4. Chapter 4
I SIT with my back to the kitchen, eyes locked on the front door, hoping and praying Jolie doesn’t come walking through it. My fear is that I pushed her too far with my barbaric attitude the other day, so now she’s going to show up to spite me.
I just couldn’t help myself. One minute I’m on cloud nine thinking about sitting around the table at my parents house like we used to, and then next I’m feeling murderous because the thought of her being at this party –when I know what goes down at these things– made me want to go on a killing spree and lock her up in my tower.
Fictional tower as I don’t have a real one. Although, that may be an option if I can’t get her to stay away from all of the whorebags I call teammates.
I sure as fuck don’t want them to see her as just another puck bunny. She’s not the girl you use for fun until another one comes along. She is the one. She’s end game, and she deserves better than all of these assholes. Including me.
I see Jordan grab a couple beers from the cooler and swagger towards me, only slightly tipsy.
“I don’t want one. Thanks man,” I tell him, waving off his gesture.
“Dude. You never turn down a beer from your best bro. It’s the law.” He holds it out to me again and I reluctantly take it.
I want to be on my A game if she shows up. So far the party is fairly tame. A few of the guys, a couple of girlfriends, a couple of not their girlfriends, and me, the grumpy guy in the corner ready to pounce on anyone who makes a move at Jolie.
“So that Brooke chick is hot.” Jordan takes a pull of his beer and I see the smile that lies beneath it.
“Oh yeah. You think?” He nods, but stays silent. “You thinking of asking her out?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m still reeling from that breakup with Lacie.”
I sigh and clench my jaw. “Jo, that was five months ago. And I’m sorry dude, but she was a first class bitch. Your mom hated her and your mom loves everyone. She can always find the good in people but with Lacie, she dug as deep as one could go and didn’t find a good bone in her body.”
Jordan met Lacie at a bar after a game one night. She thought he was a hockey player but when he explained what he really did, her hot feelings turned luke warm at best. He bought her a drink, asked her to dance, and was every bit the gentleman his mom and dad raised him to be. But still she asked about the availability of the players. He finally gave up on her and decided to just end the night solo.
A week later, Lacie pops up at a game and “spots” him in the crowd. Suddenly she had a change of heart and was extremely interested in Jordan. He fell fast and hard, but after six months of dating, Lacie broke up with him via text…on her way to Philly…with a player that had been traded by the Havoc.
Seems Lacie had been having a secret affair with a player, and when he was traded to a new team, she decided he was the better catch and packed up her suitcase and left. She didn’t even do him the courtesy of a face to face breakup.
“I know, Jo. It just took me by surprise that I didn’t see what she was doing right under my nose. I guess it makes me weary about girls.”
“But you like Brooke?” I ask.
With a shrug he says, “I mean, I think she’s cute but I don’t really know her to say I like her. She’s the first girl that’s really caught my eye since Lacie.”
I grip his shoulder and give it a squeeze. “That’s saying something, Jo. Maybe it’s time you bury the Lacie bullshit and move on.”
He nods his head slowly, looking out into nowhere. The wheels in his head are turning and I can tell he’s thinking of Lacie and the pain that followed their breakup. I’m not a man that believes in violence –off the ice– or violence towards women, for that matter. But damn, would I love to have the green light to just punch her in the gut. Give her a little taste of the pain she caused my best friend.
“Maybe you’re right. And maybe now is the perfect time to test that theory.” He nudges his chin towards the door, and I divert my eyes from him back to the spot I’ve been watching like a stalker all night.
“I fucking told her not to come,” I grumble.
“Told wh–” He doesn’t finish his question because walking in right behind Brooke is Jolie. “What the fuck is she doing here?”
Jo slams down his beer, foam sloshing up and over the neck, and stomps to where the ladies are being eagerly greeted by the team.
“Jolie!” Jordan shouts, and she spins her head in our direction.
The smile she walked in with quickly vanishes, and her eyes turn hard.
