Playing for Keeps (33 page)

The man smiled. "I'm, Dr. Houghton. I've read your x-rays and it looks like you've fractured a bone in your foot. Pretty lucky, all things considered."

"Will she need a cast?"
Rob asked the doctor.

"That's the best course of treatment. I'll cast it, and give her some crutches. In a week, she can come to my office and we'll revise it into a walking cast. It'll probably need to stay on about six weeks."

"Okay." Rob nodded and looked at Maddie.

Dr.
Houghton said, "Let me get my things set up, and we'll be back to get you."

"Oh, Doc," Rob said. "Our daughter was in the accident, too. She's been examined and released. Can she come in and see Maddie for a minute before she leaves? She's pretty worried."

"Sure." He nodded, and left.

Maddie looked at him. "Sophie's okay?"

"She's perfect. Let me go get her." He left and returned with Sophie and Dionne.

"Maddie!"
Sophie ran to her and they hugged.

"Oh, Sophie Belle, I'm so glad you're okay." Maddie ran her fingers through the child's hair.

"Sounds like you're going to be okay, too," Dionne said. "Thank God."

Maddie looked up at her sheepishly. "I'm really sorry. I just didn't see him."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault," Dionne told her. "That son-of-a-bitch blew
two times
the legal limit!"

"Thanks for being so nice about it. I feel awful, really."

"It could have been any of us." Rob touched Maddie's arm.

"That's right,"
Dionne agreed. "And that jackass is going to pay. I plan to sue the pants off his drunken ass."

Maddie
smiled at Sophie. "Who does she sound like?"

Sophie
nodded knowingly and pointed to her father.

Maddie grinned. "Can't tell you guys were together for nine years."

"It's only logical!" Dionne threw her hands in the air. "He screwed up, and you and our daughter had to pay. Well, now it's his turn to pay."

"Damn straight," Rob agreed.

Maddie shook her head. "I'll leave that up to you. Do whatever you think is best."

Dionne crossed her arms. "Good. Now, do you have your rental car agreement?"

Maddie thought about that. "It was in my purse." She looked at Rob. "Please tell me you found my purse."

"It's in the Expedition."

Dionne said, "I'll get it before I go. I'm calling the company for you. When I'm finished with them, they'll be offering to pay
you
money."

"They didn't do anything wrong."

"I'll handle them, with your permission, of course." Dionne shrugged. "It's one of the fun parts of being a lawyer.

Maddie
nodded. "Thanks."

Rob brushed a lock of hair off Maddie's forehead. "Soph's going to spend the night with
Dee. I'll pick her up tomorrow."

Maddie looked at
Dionne. "You don't have to work?"

"I'm taking the day off. After today, I just want to spend some time with her. You know."

"I do. Okay then, I'll say goodbye to you, and I'll see you tomorrow." She kissed Sophie. "I'll be the one with a big ol' cast on my leg."

"Cool!"
Sophie grinned, and they all chuckled.

"Take care, Maddie." Dionne squeezed her hand, and led Sophie out.

"Yeah, thanks," Maddie said, still surprised at Dionne's cordiality. She looked at Rob and raised her eyebrows.

Smiling, he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "She was scared to death, too."

"Give her a little hug for me. Not too big of one, of course, just a friendly little one. Okay?"

He laughed. "You got it. I'll be right back, with a big hug just for you."

"I'll be here," she said wearily, and she was.

They finally got the cast put on an hour later, and they fitted Maddie with crutches. She was very tired and cranky, and not in the mood to learn to use crutches. The nurse wheeled her out in a wheelchair and
Rob lifted her into their SUV. He tossed her stuff in the back, and got in the driver's seat.

"I am so fucking tired right now, I can't stand it," Maddie complained. "And I'm hungry.
Jesus Christ, what time is it?"

He looked at his watch. "Almost nine. That was an interesting six-hour ordeal."

"Fuckin' A."

He chuckled as he headed out. "If it's all right with you, I'd like to leave the kids at Mom's tonight. She said it'd be no problem, and I think you and I can use a night to regroup."

"It's fine. Can we please get something to eat? I'm starved, and I want to take a pain pill. It says to take it with food."

