Playing for Keeps

by Hill, Jamie

  "Drive carefully," her mother advised.

  "Of course." Maddie gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek and left. She knew exactly where she was going. It was less than two hours away.

  The highway to Cambridge felt as familiar to Maddie as her old room. Her parents had insisted she come home regularly, and at first, she had. Later, not so much. Sometimes, she and Alec drove back together. Her parents thought they were dating, and they liked him. He was a good cover for her.

  The college campus looked the same. Maddie drove by Buckley Hall, the dorm she and Zoey had lived in. It looked good, well maintained and clean. Maddie cruised through town and passed by many of their old haunts. The drive-in restaurant they frequented was still there, and Maddie stopped for a salad and an iced tea. When she finished, she told herself she should head back. While she was saying it, she headed south of town, to the 'bad neighborhood', and looked for the Lost Wages pool hall. She remembered the corner it was on, but it wasn't there anymore. A strip mall filled the whole block. A funny feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.

  She told herself to go back to Hartford. While she was saying it, she drove north a ways and parked across the street from Dick's Bike Shop. It was still there. As it was Sunday, the place was closed, and Maddie thought that was probably a good thing. It was hard enough seeing the shop. What if it still has the same owner? She didn't realize she was staring at the building, and blinked in shock when one of the shop's garage doors opened. She stepped on the gas and peeled out, and was back on the highway before she had time to catch her breath.

  She stopped in to see her father again when she got back to Hartford, and told him she'd be there to bring him home the next day. She was tired and didn't stay long. She wanted a hot shower and her bed. Once she was tucked in, she picked up the phone and called home. "Hey, baby."

  "Hey, gorgeous! How'd the day go?" Rob greeted her.

  "Better. We coordinated schedules so I didn't have to see my brother. It worked pretty well. But Jesus, it's boring at the hospital! Thank goodness he's coming home tomorrow."

  Rob chuckled. "Yeah, not much to do there, I guess."

  "That's for sure. So what did you guys do today?"

  "Oh, my. We were blessed by a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Cooper."

  "Doesn't sound like as much fun as the mud hole."

  "Not quite. It was okay, I guess. They were basically checking up on me, making sure the kids got fed and such."

  Maddie laughed. "I don't have a worry in the world about leaving them with you."

  "That's 'cause you love me," he said softly.

  "I do, I do. I imagine your mother does, too, though…"

  "Oh, yeah. She just doesn't trust me."

  "Well I do. With all my heart and soul."

  "God, when are you coming home? Talking to you makes me horny."

  "Soon, sugar. I don't want to be out of your arms for one minute longer than I have to."

  Rob chuckled. "You'll never guess what my mother told me today. Mary Lou Henderson got married."

  "Okay…so who is Mary Lou Henderson?"

  "She's my old girlfriend. Mom knew that. What she didn't know was that she was my first girlfriend, if you catch my drift."

  "Oh my God!" Maddie squealed. "She's just now getting married? What, was she waiting for you or something?"

  "It seems unlikely. That first time was not an earth-shattering event."

  Maddie laughed again. "Too funny! Will you tell me about it sometime?"

  "Maybe, if we're really drunk. But then you'll have to tell me some things. Quid pro quo, Clarice."

  "Whatever you say, Dr. Lecter. Ooh, you're getting slick with the movie references." Before they met, Rob had seen virtually no movies while Maddie saw as many as she could. She was slowly bringing him around.

  "The things I do for you."

  "My sweetheart. So, you'll have to tell me about you and Mary Lou sometime."

  "Maybe sometime. I think it'd be more interesting to hear about your first time."

  Maddie chuckled softly. "Aw, my stories are so boring."

  "Yeah!" Rob snorted.

  Maddie smiled, and closed her eyes.

  Chapter Four

  Ten years earlier – Cambridge, Massachusetts

  "You mean to tell me you've never shot pool?" Nick asked Maddie with disbelief.

  "Nope." She looked at the table and shook her head.

  "Well, come on." He took her arm and led her to the rack on the wall.

  "Do I get a stick?" Maddie examined all of them.

