Chapter 26
brANDON
I never stopped loving her.
The way her blonde hair falls over her shoulders like a waterfall framing her face reminds me of the times when we were younger and making out.
Taking both her hips, I set the rhythm as she rides me into the bed. I fight the urge to come with the pleasure pulsating through my body. I move her hair so I can see her eyes, not wanting to miss a second of watching the woman who has always owned my heart love me in a way no one else can.
Ah…” She moans, tipping her head back and closing her eyes as her orgasm builds.
“Yeah, baby.” I lift my hips and pump harder as she bounces on top. “Come for me.” I grab both her breasts, their bouncing an invitation I can’t turn down.
Charlotte is fucking sexy, but her on top of me is nothing short of incredible. Her eyes flutter closed, her lips slightly part, then she rocks her pelvis forward before upping the tempo.
“Fuck, I love you.” The words slip out, but she doesn’t react as though they are silent truths.
“I want you to come to our family dinner,” she murmurs with her eyes closed.
The fuck? Why is she thinking about this now?
“And we’re not done.” I pump into her harder and slide a finger between us, finding her clit.
Pressing my thumb on her clit, I fuck her until she can no longer speak until she moans my name with a muffled scream.
I come hard, shuddering with the final thrust. She falls to the linen sheet beside me, out of breath.
Her beautiful eyes soften while our ragged breaths return to some sort of normal.
Lifting a hand, she runs the pads of her fingers over my cheek. “I choose you, Brandon Johns. I’ll always choose you.”
I smile at her. “It was never a choice. You had me from the first time I saw you.”
“Why were we so stubborn? Wasted years when we could’ve been doing this.”
I wrap an arm around her. “No what-ifs. We only move forward from here.”
“It’s why I want you to come to dinner. You belong in our family.”
I don’t have the faith that her brother will feel the same way. While we are mending our differences on the court, it’s not so easy when it comes to his sister. “I will, but not until after the all-star game.”
A smile slowly grows on her plump pink lips. “Promise.”
I kiss her forehead and pull her closer. “I promise.”
The buzzer sounds for the end of the second quarter. Wiping sweat from my brow, I glance up at the crowd and find Charlotte sitting with her family and mine. She is at the end of the row, her blonde hair easy to find.
A few months ago, if someone told me our families would be sitting together at a game, I’d think they were high on crack.
She’s staring at me and clapping hard for our team.
I point at her and touch my heart. She smiles at me, and while her lips move, I make my own assumption about what she is whispering.
Byron and I have combined well like no time has passed since we were in our early twenties and dominating the court together. Only today is a first—playing in the all-star game side by side—and something we never dreamed possible when we met in our freshman year.
While it’s a serious game, there is an element of fun and entertainment, and we bring out our best moves to entertain the crowd, with the half-time entertainment being the highlight. At one time, I was in the stands, excited to be part of it.
Coach gives a few instructions before I grab my towel and wipe my face, then wrap it around my neck, ready to follow the team into the locker room.
As I near the stands, where the Johns and the Hendricks families sit, I glance up and wave.
I don’t care what people think. I’m enjoying every second of this game.
The lights flash over the crowd and land on Charlotte and her brother, Franklin.
Fucking morons. Anyone in the crowd who knows they are family laughs.
Only I see the humiliation in Charlotte’s eyes.
Something I swore I would never allow to happen again.
I bound up the steps, not caring about the rules, and out of the corner of my eye, I watch Ewan sprint from the tunnel’s entrance hot on my tail.
I lean over and kiss her lips, the crowd cheering, and it’s no quick kiss-cam.
Our lips linger, and then I murmur, “I love you,” against her lips.
When I come up for air, she smiles at me, the crowd still screaming.
“You taste like sweat.” Her eyes twinkle in the lights.
I grin at her. “And you love it.” I glance over to our families’ shocked faces and nod. “I hope you’re all enjoying the game.”
Charlotte smacks my ass. “Go to your team, BJ.”
Franklin nods toward the court. “All the television cameras are pointed this way. Best you do what you’re here to do.”
“I’m here to entertain.” I wink at him and then jog down the steps and wave at the crowd.
When I join my team in the locker room, the coach turns and glares at me. “Glad you could join us. You’re not part of the fucking entertainment.”
Byron fires lasers from his eyes. “You had to do it in front of the whole fucking world.”
“When the light of the kiss cam found her, I’ll be damned if anyone else was going to touch her.”
“No one was going to kiss her,” Byron growls out between clenched teeth.
“No. And I wasn’t allowing her to be humiliated either.” We have all seen the sad face of a girl on the screen when no one kisses her.
He nods, wiping his face with the towel, his movements slow and deliberate. Then, without warning, he shifts, turning so the towel shields his face from the rest of the team. From this angle, only I can see the sharp edge of his expression.
His voice is low, almost a growl, but it slices through me like a blade. “You better not break her heart again. Next time, I will destroy you.”
The words hang in the air, heavy and unyielding, his gaze boring into mine with a force that feels like a challenge—a warning. My stomach knots, the threat unmistakable, and for a moment, I forget how to breathe.
Then he straightens, dropping the towel, his face calm and composed as if the exchange never happened. To everyone else in the locker room, he’s the picture of restraint. But I know better. His message was clear, and the storm in his eyes hasn’t settled.
