Changing Course (10 page)

Sarah never put her rings back on after the accident. The nurses were forced to cut them off when she was brought in on that night. I took them the very next day to have them repaired. I even went so far as to pay the rush fee to ensure that they would be ready before she was released from the hospital. However, when I handed them back to her, excited to see her reaction, she just gave me a weak smile and placed them on her nightstand. The next day, she moved them to her jewelry box. The very same place they still sit today.

Reaching down, I slide the platinum band off my finger. I hold it up, looking closely at every bump and blemish. I never take my ring off and it shows in its tattered condition. Inside, it is still shiny silver. Clean and unscratched. My breath catches and my chest tightens when I see the inscription.

No take backs. Love always, Danika.

"FUCK!" I scream, throwing the ring across the tiny bathroom. I step back against the wall, sliding down until my ass finds the cold hospital tile. I know I need to get up, but I don’t have the strength to face this god-awful situation anymore. Sitting with my legs bent, elbows touching my knees, I drop my head only to see that silver blood-covered reminder resting directly between my feet. Begrudgingly picking it back up, I move to the sink. Using a damp wash cloth, I begin to scrub away the stains. Once it had been returned to its normal worn state, I tucked it into a small pocket in my wallet. Wearing it, just felt like a lie.

S
NAPPING BACK
to the present, I realize that I've been standing here holding Jess for several minutes now. She hasn't tried to move away either, and if it's even possible, I think she snuggled closer. Her hands are wrapped around my waist, my left hand holding her head to my chest, and my right wrapped around her shoulders. Despite my mind screaming at me to let her go for fear of leading her on again, I can't seem to convince my body to release her. It's been a really long time since I've been physically connected to another person like this. I have to admit it feels amazing. And even more confusing, it feels right.

I step back and reluctantly let my arms fall away. "Did you mean it?" I ask.

"Mean what?"

"About starting over and pretending none of this ever happened?"

"Yeah. I'd love to forget all about today."

"Done," I say before turning and walking away. She stands stunned by my sudden departure. Looping around a beer cart, I head back in her direction.

"Jesse? What are you doing here? Wow, you look fantastic."

"Um, just watching the game." She timidly smiles, deciding to play along.

"I'm glad I ran into you, I could use a friend to watch the game with. I hate coming to these things alone."

"Really? I happen to have an extra seat in my brother’s corporate box, if you'd like to join me?"

"A box! Hell yeah, I'd like to join you. I hear they have free beer," I say, causing the small smile to spread across her face.

"Well, then why are we still standing here when there is free alcohol to be consumed just around the corner?" she says as she starts back toward our seats.

Before we get more than a few steps away, I lean over and whisper, "Friends?" in her ear.

"Friends. Thank you," she whispers back. I reply with nothing but a wink.

A
FTER LEAVING
the game, Jesse and I decided to walk around for a bit. Neither one of us was quite ready to go home. Jesse is incredible. She was nothing like the person I thought she would be. Sure, she was a little timid and shy sometimes, but in other moments, she would put me in my place without a second thought. It was an extraordinary combination of innocent and sassy. I love a woman who can challenge me, and it wasn't until today that I started to see that quality in her. She absolutely fascinated me. We talked about everything. She told hilarious stories about her morning spent shooting down Kara’s "whore-riffic" clothing choices, and I told her about my crazy sisters and all my nieces and nephews. We had the perfect afternoon. As the game came to an end, I suggested a walk as an excuse to keep her close for a few minutes longer.

"Can we go in here?" Jesse asks, stopping in front of a random bowling alley.

"You want to go bowling?" I ask, surprised by her choice. I figured we would grab an early dinner at a quiet restaurant, but it seems everything about Jesse is surprising today.

"Yeah, why not?"

"You're wearing a dress."

"So?"

"I don't know. I didn't think a dress was ideal bowling attire, but if you want to bowl, then I'm game."

"Do you play?"

"Of course! Care to make a little wager?" I reach out and grab the door, but pause before opening it.

"Sure! What do you have in mind? I could stand a little extra spending cash this week." She answers with a smirk.

"Not this time, little lady." I make a show of tipping my pretend cowboy hat. "How about we bet one favor, to be decided upon later."

"What kind of favor?" she asks skeptically.

"Anything. Who knows this time next week you could be doing my laundry."

"Oh, those kind of favors! Okay! I'm in!" She actually squeals in excitement making me a little fearful of her enthusiasm. But as she jumps around clapping her hands, I can’t help but laugh too.
God she's beautiful
! And that thought had nothing to do with the boob that almost popped out of her dress. Before I can stop myself, I place a hand on her lower back to guide her inside and lean over to breathe in her scent.

"Let's do this, gorgeous."

We walk into the bowling alley to see it packed for a Sunday evening. Dozens of eyes seem to breeze over me landing directly on Jesse, sweeping her from head to toe. A few of the men openly stare at her chest as she walks. I swear one of them even had the balls to adjust his pants when we passed by his lane! I had to fight the urge not to rip off whatever pencil dick he was grabbing while drooling over my woman…I mean, a woman half his age. I knew right then that this was going to be a short excursion.

I’m not about to sit and watch men ogle Jesse as she bowls in this dress. Because of my stupid "just friends" conversation earlier, I can't even wrap an arm around her waist claiming her for everyone to see. One game, then we are out of here. We'll go to a nice restaurant or maybe find a nice empty bar where we can hang out. As we reach the counter, I pull out my wallet to pay, but Jesse stops me first.

