Chapter 19

We left the room and went back downstairs, walking slowly through the casino, taking in the sights. It was my first time inside of a casino, I had never gambled a dollar in my life. I was amazed at the sheer number of people, there was hardly a single slot machine open from what I could tell. We finally found the Deli near the entrance to the casino, walked in and was seated immediately. We both decided on a hot beef sandwich, a large order of onion rings and two Cokes. We talked as we waited for our food, it didn’t take very long before it arrived. The food was excellent, we talked and laughed, we lost track of time. When our waiter returned to our table, I handed him the card I had been given, he nodded and walked to the register. He swiped the card, returned with a bill that had a zero amount asking me to sign the ticket. I did as he asked, reached into my pocket and handed him a tip for which he thanked me. We left the Deli and walked back through the casino floor, once again marveling at the rate in which the patrons were gambling their money. We were walking slowly through the maze of aisles that held the slot machines, the choices were endless. Courtney finally stopped at a bank of machines against one wall that were some of the biggest and most brightly lit machines in the place. It had a huge screen attached to the machine which was mounted above your head. When you hit the bonus, it activated a whole new game with multiple options.

“You want to play for a while?’, she turned and asked me.

“Sure, why not?” I replied, reaching in my pocket and handing her two twenty’s.

“I have money Brian.” she answered.

“It’s ok Court, start with that.” I told her.

She sat down on the black stool and began to look the machine over. It was the only one open, so I just stood behind her waiting for perhaps another machine to open up close by. She inserted the money into the bill changer, the machine sprang to life, credits rolling, lights flashing. She began playing the machine, as she tried to understand the pay out system. Not being familiar with casino’s, I had no clue at all. She started up a conversation with an attractive middle aged woman who was playing next to her, the lady explaining how to bet and what to look for. After several minutes, she began to hit small payouts, her balance going up and down in no set pattern. She had been playing maybe for about ten minutes when casino security walked up to the both of us. They asked if we would mind showing them some identification verifying we were both old enough to be on the casino floor. Courtney had given me her driver’s license before we had left the room, so I produced both of our I.D.’s to the pair of security personnel. They checked the dates, apologized for any inconvenience, then made there way back down the aisle as quickly as they had appeared. Courtney went back to playing her machine, I was becoming bored very quickly. I glanced over and saw a large group of people playing dice, I decided to go take a look. I pointed out to Courtney where I would be and walked across the floor and found a spot where I could watch the game progress.

I have to admit, the pace was fast and furious as the game moved along. I was trying to get the hang of how the game was played, it seemed very hectic and chaotic, but the crowd seemed to be really into it. I knew right way, I would have to learn a lot more before I could jump into this game. As I was standing there watching the game, an attractive blonde woman had positioned herself next to me, she appeared to be watching the game. Finally after several minutes she turned in my direction and spoke softly.

“Just how tall are you?” she asked, with a smile.

“Almost six foot seven.” I replied.

“You play basketball?” she inquired.

“No, I don’t.” I answered.

Just as I finished answering her, another woman whom she obviously knew motioned her over to the other side of the table. She walked around the crowd to where the woman stood with another man, they began a conversation. Every now and then, they would all look in my direction. I went back to watching the game for several more minutes, then looked over my shoulder to see Courtney still seated at the same machine I had left her at. I left the table and rejoined Courtney at her machine. I walked up behind her and softly placed my hands on her shoulders.

“Doing any good?” I asked.

“Not really, I win every now and then, but I put it all back.” she answered, “By the way, what time is it?”

“Almost two o’clock, I guess.” I answered.

“You want to go back up to the room?” she inquired.

“Whenever you’re ready.” I said.

She played a few more times, then cashed out of the machine, handing me the white voucher ticket. I folded it up and put it inside my front pocket, following her to the elevators. As soon as we got back to our room, Courtney immediately turned on the large TV, settling down on one of the large sofas. I was actually quite tired by this time, I really wasn’t in the mood to watch TV.

