Jilted Jock : A Hero Club Novel Read online

  “Mommy,” CJ’s sweet sleepy voice came from the doorway of his room and Aubrey looked at me with big, pleading eyes.

  “Go on, I’ve got Finn.”

  She ran toward my nephew’s room and I wrapped my arm tighter around Finn’s waist. He was easily six feet tall and though he was lean like a soccer player, he was still a wall of muscle that was trying to crash to the floor as I practically dragged him to the couch. And I thought a limp CJ was heavy.

  He was still in his tux – crisp black with a white shirt. The bowtie hung loose, and the top buttons were undone. He had a hint of a five o’clock shadow, hair messy. I was certain it was the result of running his fingers through it, but it gave him a just sexed look that really worked on him.

  I heaved a sigh when he laid back on the couch, head thrown back. He looked at me, really looked at me. Now that I wasn’t trying to keep him upright, the smell of him was doing a number on me. Liquor and a hint of male. A combination I could, and often had, overdone it on.

  “You’re Chance’s sister, Adele,” Finn said, rough Australian accent vibrating my insides and reminding me of home.

  “That’s right.”

  His lip pulled up on one side revealing a dimple and a half smile. “You’re prettier than your brother.”

  I chuckled and his gaze went to my lips and then slid away. “Is that a goat?”

  On cue, Pixy gave a loud, “Baa.”

  I pulled Pixy by the collar into the kitchen, holding my breath until I thought I was far enough away I wouldn’t be able to smell him anymore. The man not the goat.

  I hadn’t been high in years, but I didn’t think I’d ever stop missing that just-left-the-bar smell. Alcohol hadn’t been my drug of choice, but men like Finn, damaged and emotionally unavailable, were almost as big of a weakness as the drugs had been.

  Aubrey came out of CJ’s room with that motherly smile she got on her face. It was especially glowy when her son was asleep.

  “How was he?” she asked, pulling her dark red hair back in a low ponytail.

  “Perfect, as usual.”

  She lifted one brow. Okay, so my nephew was as rambunctious and high energy as they came, but I adored him.

  “What is Finn McCash doing on your couch on his wedding night? And where is Chance?”

  “The bride didn’t show,” she whispered and then grimaced. “We were all waiting for the ceremony to begin, and then her parents announced there wouldn’t be a wedding, gave their apologies, and that was it. There were so many people there, Adele. And everyone staring at Finn to see what he was going to do. He looked so… hurt and shocked. God, it was hard to watch.”

  My mind spun trying to imagine it. Aubrey grabbed a mug and offered me one. I shook my head and stared off into space while she turned the kettle on.

  While waiting for the water to boil, she leaned against the counter. “Chance and I stayed with him all night. He refused to leave the venue like he was hoping she still might show up.”

  “You just stayed there waiting this whole time?”

  She nodded. “He’d already hired the bartender so we sat at what should have been his wedding reception and watched him drink himself stupid, not that I could blame him. It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “And she never showed?” I whispered more to myself than anything. God, how awful.

  I peered around the doorway that led into the living room and caught a glimpse of his long legs splayed out in front of him and his head leaned back on the cushion of the couch.

  I couldn’t smell him anymore, but just the sight of him had me covering my mouth and nose reflexively.

  “Oh my gosh, I didn’t think. Are you okay? He smells like a spring break dance club.”

  “I’m fine.” I waved her off. “So where is Chance and why is Finn here? Didn’t he have somewhere you could drop him?”

  “Chance went to Finn’s apartment to grab a few things. We tried to take Finn there, but he said, and I quote, ‘I’ll burn in hell before I step foot in that place again’. He shared it with the fiancée, so I guess I get that. Anyway, we didn’t know what else to do. It didn’t seem right to make him spend his wedding night in a hotel all alone.” She lowered her voice again. “She left him for one of his teammates.”

  Being around soccer players my whole life, I knew how close teammates often were. God, I couldn’t imagine.

