Struck By You: Players

by I. M. Hicks

  He brought me my pills and sat beside me on the bed. He had something in his hand.

  “What do you have there?” I asked after I put my pack on the night table. He took my hand and placed the small black velvet box in my hand. It was the earrings that Paul had given and I had forgotten to take them out of my purse.

  “Who gave you those?” he asked.

  I looked at the box and looked at him.

  “It’s just a gift.”

  “Who gave those to you? I want you to say it Riley.”

  “Why does it matter?” I asked.

  “Just say his name.”

  “Mason, stop.”

  “I want you to stop seeing him,” he said bluntly.

  “You can’t say that to me Mason, I don’t belong to you.”

  He got up abruptly, grabbed his clothes, got dressed and slammed the door behind him as he left the room. I heard the car start and screeched the tires as he drove out of the parking lot.

  I stayed up as long as I could waiting for him but by one a.m. I started to doze off.

  He woke me up when he came back – he was intoxicated and it was nearly three a.m. He stripped naked and lay down next to me.

  The next morning I woke up to him on top of me. He was licking and kissing my nipples. When he saw I was awake he began to bite me gently and then harder, the more aroused he became. He started to inflict pain and I was sure I was going have bruises and bite marks if I didn’t stop him.

  “Get off me,” I said pushing him off me.

  “Is he rough?” he asked, sliding his hand between my legs.

  “Stop it.”

  “I bet he comes quickly,” he pressed on.

  “I mean it, stop it.”

  “Can he make you come over and over again Riley?”

  “That’s enough,” I said trying to get out of bed but he held me down.

  “Does he get to come in you too?”

  I slapped him hard across the face, hitting his eye, and when I had the chance I got out of bed.

  “What is wrong with you?” I yelled. I had tears rolling down my face, and I was disgusted with him.

  He sat up and tried putting his arms around me but I stepped away before he could.

  “Fuck,” he said, rubbing the ridge of his nose.

  “Would you believe me if I said I’m sorry?” he said.

  “Yes,” I lied.

  “I got really drunk last night and I think I’m still drunk.”

  “I think we need to stay away from each other for a while,” I said.

  He looked up at me dejected, and shook his head. “No, please don’t. Riley, I’m sorry, please forgive me.”

  I turned the other way and started to get ready to leave.

  “Riley” he whispered.

  “Just for a while Mason, I need some time.”

  We didn’t speak much on the way home. When we got to the airport, I parted ways and took a cab home.

  By the time I got home, I had to take a shower again as I was tired from the flight. I was getting into bed when Mason text messaged me.

  “I’m sorry, I wish I could take it all back.” I didn’t answer. I deleted his messages and went to bed.

  At around eleven p.m., my phone started ringing. I was half asleep when I picked it up.

  “Riley?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What happened today?” It was Paul. I had completely forgotten I was supposed to see him earlier today.

  “Shit, I’m sorry, I completely forgot,” I said, but he was silent on his end for a bit.

  “Can I come and see you?” he asked.

  I was in no mood to see anyone, least of all another man.

  “I have to be at work early tomorrow. Can I take a rain check on that?”

  “You bet, I’ll see you Wednesday,” he said and hung up.

  Chapter 14

  The week went by rather fast. It was already Friday and I had not spoken or seen Mason all week. Taking a break for a while or indefinitely was a good thing and after the things he said last weekend, I wasn’t sure we were on the same page with our arrangement.

  Paul wasn’t angry with me as far as I knew, and tried to hide his frustration when I lied and told him I was on my period. I began to regret getting together with him and I could tell he wanted more than I was willing to give him, but letting down was going to be a challenge.

  As soon as I walked into the studio, I saw my sister pacing around the lobby on her phone. She was talking to Eric by the sounds of it, regarding where the kids would be staying.

  Angie greeted me as soon as she saw me. “Hey girly, what’s going on with Serena? She looks frazzled,” I said as I put my bag away.

  “Someone passed away, there’s a funeral tomorrow and she’s trying to figure out what to do with the kids and stuff,” whispered Angie.

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know, but apparently he’s some sort of important person. Lots of people are expected to be there” she said.

  “Well that leaves out anyone in my family,” I joked.

  “You and me both,” Angie giggled.

  “Well this weekend is completely ruined,” said my sister as she got off the phone.

  “Who died?” I asked.

  “One of Eric’s lawyers. We were taking the kids to Niagara-on-the-Lake this weekend and now that’s out the window. The funeral is out-of-town and I’m not taking the kids, so Eric has arranged with his parents to look after them.”

  “Which lawyer, Serena?”

  “Don Hayes, the big corporate lawyer, died of a heart attack on Wednesday in his home. He lives alone so luckily the maid was there Thursday morning – she found him.”

  My heart sank when I heard the news.

  “Hayes, is he any relation to that hunk that comes in here sometimes?” asked Angie innocently.

  I walked away at that point and locked myself in a bathroom stall. I wanted to call him and reach out to him but I was conflicted.

