Ann: A Love Story Ch. 09

"Yeah. I had a great time. It really wore me out though."

"Well, that's because you always play too hard."

He was talking about softball, but he might as well have been talking about sex. It was the action between the games with Dawn that really gave me the workout. I'd tell him about it eventually, but over the phone didn't seem like a good idea.

"Yeah, but that's what won it. We only had ten on the team."

"Wow. That's impressive. Hey, are you too tired to play some ball?"

Ball. That could mean a lot of things in a lot of different places. But if you're born in the state of Indiana, ball only means one thing: basketball. You could be asked to play baseball, or softball, or even football; but 'Ball' always meant basketball. It's the state religion, taken so seriously that when you're born, they place a basketball in the crib with you.

Matt parents' had poured a huge cement patio off their back patio door. They had a walkout basement, and the design of the house and surrounding landscape allowed for the patio to be hidden from the street. The goal was cemented into the ground facing the back of the house, and the backboard extended out to allow play under the boards. The patio itself was so expansive that Matt had not only painted a full lane, he also had a three-point line.

"I don't know. What's going on?"

"I've got five. I was wondering if you'd come over so we can play three on three."

I did a self assessment of my condition. I felt pretty good, feeling rested from my nap. If I went back to sleep, I'd never sleep through the night, so I had to get up, at least for a while. Playing ball at Matt's seemed like a better option than having to face my Mom, who I'm sure was still lying in wait to ask me countless questions about my weekend.

"Okay, let me take a shower and I'll be over," I said.

"Shower? Screw that...you're only going to sweat anyway. Get over here!"

I looked at my stomach, covered with a drying pool of spunk.

"I'm a mess man. It'll be quick, I promise."

"Okay, but we're waiting on you. Expect to be picked on."

I hung up and grabbed some Kleenex, making a quick swipe across my abdomen to get the majority of my load soaked up. I grabbed some clothes and opened my door. The bathroom I used was right next to my room, so I literally was out of one room and into the other in two seconds.

I was dressed and heading down the hall in 10 minutes. My Mom was in the kitchen and had a sandwich made for me. She knew what Matt had wanted, and she knew I'd go.

"Are you going to stop and eat, or are you eating on the run again?" she asked sarcastically.

"You're the one that put the sandwich on a napkin. That means I have to eat on the run. If only you'd used a plate," I responded playfully.

She laughed and kissed me on the cheek. She knew not to ask when I was coming home. After being there over a year, we'd gotten past that hurdle a long time ago. I grabbed the sandwich and a coke, and headed out the door.

Matt lived about 5 blocks away. I walked there a lot of times, but with me being waited on, I drove. Pulling into his driveway, I didn't bother going to the front door. I walked around the side, down the hill to the court. I finished my sandwich as I rounded the corner of the house. The guys were there, shooting around. They'd already settled on teams, and I felt like the last kid picked to play at the grade school playground. I took one last swig of my coke and placed it on top of the grill against the wall. They let me take a couple of shots to warm up, and that was it. We were playing less than three minutes after I got there.

We were playing games to 20, winning by two, and three pointers counted. When we finished our third game, we took a break to get a drink and switch teams. With Matt being almost 8 years younger than me, most of the guys we played with were around his age, in their early 20's. It wasn't a problem for me. I was good player and could more than hold my own. But all the softball I'd played over the weekend caught up with me, and the break was a welcomed reprieve, if even for a moment.

They gave me crap of course. Typical stuff about being the 'old man' and needed a walker. When I responded with the fact that my team had won all three games we played, and I was scoring more than the other two, their playful banter came to an end for a little bit.

I was taking another sip of my now warm coke, sitting on one of those white plastic patio chairs. Through the screen door, I heard some talking and laughing inside the house. It was two females, and they seemed to be having a hilarious conversation. One was Matt's sister, Maria. The other voice I couldn't place; yet it sort of sounded familiar. And I was certain I had heard that laugh before. I didn't bother to look inside the door. Maria was a senior in high school, so I assumed it was one of her friends that had been over before, but for whatever reason, I couldn't get that voice out of my head.

