Page 19 of Only for Tonight (Only For #1)

fifteen

Jaxon

I hold up my parking pass to the security guy, who nods at me as I drive down to my parking spot.

Five other people arrive at the same time as me.

I grab my cell phone from the center console, placing it in the inside of my suit jacket pocket before getting out and shutting the door.

“Hey,” Kirby says to me when he gets out of his car, giving me a chin up.

“Hey,” I reply, opening the truck door and grabbing my black, stainless-steel carry-on bag before grabbing the black duffel bag, putting it on top. “I hate travel days,” I mumble to him as he grabs his own luggage and we walk over to the plane, parked and waiting for the team.

“You aren’t the only one,” he mutters to me as we make it to the stairs. The porter grabs my suitcase from me as I carry the duffel with me on the plane.

I sit by myself in the row, hoping like fuck no one sits next to me. I’m not in the best mood today, which is fucking with my head. I know I don’t like travel days, but I especially don’t want to be travelling today.

Before coming to the private airport, I drove Ariella to catch her flight, which is probably why I’m in this mood.

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone to stay as badly as I wanted her to stay, which was so strange since I wasn’t even going to be home.

But knowing she’s not going to be here when I get back is messing with my head.

I pull the phone out of my pocket when I see that she texted me.

Ariella: Just boarded my flight.

Me: Okay, Aphrodite.

I smile at the nickname I gave her after she called me Himeros.

I look out the window, seeing more of the guys coming in.

The only ones happy about road trips are the rookies.

It’s fun at first, but when you get to my age, it fucking sucks.

Everything about it sucks. From living out of your luggage to not being in your own locker room, it just sucks, but it’s part of the game.

Ariella: Are we still using that nickname?

Me: Just changed it in my phone.

Aphrodite: Wonderful, at least no one will know who I am.

Me: I’ll add your picture.

I press send and look up when I hear a couple of the guys say hello. I give them a chin nod before looking back down at my phone.

Me: Actually, scratch that. Then everyone is going to be lusting over you and I’ll have to throat punch a couple of people.

Aphrodite: Doubtful. What time do you land?

Me: We land at 2 p.m. local time. Head to the hotel to rest, I think we have a team dinner. Game is tomorrow and we leave right after the game for Minnesota.

Aphrodite: Okay, we just pushed back from the gate.

Me: Text me when you land.

She doesn’t really text me back words, she just sends the two eye emojis and I laugh, putting my phone on airplane mode as the sound of the plane door closes. I get up, taking off my suit jacket and putting it on the empty seat beside me.

Looking out of the window, my mind goes back to yesterday after we left the hotel.

After I kissed her and then pulled her into bed with me, I couldn’t keep my hands off of her.

We both got back up and took another shower.

It took her fifteen minutes to pack up her things and for us to be gone.

She checked out of the hotel since she was going to be staying with me, while I brought her luggage out and headed to the place where I wanted to take her.

In my mind it was going to be lighter outside by the time I got there, but since we got sidetracked, we got there just as the sun was going down but the soft lights from the street shined into the park.

I then took her to a park where we walked around hand in hand until I stopped under a willow tree and then turned to her.

“Okay.” I looked around. “This is the place that I wanted to take you.”

“It’s very pretty.” She looked around and the soft breeze had the long branches moving side to side. “It’s almost magical when you are underneath one of these trees.” She smiled up at me.

“It’s my favorite type of tree,” I told her and took my phone out of my jeans pocket.

“Really,” she said, “have you ever seen the cherry blossom trees in Japan?” I shook my head. “You would fall in love. But I don’t think you’ll ever get to witness it because it happens at the end of March to the beginning of April, which is when the season is in overdrive.”

“I’ll add it to my list of things I want to do when I’m retired,” I told her and then pressed play on the song she played in the car. “Now, what I want right now is for you to dance with me.” All the while making sure she knew that I was all in this. Making sure she never regretted what we had.

I held out my empty hand for her and she put her hand in mine before I pulled her to me and there, under the willow tree, I danced with her.

The minute the plane takes off, I put my seat back and close my eyes, falling asleep right away.

