“How about this? I’ll leave and head to the kitchen. You can jump up and down and get as loud as you want for the next five minutes. Then come join me for dinner.”
“Deal.”
He turned and headed for the door but stopped to turn around as Sylvia held her hands together knowing in a few moments she was going to explode.
“Of all the people I’ve been compared to I never thought it’d be the Beebs.”
Sylvia’s bottom jaw was starting to shake and she could feel her teeth chattering. Matthias shook his head then walked out closing the door behind him.
She was sure the yell had to have seemed louder than it actually was. Landing on his bed was heavenly with its soft comforter and firm pillows. Tears were actually falling from her eyes and she rolled on her side trying to get every emotion out of her.
He was a normal person. With a normal life. And for some reason he was attracted to her. Not Catrina like most men were. But her. Plain old Sylvia. Her feet and hands started to kick and punch wildly and she prayed he wouldn’t walk in because she had to look like she was having an epileptic seizure.
Finally calming down, she pulled off her clothes and pulled on his warm hoodie. The shirt went all the way past her knees and Sylvia had to push up the sleeves. The socks were so long that they covered her to her knees, so except for the fact she had no underwear on she didn’t have an inch of skin showing. The snow had soaked through her pants so her panties needed to be washed too. She bundled up her clothes and walked down the hallway.
“Matthias,” she called.
“Yes.”
“Do you have a washing machine?”
“Yes it’s off the bathroom by the kitchen.”
“Would you…”
She stopped because Matthias was holding two plates and staring at her.
“What?” Sylvia looked at herself thinking something was really wrong.
“Nothing.” Matthias swallowed hard then set the plates on the table. “There’s detergent in the cabinet. You shouldn’t need mace.”
Sylvia smiled.
With her clothes washing, she walked back into the kitchen to see Matthias waiting for her at the table.
“Did you have anything that needed to be washed? I should have asked you sooner but I think I can still add.”
“My cleaning lady came yesterday. I’m good.”
“Oh, right.” Sylvia bit on her lip.
A few minutes later Sylvia was picking at her fish. It was good. Something even with her employee discount she couldn’t afford. She was savoring it, but Matthias was watching her making the little girl in her head tell her she was screwing up.
“What?”
“I should have asked if you liked fish. I apologize for assuming.”
“It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever eaten. Even with the reheating. I could only imagine what it tasted like fresh.”
“You’re not one of those stupid girls that thinks they’re fat? Cause you’re perfect.”
Sylvia shook her head as she rolled her eyes. Letting out a sigh she could only imagine how many Rom-Com’s Matthias had seen to come up with that one.
“I didn’t want to rush. Part of me wants to inhale it, but that means it’s over sooner. There’s only so much.”
“So you like to savor things,” he purred. Sylvia felt heat and tingling stir from her core. “If there was no limit on something…”
Matthias smiled and leaned his elbow on the glass table. Cutting a piece of his fish with his fork he held it to her lips. Her lips opened and he slid his fork in her mouth.
“Thank you. I can eat my own now.”
His fork went to her fish and he cut her another piece. Repeating the action. Sylvia obliged, but could feel her face flushing the whole time.
“What’s the deal?” she asked after she finished swallowing.
“Deal?”
“Come on. You can’t tell me this is your normal seduction routine.”
“I’m winging it. I never had to seduce anyone.”
“I doubt that. You seem to be a pro.”
“I have a dirty confession, but I need to know that you won’t tell anyone.”
“How many people know?”
“Three if you include me.”
“Okay.”
“I love watching soap operas.”
She laughed. “You do not!”
“It’s a sickness. I know.” He leaned back in his chair. “Never thought I’d have to use my research before.”
“Why me? It can’t be because I said no right away. I’m sure you’ve had to of been turned down at least once before.”
Matthias sat back looking at her. Not at her body, but at her face. Like always when his eyes caught hers Sylvia couldn’t move. A deep penetrating stare that made her feel naked in front of him. It was like he was looking past all her bull shit and seeing what was underneath.
“I thought about that. And yes, I’ve been dismissed before by the fairer sex—”
“Stop with the soap opera bullshit.”
“How am I supposed to talk? Gansta? Ghetto?”
“I meant the fairer sex line, jackass.” Matthias sat back in his chair like she had just slapped him. “I’m sorry. Sarcastic, snippy comments flow freely from one of my personalities.”
“Truthful. I like that. You’re a fan, but you’re not going to kiss my ass.”
Sylvia bit her bottom lip at the thought of his nice firm rounded ass that, when wearing a pair of basketball shorts, looked to be sent from heaven.
“What was that?”
“What?”
“What you did with your lip?”
“Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing. You were controlling something.”
“Maybe I was holding back from insult number four hundred and fifty-three since all I’ve done since I’ve met you is opened my mouth and inserted my foot.”
His hand touched her knee and Sylvia tried not to jump. Matthias let his fingers softly brush against her skin, making her swallow hard and look at him. She wrapped her fingers around his to hold them still.
