35. Jameson
Chapter thirty-five
Jameson
I normally am not a huge fan of New Year’s Eve, but this year, it feels like I really am starting a new chapter of my life. Last year started out as a total shit show, but if next year is anything like these last few months have been, it’s going to be great.
Bryn drives to the front of the club and starts to pull into the normal parking lot. “Oh, not here,” I say. “I’ve got the new cottage at the end of the road here. They said they’d leave it unlocked for me with the keys in it.”
“Oh, yeah,” she says. “I guess I didn’t realize that you’d already started renting it. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were planning to move out here.”
I shrug. “I just called about it earlier today.” Which is true. But Bryn had been right a month ago when she said that we couldn’t live together in a hotel room. And, in reality, our lives both have enough hotel rooms in them that we don’t need to come home and spend time in another one, so I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how to have a home that works for the both of us. Because I want to make a home with Bryn someday.
“How do you feel about your house selling?” she asks. “I know it held a lot of not-great memories for you…”
Yeah, it did hold a lot of memories of Alexis, which, even the ones that were good when we made them, have been tarnished after finding out about how she used me for my money, my status, my connections, and then still had the fucking balls to cheat on me. Thank God Bryn has never shown one sign of being interested in money or status.
The truth is, though, that I’ve barely once thought about Alexis since Bryn entered my life. It’s not like I’ve forgiven her or anything as asinine as that, but I just don’t care. She may have actually done me a favor by wrecking my life, because if I hadn’t been at rock bottom, I sure as shit wouldn’t have been in the middle of nowhere, Colorado. And I would’ve never met Bryn, which is turning out to be one of the very best things to ever happen to me.
“Honestly, B, it feels good. Like a weight lifted.” I lift her hand in mine and kiss the back as she pulls into the driveway of my home for the foreseeable future. “And it will free up some of my time so I can be here with you. Win-win.”
She squeezes my hand. “I’m glad you’ll be around more too. I’m…nervous, I guess is the right word, about you going back on the Tour. I just got so spoiled having you around and being able to base your schedule off mine that I’m worried what’s going to happen now that we’re both going to be super busy.”
“I know.” I unbuckle and lean forward to kiss her head. “I don’t love it, either, but it’s part of the sport. It’s part of who I am. And I truly think we can do it.” I pause, taking in the concern in her eyes that she rarely lets show about anything. “Plus, we already know we’re both good at phone sex. So at least we have that going for us,” I joke.
She chuckles, a sound that has my dick standing at attention just as much as the memory of her panting, back arching off the bed as she makes herself come as I watch from my phone.
“Is there an actual term for having sex over FaceTime?” she asks as we walk to the cottage. “Video sex? FaceTime sex? I feel like ‘phone sex’ seems like we’re in American Pie 2, having sex over the landline.”
“SextyTime?” I offer as I push open the front door.
“Wow, Jameo. This place is great.” Bryn takes in the large, open living room, dining room, and kitchen space before wandering into the kitchen to open the fridge. “Look at that, they even stocked some basic food in here.”
“Yeah, I asked Mary when I called if she could have someone grab the essentials for me. I’m not planning on doing too much cooking, but they’ll keep me stocked with the basics and throw out anything that goes bad while I’m out of town.”
“You are so bougie sometimes,” she mocks. “Can’t even throw away your own rotten milk, huh?”
I grab her in a hug, silencing her tirade with a deep kiss. Backing her up to the couch, I run my thumb down her cheek, reveling in the feel of her soft skin. Before we hit the edge, I turn us, sit down, and pull her onto my lap in one smooth motion. The feel of her weight on my cock is exactly what I’ve been needing.
As much as I enjoy spending time with Bryn and her family, arriving back after a week away and heading straight to dinner was not ideal. I had to keep thinking about my grandma and her friends at the nursing home to keep from pulling Bryn into a hallway closet and having my way with her—or at least from having a noticeable boner in front of her parents.
She leans in, peppering my neck with hot, open-mouthed kisses. I grip her muscular ass, pulling her forward to create the friction my dick is demanding as I use my other hand to slowly circle her nipple through her shirt.
