by Alice Cooper
Chapter 2
Marie Downing looked in the mirror as she got ready to see her next patient. She sighed heavily; it was always so tough to deal with him. “Brock “The Champ” Jonick,” she said aloud.
He was gorgeous and she got to see him naked. Hell she got to see a lot of men naked, it was her job. She was a physical therapist and she honestly loved her job. It let her support her and Sara easily. Sara was her 7 year old daughter. As a single mother, Marie was quite cautious with her emotions.
She couldn’t just bring any guy home with her, no she had to be picky. She hadn’t had a boyfriend in over 5 years now. Marie wouldn’t change a thing though; she loved Sara with all her heart.
Sadly she thought about Sara’s father, it had been such a mistake. She liked to blame the fact that she was young, but she still should have known better. Her life would be so different if she hadn’t made that mistake, but then she wouldn’t have Sara either.
Marie went out into the reception area and called Brock back. “You ready Brock?” She asked.
He stood up and gave her that killer smile, she could just melt. No way, he’s not a good one for you, she thought. You should know better than to ever get involved with one of these types of men again, she chastised herself.
It was one of the many reasons she hated the game of football. Sara’s father had taught her a lesson in life, and it was one she didn’t intend to forget. She shook her head, she couldn’t think of him right now.
“So how is the knee feeling today?” She asked him.
“Honestly it goes from feeling great, to being so stiff I can barely move it.” He answered.
“Are you doing all your exercises at home?” She questioned.
He looked down sheepishly, “I try, but sometimes it gets so busy, I don’t have time.”
“How do you expect to heal fully if you don’t work hard?”
“I know, I promise I’ll be better.”
Sara wanted to hold him at that moment; he looked so shy and little. But she backed off and made a few notes in his file.
“So I know we usually talk about football, but,” he started to say and she cut him off. “Look you won’t convince me that it’s a great sport. I’ve seen far too many injuries, not counting yours. I’ve watched as guys like you who love the game find out that they will never be able to play it again. They figure out during their therapy that they will never step on that field once more. For some of them it is too much, and they have, well they’ve done something that they can’t take back.” She didn’t want to tell him about the few patients who she knew. They had been divested when they learned they never would play again. In the end they couldn’t stand it and had taken their lives.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about football.” He laughed. “I was just wondering where you grew up?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just that you so often talk about the game.” She was taken aback. Marie chuckled. “I grew up on a little farm outside of town.” She answered.
“Really, so you’re a hometown girl, that’s cool. Did you know I grew up on a farm too?” He asked her.
“No I didn’t, where?”
“Outside of Kearney, Nebraska, you’ve probably never heard of it.” He stated.
“No I can’t say that I have. Was it a smaller town?” She asked him.
“It had around 20,000 people living in town. It was small enough that everyone would find out what you had done, if you got into trouble.” He laughed at memories of the past.
Marie laughed as well, “Well it’s not the same here in LA. If I got into trouble, my parents would only find out when I admitted to it.”
“You’d admit to it? Why?” He asked her and laughed.
“I would feel so guilty, like I wasn’t the good daughter. So I would tell them what I had done. They would look at me with disappointed eyes, and I would feel worse. Eventually, I outgrew that stage.”
“I can’t see you ever getting into trouble.” He said seriously.
“I’ve done stupid things in the past, that’s for sure.” Marie admitted sadly. “So did you get into a lot of trouble?” She was curious. He seemed like the type of man, who when he was younger, would be full of vim and vigor. A true pistol that his parents would have had a hard time keeping in line, that’s how she saw him.
“Only a couple of times, nothing big really, but embarrassing to them. Once I got really drunk, we were all 16. We had gotten some beer and decided we should become men that night. It was a mistake, I felt horrible the next day. But I felt even worse when my parents confronted me and told me some of the things I had done. I was so embarrassed I almost skipped the next football game at school. But my parents had convinced me to go and play, a scout had been set to come and watch. The other time we were cow tipping and the farmer caught us messing with his herd.” Brock explained.
“Cow tipping, what in the world is that?” She laughed.
“You sneak up on a cow that is sleeping and push them over. They tip like a bowling ball, it’s funny. It wakes them up, needless to say, and they are scared. You best be ready to run if you do it though, they’ll be pissed and come after you. One of my buddies broke his leg that way.”
Marie was laughing, “What in the world? I swear, I’ve never heard of cow tipping before. So how do you know when a cow is sleeping?”
“You just guess.” He shrugged his shoulders.
The alarm rang to signal the end of the session, the time had flown by. “Oh I guess you’re done for today. If you want you can use the back room and do some more exercises. That way you won’t be too busy!” She told him.
“Yes ma’am.” He answered her.
Marie excused herself and found peace in the back room. She had found herself more drawn to him than ever before today. He had seemed so normal, like a regular person, not a football god.
She hoped he didn’t keep behaving this way; she might honestly make another mistake. Marie was like any other woman; she desired the touch of a man. But with Sara at home, she couldn’t allow herself the freedom of casual sex. For that reason she hadn’t been with a man in forever.
