Chapter 27
Ainsley
I arch my back and stretch my legs.
A dull ache between my thighs has my eyes popping open, and the memory of last night floods my senses at once.
I had sex with Landon last night.
Multiple times.
I force my eyes shut, pretending like I can go back to sleep and remain in this post-sex bliss for a little longer before I have to face it in the light of day.
I had sex with Landon.
And God was it good.
But what does this mean for us now?
My head swirls with questions, the unknown threatening to swallow me whole.
The weight of Landon’s arm presses down on my stomach. I peek at him through one half-opened eyelid. He looks so peaceful, his chest rising and falling with the steady cadence of his breaths.
Nerves crawl under my skin as my pulse spikes.
I need to get out of here.
I slip out from under his arm, and creep toward my discarded clothes by the foot of his bed.
Shit. I only have my gown and heels from prom last night. That is not going to look good for my walk of shame.
“I’ll take my eggs scrambled,” Landon mumbles.
My head snaps to him. “What?”
“You got out of bed, so I figured you were going to make breakfast.”
I glare at the stupid smirk on his handsome face. “I’m at your house. You should be making me breakfast.”
He arches a brow as he lifts his head. “Says the one who was just about to sneak out.”
“Yeah, ‘cuz there was no breakfast,” I mutter.
“Come here.” He lifts the comforter and waits for me.
I slink back to bed, crawling in beside him and laying my head on his chest.
He presses a kiss to my temple. “Let’s hear what’s going on inside that head of yours.”
Heaving a sigh, I close my eyes. “I don’t know what to do now that we’ve...”
“Fucked each other’s brains out?”
I chuckle. “Yeah.”
“What is there to do?”
I lift my head and rest my chin on his chest so I can look at him. “You’re going to want to get married and have kids. The whole shebang with a white picket fence.”
He laughs so loud I hide my head under the pillow. “The only one who’s thinking about marriage right now is you, apparently. I give you the dick one time, and you’re already demanding a diamond ring.”
“Am not!” I poke my head out from under the pillow, my hair getting tangled in my face. “I’m just saying, you’re a monogamous guy. And you’ve always had a crush on me.”
He scoffs. “As if you didn’t have a crush on me right back.”
“I just thought you were cute,” I lie.
Landon rolls onto his side and props up his head in his hand. “Let’s take this slow. You set the pace you’re comfortable with.”
“You rearranged my guts last night. I’m pretty sure that’s the opposite of slow.”
“Well, no one’s getting married, so you can cross that off your list of worries.” He brushes my hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ear. “We’ve just met for the first time in seventeen years, so we have a lot to learn, despite how well we used to know each other.”
I nod, my eyes bouncing between his. “And if I want to have sex with someone else...?”
Landon rolls his eyes and pulls me on top of him. “You won’t.”
I spread my legs and straddle him. “You sound so sure of that.”
He thrusts his hips, making me bounce, and his eyes follow the movement of my breasts. “I’m going to treat this body so well, you won’t be craving anyone else but me.”
My brain fights my body as my core heats, wanting to tell Landon he’s wrong. But as he sits up with me in his lap, and drags his tongue along my neck, wetness drips out of me.
There’s no denying it. No one has made me feel as good as Landon did last night.
“But aside from the sex,” I say, closing my eyes and letting my head fall back as he bites my shoulder.
“We’ll figure it out as we go.” He pulls back to look at me, nothing but sincerity shining in his brown eyes. “We communicate. We’ll be honest with each other about how we’re feeling, and what we want. I’m in no rush. I like where we’re at right now in this present moment.”
Feeling him harden underneath me, I smile.
Me too.
My cheeks puff as I blow my whistle.
“Again. You can’t drop the ball every time you try to evade the defender.”
Dominique spins around, and Maddie is all over her.
“Keep cradling,” I say, walking around as the two fight for control. “Protect the ball.”
Dominique fakes left and then spins right, and she’s able to get around Maddie. She takes off running toward the net while the girls scream.
“Shoot it!” Natalie shouts.
Without hesitation, Dominique whips the ball into the net. It whizzes right past Tori.
“Yeah, Jones!” I jog onto the field. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
Dominique grins as the girls jump on her. “It worked. I did it.”
