Edge of Glory (Friendship, Texas Book 1) (19 page)

I looked up to see Billy and Mike running toward me as I walked through the sand to the shore.

"Did you just do what I think you did?" Mike asked, staring at me with his eyes wide.

I kept walking toward Jay as the guys looked at me then behind me on the beach. I heard some whispers and Layna's cries, but I ignored it, keeping my focus on Jay.

When he finally saw me, his smile faded and he excused himself from the group, walking toward me. "Hey, babe, I've been looking for you. What's up?"

"What's up? What's up is that your girlfriend just cold-clocked Layna," Billy said.

Jay's eyes widened. "What?"

Mike adjusted his camera. "Hey. We need to get a replay of that. We were too far out to get a good view. Do you think you and Layna can do that again? The whole conversation and then the punch? Maybe not as hard this time though."

I looked from Mike to Billy then my eyes finally drifted to Jay's. It was the first time I'd ever seen disappointment in his eyes.

I didn't know if he wanted me to say “yes.” To do what made the producers happy.

This would be my spotlight on TV. This would take me from lonely girl to...to the girl with the punch heard around the world.

Not looking at Mike or Billy, I took Jay's hand. "I'm ready to go."

"Babe, I can't just leave. It's my sister's wedding," he said, lowering his voice.
Putting on the biggest smile he could, Jay put his arm around my waist. "What do you say we go and have a drink, do some dancing, and you can meet some people?"
"Why? So you don't have to worry about your awkward girlfriend being a misfit at every event? I'm not going to go have a drink so you can get drunk and make an ass of yourself and that'll be what goes on all those trashy news outlets. The awkward girlfriend and drunken swimmer." The words came out sharper than I intended and Jay winced as if I'd punched him as well.
"Shit, can you say that again? Same emotion? We didn't get sound on it," Billy asked.
Mike fiddled with the camera.
"We can always add it in during studio time as well."
I looked between Jay and Billy then ripped the mic off my back and handed it to Billy. "No."
Stomping in the opposite direction, I didn't look behind me until Jay was at my back and spun me around. "What the hell was that about, Lia? PMS or something?"
I gritted my teeth. "Did you tell your ex-girlfriend you were worried about me being an outsider here?"
Jay tilted his head. "What? Are you seriously worried about something my drunk ex-girlfriend said?"
I sighed. "Just tell me if it's true."
He looked down at the ground and raked his fingers through his hair that had been growing out. "I mean yeah I may have mentioned that I was worried about you not knowing anyone but I didn't mean anything by it."
"Then what did you mean?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
Jay stared at me. Even in the moonlight, his blue eyes shone brighter than the deepest ocean. "I meant that you always find this way to put a wall up between you and other people. Even me. Brick by brick I've been trying to take it down. Get you out of your comfort zone and see the smart, sexy, and fun girl that the rest of the world should see and not just me. But then you go right back to putting that wall up as soon as things get hard."
Sofie may have just said something similar that I agreed with, but when it came from Jay it was a bigger sting.
I blinked hard and unclenched and clenched my fist. "Maybe you should find a girl who’s easier. Who you don't have to break down. Don't have to be worried about. Then you can just knock down those walls and not be on the edge. You can just go full cray. Smoke it up!"
"Lia..."
He went to put his arm around me but I backed up and shook my head, willing myself not to cry.
"I'm going to take a cab back to the hotel. Maybe sleep off my PMS or something."
Jay shook his head and licked his lips. "Babe. Don't do that, come on."
"I need to. I've already made a big enough scene and I just...I need to go..."
I turned around and kicked off my shoes then ran.
I knew he could catch me if he wanted to. I wanted him to.
But he didn't.
He didn't show up at the front of the resort where I waited twenty minutes for a cab. He didn't show up while I laid on the couch in the big hotel room.
As I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, I prayed that he would come back. That maybe he'd still want to break down my walls.
Or maybe I knew this was the beginning of the end.

I woke up with my back aching. For such a nice place, it had the most uncomfortable couch in the world.

I didn't hear Jay come in the night before.

A sinking feeling went down in my gut. Maybe he never came back to the room.

Standing up, I stretched out and walked over to the bedroom, praying that I'd see him sprawled across the bed.

But he wasn't.

The bed was unmade and a mess with his clothes from the night before on the floor, so at least that was a good sign.

I glanced at the clock beside the bed.

Five-thirty.

If he wasn't in bed and his clothes were on the floor....

I didn't need to check anywhere else. Running into the bathroom, I rummaged through my bag and found my bathing suit at the bottom. Quickly, I freshened up and put it on, thanking the stars I remembered to pack it.

It felt like the longest elevator ride ever to the pool.

There was a sign on the big glass door that gave pool hours starting at ten AM. Of course the staff would break those rules for Jay Morningstar.