“Ugh, fuck, Jameo. That feels so good,” she groans softly.
My name on her lips almost sends me over the edge. I capture her lips with mine, and she parts them, granting my tongue access to her hot mouth.
Unable to resist, I slide my hand to the edge of her jeans, lightly skimming her exposed skin there before sliding my hand inside her panties, parting her seam with my fingers.
“Fuck, baby. You this wet for me?”
Her half-hooded eyes catch mine, a firestorm of lust flashing through them.
“M-hmm.” She buries her head in my shoulder as I press my fingers inside her. “Only for you, Jameo.”
For as much as my girl likes to give me shit and keep me on my toes, I fucking love when she opens up like this, completely unguarded. I just lov—nope. I shake my head.
“What? What’s wrong?” she asks, disoriented by my abrupt stop and headshake.
Pulling my focus back, I kiss her neck slowly, leaving little bites as I make my way down to her collar. I pull her shirt and bra off, exposing a dark pink, pebbled nipple. “Not one thing, baby.”
I flatten my tongue, lapping at her peak while my fingers continue to pump in and out of her tight pussy, but my mind isn’t in it.
Fuck, I don’t think I’m ready to be in love again. Though, now that I’m with Bryn, I’m starting to realize that what I felt with Alexis likely wasn’t love. It was lust and convenience.
But with Bryn, it’s…it’s definitely too soon for that. But, damn it, I’m pretty sure I do love her. Her smile brightens up my day more than any sunrise ever could, even when it’s just over the phone, separated by thousands of miles. Hell, my heart goes all Grinch on me and grows three sizes every time her name pops up on my phone with a text or a call.
“Jameo.” She cups my jaw, tilting my head up until I’m looking in her ever-changing eyes.
“Hmm?” I ask, trying to remember if we were talking about something.
Her eyes slowly move back and forth between mine, trying to find an answer there. “Where did you go?”
“Nowhere, I j—”
“Don’t. If you don’t want to tell me, fine. But don’t lie to me about it. Trust me, after the last month, I know what it feels like to have your full attention, and that was not it.”
I drop my forehead to hers, staring directly into her wary gaze. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I got in my own head about us, you.”
“Anything you want to share with the class?” she asks.
I run my fingers through her hair. “All good things, I promise.” I catch the end of one light brown strand, slowly rubbing it between my finger and thumb. I kiss the side of her mouth. “I was just thinking about how much I like you. How much I like being with you.”
“Mmm,” she breathes. “Well, the feeling is mutual.”
Realizing the party has already started, we quickly change into our semiformal attire. I’m sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling on my shoes, when she exits the bathroom fifteen minutes later. Her dark blue dress hugs her curves, highlighting her fantastic chest. My eyes trace the deep V, following it past her tight stomach and the curves of her hips to the pair of nude heels extending her legs. My cock jumps at the sight, and she smirks, noting as I adjust myself.
I take her beautiful face in my hands, noting the light spattering of makeup she threw on her eyes and her lips before kissing her deeply, her mouth opening on a sigh to welcome me in.
I step back, rubbing my jaw. “You look amazing.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
We shrug into our coats and head toward the main building. As we walk along the dirt path, I tuck her into my side, my arm around her shoulder. I tell myself it’s to keep her warm, but the truth is, I can’t stand to have her any farther away than that. I need her next to me.
The sounds of a crowd reach us almost as soon as we leave our building. When I asked the staff at WBCC if they’d be able to accommodate me this winter, they were happy to oblige. Since the course is officially closed, it’s an easy, steady source of income to have me in the house. That said, they had asked one thing in return—to come to the event tonight, which a number of their bigwig members and potential members were in town for.
Knowing that Bryn will hate being pulled into my public-life persona any sooner than necessary, I drop my arm from her shoulders as we near the building, my stomach dropping with it. I feel like a piece of me is missing when she’s not right there with me.
We hand off our coats as we enter, and I note the number of men who check out Bryn as she turns to face the room. I can’t blame them, even if the unease I feel in my gut is almost certainly a flare of jealousy. I quell my need to pull her into my arms and claim her with my body in front of the entire crowd, but it flares again as she waves at a man across the room.