“You mind if I go take a shower, Court?” I asked.

“No go ahead, I will go after you.” she smiled.

I went back into the bedroom, grabbed some shorts and a tee shirt, then made my way to the large bathroom that was only several steps from the large bed. The bathroom was just as elegant as the rest of the suite having both a huge Jacuzzi tub and a stand alone, four head shower next to each other. There were double sinks in the counter with a huge mirror mounted right above them. I couldn’t make up my mind if I wanted to use the tub or the shower, I decided on the shower. The water was extremely hot, which I always love, I know I took well over fifteen minutes before, I stepped out and grabbed the towel. I dried off, brushed my teeth and got dressed. I found Courtney on the sofa still watching TV when I came out.

“Court, you gotta check out the bathroom, it’s really nice.” I told her.

She got up and walked quickly through the bedroom and into the steam filled bathroom. She turned and leaned her head back out of the door and yelled.

“Wow, what a tub. I just have to get in there and soak.” she squealed.

She scrambled over to the dresser where she had unpacked some things, and began to sort through the items. I left the room and went to the sitting room stretching out on one for the sofas. I flipped through a few channels as I heard the water running beginning to fill up the large tub. After several minutes I finally heard her turn off the water, I was still channel surfing at the time. I really couldn’t find anything interesting on so I flipped to the sports channel, my old standby. I placed the remote on the table next to the sofa just as I heard Courtney shout from the bathroom.

“Hey Briannnnnnn, can you come here for a second?” she asked.

“Sure, no problem.” I answered, getting up slowly.

I walked around the sofa and into the bedroom, pausing at the bathroom door which was about halfway closed. I gently knocked on the door waiting for a response.

“Come in here silly.” she replied.

I slowly stuck my head and shoulders inside the partially open door not really knowing what to expect. I kept my eyes pointing down to the floor, not looking in Courtney’s direction. Although we had been intimate at one time, it had been quite a while ago since we had seen each other without clothes on. That and the repetitive words of my Father always telling me, no matter what, treat a woman with the utmost respect, caused me to look away.

“Um I’m over here silly.” she giggled.

“Yes I know, what do you need?’, I asked, without looking up.

“Come over here.” she asked softly.

I glanced in her direction once quickly to see she had filled the tub up to the top, had added some bubble bath, and had only her neck and head visible, the rest of her was covered by water and the soap suds. I took a couple of steps over toward her, placed the toilet lid down, then sat on it.

“What do you want Court?” I asked.

“Why don’t you get in with me, this tub is amazing.” she urged.

“I just took a shower a few minutes ago.” I responded.

“So?” she laughed.

“I’ll pass, thanks.” I laughed back, got up and walked out.

I went back to the front room and fell back on the sofa, once again to watch TV. I don’t know how much time passed, before I heard Courtney moving around in the bedroom area. The program I had been watching ended, it was three o’clock in the morning. I decided to call it a night. I headed to the bedroom to see how we were going to handle the sleeping arrangements, nothing had really ever been discussed. Courtney was already in the bed, covers up to her neck, just the small bedside lamp on.

“About time you came to bed Brian.” she said, with a smile.

“Court, I can sleep on the sofa, it’s no big deal.” I answered.

I could tell I hurt her immediately, the look on her face was plain as day. She looked down at the covers biting her lower lip. She took a moment, then looked back up at me.

“Brian, it’s a huge bed. Don’t be silly, there is enough room in here for the both of us.” she replied.

I shrugged my shoulders, pulled back the covers on my side of the bed and climbed in. I pulled the covers back up over me, I was laying flat on my back. She was right, this bed was huge, you could have fit another person between us with no problem. She reached over and flipped the switch on the small lamp, the room was immediately engulfed in complete darkness. I am not sure how much time passed without a sound other than the sound of our breathing. Finally Courtney broke the silence, her words soft, but very emotional.