We started up another round of games, changing line-ups to mix things up a little. Part of it was the three guys who kept losing wanting a chance to be on the winning side for once. The games did get a little more competitive, but I was still hot from outside. My team lost the first game by two, but we won the last two going away because I couldn't miss.

We took another break, and Matt went in to get us some Gatorade and turn on the floodlights so we could see. I sat in that same plastic chair, becoming enchanted by that lilting voice talking to Maria. I couldn't even hear what was being said. Just the sounds and inflection, and the infectious laughter drifting through the tight weave of the mesh covering the sliding door.

Matt handed me a drink as he walked by, and passed out some for the other guys. I pulled out my wallet from my coat and handed him a five. He smiled. Matt knew I would always chip in, and that set a tone for his friends. Coming to his house to play ball was always a good time, but I never expected his parents to foot the bill for our eating and drinking there.

He sat down next to me, across from his friends as they discussed the next way to make the teams so that I didn't make them look bad. I had a soft chuckle to myself as Matt sat back with his sports drink. If the other guys hadn't been there, he would have handed me a beer. He had just turned 21, and most of his friends were just a little younger. One of the other guys was his age, but Matt wasn't going to get in trouble for giving a beer to a friend if they weren't old enough; at least not at his house.

I could tell Matt wanted to ask about my weekend, and at that point, I was totally okay with him asking. I wouldn't mind sharing my story, just to find out how believable the reality of it sounded. Because even in my head, while I knew all of it was true, it certainly didn't sound like it could be.

Before Matt could ask me anything, I heard that exhilarating laugh again.

"Matt, who is that Maria is talking to?"

"That's Ann. She's a friend of the family. She's in town this week visiting her parents."

Shaking my head, I let it go. I obviously had been mistaken, although as I heard it again, I could have sworn I had heard that voice, and that laugh before.

We started a series of three more games, and the rest didn't hurt my game. For whatever reason, I was shooting lights out even more than my usual good touch. The guys were mouthing off about me draining three pointer after three pointer, and I made a comment about never looking at the line when I shot, so I didn't know if they were three pointers or not. I got some more crap, and I said it was true.

Matt scoffed. "You're telling me you never look to see where the line is."

"No, I don't. I never have. If I'm open, I shoot; unless there's someone else more wide open I can pass to," I said as I zipped a backdoor pass to my teammate that Matt was supposed to be guarding.

I stood there laughing, but Matt still didn't believe me. He grabbed the ball out of the basket and threw it back to me. I took a shot, swishing it.

"How in the world did you learn to shoot from there without knowing where the line is?" he asked, astounded as I did it again from a different spot behind the arc.

"Because, we didn't have a three point line when we were in High School," said the owner of that sexy voice that had been haunting me.

It came from behind me, and I spun around to find a gorgeous woman checking out my ass in my basketball shorts. She glanced up to meet my eyes. It had been a long time since I had a woman checking out my ass before I had stared at hers over first. Her shoulder length brown hair had been permed, framing her stunning face perfectly. She was slender, her thin waist showing in her very tight jeans. She was wearing a yellow blouse, almost see through, and I could make out the shadow of the black half bra she was wearing to lift her breasts. They weren't big by any stretch. She was a 34B, but they were very perky, and the nipples pointing through the thin bra appeared to be huge.

Normally, I would have been trying to check out her ass, since she'd already checked out mine, but I was lost in the coffee colored eyes that were locked on mine. A soft, knowing smile formed on her face.

"You always could shoot. How are you Neil?"

"Ann? Ann Franklin?"

She walked over and gave me a hug. It was actually more than a hug. I'm not sure why I felt that way, but the tingle that shot up my spine told me it was.

"Neil. Neil Thomas," she said, playing with how I said her first name twice, not believing she was standing there. "You look great. You've really...matured."

"My God, Ann. What are you doing here?"

I knew why. She came home for the High School reunion I had escaped town to miss. But I didn't know why she would be a Matt's house. Strangely, she knew what I meant in my generic, could have meant anything, question.