  Nick smiled. "They're called 'cues', and yes, you get one. Here, try this." He pulled one down and handed it to her.

  "Great! So what do I do with it?"

  Chuckling, he led her back to the table. "Since I've just about kicked Ty's ass in this game, I'm sure he won't mind if you take a few shots."

  "Bullshit." Ty took a draw of his beer. "But go ahead, Maddie. Anything for you."

  She took off her jacket, tossed it on a chair and looked at Nick, expectantly.

  He set his cue down and turned Maddie toward the table. "Stand like this." He put his hands on her hips and positioned her. "Bend over a little." He pressed down on her back. "Stick your butt out." He patted her ass.

  Inside, Maddie melted. Concentrate! All she could think about were Nick's hands on her, and the way her skin burned wherever he touched her. It became more difficult to think as Nick pressed his body next to hers and put his hands over hers. Maddie inhaled sharply, and tried to maintain composure.

  "Now, pull back the cue like this. You're aiming for the white ball, and you want it to knock one of the striped ones into a pocket."

  "Whose pocket?" Maddie asked.

  Nick shook with laughter.

  "The pockets in the corners of the table, sweetness. There are two on the sides, and four in the corners. See them?"

  "Oh, yeah." She looked around the table, but was still concentrating on the feel of his body against hers.

  "Pull back on the cue, aim carefully, then shoot." He guided her hands, they shot the white ball and it bounced off the side and hit nothing. Nick stood up. "Barkeep!" he yelled. "Another round over here! I'm gonna need a lot more beer to make this work."

  Maddie straightened up and smiled at him. "Show me again. I promise, I'll try harder."

  "All right." He leaned over her again, pressing his body firmly against hers. He looked at her sideways and said, "You probably need to keep your eyes open."

  "Oh, sorry!" She smiled and batted her lashes a couple of times.

  He grinned. "Here we go." He pulled their hands back and shot the cue ball. This time it hit the striped ball and they both went across the table. "That was better."

  Maddie wiggled her hips against him. "That was good, I thought."

  Nick straightened and expelled a breath. "Whew! Where's that beer?"

  "Here ya go." Zoey handed him one of the bottles from the table next to her. "Mad?" She held out another bottle.

  "Thanks." Maddie took the beer and stood next to Nick.

  He lit a cigarette and took a drag. Maddie inhaled the smoke, and thought that it smelled, somehow, sexy to her.

  Alec approached them with a worried expression on his face. "Maddie! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

  She smiled. "Nick's teaching me how to play pool."

  Nick pointed his bottle at the table. "You shoot pool, sweetness. You play at other things."

  "Cool." She took a sip of her beer.

  Alec scowled. "We need to go, Maddie."

  She shook her head. "I'm not ready. But why don't you go? Maybe you can still catch that party."

  Ty said loudly, "At the Sigma foo foo's."

  Everyone around them laughed, and Alec's face reddened. "Maddie, I brought you, I should take you home."

  "We'll make sure she gets home," Zoey told him.

  Maddie nodded and smiled at Alec.

  He said under his breath, "I don't want to leave you here alon
e!"

  "I'm not alone." She smiled again. "I'm with Zoey, Ty and Nick."

  "See ya, Junior," Ty announced, and several people around him chimed in "Bye! See you!"

  Alec's face grew redder and he turned to leave. He said angrily to Maddie, "Call me tomorrow!"

  "I'll try." She nodded.

  "No promises!" Ty called out.

  "And don't call us. We'll be busy," Zoey added.

  Alec left and Maddie turned back to the group. Nick grinned at Ty and Zoey. "You guys are ruthless. Here he was, trying to protect the poor girl's virtue."

  Maddie bumped Nick with her hip. "I can protect myself, thank you very much. Now, how about another lesson?" She chugged her beer.

  He grinned again. "Okay, sweet stuff." He snuffed out his smoke, polished off his bottle of beer and set it down. He motioned to the pool table. "After you."

  "I wish," Maddie muttered under her breath, and picked up her cue.