“Brian, I am so sorry, this was a huge mistake. I just thought ... I figured that maybe if we were alone ... I could explain how I feel, maybe try to make things right with you...” she started.

“But I know now ... No matter how much I want to make this right, I can’t ... you simply can’t make someone love you.” she ended.

“Court, I do love you, I always have, I always will.” I answered.

“Yes, but not in the way I love you, I had that once, I threw it way ... I broke your heart ... I never knew how that felt ... until now.” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

I reached across the bed, found her and pulled her close up against me, her back to my chest. I put my arm over her holding her close. I could feel her body as she quietly sobbed into her pillow, it seemed that the more time I spent with her lately, this was always the result.

“I’m sorry Court, It hurts so much to see you feel this bad.” I told her.

“It’s ok Brian, you’re my best friend, that has to be enough, I guess. Let’s just go to sleep.” she answered.

I know I laid there for hours, holding Courtney against me, my mind wondering what life had in store for me, asking myself should I perhaps try and open my heart up to Courtney, see if we could really make this work. Finally I drifted off to sleep, I know I was exhausted both physically and mentally.

When I opened my eyes, the room was bright with sunlight. Even with the curtains closed you could tell it was early morning. It took a second for me to remember where I was, I looked over across the bed to see Courtney lying still next to me, her eyes looking right into mine.

“Good morning.” she said, squeezing my hand gently.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Almost ten o’clock.” she answered.

“How long have you been up?” I asked.

“About an hour, I have just been watching you sleep.” she said, a slight smile on her face.

We laid there for a while, then decided to get up, dress and go down for breakfast. We enjoyed a nice breakfast, then decided to go down the road to the beach and enjoy the nice day. We walked along the beach for a while, ran in and out of the water until the sun got a bit too much. We then found a picnic pavilion where we sat at the table and talked about everything from our younger days, to where we hoped the future would take us. Courtney’s was definitely a more certain future than mine, she was being groomed to run her father’s company. She would definitely be very well off someday, failure was not an option. My future on the other hand was more fragile, one injury, a few bad years, I could be out of football for good. As the sun was setting we decided to walk back down the beach to the hotel, it was a really nice evening. As we walked along the water’s edge, Courtney reached up and grabbed my hand in hers, placing her fingers between mine.

“Brian, I just want you to know, I will never have a better friend in my life. No matter where we end up, let’s always keep in touch, no matter what. Promise me.” she asked.

“I promise Court.” I answered.

We continued to walk to the casino, hand in hand, just enjoying each other’s company. As I walked, I couldn’t help but think how fortunate I was at this time of my life. Not yet twenty five, on the verge of a multi-million dollar contract to play professional football. I had two women in my life that loved me dearly in Courtney and Ashley. It was painfully ironic that the one I had thought I wanted, couldn’t be with me because of my success. The one who really wanted to be with me, didn’t seem to care about that success, only me. At that moment, it dawned on me, Courtney was indeed my best friend. Yes, she had hurt me bad once, the second time maybe I expected it, I don’t know. But, if you loved somebody, really loved somebody, wasn’t forgiveness the ultimate act of friendship? I was becoming more confused the more I thought about it. I mean, there was no doubt, I felt at ease with Courtney, I had for years. I felt I could tell her anything, that she would understand and support me. Then the fact that she was drop dead gorgeous, didn’t hurt either.

The last year or so, she had underwent a transformation with the change in hair style. Add the fact that she trained six days a week at Carl’s gym, she now had a figure that was to die for. Add the fact that her parents thought of me already as family didn’t hurt either. How many guys really get along that well with their girlfriend or wife’s parents? In all the years I had known Mr. and Mrs. Timmons, never had they had a harsh word for me. We finally arrived back at the casino, I held the door to the lobby open for Court, then watched her go through it. One thing caught your eye about Court, her ass was firm and tight. You couldn’t help but be drawn to it.