“Is the thought of being with me so repulsive.”
Sylvia held her tongue. How could she tell him she’d dreamed about him for almost half her life? The thought of sitting in the stands cheering for him. Going to the All-Star game watching him in the slam dunk contest. Riding home with him after winning a championship. She’d imagined a thousand times what he did with all that energy after the win. He’d never been one to be in the papers following a win by going to the big parties.
Instead she imagined passionate sex, just replacing herself for his wife. The kind that broke knickknacks, vases, and picture frames because they couldn’t wait to be with each other. Ending with him breathlessly telling her that she was his motivation. He loved her and without her in his life he’d be nothing. Matthias would brush back her hair as he suggested they repeat the action in their bed since they hadn’t made it up the stairs yet.
* * * *
“Tell me what’s true?” Silly finally asked, placing Matthias’ hand on the table, but she kept her hand on top. He loved the feel of her fingers wrapped around his.
Matthias understood her needing to know what she could trust. He could count on one hand how many people he counted on and still have enough fingers left to sign an autograph.
“What rumor interests you the most?”
“I don’t listen to the rumors…” He sat back but kept his hand in place because he wasn’t going to let go until she did. “There aren’t many rumors about you.” She corrected.
“Sharee is a great PR rep. It was like she knew the story three days before the person starting it knew.”
“Well you’ve been apart for a few months now…you must have gotten a good new one.”
“Actually she’s still my rep until I hire one after Christmas.”
“You two are still…” Silly pulled her hand away and placed it on her lap. It took ever
ything inside him to not snatch it back into his.
“You watch those stupid shows about sports wives?”
“Maybe once or twice.”
“Sharee is the opposite of them. She never hung out with the other wives on the team. Our relationship was never open for examination.”
Matthias took a few more bites of his dinner then drank his Gatorade. Replacing the cap he saw Silly hadn’t turned away from him during his silence, but instead she ate a little herself then pulled her right leg and tucked it under her left.
“Sharee hasn’t been my wife for many years.”
“You cheated?”
“Yes and no.”
“It doesn’t work that way. Either you slept with someone while you were married or you didn’t.”
“Men are different.”
“Oh, so, you didn’t fall in love with anyone so it doesn’t count,” she snipped and he knew he hit a nerve. “Or it was across state lines? Different time zone?”
Silly listed all the cliché excuses used in the movies and on TV. The sad thing was that many of them were the same excuses the wives of players actually used. Sometimes they even sent a strip of condoms along with their husbands to away games. As long as it didn’t follow them home, they were happy.
“Who did it to you?” Matthias asked with concern as he sat back in his chair and tried to read her face.
“This isn’t about me.” Silly crossed her arms across her chest and completely closed him off. “I’m sorry. There’s a stereotype for athletes. Like I said, I have this image of you and it included the idea that you had this great faithful marriage.”
“It was never great. And it was faithful when we both agreed we were married. There was a point when we knew we weren’t. That’s when she and I both explored our options. And yes for me it was just sex. Her I can’t say. Our marriage became a business arrangement that helped fans like you keep the idolized image of me.”
“You lied to me. Indirectly. Still a lie.”
“I can’t be honest. Not to the public. Individuals yes. But the world out there.” Matthias pointed out his arched windows that now had the Christmas lights of the Plaza coming through. “They either don’t want to know or are not able to understand my life.”
“Tell me about your day,” Silly sighed. “A normal Monday, not a game day. Do you work a nine-to-five?”
Matthias had no concept of a nine-to-five. It seemed at times he was never off the clock.
“I wake up at four-thirty. Lift for about an hour and a half. Run on a treadmill or around the park for another hour or so. Drive to the practice facility and run drills for two hours with my shooting coach, then practice starts.”
“Wait. You practice for two hours before practice?”
“Yes. Nothing hard, but I shoot free throws until I hit a hundred then I work on driving the lane, for a while. Finally I shoot jumpers and outside shots.”
“How many?”
“Depends on the day.”
“Okay, so how long is practice?”
“We usually have a meeting for a while depending on what our schedule is then we run drills, offenses, defenses, shoot around. The workout section is probably two hours. Then we lift for an hour or so. I usually run on a treadmill for an hour while I watch game film.”
“You eat there.”
“We have a cook,” he laughed. “Why was that your question?”
“It sounded like a lot of work. I’m studying sports medicine at UMKC. Last semester we focused on nutrition.”
“Sports medicine. You gonna be a doctor or something?”
“Trainer. I’m taking the long drawn out way to a BA. Think I can get tenure as a student?”
Matthias laughed. It took him almost eight years to finish his degree. He supposed his reason was different.
“You always want to be a trainer?”
“Since I started college, but that was only seven years ago.”
Something about her not knowing she’d been born to do it made him feel sorry for her.
“Did you feel lost until you decided on a career?”
