“You want to talk now? You weren’t so worried about that when you were talking me into bed!” she hissed under her breath.
“We talked plenty after that.” I defended myself half-heartedly. She was right, though I hadn’t thought to tell her about my brief moment of infamy. It was refreshing that she didn’t know me as anything other than a friend of her sister. I’d grown up with a father who was a sports celebrity, a known flirt and womaniser. I inherited his ladies’ man reputation by default, simply by not having a long-term girlfriend, and that was the opposite of him. Dougie Drake hadn’t been single since he was a teenager; he just sailed from one wife to the next, with various flings on the side.
Wynter looked at me defiantly and reluctantly admitted. “I suppose we did talk after you seduced me.”
“Listen, can we just take this inside?” My voice reflected the defeat I’d tried to hide.
Wynter sighed, raising her head to the sky before she agreed and followed me back to the room. I hoisted the skis over my shoulders, my heart feeling heavy and exposed.
seven
Wynter
With each footstep, I knew I shouldn’t be following Jye back to the room. I wasn’t able to think properly in that room. His mere presence pulled me in, and I needed distance from him. I also knew that if I were left alone with him again, we’d end up in bed. He was like the finest chocolate, something I wanted to savour over and over.
When I saw the video of the woman bragging about how good ‘Hot Lap’ was and comparing him to the fling she’d had with his father, it gutted me. There were articles online about her affair with him that had ruined her marriage, and other women claiming that they’d also enjoyed their own ride with him.
I was humiliated. It was one thing to have a fling; it was something else to have a fling with a man who was known as a home wrecker. It was a whole different level of morality and a line I don’t think I would’ve crossed if I’d known.
The door clicked shut and Jye ran his hands through his hair. Turning, he looked at me and I could see the anguish in his eyes.
“That woman,” he started. “The one who started that nickname, she was the wife of my old coach, back when I was playing in Sydney. She was a flirt. She’d dress in skimpy clothing, get drunk and hit on us players. One weekend, the coach held a barbecue on the Sunday after a tough game. A way to thank us for the win, something he’d done quite often.”
I stood opposite him, arms folded in front of me, willing to listen to his story, but impatient for him to get to the point. My stomach churned at even the thought of hearing the details of his affair.
“A few of us jumped into the hot tub, still sore from the way the Rebels had treated us like their personal punching bags the night before. I closed my eyes and zoned out for a while, not realising that my teammates had hopped out and that I had someone new in there with me.” Jye paused, like the next part of the story would be painful, either for him to tell or for me to hear, I wasn’t sure.
“Lauren was next to me, whispering in my ear when I opened my eyes. She was naked, her big, fake tits rubbing against my arms, and I was trying to politely turn her down when her husband, the coach, caught her in there with me. I tried to tell him that nothing had happened, but he wouldn’t listen.”
I gasped. I wasn’t sure whether he was telling the truth. “What did she say?”
“She told him we’d been having an affair, that I was one of her boy toys. Apparently, the coach had known she was cheating on him, had been for years, but he’d told her to stay away from his team.” Jye shook his head. “They got divorced, I got dropped to the State Cup division, and they didn’t renew my contract. I couldn’t get a contract at any other club either, so ended up playing in the Super League.”
“I want to believe you.” I closed my eyes and steeled my voice. “But what about all these women online?”
“Look, I’m no saint,” Jye scoffed. “I’ve had my fair share of fun with women, but to my knowledge, they’ve all been single. One thing I’m adamant about is that I don’t cheat and I won’t ever be the other man. I know the repercussions infidelity can have.”
I wanted to ask about what repercussions he’d felt, but I wasn’t sure how and whether it was even relevant to this moment.
“Leanne was an influencer,” he said that last word with disdain. “After the divorce, she used her online profile to become an adult content creator. A lot of the women who jumped on her Hot Lap bandwagon were also creators, joining in on a trend, hoping to gain subscribers.”
Without using words, he’d just told me that the woman who started that nickname had become a porn star. Whether he was telling the truth, I wouldn’t put it past an ambitious businesswoman to take advantage of a headline to jumpstart a career. I don’t have a problem with sex work; what I have a problem with is people who lie to get ahead in life.
“Wynter, I don’t expect you to let me back into your bed; I just need you to believe me. I’m not the man that those rumours paint me to be.” With that, Jye made an excuse and walked out the door, mumbling something about wanting to let me have some space to process his story and how he needed a beer.
I wanted to follow him; my instinct was to believe his story. Vaguely, I remembered Cam telling me that the other Aussie on his team had moved to London to escape some trouble at home. I remembered how Cam had been sympathetic to him, and I knew that he was a pretty straight arrow morally.
What I was afraid of most was that my wanting to believe him was more wrapped up in the small ember of feelings that had ignited between us. I’d barely been single for a couple of days yet, I already felt more for Jye than I had for Ted. Sure,I had things in common with Ted. I had an affection for him, but I think if we’d stayed together it would have been more of a convenience, a habit rather than a genuine relationship.
Jye scared me. The attraction I felt toward him was natural; he was a handsome man. The connection, though, defied logic. I’d known him for twenty-four hours, but I felt more at ease, more at home with him on the other side of the world than I had with Ted in my hometown. I suspected Jye would feel like home no matter where we were.
eight
Jye
Isat at the bar of the luxury resort nursing a beer until it warmed up. My appetite for booze had flown out the window, along with most of my insides, when Wynter flung that nickname at me. That incident and the consequential publicity had cost me my career, and it looks like it would also cost me any chance that I had of something with the one woman that had partially broken down some of my walls.
It’s not like I was expecting an award for reaching a level of emotional maturity most people never struggle to attain. I just wanted a chance. I knew she was travelling throughout Europe in the next few weeks when Cam and Kayla trekked back to London after Christmas. Was it too much to hope that I could tag along with her? There was still one season left on my current contract, so it wasn’t like I was going to pack up and follow her home. I didn’t know what I was hoping for; I just knew what Ididn’t want it to be. I didn’t want a definite end yet, not when there was potential.