I glance down at my hands, clasped tightly in my lap, and nod faintly, swallowing the lump in my throat. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, relief and resolve settling in my chest.
This time, I won’t give him a reason to follow through.
This time, I am all in, and nothing will come between us.
Not him.
Not her family.
Nothing!
After dinner, Ewan drives my parents to the hotel.
I asked Charlotte to join us, but she decided to attend to business matters and emphasized that quality time with my parents matters more.
“Baby steps first,” she’d told me. “Your parents came to see you, not me, and you need to give them the time they deserve.”
As much as I wanted her by my side, I understood the logic. My mother has always liked Charlotte. Dad is warming to her, but both are wary after seeing how hard I fell when we were apart.
Ewan waits in the car while I walk my parents into the foyer. Tomorrow, they’re catching the red-eye flight to Australia.
I hug my mother first. “Thank you for visiting and seeing me play.”
“You know we love watching you. I miss you, love. When you first boarded that plane over a decade ago, I never realized this would become your home.”
“Ever since I was a kid, all I ever wanted was to play in the NBA.”
She places a hand on my cheek and looks deep into my eyes. “I know. But I didn’t count on losing my son for his dream to come true.”
“You haven’t lost me, Mum.”
“You were a boy when you left. I want to get to know the man you’ve become. Learn of your dreams and more of your life here. You’re famous. The fans love you. And while I’m proud, I’m jealous they get to have you.”
“It’s not forever,” my dad interjects. “Let him live his dream while he can still play.” He holds out his hand to shake mine.
“We do miss you, son. Every day. But we are proud of what you’ve achieved.
” He pats my shoulder, then looks at my mother.
“Before you know it, he’ll be home and teaching the neighborhood kids how to shoot. ”
This isn’t the time to mention I won’t be coming home at the end of the season if Charlotte and I have a future together. I always intended to return home, but I can’t see Charlotte calling Australia home.
“You might be back here in a matter of months,” I remind them. “If we make the finals, I want you both here. It’s a milestone I want to share with my family.”
“We wouldn’t miss it.” Mom throws her arms around my neck. “I love you.” They both wave goodbye as the elevator doors open, and Mom rushes in, not before I notice her bloodshot eyes.
I look down at my feet and momentarily ponder my future options. Without a doubt, I miss my family, my home, my friends and Australia. But living in the US also works. My body feels fit, and I know I have another season in me. Maybe two.
After living apart from Charlotte for three years, I never want to do that again. So, I have to find a way to divide my time between LA and Australia.
“Sutra je sun?ano,” I whisper. Tomorrow is sunny.
I’m happy.
From here, it’s one day at a time.
I head back to the car and slide into the front seat alongside Ewan.
“Home, I assume?”
I nod. “Would you consider a sea change?”
“I love the beach here. Don’t tell me we’re leaving again.”
“Nope. But if I were to visit Australia… for an extended period, would you come with me?”
“I’m not your girlfriend, mate.”
I smirk at my friend. Mate. I remember the first time I said it to him. He was offended. “Absolutely not. But if there were a chance, and Charlotte accompanied me, I’d want someone with us who I trust.”
He stares straight ahead at the road. “Gotta say, life isn’t dull with you.”
“Is that a yes?”
“I take it this trip will not be in the near future.”
“No. A short visit at the end of the season, but in a year or so, it might be for extended stays.”
He taps his fingers on the steering wheel and remains silent for a moment. “Usually, I’m up for the adventure. While I can protect you from people, you better protect me from everything Down Under that tries to eat me.”
“Nothing will try to eat you.” I laugh under my breath. “Sting you, bite you, yes, but there are no lions or jaguars in Australia.”
“You got those big-ass crocodiles that will eat you. Great white sharks. And don’t say sting me like it’s a mosquito bite.
Those box jellyfish you have swimming around…
everyone is too afraid to go in the ocean because they will kill you with one sting.
Then you have those redback spiders and…
” he shudders, “… the funnel-web spider. So pardon me if I don’t look eager to join you. ”
“Then you’ll have no worries since I live in South Australia. No crocodiles and no stingers in the water.”
He glances at me, then back at the road, then back at me as though I’m lying. He looks back at the road and adds, “So I only have the sharks and spiders to worry about.”
“Funnel-web spiders aren’t in South Australia. The eastern brown snake is more of a problem, though.”
“No. No. I’d rather fuck a hedgehog.”
I laugh. “We have the best wineries in the world.”
“You need them to get through the fear every day.”
I smile as I look out the window at the city lights flashing by. “You will love it. Think of it as one big adrenaline-fueled holiday.”
“Adrenaline… ah-huh! Did I begin my initiation tonight?”
“Huh?”
“When you left the court and ran into the crowd. I never moved so fast to keep up with you.”
While I didn’t think it through, I don’t regret it. To see Charlotte’s face light up was worth getting my ass chewed by the coach. “It wasn’t planned.”
“I figured that.”
“When I saw her face on the screen, I wasn’t going to let her sit there ridden with embarrassment.”
“I understand, but a fan could have attacked you. Hurt you.”
I look at Ewan and grin. “It’s why I have you.”