“No. I’m still lost,” Sylvia sighed and ran her delicate fingers through her hair so it no longer blocked her eyes. “It does give me an anchor though, thinking about the fact I’ll be done in a few months. Not having to split my time. Portion it out to make sure everything is covered. I know there’ll still be that life work balance but it seems easier than life, school, work balance. Well you know that.”
“Know what?”
“Balancing work with life.” She smiled and he realized she thought he had a life.
“Sharee would disagree with you.” He cleared their plates and brought them to the sink. “She believes that there is nothing in my life but basketball.”
Sylvia turned in the chair and pulled her knees up. The Emperors hoodie he got at the last photo shoot for Champion had a stupid V cut with the shoelaces up the front, but when the bottom of the V hit between Sylvia’s breasts he rethought his assessment of the design. She hadn’t tightened the laces and he wasn’t sure if she even knew that he could see the line of her breast. Unfortunately he lost that view when she pulled her knees up.
“Is that why your marriage died? Or were the rumors true and you got married too young?”
Matthias pulled into himself, turned his back to Silly, and recalled the final confirmation his marriage was over.
“I’m a huge fan,” the man who’d just been underneath Sharee said as he held his clothes over his groin. “Good luck in the series, I’m really sorry about…”
Matthias closed his eyes and waved his hand hoping the man would just leave. He caught him fucking his wife and the only thought running through his mind was she probably didn’t cook so he’d need to order in for dinner. His fist hadn’t even clenched when he heard the moans as she told the man how wonderful he was.
“I need someone to hold me Matthias,” Sharee began to explain as she sat naked wrapped only in a sheet.
Had she lost the ability to read him too? He wasn’t upset.
“Even when you’re here you’re not. Matthias…Matthias are you going to say something to me?”
Nope, not a chance.
“I got cheesecake,” Matthias said as he came out of his memory. “You interested?”
“From the museum?” Silly perked up and pulled her knees out exposing her thighs, and he pressed himself against the counter to hide the erection that popped up out of nowhere. He wasn’t one to get erections if he didn’t want one. He controlled his body. All the women in thongs that would shake their asses in his face, the ones who pulled down their top. Nothing.
But this woman showed a half of an inch of skin on her thigh and he was grabbing for a damn notebook to cover a frickin’ hard on. He’d learn to control this issue almost two decades ago. What was it about this woman?
She wasn’t a traditional beauty. The kind they put on magazines or in movies. That was Sharee. Silly had a beauty coming from somewhere else. The way she’d move, speak, or push her hair back. The face she was putting out for him wasn’t the beauty. It was the small glimmers of the real her she’d let slip that caught him and made him want more. That was what he saw when she moved.
What frustrated him was he knew she wanted him, but he needed to earn her trust. For the first time in his life he wasn’t being given what he wanted, when he wanted.
Chapter Four
“Is there a problem?” Sylvia asked when she saw that Matthias wasn’t moving. He seemed to be stuck like he got lost in a moment. Matthias broke from what had stopped his momentum.
“No. Um…it’s from the museum. I caught you looking at it earlier today.”
“You did? I’d love some. How ‘bout I load the dishwasher while you get us a few pieces?” She offered and hopped up.
“I have someone that does that for me.”
“And you’re making them come out in a snowstorm to do something that takes five minutes max?”
“Well, no but—”
“No buts, I think I can handle the six dishes here, except Matthias, what is this?” She asked, holding up a pot.
“It’s a pot.”
“I know it’s a pot, but why is there a layer of burnt rice on the bottom.”
“That always happens.”
“If your cook is this incompetent you should fire him.”
“I make my own breakfast,” he beamed. “Rice and eggs almost every morning.”
Sylvia looked into the sink to see a skillet that didn’t look much better than the pot.
“If I was your housekeeper I’d curse the day you were born.”
Matthias grimaced at her.
“This isn’t acceptable. I’m going to teach you how to cook rice and not do this, but first you’re cleaning this pot.”
“No I’m not.”
“Oh yes you are,” she admonished.
“Why? Isn’t that what the dishwasher’s for?”
Sylvia poked at the stuck on rice and shook her head.
“You’re cleaning the pot Matthias,” Sylvia ordered. She stood there wondering how a person could just leave a mess like this for someone else.
“Are you going to tie me to the sink?”
“If necessary. Start running the water I’m sure you have a scouring pad somewhere around here.” She dug under the sink and found dish soap and a sponge. When she popped up she saw him staring at her.
“You’re serious?”
“Did I stutter? I’m sure you never learned how to cook rice right because you didn’t have to clean up the mess.”
“Who are you?”
“I can still walk back to the museum and get my car.”
Part of her feared her threat would be taken seriously. Leaving was the last thing she wanted to do, but maybe, just maybe if he did as she asked…
“No,” he grumped. “Teach me, oh great washer-woman.”
Sylvia flipped on the hot water and plugged up the sink. As the bubbles filled up the sink Matthias smiled at her.
“You know there are better things to do with bubbles. This one time on Y and R—”
“We don’t live in a soap opera.”
Silly Girl Page 5