  After yoga class, I snuck into my sister’s office and looked through her email and found what I was looking for. All the details of the funeral were neatly filed away in her calendar.

  I called Paul and asked for the weekend off telling him I had to babysit, and he was okay with it.

  The funeral was out-of-town. The wake, ceremony and burial were taking place on Saturday starting at nine a.m., so I figured I’d get a head start and leave tonight for Port Hope, which was were Mason was born. The least I could do was pay my condolences in person since Mason and I were friends, regardless of our differences.

  The wake was only for family and close personal friends to Mr. Hayes so I skipped it and decided to head to the service held at the church instead.

  I was astonished by the amount of people attending the services. Limos and luxury cars everywhere. The grounds of the church were swarmed by business suits, and high profile business men and women. I parked my car and walked through the crowd. As soon as I walked through the doors I saw people were lined up to greet his immediate family. Mason and Tanner, the two tallest figures, were at the very front of that line. I saw my sister and Eric as well in the line, close to the front, so I quickly made my way to the back of the line so they wouldn’t see me. I introduced myself as a friend of the family as I shook everyone’s hand to those who were close to him.

  The closer I got to Mason, the faster my heart was beating; I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to me being there. The closer I got to him, the more I realized he was broken. He was pale and had very little emotion in his face. He wasn’t looking at anyone or anything, he just shook hands and said thank you to everyone that expressed their condolences.

  By the time I was three people away from him, Tanner looked my way and recognized me immediately. He wacked Mason on the arm and whispered something in his ear and he was smiling wide, the asshole that he was at his own father’s funeral. Mason shifted his gaze toward me immediately and didn’t take his eyes off me until I finally got to him. I s
hook his hand. “I’m sorry for your loss Mason.”

  He shook my hand, keeping his gaze on me.

  “Thank you,” he said eventually and let go of my hand. He kept his gaze on me as I approached Tanner.

  “I’m sorry for your loss Tanner,” I said shaking his hand.

  “Thank you,” he said smiling wide and pulled me toward him. “Stick around sweetheart, I need some consoling,” he whispered in my ear. I rolled my eyes at him and walked into the church.

  The service was long but beautiful. Mason and Tanner both had speeches but Mason’s was sincere and honest.

  The cemetery was behind the church. Tanner and Mason were among the pallbearers and it broke my heart to see Mason taking his father’s coffin. I didn’t join the crowd – I stayed farther away watching. I hated funerals and this was the worst part of it.

  Once he was buried, I watched as everyone started to walk back to their vehicles. As the crowd dissipated, I noticed Mason stayed behind, alone.

  “Hi,” I said squeezing his arm.

  He stood there watching his father’s grave, not saying a word. His facial expression was empty yet I could tell he was holding back whatever was that he was feeling.

  “Please don’t be upset at me for coming here. I heard about it yesterday,” I said.

  He didn’t say anything, just kept looking at the grave.

  “Okay, I’m very sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself Mason”, I said and turned to leave.

  “Don’t go,” he said softly.

  He changed his stance and looked into the distance.

  “When we were kids barely hitting puberty,” he began, “my dad took us on a camping trip on one of his weekends. He thought it would be a good idea to give us the bird and the bees talk from a man’s perspective.” He laughed “He told us the biggest regret of his life was falling for a woman. He said men are hunters, predators – we go after our prey, we take what we need, and we move on to the next. We needed to start thinking that way, master it and we’d have it all. We’d never be alone as long as we focused on ourselves and our careers – women would drop their panties at our command, and he was right” he cleared his throat.

  “Ironically enough, my father died alone. Had he croaked a day later, no one would have found him until tomorrow.”

  I held his arm.

  “Thank you for coming Riley, this means a lot to me. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again after what I did and said last weekend.” he began to say but I hushed him.

  “Mason, we’re still friends, regardless” I said.

  “I’m sorry I keep hurting you, I just don’t know how to handle this insane jealousy I feel,” he said, shifting his gaze toward me.

  I smiled and nodded. Words failed me.

  “Where are you staying?” he asked.

  “I was going to drive home, actually.”

  “The law firm put this dinner thing together to celebrate his life, but I’m tired and I just want to forget today,” he said. “Will you stay with me tonight? I just want your company, nothing else.”

  I agreed and we drove my car to the inn he was staying at.

  We picked up some cheap Chinese takeout and watched movies on pay-per-view.

  By the time we went to bed, it was close to midnight. We lay in bed in what had become his favorite position: his arm around me and my head on his chest, and we stayed up talking in the dark.

  “So I got that job at the small firm,” he said.

  “That’s great, when do you start?”

  “A week from now. So don’t think I’m trying to avoid you, I just can’t make it during the times you teach.”

  “You don’t owe me any explanations,” I replied.

  “Okay,” he agreed and kissed my forehead. We talked a bit more and drifted off to sleep.

