You have my word. No, really, I’m looking right at him and he’s the picture of health. Yes, I understand completely.” Derek disconnected the call and regarded Jared, head to toe and back up before he spoke again. “You’re growing your hair again.”
“Of course I am,” Jared said carefully.
“Who’s the whore?” Derek asked bluntly.
Jared clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before he snarled, “She’s not a whore.”
Derek didn’t even flinch. “Okay, whatever.” He sounded bored. “Why aren’t you returning calls? Your coach, your teammates, not even mine. We thought you might have turned addict or died or some shit.”
“Gee, thanks for the warm and fuzzies,” Jared snapped. “I’ve been working on my shit. Between PT and the gym, I’ve been pushing myself to get back in shape.”
“Well, at least one muscle seems to be working just fine if you’ve got women over.” Derek sneered. “Did she make over the house for you too? Turning domestic on us, Jump?”
“No. I didn’t want to live in a shithole so I upgraded a little bit,” Jared bit back.
“I see. You’ve made quite a home for yourself.” Derek regarded the upgrades, the massive leather couch actually made his eyebrows twitch. “What is really going on, Jump?”
“Nothing,” Jared lied. “Nothing but working out and getting back in shape. Seriously, I’m going to be better than ever.”
“Don’t fuck with me.” Derek stepped forward in his attempt to menace Jared. It was something he’d witnessed before but Jared wasn’t even a little afraid of his agent.
“I’d never fuck with you, Derek,” Jared threw it back on him. “I’ve been working hard and I didn’t want to call until I had my doc’s blessing to return to work. That’s it, nothing nefarious.”
“Right.” Derek folded his arms.
“Derek, I just need a little more time. I want to return in better shape than I left.” Jared tried to persuade his agent. “Don’t be a dick, Derek, it’s unbecoming.” He gestured toward the front door. “You can see yourself out.”
“Don’t dismiss me, Jump.” Derek frowned, headed for the front door and stepped halfway out but looked back at Jared. “You’d better call as soon as you are cleared to play and dammit, you’d better respond to your coach and your teammates.” He slammed the door shut behind him.
“Shit.” Jared kicked the empty bottle of beer and sent it careening across the room into the wall where it shattered.
“Jared?” A.J. stood naked in the doorway. “Are you alright?”
“No, baby, I’m not.” Jared crossed the room, lifted her up, and carried her to the bedroom without another word, silenced by her lips as she kissed the frustration out of him. He tossed A.J. on the bed and drew a yelp of excitement from her. Jared stripped in less than a heartbeat and jumped on the bed beside A.J. with enough force to make her breasts jiggle.
In one, fluid motion, A.J. rolled on top of him. She captured him between her legs and maneuvered so that her warm, glistening mound brought his arousal to attention.
“Then I guess I’ll make it all better.”
A.J. leaned forward so that her hair fell around his face like a curtain. She kissed the tip of his nose and shifted down until his tip slid into her and held there. A.J. taunted him, refusing to allow him all the way in. She grinned at him, eyes sparkling and willed him to watch her work.
A.J. dipped her head to suckle at his left nipple and kissed up to his neck, nibbling and licking her way to his earlobe. She pulled back and planted her palms on his bare chest. Jared’s skin rippled as A.J. raked her nails across chest and down his sides, still refusing to allow him to fully enter her. He growled, deep in his chest as his need threatened to undo him. She finally slid down his shaft, drawing him in further and further until he reached her core.
Jared groaned, enthralled by A.J.’s breasts as they bounced in sync with her movements. He realized that there was nowhere else in this world he’d rather be than beneath this beautiful woman. Jared reached up and grabbed A.J.’s hips. He rolled up and slid his hands around to her voluptuous ass.
Her eyes flared as Jared took over, guiding her up and down his shaft with increasing speed until her pants turned to moans and she approached the edge of release. A.J. grasped Jared by the hair, intertwining her fingers in the coils as she pulled him closer, their bodies slick with sweat. He slid his hands up her back and pulled her down until they were eye to eye. Jared looked into her liquid brown eyes as he pumped into her with all the will he had left.
“I love you, Alexis.”
The words escaped his lips before he could consider the weight of them. She froze, eyes widened with shock, and tried to move away but Jared didn’t let her. He pulled her even closer until their noses touched and he was deep inside her throbbing for release.
“I love you,” he repeated.
Jared traced her spine with his fingers, up and down while he waited for her to move again.
She just stared at him, hands in his hair and juices flowing down his shaft to betray her arousal. His hands slid down to her hips and maintained eye contact with her as he moved her up and down slowly, steadily, but rebuilding the momentum.
Jared wanted to convince her, he willed her to believe him as he pushed her back toward the verge. A.J.’s body responded, collapsing into him as his pace quickened and his arousal pulsed inside of her. She bit her lip, closed her eyes and her head fell back as she screamed her way to completion. Jared kept going, sped up the pace until he exploded inside of her.
They didn’t move for several minutes, frozen in place as A.J. searched Jared’s face for something. He studied her, waited for a question or accusation or, well, anything.
“I love you, too, Jared.” A.J.’s words caught in her throat but she’d said all he wanted to hear.
Jared slanted his mouth on hers. A.J. pulled his head closer and slid her tongue between his lips. She probed his tongue with hers and then, breathless, released him, ending the kiss with a tug at his lower lip. A.J. rolled off of him and sprawled in the bed. She propped her head on her hand and studied him.
Jared rolled to his side to face A.J. He brushed a hair from her face and leaned in to kiss her again.
“I think I want to stay here with you.”
A.J. regarded him for a long moment before speaking. “You can’t use me to hide from your life. I’m not going anywhere but you can’t just walk away now.”
“Why not?” Jared asked. “This is the perfect time to walk away. Maybe I just say I didn’t recover completely or that I have a new lease on life or some shit like that?”
“No,” A.J. said firmly.
“What?” Jared didn’t understand, she said she loved him.
“No, you are not giving up your life and everything you’ve worked for.” A.J. traced the jawline of his face with one finger. “You can’t just walk away like that, you’ll regret it.”
“I don’t think I will,” Jared argued back. “I haven’t missed it at all since I’ve been here.”
A.J. laughed into the back of her hand. “That’s why you spend half of every Sunday poring over films with Paul? And why else wouldn’t you take calls from your teammates? C’mon, Jared, you miss it all. You miss the smells and the feel of the competition. It’s not something you just up and walk away from.”
Jared frowned, she had him there. He did miss the smell of the grass and the comradery of playing with the guys. But, he didn’t miss everything. The publicity was overwhelming and to be honest, he’d felt more like himself in the past few months than in the past four years.
“I don’t know if I can handle that life anymore.”
“So just do it different,” A.J. suggested. “But you can’t give up football if you’ve still got it in you and, babe, you do.”
“How are we going to work this out then? Will you bring Jaida to L.A.? You hate the media and it’s going to be tough for me to avoid them for a while.”
“We can work that out,” A.J. assured him. “But only if you go back and handle things.”
“Okay,” Jared agreed. “Okay. I’ll go figure things out.”
“Your agent is a dick,” A.J. added. “I mean, a serious asshole.”
“Yeah, I know.” Jared sighed. “He’s horrible.”
“You might want to fire him and consider another firm,” A.J. advised. “Seriously, there are some better options out there.”
“I’m guessing you have some suggestions?” Jared asked.
“Actually, I might,” A.J. said thoughtfully. “I’ve still got a few friends in the business that would do right by you. I can get in touch with them if you want.”
“I’d like that.” Jared scooted closer to her. “But that can wait until tomorrow, right?”
“Mmhmm,” A.J. murmured in his ear.