PART 3 – CHAPTER 151
LUKE
“I love you. So fucking much.” The words echoed in my head as | pushed Jess’s golden hair away from her shoulder. This was the memory I always found myself coming back to. Jess in the morning light, her hair a mess, her long tan legs wrapped around my waist. It felt like nothing else in the world existed in that moment–just us, tangled together, lost in each other.
I shifted slightly, feeling myself slide deeper inside her, and she let out a soft whimper. That sound, that little noise of hers, was enough to drive me insane. “Ah. That feels…” She started, her voice breathy and trembling, and I smiled into her kiss, brushing my lips against hers as I whispered, “Better than breakfast?”
She grinned, her lips barely brushing mine as she whispered. back, “Definitely better than breakfast.”
I raked my fingers through those beautiful blond curls and pulled back, exposing her neck. Dipping forward, I kissed her soft skin, enjoying the feel of her pulse beneath my lips. She was perfect. So fucking perfect. I would never get enough of her.
Her hips started moving in slow, circling motions, her sweet core tightening around me, and then her movements became fast…
I pulled Jess to me and dropped us both on the bed so that I hovered over her, slamming into her…over and over.
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It was everything. She was everything. And then-
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“Luke! Luke!” The sharp voice jolted me back to reality. “Can you hear me, man? Let’s rerun the play.”
Fuck. I blinked, shaking the memories out of my head, but they clung to me, refusing to let go. Jess was still there, a ghost in my mind, pulling me under just like always. But I couldn’t go there.
Not now.
I forced myself to focus, pushing the image of her away. “Sorry, man. Yeah. Ready. Let’s go.”
I stepped back into the present, my hands gripping the football. There was something calming about it–the feel of the laces under my fingers, the weight of it in my hand. I pulled back and launched it, watching as it spiraled through the air. For a brief second, time seemed to stand still, everything fading except the ball and its perfect trajectory.
We ran the play five more times, each throw feeling more precise, more fluid. But even with the adrenaline coursing through me, my mind kept wandering. Kept dragging me back to her.
When practice was finally over, I headed to the locker room, my body heavy with exhaustion. Most of the guys were already there, joking and laughing. Duke slapped me on the back as I walked past, grinning. “Man; we’re gonna miss you. That arm of yours needs to be insured.”
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I nodded, trying to match his energy. “Yeah. Thanks, man.” I forced a laugh. “Let’s win this one ‘cause when I play you again,
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PART 3 CHAPTER 151
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I’m the fucking enemy. I’ll beat your ass.”
Everyone laughed, but there was truth behind it. I was moving halfway across the country. The offer I got was too good to refuse, and to be honest, there wasn’t much holding me here
anymore.
Not anymore.
Josh and I hadn’t spoken in months. It was strange, considering how close we used to be. But ever since everything went to shit, he’d been on a completely different path. Hell, the guy’s made headlines more times than I can count, and not for anything good. Scandals, fights, drama. Every other weekend, there was something. Never thought I’d be the one to get my shit together, but here I was, sober, focused, and trying like hell to stay that
way.
Because if I let my mind wander–if I allowed myself to think about her, even for a second–I’d fall right back into that trap. Into Jess. And I couldn’t do that again. Not after everything. She was a deep, dark black hole, and I’d fought too fucking hard to crawl out of it.
It’s been a year.
A year since I last saw her. Since that night at her apartment.
The memory of it was burned into my mind, something I couldn’t escape even though I tried. The way she looked at me that night, the way her eyes pleaded with me, her lips trembling as she tried to explain. But none of it mattered. I’d walked away. I had to.
A year. And still, I couldn’t forget her.
PART 3 – CHAPTER 151
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I sat down on the bench, running a hand through my sweat- drenched hair. Everything felt heavy–my body, my thoughts, the weight of all the shit I’d been trying to bury for so long. I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t let myself get pulled into her orbit again.
But no matter how far I ran, Jess was always there, lingering in the back of my mind, haunting me.
Even after all this time.
PART 3–CHAPTER 152
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PART 3 – CHAPTER 152
JESS
The wind whipped against my face as I navigated the narrow trail, the earth beneath my feet firm and familiar. Ten miles in, and I still felt strong. The burn in my legs was welcome, almost soothing, as the steady rhythm of my strides kept me focused.
I breathed in deeply, tasting the crisp morning air–cool and sharp, with the scent of pine and damp earth all around me. There was something about being out here, surrounded by nothing but nature, that made me feel alive.
It had taken me a long time to get back here. To rediscover. what it was I loved about running. Well, not remember exactly–l still couldn’t quite recall the person I used to be, but I could understand why everyone said I was always running. Why they said it was my escape. I never thought I’d find joy in it again, but now… now it was different.
I might not know who the hell I wanted to be before the accident, but I do know what I want to do now.
Run.
Coming down a steep incline, the thrill of moving so fast that one wrong step could send me tumbling–it was a rush like nothing else. I was good at this. Better than I had ever been.
Good enough that I had sponsors. Good enough to compete at international levels.
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