Touchdown Daddy (152 page)

Chelsey had picked out the only dress that remained unwrinkled and clean in her closet. It was a knee-length navy shift dress that she’d bought during college, several years ago. She styled her hair into a neat chignon on the right, lightly dusted her eyes with a muted copper eyeshadow and picked a matching copper lipstick for the evening. Thankfully, she had a pair of black pumps and a black velvet clutch to go with the dress.

She caught a quick reflection of herself on the top of the Keels’ front door just before Hannah opened it. Hannah was in a long, red silk dress with a back that plunged right down to the small of her waist. She had on a matching bright red lipstick and dangling gold earrings. She looked ravishing, as always.

“You made it.” She lunged forward and gave Chelsey a tight hug. “And you look amazing. Your hair is gorgeous” she added, as they gently pulled apart.

“Thanks, Hannah. You look lovely too,” Chelsey said, as Hannah shut the door behind her. Their house was teeming with people and there was low classical music playing in the living room. Chelsey recognized several faces from the neighborhood and people she had been introduced to when she frequented the Keels home.

“We have to talk when I get the chance. Can I get you a drink first?” Hannah asked with a smile, as if the dramatic scene outside Chelsey’s house the previous night had never even happened.

“Yes, please. I could do with some wine,” Chelsey said, and Hannah smiled and flew away towards the kitchen, her beautiful dress trailing behind her as she walked, exchanging smiles and nods with people along the way. Hannah was always the center of attention; it clearly ran in the family.

“Hello, Chelsey.” She heard a voice behind her and whipped around, almost dropping her clutch. Aron was standing at the door of the living room with a glass of whiskey in his hand. He was in a dark tailored suit which matched his hair. A gray shirt peeped out from within the folds and the collar was left slightly open at the neck. He was looking at her with his piercing green eyes, a soft grin lingering on his face.

“Hello, Aron. How are you?” she managed to say, and dropped her gaze towards the floor. She could feel herself blushing. He was aging gracefully. The sharpness of his jaw was more pronounced now and she could smell the masculine, musky scent of his cologne from several feet away.

“I’m very well. Hannah was worried that you wouldn’t turn up,” he said, and took a few steps towards her. Chelsey looked up and tried to smile at him.

“I’ve been busy. But here I am,” she said, adding a flourishing laugh at the end of that. He didn’t laugh, but he continued to grin at her. He was standing very close to her now, and try as she might Chelsey couldn’t look directly at him any longer.

“Where have you been, Chelsey? It’s like you fell right off the Earth,” he said, taking a long, slow sip from his glass. She noticed the same Rolex on his wrist, how his voice had changed a little, grown deeper and smoother over the course of the three years since she last saw him.

“I’ve been right here. My plans for New York didn’t work out,” she said nervously. With her beating heart and her sweaty palms and his eyes focused on her, she couldn’t come up with appropriate excuses or lies. He leaned towards her more, and she could feel his breath on the loose strands of her hair that were resting on her nose.

“Why? Why didn’t you tell us that you’ve been here all along? I’ve been thinking of you,” he said, and when she lifted up her eyes to look at him, he was staring directly into hers. The smile on his face was close to mocking her. She could barely breathe. It was like he was gripping her heart with a tight fist.

“There you are. You found her!” Hannah’s voice interrupted them and she came up to Chelsey with two glasses of red wine in her hands. Chelsey grabbed a glass from her and sipped from it quickly, thankful for the distraction.

Aron smiled at his younger sister and then looked back towards Chelsey.

“I was trying to find out why she’s been in this godforsaken town all these years,” Aron said, and Hannah laughed.

“Good luck trying to extract that information. I’ve been trying since yesterday. My guess is that Chelsey has secretly married a man who she wants to keep hidden away from us,” Hannah said with a laugh, and nudged Chelsey with her elbow.

Chelsey’s eyes were on Aron and she noticed how his eyes darkened. His expression changed for a second and his lips tightened to a straight line. But that only lasted for a few seconds. He cleared his throat and looked away from them.

“Is that true, Chelsey? Have you gone and found yourself a husband?” He looked back at the two girls with a wide smile on his face, which Chelsey instantly recognized to be forced.

“Like I told Hannah last night, no. I’m not married,” she said, and took another long sip from her glass of wine. Aron’s eyes seemed to relax, and he nodded and smiled again.

“I’m going to go see if I can find mom and dad and tell them you’re here,” Hannah said, and patted Chelsey on her back before walking away in a flurry.