A large man with a shaved head and a no-nonsense face stood by the door wearing a polo with the hotels logo inscribed over the breast pocket.

"Sorry, ma'am, pool's closed," he said, crossing his large arms over his broad chest.

"My boyfriend's in there." I stared at the man, trying to figure out how I could convince him I wasn’t some random fangirl.

He smirked. "You’re not the first girl to run here saying that. Sorry, ma'am. You can come back when the pool opens."

"No. He really is my boyfriend, see!" I pulled my phone out of my purse, silently patting myself on the back for remembering it, and scrolled through my pictures. I pulled up all the ones of Jay and me, practically pushing them in the man's face.

The guy sighed. "Okay. Okay. You made your point. I'm just hoping this isn't photoshopped and I have to call the cops."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not that desperate."

Don't look so desperate
.

Those words haunted me. How many people had said that to me and how many more would?

The man put a keycard in the door and then opened it.

The room was completely empty and the air was stale, almost suffocating. The only sound was the lapping of Jay's arms as he moved through the pool.

I stood at one end and watched him glide through the water like he was a part of it. That nothing else was going to bother him.

It wasn't until he got closer that I noticed he was only moving his arms and his thighs were holding a blue foam thing between them. He used all of his upper body to move  and kept his legs together, squeezing the foam thing.

Instead of waiting for him to notice me, I jumped in and waved my arms and legs frantically until he finally lifted his head then slowly made his way over to the wall.

I wasn't exactly the best swimmer, so I stayed gripped tightly onto the side and waited.

Shaking his head, he pulled off his goggles, putting them on the floor next to the edge of the pool. Then he removed the foam spoon shaped thing from between his thighs and set it next to his goggles.

"Hey." He shook his head again like a wet dog.

"Hey yourself, dude-who-is-swimming-with-some-kind-of-pillow-between-his-legs."

He smirked and wiped his face. "I'm glad that's the first thing you decided to say to me this morning. No, 'Hey, I'm going to get waffles'."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not really thinking about food. I woke up and you weren't in bed, so I figured you were down here."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? You weren't in bed either when I came home. You were curled up on the couch and I didn't think you'd want to sleep with me after you ran off last night."

"You didn't stop me from running."

Jay blinked, his eyes staying on the water. "I thought you needed the space."

I sighed. "Maybe I just thought I needed it. Maybe you were right about me building walls. It's easier to shut people out than letting them in."

Slowly Jay lifted his head and those beautiful blue eyes of his met mine. "The best things in life aren't easy. Sometimes we have to work harder. Push harder. It takes time, but in the end, it's always worth it."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Are you talking about me or swimming?"

He smirked and picked up the foam thing from the side of the pool. "Let's use this pull buoy to demonstrate what I'm talking about."

"Uh..."

With one fell swoop, he had his hands between my thighs, slowly prying them apart, only to push the foam thing between them and shut my thighs again.

"What is this?" I tried to pull my legs apart but Jay kept his hands on either side of my thighs, holding them in place.

"Don't move. You have to keep your legs together to hold it in place. I use it for practice. To work my upper body through the pool. I hold onto this with my thighs and only use my arms to do my sets. At first it was hella hard and it would keep slipping out and floating to the top. But then I slowly built up my arm strength and now it's an added bonus when I need the workout."

"So...you're basically saying I'm like this pull buoy and you have to work harder to have me around?"

He laughed, blowing air out of his nose as he shook his head. "Always the smartass."

I sighed. "Okay. I get it. I'm a pain in the ass. I make jokes about everything. But, you know what? This is all new to me too, okay? I'm trying, but sometimes it's hard as hell when you have a boyfriend who's this perfect Greek God with all of these people that love him. Even when you mess up, people still can't stop talking about you and love you. I'm just the geeky waitress with an affinity for weird music."

"I haven't always been some great swimmer. I was just another kid in the pool. I just worked my ass off to get here. I didn't let things stop me when it got hard, I kept pushing. I know you're scared and I know it's overwhelming, but babe, I'm going to be with you. I'm not going to leave just because things get tough. I love a challenge and though you're going to give me hell for calling you a challenge, you are one and I love it."

I tightened my thighs on the buoy. All of the heat and pressure was definitely going below the belt now and not just because I had a big foam thing between my thighs. Then of course my smart mouth had to speak up.

"But last night...you didn't come after me...I thought…"

He shook his head. "What you thought was probably right. That I should have chased you down and forced you to come back to the party. I should have gone all Tarzan on you, thrown you over my shoulder, and ran into the ocean with you until you screamed at me then maybe cried then laughed and went back to the party. But, Lia, you have to forgive me. I'm just a big, dumb jock and sometimes I'm not always thinking straight. Sometimes I can only focus on one thing and can't figure out how to fix that thing, so I just sing in my head and let the current take me where it's going to go."

