May 26th
Luscious.
Ainsley
“S’mores were fun last night,” I say when I meet up with Damon outside of his house.
“They were, but is there anything you enjoyed more than them?” he asks me.
And I know what he wants me to say.
And I did.
“Hmm, it doesn’t get much better than chocolate and marshmallows. Although I do have a new favorite.”
He rolls his eyes playfully and grins at me. “Dipping them in caramel sauce?”
“Yes, that was something new for me. As was something else.”
“What else?” he asks, sounding innocent, and I really don’t think he’s following my train of thought.
I grab the front of his shirt and pull him in for a kiss. Too bad they aren’t covered in caramel like they were last night .
I love his lips. Like, every part of him is muscled and hard, but his lips are so soft, sumptuous, and luscious. And the contrast is almost devastating.
“I think your tongue must need a workout,” I say when he ends the kiss.
“You want to be my instructor?” he says seriously at the same time a smile plays on those lips.
“Do you normally not French kiss? Do you not like it?” I let out a sigh. “Or is it just me?”
“It’s totally just you,” he says. “And you know why.”
“Because you’re seventeen,” I reply flatly.
He shrugs. “Hey, your rules, not mine.”
“Kissing is not the same as sex.”
He grins. Kisses my cheek. “I am old enough to know that. Plus, maybe I want you to beg for me. Like you did the other night. Only when you’re sober.”
“You still haven’t told me where all we went that night. What I did.”
He glances at his sports watch, then takes off running. “We’re going to have to discuss that while we jog to the gym, or we’ll be late!”
I break out into a sprint and quickly catch up to him. “Just tell me.”
“I was thinking it might be fun to choose one place to revisit each night. Little dates, if you will.”
“That actually sounds pretty fun,” I say, not wanting him to think he has the upper hand in this situation, even though he totally does .
When I push open the doors to the gym, I’m shocked. “This is beautiful!”
Most gyms tend to look the same—lots of black-and-white equipment lined up in rows. Bright fluorescent lighting. Stark. Utilitarian. The new gym is different. The walls are lined with patterned fabric in rich brown tones, which softens the equipment.
But it’s more than that.
Instead of a row of treadmills, there are little personal circuits, almost creating a room—each one featuring a plush Oriental rug and leather lounge chair to give it warmth.
And then there’s what’s beyond the windows—a manicured garden filled with a colorful array of flowers with a view of the sparkling lake.
“It does look really nice,” Damon agrees. “But you know, we have been here before.”
I slap my palm onto my forehead. “Just tell me.”
“You were cold. I offered to keep your naked ass warm with my hands, but you insisted on a sauna.”
“We were in the sauna? Here? At night?”
“Normally, it’s closed at night, but since it’s just us here now, it was open.”
“And did we sit in it?”
His hand slides across my waist, and he leads me back into the sauna.
“This in particular was a good spot,” he says, pushing me against the door, his lips dangerously close to mine. “You tried to kiss me. ”
“But failed?” I ask.
“I moved ever so slightly, which meant your lips landed on my cheek. Which was sweet, of course, but then you licked me.”
“I licked you?”
He sticks his tongue out and glides it up the side of my face. “Like a dog,” he says with a chuckle. “But it gets better.”
He opens the door and we go inside the sauna, where he sits on one of the benches and pulls me onto his lap.
“Stand up,” he orders.
Even though I just sat down and very much like where I’m sitting, I stand and go, “Okay.”
“Go over by the door.”
I do.
“Now go like this.” He slides his finger across the bottom of his lip and then proceeds to put it in his mouth and suck aggressively on it.
My mouth falls open. “I can’t—”
“Oh, but you can,” he says. “You did that, then sauntered over to me and offered to suck on something other than your own finger.”
I scrunch up my nose. “No, I did not!”
He laughs. “It’s true. And you were quite determined. And when I hesitated, you unzipped my pants!”
I walk toward him, swaying my shoulders, trying to look as sexy as possible. “Did I do this?”
“Oh, yeah. Then you got down on your knees. ”
And I don’t know if he’s serious or just making this shit up, but I figure what the heck and drop to my knees in front of him. “You going to turn me down again?”
“I didn’t then. Don’t know why I would now.”
My eyes get huge.
But then he starts laughing, stands up, pulls me up, and plants a kiss on my lips. “I’m teasing.”
“So, none of it happened?”
“All of it happened just like that, except for the part of me letting you steal my virtue.”
“You’re funny.” I slap his butt. “I think you’d better get to working out.”
On-field chemistry.