The last time had been when Sara was only two years old. She had hired a babysitter for a few hours, and gone out. Marie had gone to a local bar to meet a blind date. She had found him on Tinder, and had agreed to meet for simple sex. They had met, and done the deed. Marie had been left wanting more, and not feeling near enough satisfied.
When she had gotten home she had felt dirty as she picked up her daughter. After Sara was sleeping one more, she had taken a hot shower and washed off the stench of their mating. He had called her a few more times to meet and she had refused. Soon he had left her and moved on to greener pastures.
Marie admitted she missed the touch of a man. But casual sex for her wasn’t an option. She needed to find a man who was willing to take them both on. That wasn’t something that was simple to ask either.
She didn’t know how it would feel to raise another person’s child. It seemed like a big thing to ask any man. But this is what she needed, and she knew without a doubt that Brock Jonick was not that type of man. No, she had seen pictures of him. He usually had some hot little blonde thing on his arm, all smiles.
Marie felt jealous of all the many faces of the women she’d seen with him. “Why do you feel jealous?” She asked, “He’s not the right man for you anyway.” She told herself.
She tried to push down all thoughts of him in her mind. She focused on the next patient she was seeing and went about her day.
Chapter 3
Brock thought about her as he did his exercises. He had actually had an appointment to go to after this, but he had cancelled it. The truth was he wanted to stick around and tries to talk to her more.
He had loved hearing her laugh, and wanted to hear more of it. But mostly, he had enjoyed getting to know her more. As far as he was concerned it was a great breakthrough.
He tried to picture her as a little girl and getting
into trouble. He wondered what she had done, he hadn’t asked. He had been so shocked by the admission that he had been speechless. Brock wanted to know what she had done, and so much more about her.
“Hey, you’re still here, don’t overdo it, you’ll set yourself back.” Brock looked up to her face.
“I’ve been taking breaks here and there. But I was getting ready to stop anyway. So how was your day?” He asked. It seemed so stilted in his mind. He wanted to ask her so much more than that.
“It’s been okay.”
“So would you like to go and get a coffee? I promise no talk about football.” He held up his hands.
She laughed; he loved the way she looked when she laughed. “I’m sorry, I can’t I have to go and pick up my daughter.”
Brock stopped all thoughts and focused on the one word, daughter. “Oh you have a daughter? I didn’t know. Oh so are you married, have a boyfriend?” He asked immediately.
“No I’m a single mother. I don’t run around telling all my patients about my personal life.” Marie stated.
“No I didn’t mean anything by it. Wow, how old is she?” Brock asked.
“She’s 7 years old now.” Marie smiled, relaxing a bit.
“Do you have any pictures? If she looks like you, she’s a lucky girl!” He complimented her.
Marie pulled out her cell phone and opened it. On the screen was a picture of her and Sara.
“Wow, she looks just like you. That’s a nice picture, your smile is beautiful.”
She blushed quickly and said, “Thank you.”
“It must be tough being a single mother though. I can’t believe a man hasn’t scooped you up, you’re so beautiful.”
“I have a good job so we get by fine. Look I really have to go; Sara will be waiting for me.”
“Oh I’m sorry I don’t want to make you late. “Hey maybe we could do a rain check on the coffee?” He yelled out at her, but she didn’t hear him.
Brock sighed as he watched her go out the door. She has a daughter, he thought. It tampered his emotions quite a bit. He didn’t know if he was willing to take on a kid and a wife. Not that he had even thought about marrying her.
“Who are you kidding Brock?” He muttered to himself.
Chapter 4
Marie was running late to pick up Sara, she had never been late. She hoped the little girl wasn’t worried. Sara was her life, and she knew that she was Sara’s life, at least until she was older.
She had been shocked to see Brock still in the back room exercising. She had been caught off guard, thinking her day was over. Marie had let down her guard and opened up more than she had meant too.
When he had asked her for coffee, she would have been tempted to go, but she had to pick up Sara. She had seen the look of shock on his face when she had said “I have to pick up my daughter.”
She couldn’t quite pin down what exactly the look was; there were several that had flashed in his eyes. Of course there was shock that was to be expected. But had it also been a look of disgust? Marie had seen that from some older ladies when she had told them she was a single mother.
No she didn’t think that was it, more of a look of fear. But why would he have fear in his eyes? It didn’t make any sense to her.
“Hey sweetie, I’m so sorry I’m late.” Marie swept Sara up in her arms.
“It’s okay Mommy, I was playing with Karen.” Sara smiled at her sweetly.
“Oh good, I’m glad to hear it.”
“Yeah mommy she wants me to come for a sleep over on Friday? Can I go please?” Sara pleaded.
Marie looked down at Sara’s eyes. She looked so innocent and sweet, how could she tell her no. “Sure you can go.”
“Great, so when we get home can you call her mom and say yes?”
“First thing when we get home, I promise.” Marie kissed Sara on the cheek. “I love you sweetie.”
“I love you too mommy. You’re the best mommy in the whole wide world.”
