Reye's Gold (13 page)

“What?” she asked.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “I like being with you, that’s
all. I can’t make you any promises, except that you are
where I want to be right now. Can you work with that?”
he asked.

“Yes.”

H
e smiled and so did she. Their smiles turned to
grins and then they both started to laugh.

* * *

Over the next several weeks, Reye and Stephen spent
most of their time together at Reye’s house. They’d meet
after school to study followed by long nightly sessions of
lovemaking. The Saturday morning before the second scheduled soccer game between their teams, Reye and
Stephen awoke after having spent the night together. Her
back was snuggled next to his front. He said into her ear,
“I am going to spend tonight at my apartment. I need the
rest. Between you and school, I can barely keep my eyes
open. I especially need my rest if I am going to beat your
team’s butt tomorrow.”

“We’ll see, but I’ll agree to give you the night off. I do
realize that I’ve been using you too much, wearing you
out.” She turned to face him, putting her arms around
his neck as she pushed her body against the front of his.
“Be back and ready after Sunday’s loss.”

He smiled at her and gave her a long tender kiss.
“Will do,” he said.

* * *

Stephen arrived at his apartment Saturday evening
after a long day spent at the library. Henri was sitting on
the couch watching a soccer game on TV and turned at
the sound of the door opening. He was more than a little
surprised to see Stephen.

“
Dude, you look like a guy I knew once. My room
mate, in fact, but I’m not sure he lives here anymore,” he
said jokingly. “I haven’t seen you in what, two weeks.
Where’ve you been?”

Stephen dropped his book bag by the door and sat
down on the chair next to Henri. “Reye,” he said. “You
remember her?”

Henri laughed. “Sure I do.”

“I’ve been over at her place off and on for the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“Man, she must be something special, ‘cause that is
not your style. Must be love, huh?”

“Nope, just a serious case of lust.”

“You think so?”

“Know so.”

“Whatever you say, dude.”

“No, believe me, you know me better than anyone.
She is compelling, I’ll give her that, and the sex is
amazing. We just connect on that level. Anyway, we’ve
agreed to keep it casual.”

“She agreed, too?”

“Yes.”

“Dude, be careful, women are always thinking long
term.”

“I hear you, and I will.”

“Are you ready for the game tomorrow?” Stephen
asked the question to change the subject to something
other than his love life. Henri had caught him off guard and he wasn’t ready to discuss something he hadn’t fig
ured out.

“
Be careful around Joe, dude. You know how he feels
about people of color. He’s been talking trash about you
around the frat house, so keep your eyes open.”

“Always.”

Stephen had mostly ignored Joe since the frat party.
He played with him on the team, but he didn’t trust him
and tried to avoid him.

* * *

The second game between The Wizards and The
Graduates arrived on another perfect Sunday afternoon.
Fall in Austin could be brutally hot or freezing cold, and
those changes could happen in the span of a few hours. Today, however, was perfect, the grass green, the air crisp,
the sky clear. Stephen arrived late, making him the last
person to take the field. Reye and her teammates were
already on the field warming up. He scanned the players and quickly located Reye among the other women. She gave him a wink and a smile. He hadn’t seen her since yesterday morning, and he was looking forward to going
by her home after the game. Just looking at her pushed
his adrenaline in gear as he remembered the many nights
spent wrapped in her embrace. She was kicking the ball
around with another team member, wearing the shorts
she worn to the last game and her team’s t-shirt. He liked
seeing her in her gear and he liked playing against her. It
was a little bit sexy the way she would push and shove
him around in her quest for a goal. It also gave him a kick
to match wits and skill against her; he could take her, of
c
ourse, but she didn’t cut him any slack. She held her own against him and he respected and admired her for
it.

The referees had arrived, both teams were lined up
and in position, and the game started. Reye was once
again lined up in the forward position against Stephen as defender. They spent most of the first half pushing and
shoving each other, laughing and smiling as she would
get by him or he’d stop her. Stephen was able to contain
Reye and she wasn’t able to score. But who cared, Reye
thought, as she smiled to herself. It was worth it just to
have all six feet, two inches of golden male focused on
her. That was heady stuff. Oblivious to the stares of those
around them, they played like they were the only ones on
the field. At the end of the first half, the scored was tied
0-0. In the huddle, Sam thanked Reye for all the special
attention she was giving to Stephen, and because of it, he
changed their game strategy. They would continue to
play like they had in the first half, but during the last ten
minutes they would change their alignment and allow
him to play as a third forward instead of midfielder. The
two forwards, Reye and Jose, would move the ball for
ward and after both Stephen and the other defender
committed to Reye and Jose, they would pass the ball to
Sam to score.

Sam’s strategy for the second half of the game worked
like magic. They were able to score not once, but twice, while simultaneously using up the clock. The Graduates
won. Because both teams had identical records, including
a head-to-head split, they now had to play a final game to determine the division winner. The game would be scheduled for the following weekend.