  They spent another forty-five minutes with Nick trying his best to teach Maddie how to shoot pool, and Maddie trying her best to press up against Nick's body. He finally took both their cues and set them on the pool table. "I give up. I'm not sure you can be taught. I gave it my best, sweetness."

  "Oh, don't give up on me." Maddie put her fingers through the two front belt loops on his jeans. "I'm sure I can be taught a lot of things."

  He chuckled and put his hands on her hips. He pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear, "You're playing with fire, little girl. Be careful you don't get burned."

  She looked him in the eyes. "Maybe I want to get burned."

  "Maybe you're drunk, and you won't feel that way in the morning."

  "I am not drunk."

  He raised his eyebrows, but didn't reply. His friends were gathered in a corner booth, drinking, singing and getting rowdy. He finally told Maddie, "I guess you need another beer then."

  She laughed, and he took her by the hand to the booth. People scooted over and made room for them, and Nick slid in, still holding her hand. He let go of her long enough to pull some cash from his wallet and toss it on the table. He casually slid his arm around behind her.

  Maddie sipped her fresh beer and decided to get brave. She slid one hand on to his thigh. Nick didn't act like he noticed. He was busy talking and occasionally bursting into bits of song. Maddie didn't know country music but everyone else apparently did, and sang out loud whenever the mood hit them. She enjoyed watching them. Her first impression of Nick had been correct, people seemed to gravitate toward him, and he seemed to get along with everybody. She wished he'd throw a little of the love her way.

  Zoey and Ty stood up and she leaned down to Maddie. "I think we're going to take off. Will you be okay?"

  "Sure." She smiled at them.

  Ty asked Nick, "You make sure she gets home at some point?"

  Nick looked at Maddie. "You want me to take you home?"

  "At some point," she said.

  His arm came off the booth and rested on her shoulder. "Yep," he told Ty "I can do that."

  Ty nodded at them, and led Zoey out.

  Maddie smiled at Nick, who lit up another smoke and went on talking to his friends, but left his arm around her shoulder. He spoke to her some, but mainly she enjoyed the conversation he had with everyone else. She was almost sorry when, a while later, he said, "Think it's time to head out?"

  "Whatever you want." She nodded.

  He grinned at her and said goodbyes to his friends. He handed Maddie her jacket and reached for his from the back of another chair. It was black leather, like Ty's, and he slipped into it and pulled out a pair of glasses. They looked like wraparound sunglasses but had very lightly tinted lenses. "Night time driving," he explained, and slipped them on.

  Maddie followed him out to a Harley, bigger than Ty's. "Wow!" She admired it.

  "Like bikes?" He swung his leg over and cranked it to start.

  "Yeah." Her eyes sparkled.

  "Hop on." He nodded to the back.

  Maddie put her leg over and settled herself in the seat. She wrapped her arms around Nick's waist and felt the bike vibrating beneath her. She shivered with anticipation.

  "Where we going?" he called back to her.

  "Wherever you want," she replied.

  He turned sideways to look at her. "I mean, where's home?"

  She pressed herself into his back. "I don't want to go home."

  He looked her in the eye, and she nodded. "Okay." He took off, and drove fast down the street. He rounded a corner and Maddie leaned the opposite direction. Nick chuckled and called back, "You ever been on a bike before?"

  "No!"

  "Lean with me on the corners, not against me."

  "It feels like we'll tip over!"

  "I promise you, we won't. Unless you lean against me."

  "Okay!" She held on to his waist tightly and allowed her body to move with his, enjoying the ride.

  Too soon, he pulled up to a big older house, and stopped in the driveway. "Hop off." He climbed off after her, and removed the bike's key.

  "You live here?"

  He nodded, and headed up the front porch steps to the door. He looked back at her. "Coming in?"

  She followed him into the house.

  "No place like home."

  "It's nice." She glanced around the old, but clean, house.

  He tossed his jacket on a chair and went to the kitchen, returning with two more bottles of beer. Setting them down, he lit another cigarette. He offered her one.

  "No, thanks." She waved it off, but picked up the beer, nervously.

  He sat in one big easy chair, and Maddie sat on the edge of another. "So you go to school?" he asked her.