I raised an eyebrow. "So instead of chasing after me, you just sang ‘The Edge of Glory’ over and over in your head?"

He laughed. "Yeah, pretty much. Well, that and had a lot of questions from Mike and Billy."

I bit my bottom lip. "I saw the contract...we're supposed to pretend we're together, even if we break up, until after the show premieres."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I had the same thing in mine. I tried to tell him that this isn't some sort of publicity thing and I wouldn't have brought you to my sister's wedding if I didn't plan on keeping you around, but whatever. You know he's just trying to cover his ass."

"And Layna?"

"What about her?"

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, careful to keep the buoy between my thighs so it didn't shoot up and knock me in the face. "She said some pretty nasty things to me, it's why I cold-clocked her. I assume she had more to say after I left."

"Yeah. She did, but I told her I didn't want to hear it and hung out with my sister, who said that she liked you and it was about time someone hit that chick."

I couldn't help but laugh at that one, which caused the pull buoy to pop out from between my thighs and float to the top of the water.

"Sorry," I muttered. "You have to have really strong thighs for that thing. Yours have to be killer."

He smirked and picked up the pull buoy, putting it between his own thighs with ease. "I've worked on them."

"I bet you have." Immediately my face flushed.

Grinning, Jay put his arms around my waist and pulled me toward him, pressing his chest to mine, his hands trailing down to my lower back. "Don't worry, we have time to work on your grip."

I swallowed hard to keep down the weird sound that was gurgling deep in my throat. The guy could turn me on when I didn't even know I could be. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. "Maybe you could use more of a workout..."

He raised his eyebrows in question.

I mustered up all of the courage I'd ever had and glanced at the door behind Jay. The door guy wasn't looking in and there was no one else around. Sucking in a deep breath, I placed my hand between us, brushing my fingertips on the waistband of his Speedo.

"Trying to break my concentration?" he asked.

"Is that a problem?" I whispered, slowly sliding my fingers to his sensitive flesh.

The muscles of his stomach tightened. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

Chewing on my bottom lip, I looked up to meet his gaze as my fingers made their way around his length, which was pretty impressive and I could barely get my fingers around it.

Aside from never seeing a man’s erection in person, I’d also definitely never felt one in the flesh. Nothing prepared me for the hard ridges and smooth lines that came along with it.

Jay's eyes fluttered closed as my hands made my way up and down his length.

"Lia, you don't have to do this." His words came out in short gasps as he gripped onto the edge of the pool.

"I know. But I want to. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing, but I want to do it. I want to make you happy," I murmured, leaning into him and picking up the pace as I moved my hand up and down his shaft.

"You do make me happy." His lips crashed to mine, as he pulled me closer. To the guy at the door it would have just looked like an intense make out session instead of the heavy breathing and shivering on both parts. I didn't know I could get turned on by feeling him turned on, but holy balls I wished I had that pull buoy to squeeze onto.

Jay pulled back slightly and bit my bottom lip before his head rolled back slightly and he cursed under his breath.

"Am I doing it right?" I whispered, slowing down. Crap. This was my first time ever doing this and I probably sucked.

His beautiful blue eyes met my gaze and then he put his hand on top of mine, working my hand in a slow rhythm up and down his length. "That's how I like it."

It was one of the sexiest things I'd ever seen. Watching him show me how it was done. I moved my hand with his and then picked up the pace. He moved his hand to grip onto the wall.

"Lia, I'm about to…oh…oh…OH!"

My eyes widened as the pull buoy shot out of the water and Jay moaned my name. A warm sensation filled my hands and Jay's breathing slowed down, his heart beating wildly as he pulled me closer to him and kissed me so fiercely that it took my breath away.

"Was that okay?" I asked once my lips were finally removed from his.

He laughed slightly and slid himself back in his Speedo before grabbing the pull buoy and putting it on the ground next to the pool. "Well, you did a good job at making me lose my grip. Luckily that's not an Olympic event or I might not make it for the gold."

I couldn't even think of something to say to that. I usually had a smartass comment for everything, but the guy had my speechless for once.

Jay smiled and kissed me again. "I guess this means practice is over and I should clean up."

"Uh...me too...unless chlorine kills that stuff."

He shook his head. "I don't know. I'm guessing my little swimmers are as good as I am, so you may want to get checked out."

I shoved him, even though it did nothing to move him.

"Ow," he joked. "Don't. I'm post coital and tender."

I rolled my eyes and slowly pulled myself out of the water and sat at the edge of the pool with my feet dangling in.

Jay sat next to me and bumped my shoulder. "So, are we okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I would think you would’ve picked that up by now."

He laughed. "You're the smart one in this relationship."

I kissed him lightly and he cupped my face, bringing me in to deepen the kiss.

Maybe I wasn't the smart one. Every part of me wanted to put walls up and separate us, yet I couldn't help but melt every single resistance I had when it came to my golden boy.