3. Jaxon
CHAPTER 3
Jaxon
I ’m still lying on the floor long after Aubrey left, trying to decipher what just happened.
When I heard the knock on the door, I knew it was the physical therapist, but I never expected Aubrey Phillips, my best friend’s sister, to be the one to come walking in.
I remember as kids growing up, she would always want to tag along. I never minded because she always had a way of bringing a smile to my face, but Wes hated having her with us when she became a teenager.
Aubrey was always so full of life. When the sun would beat down on her blond hair, she looked like she was wearing a halo. An angel sent down from heaven. Even in my dark days, she could always make things brighter.
It wasn’t until we went home for her high school graduation, that I saw what a beautiful woman she grew into. I immediately fell in love with her, but out of respect for my best friend, I never said a word and kept my distance.
That didn’t stop her from being the girl who haunts my dreams at night with lust and want.
The minute I heard her voice it was like a song to my heart, then when she stepped into view, she looked better than a ray of sunshine, with her golden hair pulled up, and her scrubs hugging all of her curves in just the right spots. Her smile lit up the whole room and I was mesmerized.
After she opened the curtains and went to touch the brace, I knew I couldn’t let her. If she touched me, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from grabbing and living out every one of my fantasies of her.
It’s been six years since I’ve seen her and she’s more beautiful now than she was when she was eighteen.
“God help me,” I whisper as I sit up.
The exercises she made me do should have been easy enough, but damn if I don’t feel like I’ve been put through a ringer. I couldn’t let her know that it was tough, so I kept pushing as much as my knee and the pain would allow me.
Now I have two weeks to get my stamina up and find a way to keep my distance from her.
“Wes knew,” I say aloud.
I grab my phone and before I can dial it rings, displaying his name.
I answer, and before I can say anything he asks, “How did physical therapy go?”
“You knew it was going to be your sister, didn’t you?”
“I may have suggested her,” he says sheepishly through the phone.
“Why?”
“I figured you would prefer someone you know and she’s the best when it comes to sports medicine. I can always call Emily and ask her to assign someone else as your physical therapist if you prefer?”
“No, it's fine. It really wouldn’t matter who it is, I’d probably still feel like this,” I tell him as my heart races.
“Then allow Brey to help you. Plus, you were getting grumpy, and I remembered how you used to say she could bring light into anyone’s dark day when we were kids.”
“I never said that,” I tell him.
“Yes, you did and I figured that was the type of medicine you needed. So how did it go?”
“Have you not spoken to her?”
“I did before your appointment, but not since. I thought I would call you and see how it went.”
“It was fine. She had me do some exercises that I need to do for the next two weeks before I see the doctor again,” I say, letting out a sigh.
“Good. That’s good. You need to listen to her, because man we need you back on the team.”
“I’ll do what needs to be done to get back on the ice,” I tell him.
“I’m glad to hear it, and don’t be so grumpy to Brey. She’s only trying to help you get better.”
“Man, I would never do anything to disrespect your sister, but she may want to dial down her positivity until we see if it all helps,” I tell him.
I hear him laugh and it grates on me.
“Dude, you need all the positivity you can get right now.”
“I need to go,” I mumble, no longer wanting to talk.
“Fine, but do those exercises like she told you.”
“Yeah,” I say before hanging up.
I look at the sheet that Aubrey left sitting next to me and shake my head. This is going to be harder than I thought and not because of the exercises, but because of my heart.
I have two weeks before I see her again to bury my feelings inside me, for her sake and the sake of my friendship with Wes.
Two weeks later
“ M r. Wilde, you are healing nicely, and I see you have been doing the exercises your physical therapist has prescribed?” he asks, rather than stating.
I nod my head.
“Good. I see no reason that you can’t move onto the next phase of therapy. I’ll be sure to let your therapist know.”
“Thanks, Doc, I appreciate that,” I tell him as I gently get off the exam table and make my way to the door.
Wes is waiting for me in the waiting room and stands when I walk out.
“How did it go?” he asks, concern etched in his eyes.
“Good. Doc says I’m ready for the next phase of therapy.”
A smile breaks out over Wes’ face and I can’t help but see Aubrey’s same smile in my mind. They really do look alike. Same blond hair, same smile, but different eyes. Wes has their mother’s brown eyes, but Aubrey has their father’s blue eyes. The color of a clear blue sky.
I shake those thoughts out of my head as Wes and I slowly walk back to his car so he can drive me back home.
Aubrey should be coming by tomorrow to start the next phase and I need to figure out how I am going to get through this.
“Hey, can you stop by the grocery store before we head up to the cabin? I need to restock while I’m here in town, since the doc hasn’t cleared me to drive yet.” I ask Wes.
“Of course, man,” he says enthusiastically.
“Thanks,” I mutter as we pull away from the doctor’s office.
We pull into the grocery store parking lot and we both get out of the car. It takes me a few minutes longer than it does Wes, but he gives me the time I need to make it from the car to the grocery store.
I grab a cart and hold onto it as we make our way around the store stocking up on water, drinks, canned goods, and meats. I’m not sure how long it will be before I can make it back to town so I want to ensure I have everything I need to last me a little while.