  "Yeah."

  "College, I hope, not high school."

  Maddie laughed. "I'm a freshman at Harvard."

  "Just checking. You're eighteen, right?"

  "And a half," she added.

  "Oh, well that's better." He took a drag of his cigarette and looked her in the eye. "What exactly are you doing here, Maddie?"

  "I like you," she replied.

  "And?"

  She looked at him.

  He grinned. "If you can't say it, you probably can't do it."

  "Well," she hesitated. "I never have done it. But I was hoping to."

  "Oh ho! You've never had sex?"

  She shook her head nervously. "I've done some stuff…"

  He puffed his smoke thoughtfully. "Why me, sweetness? I'm technically old enough to be your father."

  "You're nothing like my father."

  "You're going to Harvard, so probably not. I just want to be sure of what I'm getting into, here. I'm not real good with tears and regrets the morning after."

  "No tears. No regrets."

  He thought about that and slowly nodded. "Well, I'll tell you what. If you're sure about this…"

  Maddie nodded, and he continued, "Since it's your first time, I have some really smooth Kahuna Gold weed. Maybe we should toke up to take the edge off."

  She hated to ask, but knew she had to. "Do you have anything to, you know…"

  "Say what you want to say, sweetness. Just spit it out. Do I have any what?"

  "Condoms?"

  "Yes, I do. You're smart to ask. Wouldn't want anything to sidetrack that hundred thousand dollar education."

  Maddie stood. "You're making fun of me."

  He grinned. "What if I am?"

  "You might regret it."

  "You gonna make me?"

  "Maybe." She smiled. "But first, I'm going to use the john."

  "Through that door." He stood up.

  Maddie went into his bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn't believe what she was doing, but didn't want to stop. I'm ready. Way past ready. She pulled the rubber band from her hair and took her braid out. She used his brush on her hair until it was smooth and silky.

  When she returned to the front room, Nick was rolling a joint. "Hey, good lookin'." He glanced up at her. "Like the
hair."

  She stepped up next to him and ran her hand through his golden locks. "I like yours, too. Can we lose this?" She touched his bandana headband.

  "Whatever you want, darlin'."

  Maddie untied the bandana and dropped it on the floor. She ran her fingers through his hair.

  "Here we go." Nick lit the joint, inhaled, and passed it to her. She took a deep drag, wanting to take the edge off her nervousness quickly. They passed it back and forth a few times, and then Nick extinguished it and set the roach carefully in an ashtray.

  Maddie felt lightheaded, and free. She danced in front of him and wiggled her hips.

  He reached for her, burying his face in her stomach and inhaled her scent. He pulled back and smiled. "Good stuff, eh?"

  "Oh yeah." She reached for the bottom edge of her sweater, brought it over her head, and tossed it off. She ran her hands over his head and pulled him back to her. "Very good stuff," she murmured as he kissed her stomach.

  His hands went behind her and unclasped her bra, letting it fall away. Maddie gasped as his kisses made their way to her breasts.

  "You taste good," he murmured.

  She took his face in her hands. "I want to taste you." She held him as he stood, and kissed him passionately. Maddie groaned as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth, seeking her tongue out. Sensations were spinning around her, all of them good. A thrill ran down her spine, right to her very core. He tasted of beer and cigarettes, and Maddie couldn't get enough of him. She held his face and kissed him as deeply as was possible, and he chuckled at her urgency.

  "Take it easy, baby doll." He walked her backward to his bedroom, and laid her gently on the bed. "We've got plenty of time to do everything I want to do to you."

  Maddie gazed up at him and shivered.

  "Oh my God." Nick flopped onto the bed next to her. "Are you sure that was your first time?"

  Maddie stretched and purred. "I can't believe how great that felt."

  He leaned up on his side and looked at her. "You did real good, sweetness. Some women never come during sex, let alone their first time."

  "Wow. Now I wonder what I was waiting for!"

  "I guess the answer to that is, me." He kissed her lips then rolled out of bed. "I need to clean up, and you're bleeding. You might want to take care of that."