Splintered Oak (Winsor Series Book 3) (13 page)

1
4. JONATHAN

NAOMI

The clanking of dishes and steam from the latte machine filled the air as I glanced at my watch. Jonathan was over twenty minutes late, and I wondered if he would show up at all. Standing me up wasn’t a new thing for him, I realized, thinking back to the many times he had kept me waiting just to later call and cancel.

I watched as multiple people came and went, some taking a moment to notice me and smile, others simply too busy moving about their day to notice anyone. How many times had I sat here just like this, watching people, waiting for my life to start? Too many to count, and I wasn’t doing it anymore. Frustrated that I risked a fight with my roommates for this, I gathered my purse and stood to leave.

Jonathan strolled through the door
just as I pushed my chair in, sending me a heartbreaking smile when he saw me. He looked every part the trainer, from the khaki shorts and maroon polo with Winsor Lions embroidered on the front, to the Lions baseball cap he wore. Removing the cap to show his blond strands, he took the seat across from me, making the once loud, boisterous room seem quiet and confining.

“Hey! I’m so sorry I’m late. The team could not get the fade route down and coach made us s
tay until they could complete the drill three times.”

I attempted to stay irritated at him, but it was so hard when his eyes were dancing with excitement. Those eyes had been the source of my dreams for years, and now when I should be able to walk away, I found myself telling him it was okay and sitting back down.

“You get anything yet?” he asked looking at the bare table.

“No. I was waiting on you.”

Jonathan smiled and then winked at me. “And that, Naomi, is why I love you so much. Pumpkin spice latte, right?”

I nodded, surprised he still remembered my favorite drink. He found his way to the line, standing out among every other person in the place. He soon saw someone he knew and shook his hand before placing our order. He kept talking to the man while he waited for our drinks and then both of them looked my way. I felt my cheeks flush as I looked at the table and away from his friend’s appraising eyes.

By the time I looked back up, Jonathan had maneuvered his way back to the table with two drinks in hand. “Thank you,” I offered quietly as he sat back down.

Jonathan took a slow drink as he looked at me intently, appearing to take in every detail of my appearance. “That’s a good color for you,” he finally said as he sat back.

I glanced down at the blue, off-the-shoulder summer dress I wore. The casual garment was a simple knee-length one piece with a belt, but I kept forgetting that Jonathan had only seen me dress this way a few times.

“Thanks,” I said shyly, adjusting the dress to cover my shoulder.

Jonathan reached across the small table and ran his finger along my shoulder, slowly moving the dress back in place. “I like it like that,” he said simply, not even aware that his simple touch had sent a mass of butterflies through my stomach and my brain. I couldn’t even remember why I was here.

Jonathan’s eyes were still fixed on mine as I struggled to find my voice. He approached the subject first, bringing me back to the reality of why I was there.

“Naomi, things between us are different, and I want them to be different. So, you can understand why the idea of you living with two guys unnerves me a little. How would you feel if I moved in with two girls?”

Grateful that my voice returned along with some of my resolve, I pulled my eyes from his and looked down at my fidgeting hands. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it…haven’t thought of you in that way for a while now, Jonathan. My decision to move in with David and Jake was one of necessity, not emotion.”

Satisfied that my head was working again, I allowed myself to glance back up at him as he leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Okay. That’s fair. I know I shut that door, but things were different then.”

“Why were they different?” I urged, leaning forward on the table for effect.

Jonathan leaned back up too, leaving very little room between us. “Because I didn’t appreciate what I had. You were always there, and then all the sudden you weren’t, and I didn’t like it. Since you’ve been back, I can’t get you out of my head. It’s like my favorite person in the world has been repackaged into this beautiful woman. And don’t say it’s just because of how you look. It’s not, but it does make a difference, Naomi. You can’t tell me that you would have fallen for me if I still had on my braces and was three inches shorter than you.”

I sat back in the chair and rubbed my temples, my head suddenly starting to pound. “Jonathan, do you have any idea how confusing this all is for me? I let you go.”

He scooted his chair around the table until his knees were practically touching mine. “You say that, but I don’t think you did,” he said taking my hand. “I think you wanted to and told yourself to, but I don’t think you ever really did.”

My head was a mess again. Jonathan caressed each one of my fingers while the other hand found its way to my chin so he could look into my eyes again.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, desperate to understand.

Jonathan’s lips moved into that easy smile he got when things were starting to go his way. “I want us to go out on real dates. I want us to explore this obvious attraction we have for each other and see what our relationship looks like when we add that layer to it.”

Doing my best to get my breathing under control as he continued to stroke my fingers, I pulled his hand away from my face. “I don’t casually date as a principal, but I know without question, I could
never
casually date you. We have way too much history.”

Jonathan laughed, moving closer. “Of course it wouldn’t be casual, Naomi. Do you think I would chance losing you again? Let me clear up any confusion that’s left in that complex brain of yours. I want to be exclusive. I want you by my side at parties. I want you in the stands at my games so I can look up and see you. I want the world to know this amazing, beautiful woman belongs to me.”

The elation that should have come didn’t, leaving me unsteady and flustered. Wasn’t this the moment I had dreamed about? The moment that ran through my mind the first time I put on a dress and wore contacts? Wasn’t this the moment I had begged God for through tears and tissues? Yet, I could feel the hesitation throughout all of me.

“I’ll have to think about it,” I finally said.

Jonathan’s smile waned a little, but he nodded. “That’s better than no, I guess.” He moved his chair back a little, finally giving me some breathing room.

“So are you still goin
g to call my parents?” I wondered if the two things were related.