“Of course you did.” I clap her on the back. “You didn’t hesitate. You trusted your instincts.”
“Now just do that on game day, and we’ll be set,” Natalie says.
“Okay, team. That’s it for today.” I clap. “Nice work. We’re getting stronger every day.”
We walk back toward the bleachers, and the kids hydrate and stretch.
Landon walks over with the JV kids and joins our cooldown.
He’s wearing a shit-eating smirk on his face.
My chin jerks back. “What?”
“You’re walking with a limp. Did you hurt your back or something?”
My cheeks heat as I shoot him a death stare.
“Yeah,” Natalie chimes in. “I noticed it when you got here. Were you reaching for boxes in the garage again?”
Landon smiles, so pleased with himself, as he crosses his arms over his chest. “You should call me the next time you need help.”
I roll my eyes and whisper yell so only he can hear me. “Or maybe I should just call Travis.”
His head tips back as he laughs. “Good luck with that.”
I hate that he knows I won’t.
But that doesn’t stop the trickle of desire coursing through me being around him after last night. I keep getting hit with the dirty things he said while he was making me come.
I clear my throat. “I’m fine. Let’s just finish stretching and get out of here.”
“Coach Ainsley!”
I turn at the sound of my name. Jayden Morales’ mother enters the field from the parking lot. She’s dressed in a cream-colored pants suit, and her heels sink into the uneven grass as she stomps toward us.
My stomach coils, unease sinking into my gut.
Jayden missed school and practice today, and none of the JV girls knew where he was.
Now his mother is coming at me like a freight train.
Landon moves several steps ahead of me. “Hi, Mrs. Morales. Is Jayden okay? We missed her at practice today.”
“My daughter is not okay, and it’s all thanks to that woman right there.” Jayden’s mother jabs her pointer finger in my face as she reaches us. “Who do you think you are, giving my daughter advice without consulting me?”
Landon’s chin snaps back as his eyes bounce between the two of us. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding—”
I hold up my hand. “It’s okay, Landon.”
Mrs. Morales’ blue eyes narrow on me. “How dare you speak to my daughter behind my back.”
“I can assure you, the only advice I gave Jayden was to talk to you about the things he was feeling.”
“He?” Landon asks.
The woman scoffs. “Lies.”
Anger spikes in my veins, but I shove it down. “Mrs. Morales, I did not sway Jayden in any direction. I don’t know what you heard, but—”
“You should have come to me immediately,” she says, cutting me off. “I am her mother and I need to know what my daughter is going through.”
“With all due respect, he didn’t feel comfortable telling his family or friends.”
“Tell us what?” Hannah speaks up. “Where’s Jayden? Is she okay?”
Landon turns to face the teams. “Girls, why don’t you head to the parking lot and wait for your parents. I’ll meet you there.”
Natalie crosses her arms over her chest, standing by my side. “I think we should stay here.”
I squeeze her shoulder, my little spitfire. “Everything is okay. Lead everyone to the parking lot, please.”
The teams are slow to move, but once we are alone, I turn back to Mrs. Morales. “I understand you’re upset, and that this is shocking to hear—”
“You don’t understand shit! You’re not a mother. You’re not even Jayden’s coach.”
I grit my teeth. “Stop interrupting me and let me finish.”
“Oh, you’re finished.” She lets out a sardonic laugh. “I’m going to have you removed from this coaching position, and then I’m going to have you removed from this school. You shouldn’t be allowed around young impressionable children.”
“Whoa.” Landon holds up his hand. “Do not speak to her that way.”
Mrs. Morales dismisses him as she leans in my face. “You’re done here.”
A mixture of anger and fear churns in my stomach, and my hands shake.
“Mom, stop!”
The three of us spin around at the sound of Jayden’s voice.
Jayden’s long blonde hair, usually braided down his back, is now in a short buzz-cut. It’s slightly longer on top, swooped to one side, held in place by product.
He looks adorable.
Landon’s eyes widen as he looks from Jayden to me.
I give him an apologetic glance. “I’ll explain later.”
“Get back in the car, Jayden.” Mrs. Morales gestures to her daughter. “Look at her hair. Look at what she did.”