  “Wow.” It was the only response I could muster. The failing of love and heartbreak always seemed to hit me harder than others. It was like I was constantly watching for things to break so I could see them put back together. Proof that it could happen and a reminder that I was going to be okay.

  “Thanks for watching CJ tonight. I know you’d probably rather be visiting Richard in New York. Was he disappointed you couldn’t fly out to see him this weekend?”

  I smiled thinking about my boyfriend and the stability he brought to my life. “No, he was working anyway. He’s coming for a visit in two weeks, so I’ll see him then.”

  A groan from the living room reminded us we weren’t alone. Aubrey straightened. “Go. I can handle Finn.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to wait for Chance?”

  “Nah, I’ve got it. Girl’s night this week?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  I walked through the apartment passing Finn one last time. He’d taken off his jacket and unbuttoned his white dress shirt the rest of the way. Light brown hair trailed down his chest and disappeared into the top of his black pants. Rippled muscles, skin tan and taut. I swallowed and forced my gaze up to his disheveled head of hair and the broken expression on his face. Eyes closed but brows still furrowed, mouth pulled into a tight line.

  The urge to help him was so absurdly strong. I didn’t even know this guy, but I could see how much pain he was in and I hated it. I’d been there. Different circumstances, but one shattered soul recognized another. I hoped that he’d be able to pick up the pieces as I had.

  With one final look back, I walked out the front door.

  I spent Sunday afternoon painting the accent wall in my living room. It was between Lux or Hyper blue and when I’d reached the front of the paint counter, I blurted out the latter. It was a great color, but admittedly it might have had something to do with the fact Finn had been on my mind nonstop since last night.

  It was really none of my business, but I couldn’t get his tortured face out of my head. After the wall was done, I decided to get out of the house for some fresh air. I took off for a walk around the block and dialed Richard.

  “Hey,” he answered in a rush. “One second.” His muffled voice gave orders to someone else, “Email me the spreadsheet and I’ll take a look. The numbers are off somewhere and we need to find it.” There were a few moments of silence before he spoke again. “Hey, sorry about that.”

  “You’re at work still?”

  He sighed and I heard his squeaky desk chair and knew he’d stepped into his office to talk. I could almost see him sitting there in a button-down shirt, his dark hair neatly styled with just a touch of gel. “Yeah, I was hoping we could get out early today and I could enjoy at least a few hours of my weekend, but there’s just too much to do and not enough of us to do it.”

  “You say that every weekend,” I reminded him, smiling as I cradled the phone to my ear. He was consistent and reliable from his schedule to his wardrobe of black slacks and button-down shirts, and even what he ate most days. I loved that about him. I always knew what to expect.

  “I think we put twenty hours in this weekend. I’m getting too old for this.”

  “You’re not old,” I insisted. “Thirty-six is young.”

  “Says the woman who just turned thirty.”

  “Six years is not that big of a difference.”

  He grunted. “Six years ago, I worked ten hours a day, seven days a week and I could have worked more. I had stamina.”

  My mind flitted to Finn, six years my junior. Those muscles and the cocky dete
rmination of youth still worn like a second skin. I bet he had stamina.

  “Adele?”

  “Sorry what?” I shook my head and squeezed my eyes closed trying to force the memory of Finn out of my head.

  “I asked how your weekend was, did you and CJ have a good time last night?”

  “Oh. Yeah, we did. I took him and Pixy to the park so CJ could run off some energy. You should see him. He’s already figured out how to pump his little legs to swing and he followed this one little girl around picking her dandelions until her mum started giving me concerned looks. Little man’s got game. Gonna be just like his daddy.”

  “Good, good,” he said absently. He cleared his throat. “I should get back out there so we can finish up. I’ll call you when I get back to my place tonight.”

  “Yeah, of course.” My face heated. I’d been blabbing on and on and obviously he needed to get back to work. Long-distance relationships were tricky sometimes. Finding times to talk that were convenient for both of us was a massive feat some days. “Talk to you later.”