"I used to baby-sit Matt and Maria when they were little. I came by to say Hi."

I looked at Matt, who was bewildered.

"You two know each other?" he asked.

"Matt, why didn't you tell me Ann's last name? I've been racking my brain trying to figure out where I've heard that great laugh before."

I didn't realize it at the time, but I had been hugging Ann the whole time, and when I let go to look at Matt, she had remained next to my side, and had grabbed my hand. She was holding it while I talked to him.

"It never occurred to me. She's just a family friend. Why?"

"You said she was here visiting her parents."

"She is. She came here from California for her...reunion. Did you guys go to school together?" Matt said, knowing I had fled town to avoid mine.

"Exactly how many 10 year reunions did you think they were having in town this weekend, Matt?" I asked. Ann squeezed my hand as she let out one of those cute giggles of hers.

I turned to look at her, and I was mesmerized.

"I knew I knew that laugh," I said.

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

I started walking with her, back into Matt's basement rec room.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm done. I've schooled you guys enough tonight. I want to spend some time with someone my own age for a change."

We walked hand in hand through the door, although I still wasn't sure why. She stopped just inside the door and said, "Wait here a minute, Neil."

Ann opened the door to the laundry room and opened the downstairs refrigerator I'd been in many times. She grabbed two cold Heinekens from inside the door, and walked back out, handing me one. As I took it, I looked at her funny.

"It's okay. I don't think Henry will mind. I'm like a daughter to him and Karen."

"That's interesting. They tell me all the time that I'm like their oldest son."

Ann's dark eyes sparkled for a second, and she said, "Gee, I hope that's not true."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, I wouldn't want anything I might say to you to be construed as incestuous."

I was floored. That was the most amazing sentence I'd ever heard. I was aroused almost instantly, which was not a good thing in the shorts I was wearing. I was glad I had at least worn underwear to play ball in. Ann raised her hand, wanting me to take hers again. I did, and she led me across the basement to the big soft sectional couch, and she had me sit in the corner.

I was surprised when Ann went to the wall and switched off the overhead light, and then turned on a floor lamp across the room to the lowest wattage of the three-way bulb. Sitting down really close to me, she opened her beer. She took a sip, and placed her hand on my knee.

Normally, I would have been a little unnerved. But my weekend with Dawn was fresh in my mind, and this was just par for the course I'd been playing.

Ann took a deep breath and closed her eyes for just a second; then she moved her hand away.

"You don't have to do that on my account."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Move your hand. It felt nice."

"I wasn't sure what you'd think. I know you've been through a lot."

"Yeah...that's kind of why I didn't go to the reunion. I didn't want to be 'divorced guy'."

"I know," she said as she took another drink.

"How did you know?"

"Karen. She's got the biggest mouth in town, you know."

Ann was right. I really liked Matt's Mom. She treated me well, and let me hang out with her son even though he was so much younger...although Matt was the most mature 21-year-old I'd ever met; more than his Mom in a lot of ways. She did like to gossip.

"Yeah. I guess I do. Still, I didn't want to be the only divorced guy there."

"You wouldn't have been. There's more than you think, even with a class as small as ours was."

I took a swig of my beer and asked the question I had sworn I was never going to ask, but did, only to be polite.

"So, how was the reunion?" I asked, almost cringing as the words came out of my mouth.

"It just got a lot better 10 minutes ago," Ann said, flashing a wicked little smile.

I had to follow that up, so I said, "Why is that?"

I got the kind of answer I was hoping for when she said, "Because, I'm with you right now."

"So, tell me. What happened at the reunion?"

Ann gave me a disgusting look, and put her beer on the coffee table.

"Neil, you don't want to talk about the reunion any more than I do. Do you? Do any of those people really interest you?"

I was knocked off stride a little with that comment. Not sure how to follow up, I sat silently.

Ann smiled and put her hand back on my leg. Stroking it back and forth a little, she said, "I only came back for the reunion to see my family. I thought maybe things would be different after 10 years. But they're pretty much the same. And frankly, so are most of the people from our class. So, I'm just going to say that I went, saw them, left, and leave it at that. I can wait another 10 years for the next one."