I roll my lips between my teeth, choosing my words wisely and not letting the snarky responses come out. “Mrs. Morales, your child is going through something, and I know it may be shocking, but he needs your support.”
Her face turns seven shades of red and her nostrils flare. “You do not get to tell me what my daughter needs. She did this because you encouraged her. You told her that this was okay.”
My chin jerks back. “I didn’t tell him to go get a haircut. He came to me with something serious, and I told him to talk to you and your husband about it.”
“It’s true, Mom.” Tears stream down Jayden’s cheeks. “Please, don’t yell at Coach Ainsley.”
“Look at yourself.” Mrs. Morales turns to her daughter. “You look ridiculous. You can’t possibly think this is okay. You can’t turn yourself into a boy. You are a female, Jayden. And you’ll always be a female. You’re too young to know what you’re doing.”
Oh, hell no.
I step forward, but Landon beats me to it. “Stop talking to him like that. You’re upsetting him.”
“Stay out of this,” Mrs. Morales spits.
“I will not stay out of this.” His body goes rigid and his voice rises. “I will not stand by while you berate him when you should be supporting him. Jayden is young, yes, but he knows what he’s feeling and he knows what he wants. This is exactly the reason he didn’t come to you in the first place.”
Oh, damn.
Mrs. Morales clamps her jaw so hard, I wait for the sound of her teeth shattering. She has a giant bulging vein in the middle of her forehead ready to burst. “The superintendent will be hearing about this.”
My stomach drops into my ass, but I feign nonchalance. “Good, make sure you spell my name right. It’s A-I-N-S-L-E-Y. People either forget the I or the E.”
A disgusted noise leaves the back of her throat as she spins around, and grabs hold of Jayden by his wrist. “Let’s go.”
Landon moves toward them, but I press my palm against his chest. “Hey, not now. Let them go.”
“She’s hurting him,” he says, his eyes glued to Jayden until he disappears into his mother’s car.
I snap my gum as I close my eyes. “Fuck. I need to do damage control. I should tell Principal Harrison, and Danbury too.”
Landon plants his hands on his hips. “What exactly did Jayden say to you?”
I blow out a long breath through my lips. “That day he asked to talk to me, and I told you it was about girl stuff? He said he wants to be a boy; that he feels like he’s stuck in the wrong body. He was worried about not being allowed to stay on the girls’ lacrosse team.”
He nods, running a hand through his hair. “And what did you tell him?”
“That it isn’t something he should decide on his own, and that he needs to talk to his parents about it.” I gesture to the parking lot. “Clearly, he didn’t.”
Landon’s brown eyes bounce between mine. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I grimace. “I didn’t want to betray him by telling his secret. I also didn’t want you to treat him any differently, because he’d notice and then he’d know that I told you.” I pause. “Are you...are you mad at me?”
His chest rises and falls as he pauses. “No, I just feel bad that my own team doesn’t feel like they can talk to me.”
I frown. “Only when it comes to something sensitive like this.”
Of course, he’d take it personal. Landon is the superhero who wants to swoop in and save the day.
I used to hate that about him. The Golden Boy. The do-gooder.
Now, I realize his empathy is his superpower. It’s one of the best things about him. His lion heart.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Landon pulls me to his chest, and presses a kiss to my forehead. “It’s okay. I understand why you didn’t. But you’re right, we do need to do some damage control. Get ahead of it before that witch talks to anyone else.”
I pull back and straighten my shoulders. “I’ll go see if Harrison is still in his office.”
“We’ll do it together.”
I shake my head. “No way. I don’t want to drag you into my mess. This is on me.”
A sad smile tugs at his lips. “You don’t always have to do things on your own, you know. I’ve got your back, and I’ll stand by your side through all of this bullshit.”
“But I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
“As long as I’m with you, it’ll be worth it.”
Something warm pools in my chest, spreading over me like a comforting blanket.
Landon’s eyebrow arches. “You’re looking at me like you want to kiss me.”
I chuckle and hold out my palm, waiting for his hand. “Play your cards right, you might get more than a kiss.”
He waggles his eyebrows. “Come on. Let’s go get into some trouble.”