Strike (6 page)

By the time she got her body to relax, she was spent. She melted over the top of him, trying to catch her breath. She was content to lie there for the rest of the night, until she heard and felt him chuckle.

She started to move, but in the end she didn’t need to. With just a couple of movements he had them both flipped over and he was settled between her legs. She wanted to resist and tell him that she couldn’t go on, except he was already inside her and it felt too good to do anything but lie there and accept it.

She was glad that he was able to do everything, because the orgasms had depleted any strength she’d had. Though she was surprised that after a few minutes she was able to rock her hips up to meet him. When she was able to focus again, he was smiling down at her. She didn’t even want to think about how she looked. Probably rode hard and put away wet.

As soon as she felt as if she might recover from the last orgasm, the next one started. There were times that she forgot breathe, then had to gasp for air. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, he finally groaned, his body going rigid above her. Then he flopped down on top of her.

* * * * *

Tori must have fallen asleep when he did. When she opened her eyes, the clock next to his bed said 5:05 a.m. She was late for work. Just as she was about to panic, she made herself stop and take a deep breath.

She needed a change of clothes. The easiest thing to do would be to go home and get them, except she didn’t have her key. The building manager had been up late taking care of her door and whatever other damage had happened. He probably wouldn’t appreciate being woken up.

There was an extra set of clothes in her locker at work. It was an emergency set, but this probably qualified as one. All she had to do was get there. Using his phone, she called for a taxi to meet her in front of the building. There wasn’t time to walk to work. Nor did she have shoes to walk in.

Shit, I need shoes
. She scrambled around his room with her pants still in her hand, not bothering to put them on as she scrambled to find something to cover her feet. She opened up his closet, even though her mind was telling her there was no use. She couldn’t fit into anything he wore. That was when she saw the pair of flip-flops. They were a little big, but at least she had something between her feet and the ground.

She made it down to the street just as the taxi was pulling up. She had borrowed a ten dollar bill from the top of his dresser to cover the cost and a sweatshirt so she didn’t feel as if she was running around in her night clothes even though she technically was. She vowed never to buy pajamas.

As the car pulled away from the curb, she settled into the backseat and started running over everything in her head. She had everything she needed at work to get through the day. When that was over she would be able to walk home, because she would have tennis shoes on. By then, it would be late enough to get the key from the landlord.

Why couldn’t she have been this rational about things the night before? She still didn’t want to think about her door or what had caused the damage, but she wasn’t going to have a panic attack over it. When she found out what had happened, she would figure out what she needed to do to feel safe again.

She hugged herself as she thought about how out of control she had been the night before. It wasn’t like her to need to be with someone like that. It had to have been a reaction from the adrenaline rush. Now she was going to have to explain to Collin that she really wasn’t a sex addict. Of course, if she just ignored him, she wouldn’t have to say anything…unless he came over. Then it would be simple. She would just tell him that the two times they had been together had been flukes and she really wasn’t that interested in him.

Chapter Three

“I’m not just sitting around the house since you moved out,” Tori said into the phone. “I got into some nutrition classes in the evening three nights a week. It’s really convenient, because I don’t have to cook.”

“Why are you taking classes when you know enough to be teaching them?” Anne asked.

Tori got up and started pacing the room, glad they were on the phone and her friend couldn’t see her reaction. She knew that anyone who knew her for any amount of time could read her like a book.

“It is a job, isn’t it?” Anne said. “I tell you to go out and get a life and you get another job.”

“Well, I am meeting new people. I really like some of the students in the class. The income is coming in handy too, since I haven’t found anyone to move in to your old bedroom.”

Tori had known this conversation was coming. Ever since she had told her best friend about the having to run from the apartment, the once-a-day phone call was now three times a day. She felt as if every aspect of her life was getting picked over. Oh well, she’d known Anne would eventually find out about her second job and have an opinion about it. At least she’d quit asking about Collin, for the moment at least.

There was a knock at the door.

“Hear that?” Tori asked. “There’s someone here to see me. I gotta go.”

“If it’s the guy from across the street, then you’d better call me back with the details,” Anne said, and hung up.

Tori crossed the room, shaking her head at the comment. There was no way it was Collin. It was probably the building manager making sure there wasn’t anything else she needed or one of the neighbors she was suddenly talking to. A quick glance through the peephole revealed that she was wrong. It was Collin.

She jumped back from the door. Maybe she could pretend she wasn’t home? Crap, he had probably heard her talking on the phone. She was going to have to face him sometime. She just needed to figure out a way to tell him that she needed more than a physical attraction to someone. Maybe she could use that old standby line that she really wasn’t that interested in him and just wanted to be friends.