“There’s nothing Hannah has ever loved more than a party,” Aron said, watching his sister walk away, before turning his eyes back on Chelsey.

“By the looks of it, if the papers are to be believed, you don’t mind a good party yourself, do you?” Chelsey said, surprising herself by the caustic tone of her voice. Aron’s eyes widened and then he laughed.

“You’ve been keeping track of me, then. I knew you would,” he said, with a short laugh, and then he emptied the remnants of the whiskey into his mouth. Chelsey didn’t respond to that, but only rolled her eyes to dismiss his statement.

“Come with me. I wanna show you something,” Aron said, and suddenly he grabbed Chelsey’s arm, dragging her with him towards the spiral stairs that led to the bedrooms upstairs.

“Slow down. Where are we going?” Chelsey yelled out, trying to make herself heard over the loud conversations and the music around her.

“To my old bedroom,” he said, turning around to throw her a quick smile and a wink. Chelsey felt faint.

Chelsey wriggled her hand free from Aron’s as they walked down the corridor towards his old bedroom.

“What are you doing? What do you have to show me?” she asked him. She couldn’t hide the dread and anxiety from her voice. Aron stopped in front of his door and turned to face her.

“Don’t worry. This’ll only take a minute. You’ll like it, trust me,” he said, and pushed the door open. Chelsey breathed in deeply before following him inside, into the room she remembered so well. It looked exactly the same: the neat double bed, the NHL posters on the wall, the bottle-green curtains at the window and the photographs of Aron and his family on a board.

Aron was shuffling through papers and books on his study table in the corner of the room, while Chelsey stood looking at him in the dim light of the table lamp. She couldn’t believe this was happening, that she was alone with him, in his room, again. It was like his last night in town, three years ago, all over again. He turned to look at her suddenly, and they held each others gaze for a few seconds.

“What do you have to show me, Aron?” Chelsey asked him, curtly. He smiled. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands, which he stretched out towards her now. It took her only a few seconds to recognize it, after which she looked away, refusing to look at it.

“What’s the matter? It’s the letter you left for me on the table after I went away. I found it this morning.” He wasn’t smiling anymore, and his arm remained outstretched towards her. Chelsey continued facing the window.

“I know what it is. Why are you showing it to me?” She tried to keep her voice level, but it was a struggle. She couldn’t understand why he would put her through this, after so many years. What kind of joy was he deriving out of putting her through this misery?

“Because it’s lovely and sweet. I didn’t even know it existed until this morning. I’ve been an ass and haven’t visited home since I left,” he said softly, taking a few steps towards her.

“You’re embarrassing me, Aron,” Chelsey snapped at him and, to her surprise, he laughed.

“Dear Aron…” he said and she realized to her horror that he was reading from the letter now. She breathed in sharply, her nostrils flaring. She could feel her limbs shaking. “You might never find this, or you might not care. I just wanted to write to you, to let you know that last night was very special…”

Chelsey whipped around and walked over to the bed, to sit down at its end with her face in her hands. He was torturing her.

“…it was beautiful and you were beautiful. I know you had to go, but I wish with all my heart that you didn’t. Maybe it didn’t mean anything to you, but I’d wanted this ever since I could remember,” he continued, taking a few steps towards her, towards the bed. Chelsey still had her face in her hands. She couldn’t bear to look up or look at him.

“…you will always remain my special someone, the boy who got away…” he continued reading, and Chelsey suddenly cried out.

“Stop it, Aron. Please stop.”

He looked up from the paper in his hand. He was standing right in front of her now, and a smile lingered on his face.

“You’re cute when you’re embarrassed,” he said, and she shook her head, rage pouring out of her eyes.

“It’s more than embarrassment, Aron. You’re hurting me,” she said, and looked away from him. Aron was silent for a few seconds and then he kneeled down in front of her, dropping the paper to the floor.

“Hey. What’s the matter, Chelsey? I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just thought we’d laugh about it. Reminisce about the old days,” he said, placing his hands on her bare knees. Chelsey looked at him, certain that he could now see the tears glistening in her eyes.

“There’s nothing to laugh about. It might be a joke to you, now that you have lots of women writing you love letters. That’s the only one I ever wrote. It’s not a joke to me.” She hoped that she could keep her emotions under control. She had to try and remember that none of this was his fault. He just didn’t know. He had never known what she felt for him, and he had never known the truth.

He was silent for a few seconds again, looking deep into her eyes. His expression had changed from confusion to concern and he spoke very softly now.