We caught the elevator and went back to the room, it had been a long day. Courtney plopped on the sofa turning on the TV, I headed to the bedroom to clean up. I grabbed some clean shorts and a tee shirt then headed to the bathroom.

“I’m going to take a shower Court, be right back.” I yelled.

“Ok, take your time.” she answered.

I took a long hot shower, brushed my teeth and got dressed. I tossed my dirty clothes into my bag, then joined Courtney on the sofa. I sat down and leaned back on the sofa just as she tossed me the remote.

“I’m going to clean up myself. Be back in a little while.” she said, getting up.

“You want to go downstairs and eat when you’re done?” I asked.

“Sure sounds good.” she answered.

It took Courtney quite some time to get ready, I was wondering what had happened. When she came out, I knew why. She had fixed her hair, put on make-up and dressed in a short skirt and silk blouse. She looked amazing, as good as I have ever seen her look. She smiled at me with that infectious grin of hers, the one that made you think she had a secret.

“I can’t go down dressed like this, if you look like that.” I told her.

“Look like what?” she asked, pretending she didn’t know she ravishing.

“I’ll be right back.” I told her heading to the bedroom.

I went back to the bedroom and opened my suitcase, rummaging around in it. I found a nice pair of jeans, then grabbed a form fitting Under Armour compression shirt. It was one of those that showed off every muscle and ripple you had, it left nothing to the imagination. I laughed to myself as I pulled the shirt over my head. Two can play at your game Missy, I thought to myself. I tucked the shirt into my jeans, put on my belt. I could tell by the look on her face, I had surprised her. I always wore loose clothing for two reasons. One, it was hard to really find clothes that fit me right. When you’re almost six foot seven and close to two hundred seventy pounds, there’s not a huge selection in your size. Second, I was always critical of the guys in the gym who spent hours admiring themselves in the mirror, it just wasn’t me. But for once, I decided to turn the tables on her.

“Whoaaaaaaaaaa.” squealed Courtney, “You got a date mister?”

“Maybe I’ll get lucky downstairs, you never know.” I laughed.

She walked past me and slapped my ass, laughing out loud.

“Dressed like that, I bet you do. This is going to be fun.” she giggled.

We rode the elevator down to the main floor, exited and made our way across the casino towards the restaurants. We decided on the steak house this time, it had been quite a while since I had eaten a really good steak. We were met by the hostess in the foyer of the restaurant, she informed us there would be maybe a five to ten minute wait. There was a small seating area to the left where two other couples were seated. We were given a number and asked to take a seat until our table was ready. We walked over and sat down on the long bench to wait our turn. We had been waiting maybe five minutes, when two young women walked over and joined the group waiting for a table. They took the bench directly across from Courtney and I, both of them looked in our direction smiling. We were both sitting quietly waiting for our number to be called when one of the young women leaned forward and spoke softly.

“Um excuse me, but are you a basketball player or something?” she asked.

“No, I don’t play basketball.” I replied, with a smile.

Even though it was nice to have people want your autograph, or to have pictures taken with you, sometimes you wanted to just be a normal person. However, before the young woman could even lean back in her seat to join her friend, Courtney chimed in.

“He’s a professional football player, he plays for San Diego.” she blurted out.

“Oh, you play football?” she replied.

“Yes, it’s my first year.” I answered her.

There was an older man sitting next to me with his wife, he quickly joined in the conversation.

“Where did you play ball at son?” he asked.

“I was at Louisiana, sir.” I answered.

He looked at me for several seconds, then I guess it came to him. The size, the school, something registered in the older man’s mind. He leaned over to me again.

“You’re not Brian Stevens are you?” he asked.

“Yes sir, I am.” I answered.

“I watched you play many times, in fact I was at the National Championship game last year, you had one hell of a game.” he said.

“Thank you sir, I appreciate it.” I replied.