“Do not shout my name like I’m a child, Jordan.” Her teeth are clenched and she glares at him with fire.
Jordan pushes his way through the guys and I follow, giving them a look that says ‘don’t think about it’. He grabs hold of her arm and yanks her to a corner away from the gawking eyes of the players. They turn their attention towards Brooke, and I’m sure Jordan would like to put a stop to that, but Jolie is our main focus.
Jolie rips her arm out of Jordan’s grip and snarls. “What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you ever touch me like that again?”
“Why are you here, Jo? This isn’t any place for someone like you.”
If I thought Jolie’s eyes were filled with fire before those words came out of Jordan’s mouth, that was nothing to how they look now. It’s like staring into the pits of hell.
“Someone like me ? What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means you don’t belong here. Now get in your goddamn car and go home, Jo.” He reaches out to take her hand but she slaps it away before he can.
“Fuck off, Jordan. And you, too,” she says, sticking her finger in my face. “I was invited here, and have just as much of a right to be here as you do. If this is not a place for someone like me, then what does that say about you?”
Her eyes flit between the two of us, waiting for one of us to tell her she’s wrong.
“Do me a favor and stay the fuck away from me. I came to have a good time and I don’t need your permission to do that.” She pushes us out of the way and makes a beeline for Brooke who stands surrounded by a group of guys who are all fawning over the fresh meat.
“Don’t take your eyes off of her for one second,” Jordan warns.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” I tell him.
I throw back the beer in my hand, almost all of it in one swig, and ask God for help in keeping my hands off the throats of every jerk that has even dared to look her way.
“Where’d she go?” Jordan asks, coming up behind me as I crack the lid on a bottle of water.
“I think she went to the restroom. I heard Brooke ask if there was one upstairs, and then they went up together.” I nod my chin towards the stairs that the girls went up just a few minutes ago.
Jordan and I have spent the evening giving death glares and growled warnings to every guy who smiled at her. Poor Brooke has suffered from the fallout because when they walk away from Jolie, they walk away from her, too.
The one guy who just can’t seem to take a hint is Bram. Our glares and snarls have done nothing to deter him from getting to know Jolie. He’s followed her around like she’s Mary and he’s her little lamb. We haven’t been able to shake him yet. And now that the girls are in the bathroom, it may be the perfect time to snatch them up and leave.
I hear the splash of the water as someone does the first cannonball of the evening. Jordan and I look at one another and know we need to get Jolie out of here before the games begin.
“Let’s go,” he says and I follow behind him as we race up the stairs.
We reach the bathroom and see the door is closed. A sigh of relief leaves my lungs knowing that we got here just in time.
Jordan knocks on the door and calls out. “Jolie. We need to leave. Please.”
No response comes, so Jordan knocks again. We hear the sound of the toilet flush and then the water running, and take a step back from the door when the knob turns. The door creaks open and we see some other girl standing there. Not Jolie or Brooke.
“Uh. Sorry. I think you have the wrong person,” she says, tucking a towel under her arm. “I think the girl you’re looking for is outside. Blonde hair, perfect skin and teeth?” she asks and we nod. “She and the redhead went out back a few minutes ago.”
“Shit,” Jordan whispers just as we hear the high pitched shriek of a woman.
We pound down the stairs, jumping over the last five and hurdling over a chair that sits in our way. The backdoor is thrown open and we see blonde hair breach the surface of the water. The fluorescent lights cast a purple illumination across the water, but that hair and that laugh is unmistakable.
I hear a loud laugh and look over to see Brooke –a very naked Brooke– jumping into the pool. Jordan sees it, too, because his eyes practically jump in the water after her. The next thing I hear is him muttering, “no no no no no” over and over. I tell myself not to do it. I plead with the part of my brain that controls my eyes to just close them. But the devil on my shoulder is stronger than my reasoning because one second I’m staring at the ghostly white face of Jordan, and the next I’m watching Jolie step out of the pool, her naked body glistening from the water.