“You’ve got it all wrong, Chelsey. It isn’t a joke to me, either. There might be several women who throw themselves at me, but this is the only love letter that matters. I can’t describe to you how happy it made me to find it here.” He squeezed her knees with his hands and stared back at her. She could see his chest rising and falling with every breath. His lips looked pink and delicious. Chelsey wasn’t sure if she could keep her emotions in check for much longer now.

Chelsey turned her face from him. She wasn’t sure of herself anymore. Years had passed, but he still had the same affect on her.

“Chelsey…” He breathed her name and then began stroking both her knees. She looked back at him and realized that he was looking at her with a changed expression. His eyes had glazed over; he wanted her.

“I wasn’t mocking you. Or the letter. I was just happy to find it, happy to see you again,” he said, letting his fingers wander over her knees and then her thighs. She could barely breathe, her words were caught in her throat. Instinctively she moved her legs, spreading them apart as his hands traveled up her thighs, accepting the invitation.

In her mind, she was aware of what she was doing, repeating the very actions from three years ago which had caused her so much pain. But she couldn’t control herself. She was alone with him, and he was kneeling in front of her: Aron Keels, the love of her life.

His hands had made their way to the lace trim of her panties, and she breathed in deeply when, with one of his fingers, he stroked the growing wetness between her thighs.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve thought about that night,” he said, breathing gruffly. Before she could respond he lunged forward and enveloped her lips with his. His tongue was forcing its way inside, parting her lips, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. She could smell him, touch him, feel him…he was just like she remembered him. His hands were still between her legs, stroking her pulsating self. She dug her hands into the fabric of his jacket and he suddenly pulled himself away from her.

“Chelsey.” He breathed her name gruffly again, before pushing her gently so that her back met the springy mattress of the bed. In one swift motion, he had taken off his jacket, unbuttoned his shirt and then crawled on top of her. He was smiling, but she couldn’t. She knew what was happening, what was going to happen. She was going to be left miserable and heartbroken. But right now, she wanted this more than anything, at least one more time.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him closer to herself. He was using his hands to explore her breasts, gently squeezing them and then moving up towards her neck. He bent his head down again to trace the curve of her neck with his tongue, while his hands undid the zipper of her dress.

She felt the cool rush of air against her skin when her dress fell apart around her. He tugged the neck of the dress down with his teeth and, in the same moment, did the same with her bra. Her breasts popped out and she heard him take in a sharp breath.

“I’ve missed them,” He said, with a slight laugh, and then bent his head down again to take her left nipple into his mouth. She could feel him sucking, squeezing her right breast with his other hand. His mouth was on her nipple, gently devouring it. She arched her back up, her hips meeting his so that she could feel his hard, throbbing cock against her thigh. She felt an exciting shock run down her spine at that. She knew how it would feel to have him inside her. She dug her nails into his bare chest and pressed herself to him. He moaned.

When he pulled himself away from her nipple, she arched her neck back, closing her eyes tightly. He was kneading her breasts with his hands while she pulled his shirt apart, feeling the ripping muscles of his arms.

“Aron…” His name escaped her lips and she was surprised by it. But that only triggered him more. He reached down to pull her panties down her legs and then started undoing his own pants.

“Chelsey. I want you so bad,” he said hoarsely, struggling to get his pants down. She reached down to help him. As soon as he had flung his pants off his legs, he grabbed her waist tightly, pulling her close to him, upwards. He didn’t prepare her for it but instead thrust himself inside her with one forceful push.

She felt his cock slide in, deep inside her where she wanted to feel him, and she moaned loudly. She closed her eyes again when he slid out of her slowly. She could feel herself throbbing, and she wanted him back inside her again. He complied, pushing himself in again, this time with more force. When she moaned, he picked up his pace, thrusting and pulling out repeatedly in a quick motion. His eyes were focused on her bouncing breasts, while his hands held on to her tightly. He was moaning along with her as he thrust and throbbed and pulled out.

She could see his neck growing redder by the second, his eyes were glazed over, he was about to jump over the brink.

“Chelsey. I’ve missed you,” he yelled out before his body started shuddering and she could feel him emptying himself inside her. She let go as well, allowing her toes to curl and her neck to stretch back. She felt her body vibrate against him, with him still inside her. They held each other as their bodies engulfed them. His big hands were splayed behind her, clutching her butt tightly. She felt small in his arms, protected and safe.

It lasted several seconds, and then she could feel her heartbeat subsiding. His grip on her butt remained strong, until she finally allowed her back to arch back so that her head gently touched the mattress. The rest of her body was still in his hands, just like her heart was.