As she opened the door, he was examining it instead of looking at her. She just stood there smiling, waiting for him to redirect his attention. Finally his gray eyes turned to her. She wasn’t close enough to see them picking up light, but they looked warm. She had that same feeling she’d had at the bar—utterly content and with no need to rush into a conversation.

“So you did make it home okay,” Collin said.

”Yeah,” she responded. “Why wouldn’t I have?”

“I came over yesterday to make sure you were all right, but I didn’t get an answer. I see that you have a new door since then.”

“I had to work—that was why I left so early. I didn’t think you would really be worried about me.” Suddenly she felt guilty for not getting back to him. The thought that he might be concerned had never crossed her mind. It had been too busy trying to figure out ways to run away from him. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked back up at him. His attention had already been drawn back to the door.

‘It’s not just a new door, it’s a whole new frame,” she pointed out. “So I’m completely safe.”

His eyes met hers once again. He looked as if he didn’t believe her. She didn’t know what part of the statement could be unbelievable. It was a fact—she had a whole new door frame with new locks.

“What’s to stop the same thing from happening again and this door from getting ruined?” Collin asked.

A deep voice rang out. “Is this guy badgering you?”

Collin jumped, obviously startled by the interruption. Hell, she even jumped a little and she had been half expecting it. Collin moved to the side, looking around to see where the voice had come from. Her mountain of a neighbor was taking up the door frame across the hall.

“No, he’s just a friend. I’m sorry if we disturbed you,” Tori said.

“No bother at all,” the neighbor replied, with his eyes still locked on Collin even though he was talking to her. “Just holler if you need anything.”

With that said, the door was closed as if he had never been there. She didn’t want to think about who was going to come along next. She wasn’t used to having people coming over to visit or neighbors wanting to know about it.

“I guess you should come inside,” Tori said.

What was she doing? She had just invited him into her house. She might as well be standing naked in front of him. Oh, wait, she had already done that…twice. Why couldn’t he just forget about her and let her pretend nothing had ever happened between them? The way he strolled into her place, she knew that wasn’t going to happen. She pulled her shoulders back, prepping for what was going to come.

“So, where was that guy the other night?” Collin asked.

“Out there in the hallway, protecting his daughter from her abusive husband,” she said. “He feels horrible for what happened, but he wasn’t going to let the asshole into his place. He now feels as if it’s his responsibility to make sure I’m never scared again.”

Collin nodded but he didn’t say anything in response. He was looking at the wall behind her as if he couldn’t think of anything to say. It wasn’t as though she was doing much better, only she was looking at the ceiling. She needed to think of something…and then she did.

“Hold on,” she said on her way out of the room. “I’ll be right back.”

When she came out of her bedroom, she turned to the entryway, but he was no longer standing there. She was pretty sure she had told him not to go anywhere. She turned around and found him wandering around her living room. He was looking at her bookshelf and the photos and knickknacks it held.

“Here, these are yours.” Tori held out the sweatshirt and flip-flops. He looked down at the items as if he had never seen them before. “I borrowed them so I could get to work the other morning. I feel bad for not asking you, but I was late and really didn’t want to make a fuss.”

She looked down at the floor, not willing to look him in the eye. She hadn’t expected to be having this conversation with him. Her plan had been to leave them on his doorstep when he was bowling. Then she heard him laughing and looked up into his eyes. His broad smile helped her to relax.

“I hadn’t even noticed that they were missing,” he admitted. “Is that a ten dollar bill?”

“Well I wasn’t going to run across town in flip-flops,” she said. “I needed money for a cab.”

His picked the bill off the top of the pile and put it in his pocket. With his other hand he grabbed everything else and tucked it under his arm. Once again they were left with nothing to say. It was time for him to leave, but she didn’t want to say that out loud, even if it was what she was thinking.

He turned to the television. The commercial had ended and the pregame show for the football game had come back on. Great—now that he knew she watched football, he wouldn’t want to leave.

“Oh shit, the game is coming on,” he said into the air, then turned to her. “I’m going over to a friend’s house to watch the game. Want to come?”

What did he say? That he wanted to leave
? “Yes.”

“We’d better leave now if we don’t want to miss any of it,” he said.

Wait, what had she said yes to?

* * * * *

Tori followed him up the stairs. She should have just told him she hadn’t been answering his question when she had said yes. But then she would have to admit that she really hadn’t been listening to him. That was something she wasn’t going to confess to. So she was stuck following him down the hall of a strange apartment building.

She was trying to envision what was waiting for them. It was probably a room full of guys farting and belching. Definitely not the way she normally watched the game. Usually, she kept it playing in the background while she worked on crafts. So what if things got broken when plays didn’t go right? It still had to be more civilized than a bunch of guys sitting around guzzling down beer.