“Jolie Morgan Fairchild. Get your fucking clothes on. We’re leaving. Now!” Jordan shouts.
No. Not shouts. That’s not the right word for what he just did. Jordan roared from one end of the yard to the other. Everyone’s attention was stolen from that which was on Jolie to look at the animal who had barged in.
Meanwhile, Jolie very casually struts along the edge of the pool, her beautiful breasts in plain view for every guy to marvel at. They aren’t huge. They aren’t small. They’re just…perfect.
“You are more than welcome to leave anytime you’d like, Jordan. Brooke and I are having fun.” Her legs look impossibly long under the moonlight, with her creamy skin on full display.
Her waist looks like just the right size for me to wrap my hands around. Her hips are shapely and seem as though they’d be more than sufficient for holding on to. And her ass. Jesus Christ, if that isn’t the best ass my eyes have ever seen. I feel like I need to fall to my knees and thank our creator for making such a perfect woman.
I don’t let my eyes wander to where they long most. I skim every other inch of her body, but refuse to look there.
“Dammit Jolie. Get some clothes on,” Jordan tries once more.
“Look away if you don’t like it Bubba. I think you’re the only one complaining.” A cheer comes from the guys who are wading in the pool, watching her every move.
“Dude,” I tell him. “The more you fight with her, the more stubborn she becomes. You know this. You have to beat her at her own game.”
Jordan’s nostrils flare and his eyes close. I know it’s the last thing he wants to do, but it’s the only way to get her out of here. Jolie could never stand it if we came along and had fun or showed interest in something she was already immersed in. It was a sure fire way to get her to just walk away.
The typical behavior of a spoiled child. She wants to be the best and have the best. But when it becomes something everyone else wants, it loses its appeal to her. So, the only way to get her out of the pool is to find it equally as amazing.
It’s not like we haven’t done this before. In fact, it’s the reason why we didn’t want Jolie here in the first place. Once someone says, “ Hey, let’s go jump in the pool” knowing full well the girls didn’t bring swimsuits, the rest of us know it’s time to start peeling off clothes and start truth or dare time.
I dare you to jump in with your clothes on. What’s that? You don’t want to ruin them? Well, here. Let’s both take off our clothes and jump in.
That’s how it starts. Most puck bunnies don’t even need that much encouragement. You say jump and they’re midair before you can pop the P.
Jordan’s hands ball into fists and I see his chest heaving with angry breaths. “C’mon. I’ll go with you. I doubt she wants to see both her brother and her friend from childhood naked and in the same pool. She’ll be out in no time.”
I smack his arm then start toeing off my shoes. I toss them by a patio chair and pull my socks off my feet, shoving them inside my shoes. Next goes the jeans, and then the t-shirt. The only thing left is my boxer briefs. It’s not that cold outside but I know the minute my dick touches that cold water, it’s crawling right back up inside of me.
I turn my back to the pool and give my dick a little tug and rub, waking it up so it can look its best for the few moments everyone is going to see it. I can feel myself grow harder thinking of Jolie’s naked body and what it would feel like to taste her. When I spin back around, Jordan is down to his skivvies, too, and we both look out into the pool.
Jolie and Brooke are staring at us, while the guys chant and cheer us on. We look at each other and with a dip of chins, peel off our underwear and make a break for the water. I watch Jolie every step of the way and she watches me.
Her eyes slowly drop to my dick and her jaw drops. I smirk when she looks back up at my face to let her know I caught her. Even under the moonlight and fluorescent pool lights I can tell she’s blushing.
I launch into the air off the side of the pool and brace myself for the frigid water. I suck in a sharp breath just as my feet enter the cold waves, and soon my entire body is submerged. I make the very grave mistake of opening my eyes and coming face to…crotch with Jolie.
Fuck ! Her pussy is bare and now my flacid dick is turning into a floatation device.