Reye’s team began their celebration as soon as the ref
eree blew the whistle to end the game. Her team-high fived each other, patted themselves on the back, and
shook hands with Stephen’s team, making jokes and talking trash. The real party would take place at The
Garden, where the tasty beer would act as a lubricant to
encourage a much more relaxed and boisterous celebra
tion. Reye walked over to Stephen. “We are going over to
The Garden for beers, you coming?” she asked as she looked him over from head to toe, taking in his sweaty
body.

He smiled at her boldness. “Sure,” he said. “You know you didn’t play fair during the game today. I’m
going to make sure you are properly punished for the bad
sportsmanship you displayed.” He winked slyly.

“Promise?” she asked sassily in response. They started
to laugh and he watched her as she sauntered away, exag
gerating the swing of her hips as she walked. He laughed
again and shook his head.

Henri and Joe walked over to a grinning Stephen.
“Hey, dude, thanks for losing the game for us,” said Joe
heatedly.

“What? What are you talking about? I didn’t lose the
game,” Stephen said, taken aback by both the words and
the heat with which they were delivered.

“Who are you kidding? You couldn’t keep your eyes
or your hands off of your little girl,” Joe said as he
stepped closer to Stephen. “Man, she must have some
p
retty powerful pussy for you to lose your brain like
that.”

Stephen took a step toward Joe until they were within an inch of each other’s faces.

“Fuck you, Joe. I played my position, I’m the best one
out there. I can’t play the whole damn field. Your sorry-ass game didn’t help!”

“Well at least I’m not stuck in the jungle with a fever
that has fried my brain,” Joe shouted.

“Come on, calm down,” said Henri as he stepped in
between them.

“Dude, he’s just mad because we really wanted to win
today to avoid a playoff. Let it go,” Henri said, turning
to Joe.

“You think I didn’t want to win?” Stephen shouted,
pointing his finger into Joe’s chest.

“You don’t need to speak for me,” Joe said to Henri.
“I meant what I said!” Turning to Stephen, he asked,
“What got into you, dude? As self-centered as you are, you’d never put winning over some girl!”

Stephen turned away abruptly and walked to his car
to avoid punching Joe in his mouth. “I’m out of here!”
Who is he to tell me I didn’t play well
, Stephen thought to
himself.
Asshole! He wouldn’t know what to do with pussy if it hit him in the face
. He arrived at his car and stopped.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He
looked up to find that Reye had approached him.

“You okay?” She could read anger in the tense stance
of his body and the hard look on his face. She had wit
nessed the confrontation with Joe.

“
I’m fine.” He was quiet for a second. “Look, I’m not
going to The Garden. I’ll see you later. I don’t think you’d
appreciate being near me now.” He didn’t wait for a
response, but opened his car door and got in. He drove off, leaving Reye standing there.

* * *

Joe walked over to his car. He really didn’t like
Stephen, never had. He was too good looking, too smart,
and, as far as Joe was concerned, he had too easy of a life.
Unlike Joe, who had to work above and beyond everyone else to support not just himself, but his family. His sorry
assed dad had walked, followed not soon after by his
equally sorry-assed mother, leaving him with a sister and
a nephew. He was left to take care of them both while
trying to get through school. So he resented that Stephen
was given so much and didn’t seem to value his good for
tune. If he had the looks, money, connections, and
smarts that Stephen had, he would be head and shoulders
above everyone else in life. Stephen was such a waste.
Take today, for example. They could have easily beaten that team. Reye’s team was an average team as far as he
was concerned, but Stephen was so busy chasing tail that
he couldn’t see straight. It was disgusting! Stephen could have anyone he wanted, probably had, and who did he
choose, a black girl. Joe had yet to get his head around
that.

The desertion of his parents had forced him to grow up early, in foster care. He and his sister had always lived i
n the poorer parts of town, surrounded by blacks and
Hispanics. There were a few who had been kind to him, but most hadn’t. It had been a dog-eat-dog world.

Stephen had lost the game for them today with his
laughing and playing around. It really pissed him off. Joe liked pussy as much as the next guy, but it never stood in
the way of winning. So, when he and Henri had walked
over to Stephen and he was laughing and smiling with
that girl, he hadn’t been able to rein in his temper or his
mouth. So what the fuck? It had needed to be said.

She didn’t hear from him that evening, much to her
discomfort and dismay. She remained at home on the off
chance that he would come by, trying to distract herself
by pretending to study. She couldn’t focus, so instead she
grabbed her work gloves and headed out into her yard.
Working in the yard was a more productive use of her
time, killing two birds with one stone, reducing her anx
iety while getting her yard winter ready. Beds were
cleared of leaves and dead flowers, leaves were raked, the
grass cut and fertilized for the last time this year. She checked her cell; still no word from Stephen. What had she expected? They had a good time for two weeks, and
so what if this casual whatever they had was ending
sooner than later. She’d enjoyed it, right? Joe was persona
non grata in her book, that was for damn sure!