  After we hung up, I slowed my pace and delayed going back to my empty house. With Richard in New York, I’d gotten used to spending time by myself. Evenings, weekends, holidays. Not always, of course. We saw each other at least once a month and we’d been able to spend a handful of holidays and long weekends together. Plus, Chance and Aubrey lived close – less than a block from my house actually, so it wasn’t like I was a shut in. Aubrey and I did girl’s nights out, I went over for dinner or to watch CJ. My life wasn’t empty, but sometimes being in my house all alone it felt that way.

  Later that night, I settled in my newly painted living room enjoying the bright pop of color and how clean and fresh it looked. It was amazing how much more at home I felt with such a small change. Richard and I had been planning on moving in together when he got the job opportunity in New York and since then my life had sort of been on hold. I’d put off making any changes waiting for the day we could make it ours or find a new place. I’d been looking at paint samples for over a year, telling myself it was silly to paint a wall I might not be looking at for long. Now, I wish I’d done it sooner.

  I turned on the TV and then opened my laptop to check my work email and schedule for tomorrow. Then I went to my favorite recipe site. I was a terrible cook, but it was like window shopping for the shoes you could never afford. Except I perused recipes that I had no intention of making. I spent hours reading the most complicated and advanced meals and looking up words like macerate.

  Tonight, I was learning how to make baked Alaska (A dessert that apparently took over six hours to make!) and watching Bear Grylls try to survive the Arctic Circle on TV. Recipes and survival TV were my guilty pleasures.

  Bear stripped off all his clothes to cross Arctic waters and I was wondering, not for the first time, what sort of person did that without a real life/death scenario forcing them into it. Probably the same person who whipped up a six-hour dessert.

  A box of raisins, a cup of tea... yeah, that was as much adventure as I was getting tonight. Maybe if I felt really wild, I’d stay up late and watch another episode or two. Yawning at the thought, my phone rang with an incoming call from Chance.

  I answered, eyes still glued to the TV, “Did you know hypothermia happens at just three degrees below core body temperature?”

  “Can you stay with CJ for an hour?”

  I closed my laptop and set it on the coffee table. “Of course, is everything okay?”

  “Aubrey is at the shelter and I need to take Finn to a hotel.”

  “O-kay.” Why was Finn even still there?

  “We think he’s allergic to the cat or maybe he’s sick, but I don’t think so.”

  “The cat?”

  “Finn’s cat.”

  “He’s allergic to his own cat?”

  “Not Finn. CJ’s allergic.”

  Right. That made more sense. “I’ll be right down.”

  I walked into Chance’s less than five minutes later. Finn paced the entry way, bag thrown over his shoulder. We locked eyes and my face heated. That tortured expression hadn’t left his face, but without the drunken haze around him it was so much more intense.

  I looked away first and down to the adorable kitten circling his feet.

  “Oh my goodness.” I rushed to get a better look. “She’s beautiful. What’s her name?”

  Finn stared at me with a blank, uninterested glare. “She’s not mine.”

  The kitten was absolutely beautiful. A Bengal, white with exquisite spotting like a leopard. I ran my hand over her head and down her back and she meowed and nudged my hand for more.

  “Where’s the nearest hotel? You can just call me an Uber.” Finn’s voice, agitated and rough, sent chills down my spine.

  “It’s fine, mate,” Chance said. “Adele will stay with CJ and I’ll take you.”

  The kitten darted off and I went to where CJ sat on the couch and squatted in front of him. His eyes were red and glassy, and he held his stuffed goat, a mini replica of the family pet, tight against his chest. I knew he was out of sorts by the fact he was sitting still, but when he lifted his head and met my smile, my heart broke.

  “Not feeling well?”

  He sniffled. “Want Mommy.”

  Chance swooped in and sat beside his son. “She’s going to be home real soon, little man. Aunt Adele is going to stay with you while I take Finn and kitty to a hotel.”

  CJ snuggled up to him and ditched his stuffy to wrap his arms around his dad and started crying. “Nooo,” he whimpered.