"I'll pay for myself. Friends, remember?" She looks up at me with a smile on her face.

"Right. Friends." I remind myself again. "Don't worry, I've got this. You get to buy the first pitcher."

"Deal." She heads off towards the bar followed by the eyes of every man in the building.

"Wait, what size shoe do you wear?"

"Five and a half."

"Holy shit. Is that even an adult size?"

"Laugh it up now, big boy," she says, glancing around at the crowd and then tugging her dress down an inch. I can't help but mumble a, "That's what she said," under my breath as I watch her tight little ass head towards the bar.

I pick out a ball with great attention to detail. I have big plans for this bet with Jesse. I haven't bowled in several years, so I'm going to need all the help I can get tonight. I find the perfect twelve pound ball and move to lane three. While she is still stuck at the bar, I assign our names, Tiny and Hulk. It seemed fitting. When she sees our new nicknames on the monitors, she laughs. It makes it worth every penny of the twenty bucks I tipped the lane attendant to get us set up. It has been years since I last played. I didn't want to still be stumbling with the video scoreboard when she came back.

"This must be a fancy bowling alley. They have a ton of beer on tap. Here, take this. I need to grab some balls." I groan at the endless number of jokes I could make from that last statement.

"Are you alright?" she asks for the third time today. I bite my lip and nod enjoying the view of her walking away again.

I sit down and try to squeeze my feet into the rented shoes. No one ever carries a men’s size fifteen, so I have to squeeze into a fourteen. I'll have a million blisters tomorrow. I stand up looking down at Jesse's shoes lined up with mine and shake my head at the enormous size difference. It's ridiculous. When she walks up carrying a twelve and fourteen pound ball, all that ridiculousness is forgotten.

"Oh my God, those balls are huge!"

"Thanks, I'm quite fond of them," she winks in my direction.

"No, I mean seriously. They're huge! You do know you have to repeatedly throw them down the lane?"

"Golly gee Brett, is that how bowling works?" She feigns ignorance.

"Yeah, smart ass. It is! Are you sure you don't want me to ask for one of the special kiddie balls?"

"Alright, keep it up! When you're washing my car with a toothbrush tomorrow, I hope you remember this moment."

"What moment?" I ask as she bends over, picking up a ball that is nearly half her size.

"This one." She turns and throws it down the lane with a skilled ease.

I watch with my mouth gaping open, as I see Jesse’s ball spin to the left, teetering on the edge of the gutter before veering back to the right, and slamming into the center. Pins go flying on impact and not a single one is left standing. I close my eyes shaking my head in utter disbelief that this woman has managed to hustle me yet again. Luckily, I open them just in time to catch Jesse doing the world’s worst 1980's robot dance in celebration. Okay, so maybe losing to Jesse won't be so bad after all.

Brett

"H
OW DID
I get so drunk?" Jess slurs as we finish up the fifth and final game of bowling.

Despite my earlier plans to leave as quickly as possible, we've been here for hours. I got over my jealousy issues with guys staring at Jess. Okay maybe "getting over it" is a bit of a stretch, but I did find a solution. I couldn't let Jesse know I was trying to publicly claim her, but I sure as hell could let these disgusting men know who she was leaving with. Just call me Captain Loophole.

For the first two games, I would pick a random gawking man and stare him down while Jess took her turn. The more beer I drank, the more aggressive my glare became. Eventually, I'm sure they all got the idea. They also probably thought I was insane, but the obvious drooling stopped.

"Well, it could have been the pitcher of beer that you drank by yourself during game four," I answer, watching her flop down onto one of the hard plastic chairs.

"I did not! You drank some too."

"Yes, I drank two sips. Then you stole my beer and chugged it after getting your one-billionth strike of the day. Are you going to tell me where you learned to play like that?"

"No, it’s embarrassing. I'm pretty sure I'm maxed out on humiliation for the year after today."

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad," I sweetly plead.

"Yes, it can. Don't you try it! Even with those sad puppy dog eyes, I'm still not telling you where I learned my crazy bowling skills." She laughs, throwing a balled-up napkin at me.

"Shall we make a little bet?" I ask, twirling my thumbs like an evil madman.

"Aren't you sick of losing yet?" She laughs so hard at her own joke, she almost rolls out of the chair. Her reaction alone is enough to make me laugh right along with her. This girl is drunk...and beautiful. And drunk. And sexy as hell. And drunk. And so very fuckable. Did I mention drunk? She isn't in the danger zone, where she is going to be hating her very existence tomorrow. She's in that loose-lipped-say-things-that-will-make-you-cringe-the-next-day stage. I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying the hell out of seeing her in this state.

Jesse always seems to have a filter when she talks to me. It's as if, she analyzes every word in her mind twelve times before actually spitting out a sentence. Since she started drinking, she hasn't stopped talking. She has officially made the leap from best friend’s little sister, to woman I want to fuck. Jesus, what the hell am I saying? Am I drunk too?

"So, is that a yes or no to the bet?" I smile, glancing down and catch a glimpse of her peaked chilled nipples.

"You cold, Jess?" I ask, nodding down at her nipples noticeably showing thorough her skimpy excuse for a dress.