Chapter 34 The Training Facility
The Training Facility
Jonah
Renée’s mouth falls open when I pull into the parking lot of my team’s newly-renovated training facility. I step out of my Yukon and open her door. Her hair is still down—a little wild from our outdoor activities. And if I lick my lips, I can still taste her cum.
“Jonah, I was picturing a shady little gym, not an indoor stadium.”
I take her hand and scratch the back of my neck. “Technically it’s a semi-professional rugby training center. Fingers crossed, that is. We still have to qualify.”
I open the main doors, and the first thing we see is the club’s massive team crest painted on the wall and large decals of current and former players in action shot photos.
“Is anyone here?” she asks as I lead her upstairs to the gym.
“I think Joaquín is boppin’ around here somewhere doing a final inspection before the grand opening tonight.”
“Are you excited to show it off?”
“I’m excited for everyone to see it. But I won’t be the one showing it off.”
“Why not?”
I smile. “Because no one knows who the money came from, remember?”
Renée takes in the brand new equipment—bikes, treadmills, weights, row machines. “Do you wish the team could know you paid for it all?”
“I didn’t do it for attention.”
I guide her toward the track that opens up over the field and she glances at me. “I know. You’re very... quiet in your responsibilities. Which is not something I thought you were capable of back in the day.”
I toe the track, suddenly feeling like I’m back in her college classroom again. I never thought she paid attention to me unless I got in her face and showed off. Turns out she could read me like a book. Still can.
I lean against the railing and look down on the illuminated indoor field. “You’re right—I wasn’t capable then. I used to show off a lot to get my dad’s attention. Never really worked.”
She leans against the railing and gives me a little shoulder shove. “Didn’t work on me either.”
I huff a laugh, “I know.”
We stand together for a long time looking out over the field while I work through some things and decide if I want to show her everything. When she leans her head against my shoulder, gentle and reassuring, I give up holding back anything more.
“Do you wanna know why I like you so much?”
Someone please clap for my amazing restraint from using the word love.
Renée’s already watching me when she nods. “I would.”
“You tell me like it is. I’ve never had to guess how you feel about me.” A curl forms at the corner of my mouth and I shrug. “I was perhaps delusional at times. Some might say obsessed...”
She chuckles and squeezes my bicep.
“I like that you take control. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t.
It’s not just a... sex thing either. I like having directions, and knowing that I’ve pleased you.
In my past relationships, I was always guessing and falling short.
” I sigh. “And then I’d look dumb. And it sucks when the person who has your heart thinks you’re dumb. ”
“I don’t think you’re dumb.”
“I know you don’t. You’ve never made me feel that way.
It’s one thing when it’s friendly teasing from my siblings or teammates.
But with all my previous girlfriends, they’d find something I didn’t know and make me feel bad about it.
And because I couldn’t let go of them, I’d do anything to prove I’m not stupid, which always lead to me looking like an even bigger idiot. ”
“I’m sorry, Jonah.” She studies me for a beat, her eyebrows pulling together. “Do you know why I like you?”
“Because I’m an amazing dancer.”
“One of the many reasons, yes,” she laughs. “Because you’re fun, which is something I wasn’t having. I like that you wear your enormous heart on your sleeve. And you’ve shown me that you don’t give up.”
I lower my head. “Yeah, but I used to. I used to rely on everyone else to take care of me, and clean up my mistakes. I didn’t take responsibility for anything.
But once all the money came, and I bought the house.
.. I don't know. I felt like I had to step up—like it was my time to prove I could be trusted.”
“And that’s what you’ve done, Jonah. I hope your family can see that, too. I trust you, and it has nothing to do with your money or your home. You’ve shown me you’re a man of your word.” Then she lightly tugs at my shorter hair. “You should feel proud of yourself.”
I gaze into her eyes—speckled with every shade of green imaginable and fanned with long lashes. “I wanted to step up for a lot of reasons, but stepping up for you was my biggest motivator. When I first moved in, yeah, I just wanted to get in your pants again. I had a one-track mind.”
“You don’t say.”
God, she’s funny.
“Buuut, when everyone got sick and you couldn’t go to the wedding with me, it made me see the bigger picture.
You had people who relied on you. You had responsibilities that outweighed our night.
It made me realize I had to shape up if I was ever going to have a chance with you.
I had to prove I could take care of myself, my home, my animals.
.. all because I wanted you to know I was not another person you needed to take care of. ”
Renée tilts her head lightly and studies me. “You have a point, and your evaluation of me is... accurate. However, this is not a one-way street. If we really do this, I will be taking care of you.”
“But that’s what I’m afraid of. If I let someone take care of me again, I might fall into my old ways, and I don’t want to put that responsibility on you.”
“You’re not going to fall back.”
“But how can you know that?”
“Because I was young once. You’re twenty-five, Jonah.
That’s about the time people start getting their shit together.
It doesn’t happen all at once, and some people may never get there.
But you own and maintain a home, regularly spend time with your family, and are part of a team you’re so confident in that you spent millions of dollars on a state-of-the-art training facility! You’ve invested in your life, Jonah.”
She leans away from the railing and turns me until we’re pressed together and she locks her arms behind my back.
“I will be taking care of you,” she repeats, her tone that of a professor who holds all the answers, “because I want to and it’s natural.
And you’re going to take care of me for the same reason. ”
For some reason her words bring me back to her classroom—not a memory, more like a vision. Everyone’s heads are down, concentrating on the test before them. I’m stuck on the last few questions when Professor Wilde pulls up next to me and hands me a note card with all the answers.
I bring myself back to that same woman standing before me, holding me tight to her. My hands rest on her petite shoulders and I can’t help fluffing her long hair and smile. “I like that you’re on my side.”
“And I like that you’re on mine.”
“Are we doing this?”
Her eyes twinkle as she pauses, and by the sincere smile she gives me, I already know the answer. I already know it, yet my chest tightens.
“I don’t see any other choice.”