  My brother very rarely looked conflicted, but the pained twist of his features told me he didn’t want to go anywhere either.

  “I can take Finn to the hotel,” I offered.

  Chance picked his head up and before he could mask it, I saw the relief in his expression. Followed quickly by the shake of his head. “No, it’s okay.”

  I lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “It’s fine.”

  My brother’s reluctance was clear. His lips flattened into an uncertain, apprehensive grimace.

  “It’s really no problem. I brought my car.”

  “Alright, yeah, that would be great if it’s okay with Finn.”

  Finn’s scowl deepened, but he shrugged those broad shoulders.

  “Thank you.” My brother smiled appreciatively.

  The kitten brushed against my leg and I picked her up eager to pet her more. She was so friendly. Finn’s gaze followed my every move with his cat – or not his cat, there was obviously a story there, but I wasn’t about to ask.

  “Are you ready?” I looked in his general direction but avoided direct eye contact. The kitten took this opportunity to swat at my hair getting her paw caught in the long strands. I tried to detangle her, but somehow just made it worse. She meowed and pulled, and I yelped.

  “Ouch. Uhh, little help.” I wasn’t going to get free on my own. I looked to Chance, who was closest, but he had turned his focus back to CJ. “Can you…” Finally, I lifted my gaze to Finn and pleaded.

  He stepped into my space and reflexively I held my breath. He was just so… overwhelming. Broody in a way that seemed all wrong for him. His hands in my hair felt strangely intimate and I cast my eyes at the kitten as a distraction.

  “She’s adorable. What’s her name?”

  “I told you, she’s not mine,” he said, finally pulling the cat free. He moved away, the cat lying calmly between his forearm and chest. She looked pretty damn content like he wore cat nip as cologne.

  “Does she know that?”

  He grunted and leaned over to place the kitten in her carrier.

  After the guys said their goodbyes, Finn and I headed out.

  “My car is just…” I trailed off and pointed.

  He nodded, and we fell quiet again. I walked a few paces ahead of him but snuck a glance behind me. His head hung down and his gait slow. It was hard to reconcile this Finn with the man Chance had talked about. And even if I hadn’t known anyt
hing about him, I’d grown up around guys like Finn my whole life. Cocky, brave, full of life.

  I unlocked the car and got in the driver’s seat while Finn placed his bags and the carrier in the back.

  “Which hotel?” I asked as he folded himself into my compact car.

  “Whatever’s closest.”

  I rattled off the hotels I could think of off the top of my head.

  “Any of those.”

  The ride was unbearably quiet. Finn spent it with his eyes closed and the kitten meowed incessantly, obviously not a fan of the carrier or maybe the car. My guess was both – the little I knew about Bengals included their excitement level.

  I pulled up to the door and stopped. “We’re here. Do you want me to help you in?”

  He opened his eyes and glanced to the front door. “Nah. Thanks.”

  “Okay then. Nice knowing you.”

  Nice knowing you? I cringed and kept my eyes forward while he grabbed his things.

  The valet approached. “I’m sorry sir we don’t allow pets.”

  “I’ll pay whatever—” His voice cut off as he slammed the door shut behind him. So confident that he could fix the problem by puffing out his chest and tossing out more money.

  I stole a glance in the side mirror. Finn pointed to the kitten and threw his hands up as the valet shook his head with an apologetic smile.

  He didn’t say a word when he opened the door, tossed his stuff back in and then climbed into the passenger seat.

  I drove to the next hotel without comment, but we were given nearly the identical treatment.

  “It’s a kitten, not a hundred-pound dog. I’ll keep her in the carrier,” Finn tried to reason, but in less than a minute he was back in the front seat with a frustrated growl.

  At the third hotel, he left the kitten and his bag in the back and told me he’d be right back. When he returned, the thin line of his mouth told me he’d been turned down again.

  He flung the door open, but instead of getting in he hovered with one arm on the top and the other on the passenger side door. “Listen, I need you to take the cat.”