"You want a hamburger or something better?"

"A hamburger is fine. Wherever is close, and just so I don't have to move my ass from this seat."

Rob drove them through a fast food restaurant. They sat and ate in the parking lot, then he headed home.

Finally full and satisfied, and with her pain pill kicking in, Maddie closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

She woke up as he carried her into their house. "Are we home?" She glanced around, disoriented.

"Yes, we are. I'm putting you to bed."

"I need to pee."

"Pee first, then bed. Got it."

He changed her into panties and a pajama top, and tucked her in. "Let me feed Bo, then I need to call Fred about work tomorrow."

"Can you call your mother and check on the babies?" she asked drowsily.

"Of course." When he returned, he smiled. "Everything's fine. Kids are sleeping soundly. Mom hopes you have a restful night." He slipped out of his clothes and climbed into bed next to her.

Maddie held her arms out to him.

Rob wrapped himself around her. "What a day," he muttered. "Jesus, Maddie, when I saw that truck ram into you, I thought I was going to die. Or puke. It was a toss up."

She chuckled. "At least I didn't have to see it."

"I'll never forget that sight. It'll haunt me forever."

"Everything's okay, now. You fed me, you drugged me up, and I promise not to be so cranky tomorrow."

He ran his hands through her hair. "You have every right to be cranky. What an awful experience. After it happened, I looked at the babies, and I thought 'I can't do this'. I really thought I lost you."

"Aw." Maddie hugged him tightly and wiped the tears from his eyes. "You're my sweet baby. I know you
think
you couldn't do it, but you really could, if you had to. You might not choose to, or
want
to, but you could do it. I know you could."

He hugged her and buried his face in her hair. "You're right. I just don't want to. Don't ever leave me, Maddie."

"Not if I can help it, sugar." She snuggled into him and sighed.

Chapter Six

Ten years earlier – Cambridge, Massachusetts

Maddie was looking to get laid. She'd finished her last week of classes and managed to squeak through finals with barely passing grades. She and Zoey were going out to celebrate, before they had to leave for Christmas break.

It'd been three weeks since the night she had sex with Nick, and Maddie was resigned to the fact that a relationship with him was not going to happen. She was ready for another relationship, though, and dressed accordingly for the evening ahead. She and Zoey went shopping and bought her a new outfit, a black jean jacket, see-through white halter top and low rise black jeans. Maddie took out her ponytail and set her hair on hot rollers so it was big, wild and fluffy. She dressed and slipped into her jacket and a pair of sunglasses. She met Zoey in the living room. "God, do I look like
Sandy at the end of
Grease
, or what?"

"Yeah." Zoey chuckled. "But it works for you."

"I want to have some fun tonight. I deserve it. Once I get home, there'll be no fun for four weeks."

"Unless you come back for intercession." Zoey applied some lipstick looking into a small hand mirror.

"Are you?" Maddie asked.

"God, yes. I don't mind going home for a visit, but not for a month. I'll go for a couple of weeks, then come back for the two week intercession class. It's two credit hours."

"Huh." Maddie thought about it.

"Let's go," Zoey said breathlessly. "Ty's meeting us there."

"I'm ready." Maddie grabbed her keys and they left the apartment. She drove to Lost Wages, and they talked to the bouncer a few minutes before they went in. He knew them by then, and they got in with no questions asked.

Ty was sitting on a barstool and Zoey slipped in between his knees. "Hey." She gave him a kiss that made Maddie look away.

"Hey," he answered when he could talk again. "Hey, Maddie."

"Hey, Ty. Set 'em up, barkeep, we're celebrating the end of finals."

Ty grinned at her. "Is that your celebrating outfit? 'Cause if it is, you need to celebrate more often."

Zoey said, "That's her guy-getting outfit. Maddie does not want to go home alone tonight."

Maddie picked up her bottle of beer and shoved Zoey's shoulder. "Why don't you announce it to the whole fucking place?"

Ty motioned to the bartender. "Willy, come here. Maddie's looking to score tonight. Any good prospects in the place?"

Willy leaned on the bar and looked around. "Well, Joe's back there, but you'd have to go to your place, because he lives with his mother. Dom over there doesn't have a place, but he does have lots of good stories about his days in the war."