Damon
“Stupid question,” Ainsley asks once Chase, Dani, and Haley have joined us. “Why do you have to be in Lincoln all summer? I assume you have a nice home gym, seeing as your dad played football. Just like here.”
“I can answer that,” Dani says. “It’s not just that they work out.
It’s where. If they weren’t at school, they might not have access to the same type of facilities.
They couldn’t play seven-on-seven games.
And they wouldn’t be with their teammates.
Which means they wouldn’t get to know them or develop friendships or on-field chemistry.
Summer training is where the leaders emerge for each season.
It’s literally the foundation being built for the team that will play in the fall. ”
I can’t help but smile at my sister. “I love how you just spoke so passionately about all that. It’s why you’re going to be a great reporter,” I tell her, then turn to Ainsley.
“Heck, she already is. She was on the sidelines for Nebraska’s spring game and even got to interview our dad.
Speaking of that, Dani, did you find out what location you’re doing your internship at? ”
“You’re doing an internship?” Ainsley asks, looking surprised. “After your freshman year?”
“She is,” Chase says proudly. “With ESPN.”
“And I want to know where she’s going so maybe I can visit her!” Haley says from across the room, where she’s already on a rowing machine.
“I just found out this morning,” Dani says, “that they want me in Los Angeles for the first few weeks and then at their headquarters in Connecticut.”
“Very cool,” Ainsley says while Haley goes, “I’m going to Connecticut!”
“And you have an internship with my mom this summer, right?” Chase asks Ainsley.
“Yes,” Ainsley says. “And I’m looking very forward to it. I know I’ll learn a ton in a short time.”
“And Chase and I will be bach -ing it in Lincoln,” I say, giving my sister a teasing smirk .
She just raises an eyebrow at me and says, “Chase can’t bach it because he is not a bachelor anymore. And don’t forget it.”
Ainsley leans over to me and whispers, “And don’t forget it,” in a way that makes it sound like she’s referring to me not being one anymore either.
I want to immediately ask her about it, but now is not the time.
Because I need to focus on my workout.
And I do.
Mostly.
But it’s hard not to watch.
Especially now that Chase and I are in a separate room meant for classes with a window overlooking where the girls are.
Chase throws a weighted ball in my direction and almost hits me in the face.
“You’re distracted,” he says, teasing me.
“She’s wearing the smallest workout shorts known to man,” I counter.
“What’s going on with you two?”
A smile spreads across my face. “We kissed yesterday. For the first time.”
Chase was mid-throw but stops his motion and just stares at me. “You’re really serious about her, aren’t you?”
“And you’re just now realizing that? I’ve been telling you the same thing for three straight years. Have I ever muttered the words future wife to you about any other girl I’ve ever seen?”
Chase’s expression turns serious. “No, you haven’t. I’m sorry. I just thought—”
“You told me that was the plan.”
“I knew it was for you. I just didn’t know if it would be for her, you know,” he explains. “That’s why I didn’t take it that seriously.”
“I literally had to fend her off the night of your wedding. She’d overheard an argument between her dad and her uncles and started drinking. There was nakedness. And we are going to hope the security cameras were not on, or Tripp’s employees got an eyeful.”
“Where were you?” he asks, now tossing the ball to me again.
“Where weren’t we? She wanted to skinny-dip. Go in the sauna. I was offered sex multiple times in places all over the resort. Dude, I wouldn’t even kiss her. That’s the restraint. That’s how much I care about her.”
“Whoa,” Chase says. “Well, that’s a lot. And I’m proud of you, bro.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a nicer guy than even I knew I was,” I say with a laugh.
“I’ve known that for a while. And if I didn’t, it’s certainly obvious in the way you have helped my sister. Really, I haven’t thanked you for that.”
“She needs to be at Nebraska with us,” I say with a grin just as Ainsley and Dani walk in, “so we can finish our cupcake dreams together. ”
A constant.
Ainsley
“Want to cool off with a dip in the pool?” Dani asks us, but I’m still thinking about what Damon just said about cupcake dreams.
“That sounds great,” Damon says. “How about you, Ainsley?”
“I wish I could,” I reply, “but I have to meet up with Jadyn now. She’s going to show me around the facility here in preparation for the work I’ll be doing with her. She said we’d go straight to the spa after, so I’ll see you and Haley there, Dani.”
“For sure,” Dani says. “It’s going to be so fun.”
After she and Chase head outside, Damon says to me, “It’s ladies’ day, right?”
“It is. Which means you are one of the guys in charge of all the kids.”