Marie smiled at her little girl. She was sad though, this would be her first sleep over ever. That only meant that there were many more to come. Her little girl was growing up; soon she wouldn’t need her mother near as much. Marie wasn’t sure how she felt about that, she was happy, but so sad at the same time.
At least she had five days to prepare herself for the event. By Friday she hoped her mind could accept it was just a sleep over, not that Sara was moving out. In her heart though, she could feel the ache that would eventually come. That day when Sara would move from home and Marie wouldn’t see her every day.
“So how was school sweetie?” Marie asked so that she could stop thinking of Sara moving out one day.
“It was good mommy; I got a 100 on my spelling test!”
“Great job, so how about some ice cream to celebrate?” Marie offered.
“Oh can I get a mint chocolate chip waffle cone?” Sara asked.
“Well we still have to eat dinner, and you shouldn’t it will ruin your appetite. But you got a 100, so why not!”
“Yeah, thank you mommy.”
Marie felt better for the moment; she still had her sweet little girl.
Chapter 5
Brock got ready for his appointment. He loved the fact that he had been able to see her three times a week. But now, with the breakthrough on Monday, he was even more excited to see her.
However, part of him was trying to be more cautious. After all it wouldn’t be just her, but her and her daughter. “Do you want that man?” He questioned himself.
He finally had decided that he did want to get to know her better. As far as her daughter was concerned, he had to meet her and find out. He wasn’t honestly sure how he would react.
He had planned to ask her for coffee again, but wasn’t able to do so today. The appointment he had blown off on Monday had been rescheduled to today. Brock had been warned by his agent not to cancel this time. “They may cancel the whole contract if you miss again. It cost them a bundle when you did that on such short notice Monday.” His agent had explained to him.
“I won’t miss it, I promise.” Brock had told him.
So he had to go today. But perhaps Friday, he had another appointment with her, and it was possibly her last of the day. He had set it up late on purpose, giving her less of a reason to miss the date.
She was waiting up front for him as soon as he walked in the door. He looked at his watch, “Sorry traffic was horrible.” He apologized seeing he was 10 minutes late.
“It’s okay; this is a hard time of day to get here.” She commented.
As soon as they were in the back, he asked, “How’s your daughter? What’s her name?”
She chuckled, “Her name is Sara and she’s doing great.”
“So I was wondering if maybe on Friday, after my appointment I could take you and Sara for dinner and coffee.” Brock asked. He had never been so nervous asking for a date.
“Well Sara doesn’t drink coffee, thankfully! But she’s going to a sleep over that night at a friend’s house, it’s her first one.”
He had heard something sad in her voice when she told him. “She’s growing up fast. So maybe we could go out?”
She looked at him and laughed, “I must say you are persistent.” She stopped and studied him closely. “Beyond my better judgment I’ll say yes.” She said finally.
Brock had thought his heart would stop as he waited for her answer. He couldn’t stand it any longer, and when she said yes, he thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. “Yes, you’ll go?” He asked.
“Usually that is what yes means, right?” She laughed at him.
“Oh yea, I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to say yes.” He smiled broadly.
“Don’t make me regret it already.” She muttered.
He just smiled; he was going to go out with her. Brock was happy it would just be the two of them this time. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to impress her as well as her daughter. He could feel the nerves already building, wonderin
g what they would talk about on their date.
“Have you been doing your exercises at home? It’s only been one day in between, so please tell me you didn’t skip them.” She looked at him seriously.
“No I did them last night.” He said proudly.
“So there may be hope for you after all!” She laughed.
Brock wanted to reach out and grab her and kiss her. Her lips were full and luscious. The fact that her brown hair was hanging down in her face, a tangled mass, didn’t help either.
She looked up at him; her glasses framing her face just right and he about did it. Brock brought his thoughts back to the present. What was wrong with him? He didn’t want to treat her like some cheap object; no she was special to him. The fact that he could admit that, at least in his mind, scared him a bit though.
“Alright, times up. Remember do a few more rounds tonight and don’t forget to do them all tomorrow.” Marie reminded him.
“I won’t forget as long as you don’t forget Friday night.” He smiled at her.
“I won’t forget.” She said.
“Have a nice night. I have to go I have another appointment. Until Friday, I bid you ado.” He bowed and stood up and left the room.
He could hear her chuckling behind him. He was on cloud nine; she had agreed to go out with him.
Chapter 6
After he left Marie wanted to kick herself. Why had she agreed to go out with him? “This is so dumb.” She told herself.
But the fact was she wanted to go. She had a free night, Sara would be gone, and well she would be gone. However, Marie still didn’t like the fact of casual sex; she knew her body was screaming out for a release.
It was a dilemma she really didn’t wish to have. Her hormones were screaming out though, and she had a free night. She had decided if Brock Jonick wanted to have sex, she might just go along with it.
At the very least the thrill of knowing she had date had taken some of the sting away of Sara being gone. Now she could be nervous about what might take place that night instead. She had to laugh at the irony of letting go of a depressing thought, to move to one that made her so nervous.