When we are finished and I checkout, Wes helps me load everything into his car before we head back to the cabin, then he helps me unload it all into the kitchen.
“Thanks, man,” I tell him as he brings in the last of the bags.
“No problem. Are you good or do you need anything else?” he asks.
“I’m good. I’ll just put these away, then probably catch a game or two before I head to bed.”
“Then I’ll head back down and meet up with Aubrey for dinner before I head back to the city,” he tells me.
“Enjoy,” I say with a nod. “And thanks again for all the help today.”
“See ya later,” he calls out as he leaves.
I continue putting the groceries away, then go and change into my sweatpants so I can do my exercises for the second time today. I’ll do it a third time before I go to bed tonight.
The next morning my eyes open and my heart begins to pound as I realize Aubrey will be coming today. I haven’t seen her since she was here two weeks ago.
I make my way to the shower trying to calm my racing heart and thoughts at seeing her again.
“Get it together, Jaxon,” I tell myself. “She’s off limits.”
I get out of the shower and dry off, putting on a clean pair of sweatpants, since I don't know what today’s exercises will entail.
I walk to the kitchen and make some coffee and an omelet.
At ten o'clock, there is a knock on my door and I call out, “Come in.”
The door opens and I hear Aubrey call out, “Jaxon?”
“In here,” I say in a strained voice.
Her voice causes my pulse to race and I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down.
“Hey,” she says sweetly. “I hear the doctor has cleared you to move onto the next steps,” she says as she opens the living room curtains again.
“Yeah,” I grunt out.
“Have you been doing those exercises like I told you for the last two weeks?”
“Yeah.” Apparently that is the only word I know how to say around her.
“Excellent. For the next six weeks we are going to be working on strengthening your quadriceps and regaining flexibility,” she informs me and my eyes light up.
“Don’t get too excited. We still have to avoid high-impact and weight-bearing activities, but what I have planned should help you to get to those.”
I nod my head. Something is better than nothing, I keep telling myself internally.
“Do you have a stationary bike here?” she asks and I shake my head no.
“Okay, it’s fine. I’ll put it on the list of things to bring from the office,” she tells me, grabbing a chair from the dining room and bringing it into the living room.
I stare at her as she sets up what looks like a rotating obstacle course. In one area is the dining room chair. In another part of the living room she sets up a step platform that they use in aerobics. Then she pulls a resistance band from her bag and places it on the floor in another area.
“I have three stations set up, and once I get the bike here, that will be four stations to help you. First station we are going to do is partial weight-bearing squats. I want you to stand, holding onto the chair and perform a shallow squat, while bending your knees about thirty to forty-five degrees, like this,” she says, while showing me how it should look.
I can’t help but stare at her ass as she squats. I can feel my cock hardening and I need to look away from her to get it back under control.
“Your knees should not go over your toes,” I hear her continuing to say. “Okay, you try now.”
I stand up and walk over to the chair and do exactly as she said.
“Not so far down, we don’t want to reinjure the knee before it can fully heal,” she says cheerfully as she places her hand on top of my knee, telling me where I should stop.
Her touch sends an electrical current through my body and straight to my groin, and when she removes her hand from me I want to grab it and put it back, but I don't.
I do a few more and she says, “Perfect. You will need to do fifteen of these.”
Once I complete those, she has me move over to the next station.
“Here we are going to do step-ups. You will step up with your injured knee first, followed by the good knee. Step back down with your good knee, followed by the injured knee, okay?” she asks when she finishes demonstrating and I nod. “Do fifteen of these,” she says.
I do as she says, completing fifteen.
“Great job. Next we are going to use the resistance band. I have it secured to this case opening with these metal hooks. I want you to loop it around the back of your knee and with the band pulling against your knee, I want you to slightly bend it and then straighten it. Focus on contracting the quadriceps as you extend the knee. Do fifteen of these,” she tells me.
I do as she said and loop the band around the back of my knee. This one is a lot harder, but I push through it and get to fifteen.
“Yay!!!” she says, clapping enthusiastically.
I drink some water as I work on getting my breathing under control.
“When you are ready, we are going to do all of these again, until we’ve completed three sets. If you start hurting at any time, let me know and we will stop for the day. These are to help build you up, not to keep you injured,” she tells me softly.
“Okay,” I say as I start the exercises over.
By the third set, I’m sweating profusely and I can feel my knee throbbing before I can get to the step-up.
“I think I’m done,” I tell her as I sit in the chair and drink some water.
“No worries, you did wonderful today. Tomorrow I will bring the bike and we can incorporate that. You're doing well Jaxon,” she tells me confidently as she jots some notes down on her clipboard.
“Thanks,” I mutter as I drink more water.
She walks out of the living room and into the kitchen. I hear her grab something, then she comes back with a bag of frozen carrots and a bottle of ibuprofen.
“Here, take these,” she says, handing me the pills. “Use this for your knee. I’ll let you get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says with a huge smile on her face as she heads for the front door.
“See you tomorrow,” I say, placing the frozen bag of carrots on my throbbing knee as I sit back in the chair.
This is not going to be as easy as I thought it would be. I think to myself.