Suddenly, my view is obstructed by Conrad Ferguson, the elusive owner of Wild Bluffs Country Club.
“Jameson, how are you, man?”
Conrad and I met a few years ago at a fundraiser event and had hit it off right away. At the time, he was the newest partner in a VC, and I had a few major wins under my belt.
We kept in touch sporadically, getting together whenever our various professional obligations landed us in the same city. Unsurprisingly, based on how sharp he is, Conrad excelled over the last few years, and he and two of his brothers are now a huge deal in the business world. We actually spent a weekend at Pebble Beach, discussing if golf courses were good investments or not. Many struggled and went under during the last recession, but some of them are extremely profitable. Conrad decided to pursue it as a line of investments for his firm, and he now owns eight courses across the world. When I was in need of a place to escape last summer, he had offered up Wild Bluffs Country Club.
He reached out a couple times over the past nine months, but I’ve always declined anything more than a drink at the clubhouse. I was in a shit headspace and was avoiding everyone, including the people trying to pull me out of the darkness.
“Conrad.” We shake hands. “Doing well. Can’t thank you enough for suggesting this place to me last summer.”
“Rumor on the street is that you’re becoming a long-term renter.”
“Yeah. I got an offer on my house in Florida and need somewhere to land. Don’t worry, though, I’ll make sure to be gone before the course gets busy and you need that cottage again.”
He just shrugs. “You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”
Bryn reaches out, squeezing my arm to let me know she is headed to the bar.
“Oh.” Conrad looks between us. “I didn’t realize you’d brought someone with you tonight, Jameson.”
Shoot. How could I have forgotten? “Conrad Ferguson, meet Bryn Harper. Conrad owns the club. Bryn is from Wild Bluffs.”
She nods her head. “I grew up in Wild Bluffs, but now I actually live all over the place. I’m director of technology for Hungry Guy.”
Conrad chuckles. “I love Hungry Guy. I’ve actually been trying to acquire them for a while, but the owners aren’t ready to sell. It’s one of the reasons I’m here in town.”
“Good luck with that,” Bryn replies. “They love running the company. It’s not about money for them at this point, so I’m not sure what you will use to convince them.”
Conrad shrugs. “Ah, well, I do like a challenge.”
“Then you’ve come to the right place,” Bryn replies as Conrad’s assistant taps on his arm.
“Well, it was nice meeting you, Bryn. Jameo, let’s get together soon. Maybe when you’re in New York for the tournament in February?”
“That’d be great. It’s been way too long, man.”
We slap backs in a quick hug before Bryn and I head to the bar.
We both order drinks, grabbing seats at the bar while we wait. Bryn smiles at the man next to her before leaning a bit closer to me and asking softly, “Is there a reason you introduced me as ‘from Wild Bluffs’?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just found it…odd, I guess, that you introduced me to that guy as ‘this is Bryn. She’s from Wild Bluffs,’ like I’m some acquaintance from town. I was just wondering if there is a reason he shouldn’t know we are dating.”
I notice the slight droop to her shoulders, the hint of uncertainty in her now blue eyes. I grab her hand, swiveling around on my stool so I can pull her up to stand between my thighs. I kiss her. “Never. I would never want to keep the fact that I’m dating you from someone.”
“Good.” Her warm mouth melts on mine for a second before she pulls back, sliding one of the thin blue straps of her dress back onto her shoulder.
I pull her forehead to mine, staring straight into her eyes, not caring that we are likely making a bit of a scene. “I mean it, B. I’m sorry. I truly meant nothing by it.” I look around the room for Conrad. “Come on. Let’s go talk to him again. I’ll make sure I introduce you as my truly fantastic, amazingly sexy girlfriend.”
She giggles but shakes her head. “No. That’s okay. It just hurt my feelings a little, I guess, so I thought I should do the mature thing and let you know.”
“Well, I’m glad you told me. I promise I’ll learn from my mistake.” I kiss her one last time and pass her the drink she ordered before we head out into the crowd, ready for mingling.