Maddie sipped her beer then told them sassily, "Screw all of you. Leave me alone." She wandered back to a pool table, stuck in some money and racked up the balls. She made a few shots by herself until some people joined her for a game.

Ty and Zoey sat at a table near her, and their crowd of friends gathered around. Maddie had fun shooting pool. She was pretty good at it when she concentrated.

"Ten ball, corner pocket." Ty looked over her shots.

"Not possible." She looked at it.

"Bank it off the side," he said and approached her.

"Screw that. I've had a couple of beers already."

"Try it. Aim right here." He pointed to a spot on the table.

"You try it. I'll never make it."

"Piece of cake. Anyone could make it."

"So do it already." Maddie held her cue out to him.

"What'll you give me if I make it?" He grinned at her.

"My roommate'll suck your dick."

"She's gonna do that anyway." His smile widened.

Someone grabbed the cue from Maddie and made the shot perfectly. She turned around to see Nick smiling at her. "What'll you give
me
?"

Maddie's heart thudded. He looked the same, black leather jacket, red bandana, and that cruelly disarming smile. She wanted to feel nothing when she looked at him, but it didn't work that way. She stared at him and said, "A knee in the nuts?" She turned on her heel and headed for the bathroom. The crowd made "Woo," noises and Maddie hoped she'd sufficiently embarrassed Nick.

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror and tried to stop shaking. She'd known if she continued coming to this place, she'd eventually run into him. She just wasn't prepared for the strong feelings the sight of him evoked in her.
I need to pull myself together
. She'd find a place to sit away from him, or maybe someone to dance with. She'd make Ty dance with her if no one else was around.

Maddie breathed deeply, then stepped out into the hallway. She took a few steps and came face to face with Nick. "Excuse me." She tried to brush past him.

"You are really pissed at me."

She stopped. "Shouldn't I be?"

He shrugged.

"It's been three weeks. A phone call was too much to ask?"

He finally nodded. "I should have called."

"No big deal." She looked past him.

He reached for her belt loop. "It
was
a big deal, Maddie. And, yeah, I should have called. I want to talk to you about it, but not here."

She pulled away from him. "Well, here is all
we have."

"I'm told you're looking to go home with someone." He
smiled at her.

"Ty has a damn big mouth."

Nick chuckled. "But he's a good friend. He's not going to let you go home with the wrong kind of guy."

"That rules you out, then, doesn't it?"

He laughed out loud. "No truer fucking words were ever spoken. I'm the wrong kind of guy for you, Maddie."

"And you made this decision unilaterally, with no regard to my feelings or what I wanted?"

"I suppose I did."

"I wasn't asking for a god-damned wedding ring. I just wanted to spend time with you."

"It was that part that baffled me, I think."

She took a step closer to him, and ran a hand over his face. "For someone with such a fun-loving attitude and a tough guy appearance, you sure are full of insecurities in there."

He shrugged.

Maddie pressed up against him and kissed his lips gently. Nick responded, backing her up against the wall. He wedged his knee in between her legs and pressed the top of his thigh into her crotch. Maddie groaned and kissed him deeper, running her hands over his neck and shoulders.

He finally pulled back and said, "We're going to have to talk about this."

She leaned in to him for one more kiss. "Can we fuck first?"

Nick chuckled. "Oh, God, she's addicted."

"To you," she answered, and kissed him again.

"Do you want to shoot any more pool?"

She shook her head.

"Do you want more beer?"

She shook her head, again.

"Let's see, third time's a charm here. Do you want to go back to my place and ball our brains out?"

"Since you asked so nicely, yes, I do."

He slid his arm around her waist. "Come on, then." He led her out past their friends.

"You leaving, Maddie?" Ty called out.

Nick answered, "Maddie, found someone to go home with."

A cheer went up from the crowd and Maddie sank into Nick's side. She grabbed her jacket and muttered, "I can never come back to this place."

He laughed and held her tightly. "Have a good night, everybody! I know we will!"

They went out to the parking lot and she said, "I have my car."

He nodded. "Follow me?"

She kissed him. "Anywhere."