The girl who had started all of this once again leaned forward in my direction, a nervous smile on her face.

“Would you mind taking a picture with me and my friend? You’re the first pro football player I have ever seen in person.” she asked.

I looked over at Courtney, she was laughing to herself, she knew I tried to avoid this type of thing. I took the girl’s cell phone and handed it to Courtney, so she could snap the picture. I stood up and got between the two girls while Courtney took two quick photo’s. They thanked me and sat back down in their seats. Just about that time, the hostess appeared and told us our table was ready. As I followed Courtney to our table I leaned over and reminded her that getting even can be a really bad thing sometimes. She just giggled and continued to follow the hostess to our table. We were seated in the middle of the restaurant at a table for two, the place was packed.

Our waiter came and took our drink orders as we scanned the menu for our dinner selections. Just about that time, the hostess passed us again, this time with the two young girls that I had taken the picture with. They both waved hello as they passed, I nodded my head in response to them. We both decided on steaks, I was having the T-Bone, Courtney chose the Filet. We both ordered baked potato’s and a vegetable.

Our meal came relatively quickly, considering how busy they were. The waiter had just finished delivering all of our food, when a young teenage boy walked slowly up to our table. I really hadn’t notice where he came from, he stopped a few steps from the table. I looked up at him, he appeared very nervous.

“Hey are you Brian Stevens, the football player?” he asked.

“Yes, I am.” I answered.

He extended a paper place mat, the one that was on all of the tables, under your plate.

“Would you mind giving me your autograph?” he asked.

Once again, I looked over at Courtney, she was once again giggling to herself. She was definitely enjoying herself.

“Sure, I don’t mind but I don’t have a pen.” I answered.

“Oh, well ... um, I’ll be right back.” he said.

By this time, all the commotion was beginning to be noticed. Most people at the tables seated around us were all looking in our direction. The young boy returned quickly, a permanent marker in his hand, offering it to me.

“Do you want me to sign with my college number, or my new number in San Diego?” I asked.

“Ummmm ... the new number, I guess.” he said, smiling weakly.

I quickly signed the standard autograph wishing him good luck, my name and new number with San Diego. He thanked me and began walking back to his table. I noticed several people stop him and question him, I’m sure their curiosity was beginning to get the best of them. I settled back in and started to eat. The food was very good, Courtney and I talked during the entire meal. We asked the waiter for our check, which he quickly brought. We paid our bill and got up to leave. Several people got up and immediately walked over, all asking if I would mind signing various items. I obliged everyone in turn, signing whatever they extended, still amazed at how I had gotten to this point in life. We were finally able to make our way out of the restaurant and back out onto the casino floor. I asked Courtney if she wanted to gamble a bit or make our way back up to the room. She pointed across the way to where the Casino nightclub stood, summoning me to follow her. I walked behind her toward the club, though it was the last place I really wanted to be. I didn’t drink, I was a terrible dancer, therefore this type of club was not my thing at all. As we made our way to the entrance, once again, both of us were checked to make sure we were both over twenty one years of age. After verifying our age, we were allowed to enter the club.

I followed Courtney into the club, she found a small table against the wall, we both sat down. There was a large stage in the front of the club filled with instruments, but no band was present. There was a disc jockey in a small booth next to the stage playing the music. A cocktail waitress quickly came over to our table and ask us what we would like to drink. Courtney asked for a glass of red wine, I settled for a plain orange juice. She left but was back with our drinks in a short time. The music being played was a mixture of pop, rock and some country thrown in. There were a few couples on the floor dancing, mostly when a slower song was on. The club was about half filled, everyone either very young or maybe in their early thirties at best. There were a few very good looking young women scattered about the club, obviously they were alone or waiting for someone. We sat there for about fifteen minutes when Courtney told me she would be right back. She got up and walked over to where the disc jockey was and spoke to him very briefly before returning to our table. As she sat down she informed me she had requested a song for us to dance to.