  He woke up early Sunday morning to me stroking his massive erection. He grabbed my face and kissed me deeply rolling over on top of me, kissing my entire body. He came back to my lips and looked into my eyes. “I want to make this work,” he exhaled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t lose you again, Riley.”

  I ran my fingers through his hair and caressed his face. “You won’t, just as long as you treat me right and we stay out of each other’s business.”

  He sighed and buried his head down on my chest.

  “That’s just it, I don’t want to do this anymore, and I’m done with all of it,” he began and looked into my eyes. “I feel things, emotions when it comes to you. I think about you all the time. When something good happens, it’s you who I want to call. I like hanging out with you, watching you sleep, watching you prance around your condo wearing next to nothing. The way you listen, you see me, the way you call me out on my bullshit, holding you, the lust in your eyes when you’re in ecstasy, the way you want me, but most of all I like this, spending this time with you, talking, last night, watching stupid funny movies and you genuinely care for me. I’ve never had that – my mother just spoiled us. That was the extent of her love. Threw money at our problems should we ever have any. When Carl came in the picture, it was out of control. He gave us everything my father wouldn’t.” He shook his head.

  “The truth is,” he said and swallowed. “The truth is I love you Riley,” he said and my heart skipped a beat. “I think I’ve been in love with you for quite some time actually, and I don’t expect you to say it back, but I want you to know, I need you to know.”

  My sister came to mind at that point, her jabs about meaningless sex, giving someone a chance, and perhaps having a future with someone. I had to let go of Jason and the pain that came with that and realize that not all men are the same.

  I put my arms around him and kissed him madly.

  We made love and it felt new again. I wasn’t ready to tell him I loved him yet, but I knew deep down I was already head over heels.

  Chapter 15

  Mason

  Somehow I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders when I told her I loved her. She needed to hear it, all of it. I’ve had many sleepless nights due to her constantly being on my mind and trying to figure out why I couldn’t get her out of my system. I’d fallen for her, regardless of what dad told us, and what my brother was going to put me through once he found out. I was ready, ready for commitment, ready to have a life with her.

  I was on my way back to the hotel room with breakfast I’d just picked up for us when I saw my brother in the lobby checking out. I walked faster toward the elevator to avoid him, but he saw me through the reflection of the large mirror behind the counter.

  “Mason, you fucker, wait up!” he yelled across the lobby, making people around me turn around to see where that came from and shaking their heads at my brother’s rudeness.

  “Two coffees, let’s see, you got a couple of bagels there, two fruit cups,” he said as he was inspecting what I was carrying. “I’d say you got laid last night and she’s still there” he smiled.

  “Yeah well, I didn’t let her sleep, if you know what I mean. Least I could do,” I replied playing along with him.

  He looked at me suspiciously.

  “Well I’m going home with Carl and mom. They’re leaving in about an hour, so drop the bitch and come have a drink with me at the bar.”

  “No, I’ve arranged for alternate transportation.”

  Just then the elevator door opened.

  “I’ll see you next week Tanner,” I said as I got in the elevator with a group of seniors.

  He looked at me from outside the elevator as the door was closing. He stuck his arm inside, making the elevator doors swung open again and stepped inside.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him, keeping my voice low.

  “You’ve sparked my curiosity little brother, so I’m coming with you. I want to meet this chick,”

  “What? No!”

  “Who is it? Do I know her?” he pressed on.

  “No you don’t know her, and you’re not meeting her either,” I
said firmly.

  “So is this the reason you’ve been MIA for days and acting like a pussy?” he said loudly.

  “For Christ’s sake Tanner, keep your voice down.”

  “Oh no fucking way, I know who it is,” he said suddenly.

  The elevator door opened and everyone around us got out, shaking their heads at us.

  As soon as the doors closed he continued. “It’s that yoga instructor, isn’t it? I was wondering what the fuck she was doing here yesterday.”

  “She’s Eric Hudgens’s sister-in-law. She was here with him and her sister.”

  “You fucking liar. Eric and his hot wife were at the thing last night, I know, I was having a drink with him. Blondie was nowhere around.”

  “Maybe she went home.” I was running out of lies.

  The elevator door opened and I got out. He followed.

  “Just tell me, what’s the big deal?” he said walking behind me.

  “Why? What does it matter to you huh?” I said getting in his face.

  “Oh hey relax, I’m just curious, just wondering why you’re holding out on me.”

  “Walk away, Tanner.”

  “It is the blonde, I bet,” he began. “Bet she’s a fucking animal. Is she a freak like I think she is?”

  I put the food and coffee on the floor next to the door of my room.

  “Tanner, I’m telling you right now, no it’s not her and walk the fuck away,” I said loudly.

  Just then the door opens. She had a towel wrapped around her and her hair was wet.

  “Mason what’s going on?” she said as she opened the door wider.

  My brother started laughing. “I fucking knew it!”

  She began to close the door but he stepped up and held it open.

  “Hey sweetheart, we’re having a party at my place next weekend and you’re the guest of honor. My bro will fill you in.”

  “Yeah no thanks, not interested,” she replied.