The flight is four hours and I wake up as the plane touches down. I grab my phone right away and turn off airplane mode before putting on my suit jacket.

I see a couple of texts that came in while I was in the air, but none from Ariella.

Me: Just landed in Nashville.

Aphrodite: Oh, are you playing my cousin Stone? Say hi for me.

I’m about to answer her when she replies right away.

Aphrodite: Actually, don’t say hi for me because then he’s going to have all these questions about when did you see me and all that jazz.

Me: All that jazz?

Aphrodite: It’s a saying, Jaxon. Don’t you have to go sharpen your skates or something?

I laugh and shake my head as I hear the guys around me start to get up.

Me: I’ll call you when I get to the hotel.

Aphrodite: Call me, what is this two thousand and four? Text me.

“What are you smiling about?” Kirby asks, getting up and opening the overhead bin to grab his bag.

I stand up in the aisle, putting my phone away, and grabbing my own bag. “No reason.”

“It’s a girl.” He smirks and gives me a smile, along with a chin lift. “Wait, I thought you and Tiffany just broke up?”

“Affirmative.” I see him look up at the ceiling of the plane. “Very fucking affirmative.”

“You really done with her?” he asks me.

“She called my mother to complain about me.” I bring up just that. “Who the fuck does that?” His eyes look like they are going to come out of his sockets. “That’s just one of the many reasons we are done.”

“Angela is going to be pissed,” he mentions his girlfriend.

“I’m sorry for Angela, but it’s safe to say it’s officially fucking over with Tiffany.”

“So is this girl someone you are into”—he snickers—“or are you just banging her?”

My look turns to ice. “Watch the mouth, yeah?” I warn and his eyebrows go up.

“Shit, this is serious.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I grab my bag. “Also fucking private, so keep it to yourself.” I look around to make sure no one else is eavesdropping into the conversation.

“Got it. Although”—he looks around also making sure—“Angela did get a call from Tiffany saying she caught you with a pu—” I tilt my head, stopping him from talking—“someone in your house.”

“Fuck,” I hiss, “of course she did. I feel like I’m in high school all over again.”

“Sorry, man.”

“Not your fault, but just so we’re on the same page, I’ve known this girl all my life. We reconnected a couple of weeks ago.” I smile when I think of her. “It’s safe to say, it’s really fucking serious.”

“No shit?” His face fills with a smile and I can see he’s happy for me.

“No shit,” I confirm, turning and walking off the plane and heading toward the waiting bus that will take us to the hotel, once our bags are transferred. Then tomorrow to the arena and then back to the airport.

I sit down and Kirby sits beside me. “I’ll tell Angela to lay off,” he mumbles, “but her and Tiffany, they were tight.”

“They can still be tight.” I look around, not wanting to have this conversation with him, but knowing I need to. “But she’s going to be around, and I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable.”

“Of course not,” he scoffs. “No fucking way that happens, and if it does, I’m going to be really pissed.”

“Thanks, man. What are the odds we win both games?” I ask him, changing the subject.

“Fifty-fifty,” he offers as the door to the bus closes and we take off.

We arrive at the hotel and step into the lobby, grabbing the key cards from them before the bags are brought in. All the guys grab their bags as we head our separate ways. A couple of the guys chat about hitting up the gym, but all I want to do is get to my room.

I walk in and toss the key card on the little table in the corner and then my bag on the floor before taking my phone out and calling her.

“You have, like, the perfect timing,” she huffs. “I just stepped foot into my apartment.”

“You didn’t text me,” I scold, trying not to fixate on the fact that she’s not at my house, but it bothers me so much.

“Oops, my bad,” she replies and I take the phone from my ear and press the FaceTime button.

“What are you doing? Are you FaceTiming me?” she groans. “No one does this anymore.”

“I do,” I tell her. “Answer the phone, I want to see you.”

“Annoying,” she mumbles and then the circle starts to spin, and her face fills the screen. Her hair looks like it’s fanned on the pillows.

“Are you lying down?” I ask her.

“Yes, which is gross since I have airplane clothes on, but it’s the couch, so it’s not that bad.”

“You tired?” I ask her.

“You could say that. I forgot how long the flight is from the West Coast to the East Coast. Plus, it’s like your child is sucking the energy right out of me,” she tries to joke.