I was a little confused by her comments, especially when I factored in that I was part of the group she was rejecting. Truth be told though, I used the divorce as an excuse not to go because I really didn't want to see them either. There were many I saw around town anyway.

Ann saw me pondering, and once again rescued our conversation.

"You're not part of them, Neil."

"What are you talking about?"

"Every one of those people at the reunion; the ones from our class...I've known all of them my entire life. But you came here during our junior year. I only knew you a year and a half. And you were different. You came from out east somewhere, and you didn't act like all the people here."

I found our conversation suddenly not only interesting, it was fascinating. I couldn't ever remember having a conversation with Ann in High School. I'm sure we did, because we hung out in the same circles. Ann was a jock, like I was. But she was never at any of the parties I went to, and I never saw her at any of the hangouts most of my friends and I frequented.

"I never remember you being so interested in...how do you remember all that about me?

"I'm tempted to say Karen, but that would be the easy way out. I suppose the better answer would be that I was always intrigued by you, from the first day I met you."

"Funny, I must have missed that over the year and a half we went to school together."

"Well, I said intrigued. Not in love. And, it wasn't like it would have mattered anyway."

"Why would you say that?" I asked.

"My parents were, uh, just a little strict. That's why I bolted this place after I graduated. I had to find out who I was."

"So, did you?"

"I think so. I became confident, and self sufficient. I made some mistakes, sewed my fair share of wild oats. Had some bad relationships that ended worse; nothing like yours, I'm sure. But we all have a past Neil. My problem with this town was I was never going to have a past, because there was no future for me here."

"That's a pretty deep sentence, Ann. You know, the change has done you good. You do seem more confident. And you've found yourself...that's for sure."

She laughed a little and said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, for one, you won't any woman in this town dressed like you; probably in the county."

Ann looked at her outfit and then at me. "Is there something wrong with how I'm dressed?"

"Oh God no. I think you look..."

Ann leaned in close because I didn't finish my sentence. I wasn't sure just where I wanted to go with this. The last thing I needed was another short term fling like I had with Dawn. But I could feel myself heading cock first in that direction.

"How do I look, Neil?" she asked.

"To me, you're a breath of fresh air in a town that's stale. You look incredible, Ann. And I love the way you're 'almost' dressed. You can certainly tell you've moved on from this place."

"Funny, I left my more risqué clothes at home," she said, grabbing my interest even more.

"Well now I'm really disappointed."

"Why would you say that?"

"It's been so long since I've seen you, and now you tell me I could have been seeing more of you, but you brought the wrong cloths!"

"I'm here the rest of the week. Maybe you will."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ann and I talked about our families, and what it's like to live at home again at our age. Even though she was only home for a couple of days, I knew she saw my points. I told her about my job, and working where my Dad works, and all the positives and negatives that went with it. She told me about her job, being the manager of a trendy women's fashion store in a big mall in Northern California.

We talked about her 'big' relationship, where she invested 2 years into a guy that basically was dating someone else at the same time, and chose the other woman instead. She didn't have to get divorced, but that didn't make it any less painful.

Ann asked about my failed marriage. She knew my ex, and she had heard stories at the reunion. But she said she didn't believe any of them that had me as the bad guy. For the first time, I felt like I could share what happened and not fear a backlash. Dawn had set me free of that over the weekend.

Ann listened, all the while running her hand up and down my leg, coming closer and closer to the bottom of my shorts. I viewed it intellectually as being attentive to what I was saying, and supportive. I viewed physically as a huge turn on, and worried I was going to have a tight crotch very soon.

Then Ann threw me a curve.

"So, you know what I did this weekend. What did you do up in Michigan?"

"How did you know I was there?"

"Karen, Maria, most of the people in our class that still live in town."

"Yeah. It is a small town, isn't it!," I said, taking a swig of beer.

"So, what did you do?"

"I really don't want to say," I said not wanting to ruin the moment we were having with a story about my escapades.