Something drew her out of her internal monologue and she realized that he had turned to a door. She expected him to knock, but he didn’t. He just turned the knob and walked right in. Oh, this was going to be worse than she’d imagined. They didn’t even have the couth to knock before entering. She tentatively looked inside and the first thing she saw was another woman. Okay, maybe it wasn’t going to be so horrible after all. She realized he was holding the door for her and she stepped in all the way.

Looking around the room, it dawned on her that the woman was the brunette from the bowling alley and the guy sitting in the chair on the other side of the room had also been there that night. What if they recognized her? Why did she ever listen to Anne? It always came back to bite her in the ass. She turned to leave, but Collin had already closed the door behind her. Damn, it would make a scene if she left now.
Okay, calm down. You’ll think of something
. How about the truth—that she had just gone there with a friend?

Quickly, everyone’s attention was drawn to the screen. There was a fumble and the Vikings gained possession. Tori cussed under her breath—she was rooting for the other team. From the reactions of everyone else in the room, she assumed they were too.

She sank down into the closest seat with disappointment, watching the players on TV celebrating the turnover. When Collin sat down right next to her, she realized she was sitting on a loveseat. Not the piece of furniture she would have chosen if she had been thinking and not caught up in the game. She would prefer to be sitting in a chair, all to herself, but the only one in the room was taken up by the tall guy she had seen in the bowling alley. At least they hadn’t noticed or recognized her yet. Oh, wait—they were looking her way.

Tori tapped her fingers on her jeans. They were looking at her and she didn’t know what to say. She wanted to sink into the chair, but settled for sitting back against the cushion. That made her shoulder rub against Collin’s shoulder. It was as if the contact brought him to life.

“Hey, guys, this is Tori,” Collin said. “Tori, this is Angie and Steve.”

A male voice came from down the hall. “Did I hear right? Did Collin bring a girl?”

“And the jerk down the hall is David,” Collin added.

Tori laughed at the joke and relaxed a little. No one had recognized her and everyone was smiling. The game was still going and everyone was watching it. She looked around the room and was glad to be here. It was nice to watch the game with other people. She looked back at the screen just in time for the commercials to start.

“Did Collin tell you how we met?” Angie asked.

“Really?” Collin asked Angie.

Tori looked over at him, but he didn’t explain his comment. Instead he apologized.
What does he have to be sorry about?
Then he gave Angie a look as if he was going to kill her and Tori understood—he was sorry for what was about to be said. Tori turned her attention back to the other woman, suddenly very interested in what she had to share.

“We were both in elementary school and he beat up my little brother,” Angie continued. “The problem was, I was out on the playground and I kicked his ass.”

The image of a young Collin getting his ass kicked by a girl made Tori laugh. Movement to her right made her look up just as David walked into the room.

“Are you the brother?” Tori asked.

“No,” he replied. “I didn’t join this merry bunch until junior high school. They were beyond the ass-kicking phase by then.”

David went directly to the couch Angie was sitting on. With a minimum of movement, they had arranged themselves so that they were as close as they could get while still sitting up. If she had kept her mouth shut a little longer then she would have known that they were not related. She was always awkward in social situations. If she could just speak without looking like an idiot, she would feel much better.

“I’m not the brother, either,” Steve said. “I’ve only known them a couple of years.”

Tori only had to move her eyes a few inches to look at Steve. She realized that he must have thought that she was staring at him. Now she didn’t even have to say anything to embarrass herself. She quickly looked away and fixed her gaze at the television. At least it was a safe direction to look in.

She looked over at Collin, wondering what he must be thinking about her. He probably wished he hadn’t brought her. Except he didn’t look upset. In fact, he had the same contented expression he always had, even when she’d had her little outburst in the bedroom. She suddenly realized it wasn’t just a sexual connection—he really fitted with her in all situations. She turned back to the room unconcerned about what anyone else thought.

“Six,” David said. When everyone looked at him as if they had no idea what he was talking about, he continued, “Angie and I got this place our freshman year of college. That was six years ago. That’s how long we’ve known Steve.”

David untangled his arm from the knot of limbs he and Angie had made to reach the drink on the table. He took a long swig from the bottle.

“Hey, that’s mine,” Angie said. “Get your own beer. You know where they are—it was your turn to buy.”

David got up to go into the kitchen, but he didn’t make it far. They all focused on the television as the Vikings were running the ball down the field. Everyone in the apartment, including Tori, stood up and yelled for the defensive players to keep him from getting into the end zone. Their yelling didn’t make any difference—the touchdown was made. The five of them stared at the screen in disbelief, watching the player do the end zone dance. Tori rolled her eyes, thinking that was a part of football she could do without.