Silk Encased Steel

Chapter three

Valentina   couldn’t help but think about the friend request she had received that morning from JT, she had ignored it and knew she would end up rejecting it. Accepting would just create more questions than she wanted to answer. She hadn’t told a soul about how the trip to Houston had ended, she knew it wasn’t going anywhere, it had been a mistake. She didn’t understand why he had bothered. She forced her attention back to her family, who were over at her house for dinner.  She had gotten through two weeks without anyone knowing she had been back early, and felt absolutely fine about avoiding them. 

They sat in the evening with their coffee, the dogs weaving in and out of family members trying to steal dessert crumbs from their plates. Luckily her parents and sisters, nd brother were used to them.  Valentina excused herself to answer her phone, “Hello?”

“Valentina, hi.. It’s JT.”

She paused and  let herself out the back, calling the dogs to give herself an excuse.  “How exactly did you get my number?” She asked knowing it was slightly rude but it was a weird situation all around.

He laughed, standing in the cold on his parents deck wishing he had thought this through, “I might have sent myself a text from your phone while you slept the other night...”He stared out at the darkness of the yard, “My Family is together for a belated holidays and my brother being an ass sent you a request online....”

Valentina sat with the blanket she kept on the porch for nights like this where the dogs were taking their sweet time in the woods, “So you are calling me to tell me your brother sent me the request and not you?” She asked, she could hear the embarrassment in his voice and could picture him turning redder. 

“We won these past two weeks, have a shot at playoffs again…did you see that?” He blurted out trying to change the subject and not knowing what to change it to. He was not usually at a loss for words, but it was hard not being able to gauge her responses. 

“I might have seen the highlights, but it was at the same time as my team was playing and also winning...” She teased. 

JT smiled, “Yeah I’m really going to have to change your mind about teams.”

“I don’t think my loyalty is up for grabs.” She stood as the dogs came rushing up the steps, “Look JT, I have people over for dinner, so calling to assure me you didn’t mean to send me a friend request isn’t necessary. I  was planning on rejecting it when everyone leaves anyway.” She heard his sigh and heard the frustration.

He stared up at the sky in the backyard and knew he had to just say it, “I had a really great time the other night. Can we pretend like the beginning of this phone call never happend?”  After her agreement he added, “I have to get back to my people too, can I call you again or should I pretend i don’t have your number.”

She heard the knock at the window and saw her mother waiting for her inside, “Yeah, that would be okay. And JT... I had a good time too.” JT hung up the phone and turned to see his brother standing in the doorway. He did his best glare as he passed by, daring him to say a word. Luke held his hands up in surrender and let him pass, far too amused by JT’s lack of social graces on the phone to comment. It had been almost painful to hear him fumbling. JT was usually confidence and smoothness, but it had abandoned him. 

Valentina wasn’t expecting him to actually call back that night, in her experience guys version of I’ll call you back was maybe a few days later when they remembered, or weren’t busy. But apparently JT was a man of his word, a few hours later as she sat in her room reading her cell buzzed to say a new message had arrive. Do you have webcam?  Along with what she assumed to be his account name for Skype came up. 

She laughed and responded, yes, i charge 30$ an hour. See you soon.  He read her response and shook his head laughing to himself. She was a brat, he never thought he would like it that much. But after the overly serious, overly rehearsed women he had known in the 5 years he had been playing professionally, bratty and playful was refreshing. 

Valentina’s mother had always said that the devil was alive and well in her, that while she was a good child she was a difficult one. A child whose brain was always racing and half the time it was with the various forms trouble she could get herself into in her quest for entertainment. She acknowledged she was probably right when her first instinct had her running to her closet and throwing on a New York jersey while waiting for her computer to load.

He threw his hands up the minute he saw her, “How much extra is it to get you to take that god awful thing off?” He  asked.

“Never!” She replied smiling. “So what’s up JT, I don’t know if you are familiar with the concept of one night stands.. but they aren’t supposed to call or video chat afterwards.”

He nodded feigning deep thought, “Yeah I might have read that in the handbook. I don’t know about you but i’m not really into the one night stand thing anymore. I end up having a lot of really short dating cycles or friends with benefits to avoid them actually.”

Valentina sat back against the pillows, “honesty, how refreshing.”  She always kinda hated video chat, she never knew what to do with herself, she was generally an animated talker, the latina in her made her use hands and make faces with those she knew well, and be rather stoic with strangers. “Why not just get yourself a girlfriend, seems a lot simpler than trying to extend something that isn’t going anywhere just to say you aren’t a manwhore.” 

“I really like it when you curse at me.” He said with a smirk, and it was true, there was something comfortable about it. “I’m not really in the market for anything serious, I am at the top of my game right now and want to stay there for as long as I can. That takes time and dedication that most women don’t understand, and honestly would be unfair to put up with.” He answered, almost robotically, it was the same response he gave everytime he was asked. 

She sat there on the bed for a few minutes staring at him on the screen,  “So massive trust issues?”  He laughed it off, not wanting to examine the fact that he might be that transparent. “I get it, I just got out of a 3 year s**t storm, and while the other night was a lot of fun...” She shrugged, “Hence why I’m not really understanding why you are making this effort to reach out.”

“I think you are gorgeous and enjoy talking to you, that’s a rare combination for me. Will it go anywhere? Considering the distance and both of our issues, probably not. But I had a fun time too.” He watched Valentina’s eyes grow round and her hands come out to the side about ten seconds before a blur of gold knocked her sideways. It took him a few seconds to realize it was a tail that was hitting the computer screen, then a nose pressed against it. He could hear nothing but panting and giggling for a good two minutes until the two dogs settled on the bed beside her. 

“Fitz has learned to open the door. Nowhere is safe anymore.” Valentina explained wiping her eyes and catching her breath. 

JT smiled, her disheveled hair endearing, “Fitz is a smart boy.”  He added confiding in her, “All I keep thinking about our night, and  how you are tiny but for once I didn’t have to hold back.”

She ducked her head, “I had some interesting fingerprint bruises for a while.”  She admitted. 

He felt himself relax for the first time in two weeks and realized that a part of his obsessive stalking had been to make sure he hadn’t done any damage to her that she hadn’t wanted. JT watched her put her hair up so it was out of her way, and found himself thinking I want that It was a dangerous thought for him. Every time he’d had it in the past he had done everything in his power to get it. College ball, Professional football, to be the best, to stay the best.. the only thing that eluded him so far was the superbowl, and that was just a matter of time and patience