“I thought this was our child.” I smile and see her eyes light up and, fuck, what I wouldn’t give to kiss her.

“It is, but when it does something wrong, it’s automatically yours.” I laugh at her reasoning.

“When do you go and see the doctor?” I ask her and she shrugs.

“I saw my OB/GYN in New York where she confirmed my pregnancy. She said to make an appointment with her after the twelve-week mark, which is the first trimester.”

“I want you to do whatever is easiest for you. But do you think if I send you my schedule, you can get an appointment that I can be at?” I ask her. “I already missed so much; I don’t want to miss any more.”

“Of course,” she says softly, “and you haven’t missed anything. I just don’t know where I’m going to book it.”

“I guess we should maybe think about where you are going to be having the baby,” I offer, trying to get my heart to not pound out of my chest.

“I’m obviously going to have the baby in California. I won’t be able to fly there once I get to a certain point.” The tension leaves my body. “And the logistics of you coming here if my water breaks and the flight is six hours…”

“Do you think you can come back to California soon?” I ask her.

“I don’t know, I have to check my schedule,” she answers softly. “I took the last three days off. Besides, are you even going to be there?”

“I get home Saturday night, I think.” I pull up the travel schedule. “Yeah, we fly out after the game, arriving at like two a.m.” Her eyes go big. “But I get two whole weeks at home.”

“Wow, that’s long.”

“Yeah, I have six games in those two weeks. But all at home.”

“When do you normally play?” she asks me.

“Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday,” I answer her, “and we have practices on the off days, except on Sunday and Friday.”

“So you’ll be home at night except for game nights?” she asks and I nod my head.

“Okay, I’ll look at my schedule and see if I can make it work.” She turns on her side.

“Whatever it takes to get you here I’ll do. I’m not spending days without you again.” My voice goes higher at the end. “I really want to kiss you, Ariella,” I tell her softly, turning to the side and pretending I’m lying beside her.

“You are going to have to save all those kisses, Jaxon.” She smiles.

“And then what? Do I hand in coupons when I see you?” She barks out laughter. “I love when you laugh as much as when you moan out my name.”

She rolls her eyes. “You just got the coupon taken away and tossed in the garbage.” Now it’s my turn to laugh.

“What?” My eyes look into hers. “I like when you laugh but nothing can compare to when you moan out my name.”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Am I turning you on right now?” I ask her, seeing her eyes change right before mine. “Baby, this is going to be the longest four days of my life,” I admit to her. “I’m used to waking up to you sucking my cock.”

She gasps. “That happened one time and you were already up, ‘massaging’”—she uses one hand to air quote—“my breast.”

“I was just making sure you didn’t go anywhere.”

“By tweaking and rolling my nipple.” She chuckles.

“Then you ground that ass into my cock,” I remind her and I groan as I reach down to fix myself.

“Is your cock hard?” she mocks me. “Oh, poor little baby.”

“Hey, watch the words when you are talking about my cock. At no time should you mention little in the same sentence.”

“Jaxon,” she hisses and laughs at the same time.

“You make me feel so full, Jaxon,” I mimic her, making her laugh even more. “It’s so big.” I follow it up, even though she has never said it. “Never little and cock together.”

“Noted,” she says when she stops laughing. “Now I’m going to go and order something to eat.”

“And?”

“And then take a shower.” She sits up.

“And?” I repeat the word.

“And get into bed.” She tries not to smile.

“And?”

“And not call you back,” she snaps out.

“That’s not what I meant.” I grab a pillow beside me and tuck it under my head. “You have to check your schedule.”

“I already did while you were going on and on about how I can’t say little and cock in the same sentence. It’s called multitasking, it’s a great thing, you should try it sometime.”

“Yet here you are, doing it again.” I raise my eyebrows and she laughs. “So what did you decide?”

She looks at me, prolonging the answer on purpose. “Well,” she starts, trying not to smile but failing and it makes me smile back at her, “I can come.”

The smile on my face gets even bigger. “I’m going to have to cash in a lot of coupons,” I tell her. “I should run a count”—I wink at her—“and coupons for other things also.”