He kissed her one more time, slipping his hand inside her halter to squeeze her breast.

"It's freezing out here." She shivered.

"You're all toasty warm in here." He squeezed her again.

"Can we go, please?"

He chuckled. "You sure you don't want to ride on my bike?"

"Brrrr!" she hollered, and got in her car. She followed him to his place, and they went inside.

Maddie woke up the next morning and stared at Nick, sleeping next to her. Tender was not a word she would choose to describe him, but it was the perfect description of their lovemaking the previous night. Nick made love to her tenderly, stroking her gently, kissing her softly. It was almost like an apology. Maddie suspected it
was
an apology, maybe the only one she'd get. She accepted it happily, and was ready for him to apologize to her some more when he woke up.

She also knew he'd want to talk. She wasn't sure how that would go, but she hadn't turned her heart loose yet. If he broke up with her, it wouldn't kill her this time. She remained wary, but eager and hungry for his touch.

He yawned and stretched, and padded into the bathroom before he looked at her. He came back with a cigarette, lit it, and tossed his lighter on the nightstand. "Good morning."

"Get back in here." She patted the bed and
smiled at him.

"Thought we agreed to talk."

"Thought we agreed to fuck first."

He puffed his cigarette. "Seems I recall we did that last night."

"Seems like we're going to do it again. Unless you can't get it up, old man."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "When did you turn into such a feisty, horny, little bitch?"

"When you turned me on to sex and then didn't call me back. I blame it all on you."

He snuffed out his cigarette and dropped into the bed on top of her, catching himself with his arms. "As long as we've got that straight. And for your information, all I have to do is
look at you
to get it up."

"Let's see what you've got, then," she challenged him. "Last night was sweet and perfect. Today, I'm feeling a little more ornery, or feisty, as you put it."

"You askin' for it?" He looked at her.

"No, honey, I'm
beggin
' for it."

He
grinned, and gave it to her.

Later, Maddie looked at herself in the mirror.
What have I done?
She had hickeys all over her neck and shoulders.

"Don't blame me, you begged for it." Nick stepped up behind her and patted her ass.

"It felt good at the time," Maddie muttered, and wondered if she had enough turtleneck sweaters to wear all through Christmas break.

"It sure as hell did, didn't it?" He ran his hands over her bare body, and growled with pleasure. "Ummm." He shook his head.

Maddie leaned back into him. "Keep doing that and we're going to have to go back to bed."

"Not an entirely bad plan."

"Not at all," she purred as his hands caressed her breasts.

"But you agreed to talk. So get dressed. I can't talk to you looking like that."

"Talk, talk, talk…" she muttered and put her clothes on.

He chuckled at her and put on his jeans and a tank top. "Not that those clothes leave much to the imagination."

"This or nothing." She raised her hands.

"I have a flannel shirt in the closet that would cover you up."

"Bite me," she told him and winced. "No, wait, you already did. So, do you have any caffeine in that refrigerator of yours?"

"There's some soda, I think."

"Perfect. Want one?"

"Sure." He sat on his sofa and lit a cigarette.

Maddie handed him a can, and sat on a chair across from him. She popped her soda open and took a drink. "So, talk already."

He looked at her and puffed on his cigarette. "I need to figure out what we're doing here, Maddie. I'm obviously not the right guy for you. What's the matter with all them
Harvard boys?"

She smiled. "The key word there being 'boys'. You are definitely not a 'boy'."

"Nope, we've already established the fact that I'm old enough to be your father."

"I don't think so."

"I'm thirty-four, Maddie, and you're eighteen. I'm almost twice your age."

"So what? Age is just a number."

"And I'm just an everyday Joe working at a bike shop, no great future plans except maybe buying me a big TV someday. And there you are with your Harvard education. You can do anything you want. It's all in front of you."

"Number one," Maddie started, "I'm only at Harvard because my parents made me come. I barely passed my first semester. Pretty soon they're going to figure out I'm not Harvard material and yank the plug on the gravy train. Then, I'll be a perfume sniper at the mall, or maybe I'll go to beauty school!" She fluffed her hair.

"So your being with me is just another way to thumb your nose at your folks? That ought to do it, for sure."