He sighed and looked over at me. “Was it really that bad?”

“Worse than your wildest imagination,” I promised.

“And this arrangement is only
temporary?”

“Yes. They said thirty days and we are getting close to that point. I should have a new apartment before summer session is even over.”

Jonathan took my hand again and looked at me squarely. “And Jake hasn’t made a move?”

“No,” I lied, stuffing down more guilt. The kiss didn’t count. It was just a lapse of judgment and he’d been a complete gentleman ever since. “We’re just friends.”

Intensity filled those blue depths of his. “So were we, Naomi. It’s much too easy to cross over the line. I’ve seen Jake in action. You forget he dated almost every girl on the cheerleading squad. In fact, his virgin count is probably higher than anyone I know.”

“Jonathan!” I yelled, pulling my hand away from his. For some reason, his words actually made me feel sick to my stomach.

“I’m sorry, Naomi, but you need to hear this. You can’t be naïve if you live with this guy. He’s a liar, a cheater, and a heartbreaker.”

I shook off his words. “I’ve never seen that side him,” I argued, trying to understand why I suddenly felt the need to defend Jake. A month ago I would have said the same thing.

“And you never will,” Jonathan stated calmly, his words holding a demand and a promise. “I’ll give it two weeks, Naomi, and then I’m calling Alex. I already have ground to make up with him, and I’m not going to let him add this to all the reasons he has to try and kill me.”

His words made us both smile, clearing some of the tension. Alex was intensely overprotective of me, and in his mind, it was one strike and you’re out. Jonathan had gotten that strike the minute my plane left for Portugal. 

Jonathan stood, offering his hand. “Let’s get out of here. I want to show you around the stadium.”

I glanced again at my watch and thought of Jake storming out of the apartment. “I don’t know. I kind of blew off something I had committed to, to meet you. I should probably get back home.”

Jonathan looked visibly irritated. I guess it made sense. Throughout our entire friendship, I had always been at his beck and call.

“If you already blew it off, what’s one more hour? Come on, it’s the first time we have been alone in a year. I want to be able to talk with you without one of your brothers breathing down my neck.” He looked up at me with a pathetic stare that was a cross between a pout and a dare. Irresistible, is what it was. 

“Ok fine,” I agreed, looking at my watch again. “I guess another hour isn’t going to hurt anything.”

Jonathan was right, the football stadium and facilities were state of
the art. Our school was small, barely qualifying as Division II and playing against mostly Ivy League schools.

Jonathan explained that the alumn
i money pumped into this place was why the trainer program was one of the best in the state. He showed me all the latest technology they were using for sports injuries and prevention.

“If my high school had had even half of this stuff,
I would never have torn my ACL.” He sighed as he showed me around. “It’s amazing how the right equipment can make the difference between an athlete going pro or having a career ending fall.”

I nodded as he talked, not really that interested in the sport, but captivated by the ex
citement in his eyes. Jonathan was passionate about the things he loved; he always had been.

After a full tour of the locker rooms, we walked through the tunnel leading out to the football field. I was in awe as I looked around at all the seats. I had only attended one game my freshman year when Alex came to visit. Jonathan went to all of them, but usually with his group of friends. He never invited me, and I never pushed it. We had always lived separate lives when we weren’t together. Or at least he did; I didn’t have much of a life outside of him.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” he mused, entranced by the lights and ambience of the silent stadium. I realized at that moment that he still missed it. The adrenalin, the glory. He had them all before he got hurt. I knew because I used to cut out his picture every week from the paper.

Glancing around the field, I saw a lone football near the endzone. I kicked off my heels and ran towards it, thinking of how fun it would be to throw a ball again. I wasn’t a superstar by any means, but my brothers had shown me how to throw a mean spiral. Throwing my hair up in a ponytail, I grabbed the ball and threw it hard into Jonathan’s hands. I ran out on the field waving my arms for a pass back. Instead, he simply put down the ball and walked up to me.

As if in slow motion, he took out my ponytail and ran his hand over my cheek. “We may run into someone, Naomi, and I don’t want you all sweaty.” He continued to stare as his other hand moved around my waist. “You’re so beautiful; I don’t want you to hide it anymore.” Whispering as he touched my face oh so gently, it happened. The kiss, soft and careful at first and then more intense as I responded to him, gripping the back of his shirt.

His arms tightened around me
, lifting me off the ground as we kissed. The truth was, I didn’t know where the ground ended or where the sky began. I was completely entranced by the moment; kissing my lifetime crush under lights as if I were in some kind of movie. It was the stuff fantasies were made of and there I was living it out in full color.

He slowly released me,
and put his forehead to mine. “Now that is what your first kiss should feel like, Naomi. I’m so sorry I blundered the moment so badly the first time.”

His words sent me crashing back to earth as memories of Jake holding me in the rain flooded my mind, ruining what should have been a perfect moment for me. It had taken me days to get those images out of my head, to get his touch o
ff of my lips, and now here it was again, challenging my heart to admit the truth—that the fire I felt when Jake touched me was noticeably absent with Jonathan..

It was anger and disgust
, I told myself harshly.
That’s all
.

“You okay?” Jonathan leaned
back to look at me, catching the worry in my eyes.

“Wonderful,” I lied, shaking off the hundreds of thoughts going through my mind.

He gave a satisfied grin and then took my hand in his, showing me the rest of the areas on the field. I tried in vain to listen, but all I could hear was my pounding heartbeat. He finally walked me to my car, well past the one hour mark we agreed upon and pulled me in for another kiss. I wondered if that was now going to be the standard between us, kissing at whim.